Merville Garden Village

Merville was originally a private house, the modern-day Merville House, and estate built in 1795 by the Belfast banker and merchant John Brown (c.1740–1808). It was intended as his country retreat. Other fêted people would come to reside at the sprawling 24-acre shoreline manor. Between 1849–1887, for example, it was the home of Sir Edward Coey (1805–1887), noted as the first and only Liberal Party Mayor of Belfast (1861) and prominent wealthy businessman, who helped make Belfast one of the most prosperous manufacturing centres in the world during the 19th century. During WWII little to no houses were built and Belfast was becoming densely populated. So in 1947-49 the Garden Village, the…