On the 20th May 1784 - Belfasts first Catholic church, St. Marys, opened for public worship. It was , built at the very close of the Penal Days. The present building stands on the site of the original chapel, built in 1784. The original church was the gift of the Presbyterians of Belfast who raised more than half the costs of its erection. Symbolically, its grand opening in May 1784 was marked by the attendance of the Irish Volunteers who, under their captain, Waddell Cunningham, a leading merchant of the town, presented arms as the priest entered the church and attended the first Mass. Belfast saw the founding of the Irish Volunteers in 1778, who established to defend Ireland against European attack and the Society of United Irishmen was a more radical organisation founded in 1791—both dedicated to democratic reform, an end to religious discrimination and greater independence for Ireland. Although as a result of intense repression and internal differences however, only a few Belfast radicals played a role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In the same vicinity is Kelly’s Cellars Belfast’s oldest public house. A plaque on the wall records that it was a meeting place of the United Irishmen before the 1798 Rebellion - and the legend is that Henry Joy McCracken and his associates might have hidden out in the bar. On Friday 20th 2014 May the pupils of Colaiste Feirste (the first Irish college in Belfast) re enacted this historic event.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 22:42:47 +0000
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