is expert experience led by Author and Historian Francis Higgins walks you through the streets, entries and lanes of a Belfast that had went through two world wars, partition and was set to become a model UK economy. Then the ‘Troubles’ happened............

By 1905 Belfast had once again became a hotbed of revolutionary forces. Unionists reacted to the Home Rule Bills going through the UK Parliament with alarm as they were convinced that the Home Rule Bill would disadvantage Belfast’s industry and ruling class. Unionists converged behind a new Ulster Unionist Party with Nationalists coalescing behind local politicians such as Joe Devlin. New paramilitary entities emerged with the Ulster Volunteer Force and Irish Volunteers and Citizen Army and Belfast was set to become the focus of an urban civil war. WWI prevented this but Republican reactionary forces then changed Irish history forever when they enacted the Easter Rising. Belfast was not impacted directly by the rising but it was by the Irish War of Independence and Civil War. WWII devastated Belfast yet it arose slowly from the ashes to once again become an engineering powerhouse mid-century. By the 1960s new technologies and the globalisation of world economies threatened Belfast’s industries but with new political leaders willing to grasp the opportunities of an all-Ireland/UK economic strategy Belfast was set to modernise. For some Unionists led by reactionary preacher/politicians this was a step too far and the relative peace and prosperity of the late 1950s and early 1960s became a footnote on what was to become the ‘Troubles.’ This expert experience led by Francis Higgins walks you through the places and explains the politics and people of Belfast and Ireland who shaped what could have been a rosy future that ended up in the rubble of the bombed-out buildings of the Troubles.

The rEvolutionary Belfast Walking Experience is a series of four expert lead walking tours telling the story of the evolution of Belfast from its creation as a town and rebel beginnings before becoming the most loyal city in the British Empire. Belfast became the Jewel in the Crown of the British Imperial led Industrial Revolution with the largest Shipyards, Linen Mills and Rope making factories to name just a few. Yet that same city raised a volunteer army ready to fight the British Army to maintain its constitutional place within the Empire and the scene was set for a Bloody Civil War when an opposing army was raised to enact Home Rule laws and institutions. Both World Wars took a toll on Belfast, its buildings and citizens yet the city became infamous for its ‘Troubles’ that again seen the city devastated and surrounded by iron gates. Yet today Belfast is one of the most peaceful places to visit and is one of the top destinations in the world to explore. These series of tour experiences are aimed at visitors to Belfast to discover its fascinating history or to local people who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Irish history and politics delivered by experts in their respective fields.