How Northern Ireland inspired CS Lewis's world of Narnia
East Belfast and the wider Northern Irish landscape hold places linked to author CS Lewis's childhood that may have inspired The Chronicles of Narnia. The first new Netflix Narnia adaptation reaches cinemas on 12 February 2027.
On the walls of east Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, creatures from Narnia now share space with murals of paramilitary groups. They commemorate CS Lewis, the Belfast-born author of The Chronicles of Narnia. A Guardian travel piece points to places across Northern Ireland tied to his life that may have shaped his fantasy world, which is useful for visitors wanting to follow his trail.
East Belfast
Lewis was born in 1898 in Dundela, but his birthplace has been demolished and replaced by flats. In the Holywood Arches area, CS Lewis Square has a short trail with metal sculptures of Mr and Mrs Beaver, Mr Tumnus and other characters. A giant Aslan stands on a circular mound at its centre.
About 15 minutes' walk away, St Mark's church keeps a replica of a brass lion's-head door knocker that belonged to Lewis's grandfather, the Rev Thomas Hamilton. It may have inspired Aslan. The original has been removed for safekeeping, and the replica draws thousands of visitors each year.
In 1905 the Lewis family moved to a redbrick house called Little Lea on Circular Road. It is privately owned but visible from its gates, and it appears in the first two Narnia books.
Hills and coast
As boys, Lewis and his elder brother Warnie roamed the hills between Belfast and Strangford Lough. The author suggests the crags of Whitespots country park near Newtownards may match a view Lewis described. Lewis once told his brother that the view from the Mournes above Rostrevor, looking over Carlingford Lough, was his idea of Narnia; the remark is stencilled on a bench in Kilbroney forest park.
On the north coast, where Lewis holidayed with his mother as a child, scholars and fans debate whether Dunluce Castle or Downhill Demesne, with its Mussenden Temple, inspired the Narnian capital Cair Paravel.
The first of Netflix's new adaptations, Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, opens in cinemas on 12 February 2027 and arrives on Netflix on 2 April.
