Thursday 29th October 2026

11am - 12.30pm

2pm - 3.30pm

Shankill Road Library

FREE

Calling all Junior Historians!

This half-term join Dr Robyn for a jam-packed workshop all about the history of Shankill graveyard. If your child likes Horrible Histories, they will love this!

Grown ups will stay with their Junior Historians and might even learn something too!

As well as learning from a real historian and taking part in activities in the library, all Junior Historians will receive a workbook to take away with even more history activities about Shankill graveyard. Plus a chance to enter an art competition to win free tickets to W5.

This event is generously funded by Queen’s University Belfast in partnership with the Centre for Public History as part of Shankill History Month.

Friday 30th October 2026

7pm - 11pm

W5

This Halloween, W5 comes alive after dark for an adults-only night of thrills, chills and twisted science.

Alongside some spooky surprises throughout the evening, medical historian Dr Robyn Atcheson delves into surgery in Victorian Belfast, brandishing real medical instruments & revealing what happened to the bodies of the poor. Bodysnatching, autopsies & dissection - all will be revealed in gruesome talks all about the horrible histories of Belfast.

With fancy dress competitions, character meet and greets and even face painting for grown ups - this is a night full of fun and spooky shenanigans.

Wednesday 25th November 2026

7pm

Clifton House & Online

“The poorhouse and the workhouse - well, aren’t they the same thing?”

When it comes to Belfast, the poorhouse and the workhouse were actually two distinct organisations with buildings in different parts of town, both providing for the poor in very different ways.

This in-conversation event draws out the parallels and the differences between these two institutions. Two historians who have each spent years studying their institution will discuss the history, the buildings and the people who made the poorhouse & the workhouse.

The beginnings of both houses will be explained, as well as who ran them, funded them and who lived in them. Themes of health, gender and burials will be brought out as we discuss what happened in these institutions.

If you have ever wondered what the difference was between the poorhouse & the workhouse, this is your chance to hear from the experts & ask your own questions in this brand new history event.

The Speakers:

Dr Lauren Smyth is the Historian of Clifton House who researches and tells the stories of those who worked and lived in the Belfast Poor House, the work of the Belfast Charitable Society and Mary Ann McCracken.

Dr Robyn Atcheson is a social historian who teaches and writes on social history, history of medicine and women's history. Her specialist research interests lie in the history of poor relief and public health in nineteenth-century Belfast.

Friar’s Bush Graveyard

Calling all Junior Historians!

This summer you can enter the gates of the ancient Friar's Bush Graveyard and learn all about its fascinating history from a real historian. If your child likes Horrible Histories, they will love this!

For 90 minutes, children (ages 6 - 11) will enter this graveyard and learn lots about the history of Belfast. After touring through the 19th century, children will find out all about deadly diseases of the past before receiving their Junior Historians pack. This bespoke workbook includes activities for within the graveyard as well as some bonus worksheets to take home. After each activity, historian Dr Robyn will lead the kids through what they have learned & encourage their history detecting skills.

Grown-ups will stay with their Junior Historians in the graveyard and will probably learn something too!

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 6th February

10am - 1pm

Queen’s University, Belfast

Katherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, Mary Queen of Scots – three royal women with one thing in common. All three parted with their heads in the month of February.

This half-day workshop offers a deep dive into these famous executions and examines the wider history of royal executions both before and after the Tudor dynasty. We will also look at the non-royals who met their fates on the block in February. Is it the most popular month for beheadings?

What other ways could people be legally executed in the early modern period? We will use contemporary sources and media depictions to discuss these famous examples of royal executions.

10 week course starting Tuesday 19th January

Tuesdays 7pm - 9pm

Queen’s University, Belfast AND Online

As a significant event in Irish history, this course explores what happened in Belfast during the Great Famine of 1845 – 50.

To appreciate the circumstances in Belfast, the course includes an overview of nineteenth-century Ireland and how Belfast fitted into that context.

The experiences of Belfast people will be examined in depth by looking at first-hand accounts on issues like poverty, disease, charity and the workhouse.

The legacy of the Famine in Belfast will also be discussed as well as how the Famine is commemorated locally, nationally and globally.

This class will be offered in hybrid form, i.e. you can attend on QUB campus or online

10 week course beginning 21 January

Thursdays 7pm - 9pm

Queen’s University, Belfast

Behind the well-known Tudor queens were their relatives, their servants and their friends – women who often tested how much power and influence a woman could wield in early modern England.

This course looks at ten powerful Tudor women who exerted their influence over the court in various ways.

From the King’s mother to the Queen’s ladies, we will examine the lives, the marriages, the politics and the religion of women right at the heart of the Tudor court.

In a period when men held all official power, what options were there for women who wanted to live a life on their own terms?