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From Hardinge to Street Park Lodge

The Christian Brothers were a great organisation for planning ahead. In the late 1950s they looked at the growth of the Catholic population in Belfast. They were aware that the Redemptorist Order had purchased Ben Eadan, the large estate of Major Addley, and had built St Gerard’s church, with the official opening by Dr Mageean, […]

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The Poor Old Woman left a very rich legacy

Having been relieved of the editorship of The Northern Patriot after just three issues in December 1895, it might have been expected that Alice Milligan and Anna Johnston would concentrate on their own writing as both were accomplished poets and Milligan also a talented playwright. Instead, they immediately set themselves to work to produce their […]

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Master blaster misses the point… again

“That’s terrible,” said Peter Sheehan as he sat in the Bridge Bar and Grill in Glengormley watching the Munster hurling final between Limerick and Cork a few weeks ago. Peter is a Limerick man and a hurling fanatic. He came to north Belfast in the mid-1970s as a bar manager. He played for St Enda’s […]

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Bookie gets his back up in Sandy Row

I came back from the Down v Leitrim game last Sunday on the Ulsterbus Express. I was delighted when the driver left the dual carriageway he took a route through a private road which meant we avoided Sandy Row and Boyne Bridge. The first time I was on Sandy Row was in 1965. I spent […]

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The secrets of a long-lost medal are finally known

There’s a fella I meet in the pub most weekends. He always has a smile and he can tell a good story. During the summer he will turn up on a Sunday evening with a healthy colour on his face. Yes, you’ve probably guessed it – he’s a golfer. Now I gave up that game […]

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A genuine master in all senses of the word

I attended St Joseph’s Training College in Belfast in the early 1960s (then known as the Ranch). One of our English lecturers was Seamus Heaney. After graduating from Queen’s University he taught briefly in St Thomas’ Secondary School. The headmaster was the acclaimed short story writer Michael McLaverty who encouraged his writing. He was appointed […]

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