Clifton House were proud to be involved once again in the Féile this year, hosting a lecture on ‘The Bigger Family Picture: From 1798 to Partition’.
The talk was delivered by our Archive & Heritage Development Officer exploring some of the key figures in the Bigger lineage from David Bigger, Belfast Charitable Society member & United Irishman; to the Home-Rule MP Joe Biggar and the radical Protestant Nationalist and antiquarian Francis Joseph Bigger.
The stories of these three individuals provide a fascinating insight into the wider history of Belfast and the island of Ireland as a whole. From David Bigger’s involvement with the Volunteer Movement before joining the United Irishmen, and the attention he paid to the conditions of the residents of the Poor House; to Joe Biggar MP who perfected the art of obstructionism in Westminister and was involved with the Land League and last but no means least, Francis Joseph Bigger solicitor, freemason and polymath- as Roger Dixon termed him -“Belfast’s Don Quixote”.
Thank you to everyone who made the event such a success!
