Archive (87 life histories found)

When I was at the important juncture in my life where things were sort of falling down around me, I was fortunate to meet at the Cambridge University Counselling Service, a wonderful lady called Dr. Ruth Young who helped me greatly. Fr. Cecil…

While the whole tenor of my upbringing, and my desire to show my love for God led me in a certain direction, my aunt Sr. Emilian, had a significant influence on me - I admired her greatly. My mother's affection for them and the way she put her…

Maybe the earliest branching point in my life was the arrival of my brother when I was just over 15 months old. Perhaps a lot of my view of myself stems from my being supplanted from my perch then. However, the most significant actual branching…

Antrim is a beautiful part of the world, which is now, unfortunately, a well kept secret because people are deterred by the 'Troubles' from visiting there. For me it is in the fabric of my being. Its memory 'haunts me (in the nicest possible way)…

My family name is McGuckian. That is not one of the names which figure in the early history of North Antrim but they have been there a long time. John McGuckin, a Harvard scholar, who has done a lot of work on this says that the family originated in…

As a child growing up there I was very conscious of the fact that in our little patch of North Antrim there were many places associated with St Patrick. At Dunseverick, the castle on the north coast which is reputed in the Annals of the Four Masters…

There were other fairy places like Loughareema, the vanishing lake near Fair Head, not to mention the fairy forts and fairy thorns that were all around. (One never brought hawthorn into the house, even though it was usually out in all its glorious…

When I think of my years at secondary school (no free education then) they were only the beginning of my adult education. But I would have liked to continue because I was open to learning and would have been challenged to try and reach my…

My values are treat everyone with respect. I think it is a word which should be taught early on in life. We are all going in the one direction even if we take different paths. One realises only when one is older.I was taught by my mother and even…

From a sickly start when I as young I'm still here and alive. My mother would be proud if she were alive. She always thought I was too sickly for marriage and children. She didn't realise I was more into the arts and always had my head in the…