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Belfast experienced phenomenal growth during the nineteenth century, increasing from a town of 30,000 inhabitants to become a city of 350,000.

Much of this growth came about as a result of people migrating into Belfast in search of employment in…

Alongside state-sponsored relief, the poor of Belfast also turned to multiple charitable and voluntary organisations for support. Street directories for nineteenth-century Belfast list the multiple charitable and voluntary organisations that existed…

Destitution was a harsh reality for many of Belfast’s inhabitants and, for those who could no longer support themselves, Belfast Union workhouse on the Lisburn Road was often the last resort. Workhouses had been introduced in Ireland under the Irish…

Diseases such as cholera, typhus, measles, whooping cough and tuberculosis were exacerbated by the environmental problems of the industrial city, and were a constant threat to the city’s inhabitants. Infants were particularly vulnerable and infant…

Poverty and public health in Belfast, 1888-1914

Poverty and public health in Belfast, 1888-1914

Poverty and public health in Belfast, 1888-1914

Occupation and ill health were closely connected in industrial cities such as Belfast. By 1910 there were 75,000 linen operatives in Belfast of which five sixths were women. The dusty, hot, cramped and damp conditions in many mills were conducive to…