Archive (186 life histories found)

After leaving school at sixteen there was a great sense of freedom. No more study or no more strict school uniform.At last having money to spend. Shopping and clothes.However there were many ups and downs. Crying, worrying, fretting, nobody…

University was never mentioned as nobody had the money to go. Secondary school was even fee paying. For people with large families this wasn't an option. Out of school at 14 years and into a factory mostly. Sewing was the main occupation, or…

Living in the country there wasn't a lot of entertainment. I remember riding the bicycle to Castlewellan (10 miles) to see the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, as she then was, in the cinema.We went on a few holidays - Bangor and Portrush. Sometimes,…

Memories of Killowen and Rostrevor in County Down. Joe and Nina Robinson who lived at Edgemount at the base of the mountain close to the quay in Rostrevor. I helped Joe in his garden and fed the ducks and hens and cutting branches up with a…

The Yanks threw a party for all the children in the district in the ballroom of the Great Northern Hotel. A beautiful building covered with ivy when changed colour.Their barracks was just a short distance from May Cottage and we saw a lot of what…

It was my fourteenth birthday and Mr. Mitchell the head forester offered me a job right away working with the foresters on the mountains. This gave me a wonderful outlook on the works of nature for the rest of my life. I appreciate more every day…

Because of the blitz in 1941 our house at 82 Medway Street was wrecked by the German Luftwaffe. As our house was nearby the shipyard the blast from a German bomb damaged our house so badly we had to be evacuated to Killowen the next day.My Aunt…

Mary was her name. I didn't know her surname. She lived in Cupar Street at the Falls Road end. She was a security guard in a big shop in Belfast City Centre where Ann and I stopped for a wee garn when in town. Always with a lovely smile on her…

I liked running and was still very fit. We went out running on Mondays and ran 4 miles. On Wednesday 4 miles and on Saturdays 10 miles always getting a rub down and a shower. The craic was good and we didn't race but we enjoyed the scenery and…

We mostly played football in a field on the Highfield estate till it was dark and my chum Jim McFarlane would go to the oval to watch the cock and hens as Glentoran are still known. At the age of sixteen I worked in James Mackies leaving to work a…