Ulster Reform Club

Ulster Reform Club
Formation 1885 (1885)
Type Gentlemen's club
Location
  • Royal Avenue, Belfast
Membership
c. 870
President
Arthur Henderson
Chief Executive
Alex Graham
Website ulsterreformclub.com

The Ulster Reform Club is a gentleman's club at No. 4, Royal Avenue, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It first opened in January 1885.

The club was originally built by Ulster members of the Liberal Party, to celebrate William Gladstone's victory in the 1880 general election. However, by 1886, its leadership was dominated by supporters of the Liberal Unionist Party, including Fred Crawford, and they formed a political committee to further the cause of the union of Britain and Ireland.[1]

Political committee

From 1905, the Ulster Liberal Unionist Association was represented on the Ulster Unionist Council, but given that the Association was headquartered at the Reform Club, and the Liberal Unionists soon became an irrelevance in Northern Ireland, in 1929, their representation was transferred to the political committee of the Ulster Reform Club.[1]

The committee included members such as Lord Pirrie, Thomas Somerset and W. J. Stewart and, in later years, David Graham Shillington, Maynard Sinclair, Herbert Kirk, William McCleery, Brian Faulkner and J. L. O. Andrews. However, it attracted criticism for being overly secretive, refusing to reveal details of its constitution, membership or purpose even to officials of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Facilities

The Ulster Reform Club, the red brick building to the left

Notable members

See also

References

  1. 1 2 John F. Harbinson, The Ulster Unionist Party, 1882-1973, pp.69-70

Hickey, D. J.; Doherty, J. E. (1980). A dictionary of Irish history since 1800. Gill and Macmillan. p. 577. 

Larmour, P. 1987. Belfast An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Friar's Bush Press. ISBN 0 946872 10 4

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