Clifton House Open Day – July 2025
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastClifton House Open Day - Featuring the stories of Mary Ann McCracken Clifton House will open its doors to the public on Saturday 5th July, 2025 Come along between 10am - 12pm for a unique opportunity to step inside and explore one of Belfast’s oldest and most beautiful buildings and hear more about Mary Ann McCracken, whose influence on the house can still be felt today. This will be a drop-in style event where our experienced volunteer guides will be on hand to answer your questions and offer you some highlights of the building’s vast history. Please note that no booking [...]
Great Place North Belfast Walking Tour
St Anne's Cathedral Donegall Street, BelfastJoin the North Belfast Heritage Cluster on a walk round some of the most historic buildings in North Belfast. This tour will showcase the unique heritage of inner north Belfast and tell the stories of the hidden history of the area. On your journey North, you will hear stories involving a palace, a biscuit factory and how a cricket ball may have changed the course of history. (The work of the Cluster is made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Belfast Charitable Society). Click here to book your tickets: Planning your visit Walking tour [...]
BELFAST’S REMARKABLE WOMEN TALK: MARY ANN MCCRACKEN, WINIFRED CARNEY AND BARONESS MAY BLOOD
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastCome and hear stories of how Mary Ann McCracken fought for the rights of the poor and took a stand against the slave trade. This talk will look at how Winifred Carney and Baroness May Blood engaged with politics at a time when their voices were being deliberately silenced and how they overcame class barriers in order to achieve small victories. This talk will be given by Dr Lauren Smyth, Dr Margaret Ward and Avila Kilmurray. Dr Lauren Smyth is the Historian of Clifton House. Her specialist subject child poverty in early 19th Century Belfast and how charitable institutions, such as the [...]
The Medical History of Belfast Charitable Society (Cemetery Tour)
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastLet us take you on journey through the medical history of 18th and 19th Century Belfast through the lives of pioneering surgeons and philanthropists who now lie in rest in Clifton Street Cemetery. From the opening of the Poor House in 1774, Belfast Charitable Society’s philanthropic aims helped foster an environment of pioneering medical work and cemented themselves as an essential part of Belfast’s history. Through a guided tour of Clifton Street Cemetery, learn how the Society took part in innovative inoculation campaigns through the guidance United Irishman, William Drennan. Explore the findings of the recently unearthed mysterious medical chest belonging [...]
The Hidden History of the Women of Clifton Street Cemetery
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastWe often hear of the notable men who are buried in Clifton Street Cemetery, but what of the women who were laid to rest there? In this brand new tour, discover stories of notable women such as Mary Ann McCracken, who championed for the poor and fought for the rights of many to the everyday working-class women. Learn about how women such as Martha McTier and Charlotte Sinclair founded and ran the Lying-In Hospital as well as well as working-class women who ended up in Belfast looking for work or poverty relief at the Poor House, and are recorded in the [...]
Plots & Plotters: Belfast Charitable Society & the 1798 Rebellion (Clifton Street Cemetery Tour)
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastCome and explore the stories of the reformers & rebels who made the Belfast Charitable Society a “hotbed of radical activity” in the 1790s and those who spearheaded the 1798 Rebellion! This unique tour charts the story of radical Belfast and the 1798 Rebellion through those who lie buried in Clifton Street Cemetery. Visit the final resting place of Dr William Drennan, the originator of the Society of United Irishmen, the McCrackens and McCabes, who supported the Rebellion, and the Joys, who opposed it. Find out how the Belfast Charitable Society, and its members, emerged from this turbulent period of Irish history to continue its work irrespective [...]
Belfast’s Heroines: Mary Ann McCracken and Martha McTier Walking Tour
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastCome and learn about Belfast’s heroines, Mary Ann McCracken and Martha McTier, in our brand-new walking tour. Listen to stories of how these women supported the United Irishmen, helped the poor through their charitable work, with Belfast’s most turbulent events in history as a backdrop to their stories. Mary Ann McCracken, who was born over 250 years ago, is intrinsically linked to the city of Belfast. She lived her fearless life championing causes, moving from place to place, always on a mission to make life better for those less fortunate than herself. Martha McTier was an advocate in Belfast for women's [...]
Clifton House Tour: Experience The Belfast Poor House (BSL-Interpreted)
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastThe history of Belfast begins at Clifton House. From the moment you step through our door you will be transported back in time to the Belfast Poor House. Opened in 1774 this majestic building provided sanctuary to thousands of people, from the young and old, to local citizens and passing sailors, throughout the years. With our augmented reality, visitors can now fully immerse themselves in what life was like in the late eighteenth century. Staff and volunteers from Clifton House will share the history of this fantastic building and its people, while they come to life right before your eyes. See how the children learned [...]
EDOD Open Day
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastClifton House Open for European Heritage Open Day Clifton House will open its doors to the public on Saturday 13th September, 10am - 12 noon for EHOD. Come along for a unique opportunity to step inside and explore one of Belfast’s oldest and most beautiful buildings. This will be a drop-in style event where our experienced volunteer guides will be on hand to answer your questions and offer you some highlights of the building’s vast history. Please note that no booking is required for this event and no public tours of the house will take place on the day. Onsite parking [...]
Clifton Street Cemetery Tour
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastStep back in time as you enter through the gates of Clifton Street Cemetery. Opened by the Belfast Charitable Society in 1797, the cemetery catered to all of the citizens of Belfast. During the tour, you will visit the graves of radicals and reformers from a time when Belfast was the ‘Athens of the North’, as well as the final resting places of the industrial giants who helped to shape Belfast into a global powerhouse. Wealthy merchants and professionals purchased the Walled Plots, with many showing off their wealth through elaborate memorials and mausoleums. Your tour guide will tell you tales of bodysnatching and the thousands of souls [...]
Beginnings – The Opening of the Poorhouse
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastIn 1774 the Poorhouse opened and an Act of the Irish Parliament appointed a President and 8 Assistants to the Belfast Charitable Society. They represented landowners, public representatives and churches. Who were these individuals and how did they reflect the times? This talk will be delivered by Sir Ronnie Weatherup who was appointed President of Belfast Charitable Society in 2018. He is a law graduate of Queens University Belfast and a barrister who was appointed a judge of the High Court in 2001, a judge of the Court of Appeal in 2015 and retired in 2017. Tickets are available for both [...]
Hero of Belfast: Mary Ann McCracken Walking Tour
Clifton House 2 North Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BelfastExperience Mary Ann McCracken’s Belfast, as you walk in the footsteps of this remarkable abolitionist, philanthropist and social reformer. Mary Ann McCracken, who was born over 250 years ago, is intrinsically linked to the city of Belfast. She lived her fearless life championing causes, moving from place to place, always on a mission to make life better for those less fortunate than herself. Hear too about her more radical nature. Her role in the work of the United Irishmen, the 1798 rebellion and beyond. How she was devoted to her older brother Henry Joy – hanged for his leading role in the rebellion. [...]