TWO events celebrating the United Irishmen in Belfast are taking place this weekend hosted by historian Seán Napier.
And Seán has also revealed that Sugarhouse Entry – which runs parallel to Bridge Street between High Street and Waring Street – will soon be reopened to the public after being closed for 50 years due to the conflict here.
Regarding the events this weekend Seán said the first is a talk to be held in the Roddy McCorley Republican Heritage Centre on Friday at 7pm.
The talk will focus on the rise of the United Irishmen in Belfast and give a background into their radical thinking and the ideas of the Enlightenment which led young and radical Presbyterians, Anglicans and dispossessed Irish Catholics to come together to attempt rebellion against British colonialism in Ireland.
#Reclaim #Sugarhouse Entry..a Belfast gem, hidden from it's people..it's illustrious history and the meeting place of the #UnitedIrishmen and radical 1790's Belfast.
— Seán Napier (@Seanofthesouth) November 26, 2022
#PeggyBarclaysTavern#Enlightenment#Democracy
When is it being reopened? @belfastcc ? pic.twitter.com/7pTlHn1Vat
The second event, on Saturday 21 will involve a commemoration from the United Irish Historical Society for the Teeling family at 5pm at Cloona House in Dunmurry.
The event will involve a walk to the Teeling monument and songs will be sung in memory of 1798. The memorial and talk will focus on Batholomew Teeling and his family. Bartholomew Teeling was the son of a Catholic Linen manufacturer from Lisburn with property in the Dunmurry area. He was executed in 1798 after the defeat of Teeling and French forces after the Battle of Ballinamuck in Co Longford in September 1798.
UNITED IRISHMEN: Saturday's event will commemorate the Teeling family of 1798 fame
On the reopening of Sugarhouse Entry, Seán said it was originally closed due to the conflict here but would now be reopened. Seán said the reopening of the entry was an opportunity for Belfast to celebrate and take pride in one of the most colourful entries in the city.
“In 1972 they closed Sugarhouse Entry with the ring of steel during the conflict. There used to be a British Army war memorial there as well. Today, however, the alleyway is still closed but it shouldn’t be closed, they no longer have a reason for it to be closed.
“I think the reason why they’ve kept it closed is because some places having been using it as a bin store or a toilet! However the entries are coming back to life and these entries tell the story of life in Belfast and they should be used again. If you go to any city in Europe they have all these back alleys with loads of great businesses and pubs down them. We used to have that but it’s only recently started coming back."
UNITED IRISHMEN: A poster for the event at Roddy's on Friday
Seán continued: “If you go to Whites on Saturday night it’s packed. Joy’s Entry is packed too, things are changing and the entries are very important. Sugarhouse Entry is one of the very important ones because it’s where the United Irishman plotted the whole rebellion. It’s even more famous than Crown Entry. They lived there, boozed there and plotted there!
“It was the site of the Peggy Barkley’s aka the ‘Ben Franklin Inn’ where Tone, Russell and McCracken plotted and had a drink. It was the beating heart of radical Belfast. It was described as the jewel in the crown of Irish Enlightenment thinking, or maybe a dagger in the crown would be a better description! They had a sign outside Peggy Barkley’s of an upside down gibbet."
