History Hub Ulster

{{Infobox website

| name = History Hub Ulster

| language = English

| founded = 2014

| location_city = Belfast

| country = Northern Ireland

| area_served = Northern Ireland

| founder = Karen O'Rawe

| chairman = Gavin Bamford

| url = https://historyhubulster.co.uk/

}}

History Hub Ulster (HHU), referred to simply as the History Hub, is a research group, news blog, video creator, archivist, content writer and book publisher based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/about-us/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=June 9, 2016 |title=History Hub Ulster |url=https://www.irishnews.com/tags/history-hub-ulster/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=The Irish News |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=History Hub Ulster Latest News |url=https://www.farminglife.com/topic/history-hub-ulster |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=Farming Life |language=en}} The History Hub Ulster was founded by Karen O’Rawe.{{Cite news |date=October 3, 2016 |title='I am not ashamed to say I had an abortion in my 30s - we can change the law here if we stand together' |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/i-am-not-ashamed-to-say-i-had-an-abortion-in-my-30s-we-can-change-the-law-here-if-we-stand-together/35093822.html |access-date=February 2, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} They engage in the local community on social media and hold outdoor events by

hosting interviews and working on various projects.{{Cite web |last=O'Rawe |first=Karen |title=History Hub Ulster |url=https://www.communityni.org/organisation/history-hub-ulster |access-date=January 30, 2025 |website=CommunityNI |language=EN}}{{Cite web |date=March 5, 2018 |title=Nigel Henderson Archives |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/tag/nigel-henderson/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518160521/https://historyhubulster.co.uk/tag/nigel-henderson/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=NI Really Useful Family History Show {{!}} Europa Hotel Belfast |url=https://www.nifhs.org/event/ni-really-useful-family-history-show/ |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=NIFHS.org |language=en-GB}} Research topics include WWI, WWII, Titanic, cemetery history and family history involving the events of the people of Ulster.{{Cite news |date=June 9, 2016 |title=Untold stories of the horrors of war to mark Somme centenary |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/archive/events/untold-stories-of-the-horrors-of-war-to-mark-somme-centenary/34784621.html |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite news |date=December 25, 2015 |title=Descendants of Irish sailors in First World War sought to mark Battle of Jutland |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/descendants-of-irish-sailors-in-first-world-war-sought-to-mark-battle-of-jutland/34314077.html |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |date=July 8, 2023 |title=History Hub Ulster walking tour around a 17-acre colony with 146 dwellings off Belfast’s Cregagh Road |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/they-returned-from-horrific-warfare-to-houses-for-heroes-4210466 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Belfast News Letter |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 26, 2021 |title=Photos, cars and stamps mark NI’s centenary and bicentenary |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/photos-cars-and-stamps-mark-nis-centenary-and-bicentenary-3248663 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=Belfast News Letter |language=en}} Various books on these topics have been published by History Hub Ulster. They are also a publisher for the War Memorials Trust.{{Cite web |title=War Memorials Trust |url=https://www.warmemorials.org/biblio-northernireland/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.warmemorials.org}}{{Cite web |date=April 13, 2024 |title=Roamer column: World War One memorials destroyed in WWII’s blitzed churches |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/roamer-recounting-wwi-church-memorials-lost-in-wwiis-blitz-4589080 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Belfast News Letter |language=en}} It also acts as an index for the Imperial War Museum.{{Cite web |title=Joanmount - WW2 Roll Of Honour |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/6214 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Newtownbreda Presbyterian Roll of Honour WW1 |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/6330 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}} HHU have provided previously missing historical information in Ulster.

