The Northern Whig facts for kids
The Northern Whig is a popular bar located in a very old and interesting building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This building has a long history. It is found in an area called the Cathedral Quarter, which is just north of the main city center. Over the years, this building has been many different things, including a special club for gentlemen and a newspaper office. Today, it is a bar owned by the Horatio Group.
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The Northern Whig Building: A Look Back
The story of the Northern Whig building begins a long time ago.
Early Meetings and Construction (1795-1821)
In 1795, some important people, like Theobald Wolfe Tone and Henry Joy McCracken, met at a place called Cavehill near Belfast. This meeting was a big step towards the 1798 Rebellion, which was a major uprising in Ireland.
Later, in 1819, work started on the building we see today on Bridge Street. It was named after the original club. The first stone was laid on St. Patrick’s Day. By 1821, the building was finished. It opened as a hotel and a gentlemen's club. A gentlemen's club was a private place where men could meet, relax, and talk. Interestingly, Henry Joy McCracken, who met at Cavehill, was tried and hanged in 1798 at the Belfast Assembly Rooms, which was right across the street from this new building. The Assembly Rooms building was later a bank and is now empty.
The Northern Whig Newspaper (1823-1963)
In 1823, a newspaper also called The Northern Whig started in Belfast. For a while, it was owned by John Arnott, who also started the famous Arnott's department stores.
In 1922, the newspaper company moved into the Bridge Street building. They stayed there until 1963, when the newspaper stopped being printed. During World War II, in 1941, the building was damaged during the "Belfast Blitz." This was when German planes bombed Belfast. After the newspaper closed, the company became a printing business and moved to a different part of Belfast.
The Northern Whig Bar Today
From 1963 until 1997, the building was used as offices.
Becoming a Bar (1997)
In 1997, a family called the Mooneys bought the building. They did a lot of work to fix it up and turned it into the bar we know today. Inside the bar, you can see some interesting statues from the Soviet-era. These statues were originally in the headquarters of the Communist Party in Prague. They were made to celebrate the Russian Revolution of 1917, a very important event in history.
In April 2016, the Northern Whig bar in the Cathedral Quarter had a big makeover. In May 2017, it was even named "Pub of the Year" for Northern Ireland by a national awards group!
A Historical Event: The Poppy (2012)
In November 2012, something happened at the Northern Whig that made the news. A former police officer was not allowed into the bar because he was wearing a remembrance poppy. A remembrance poppy is a symbol worn to remember soldiers who died in wars.
The owners of the bar said sorry at the time. However, the customer decided to take the matter to court. He was supported by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI). This case was important because the court agreed with the ECNI. They said that even though the poppy isn't directly linked to a specific religion or political idea, it has historically been more connected with the Protestant or unionist community in Northern Ireland. This shows how symbols can have different meanings to different groups of people.
