The Poor House was always intended to be as self sufficient as possible. They had their own tailor and carpenter as well as operating a farm which utilised the fields granted to them in 1774. As part of the farm they had their own piggery. Piglets were purchased, fattened and slaughtered for market. The profit went back […]
On 1st April 1775 the Belfast Charitable Society member, Reverend William Bristow, wrote to the vestry for the loan of the Old Parish Church bell and clock. This church was located on the site of what is today St George’s on High Street. The old church had been condemned, and a new church was later […]
Today (22nd March 2019) we had Nancy from Philadelphia pay a visit to Clifton House and Clifton Street Cemetery. Nancy has spent many years researching her ancestors, the Johnston family, who were tanners in the Mill Street/ Castle Street area of Belfast in the early-mid 19th century.
The Johnston’s were wealthy enough to purchase a Wall Plot, […]
THANKS to the Belfast Charitable Society and the Barbour Fund some students from the North Belfast area will be able to benefit from financial support to help them through the cost of the second year of their studies at Queen’s University.
This has been made possible through the University’s Pathway Opportunity Programme and the partnership created […]
On 13th March 1826 a meeting was called by Elizabeth Fry to encourage the women of Belfast to take an active role in the various charitable institutions within the town of Belfast. The women of Belfast agreed to write to the Poor House Committee for permission to set up a ‘Ladies Committee’ for ‘superintending the […]
This week marks ‘National Apprenticeship Week’ and we thought it would be fitting to look back at the activities of the Belfast Charitable Society, who were earlier pioneers of apprenticeship schemes in the Belfast area.
Between 1841 and 1846 there was never less than 100 children in the Poor House with a peak of 242 at […]
A number of members of the Belfast Charitable Society were involved in the 1798 rebellion. Dr William Drennan, visiting physician to the Poor House, came up with the concept of an organisation to unite Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter, but stepped back from the organisation as it became more militant. Thomas McCabe, a prominent member of […]
Ardoyne’s shop fronts are to get a new lease of life with the assistance of the Building Better Futures Fund. The 0.1-acre derelict site has planning permission for a three-storey retail and office development.
The Ardoyne Youth Enterprise (AYE), a youth and community development organisation, which reaches out to young people on the streets of Ardoyne […]
John Mattear, brother of Samuel McTier who married Martha Drennan, was a pioneer of medical care for the poor and destitute of Belfast. Mattear studied medicine in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the 1740s. He returned to Belfast and was the first visiting physician to be appointed to the Belfast Poor House.
The infirmary at the Poor […]
Dr William Drennan was the youngest son of Rev Thomas Drennan, minister of the First Presbyterian Church Belfast, and Anne Lennox. During this period Presbyterians were impacted by the Penal Codes, and as such many ‘sons of the manse’ attended university in Scotland. William Drennan studied arts in Glasgow (1772) and completed his medical studies […]
