Shaw's Road

Coordinates: 54°34′37″N 6°00′18″W / 54.577°N 6.005°W / 54.577; -6.005

Shaw's Road or Bóthar Seoighe, also known as both Pobal Feirste (English: Farset Community) and The Irish Houses is a small Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

History

The Gaeltacht was founded in 1969 when five families from Belfast built their houses together in a new development on the street. The community has expanded through the years and now there are 22 houses in the Gaeltacht.

In 1971, parents in the Gaeltacht established the first Irish-medium school in Northern Ireland. After much turbulence during that time, and a lengthy campaign, the school received official recognition from the Department of Education in 1985. The school has since grown rapidly and is no longer under direct administration by the Gaeltacht, but remains Irish-medium and over 350 students attend.

The Shaw's Road Gaeltacht has a strong culture of traditional music, dance and drama and the Irish language continues to be the normal language of communication between residents.

Shaw's and Star Market

Shaw's and Star Market are two American grocery store chains based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 154 stores. 132 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, while Star Market operates 22 stores in Massachusetts. Until 2010, Shaw's operated stores in all six New England states and as of 2011 Shaw's remained the only supermarket chain with stores in five of the six after it sold its Connecticut operations. The chain's largest competitors are Hannaford, Market Basket, and Stop & Shop. Star Market is a companion store to Shaw's; Shaw's having purchased the competing chain in 1999.

Shaw's and Star Market are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Boise, Idaho–based Albertsons. The combined chain has the largest base of stores that operate in New England, but is the third-largest behind Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop and Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Brothers Company; Hannaford operates stores in New York while Stop & Shop's operations extend into New Jersey; only Shaw's does business solely in New England.