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Children’s Crafty Christmas

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Why not let the kids experience something different this Festive season? Step back in time to Christmas 250 years ago and see how children once celebrated in the Poorhouse. Learn about their traditions, gifts, food and entertainment. It’s not the ‘Scrooge’ you’d imagine it to be. As part of the short tour, you’ll also get to experience our augmented reality app, letting you peek into the nursery where children learned; gaze down into the basement where women and children worked on cotton spinning; and see for yourself the infamous 'black hole', where those who were more naughty than nice ended up! [...]

£10.00

Children’s Crafty Christmas

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Why not let the kids experience something different this Festive season? Step back in time to Christmas 250 years ago and see how children once celebrated in the Poorhouse. Learn about their traditions, gifts, food and entertainment. It’s not the ‘Scrooge’ you’d imagine it to be. As part of the short tour, you’ll also get to experience our augmented reality app, letting you peek into the nursery where children learned; gaze down into the basement where women and children worked on cotton spinning; and see for yourself the infamous ‘black hole’, where those who were more naughty than nice ended up! [...]

£10.00

Children’s Crafty Christmas

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Why not let the kids experience something different this Festive season? Step back in time to Christmas 250 years ago and see how children once celebrated in the Poorhouse. Learn about their traditions, gifts, food and entertainment. It’s not the ‘Scrooge’ you’d imagine it to be. As part of the short tour, you’ll also get to experience our augmented reality app, letting you peek into the nursery where children learned; gaze down into the basement where women and children worked on cotton spinning; and see for yourself the infamous ‘black hole’, where those who were more naughty than nice ended up! [...]

£10.00

Then and Now – 270 Years of Charity in Belfast

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

270 years on from its establishment 'the First Great Charity of this Town', Belfast Charitable Society still strives to address disadvantage. Regrettably, poverty and disadvantage are as relevant today as they were when the Society was formed. With this in mind, our annual event for 2023 (25th January) will feature a panel of expert contributors who will discuss the impact of disadvantage on our society today. Our lively discussion panel will include BBCNI Economics & Business Editor John Campbell who will provide the current socio-economic and political context; Mary Montgomery Principal of Belfast Boys Model School, and Christine McKeown from Ashton [...]

President’s Talks Series – February 2023 – Block Ticket

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

An Iconic Belfast Institution: The Belfast Charitable Society and its Pivotal Role in the Social, Economic and Political Life of Georgian and Victorian Belfast. Belfast Charitable Society are proud to announce the return of our Reconciliation Fund supported President’s Talk Series this year marking the 270th year of The First Great Charity of this Town. The lectures will be via Room and Zoom, taking place every Thursday evening at 7pm throughout February. Each lecture will last approximately 60 minutes followed by a Q&A session. ·         Thursday 2nd February 2023 - Child Welfare and Education in the Industrialising Town of Belfast – Olwen Purdue in Conversation with Lauren [...]

Presidents Talk Series: Child Welfare and Education in the Industrialising Town of Belfast

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Belfast Charitable Society are proud to announce the return of our Reconciliation Fund supported President’s Talk Series this year marking the 270th year of The First Great Charity of this Town. The first lecture in the series will focus on Child Welfare and Education in the Industrialising Town of Belfast, and will be delivered by Professor Olwen Purdue and Lauren Smyth. Olwen Purdue is Professor of Modern Social History at Queen’s University Belfast, where she is also Director of the Centre for Public History. An expert on the social history of nineteenth and twentieth-century Ireland, Professor Purdue is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, [...]

Presidents Talk Series: ‘Doing the Needful’: Belfast Charitable Society and its Outdoor Relief Scheme

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Belfast Charitable Society are proud to announce the return of our Reconciliation Fund supported President’s Talk Series this year marking the 270th year of The First Great Charity of this Town. The second lecture in the series will focus on: ‘Doing the Needful’: Belfast Charitable Society and its Outdoor Relief Scheme, and will be delivered by Aaron McIntyre. Aaron McIntyre has undertaken extensive research in the Belfast Charitable Society’s archive, dating back to 1752, to develop a series of unique talks, tours and seasonal events to highlight the history of the charity, its people and its role in Belfast and beyond. Tickets for [...]

Presidents Talk Series: From New Orleans to Clifton Street: slavery and freedom in nineteenth century Belfast

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Belfast Charitable Society are proud to announce the return of our Reconciliation Fund supported President’s Talk Series this year marking the 270th year of The First Great Charity of this Town. The third Thursday lecture in the series will focus on: From New Orleans to Clifton Street: slavery and freedom in nineteenth century Belfast, and will be delivered by Dr Jonathan Wright. Jonathan Wright is a lecturer in history at Maynooth University. His current research has focused on Ulster and the Atlantic World in the Age of Revolution, and his recent publications include An Ulster Slaveowner in the Revolutionary Atlantic: The Life and [...]

Presidents Talk Series: The New Burying Ground, Père Lachaise and Belfast’s forgotten cemeteries

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

Belfast Charitable Society are proud to announce the return of our Reconciliation Fund supported President’s Talk Series this year marking the 270th year of The First Great Charity of this Town. The last lecture in the series will focus on: The New Burying Ground, Père Lachaise and Belfast’s forgotten cemeteries, and will be delivered by John Ó Neill. John Ó Neill is Research Manager at Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd and a visiting research fellow in the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast. Tickets for each talk are £6 for zoom access or £7.50 for room access (price inc complementary tea [...]

Look North! Festival Guided Tour: The Two Marys

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

This guided tour will tell the story of Mary Ann McCracken (1770-1866) and her biographer, Mary Alice (Molly) McNeill (1897-1984). Two formidable Belfast women, who, while living in different times, had much in common. Both were educated women who came from middle class Presbyterian families. As members of the Belfast Charitable Society, Mary and Molly also devoted their time to alleviate poverty in Belfast. The two Marys were each deeply engaged with the political and cultural movements of their times,  and their practical philanthropic work was informed by their progressive ideas about the care of children, the disadvantaged, and social justice. [...]

Look North! Festival Guided Tour: Experience The Belfast Poor House

Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast

The history of Belfast begins at Clifton House in North Belfast. From the moment you step through our door you will be transported back in time to the Belfast Poor House. With our augmented reality, visitors can now fully immerse themselves in what life was like in the late eighteenth century. Jason Burke from Clifton House will share the history of this fantastic building and its people, while they come to life right before your eyes. Set up by the philanthropic merchants of the town, the Belfast Charitable Society and its home in Clifton House, has survived rebellions and revolutions, while [...]

Look North! Festival Walking Tour: Clifton Street Cemetery

Opened by The Belfast Charitable Society in 1797 this guided walking tour will take you around one of the oldest cemeteries in Belfast, where you will hear tales of bodysnatching and of the thousands of souls who lie in unmarked graves. You will visit the graves of many notable Belfast families, including Mary Ann McCracken, the noted abolitionist, philanthropist and reformer: the Artists’ plot, and the final resting places of many of the industrial giants who help to shape Belfast into the then global powerhouse of the last Century and beyond. Entry from Clifton Street - Henry Place Entrance – where [...]