40 things you only know if you grew up in North Belfast

40 things you only know if you grew up in North Belfast From sneaking into Irish League grounds to dancing in circles at weddings, North Belfast is a special place. We thought we'd revisit an oldie from our archives. 17:25, 05 Dec 2025 Updated 17:25, 05 Dec 2025 1. Wherever you are in the world, no matter how polite the company, a glass smashing will be met by hollering "Yeeerrrroooooo" 2. You got lifted over the turnstiles at an Irish League ground as a kid. 3. You bunked in free to an Irish League ground at half-time. 4. You think anyone ordering a chip in Manny's along with their main dish is insane. 5. You go 'down' town, 'up' Cavehill and 'over' East or West 6. Barney Boys were once scary. 7. But not as scary as Little Flower girls. 8. Devil Worshippers roamed Cavehill. Fact. 9. "Will you see my mate" was once the height of courtship. 10. Civilisation as you know it ends at Bellevue Bridge. 11. Glengormley is the coldest place on earth. 12. You were forced to dance in a circle of people at a wedding 13. You pushed your mate to dance into a circle of people at a wedding 14. You MADE the circle of people at a wedding 15. Dogs in the street were in your gang. 16. You would kill for a hollowed-out Belfast bap stuffed with Tayto cheese'n'onion 17. Dublin Mick , AKA Michael Tighe, was considered a personal friend. RIP. 18. "Aye yer Ma" trumps all other smackdowns. Other than "So". 19. Seeing grown women go to the shops in PJs at 4pm no longer shocks you. ‌ 20. You wear PJs to the shops at 4pm 21. You wonder why shops don't sell a single and a match anymore 22. As a teen you told your parents you were in your mate's house but were really on a bus to the Arena in Armagh or Coach in Banbridge ‌ 23. Wearing a coat on a night out is stupid 24. Curry sausage suppers cure hangovers 25. Halloween is better craic than Christmas ‌ 26. You had an army satchel from Smithfield as a schoolbag 27. Nothing beat the thrill of being "dinged" on the bus home 28. May McFetteridge once fixed you da's car ‌ 29. Throwing a stone into the sea is the first thing you do on arriving at a beach. Any beach. 30. Your mantra in life is: "Whatever you say, say naffin..." 31. You're from North Belfast not Belfast ‌ 32. Sunday is for getting a poke from the ice-cream man. Or a slider. 33. Street Football Rule No4 Para3 Line2: It's hitseez-getseez if you kick the ball goes over a wall. 34. Unless its someone else's ball, then they have to get it. ‌ 35. What's wrong with woodchip wallpaper to back a kid's book? 36. You've "fond" memories of St Gerard's disco. 37. The old Grove Swimming Pool was class. And dolphins DID once swim there. ‌ 38. Spides are diddlers and diddlers are smicks. 39. Sun's out? Guns out. Even if its still a freezing day in April. Article continues below 40. You still want to drink Olde English cider in the Waterworks. Have we missed any? Let us know in the comments section below