Events for September 25, 2025 - September 25, 2025 › Talks

Set up by philanthropic merchants Clifton House was originally opened as the Belfast Poor House in 1774. Today it is the city’s oldest working building and is still owned by the Belfast Charitable Society. Hear stories of its work and those who sought refuge in its walls. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to allow for Q&A sessions at the end. The Meeting ID to join the online tour will be sent out the morning of the talk. Clifton House is the social enterprise [...]

Clifton Street Cemetery is the final resting place of reformers and radicals including Mary Ann & William Drennan. Poets and artists, merchants and notable families are all buried here, alongside one of the largest famine graveyards in Ireland. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to 30, to allow for Q&A sessions at the end. The Meeting ID to join the online tour will be sent out the morning of the talk. Clifton House is the social enterprise of Belfast Charitable Society who continue to [...]

This is a free event, as part of European Heritage Open Days (#ehodni).

This is a free event as part of European Heritage Open Days (#ehodni) 

Explore the medical history of the Poor House as recorded in our archives, from the different medical establishments we supported, to the patients and the doctors who treated them. The talk will examine the Poor House response to the epidemics of the 19th century and will include the biographies of key medical professionals associated with Clifton House, from Dr William Drennan, through to the 1798 American exile Dr White and the Purdon medical dynasty. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to allow for Q&A [...]

Many of you will know about the key figures of Belfast who are buried in Clifton Street Cemetery including the activist, abolitionist and reformer, Mary Ann McCracken, and the founder of the United Irishmen, Dr William Drennan. However, this talk will delve into the burial registers of Clifton Street Cemetery to explore the equally fascinating lives of the ‘lesser spotted graves’ of Clifton Street Cemetery including a French prisoner of war turned barber! This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to 30, to allow for [...]

Set up by philanthropic merchants Clifton House was originally opened as the Belfast Poor House in 1774. Today it is the city’s oldest working building and is still owned by the Belfast Charitable Society. Hear stories of its work and those who sought refuge in its walls. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to allow for Q&A sessions at the end. The Meeting ID to join the online tour will be sent out the morning of the talk. Clifton House is the social enterprise [...]

Clifton Street Cemetery is the final resting place of reformers and radicals including Mary Ann & William Drennan. Poets and artists, merchants and notable families are all buried here, alongside one of the largest famine graveyards in Ireland. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to 30, to allow for Q&A sessions at the end. The Meeting ID to join the online tour will be sent out the morning of the talk. Clifton House is the social enterprise of Belfast Charitable Society who continue to [...]

Discover what the Poor House was like for the children who were admitted to the institution from when it opened its doors in 1774 through to the 1880s when the last child left the Poor House. This presentation will also explore some of the ongoing research into individual children who at one time or another called the Poor House home. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to 30, to allow for Q&A sessions at the end. The Meeting ID to join the online tour [...]

This talk will explore the history of Clifton House through the lives of the women who were involved with the Belfast Charitable Society; from well-known figures such as Mary Ann McCracken and the role of the Ladies Committee, through to the matron and the other women who drove the direction of charity in Belfast throughout the centuries. Delve into this fascinating topic based on original research in our archives. This virtual live talk will be facilitated by our knowledgeable staff and volunteers using Zoom. Numbers for these hour-long sessions will be limited to 30, to allow for Q&A sessions at the [...]

This Halloween week Clifton House are hosting virtual online talks exploring the 'darker side' of Clifton Street Cemetery. Opened in 1797 as the ‘New Burying Ground’ there are many tales to be told here. This talk focuses on the ‘darker side’ of the graveyard’s history- from the infamous body snatchers which plagued the cemetery in its opening decades and the drastic actions taken to curb this lucrative trade, to the burial of murder victims, tragic deaths and hangings! As this talk touches on some adult themes parental discretion is advised. Please contact us for further information. This virtual live talk will [...]