Month: November 2016
Magilligan Martello Tower
Presented by Margaret Campbell
Fear of an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte reached panic proportions among the authorities in Ireland and England in 1804 and was the reason that the Martello Towers were built, first in Ireland then in England. Their purpose was to provide what were, in those days, “bombproof” towers from which fire could be directed at ships of the hourly expected French invasion fleet and also to form a rallying and strongpoint from which both the cavalry and infantrymen could repel the invader.
The nearest Tower to us is at Magilligan Point and recently my brother John found details on the Internet which aroused our interest. It seems that as well as ammunition, vantage points and living quarters for up to 12 men he read that a resident guard with his family lived there. The article named the guard and also said that four of his children were born there, in total he had 8 children. The guard’s name was mentioned and my brother’s interest deepened and on further investigation it transpired that he was our great, great grandfather. He was a gunner with the Coast Brigade, Royal Regiment of Artillery. Gunner Bernard Mc Stay.
Recently there was a National Heritage weekend and we found out that the tower would be open to the public, so we headed out to see where our grandmother was born. I should add that I phoned Limavady Country Park earlier to check on opening hours and told them my story and when we got there the guide, dressed as a soldier of the time, had pages of information that they had collected and passed on to us.
The conditions were very basic, because the family lived on the second floor they had a ladder propped up on the outside with which to gain entrance and this was pulled up after the family were safely in for the night. Even though the walls were very thick it must have been very cold in Winter and one can only imagine conditions with 8 children to look after, shops, schools etc..which we now take for granted. It was a quite emotional trying to imagine living there in 1876 in those conditions.
Although the Tower was only opened for the weekend two of my daughters made the journey the following Sunday just to see where their great, great grandmother Margaret Mc Stay was born, and are determined to be there next year when the tower will be opened to the public again.
November 8th 2016
Pro Tanto Quid (PTQ)
Presented by Joe Austin
Some time ago, whilst clearing old junk from the roof space, I found an old magazine that brought back lots of good memories. This was the Student Magazine published annually on Rag Day, by the Students Union at Q.U.B. This magazine was first issued in 1930,and the copy I have is 1935. Why Pronto Tanto Quid? It’s title was taken from the motto on the Belfast City Coat of Arms. Belfast was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888 and the right to have a coat of arms was given in 1890. The City Fathers chose as their motto “Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamos” , which comes from Psalm 116 verse 12 which states
“ What shall I render unto the Lord for all the things that he has rendered towards me.”
and indeed the Lord was very generous to the City Fathers of Belfast in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies.
Belfast was the fastest growing urban city in the U.K . In 1852 the population was 98K and by 1900 it had grown to 350K, and had overtaken Dublin to become the largest city in Ireland! Belfast was at the zenith of its importance in the years running up to WW1. It had the world’s largest ship yard, largest rope works, tobacco factory, linen spinning mill and tea machinery works.
Harlan & Wolff employed 30K people and in 1899 lunched the largest ship in the world at that time, the Oceanic . Edward Harlan, a young engineering genius, had wanted to build his shipyard on the Mersey but the Liverpool city council refused his request, considering him too young and inexperienced. Belfast gave him Queens Island on the Lagan. He was financed by a German industrialist who sent over his nephew as a partner in the venture, hence H&W It is ironic that during the two world wars H&W were building ships to fight the Germans!
Belfast Rope Works ( 1758-1977) employed 3.6K workers. When it closed down 1977 the R.U.C. used it for training and turned one of the large buildings into a shooting range. My eldest son joined the R.U.C. after leaving Coleraine Insts. and often did rifle shooting there!
Other examples include York Street , Flax Spinning Mill which employed 4K workers, Mackie’s foundry which made spinning frames for the linen mills, Sirocco Works which made ventilation and drying equipment for the tea industry.
In order to provide housing for the increased population, Belfast Corporation built housing estates on the West and East sides of the River Lagan.
The housing on the East side was largely protestant (prods) with small pockets of Catholics. The men worked in the shipyard and the other industrial sites. On the West side the population were mainly R.C (Taigs), with small pockets of prods! They worked in the spinning mills, tobacco works and bakeries.
