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Marking the significant contribution of The Barbour Fund

2023-10-30T15:48:04+00:00

Today, Monday 30th October 2023, Belfast Charitable Society marked the end of The Barbour Fund with a special event held in Clifton House. The celebration event brought together members of the Barbour family; Board and staff of Belfast Charitable Society; and representatives of those organisations who, over the last nine years of the Fund, have received grants to carry out projects and activities in north Belfast and Lisburn. The Hilden Society and the Belfast Charitable Society came together to create ‘The Barbour Fund’ in March 2014. Both organisations shared a long and successful history of caring for older people and working [...]

Marking the significant contribution of The Barbour Fund2023-10-30T15:48:04+00:00

Historian Gareth Russell Confirmed for October Lecture

2023-09-06T10:41:38+00:00

We are delighted to confirm that historian and author Dr Gareth Russell will join us in October as part of the President's Talks Series 2023 Gareth has been no stranger to our televisions and radios recently. His most recent book is the non-fiction bestseller, The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court. His talk in October is titled 'Olaudah Equiano: Aristocrat, Abolitionist, and Activist'. When best-selling author Olaudah Equiano arrived in Belfast in 1791, his life had already taken him from a childhood in the Benin aristocracy to enslavement on a Virginia tobacco plantation. [...]

Historian Gareth Russell Confirmed for October Lecture2023-09-06T10:41:38+00:00

A Mysterious Medical Chest…

2023-09-06T10:28:26+00:00

At the historic Mulhouse Building at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast (now part of the Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland) can be found a mysterious chest containing medical objects. No-one is sure how it got there. The chest seems to be connected to a local doctor, James McCleery, surgeon to the male side of the Poor House at Clifton House (founded by the Belfast Charitable Society). Read more here: A Mysterious Medical Chest – Epidemic Belfast (epidemic-belfast.com) This is a remarkable find and we very much look forward to displaying some of the items during our 250th anniversary year in 2024. [...]

A Mysterious Medical Chest…2023-09-06T10:28:26+00:00

North Belfast Creative Digital Hub Launches

2023-03-03T09:53:47+00:00

North Belfast grammar school St Malachy’s College has officially launched its new Creative Digital Technology Hub (CDTH) with funding  from the Belfast Charitable Society and The James Kane Foundation. Around 50 guests attended the launch in February including principals and students from neighbouring schools, representatives from our funders, Belfast City Council, local authorities.  The Creative Digital Technology Hub was then officially opened by Sir Ronnie Weatherup, President of Belfast Charitable Society.  He said: “Belfast Charitable Society has been supportive of the Digital Creative Hub from its inception. It’s fantastic to see it open and being so well used by local schools. We saw [...]

North Belfast Creative Digital Hub Launches2023-03-03T09:53:47+00:00

Mary Ann McCracken Post Primary Bursaries in North Belfast launched for a second year

2023-02-07T16:39:46+00:00

For a second year, the Mary Ann McCracken Foundation and Belfast Charitable Society will support a bursary programme for twelve post primary schools in North Belfast. Along with funding partners The James Kane Foundation and Hunter Smyth Fund, each school within the North Belfast Area Learning Community will receive up to £2,000 to support pupils (16+ year-olds) who face financial barriers which may prevent them from continuing to AS / A-Level, further or higher education, employment or apprenticeship. The schools receiving the bursaries will have the flexibility to use the funds in a number of ways to support those pupils who [...]

Mary Ann McCracken Post Primary Bursaries in North Belfast launched for a second year2023-02-07T16:39:46+00:00

New Northern Ireland wide school funding will be a ‘lifeline’ for families

2022-11-24T20:55:51+00:00

New Northern Ireland wide school funding will be a ‘lifeline’ for families The number of people living in poverty across Northern Ireland is rising dramatically as the costs of basic essentials like food and fuel skyrocket. Many are struggling to feed and clothe their families and are at a financial breaking point. David Watters, Chair of the Belfast Charitable Society commented “There is no doubt that the cost-of-living crisis will mean more and more children will be growing up in poverty in Northern Ireland. The evidence of this is already being seen in schools, as increasingly children are arriving hungry and [...]

New Northern Ireland wide school funding will be a ‘lifeline’ for families2022-11-24T20:55:51+00:00

A Tale Fit For Halloween: The Murder of Robert Morrison

2022-11-03T16:33:59+00:00

A brutal stabbing in 1810, which led to a Portuguese sailor being hanged near Carrickfergus, became a sensation of the time. His name was Antonio de Silva, a sailor on board an American ship in Belfast harbour. He allegedly stabbed to death a ship’s carpenter called Robert Morrison, near Prince’s Street, and was subsequently tried and convicted of the crime. The place of execution was a mile outside Carrickfergus, and the apparatus used for the execution consisted of three tall columns, with a cross-beam, to which the rope was attached. They were familiarly known as the ‘Three Sisters’, and stood directly [...]

A Tale Fit For Halloween: The Murder of Robert Morrison2022-11-03T16:33:59+00:00

Belfast Charitable Society & the Belfast Blitz: Return From Garron Tower

2022-10-25T22:00:52+00:00

Following air strikes in April 1941  those in charge of Clifton House set about making arrangements to get the residents and the staff out of Belfast. They ultimately settled on Garron Tower on the North Coast as a safe refuge. Garron Tower was a quiet, isolated spot compared with life in the city of Belfast. Rationing also had an impact. In Belfast the relatives of the residents could have easily walked there for visits, however with petrol rationed, even those with cars did not have enough fuel to get to Garron Tower. The Matron requested additional games, gramophone records and a [...]

Belfast Charitable Society & the Belfast Blitz: Return From Garron Tower2022-10-25T22:00:52+00:00

Exploring the unmarked graves in Clifton Street Cemetery: Mary Gunning

2022-10-25T22:19:48+00:00

Burial registers for Clifton Street Cemetery were kept from 1831, recording a wealth of information on people at the time of their death. Of particular interest is 'Black '47' the worst year of famine related deaths in Ireland. Belfast did not escape the affects of the Great Hunger. On this day, 17th October 1847 the body of Mary Gunning was interred in the 'New Burying Ground', to give the cemetery it's original name. Mary had died of fever at her home on Mays Lane, off Queen Street in Belfast. It would appear from the burial register that Mary was an enterprising [...]

Exploring the unmarked graves in Clifton Street Cemetery: Mary Gunning2022-10-25T22:19:48+00:00

The Case of Mary West- an abandoned child

2022-10-25T22:21:13+00:00

Children were admitted for a variety of reasons to the Poor House, but we have records of a number that were abandoned by their families. Two years prior to Mary West’s admission to the Poor House a volcanic eruption had caused what was known as the ‘Year of No Summer’, which decimated crops and led to the spread of disease. Even in 1818 the effects of famine, fever and poverty were still rife in Belfast. The Poor House was under pressure to cope with demand, and the conditions in the town drove many people to desperate actions in order to survive. [...]

The Case of Mary West- an abandoned child2022-10-25T22:21:13+00:00
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