I have resided overseas for an extensive period of time, yet I remain engaged in the sporting events and current affairs transpiring in Ireland. Yesterday, in the rugby world cup quarter-final hosted in France, Ireland narrowly fell short against New Zealand. The outcome was agonisingly close. Despite Ireland’s position as the top-ranked team globally, the recurring narrative persisted...
The Somme offensive in 1916 was one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the First World War. With well over one million casualties and 300,000 fatalities, the five-month battle finally came to an end on the 18th November, 1916. Although casualties were high on all sides, the battle is most prominently remembered in Britain, Ireland, and across the Commonwealth, as an example of the ultimate...
Moneymore is a village of some 1900 people, situated in County Londonderry. The plantation village was built by the Drapers’ Company of London, who also had land in nearby Draperstown (hence the name ‘Draperstown’). The word Moneymore comes from the Irish ‘Muine Mór’ and means a large thicket or large hill. A century ago, four to five hundred people lived there. My...
An interesting follow-up to the last week’s article about an infamous Glarryford collector of other folks’ property. A reader writes: [su_quote]Dear Trudger, do you know the identity of the person in the photo (in the Glarryford article that you posted last Sunday)? I have been told that it is a photo of my grandmother Mary McFadden (known as May), who worked for the postmistress. It...
Glarryford is some seven miles north of Ballymena. It was known to me (when I was growing up, in the 1970s and early 80s) for two things – the famous Glarryford Young Farmers, and the great church parties that were held over there. It was some 15 miles from Eden. To get there, I would drive the seven miles to Kilrea, then out over the Bann bridge, up past McLaughlin’s Corner (close...
In recent years (the tropical chapter), the week before Christmas each year, my next door neighbour, Carol, would play festive tunes. Classics from a bygone era, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, etc would delightfully waft across the garden. It was a magical time of the year. I miss my very good friend, and her kindness. Beers on her terrace at sunset, my two...
I would like to wish all the readers of the website, a very Merry Christmas. We have people browsing from such countries as Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Asia, Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Thank you for all the messages, during the year, of kindness and support. I haven’t published as much this year as anticipated...
In the autumn of 1934, reports started appearing in the local Irish media of sightings of a ghost ship off the East coast of Ulster. The Belfast media picked up the story, and their headlines and tales of the strange goings on, along the County down coastline, inspired many readers to write to the various letters’ pages. [su_quote style=”flat-dark” cite=”Belfast News...
I trust that you are all keeping well and staying safe in these difficult times. Apologies to those who I have not had a chance to respond to in email. I am a little behind. This year, when the opportunity arose, I started to clean up, enlarge, and enhance (in photoshop) old photos of local people who died in the first world war. If I can add some value, to the stories of these locals who gave...
At the end of last year, I was trying to enhance an old photo of Joseph Bamford’s store, at the Arcade, in Kilrea. The photograph was taken over a hundred years ago. It was of very poor quality, and was difficult to do much with. It still needs much more work. But then earlier this year, I encountered a tiny photo of his son, also called Joseph, and after reading of his very interesting...
Tragedy ensues when a North Antrim cobbler is told of a 5 thousand pounds American legacy. On the 24th February 1932, in the beautiful little coastal village of Glenarm in County Antrim, tragedy was to follow, hard on the heels of good fortune. An old-age pensioner, who struggled to eke out a livelihood by mending local shoes, died from heart failure, after receiving a letter, all the way from...
Apologies, I have not been posting much in recent months. I have not been writing anything at all. But the creativity is still there, and I have been working in the evenings, on enhancing a lot of old photos, for future publication. I trust that you are all keeping well and managing to somehow navigate this mad world. By the way, thank you for the emails. They make it all worthwhile. We all, as...