Nothing on earth would have persuaded me to enter the place… it was the house of the dead. Paul Henry, artist (1876-1958)

The Friar's Bush cemetery on the Stranmillis Road in Belfast may only be two acres in size, but its history is far bloodier and grislier than you would expect. Plague, body snatching, famine and murder are all part of its history above ground. The gates have been closed since 1869 and only family members can get in – to be buried that is – but aside from the graves of noted locals such as Bernard Hughes, the rags-to-riches entrepreneur and inventor of the large, flour-covered roll called the "Belfast Bap", there is something ominous as soon as you pass through the gate lodge...