Poor House through the Centuries - Belfast Learning Festival (free event)

Name: Poor House through the Centuries - Belfast Learning Festival (free event)
Start: 2026-06-11T14:00:00+01:00
Location: 2 North Queen Street , BT15 1ES Belfast, United Kingdom

Schedule

Thu, 11 Jun, 2026 at 02:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

2 North Queen Street , BT15 1ES Belfast, United Kingdom | Belfast, NI

Discover the history of the old Belfast Poor House and how the Belfast Charitable Society helped the people of Belfast over the centuries.
The Belfast Poor House, now Clifton House, was opened in 1774 by the Belfast Charitable Society, who fundraised and built it. Now over 250 years old, it has stood witness to some of the most significant historical events in Belfast, and seen the town grow into a city. However many people don’t realise how instrumental the Belfast Charitable Society and the Poor House were in Belfast’s development.
During this talk, visitors will learn about how the Society first brought clean piped water to the town on a mass scale and the first to offer outdoor relief for the poor. They will also learn more about the role of Mary Ann McCracken and the Ladies’ Committee, who transformed the lives of the children through education, compassion and care. This talk will lead attendees through centuries of innovation and development, right up to the modern day, all while sitting in the heart of the Poor House where it all took place. Today Clifton House is a social enterprise of the Belfast Charitable Society. Profits from talks and tours continue to support those disadvantaged by poverty in Belfast and beyond.