A CENTURY OF MEMORIES IN ARDOYNE

br /> "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

During 1994 and 1995 when I was writing a series of articles for
Horizon called " Absent Friends " , I was fortunate to have spoken to
hundreds of former Ardoyne residents who are now living in Australia
.
Some of the stories that where published brought back memories of days
gone by , and I recently got in touch with some of those people to
assist with this article where I am looking back at what was the 20th
century from an Ardoyne perspective .

Today in Ardoyne , new streets pave the way to the new Millennium . But
long before these streets existed there where roads I thought some
Horizon readers might like to have a
dander down . So as we sit on the doorstep of tomorrow chasing all our
yesterdays , its time to go back to school again .

Chief Street School was opened in 1902 by Cardinal Logue .

Mary Robinson originally from 54 Duneden Park who now lives in Sydney ,
Australia recalls ,

" Do you know I still see my classroom in Chief Street school.
There was a Pot Belly Fire there and our teacher would ask if we could
all bring a piece of coal "

Kathleen Loughran originally from 39 Chatham Street now lives in
Queensland , Australia . She went to Chief Street School .
Her teachers where Mrs Hansen and Bernadette Daley , and there where
fifty in her class .
Mena Mc Geough originally from 112 Jamaica Street now lives in
Australia she told me she went to Holy Cross School
and left at 14 years of age on the Friday and started work at Lindsays
on the Monday .
Holy Cross School was opened in 1914 by Joe Devlin the Nationalist M.P.
for West Belfast .

My Dad Sammy Mc Cann R.I.P. from 38 Jamaica Street went there . I
remember him saying about the use of a slate
in the class . The growing number of students in Ardoyne needed larger
schools and St Gabriels was opened in 1957 , followed by Holy Cross in
Butler Street , opened in 1941 and again after the war in 1959 when it
was completed .

I remember going to Butler Street school and meeting my sisters at the
fence every day for a sandwich . They where there in the old huts
beside the boys school .
I went to St Gabriels myself and it was great to speak to some other
students from St Gabriels here in Australia .

Andy Jordan was born in 31 Elmfield Street and now he lives in
Queensland , Australia . Andy went to Butler Street
and later to Old Wheatfield House . Andy recalls at that time they
where building St Gabriels and the changes Ardoyne was going through
.

"People started to get T.V. sets and social life suffered .
People stayed in more and watched TV ."

Tommy Mc Callan born at 131 Brompton Park now lives in Sydney ,
Australia . He went to St Gabriels the year after it was opened and
recalls his teachers Mr Ramsey , Mr Higgins , Mr Mc Keown , Finn Mc
Cool was the science teacher ,
Mr Mc Laughlin , and Mr Mc Guinness .
We've progressed from slates , to blackboards , and whiteboards and
from ten times tables to logarithms and now we have pentiums hooked up
to the world wide web .

The Holy Cross girls school at the back of St Gabriels was opened in
1969 as was St Gemmas Girls near the Brickyard .
Even though people could walk to most places they had to in Ardoyne
transport was always available at the turn of the century either by
your own bicycle or a tram or a horse and cart .

In 1913 Ardoyne Tram Depot was built and trams where often seen making
their way up and down the Crumlin Road . The trams where overtaken by
new Belfast bus in 1954 . Then came the new style red double decker
buses with their token machines instead of friendly bus conductors
.
Most Ardoyne people today have their own car and those who can't drive
prefer to take a Black Taxi into town .

In 1935 Glenard was being built many people began to dream of living in
a home that had a built in bath . The first rent payments for a house
in Glenard was ten shillings a week while the rent for houses in old
Ardoyne was sixpence . All the street
names in Glenard have been changed . They where originally known as
Glenard Drive , etc and in old Ardoyne most of the old streets have
gone forever . But every brick that ever was , can still be seen by
many . Some residents from Old Ardoyne are now living in new houses
around the Ardoyne Estate .

Outside in the streets there was green gas lamppost's and black smoke
pouring out from the chimney pots .

There where always people who followed behind the horse and carts ,
collecting the horse droppings for their roses . There was a great
variety of sounds in the district , like the knock up call ,
or the Rag man . Long gone are the days of buying a bundle of sticks
from a cart out in the entry , and when did you last see a man at your
door selling shoelaces ? Today we live with
central heating and smokeless fuel . Most people today have a digital
alarm clock Am &; Fm Radio , to wake them and chimney pots on
rooftops now have another partner in some streets , which are satellite
dishes that supply directly to the home cable TV networks from around
the world . Neon lights have replaced the green gas lights .

