The Great Famine in Belfast: Exceptionalism versus Experience

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. There has long been a myth that the suffering of the period 1845 – 51 did not affect Ulster, particularly its booming principal town of Belfast. However, recent research shows that Belfast was dramatically affected. 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.

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. Robyn contributed the chapter ‘Poorhouse to Pandemic: medical relief and public health in early nineteenth-century Belfast’ to the latest volume on the history of Clifton House and consults on a range of public history projects.

Tickets for this talk are £6pp (or £5 for concession). Book your room (in Clifton House) or zoom ticket HERE.

This talk is kindly funded by the Department of Foreign Affair’s Reconciliation Fund.