Nigel Henderson created the Great War Ulster Newspaper Archive.{{Cite web |title=Lisburn and the Great War Database |url=https://www.lisburn-and-the-great-war.com/database/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003133104/http://www.lisburn-and-the-great-war.com/database/ |archive-date=October 3, 2024 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Lisburn and the Great War (WWI): Research Project |language=en-GB}} It is an active project, with contents containing over 16,000 historical photographs and documentation as a database and repository.{{Cite web |title=Cookstown's War Dead - Acknowledgements |url=https://www.cookstownwardead.co.uk/acknowledge.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916101241/https://cookstownwardead.co.uk/acknowledge.asp |archive-date=September 16, 2024 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.cookstownwardead.co.uk}}{{Cite web |title=Eddies Extracts - Portstewart Roll of Honour December 1915 |url=https://eddiesextracts.com/oextracts/oeportstewartroh1915.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210045820/https://eddiesextracts.com/oextracts/oeportstewartroh1915.html |archive-date=December 10, 2024 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=eddiesextracts.com}} In 2017, it was used to help produce Murphy's Winnie and George:: An Unlikely Union,{{Cite journal |last=Tang |first=Jasmine Kar |date=April 20, 2017 |title=“A Tennessean in an Unlikely Package” |url=https://doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252037832.003.0010 |journal=University of Illinois Press |doi=10.5406/illinois/9780252037832.003.0010|url-access=subscription }} and a source for pages such as The Belfast Shipyard, and newspapers, like News Letter and Belfast Telegraph.{{Cite web |title=Sources of Information |url=https://www.thebelfastshipyard.org/sources-of-information/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819113414/https://www.thebelfastshipyard.org/sources-of-information/ |archive-date=August 19, 2024 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=The Belfast Shipyard |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=August 28, 2017 |title=Archive details local heroes of Great War |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/archive-details-local-heroes-of-great-war/36075443.html |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite news |date=June 29, 2022 |title=Belfast Battle of the Somme commemoration to be held on Friday |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-battle-of-the-somme-commemoration-to-be-held-on-friday/41802085.html |access-date=February 2, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |date=July 28, 2021 |title=Dedicated following of fashion starting with label on vintage dress |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/dedicated-following-of-fashion-starting-with-label-on-vintage-dress-3324669 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=Belfast News Letter |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=April 20, 2020 |title=Story of Belfast nurse lost to pneumonia in Great War echoes down years |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus/story-of-belfast-nurse-lost-to-pneumonia-in-great-war-echoes-down-years/39139919.html |access-date=February 2, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}

History Hub Ulster are archivist patrons for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2015 |title=PRONI Archives |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/tag/proni/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Web Archive - Internet Archive |url=https://webarchive.proni.gov.uk/#!/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=webarchive.proni.gov.uk}}{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2017 |title=Links |url=https://www.community-relations.org.uk/links |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Community Relations Council |language=en}} HHU provided documentation and papers for PRONI's Belfast Jewish Heritage Project archive.{{Cite web |title=Web Archive - Internet Archive |url=https://webarchive.proni.gov.uk/#!/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=webarchive.proni.gov.uk}}{{Cite news |title=Northern Ireland Jewish Heritage - Hidden Treasures |url=https://celebratingjewisharchives.org/archives_locations/northern-ireland-jewish-heritage/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241230010001/https://celebratingjewisharchives.org/archives_locations/northern-ireland-jewish-heritage/ |archive-date=December 30, 2024 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=Hidden Treasures |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Archive-It - The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) |url=https://archive-it.org/organizations/1423?show=Sites |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=archive-it.org}}

History

In July 2014, History Hub Ulster created their first articles, documenting events around Belfast, such as "Candlelight Vigil Belfast".{{Cite web |date=July 31, 2014 |title=July 2014 |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/2014/07/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525072152/https://historyhubulster.co.uk/2014/07/ |url-status=live }}

In 2016, the Karen O'Rawe and the group contributed and supported the complexities behind the Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries: The Loyalist Backlash by Gareth Mulvenna.{{Cite book |last=Mulvenna |first=Gareth |url=https://doi.org/10.5949/liverpool/9781781383261.001.0001 |title=Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries |date=January 1, 2017 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-78138-326-1}}{{Cite web |date=July 15, 2016 |title=RHC |url=https://balaclavastreet.wordpress.com/tag/rhc/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Balaclava Street |language=en}}

