Around May 1941

Around May 1941

By Paul McCann

If only we had a time machine , wouldn’t it be great to travel back through time or even into the future .

Looking back through the mists of time there is a scene I can see emerging from beyond the grove at Holy Cross church .

Standing there on a hill overlooking the desert of little terrace houses spread through the maze of little streets in the village of Ardoyne .

I see myself walking down into the streets that were only recently built , back then , noticing that all their iron railings have been removed to be used as raw material to make munitions for the world war 2 .

In the middle of the streets , small buildings stood there , intriguing me to take a closer look .

Standing outside these small buildings there is a sound like an alarm echoing out all around the village . The residents began to appear out from their houses running towards the small buildings in the middle of the street .

I too wanted to be there among them so as I followed the people who went rushing inside the little buildings I saw

children there inside these shelters with old folks as well .

Some of the Mommy’s and Daddy’s sat with a worried look on their faces .

On the wall was a clock and three bench seats where people could sit .

It was very crowded in there and I noticed how different the clothes were that people wore .

Beautiful young ladies there sat sharing stories about places in the the world they would love to visit .

There was a priest who seemed to be praying in silence .

“Are you a monk ?”

Asked one of the children .

“Well not really , I’m a parish priest”

Suddenly the sound of planes overhead could be heard .

One of the children sitting there asked a question to his Mammy ,

“Mammy why do they want to drop bombs on Ardoyne ?”

His mother replied ,

“Because there is a war and bombing is part of being in a war”

Other children then began asking questions to their parents

“When will the war be over ?”

“Let’s hope it will be soon son .

Came the reply .

Another little girl asked her father ,

“Daddy if they start dropping bombs will we be safe in these air raid shelters ?

Suddenly the planes overhead began to fade and there was over.

Distant machine gun fire could be heard around the village in sone attempt to bring down the enemy aircraft . With volleys of bullets eventually coming to an end people inside the air raid shelter were still very shaken and frightened.

The priest spoke with a deep soft voice that seemed to have a soothing effect on everyone there .

“There is nothing to be afraid of . God protects us always “

Everyone nodded their heads

Opposite the priest was a little boy holding a book . He asked the little boy if he could have a look at the book and the little boy handed over the book .

The priest took the book and read out the title ,

“The land of Tir Na oGe “

He caught the attention of everyone because he talked a bit different than everyone else .

“Does everyone know about that place time it is where we can be forever young “

Some of the children shook their heads and the priest said “

It’s just like heaven you know , because in heaven no one gets old and we live there forever with God where there is no war only peace “

Everyone left the air raid shelter and returned to their homes and through the mists of time I found a sense of wonder and thought yeah , here in

Ardoyne May 1941 , if only we had a time machine and we could be transported back in time or even go to the future .

The End