Mark is lead guide & researcher of Friends of Friar's Bush.He is very local, born half-a-mile from the graveyard, and he is a graduate of Queen's University. His family has been in Belfast for hundreds of years, and the earliest members are probably buried at Friar's Bush.

An enthusiastic local historian, he is also a professionally-qualified tour guide. Mark has many years of guiding experience, and has worked in some of Belfast's oldest and most impressive buildings including Clifton House, City Hall & the Harbour Office.

Dr. Robyn Atcheson is a social historian and history communicator. Robyn teaches and writes on social history, the social history of medicine and women’s history in Britain and Ireland from the early modern period to the nineteenth century.

Robyn has over a decade of experience in teaching, lecturing and public speaking, and historical consultancy.

In recognition of her academic work and work as a public historian Robyn was elected an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2025.

Hailing from East Belfast, and a graduate of Queen’s University 'next door', along with Mark, Peter was involved in Friends of Friars Bush from the start, and offers general tours as well as tours focusing on east Belfast, also facilitating tours with local actor, Stephen Beggs.

Peter has written a number of books about local burial places, is the lead guide at our sister site at Balmoral Cemetery and runs tours of Shankill graveyard with Mark. Peter also looks after George Best's childhood home which is nothing to do with Friar’s Bush, but he never tires of telling people about that!

Risteárd Ó Murchú is a Belfast-based historian, artist, and experienced tour guide specialising in the city’s rich political and social history.

A graduate of Queen’s University Belfast with a Masters degree in Irish History, he combines academic expertise with personal insight from growing up in Belfast during the recent conflict.

Risteárd has several years’ experience leading engaging taxi and cemetery tours, including at Friar’s Bush Graveyard. With a deep understanding of West Belfast’s murals, he offers visitors an informed, balanced, and memorable perspective on the city’s past and present.

Originally from Edinburgh, Jack worked in Glasgow and Stirling before moving to Belfast in 1995.

He is a poet, a tour guide and a globe-trotter. He loves dressing up – particularly as the Friar of Friar’s Bush, and has some ability with sign language, which is useful for tours.

He loves sharing some of the poignant prose & poetry that makes this graveyard unique – using his lovely Scottish accent to share, with great pathos, the intriguing history of this place and its people.

Jordan Robinson is a County Down–based guide with a particular interest in burial sites and gravestone symbolism.

Jordan also runs his own company, Copper Top Tours, leading trips through Belfast’s sporting and social history. He brings a different perspective to his tours—mixing history, storytelling, and the odd bit of humour to keep things interesting.

When he’s not wandering around graveyards, Jordan is an award-winning stand-up comedian and sports commentator. So if nothing else, you’re guaranteed a guide who can talk… and keep talking.

Emma Casey is an OCN qualified tour guide and founder of Wee Walks Belfast, a company specialising in women’s walking tours.

She also started the Rosa Mulholland Book Club, inspired by the Belfast writer whose family are buried in Friar’s Bush - so it’s fair to say she loves to talk about the forgotten women of Belfast!

Emma is also a guide on the open top bus in Belfast and was always interested in local history, being a former Secretary of the East Belfast Historical Society.  

She says Friar’s Bush Graveyard is her favourite place to work.

After 30 years working as an award-winning radio and television producer, director and presenter with BBC Northern Ireland, Louis Edmondson retired. However, he couldn’t stay still and discovered a whole new vocation as a tour guide, in which his previous experiences as a local and political history programme maker have been put to good use.

As a Level 3 guide, his diverse tours include Belfast Hop On, Hop Off Open Top Bus experiences, Giant’s Causeway, Lagan Valley and other N.I. locations tours, as well as Friar’s Bush Graveyard and Clifton House and Cemetery tours.

Susan Hollywood studied history and politics at Queen’s University,  a stone’s throw from Friars Bush. She has always been fascinated by what lay behind the wrought iron gates of this fascinating graveyard. Now she knows its secrets and enjoys sharing them.

Susan taught history and politics for over 30 years and after retiring trained as a Green Badge Tour Guide. She has experience as a tour guide in diverse settings such as Hillsborough Castle , Belfast City Hall, as well as walking and coach tours in and around the city.

Judith Skelton attended Queen’s University Belfast, just a short distance from Friar’s Bush Graveyard, where her fascination with Belfast’s hidden history first began.

Particularly interested in social history, she became drawn to the stories of ordinary people whose lives reflected the hardship, humour, sorrow, and resilience of generations of Belfast people.

An experienced Green Badge Tour Guide, Judith is passionate about keeping the memories of old Belfast alive through storytelling and local history. Judith guides walking and coach tours throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Donegal.

Gerry is an enthusiastic historian, musician and qualified tour guide. Belfast ‘born and bred”, and a graduate of Ulster University.

A talented singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Gerry has entertained audiences from Donegal to Waterford and from the USA to Poland.

With a reasonable command of Irish, Gerry incorporates the language and traditional tunes on the tin whistle at appropriate stops during his tours of Friar’s Bush.

Gerry also provides a range of other tours across Belfast.

Jackie Hewitt is a passionate independent genealogist, Jackie has dedicated herself to uncovering and preserving the histories of those laid to rest in the burial grounds of Belfast and beyond. Her meticulous documentation spans Friar’s Bush, Balmoral Cemetery, Castlereagh Presbyterian Churchyard, Bangor Abbey, and Killysuggan Burial Ground, among others.

Jackie works closely with local tour guides, sharing the family histories she uncovers so they can bring these ancient burial grounds to life - transforming names on headstones into vivid, human stories that connect past and present.

Stephen is an actor, theatre director, writer and workshop facilitator based in Belfast.

He has worked with many of the theatre companies in Northern Ireland as well as work in film and radio.

As well as performing on stage, he can often be found out and about bringing characters and stories to a wide variety of outdoor and non-arts spaces.

Working with Peter and Mark, Stephen has performed in theatrical tours of a number of cemeteries, playing a wide range of fascinating people at their final resting places.

Behind the scenes is Carrickfergus native, Justin Macartney. He manages our Tripadvisor account - Our tour of Friar’s Bush Graveyard currently rates #3 out of 451 things to do in Belfast.

Justin’s also an experienced tour guide, but he’s scared out of his wits by graveyards and we’ve no mission of getting him to lead a tour!

Saying that, he sometimes makes short videos of others, particularly Peter McCabe, telling graveyard stories.

You can catch him on Belfast 89 FM as he’s a Sony Nations & Regions Contributing Award Winning radio presenter.

Fiona Pegrum QG is a Qualified Genealogist with an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies. She specialises in Irish research and emigration studies.

Her work includes speaking and writing on 18th and 19th-century subjects, undertaking historical research and genetic genealogy for private clients and academics, and teaching community groups how to research effectively.

Having previously worked with Mark Doherty, accepting an invitation to join the Friends of Friar’s Bush was an easy decision. Her roots lie firmly in Belfast, where her ancestors settled in the mid-19th century.