Belfast City Cemetery is one of the city’s oldest public cemeteries. It was bought by the city council in 1866, opened in 1869, and it is the final resting place of many notable figures including Sir Edward Harland, co-founder of Harland & Wolff; Margaret Byers, suffragist and founder of Victoria College; and Sir William Pirrie, chairman of Harland & Wolff in the Titanic era.
The cemetery contains many points of historical interest, including the poor ground where over 80,000 souls lie in unmarked graves and an underground wall, which was built in Victorian times to separate Protestant and Catholic graves.
Also in the cemetery is the Jewish Burial Ground, believed to be the only one on the island of Ireland; and the First World War Memorial Wall, erected in 1927 by the Imperial War Graves Commission.
Plot Z1, also known as the ‘Baby Haven’, is a memorial in memory of 7,160 babies buried on site.
The history of the cemetery and the wider development of the city of Belfast are all told within a new visitor centre.
The visitor centre includes an interpretive exhibition, digital touchscreens, interactive features for children, genealogy research workstations and indoor and outdoor educational space for schools and youth groups.
Book onto a self guided tour of notable women buried at cemetery.
The cemetery is open Monday- Saturday 8am-6pm, Sunday 10am-6pm.
The visitor centre os open five days a week from Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30am to 1.30pm.
Download the Belfast City Cemetery app for a number of free tours and information about key plots and walking routes.
Get there
Get there sustainably on G1 Glider route from the city centre, getting off at the City Cemetery stop. Metro buses also stop at City Cemetery on Falls Road. Check Glider and bus timetables on Translink (link opens in new window) website.
