The Belfast Workhouse and the Famine
A look at the history of the Belfast Workhouse and how the city was affected by the famine in 1845-46, followed by the typhus epidemic in 1847 and the cholera epidemic in 1849.
The Belfast Suffragettes
Our grannies’ grannies lived in interesting times. While the main political issue in Belfast leading up to World War I was definitely Home Rule, the campaign for equal votes led some women to launch attacks on Unionist homes and public properties.
The 1974 Ulster Worker’s Strike, Fifty Years On
There will undoubtedly be a lot written about the Ulster Workers’ strike this year, as we mark its fiftieth anniversary. I was interested in looking at it from a civilian perspective, because that’s what we do at DC Tours. [...]
Thomas Hart, a Titanic mystery
Two names on the Titanic Memorial at Belfast City Hall have asterisks against them - John Horgan and Thomas Hart. But what are the asterisks for? I did a bit of digging and here's what I found out.
Sir Charles Brett – the man who recorded Belfast’s built heritage
If you have any interest in Belfast architecture you will have heard of Sir Charles Brett (1928-2005), whether as the author C.E.B. Brett, or Charlie Brett. He was a fascinating figure, a solicitor who was variously a politician, historian, artist, journalist, writer and conservationist.
Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in Belfast
We have a new statue in Belfast! It stands in Lombard Street and commemorates Frederick Douglass, the American author, anti-slavery campaigner and early champion of women’s rights.
Cleaning up Belfast’s Forgotten Memorial
The only public memorial to victims of the troubles in Belfast was defaced by graffiti last year. After six months nothing had been done to restore it, so we cleaned it up ourselves.
Our free self guided tour of the Titanic Quarter has been updated!
We have updated our free self guided tour of the Titanic Quarter just in time for the summer holidays.
Steering Us Through The Conflict
Very simply being a civilian bus driver or conductor here was an incredibly dangerous job. And just being a passenger on a bus could be a very dangerous ‘activity’.
Belfast & Branagh
The DC Tours phone rang on Monday, and I answered professionally and courteously as usual. Nadia, a pleasant woman with a posh London accent, quickly explained that BBC Breakfast wanted to interview me as a Belfast tour guide and historian about the Kenneth Branagh film ‘Belfast’.
Violet Gibson – The Woman from Dublin who shot Benito Mussolini
The spectre of assassination was probably not envisaged as being in the form of a mentally ill, 50-year-old Dublin woman clothed in a black shawl and armed with a rock and a revolver. This however was how Violet Gibson appeared as she shot and wounded Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Walter Devereux, The 1st Earl of Essex. Never Shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sir Walter Devereux 1st Earl of Essex may not be as (in)famous as Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell or King William of Orange amongst those to visit Ireland and leave an indelible historical mark on the land, but he certainly deserves a mention.