See

Samson and Goliath

These are two massive gantry cranes near the entrance to the Titanic Quarter. Goliath is the first you encounter, built in 1969 and 96 m (315 ft) tall; Samson built in 1974 is 106 m (348 ft) tall. They stand over the Harland & Wolff dry dock and each has a load capacity of 840 tonnes. They're painted yellow and have become an iconic part of the Belfast sky-line. They've been kept in working order even though large-scale shipbuilding and associated heavy lifting has ended on site, but there are no tours up into their structure. Harland & Wolff went bust in 2019 and are now owned by Navantia. Both cranes are scheduled as Historic Monuments.

history

Address: West Bank Drive BT3 9DF
Hours: 24 hours
Website: theyard.info (opens in a new tab)

Directions Suggest a nearby place

Listing from Wikivoyage: Belfast, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

No exact location on record.

Search for the address on OpenStreetMap

More in Belfast

See
Botanic Gardens
Established in 1828 and becoming a public park from 1895, this is an extensive leafy green space, popular with office workers and students from nearby QUB. The Palm House, completed in 1840, is an elegant cast-iron glasshouse by Lanyon and Turner (who went on to build similar glasshouses at Kew, London and Glasnevin, Dublin) with a cool and a tropical section. Near it is the Tropical Ravine House, where visitors walk around a raised balcony observing tropical flora and fauna. There are also extensive lawns, a herbaceous border as long as the Zambezi, a rose garden and woodlands. Presiding over the main entrance is a statue of Lord Kelvin.
Daily 07:30-duskFree
See
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich
Irish Language Cultural Centre
The hub of Irish language activities in Belfast. It's a cultural centre with visitor information, art, trad music, a cafe and a bookshop. They put on regular Irish language classes, from beginners to advanced.
Mon-Thu 9AM-6PM, Fri Sat 9AM-9PM, Sun 11AM-4PM
See
HMS Caroline
Royal Navy light cruiser built in 1914 and engaged in the Battle of Jutland. After the war Caroline had a spell in the Indian Ocean then was mothballed until 1924, when she came to Belfast as a training ship and navy headquarters.
Fri-Sun 10AM-4:30PMAdult £11, conc £10, child £9
See
Irish Republican History Museum
Eileen Hickey Museum
Museum in a former mill depicting the history of Republicanism in Belfast. Eileen Hickey was a Provisional IRA organiser within Armagh prison and amassed a great collection of artifacts and memorabilia relating to her side of the conflict. This is the half-history where 1200 Catholic civilians died in Belfast during the Troubles. You have to cross the city to the Orange Heritage Centre for the half-history where 600 Protestant civilians died - and both are correct.
Tue-Sat 10AM-2PMDonation