In a prominent corner of the gravesite rests the elaborate monument and headstone to the memory of one of Belfast's better known characters - Bernard (Barney) Hughes of the infamous 'penny bap' fame. A young Armagh man the second child of eight, born July 8 1808, Barney had a remarkable life..

(The following narrative is an extract from his autobiography entitled 'Barney' by Jack Magee, a former Marketing Manager with Bernard Hughes Ltd.)

' Bernard Hughes stands out as one of the extraordinary entrepreneurs who shaped Belfast's transformation from market town to sprawling industrial city. He arrived as a penniless laborour from Co. Armagh in 1826. By the 1870's he owned the largest baking and milling enterprise in Ireland. By then he was Belfast's first elected Catholic representative and his roles as municipal politician, industrial reformer and Catholic lay spokesperson had won him the admiration of an increasingly divided town.

His strong political and personal courage was characterised by a deep aversion to sectarianism, and he sought justice and equality for all. He was an eye-witness to the bitter sectarian riots of 1857 and 1864 and his evidence to the resulting Royal Commissions of Inquiry antagonised the Tory hierarchy of the town. His sharply independent outlook also brought him into conflict with the local Catholic bishop and the Catholic press.

It is however for his bread that Barney will be best remembered as his innovative production and marketing ideas provided the town's working population with a cheap basic food at a time when they needed it most, particularly during the Great Famine. The popularity of 'Barney's Bap' won him a permanent place in the city's folklore.'