1798 – A Belfast Rebellion Walking Tour

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Operator: DC Tours – Belfast Walking Tours
Duration: 2 h 30 m
Area: Belfast
Prices: Person £25.44

About this tour

“1798 – A Belfast Rebellion” is a 2 ½ hour walking tour within the city centre, uncovering Georgian Belfast and individuals who hoped for a better future.

Duration

2.5 Hours

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About

The tour starts and finishes at the gates of City Hall and tells the story of the origins and formation of the United Irishmen in Belfast, through to the 1798 Rebellion and its suppression. We will lead you through the important sites that remain today and introduce you to those who fanned the flames of Rebellion. We use our Vox headsets, so you won’t miss out on anything and the route is less than two miles and is completely flat.

You will learn what life was like for the Presbyterians of early Belfast, who were successful merchants and yet excluded from political influence. Come and learn how these enlightened sparks lit a flame that set Ireland on fire.
What you’ll do.

From the City Hall, we will take you back in time over two hundred years to imagine a Belfast that was beginning to expand through its shipping trade with the outside world. Linen, Cotton, Ship Building and Ropeworks were in their infancy and Belfast Citizens were attracted by the exotic imports of Tobacco, Rum, Sugar, Wine and Port. The citizens of the town began to improve their living conditions by contributing their money and energies to form commercial and cultural associations that would give Belfast every advantage.

The Society for Promoting Knowledge, later to become the Linen Hall Library, was one such cultural step forward in the form of a lending library. Former Soldier, leading United Irishman and Librarian, Thomas Russell was arrested on their premises in 1796 in an effort to prevent the Rebellion.

We will visit St Mary’s Church, Belfast’s first Roman Catholic Church, opened in May 1784, accompanied by a guard of honour from the mainly Presbyterian Belfast Volunteers.

From there it’s only a short distance to Rosemary Street where there used to be three large Presbyterian Meeting Houses as well as the family home of the McCracken family.

We will understand how the Presbyterian beliefs and democratic church structures contributed to their ability to reach out and support their fellow Roman Catholic Citizens.

Just a little further is the Exchange and Assembly Rooms, where important town meetings were held and few more important, than the court martial of Henry Joy McCracken, following the failure of the Battle of Antrim.

Having been found guilty, he would be hung later that day and we will explore the site of this grisly event in High Street.

Other highlights include the Muddlers Club, St George’s Church and Joy’s entry, an experience that will make it easier to imagine a busy and charged atmosphere of a bustling town.

We will return to City Hall and consider the impact that the Rebellion had on Irish History and its context in the most recent “Troubles”.

We will try to understand how it has become a story which is misremembered and shunned, almost with a sense of shame, and yet it offered hope for a future of equality, liberty and fraternity well ahead of our current expectations of fairness and Human Rights, now incorporated in the Good Friday Agreement.

Included

Whisper sets to hear your guide clearly at all times.

Meeting point

DC Tours, Front Gates, Belfast City Hall, Donegall Square North

Cancellation policy

Scheduled tour customers will receive a full refund or credit with 24 hours notice of cancellation. Customers will also receive a full refund or credit in case of operator cancellation due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Contact us by phone or email to cancel or inquire about a cancellation. No-shows will be charged the full price.

Cancellation and Refunds

Cancellations by DC Tours
DC Tours reserves the right to cancel or postpone a tour for any reason. This includes, but is not limited to, bad weather and staff illness. If we cancel a tour, we will provide you with a full refund or tickets for alternative date if available and mutually agreeable.

Cancellations by the Participant
Bookings made directly with DC Tours can only be cancelled by the participant by giving written notice to the company at least 24 hours before the original tour date.

Bookings made through a third party reseller such as Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Viator or GetYourGuide are subject to their cancellation terms and conditions and you must contact the agent directly. We cannot cancel a tour on your behalf with a reseller. (The relevant party who has sold the ticket to the participant will make any reimbursements subject to their terms).

There will be no refund of a ticket by DC Tours except in accordance with these terms and conditions or as agreed in writing by the company. Refunds will only be made to the person who purchased the ticket from DC Tours.

Changing a booking date
For bookings made directly with DC Tours, if the participant needs to change their booking they must advise DC Tours at least 24 hours prior to the original tour date. (We will do our best to accommodate the new date. However, if the new desired date is already fully booked, either a gift card can be issued or the payment will be forfeit.) For bookings made through a third party reseller, the participant must contact their agent directly as they will be subject to the resellers own terms.

Private & Group Tour Cancellations
The terms for Group and Private Tour booking cancellations are as follows:

• Cancellation 8 days or more prior to tour date: A refund less 10% administration fee will be provided if participant or agent cancels.
• Cancellation notice between 1 week and 48 hours prior to tour commencement date: A 50% cancellation fee of the total tour cost applies if participant or agent cancels.
• Cancellation notice within 48 hours of tour commencement date: A 100% cancellation fee applies if participant or agent cancels.