The Northern Whig Club was formed in Belfast in 1791 by the Society of the United Irishmen. They met in locations around the Bridge Street area in Belfast. In 1795 members including Theobald Wolfe Tone and Henry Joy McCracken met at Cavehill to the north of Belfast, a meeting that was a pivotal step towards the 1798 Rebellion. In 1819 construction began on the current Northern Whig building in Bridge Street, taking its name from the original club. The foundation stone was laid on St. Patrick’s Day, and the building was completed in 1821 as a hotel and gentlemen's club. In 1798 McCracken had been tried and hanged at the Belfast Assembly Rooms, across the road from the building. The Assembly Rooms building was used as a branch of the Northern Bank during the 20th century but is currently vacant.
''The Northern Whig'' newspaper and printers
In 1823 a newspaper, also called the Northern Whig, was founded in Belfast and was owned for a period by John Arnott, founder of the Arnott'sdepartment Stores. In 1922 the company moved to the Bridge Street building, where they remained until 1963 when the newspaper ceased production. Along with much of nearby High Street, the building was damaged during the Belfast Blitz in 1941. The company then became a commercial printing firm and moved to north Belfast to their present site on the Limestone Road.
From 1963 until 1997 the building housed offices. In 1997 it was bought by the Mooney family's Botanic Inns and after extensive renovation turned into a bar. The bar featured a number of Soviet-era statues. Originally housed in the Prague Communist Party headquarters, they were commissioned to celebrate the Russian Revolution of 1917. In April 2016 the Northern Whig Cathedral Quarter Belfast under went an extensive refurbishment. In May 2017 the Northern Whig Cathedral Quarter Belfast was awarded Pub of the Year by the National Pub & Bar Awards.
Poppy discrimination case
In November 2012, the Northern Whig achieved notoriety when it refused entry to a former policeman who was wearing a remembrance poppy. Although the owners apologised at the time, the customer took the matter to court, supported by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. The case was significant for the decision supporting the view of the ECNI that "The poppy, although not directly linked to a specific religious belief or political opinion, would historically have been associated to a greater extent with the Protestant or unionist community in Northern Ireland."