Secretarian trouble was always bubbling below the surface but it came to a head in 1913 with the passing of the Home Rule Bill for Ireland. 2,000 catholic workers were kicked out of the shipyard by their fellow protestant workers. This lead to retaliation in West Belfast where protestant families were forced out of their homes and consequently in East Belfast where the catholics were evicted. This resulted in segregated religious ghettoes that exist to this day, At that time Rudyard Kipling was writing his patriotic poems . The first line of one of these poems was “ Oh East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet” He was of course referring to the East and West regions of the world but he may as well have been talking about Belfast!
In 1906 the City Hall was built, this very impressive building reflected the wealth of the city at that time. In 1921 in the new city hall, just under half a million people signed the Ulster Covenant to protest about the Home Rule Bill. Maurice Craig, a protestant liberal, wrote a poem about Belfast It is worth having a look at. The last line reads “To hell with the future lets live in the past may the Lord in his mercy be kind to Belfast”
Now back to the P.T.Q. Where did I get it. I found it amongst other old magazines in Henry Hall’s second hand book shop in Smithfield Market. This market was built by the city corporation in 1849. To the people of Belfast this was a much loved variety market with stalls packed with second hand books and second hand goods of all descriptions , It was said that you could buy anything from a needle to an anchor here. It was also a kind of no mans land, where people of all classes and religion mixed freely! Like all markets it had its own characters. Joseph Kavanagh, or Joe Kavana as he was known by the local people, had the famous slogan” I buy anything ” and of course he sold anything. The story goes that a young fellow came in with a cardboard box which contained a skeleton, true to his motto Joe bought it, and in an unusual act of generosity, sent it up to the medical department at Queens. When the technician opened the box and saw the identification number on the skull, he said” Billy where have you been the last 6 years.” A very small notice on the counter of Joe’s shop informed people that he didn’t buy stolen goods.
However my heaven was in Harry Hall’s second hand book shop. I spent hours there. The shop was run by a very formable lady in a brown overall with a large leather money bag around her waist. She had vast knowledge of the books in stock. At that time I was studying chemistry and there was a famous little box written by Macbeth on chemical reactions. In the lab one day I asked if anyone had a Macbeth for sale and one of the PhD students said that his brother had one. Next day he brought me in Macbeth, but by Shakespeare. The lady in Harry Halls knew exactly what I was looking for and she wasn’t doing a PhD in chemistry!
In the stall next to the books another lady had a stall selling second hand spectacles. Old gentlemen when trying on a pair would lift a book from the book stall to see if the specs were suitable. One day out of curiosity I asked her where she got the glasses and when she told me from funereal undertakers and the city morgue. She noticed my look of distaste and was quick to tell me that in the Dublin market there was a similar stall selling false teeth. My elder sister bought me my first book in Smithfield, Danial Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”
In a blow for Irish freedom the market was burnt down in 1974. To be fair no terrorist group claimed responsibility. It was suggested that the City Council had a hand in it as they wanted to get rid of what they considered an eye sore in front of the new Castle Court shopping centre. A new market was built but it didn’t have the same character as the old.
To conclude, I believe that that the P.T.Q. is still published but when I last saw it a few years ago it was just a collection of dirty stories with no literary merit and not much humour.
To finish, two items from one of the old copies of PTQ:
- “Simple Simon, Simple soul,
Bought a book on birth control
Judging from his wife’s condition
It must have been a cheap edition”
- a cartoon with ladies queuing outside a toilet with the caption
“Q.T.P”.
8th Nov. 2016.
A Family Marriage Certificate from 1868
Presented by Robert Blake
My brother has amused himself in his retirement by researching our family history and has very kindly kept me informed of his discoveries. His work was handicapped by the fact that we inherited no documents relating to our family but he was able to access census data and various church records. The reason why we inherited no records was because those relating to my mother’s side of our family were destroyed through enemy bombing during the war and those concerning my father’s side were dispersed after the death of my grandmother. However, quite by chance my brother met a distant cousin who informed him that he had in his possession some documents that might be of interest. These proved to be the record of our Great-Grandfather’s army service together with a marriage certificate.
Which brings me to my object, which is a copy of the marriage certificate of my Great- Grandparents. This records the marriage of Robert William Palmer and Annie Robinson in St Peter’s Church, Athlone on the 24th March 1868. In the certificate, Robert is described as a Gunner, Royal Artillery whose place of residence is given as The Barracks, Athlone and Annie is described as a spinster of Convent Lane, Athlone, daughter of John Charles Robinson. John Robinson is described as a wharfinger which puzzled me because I could not understand why a wharfinger, the owner of wharves and warehouses, should be in a town like Athlone. It became clear later.
