Bread & Benevolence - the rise of Barney Hughes, Master Baker.

The rise from baker's apprentice to town councillor, industrial magnate and philanthropist - explore the life of Barney Hughes on this tour Bernard Hughes was the most successful baker in Victorian Ireland. He was a shrewd businessman, a philanthropist, a liberal Nationalist and the first Catholic councillor on the Town Corporation. Barney is one of the most fondly-remembered citizen in the history of Belfast. He is still celebrated for feeding the poor of our city, particularly during the harrowing era of the Great Hunger. As a steadying community leader during the most violent sectarian conflicts of the 1800s, he was a friend to implacable political opponents Daniel O’Connell and the Reverend Henry Cooke. His most enduring legacy is the ‘Belfast Bap’ – still sold in our home bakeries today. This tour with local historian Mark Doherty will visit many of the sites that relate to Barney’s remarkable rags-to-riches story, revisiting the life of one on the most inspiring shapers of modern Belfast. The tour lasts around 2 hours, starting at St Annes Cathedral and ending at the Black Man Statue in front of RBAI.