When people think of the Belfast Poor House, one of the first things that comes to mind is the children who came through our doors. The month of November was a significant month for the children in the care of the Belfast Charitable Society. In November , the first child arrived at the Poor House and in November , the last child left.
The Poor House became known as the Belfast Charitable Institution and primarily became a nursing home and hospital for older people. The care for older people is still the main function of the house today, alongside the heritage and conference centre. In the early days of the Belfast Charitable Society, there was some apprehension of admitting children into the Poor House. The Society were very aware that in order to care for the children in the best manner possible they would need to hire more staff and provide education and training.
The care of children would be expensive but necessary to ensure they would be both financially and emotionally independent. However, this reluctance changed due to an inmate called Ann Curran. Ann was a hospital patient admitted on 19th March who was still in the house by November. Ann was the mother of a large family and requested that her youngest, a two year old girl, join her in the Poor House.
The Society agreed and thus the first child was admitted. However, they were forced to increase this in August to fifty children due to the severe levels of poverty and destitution in Belfast. Between and there were never less than children in the house and as many as at one time, more than half the population of the Poor House. Care for the children included the basics of food, clothing and shelter but also included education and skills training.
The Poor House Committee were acutely aware that a child born into poverty was most likely to remain there. The care given was to try to break the cycle of poverty. Education in the Poor House covered the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic and bible studies which was a huge benefit to the children as many of the labouring classes within Belfast and further afield would have been illiterate.