In May 2016, HHU had created a record of information for Ulster WWI Sailors project.{{Cite web |title=Ulster WW1 Sailors |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/ulster-ww1-sailors/ |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=May 31, 2016 |title=In pictures: World War One's Irish sailors |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-36416761 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

In 2017, the group covered the Ballymena Family History Fair.{{Cite journal |last=Girola |first=Stefano |date=April 3, 2017 |title=From Spanish and Irish roots |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2017.1321083 |journal=History Australia |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=298–301 |doi=10.1080/14490854.2017.1321083 |issn=1449-0854|url-access=subscription }}

Nigel Henderson's created a project known as Belfast Presbyterians in the Great War. His studies were used and he had become a contributor to News Letter.{{Cite web |date=September 9, 2020 |title=Belfast war memorial rediscovered but others are sadly still missing |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/belfast-war-memorial-rediscovered-but-others-are-sadly-still-missing-2964884?state=&r=3600 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Belfast News Letter |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=October 22, 2020 |title=Remembering local VC heroes from the Indian mutiny of 1857 |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/remembering-local-vc-heroes-from-the-indian-mutiny-of-1857-3011548 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=Belfast News Letter |language=en}}

In 2018 History Hub Ulster contributed to The Obscure Heroes of Liberty - The Belgian People who Aided Escaped Allied Soldiers During the Great War 1914-1918 by Kenneth M. Baker.{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Kenneth M. |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Obscure_Heroes_of_Liberty_The_Belgia/Q1dwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=history%20hub%20ulster&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover |title=The Obscure Heroes of Liberty - The Belgian People who Aided Escaped Allied Soldiers During the Great War 1914-1918 |date=2018 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-473-45187-5 |language=en}}

From 2018 to 2022, Peter McCabe wrote a number of cemetery history books, Belfast City Cemetery, A Guide to Dundonald Cemetery, and 2020 - 20 graves in each of 20 different local cemetery, and Roselawn 2021 - A Guide to Roselawn Cemetery.{{Cite news |date=December 6, 2018 |title=Digging up the past at Belfast's City Cemetery |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/digging-up-the-past-at-belfasts-city-cemetery/37598968.html# |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |title=2020 by Peter McCabe {{!}} Waterstones |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/2020/peter-mccabe/9781999658816 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.waterstones.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Roselawn 2021 by Peter McCabe {{!}} Waterstones |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/roselawn-2021/peter-mccabe/9781999658823 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.waterstones.com |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=June 9, 2022 |title=Lost lives live on in Peter McCabe’s book of Belfast headstones |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/weekend/lost-lives-live-on-in-peter-mccabes-book-of-belfast-headstones/41734931.html |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} McCabe's interest in cemetery history has stinted from his own research, and undertaking in educational tours around cemeteries.{{Cite web |title=Explore Belfast with an EastSide Local {{!}} Visit EastSide |url=https://www.visiteastside.com/listing/explore-belfast-eastside-local |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.visiteastside.com}}{{Cite web |title=Peter McCabe takes us on a tour of Roselawn Cemetery {{!}} Visit EastSide |url=https://www.visiteastside.com/peter-mccabe-takes-us-tour-roselawn-cemetery |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.visiteastside.com |archive-date=November 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241102021358/https://www.visiteastside.com/peter-mccabe-takes-us-tour-roselawn-cemetery |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Young |first=David |date=January 4, 2020 |title=New book on Belfast Cemetery tells stories of fascinating locals |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/history/east-belfast-cemetery-site-holds-17511474 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Belfast Live |language=en |archive-date=September 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920173229/https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/history/east-belfast-cemetery-site-holds-17511474 |url-status=live }} McCabe has researched local family history, such as the Kelly Family, of John Kelly Limited.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZWt2WNOfio |title=Sir Samuel Kelly DL CBE Coal Boat Magnate BORN 1867 DIED 9 FEB 1937 |date=September 11, 2022 |last=Peter McCabe's Memorable Memorials |access-date=January 31, 2025 |via=YouTube}}

In 2018, HHU completed the RAF 100 project. This project's aim was to contribute and commemorate the people and events from the Royal Flying Corps then the Royal Airforce in WWI.{{Cite web |title=RAF 100 |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/raf100/ |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US}} It was celebrated by the RAF at St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast to mark 100 years of the RAF.

