The Medical History of Belfast Charitable Society (Cemetery Tour)

Let us take you on journey through the medical history of 18th and 19th Century Belfast through the lives of pioneering surgeons and philanthropists who now lie in rest in Clifton Street Cemetery.

From the opening of the Poor House in 1774, Belfast Charitable Society’s philanthropic aims helped foster an environment of pioneering medical work and cemented themselves as an essential part of Belfast’s history.

Through a guided tour of Clifton Street Cemetery, learn how the Society took part in innovative inoculation campaigns through the guidance United Irishman, William Drennan. Explore the findings of the recently unearthed mysterious medical chest belonging to James McCleery, surgeon to the Poorhouse during the Famine.  And hear more about the significant contributions made by Edward Benn and Martha McTier, while respectively standing at their final resting place.

Our guides will cover the darker side of our medical history too, from the demands of the Cholera epidemics and Famine Fever to the role Clifton Street Cemetery played in the bodysnatching of the 1800s.

Book online HERE