Whitla Hall

The greatest memorial to the generosity of Sir William Whitla was the provision of the assembly hall, which now bears his name, for the Queen’s University of Ireland, Belfast.

Its foundation stone was laid in 1939; the hall was completed in 1942, requisitioned by the government during the Second World War to provide accommodation for American forces, and officially opened on 19 February, 1949.

The carvings to the heads of the triple windows to the forecourt include the University coat of arms, supported on a globe and flanked by figures of Aesculapius and the Scribe, depicting Whitla’s services to humanity and learning.

This resplendent hall, known to many generations of graduands who have been presented their degrees there, contains the Mitchell organ, formerly located in the University’s Great Hall, and can accommodate some 1500 of an audience.

• Photos and main text by Ludovico Carbone @ Nicoletta Ventrella (August 2017).

• Locate the item on this Google Map

Bibliography

• Richard Froggatt, http://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk
• R. G. Shanks, The legacies of Sir William Whitla. The Ulster Medical Journal, Volume 63, No. 1, pp. 52 – 75, April 1994