The Belfast Charitable Society’s archive is a unique record of the work of a key Belfast institution. However, you only have to pick out one of the volumes of our Minute Books to discover that they give a glimpse in to the wider history of Belfast city itself.
On 11 August 1919 the Orderly of the old people’s home, then known as the Belfast Charitable Institution, reported that the residents thoroughly enjoyed the Peace Day Celebrations held earlier in the week. This parade marked the end of the Great War, and gave those in Belfast the opportunity to cheer on the veterans who had survived the trenches. The main parade started at Victoria Barracks, just behind Clifton House, and made it’s way down Clifton Street into the city centre.
Newspapers at the time reported that 36 000 ex-service men paraded in Belfast that day! Imagine what an impressive sight this must have been!