Classes & Workshops
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Being Poor in Nineteenth-Century Belfast
Begins Thursday 23 January 2025
7pm - 9pm at Queen’s
10 week course
This course will examine what life was like in Belfast in the nineteenth century for the poorest in society.
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Petticoat Rule: The Powerful Women of the Tudor Court
Begins 21 January 2025
7 - 9pm at Queen’s
10 week course
This course looks at 10 lesser-known Tudor women who exercised different kinds of power at the Tudor court and beyond.
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Call the Midwife! A Brief History of Pregnancy and Childbirth
Saturday 1 February 2025
10am - 1pm at Queen’s
1 day workshop
A potted history of how medicine understood pregnancy from the 15th century to the 20th and the experiences of pregnant women in childbirth.
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The Famine in Belfast
Begins Thursday 3 October 2024
7 - 9pm at Queen’s
10 week course
A myth-busting class looking at how the Great Famine of the 1840s affected Belfast, covering charity, disease, emigration and the workhouse.
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Romancing the Throne: The Women who Scandalised the Tudor Court
Begins Tuesday 1 October 2024
7 - 9pm at Queen’s
10 week course
A look at 10 remarkable women from the Tudor court who scandalised society with their romantic relationships.
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Mary Ann McCracken and Remarkable Belfast Women
Saturday 9 November 2024
10am - 1pm at Queen’s
1 Day workshop
A deep dive into Mary Ann McCracken and other remarkable women from Belfast’s history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Horrible Histories for Grown Ups
Tuesday 30th April 2024
7pm - 9pm at Queen’s
5 week course.
This course will look at all the gruesome parts of history you weren’t taught in school. Topics include The Great Stink, bodysnatching, syphilis, public executions, the invention of underwear, common poisons and lots more guts and gore.
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Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History
Thursday 2nd May 2024
7pm - 9 pm at Queen’s
5 week course.
An introduction to women’s history focusing on 5 archetypes - the saint, the sinner, the wife/mother, the witch and the rebel.
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Anne Boleyn - Feminist Icon or Femme Fatale?
Saturday 18th May 2024
10am - 1pm at Queen’s
1 Day workshop.
The most infamous wife of Henry VIII, beheaded after only 3 years as Queen. A deep dive into the legacy of Anne Boleyn, looking at original source material and media representations
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Crowns, Coups and Courage: The Tudor Queens of England
Tuesdays 7pm - 9pm at Queen’s
10 week course.
This course looks at the Tudor queens in depth, from Elizabeth of York to Elizabeth I through all six of Henry VIII’s wives. We will examine their lives, their reigns and the scandals they attracted. It will examine why female rule was so resisted and look at the legacies of the first Queens regnant, including one who reigned for nine days.
Tours & Talks
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Pox, Plagues & Paupers - Horrible Histories of Belfast
Thursday 13 February 2025, 2 - 3.30pm
Sunday 16 February 2025, 2 - 3.30pm
Pox, plagues, cholera - all just part of life for people in 19th-century Belfast. How did they cope with the constant outbreaks of disease? How did doctors treat the sick? Where did all the dead bodies go? This tour introduces you to the stories of the poor of Belfast and their experiences of health and sickness as well as their fears of the workhouse, hospitals and the dreaded body-snatchers.
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Book a Private / Group Tour
A range of tours can be arranged to suit small groups
Minimum group size: 2
Maximum group size 20
Past events
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The Belfast Workhouse
Talk at Gilnahirk Ladies’ Group
25 November 2024
This talk covers the origin and history of the Belfast workhouse and its evolution into one of the biggest hospitals in modern Northern Ireland.
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Public Health in 19th-century Ulster
Carryduff Historical Society
14 October 2024
An overview of what healthcare was available for people in Ulster in the nineteenth century.
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Paupers & Public Health: Belfast Charitable Society & the sick poor
Clifton House, Belfast & online
Mon 29th April 2024
Since opening its doors 250 years ago, the Poorhouse was the first to offer free medical relief for the sick poor of Belfast. As the town grew, the role of the Belfast Charitable Society remained central to the expanding network of charities, institutions and hospitals providing different kinds of medical care. This talk explores how the Society treated the sick within its own walls and how it endeavoured to respond to various public health issues. The Society played a key role in the provision of maternity care and the establishment of a lunatic asylum as well as dealing with epidemics of infectious and venereal diseases.
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The Workhouse System in Ireland
Ballymena Family History Society - Public Talk
Thursday 25th April 2024
This talk explains the background to the workhouse system in Ireland and demonstrates what life was like in an Irish workhouse. The story of the local workhouse is also discussed.