Childhood home i Belfast to become a museum

Sir Van Morrison’s childhood home in east Belfast is set to be turned into a museum.

Belfast City Council has recommended that a planning application for the proposal at 125 Hyndford Street is approved.

According to documents lodged with the planning service, the two-bed terraced house “has historical significance”.

The council’s recommendation said the museum could be “a unique attraction for Belfast”.

However, according to the planning documents lodged, access to it will be by appointment only when it opens.

There will be tours of the home as a result, but none will take place on a Sunday or at night.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said that there was enough on-street parking in the area to accommodate visitors for the tours.

“To remain competitive as a short city tourist destination, Belfast needs to develop unique visitor attractions and experiences to support the council’s aim to grow the tourism sector in the city,” the council recommendation to approve said.

“The proposed change of use from residential, which was the childhood home of Van Morrison, to a museum is a unique attraction for Belfast.”

Sir Van was born in 125 Hyndford Street in 1945 and grew up there.

Some of his most famous songs like Madame George and Orangefield mention streets and parks close to the home.

His song On Hyndford Street is about his childhood and the area he grew up in, and mentions nearby streets like Abetta Parade and St Donard’s Church on the Beersbridge Road.

Hyndford Street is also a short distance from The Hollow, described in his 1960s hit Brown Eyed Girl.

The primary school he attended, Elmgrove on the Beersbridge Road, is currently being refurbished to become a special school campus.

The site of his former high school, Orangefield High, is also earmarked to become a new special school.

It is unclear when the house will open as a museum but according to the planning decision the work on the house must start within five years.

Van Morrison would not be the first rock star to have their childhood home turned into a museum.

In Liverpool, for instance, visitors can take tours run by the National Trust of the childhood homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon.