Ita McClelland

I was born Ita Murphy on 12^th of October, 1956, in Carleton Maternity House Portadown, Co. Armagh.

My parents were Patrick Murphy, from Ballyards, an Insurance Agent and Sheila Kelly, from Lislea, Ballyards, a Linen factory worker in the nearby village of Milford, until the time of her marriage.

My grandparents were Patrick Murphy and Alice Kerr and Edward Kelly and Sarah McAleavey.

I am the youngest of four children: Aidan Paul (Aidan) b.1952, Patrick Joseph (Patsy) b. 1954, Alice Mary (Eilish) b. 1956, Ita (I think they ran out of names) b.1956.

My aunt, my father’s sister, lived with us.  She remained living in the family home until a few years prior to her death at the age of 92 years.

We also had close contact with our mother’s sisters Teresa Reilly and Phil Haffey who lived a short distance away at Lislea, where my mother was brought up.

My family home which was built by my grandfather, Patrick Murphy around 1920, on his return from Scotland, where he and his brothers had worked for several years, was situated at Ballyards Armagh – about three miles south of Armagh city on the main Keady road.  We had a wonderful view of St. Patrick’s R.C. cathedral from the surrounding area.

My grandfather built the house at Ballyards, Armagh where I lived as a child.  He and my grandmother along with their two children, my father Patrick (Paddy) and my Aunt Mary had returned from Scotland where they had lived since after their marriage in 1904 and where both children were born. The house was built around 1920, as far as we know.  Sadly they both died quite young – in their 50s.

They always kept a small shop in the house which my mother carried on during her time there and right up until the mid 80s. The main items sold in the shop were sweets, minerals, cigarettes, crisps, tobacco, matches and paraffin oil for the lamps.  There were two shelves fixed to the wall in the corner of the living room one of which held the glass jars containing sweets, brandy balls, butter balls, bon bons, merrymaid toffees, clove rock and a host more. Then on the shelf below were cigarettes, Woodbine, John Players, Gallagher Blues and Greens, Embassy Reds and Kensitas.  Each customer had their favourite.  Matches were kept beside them and at the other end of the shelf there was always a big box of crisps. Crates of minerals, both small and large bottles were stocked also. These were kept in the outhouse next to the house as it was cooler. Paraffin oil and mentholated spirits were kept there also for sale for the lamps.  As we got older we all took turns at serving.

One man who was a fairly regular customer was “John”. He would either walk to the shop or come on his old Massey Ferguson tractor which had seen better days.  Now John was a bachelor man who led a very reclusive lifestyle and didn’t worry much about his appearance. He always looked dishevelled, wore dark, threadbare clothes topped off with an old overcoat which was fastened with a length of binder twine.  When we were younger we were a bit afraid of him. He was a man of few words. More often than not John got his Woodbines on ‘tick’ but would always come back when the bill got a bit bigger to pay his debt. We were always shocked when he was paying because he would produce a large wad of notes from deep in a pocket, but to look at him you would have taken him for destitute.