Opened in 1774, Clifton House (cliftonbelfast.com; tours £10) is Belfast's finest surviving Georgian building, with a pointed clock tower and ornamental gates. It was originally built as a poor house by the Belfast Charitable Society, with the involvement of Robert Joy (United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken's uncle). The building is open to the public on Friday and Saturdays for hour-long guided tours (book ahead), during which you'll learn about the history of the poor house and the political atmosphere of the time; many of the people involved in the Belfast Charitable Society were also active in the call for the abolition of slavery and with other social and political causes of the time.
Nearby on Henry Pl is Clifton Street Cemetery, which can be seen on a 90-minute guided tour (£12.50). Guides point out the McCracken family grave, which marks the final resting place of Henry Joy McCracken and his sister, the abolitionist, philanthropist and social reformer Mary Ann McCracken.
