Monthly Archives: July 2020

Ever wondered about the origin of some of the old tiled Belfast street signs? Well, at a meeting of the Belfast Corporation in July 1869, known today as Belfast City Council, it was resolved that the Belfast Charitable Society should affix signs to the streets on their land including Clifton Street, Regent Street & Duncairn Street. Over time as our lands continued to develop, we added Glenravel Street into the mix; named after the home of the Benn Brothers in the Glens of Antrim. George and Edward Benn were responsible for adding two additional wings onto the Poor House and built two hospitals on [...]

Today (8th July 2020) marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mary Ann McCracken, the noted activist, abolitionist and social reformer. Mary Ann was born to Captain John and Anne McCracken (née Joy). Her maternal grandfather was Francis Joy, founder of the Belfast Newsletter. Like her siblings Mary Ann was educated at David Manson's co-educational school, where children regardless of gender studied the same curriculum. When she was little more than a child herself, she was making clothes for the children of the Poor House, today known as Clifton House. Mary Ann excelled at arithmetic in school, and when she [...]