page_title: Kelly's Cellars
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kelly's Cellars / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Blue Plaque to United Irishmen [2] A blue plaque marking Kelly's Cellars pub in Bank Street (see 721762) as a meeting place for the United Irishmen. See another example on a wall at St Malachy's College at 484099
context_page_description: Kellys Cellars is a pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, situated at 30 Bank Street in the city centre. Built on March 14, 1720, it is one of the oldest pubs of Belfast.
  It sits in what used to be an alley way off Royal Avenue, but a few buildings were knocked down and now Kellys sits in a square beside Castlecourt, a major Belfast shopping centre. It provides pub food and traditional music sessions. It remains resolutely old-fashioned, with vaulted ceiling and elbow-worn bar and is crammed with bric-a-brac.
context_section_description: Kelly's Cellars is the oldest licensed premises in Belfast. The original two-storey pub was built in 1720 by Belfast merchant Hugh Kelly who kept it as a bonded warehouse in which rum, gin and whiskey were his mainstays. It was a meeting place for Henry Joy McCracken and the United Irishmen when they were planning the 1798 Rising.
  The story goes that McCracken hid behind the bar when British soldiers came for him. In September 2004 the pub had a grand re-opening under new management.
  In 2007 a blue plaque was erected on the site by the Ulster History Circle stating that the Society of United Irishmen met there during the period 1791 to 1798.
caption: Blue Plaque to United Irishmen
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