Divis Tower facts for kids
Divis Tower is a tall building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It stands 20 floors high, about 200 feet tall. You can find it on Divis Street, which is part of the famous Falls Road area. It's currently one of the tallest buildings in Belfast.
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Building History
Divis Tower was built in 1966. It was part of a larger housing complex called Divis Flats, which had many other buildings that are now gone. The whole area was named after the nearby Divis Mountain.
The tower itself has 96 apartments and was designed by an architect named Frank Robertson. Before Divis Tower was built, a church stood on the same spot. The land was sold to the city of Belfast to build the new homes.
Divis Tower During the Troubles
Divis Tower became a well-known spot during a difficult time in Northern Ireland's history called the Troubles.
An Army Observation Post
In the 1970s, the British Army built an observation post on the very top of Divis Tower. They used the top two floors of the building. This was to watch for activity from groups involved in the conflict, like the Provisional IRA. At the height of the Troubles, the Army could only get to their post by helicopter.
Sad Events at Divis Tower
Divis Tower was a place where many sad events happened during the Troubles.
In August 1969, a nine-year-old boy named Patrick Rooney was killed in the tower. He was the first child to die during the Troubles. This happened when police fired a machine gun into the flats during a day of street violence. An official investigation later found that using the machine gun was "completely wrong."
Later, in May 1981, a member of a group called the INLA, Emmanuel McClarnon, was killed by an Army sniper from the top of Divis Tower. This happened during a period of intense conflict.
The Observation Post is Removed
After a major group involved in the conflict said they were ending their armed actions, the Army decided to take down their observation post. Many people called it a 'spy' post. Its removal began in August 2005.
By 2009, the top two floors of the tower, where the Army post used to be, were turned back into homes for people to live in. This was part of a big project to improve the building and even add more apartments.