In 2019, History Hub Ulster participated in the Great War Gaeilgeoirí of East Belfast project, highlighting Irish-speaking soldiers from East Belfast in WWI.{{Cite web |title=Credits – Great War Gaeilgeoirí of East Belfast |url=https://www.greatwargaeilgeoiri.org.uk/credits/ |access-date=February 2, 2025 |language=en-GB}}

In 2021 and 2022, the HHU have been working with the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to retrieve and add missing names from Ballymena’s WWII Memorial located in the Memorial Park. It is known as the Ballymena WW2 War Memorial Names Project.{{Cite web |last=hhulster |date=September 21, 2021 |title=Ballymena WW2 War Memorial Names Project - Public Call |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/ballymena-ww2-project/ |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=October 4, 2021 |title=Appeal to public for missing WW2 names on Ballymena Memorial |url=https://www.northernirelandworld.com/news/people/appeal-to-public-for-missing-ww2-names-on-ballymena-memorial-3406222 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=NorthernIrelandWorld |language=en}} After research and successful completion, letter cutters led by Harry Brockway managed to successfully hand cut all 172 of the missing names within six weeks. Work was completed in time for the rededication ceremony at the Memorial Park.{{Cite web |title=Ballymena and District’s War Memorial |url=https://clivedenconservation.com/project/ballymena-and-districts-war-memorial/#:~:text=Project%20Overview&text=Research%20by%20History%20Hub%20Ulster,missing%20names%20to%20the%20monument. |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=Cliveden Conservation |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Blackadder |first=Dessie |date=June 23, 2021 |title=Council to begin search for World War 2 missing memorial names |url=https://www.ballymenaguardian.co.uk/news/2021/06/23/gallery/council-to-begin-search-for-world-war-2-missing-memorial-names-16637/ |access-date=February 2, 2025 |website=www.ballymenaguardian.co.uk |language=en}}

In 2024, Nigel Henderson presented to the Training for Women Network as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund project ‘Remembering Ordinary Women in WWI’.{{Cite web |title=Training for Women Network - People from East Belfast who served in World War One |url=https://www.twnonline.com/about-us/our-success-stories/ww1-ordinary-women/people-from-east-belfast-who-served-in-world-war-one |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=www.twnonline.com |language=en-US}}

Books published

McCabe, Peter, 2020, Belfast, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2021
McCabe, Peter, A Guide to Dundonald Cemetery, Belfast, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2020
McCabe Peter, Belfast City Cemetery, Belfast, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2018
Graham, Richard, Cleaver of Dunraven: A Family History, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2017
Edgar, Richard, Higginson, Clive, Lurgan Heroes - The World War Two Roll of Honour, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2020
McCabe, Peter, Roselawn 2021, Belfast, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2022
Henderson, Nigel Ulster Ulster War Memorials from History Hub Ulster, Northern Ireland, History Hub Ulster, 2018

Members

class="wikitable"

!Name

!Notes{{Cite web |title=Members |url=https://historyhubulster.co.uk/members/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=History Hub Ulster |language=en-US |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518042223/https://historyhubulster.co.uk/members/ |url-status=live }}

Karen O’Rawe

|Founder of History Hub Ulster

Gavin Bamford

|Chair

Catherine Burrell

|Treasurer / Secretary. Genealogical and WWI researcher

Eddie Connolly

| publications and communications

Nigel Henderson

|Writer

Mark McCrea

Faye Rice