'My little brother Brian who was just 4 months was sick with pneumonia. '

'My little brother Brian who was just 4 months was sick with pneumonia. '

Hugh Duncan remembers his first job as a forester on the mountains. He reflects on how appreciative he is of nature. He relates this story to his Brother Brian, who died of pneumonia when he was 4 months old. Hugh and his mother were present when Brian passed. Hugh remembers the undertaker and the burial.

Hugh Duncan

Trinity College Dublin

1945

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Hugh Duncan

Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Life Story

Knotty Ash Cemetery, Belfast

1940s

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 the hand of creation.One wet misty morning I got lost because I thought that I would take a shortcut through the mist and rain and missed the signs to where I was going. When the mist lifted 4 hours later I got a good telling off by the gaffer for noting doing what I should have done.My little brother Brian who was just 4 months was sick with pneumonia. This particular morning as I was halfway up the mountain I got the feeling that I should go back home.My father and Tommy my eldest brother were working in the shipyard and by the time I got back to the house my mother was watching over the baby. I was by her side when Brian died.Mr. Mahood the undertaker was very attentive and Brian was buried in Knotty Ash cemetery. Mr. Mahood charged 4 pounds.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)