The history of Belfast is dominated by the recent troubles and then the sectarian violence

that has regularly flared in the city over the last 140 years.

Less well known, however, is the port's connection to the slave trade.

In the 18th and early 19th century, Belfast, like most major cities in Britain and Ireland,

had strong connections to the transatlantic slave trade.

However, in Belfast, a city with a long history of radicalism,

this would lead to a determined anti-slave movement from the 1780s onwards.

This podcast looks at the fascinating story of Belfast's connections to the slave trade

and the role its citizens played in bringing that trade to an end.

Hello and welcome to the Irish History Podcast. My name is Finn DeWire.

In this episode I'm joined by Tom Thorpe, the discuss the history of the slave trade in Belfast.

Now Tom is one of the co-founders of the Belfast anti-slavery tour,

and in today's show he has a fascinating story to tell about Belfast's long connections

with the horrors of slavery and then the role the city played in bringing it to an end.

You can find out more about Tom's walking tours at anti-slaverybelfast.com.

That's anti-slaverybelfast.com. Sound on today's episode is by Kate Dunley.

To start our discussion I asked Tom about the historic connections between Belfast and the

slave trade. I was surprised at how far back this goes. While there may not have been

many slaves on the docks in Belfast, the city's economy was bound up in the transatlantic slave trade.

So Belfast is formed in 1613 and it starts to evolve very slowly, but it starts to have

connections with the transatlantic slave trade, you know, really towards the end of the 17th century.

I mean, probably the most notable one if you're on one of the tour, we passed a place called

...