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...
Last year, I covered a story, from the early summer of 1909, which involved two folk from Belfast going on a walk around Portglenone. In the article, and in the follow-up comments, on that story, reference was made to the Bullock’s Track. Brian Cassidy commented that: [su_quote]The bullock’s track refers to a former standing stone on Lisnahuncheon hill, on our family’s farm. It...
Before I begin. I came across a fascinating article a few nights ago, about Dreenan School (Dreenan is the townland that borders Eden). The school house, which was situated about a mile from our house, was empty and unused by the time of my first memories. But here are some great memories of an old master at the school. Patsy Breen was principal of Dreenan Primary School between 1958 and 1963...
I love looking through old newspapers and books, and finding articles and images that are long since in the public domain (i.e. out of copyright and usable). The long-forgotten stories can then be augmented with supplementary research. Old related images can be found and enhanced, to further illustrate the story. Here is a fascinating old newspaper article from 1910, about Mr and Mrs James...
On Thursday, the 26th February, 1863, thousands of people from the Portglenone area welcomed their recently married Justice of the Peace, Julius Casement, back to Portglenone House. The couple were returning from Wicklow, where they had been married the previous month. The celebrations in Portglenone continued from Thursday into Friday evening, and saw many flags, and much merriment on display. ...
Five months ago, in early November 2020, I decided to look more at the British government’s excellent 1876 publication: Owners of land of One Acre and Upward, Ireland Return. This publication documented, on the island of Ireland, all those owners of farms of over one acre. The returns were collected across Ireland between February 1873 and November 1875. The final report was published in...
The Irish are well known for always talking about the weather. This is hardly that surprising given that we have as many as five different competing weather systems, that can give us four seasons in one day. Around rural Ulster the topic of the weather was never more than a sentence away. When a neighbour pulled alongside on his tractor, for a yarn, you’d hear comments like “the rain...
My father, Richard Mulholland, died some years ago. In recent years, two of his siblings have also passed on. There is now only one left. Sammy Mulholland, who lives at the top of Portglenone, with wife Matsy, turned 90 years old at the end of January 2021. He spent his career working as a salesman, for Craigs meal company in Kilrea. I don’t believe that I have ever encountered a...
I am still enjoying Henry McAnally’s book of poems from the early 1880s, “Effusions After Toil.” Henry was reared near Portglenone. He left in 1859, to find work in Scotland, ending up as he admits “only a toiler in a Clyde Shipyard, under the heats of summer and the storms of winter.” He never forgot where he grew up and one suspects he never had the chance to...
It’s always nice to get correspondence. I was contacted several months ago by Iben Olsen, a stamp collector from Denmark. He had a fascinating old envelope in his possession, sent by the Reverend Davey, the preacher in Tamlaght Lower, in June 1946, to a man in Poland. Iben says: [su_quote cite=”Iben Olsen”]I am a Danish stamp collector with a special interest in Irish...
In the late 1800s, the life of the farmer was very difficult. Farm landlords could demand any price they wanted and could throw tenants out on a whim. Locals worked long hours on the land and were usually in debt. Land reforms were eventually introduced in the 1880s, to stave off rebellion. Henry McAnally’s poem makes reference to these times. Dear land of my fathers — immortal in story...
It was a delight to recently discover a very old book of local poetry by Henry McAnally. The book is called ‘Effusions After Toil – a collection of poems and lyrics’ McAnally was reared locally, but eventually left Ireland in 1859 to find work in Scotland. The amateur poet later reflected: [su_quote]I certainly feel delighted at the prospect of my humble verse being thus...