Agnes and I decided to visit Athlone to see the church where my Great Grandparents were married and perhaps take a few photographs to add to the work of my brother. Not knowing the area and seeing that the certificate referred to Athlone in the county of Roscommon I started our project by googling Roscommon hotels seeking a suitable base for our exploration. I came across a small hotel which boasted an executive suite and so, ever mindful of the comfort of my dear wife, I booked it and off we went.
Entering Athlone we followed directions to St Peter’s Church but as it came within sight I knew immediately that it was not the church I sought as it was almost cathedral-like in its grandeur, clearly not very old and was named SS Peter and Paul’s Church. I was able to park my car nearby and as I alighted I saw an elderly nun, leaning on the arm of a younger woman, emerge from a nearby building. Assuming that she would certainly know something of local churches I introduced myself and explained my mission. She informed me very proudly that she was 93 years of age and had lived in Athlone all her life and knew all the churches. I congratulated her on her great age protesting that she did not look a day older than seventy and asked if there had been another church in the town dedicated to St Peter. “Yes” she said “there had been a St Peter’s Church but it was abandoned many years ago as a place of worship and is now a theatre.” Much disappointed, we asked directions and made our way to what turned out to be Dean Crowe Theatre & Arts Centre. Having examined the building we were still not satisfied that we had the site of my great-grandparents marriage ceremony and it being midday repaired to the nearby Main Street where we knew to be a number of establishments providing refreshment.
It was one of those rare days in Ireland – warm and sunny – and the wide pavements outside the hostelries were furnished with tables and chairs giving an almost continental atmosphere. We ordered aperitifs and Agnes decided that a Pernod would be most appropriate for the conditions. The barman pondered for a moment or two before declaring that he had seen a bottle somewhere and after a search produced a very dusty bottle and with much ceremony proceeded to pour. Relaxing in the warm sunshine, glass in hand, I noticed that the establishment opposite boasted of being the oldest pub in Ireland and I sat there imagining my off-duty Great-Grandfather sitting at that very spot enjoying refreshment with his comrades. Refreshed, we decided to postpone our search for the church and chose instead to visit the castle which was close by. Looking around I concluded that it could not possibly have housed a battery of horse artillery so consulted one of the tour guides who proved to be a knowledgeable old soldier and he directed us to Custume Barracks which, he assured us, had housed both horse artillery and cavalry. We found the barracks which are still in use and as the HQ Western Command of the Irish Army. We were not able to enter the establishment but we were able to peer through the entrance gates to see that it is now a mixture of modern and Georgian buildings surrounding what were the cavalry and infantry squares. Again in my imagination I could see Great-Grandfather Robert astride a horse riding through those gates.
At this stage we decided we had done enough for the day and so set off for our hotel with its comfortable executive suite. We found the hotel without difficulty and there discovered that the description “executive” is very much in the eye or mind of the beholder. Not quite what we expected. The bathroom was something of an assault course, the bedroom overlooked an abandoned building site and the trouser press had not worked for years. However, they provided a good dinner and the bed was comfortable.
Just before we departed Athlone I purchased a small booklet on the history of the town and reading it I realised too late that the church we were looking for was not that which is now a theatre but that which had been renamed Corpus Christi Church, which still stands, but itself was abandoned in 1941 and all the memorial tablets transferred to St Mary’s Church the other side of the river.
Although our trip to Athlone was a disappointment in some ways we liked the town, found it quite interesting and we are resolved to return and to continue our research starting at St Mary’s Church. There happens to be two in the town, one Catholic and the other Church of Ireland but I am sure we will find the right one eventually.
As a postscript, I mentioned I was puzzled that my Great Great Grandfather John Charles Robinson was described as a wharfinger because I could not understand why such should be in a town like Athlone. It all became clear when I learned that the Shannon was navigable for commercial river traffic as far as the shallows and rapids in the centre of the town. In 1757 a canal was constructed to bypass the shallows and give access to the lakes at the head of the river and this led to the construction of wharves and warehouses behind the barracks for the manufactured goods passing one way and agricultural goods the other.
