Footballer George Best (1946-2005) was born and raised in the Cregagh estate. His funeral on 3 December, 2005 was the largest funeral in the history of the province. Other sportspeople from Belfast include Dame Mary Peters (who won pentathlon Gold in the 1972 Olympics) and Alex Higgins, the double World Snooker Champion. Other footballers from Belfast include Norman Whiteside, Danny Blanchflower and Sammy McIlroy.

Musician Van Morrison was born in Belfast in 1945. Other famous musicians from the area include flautist James Galway, concert pianist/conductor Barry Douglas and punk band Stiff Little Fingers, as well as singers Brian Kennedy and Peter Corry.

Actor, director and producer Kenneth Branagh was born in Belfast in 1960. One of his early roles was as the son of another Belfast born actor James Ellis, who was born in 1931. Other actors include Ciar á n Hinds and Stephen Rea.

Roy Walker, who famously presented Catchphrase , was born in Belfast in 1940; another son of the city is Eamonn Holmes (b.1958), perhaps best-known for his long stint on the GM-TV sofa.

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), writer of The Chronicles of Narnia as well as many other books, is also a