Past events
2025
Dublin Tour
16 October 2025 — Tour to Dublin including access to Trinity College archive materials related to the United Irishmen and an afternoon guided tour by Fergus Whelan.
Professor Peter Gray Talk
8 October 2025 — Professor Peter Gray spoke on William Sharman Crawford in Seaton’s Bar.
Bastille Day Event
13 July 2025 — Bastille Day celebration featuring John Gray, Bayan Robin Ribhi Natsch, performances by Mary McCabe, and a re-enactment led by Andrew McClay.
Cave Hill Walk
21 June 2025 — John Gray led a Cave Hill walk: Following in the footsteps of the United Irishmen.
Harps Alive Festival
10 June 2025 — Harps Alive / An Chruit Bheo / Harps Leevin Festival. Reclaim the Enlightenment acted as joint lead partner with Harp Ireland / Cruit Eireann. The week included school workshops, major concerts, and lectures across Belfast venues.
Professor Diarmid Finnegan at Clifton House
22 May 2025 — Professor Diarmid Finnegan spoke on John Tyndall at Clifton House.
Ram’s Island Visit
14 May 2025 — A visit to Ram’s Island in Lough Neagh following in the footsteps of Wolfe Tone.
Pre-AGM Talk by John Gray
24 March 2025 — Prior to the AGM, John Gray spoke on Lindsay Crawford, the Independent Orange Order and the Magheramorne Manifesto.
Alternative Burns Night
25 January 2025 — Alternative Burns Night held at the Deer’s Head with performances by Dr Frank Ferguson, Hugh Jordan and Alan Miller, with music from Ursula Burns and Lachlan McKibbin.
2023
A talk by Stephen McCracken
Larne Museum & Arts Centre — Thursday 24 August 2023, 7pm–8.30pm (Battle of Larne, 7 June 1798).
Cave Hill 1798 walk
Guided walk with John Gray and friends — Saturday 2 September 2023, 10am–2pm.
The abolitionist watchmakers of Belfast
Mark Doherty — Monday 15 May 2023, 7pm, The Duncairn Centre.
Re-remembering 1798
Claire Mitchell in conversation — Monday 24 April 2023, 7pm, Eastside Centre (Newtownards Rd, Belfast).
The Sampson Family (William and the United Irishmen)
Fiona Pegrum — Wednesday 22 March 2023, 7pm, The Duncairn Centre (Zoom available).
Henry Monroe
Ken Dawson (Zoom) — Tuesday 14 February 2023, 7pm.
Alternative Burns Night
Wednesday 25 January 2023, 7pm, Deers Head (Belfast).
2021–2022
Selected events from the previous site’s schedule pages (Zoom and in-person). If you’d like, we can format these as individual posts with dates and categories.
Lost and Found: In Search of the Memory of ‘Spanish’ Flu
Guy Beiner — 6 Feb 2021, 4pm (Zoom).
Launch of the Belfast Hills Access Manifesto
22 Feb 2021, 7pm (Zoom).
The Enlightenment, China, and the Irish ambassadors of 1793
Francis Kane O’Cathain — 24 Feb 2021, 8pm.
Legacies of Madness; Jonathan Swift, Irish Writing and Mental Health
James Ward — 31 Mar 2021, 8pm.
The Northern Ireland centenary: A Carnival of Reaction or a cause for Celebration?
John Gray — 28 Apr 2021, 8pm.
Labour and partition; a house divided
Padraig Yeates — 5 May 2021, 8pm.
‘Saying No To the Nay Sayers – The Rise of the Womanly Lundy.’
Susan McKay — 12 May 2021, 8pm.
When the Poor felt the lash of the Liberator
Fergus Whelan — 19 May 2021, 8pm.
How Britain wanted a “little loyal Jewish Ulster” in Palestine
David Cronin — 26 May 2021, 8pm.
Anniversary tour of Battle of Antrim sites
Sunday 6 June 2021, 12.00 noon (in-person).
Framing Irish Complicity in Transatlantic Slavery
Brian Kelly — 23 Jun 2021, 8pm.
John Mitchel – Less revolutionary than the average English shopkeeper
1 Sep 2021, 8pm (Zoom).
Boris’s Burrow (Irish Sea Bridge/Channel Tunnel history)
John Gray — 6 Oct 2021, 8pm.
Launch of Philip Hutchinson’s pamphlet: The Secret Chain (Francis Hutcheson)
27 Oct 2021, 7pm (Zoom + in-person).
AGM + film: Belfast 1792 – The Hub of the Harp
24 Feb 2022, 7pm (St Joseph’s, Sailortown + Zoom).
1798 Battle of Antrim tour
Sunday 12 June 2022, 10.00am.
The Liberty Tree
2 July 2022, Newtownards Town Hall.
William Orr 225th Memorial Tour
14 Oct 2022, 11.00am.
2017–2018
Reclaim the Enlightenment (Bastille Day launch)
14 July 2017, 2–3.30pm — 1st Presbyterian Church, Rosemary St, Belfast.
Anti Slavery Then and Now Trip
21 April 2018.
Labour and the Enlightenment
Friday 4 May 2018 — Art Cetera Gallery, Fountain Street.
Launch: The United Irishmen and the Men of No Property
John Gray — 20 June 2018.
Tour of Down (United Irish sites)
9 June 2018.
Guided tour of Cavehill
Last day of June 2018.
Belfast celebrates Bastille Day
Saturday 14 July 2018 — First Presbyterian Church, Rosemary Street.
Day out in County Antrim (United Irish Rebellion sites)
22 September 2018.