John’s Away On

I made contact with John Mc Geough and told him about the series of articles I was putting together called Absent Friends . He was happy to meet me and came to my home . When he arrived , he got out of his car and handed me a pair of these wrap around sunglasses . They were great . We shook hands .
When I looked into his face I thought to myself now there’s a face with laughter lines . His voice was just the same . It echoed with laughter .
His small frame suggested a great strength and determination .

John Mc Geough was born in what was known as Sailor Town , the heart and soul of the docks in Belfast . He was one of nine children born to Tommy and Lizzy McGeough .There where six girls and three boys . Martha, Sally, Marie, Margaret Philamena , Mannix , Fra, Tucker and John .
Lizzy and Tommy took all the kids from their house in Nelson and George Street .

John quickly made friends in the new part of town . He recalls Fred Maguire who was to later emigrate to America .
There was Micky Mc Laughlin , Jim Swindles , Larry Murphy, Jim Jones , Joe Currie , Josie Connolly and the Mc Alea boys .

John went to school in Glenview Street until he was 14 . Then he went to work in some of Belfast Cities linen mills . Up the Falls he worked in Ewarts , Wolfhill and Grieves and in Ardoyne he worked in Rosebank .

At 17 John joined the merchant navy along with Fra his brother and his Tommy his Father . He spent ten years as a seaman and at 27 John started up a Judo school club called the Glenview Judo Club Two of Johns brothers helped run the show .It was here at the Jodi club where John would meet his wife Sally Rooney. Sally was from the Bone area and went to the same school as John She was even confirmed in the Catholic church the same day as John .

When asked some of his favourite memories about living in Ardoyne ,
He giggled and said ,
“I loved going to the Wheatfield bar and having a pint before heading off to the Plaza Ballroom in the hope of finding girlfriend . It was a laugh when I think of it . But what I miss now is the craic and the yarns we used to tell one another and the singing . Last of all the good old Guinness . Gee I loved all that .“

So anyway John had wanderlust at his feet and he made the decision to pack his bags and leave for Australia . His Mother said to him ,
“Son make a life for yourself there for there’s nothing to keep you here .“

So John went to make his way to catch the boat to Heysham and his poor sister Margaret was standing there in tears . When John asked her was she upset because he was leaving she said ,

“No , It’s in case you might change your mind and stay .“

John said to me ,
“She was a case .“

It was Christmas day 1963 when John arrived in Australia . There was no welcome there for him . No snow and no where to go . But with the thought of a life on the dole in Belfast John knew he had made the right choice .
John was in Sydney a year when Sally followed .
It was two weeks after she arrived they were married in St Jochims Catholic Church in Lidcombe . Of the 75 guests at the wedding 50 of them were from Ireland , John and Sally had a daughter and they called her Roisin .
As the years passed Sally and John returned back to Ireland six times for a holiday .
“Wish it was more often “
Said John with a big smile .
He went on ,
“Belfast people spoil you when you’re there . Its hard to go past the welcome your own ones give you .There’s nobody will treat you better . No matter where you roam there is no place like home .“

When John’s daughter Roisin grew up she took an interest in nursing .
She began studies and returned to London to finish a midwifery degree before coming back to Australia and getting a job in the very hospital where she had been born at Berala .

John got a job as a security guard and became a justice of the peace .
His job demands many hours on a rotating roster .
Through a kind of muffled giggled he said ,
“Lots of work for people like me and I like the people I work with .“

I noticed John was looking at his watch .
He told me he had to get to work and with a firm hand shake we said farewell Not long after this article was written John went in to Westmead Hospital with lung problems .
John died soon after .
This is in memory of him , John’s away on now somewhere else .
Another absent friend .

By Paul McCann

The End