Archive (31 life histories found)

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)…

People of Antrim love their county and have written songs in its praise. The story goes that a man from Glendun was thinking of emigrating and he wrote a song in which he imagined what it would be like to be away. He made himself so sad that he…

Our house was built on the grounds of the old Artane School and some of the residents of the houses on the opposite side of the road, much older houses, resented us building there as they had been accustomed to letting their children play in the…

We had a very large garden due to the fact that the river Wad traverses it underground and no houses could be built on the spot. I was not an enthusiastic gardener and the garden was left to grow wild for a number of years. When we finally decided to…

We lived in various places for about a year whilst waiting for our house to be built. We had placed a deposit a year before the wedding but the developer sold our site to a different builder and delays ensued. Our eventual house is in Donnycarney…

'O, it was out by DonnycarneyWhen the bat flew from tree to treeMy love and I did walk together;And sweet were the words she said to me.Along with us the summer windWent murmuring - O, happily! - But softer than the breath of summerWas…

This is a picture of Mary Dynan with her mother and her younger brother Barney.

This is a picture of the street in Cloughmills, Co. Antrim where Mary Dynan grew up. The house on the right is the old RIC barracks where Uncle Sandy lived. The picture was taken from Mary's garden. They spent a lot of time in the garden in the…

This is a picture of Mary Dynan's mother drawing water from the pump. When Mary's mother first married, herself and Mary's father lived in a house in Cloughmills that had no running water. They stayed there while awaiting the building of their new…

This is a postcard that shows the semi-detached houses on the right which replaced Mary Dynan's grandparents house and pub in 1935. Mary Dynan's granny lived in one with her Uncle Patsy. Mary and her family lived in the other. When Mary's mother got…