Frank Carson Honoured With Blue Plaque at Belfast School on Centenary
For the Carson family, this blue plaque brings dad back home, fixing his legacy where Hugh Francis Carson’s story began,
Tony Carson said as Belfast prepared to commemorate the late comedian Frank Carson.
Carson, who rose to fame with his trademark catchphrases It’s the way I tell them
and It’s a cracker
, is being honoured with an Ulster History Circle blue plaque at St Patrick’s National School on Donegall Street in Belfast, where he once was a student, on what would have been the comedian’s 100th birthday. Born in Belfast on November 6, 1926, and raised in the city’s Little Italy area, Carson died in 2012 at the age of 85 at his home in Blackpool, Lancashire following an illness that included stomach cancer and heart problems.
Family and Peers Share Memories Before Plaque Unveiling
Family members and fellow performers shared memories of the comedian ahead of the plaque unveiling. Tony Carson noted that the tribute provides a permanent marker for his father’s roots.
For the Belfast community, it honours one of their own, proof that humour and heart, with unbound energy and ambition can rise from humble beginnings to achieve success and, as importantly, admiration,
Tony Carson said, adding that the event serves as a centenary reminder that joy remains a lasting legacy.
Dan Gordon, who wrote and performed the one-man show Frank Carson – A Rebel Without A Pause, described the comic as a cornerstone of comedy for 50 years and a pioneer in local broadcasting. Gordon recalled Carson as a performer who moved effortlessly from Blackpool piers and the London Palladium stage to television audiences numbering 18 million.
Chris Spurr, chairman of the Ulster History Circle, praised Carson’s quick wit and extensive charity fundraising. The organisation partnered with Belfast City Council, St Patrick’s Parish, and the Carson family to install the commemorative marker.
From Belfast Newsboy to Papal Knight
Carson’s career spanned decades of British television and variety entertainment. After working as a plasterer, electrician, and serving three years in the Parachute Regiment in the Middle East during the 1950s, he transitioned to show business. He gained mainstream attention after winning the talent show Opportunity Knocks three times and became a household staple in the 1970s on The Comedians, alongside performers such as Charlie Williams, Bernard Manning, and Jim Bowen.
Beyond entertainment, Carson served twice as mayor of Balbriggan in County Dublin and supported integrated education in Northern Ireland alongside causes like the children’s cancer ward at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital. In recognition of his charity work, Pope John Paul II knighted him into the Order of St Gregory during a 1987 private audience in Rome.
Following his death in 2012, crowds turned out for his funeral in Belfast, where mourners heard him described as the “prime minister of fun.” He is buried in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, beneath a headstone bearing one final characteristic joke: “Quiet, isn’t it?”
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