Classes & Workshops
-
Love in the time of Jane Austen
Saturday 15 Nov 2025
10am - 1pm, Queen’s University
2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. Her works and their adaptations give a glimpse into Regency society and the conventions of love and courtship. This half-day workshop delves into the history of love, marriage and sex in this period in England. It will place classics like Pride & Prejudice and more recent hits like Bridgerton into their historical context. Through looking at contemporary sources, the class will discover the reality of courting, elopements, seductions, marriages and even what happened “between the sheets”. We will also look at why the Austen concept of romance and marriage still endures and how her legacy continues centuries later.
-
Ulster in the Nineteenth Century
Tuesdays 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm, starting 20 January 2026
10 week course
Queen’s University
The nineteenth century saw huge changes across Ireland. Population changes were shaped by events such as the Great Famine and the rise of emigration. Religious changes took place in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. Politics changed drastically and political participation involved every class within society. Women’s lives were radically altered while the class divisions within society were strengthened and enforced.
This course looks at the events of this turbulent century in the province of Ulster. It will ask questions like did Ulster experience key events any differently than the rest of Ireland? How did Ulster go from the United Irishmen of 1798 to the staunch unionists of the 1880s and 1890s? We will answer these questions by examining contemporary sources to uncover the political, religious and social history of Ulster.
-
Crowns, Coups & Courage: The Tudor Queens of England
Thursdays 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm, starting 22 January 2026
10 week course
Queen’s University
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
-
Friar's Bush Graveyard Tour
Friar's Bush graveyard tour
Saturday 29 November
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.
-
Book a Private / Group Tour
A range of tours can be arranged to suit small groups
Minimum group size: 2
Maximum group size 20
-
Book a Talk
Book a private talk for your group by getting in touch.
Full list of available talks on request. Examples of recent talks in the Recent Events section below.
Recent events
-
"Something Wicked This Way Comes": Witches in Irish History
Saturday 25 October 2025, 11am
Templemore Baths, Belfast
Get into the Halloween spirit with this entertaining look back at witches in Irish history. Historian Dr Robyn Atcheson will take you on a journey from medieval murderesses and agricultural hijinks right up to Ireland's last witch trial. We will look at what people believed, how to identify a witch and the influence of the European witch-hunting craze.
Due to content, this talk is suitable for adults and secondary school-age children.
-
EHOD Lecture - The Workhouses of Ulster
Friday 12 Sept 2025, 1pm
PRONI
As part of European Heritage Open Days, this free talk explored the workhouses of Ulster from their introduction in the nineteenth century to today.
It explained how workhouses were chosen as the means of relieving Irish poverty, how they differed from their English counterparts and how they were designed to reflect the strict and regimented life within.
By using examples from across Ulster, this talk looked at how many workhouses survive and why before a discussion of how to appropriately commemorate this dark piece of our shared heritage.
-
Friar's Bush Graveyard Tours
Friar's Bush graveyard tour
Friday 22 August 2025, 11am - 12.30pm
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.
-
The Workhouse System in Ireland
Thursday 7 August 2025 7pm
Down County Museum, Downpatrick
This free talk provided historical context for the current Downpatrick Workhouse exhibition in Down County Museum. It explained how and why workhouses were introduced to Ireland, what life was like in the workhouse and how the system faced the crisis of the Great Famine in the late 1840s.
A version of this talk was presented at Ballymena Family History Society in April 2024.
-
The Great Hunger in Belfast
Wednesday 18 June 7pm
ÁRAS UÍ CHONGHAILE
James Connolly Visitor Centre, Belfast
Despite the long-standing myth, Belfast was dramatically affected by An Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger. This talk uncovered how and why Belfast suffered in the late 1840s and showed the specifics of how organisations and institutions like the hospitals and the workhouse tackled the problems facing the town.
-
Belfast Women & The War
Thursday 8 May 2025 3pm
The MAC, Belfast
This talk marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, honouring the often overlooked contributions of women during World War II. The experiences of women in Belfast who played pivotal roles in their community during the Belfast Blitz and beyond were shared, shedding light on their untold stories.
-
Remarkable Women of Belfast
Wednesday 5th March 1pm
Belfast City Hall
To mark International Women’s Day, this talk celebrated the women who were honoured one year ago with the unveiling of their statues on the grounds of Belfast City Hall, Mary Ann McCracken and Winifred Carney.
This talk, led by Dr Lauren Smyth and myself, featured the stories of Mary Ann, Winnie and other remarkable women from Belfast’s history.
-
The Great Famine in Belfast: Exceptionalism versus experience
Thursday 20 February, 1pm
Clifton House, Belfast & Online
The Great Famine, An Gorta Mór, was the watershed moment of the nineteenth century, shaping Ireland and beyond through the high death toll and mass emigration. This talk uncovers how and why Belfast suffered in the late 1840s and delves into the specifics of how institutions like the Belfast Poor House, hospitals and the workhouse worked together in an attempt to ease the problems facing the town.
-
The Belfast Workhouse
Talk at Koinonia Belfast
13 February 2025
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.
-
Public Health in 19th-century Ulster
Stormont Probus
11 March 2025
Carryduff Historical Society
14 October 2024
An overview of what healthcare was available for people in Ulster in the nineteenth century.
-
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.