Saturday 23rd May 2026

2pm

Starting at Queen’s University Belfast

£15

This is a circular tour route led by historian Dr Robyn Atcheson. This tour introduces you to some remarkable women from the 19th and 20th centuries and the ways in which they rebelled against societal norms.

The route takes in their homes, their businesses, their schools and tells their stories in their terms.

You'll meet women who fought for the poor and oppressed, for the rights of women, the medical pioneers & the brilliant earliest female students at Queen’s.

Saturday 23 May 2026

11am - 12.30pm

£15

Pay at the gate

Dr Robyn Atcheson leads this special tour of Friar’s Bush graveyard through it’s incredible long history. From an unknown religious settlement beyond the small town of Belfast to a modern 19th-century graveyard struggling with the mortality rates of the booming industrial centre. This tour takes you through the history of the graveyard, introduces some key individuals buried there and tells the story of the city of Belfast.

As this tour is led by Robyn, her special interests will also be covered - bodysnatching, the Famine and some horrible historic diseases.

No need to book - just turn up wearing sensible shoes and pay £15 at the gate. Children 12 and under go free.

Wednesday 27th May 2026

7pm

Clifton House & Online

During the crisis of the late 1840s, thousands of people poured into Belfast seeking an escape from the effects of the potato blight and subsequent hunger. One Belfast physician described the new arrivals by their plague-breath, the diseases they breathed into the growing town. Belfast's public health system was overwhelmed as diseases like typhus, smallpox and dysentery raged through the town in 1847 before the arrival of the most feared epidemic, cholera.

This talk looks at how Belfast's medical network coped with unprecedented levels of disease and how the institutions of the town dealt with the unfolding catastrophe. It will show the lasting effects of the Famine outbreaks of disease on the growing town and what remains in Belfast today of this terrible period of disease and death. 

Saturday 30th May 2026

11am

Pembroke Street Halls, Donegall Road, Belfast

£10

For a century, the Belfast workhouse oversaw the growth & expansion of the city of Belfast. This is its story.

The Belfast Union Workhouse opened its doors in 1841 as a last resort for the destitute and sick of the growing industrial town. Over a century, tens of thousands of people passed through the building and its associated hospital. Many died there and were buried in the workhouse burial ground on the Donegall Road.

Dr Robyn Atcheson has spent over a decade researching the Belfast workhouse and has successfully campaigned for the final resting place of so many workhouse residents to be marked. This talk recreates what life was like in the workhouse and why so many people were afraid of ending up within its walls. You will discover why the workhouse evolved into a hospital and why its graveyard was quietly forgotten.

In partnership with Seed Talks

Sunday 7th June 2026

Doors 5pm, Talk 5.30pm

The Sugar Club, Dublin

Explore witchcraft and women in Ireland through rare trials and folklore, uncovering gender, class and belief. Followed by Q&A.

In Irish history, the figure of the witch sits in stark contrast to how it is often imagined in Britain. While Scotland executed over a thousand accused witches and England around half that number, Ireland recorded only four official witch trials. 

In this talk, Dr Robyn Atcheson explores those rare cases to ask why the witch-hunting craze largely bypassed Ireland, and what they reveal about Irish society at the time. We’ll look at folk medicine and healing traditions, the roles older women played within their communities, and the tension between everyday belief in the supernatural and the teachings of the Church.

Through the four Irish cases, we follow stories of a servant girl accused of killing her mistress’s wealthy husbands, a case of demonic possession, and Ireland’s last witch trial in the 1800s where nine people were convicted of bewitching. Throughout, we’ll explore how gender, class and disability shaped who was accused – and why.

This talk is 16+ 

In Conversation with Robyn Atcheson for the Belfast Book Festival

Tuesday 9th June 2026

6pm - 7.30pm

Pay what you decide

at The Crescent Arts Centre

Set before and during World War II, including the Belfast Blitz, The Irish Midwives is the new historical romance series from Northern Irish author Seána Tinley. 

From the illegal midwives who helped their community to ambulance service volunteers, Seána’s deeply researched novels are perfect for fans of the TV series Call the Midwife. 

Join Seána, chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, in conversation with social historian Robyn Atcheson, whose research interests include the history of public health, pregnancy and childbirth. 

Robyn is an experienced and fully-insured tour guide providing bespoke, all-ability walking tours.

Historical tours are arranged for all kinds of groups - current and retired work colleagues, church and community groups, families both local and visiting, tourists and all manner of clubs and associations.

Bring Ireland’s social history to life with a private talk or workshop tailored to your group, organisation or event. Robyn has almost two decades of experience as a history communicator and storyteller.

For those further afield talks can be delivered online and Robyn’s team is fully equipped to deliver top-notch audio and video quality with dedicated equipment and support.

Saturday 16th May

10am - 12noon

Holywood Arches Library, Belfast

£20

Perhaps the most infamous of the wives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was beheaded after only three years as Queen, yet she has continued to fascinate throughout the centuries.

This class will offer a deep dive into the legacy of Anne Boleyn and how she has been remembered.

We will look at original source material from the Tudor era and track how writers and historians have cast Anne as both a Protestant martyr and an evil witch.

The class will also involve looking at media representations of Anne in film and TV, watching clips of key depictions and discussing what way we view the many fictionalised Annes.

Saturday 9th May

10am to 1pm

Queen’s University

£25

Where do wedding traditions come from? How important are royal weddings when it comes to trend setting? Where did brides get something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue?

This workshop takes you through a brief history of weddings and marriage from the Tudors right through to today.

We will look at wedding traditions through the centuries and study examples of famous marriages in British and Irish history - the good, the bad and the shocking.

Using contemporary sources from all walks of life, this class will lift the veil on how modern weddings and marriages came to be.

5 Week Course

Starting Wednesday 15th April

7 - 9pm

Templemore Baths

£50

Each week of this course will take a different female archetype and break down what each role really meant throughout the centuries with stories about a range of women throughout history.

Participants will receive a primary sourcebook full of the words of women from centuries ago which will help shape each week's discussion. No prior knowledge is necessary.

This course is not just about learning something new from an expert in women's history but also about connecting with women in the past, sharing stories and chat with each other and uncovering the hidden history of women all around us.

Tea & coffee provided.

5 Week Course

Starting Tuesday 5th May

7 - 9pm

Queen’s University

£50

This course covers the history of one of Belfast’s most important institutions and the most feared destination for the working classes - the workhouse.

We will track the introduction of the workhouse and its story over the nineteenth century, looking at the people who lived and worked there as well as scandals from within the walls.

The role of the workhouse in providing healthcare will be studied, bringing its history into the twentieth century and its transfer to the new National Health Service.

We will also look at why the history of the workhouse is experiencing a revival and what new developments are unfolding.

5 Week Course

Starting Thursday 7th May

7 - 9pm

Queen’s University

£50

This brand new course brings even more history you didn’t learn in school.

Each week’s class will be on a different theme, showcasing a broad range of topics from true crime cases that shocked Victorian society to looking at supernatural beliefs in modern British and Irish history.

We will also explore some of history’s most disgusting and scandalous occupations and what previous generations loved and loathed to consume.

Using real contemporary sources, we will unpick what life was really like - warts and all.