8th November 2016
A Note from our Blog Editor
A search of the internet revealed this photo of St Peters Church of Ireland Church, Athlone. Might it be the place where Robert and Annie married in 1868?
The story of an object from a once important industry in rural towns
Presented by Norman Hamill
Does anyone recognise this? What do you think it is?
It’s an engraved hub-cap for a horse drawn vehicle, probably from a pony drawn ‘trap’, or something similar. It’s heavy as it’s made of brass.
It’s one of the few relics that I have from my late father’s coachbuilding firm. He was the third generation to have carried on the business, in and around Coleraine. It was finally wound up in the early 1980s.
Coachbuilding was once a significant industry or business in many towns like Coleraine. Almost no small-scale manufacturing, especially manufacturing based on traditional skills, takes place in small towns nowadays.
By the time my dad retired, his firm was making lorry and van bodies for bread vans, milk lorries and so on. Regular customers included Reid’s Bakery and Ballyrashane Creamery. “C. Hamill and Sons” coachbuilders had also made many mobile library vans in use throughout Northern Ireland. Lorry chassis with their engines would arrive at the premises in Lime Market Street, near where the Bull’s Eye pub is today, and they would leave there with their bodies built onto the chassis. Once built they moved to the dust free and well lit “Paint Shop” on the Mountsandel Road for painting by highly skilled coach painters. The “Paint Shop,” opposite Mount Street, is now Moto Plus Kawasaki motorbike shop.
Towards the end, actual coachbuilding was augmented to a fair extent by accident repair work on cars.
When the firm began, three generations earlier, out in the countryside around Ballyrashane, naturally enough, it only made horse drawn vehicles.
In the1890s my grandfather moved his business into the town.
Last year a friend happened to notice an advertisement for a charity auction at Clogher, County Tyrone. One of the items for sale was a 1902 ‘Governess’ trap built by Hamill and Sons, Coleraine.
I went along to the auction and here’s a picture of the then 113 years old trap. It must have looked magnificent back in 1902 and it had stood the test of time remarkably well. Just think, this was built 10 years before the Titanic set out on its maiden voyage. Naturally the years had taken some toll.
You can just see some of the leather upholstery around the inside of the rail at the top, but it has entirely crumbled away in places. I’m sure there would, originally, also have been leather upholstery on the wooden bench seats.
The picture shows some of the other skills which would have gone into making such a fine vehicle. The solid wooden shafts, usually made of native grown Larch timber, would have been steam bent into the required shape. The wooden sides would also have been steam bent. They would have been made of cedar, not today’s plywood.
The metal work is beautiful too.
Making the wheels would have taken a lot of skilled woodwork to make the spokes and the wooden rims, made in segments had to be jointed together to form a circle. Around the wooden rim was an outer metal rim fitted with a solid rubber tyre. Each metal rim was heated in a forge to make the metal expand before it could be dropped onto the wooden wheel and then cooled with lots of water to make it contract tightly around the wood. As a boy of 7 or 8, I remember seeing this being done. When water was splashed onto the red-hot rims, the hiss and the rising steam impressed a boy!
At the auction in Clogher, I was tempted to buy the trap for purely sentimental reasons. I did put in a couple of bids but really, being more rational about it, I was relieved when it didn’t get it. It was sold for around £200.
Why was I relieved? Because although it would have been a nice thing to have, the other toll time had taken was that the wheels had been badly eaten by woodworm. In places they had almost turned into powder. If I had bought it, it would have taken a great deal of skilled work to have them restored.
My father could have done it, but he died in 1988. Skilled coachbuilders are thin on the ground now. I expect the man who bought it would either have been able to do the necessary restoration work himself, or knew someone who could.
So, that’s the story of Coleraine’s skilled craftsmen early in the last century.
Of course, only relatively well-off people in 1904 could have afforded a horse or a pony and a beautiful horse drawn vehicle. As a status symbol it must have been the equivalent of an up-market, premium class car today. Back in 1904 most people had to walk if they wanted to go anywhere. How things change!
Incidentally, the Governess Trap for sale in Clogher had brass hub caps identical to this one, although they were in better condition. This one looks like it has been through the wars, so to speak.
8th November 2016
Objects and Stories 