Archive (1372 life histories found)
'On Bloody Friday I was in town on my way to Corporation Street dole office when the bombs started to go off around me.'
Suffice it to say that I worked in Drumoghill from 1st February 1972 until around June of that year. I spent that summer at home in Brookvale Avenue and was not very happy at all. I had no job and was signing on the dole. On Bloody Friday I was in…
Tags: atrocity, Bloody Friday, Bombing
'I remember the little shrines in the classrooms, where the children would bring flowers for Our Lady.'
The principal of the school was Sr. Marie Therese Laverty, and she ran a first class establishment where everything was in order and where the pastoral care of staff and pupils was paramount. The Sisters of Mercy believed in the philosophy of the…
Tags: Catholic, primary, Sisters of Mercy, teaching
'It is only when one is faced with real life situations, that one realises that there is so much more to learn, and this is where the voice of experience is needed as a back- up.'
My father purchased a bar called The Old House, in Albert Street the year I went to St Mary's.(1965) Because of his good nature and generosity he almost bankrupted himself and so he leased it out, before it was eventually knocked down in slum…
'The Gaeltacht experience is a great way to spend a month or so in west Donegal. Most of those who have gone there will agree.'
That was an unforgettable summer. I stayed at Teach Shighle Bhili, Toin na Bhaile, with Cissie O'Donnell RIP, and her son Vincent (who later became head master of the primary school in Frosses in Co Donegal)and another eight or so students. We had…
'She married Paddy Clarke who was a taxi driver and who was shot dead in their house in Rosemount Gardens, having been 'fingered' by a neighbour.'
It was during my years at St Dominic's that I developed a great love for the Irish language. I believe this was partly due to the good teachers we had for this subject. We had Miss Clare Grant from Rathfriland who subsequently became Sr M Eusebius OP…
'...and Physical education which I loathed, as I was very self-conscious about my adolescent body.'
I will always remember my first day in St Dominic's. I wanted to do French and domestic science, but instead because of the grades I got in the examination, I was put into Form 1A where Latin and Science were on the program, and not what I wanted. I…
Tags: Adolescence, physical education, subjects, university
'Holidays of obligation were rigorously observed in our house. There was no question of anyone missing Mass, no matter what.'
The first of November was always a holy day of obligation and we all went to Mass. We were off school of course, and often I was in Dungiven. The second of November, All Souls' Day saw us at the church for hours, making visits for the Holy Souls in…
'Every day we had potatoes in one form or another. If we did not have spuds, we felt that we did not have our dinner.'
We had three meals a day then. There was porridge for breakfast and often when we were at morning Mass, Daddy would buy fresh baps for us on the way home. Every day we had potatoes in one form or another. If we did not have spuds, we felt that we did…
'...there was a real buzz until I walked in and announced that there was only one queen and that was the Queen of Heaven. Well, that created an instant silence.'
In 1953 Queen Elizabeth the second of England was crowned after the death of her father King George the sixth. There were street parties to mark the occasion and since the weather in Belfast is so unreliable the organisers asked my mother if she…
Tags: Coronation, neighbours, Queen, street party
'Their house was always spic and span and of course like many of the houses around, painted and done up for the twelfth of July each year.'
In Belfast, during term time, I had a few friends in the neighbouring streets. There was Margaret McCusker and her twin sister June, who lived at 54 Rosapenna Street. Their father worked in the aircraft factory and was also a member of the 'B'…
Tags: Catholic, children, neighbours, playing, Protestant, street