‘The view from the Mournes was CS Lewis’s idea of Narnia’: how Northern Ireland inspired a magical kingdom

Ahead of Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia dropping early next year, we discover the fantastical landscapes that fired the Belfast-born author’s imagination On the gable walls of the tough, working-class streets of east Belfast, the mystical beasts of Narnia vie for brick space with balaclava-wearing loyalists.

The murals of the city have long projected the power of paramilitaries, but in recent years they have also begun to reflect the more positive contributions made by other local people, including the author CS Lewis. Lewis was born in Dundela in 1898 in an attractive terrace house that has sadly since been demolished to be replaced by rather unattractive flats. But elsewhere in this part of the city, the Lewis connection is being built on…