The Ulster People’s College and the South Belfast Roundtable On Racism recently launched an exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act which outlawed the slave trade throughout the British Empire.  The exhibition was launched at a Northern Ireland Committee for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS) in the Linenhall Library.

A study group of community workers from NICRAS, the Chinese Welfare Association, Black Youth Network, Donegall Pass Community Forum and the Donegall Pass Community Centre produced the exhibition which tells the story of Ireland’s involvement in the slave trade, the people who profited and those who fought to abolish it.

Belfast says NO! - to slavery 

Belfast was not used as a port to traffick slaves due to trade restrictions imposed by the British Parliament in Westminster designed to create an English monopoly.  At one stage there was an attempt to set up a slave trading company in Belfast. Tom McCabe (owner of a jeweller shop in North Street) is said to have stopped this by writing in the proposal book, ‘may God eternally damn the soul of the man who subscribes the first guinea’.

Some Belfast and Nothern Irish merchants profiteer from slavery

However, merchants in Belfast and across Ireland profited by supplying slave plantations with provisions such as beef, butter, pork, salted fish and linen and equipment such as ropes.  The slave plantations produced cane sugar which laid the foundation of a sugar refining industry in Ireland.  Some Irish merchants owned slave plantations, one Dominican plantation was even named – Belfast.

Belfast and Northern Ireland objects to slavery 

Many radicals of the time in Belfast and beyond recognised the suffering of slaves, believed it was wrong and fought hard to stop it.  Enlightenment ideas of freedom, equality, solidarity and ‘rights’ infused the Belfast debate on slavery.

Often people like Daniel O’Connell who fought both for Catholic Emancipation and the Abolition of Slavery linked the two experiences of disadvantage. Belfast women, some perhaps influenced by their own experiences of disadvantage, were involved in a campaign of ‘sugar abstinence’ where people refused to consume sugar which had been produced on the plantations. Mary Ann McCracken (sister of Henry Joy McCracken) founded the Belfast Women’s Anti-Slavery Society and distributed anti-slavery literature at the Belfast Docks.

Members of the United Irishmen such as Thomas Russell were at the forefront of the ‘sugar abstinence’ campaign.  Belfast Presbyterian, William Drennan challenged businessmen who profited from sugar and rum. He said, ‘Let them cast about the world with an equal eye and feel for all that suffer.’

Radical Belfast welcomed speaking tours from ex-slaves such as Oloudah Equiano and Frederick Douglas who travelled around telling about their experiences of slavery as part of the abolitionist struggle.

Once the abolition of slavery was achieved people in Belfast and Ireland continued to petition the government for full emancipation of slaves which was granted in 1838.

This story gives many insights into the motivations, beliefs and actions of the people engaged in the struggle for the abolition of slavery and their understanding of ideas like equality and justice. It raises questions on the issues of slavery and racism which face people today.

Learn more on the UPC Race and Ethnicity Course 

If you would like to discover more the Ulster People’s College is currently offering a course on Race and Ethnicity.  Participants will explore the origins of the notion of ‘race’; the issues faced by refugees, asylum-seekers and migrant workers and the concerns of ‘new-comers’ as well as ‘host-communities’.  If you are interested or would like any further information please contact the College on (028) 9033 0131 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Or if you are interested in displaying the exhibition in your community centre contact Denise Wright (South Belfast Roundtable on Racism) on (028) 9024 4070 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .