Discover the darker side of Belfast's history on this walking tour through the historic center, filled with stories of rebellion, smugglers, and public executions.
Secrets of Old Belfast
From Victorian-era crimes and executions to hidden passageways, mysterious alleyways, superstitions, and secret rebellions... We'll meet outside the old Crumlin Road Gaol to kick off this walking tour through hidden Belfast.
We'll start by taking a look at the facade of Belfast's most famous prison, Crumlin Road Gaol. This site once held some of the city's most notorious prisoners and witnessed a few truly wild escape attempts.
We'll walk through central Belfast to get a feel for the city's true spirit. We'll stop at the Albert Memorial Clock, a monument that not everyone loves, and talk about the Victorian era, a time of frequent crimes and public executions.
From there, we'll head to Writer's Square and Saint Anne's Cathedral, right in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter. Here, we'll see Belfast through the eyes of the writers and journalists who captured the city at its most authentic, and learn how this area went from being one of Belfast's darkest corners to becoming a cultural hotspot.
We'll pass by Bank Square, once the site of public punishments and unrest in Belfast, before stopping at Kelly's Cellar, one of Northern Ireland's oldest pubs and a former hotspot for conspiracies, secret meetings, and rebel movements that changed the course of the city's history.
Finally, we'll wander through the Entries, Belfast's oldest alleyways, uncovering hair-raising stories of smugglers, merchants, and sailors.
We'll wrap up this dark tour after 2 hours outside Belfast City Hall.