Archive (6 life histories found)
'...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
'I got married to Mickey on June 3rd 1983 at St. Malachy's Chapel'
The Embassy Ballroom in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan was a very popular attraction for the young people from just north of the border like myself. That is where I met my husband Mickey in 1980 and where a lot of people I know met their future…
'To this day I remember those coats one was a pale blue which she got married in and the other a mustard colour which she went away in. I don't think she was cut out to be a farmer's wife'
Our next door neighbours were the Kelly's and they had a big shop which sold clothes and footwear. I still remember the oil heater which stood in the centre of the shop and Mona the last one of the family would stand around it trying to keep warm. …
Tags: clothes, farmer's wife, neighbours, Trouseau
'The question of whether you were a Protestant, a Catholic or a Jew mattered not, as if anyone needed help, it was always forthcoming from both old and young.'
My childhood memories are all centred on 17, Skegoneill Drive, Belfast, where I lived with my parents and sisters, Violet and Phyllis. I have no recollection of Gainsborough Drive, where I was born, but the good fortune I have enjoyed all my life…
Tags: Belfast, Catholic, Jewish, neighbours, Protestant
'The young lads all carried various forms of ju-jitsu weapons, presumably in case they were attacked by hordes of Ninja warriors on the way home '
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…
Tags: associations, committee, Home, neighbours, residents, social