Most street names in Ardoyne are in Gaelic today .

During the second World War there where Air Raid shelters in the
streets and when the sirens went off people would go running from their
houses where some stories and songs would be shared until the danger
had passed . Ardoyne was hit in 1941 by German Bombs , and many people
fled Ardoyne and took cover up at Ballysillan hills . The bells of Holy
Cross never made a sound in the war and where only to rung in the event
of a German invasion . The stained glass windows at Holy Cross where
taken out during the war and kept safe until it was over .

During the war a German bomb landed at the top of Etna Drive and killed
the people who where there , one of these people was a soldier home on
leave .

Rosaleen Timonay from Kingston Street now living in Victoria in
Australia recalls her friendship with Sarah Toal .

Memories and old photos cannot be replaced . It was always hard but
people had a great love for life . Summer nights brought out the women
to their steps and passed remarks to passers by .
Rosaleens sister worked and ran Maggie Walkers shop on the corner of
Kingston Street .

Andrew Davidson who ran the shop in Herbert Street had to fight the
Belfast corporation to open an entrance between Brompton Park and old
Ardoyne . Mr Davidson won the case and The Brompton Gap was the result
.

The year of 1947 was called the big freeze .

Seasons have changed like the faces that have come and gone .
One thing that has never changed though , is that old smile people have
worn on their faces . Through thick and thin
Ardoyne has always had a grin .
Social life has been another big part of peoples lives in Ardoyne
.
There where the Dances in Ardoyne Hall , Tobys Hall and then there
where the pubs like Killpatricks . But long gone are the times when you
could sit in the Wheatfield and listen to your woman "Skinny Lizzie "
while you enjoyed a jar and watched her hanging out her dirty washing
.

Even the days when you could have brought your donkey into the League
for a quiet pint have gone .

Its a different Craic today .
Those public house like Logues and The Wheatfield are gone . What was
the Beltex Mill is now The Shamrock and what was The Forum Pictures is
now the Star . Ardoyne today has a long list of social Clubs that
provide a combination of meals , drinks , entertainment and games most
people enjoy . With the diversity of music and
local talent today agents have to handle the booking of acts
which takes a lot of pressure away from the Committees who run each
establishment .

So popular are the social clubs today that you would have to book
months ahead to secure a spot for a golf club dinner , or a business
group luncheon .

Sporting talents in Ardoyne has always been very high .
Old tin huts like the one in Butler Street have now gone .
But many famous sportsmen like Freddie Gilroy , Charlie Mc Auley , and
Mickey Mc Laughlin where produced from such places . Champion football
teams also flourished from Ardoyne , too many to list in this article
.

The achievements of Ardoynes boxing , snooker , handball , Gaelic ,
Hurling , and Darts teams have always etched out the character of
Ardoyne people .
Handball was another game played often around Ardoyne on Sundays on
Gable walls .

The colourful story of a passionate lifestyle during the century have
been painted on gable walls around Ardoyne . During the Eucharistic
congress in 1932
the district was adorned with murals painted by Danny Mc Carthy , other
artists including Robbie Kane in 1953 have added each chapter to the
ever changing story of Ardoynes history over the century . During the
troubles the words of Poets , and Patriots accompanied various forms of
artwork depicting struggle and oppression .

One memorable piece stated that ,
" We are strongest when we are on our knees "
A definite proof of the Faith people have lived by in Ardoyne over the
century .

In 1952 Ardoynes streets where decorated for the Parishes silver
Jubilee . Mary Robinson recalls all the people from Duneden Park sat up
for weeks doing buntings and decorations for the street .
As the Golden Jubilee is just around the corner I wonder what will kind
of picture awaits the streets of Ardoyne in the 21st century .

The troubles in 1969 hit Ardoyne . Everybody in the district has been
affected by the troubles . It would be impossible to sum up the amount
of sadness , suffering , and heartaches , that have been brought to
Ardoyne in the past thirty years . But again its the character of the
Ardoyne people that has survived through it all , and its a credit that
people have kept that smile .
Once where barricades and barbed wire stood we now have music festivals
and parades around our streets .
Now where once Bonfires where glowing , the Ardoyne Fleadh Cheoil is
growing . Our sorrows have been burnt and our
tomorrows have learnt the lessons of yesterday .
What a century . God bless Ardoyne and its people who are the
salt of the earth .

THE END

By Paul McCann