SNIPPET: Writer Frank McCOURT born in NY, went back to live in Ireland as a small boy with his family. His paternal grandparents lived in Co. Antrim. His maternal grandparents, the SHEEHANs, lived in Limerick, where they eventually settled. "Angela's Ashes" was written from Frank's recollections as a child and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize. In this excerpt they are visiting his father's people in Northern Ireland: "In a week we arrived in Moville, County Donegal, where we took a bus to Belfast and from there another bus to Toome in County Antrim. We left the trunk in a shop and set out to walk the two miles up the road to Grandpa McCOURT's house. It was dark on the road, the dawn barely stirring on the hills beyond. Dad carried the twins in his arms and they took turns crying with the hunger. Mam stopped every few minutes to sit and rest on the stone wall along the road. We sat with her and watched the sky turn red and then blue. Birds started to chirp and sing in the trees and as the dawn came up we saw strange creatures in the fields, standing, looking at us. Malachy said, What are they, Dad? Cows, son. What are cows, Dad? Cows are cows, son. We walked farther along the brightening road and there were other creatures in the fields, white furry creatures. Malachy said, What are they, Dad? Sheep, son. What are sheep, Dad? My father barked at him, Is there any end to your questions? Sheep are sheep, cows are cows, and that over there is a goat. A goat is a goat. The goat gives milk, the sheep gives wool, the cow gives everything. What else in God's name do you want to know? And Malachy yelped with fright because Dad never talked like that, never spoke sharply to us. He might get up in the middle of the night and make us promise to die for Ireland but he never barked like this. Malachy ran to Mam and she said, There, there, love, don't cry. Your father is just worn out carrying the twins and 'tis hard answering all those questions when you're carrying twins through the world. Dad set the twins on the road and held out his arms to Malachy. Now the twins started to cry and Malachy clung to Mam, sobbing. The cows mooed, the sheep maaed, the goat ehehed, the birds twittered in the trees, and the beep beep of a motor car cut through everything. A man called from the motor car. Good Lord, what are you people doing on the road at this hour of an Easter Sunday morning? Dad said, Good morning, Father. Father? I said, Dad, is that your father? Mam said, Don't ask him questions . Dad said, No, no this is a priest. Malachy said, What's a ------? but Mam put her hand over his mouth. The priest had white hair and a white collar. He said, Where are you going? Dad said, Up the road to McCourts of Moneyglass, and the priest took us in his motor car. He said he knew the McCourts, a fine family, good Catholics, some daily communicants, and he hoped he'd see us all at Mass, especially the little Yankees who didn't know what a priest was, God help us. At the house my mother reaches for the gate latch. Dad says, No, no, not that way. Not the front gate. They use the front door only for visits from the priest or funerals. We make our way around the house to the kitchen door. Dad pushes in the door and there's Grandpa McCourt drinking tea from a big mug and Grandma McCourt frying something. Och, say Grandpa, you're here. Och, we are, says Dad. He points to my mother. This is Angela, he says. Grandpa says, Och, you must be worn out, Angela. Grandma says nothing, she turns back to the frying pan. Grandpa leads us through the kitchen to a large room with a long table and chairs. He says, Sit down and have some tea. Would you like boxty? Malachy says, What's boxty? Dad laughs. Pancakes, son. Pancakes made with potatoes. Grandpa says, We have eggs. It's Easter Sunday and you can have all the eggs you can hold. We have tea and boxty and boiled eggs and we all fall asleep. I wake up in bed with Malachy and the twins. My parents are in another bed over by the window. Where am I? It's getting dark. This is not the ship .... I get up and poke at Dad. I have to pee. He says, Use the chamber pot. What? Under the bed, son. It has roses and maidens cavorting the glen ... He leads us downstairs and through the big room where Grandpa is dozing in his chair .... In the house there are other people in the room with my grandparents Dad says, These are your aunts: Emily, Nora, Maggie, Vera. Your aunt Eva is in Ballymena with children like you. My aunts nod their heads but they don't hug us or smile. Mam comes into the room with the twins and when Dad tells his sisters, This is Angela and these are the twins, they just nod again. Grandma goes to the kitchen and soon we have bread and sausages and tea. The only one who speaks at the table is Malachy. He points his spoon at the aunts and asks their names again. When Mam tells him eat his sausage and be quiet his eyes fill with tears and Aunt Nora reaches over to comfort him. She says, There, there, and I wonder why everyone says there there when Malachy cries... It's quiet at the table till Dad says, Things are terrible in America. Grandma says Och, aye. I read it in the paper. But they say Mr. Roosevelt is a good man and if you stayed you might have work by now. Dad shakes his head and Grandma says, I don't know what you're going to do. Things are getting worse here than they are in America. No work here and, God knows, we don't have room in this house for six more people. Dad says, I thought I might get work on some of the farms We could get a small place. Where would you stay in the meantime? says Grandma. And how would you support yourself and your family? Och, I could go on the dole, I suppose. You can't get off a ship from America and go on the dole, says Grandpa. They make you wait a while and what would you do while you're waiting? Dad says nothing and Mam looks straight ahead at the wall. You'd be better off in the Free State, says Grandma. Dublin is big and surely there's work there or on the farms around. You're entitled to money from the IRA, too, says Grandpa. You did your bit and they've been handing out money to men all over the Free State. You could go to Dublin and ask for help. We can loan you the bus fare to Dublin. The twins can sit on your lap and you won't have to pay for them. Dad says, Och, aye, and Mam stares at the wall with tears in her eyes."

WINTER MORNING The stars faded out of a paling sky, Dropped through the waters, but the Morning Star Grew brighter and brighter, and as the day was nigh A pure wind troubled the rushes near and far. No bird was awake: only the duck Homed to the little lake, fed full with streams: Strange and unreal the full morning broke On a still world as God saw it in dreams. The still-life, austere world was grey and cool, Lit by one burning torch of purest flame. Home -- from what hidden haunt, what secret pool? -- Borne on the morning wind, the wild duck came. -- Katharine Tynan

SNIPPET: A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, KANE became the President of Queens College Cork on its foundation in 1846. He was President of the Royal Irish Academy (1877). His 'The Industrial Resources of Ireland' (1844) offered a highly optimistic assessment of the prospects for Irish development, widely cited by later proponents of economic nationalism. He established a Museum of Irish Industry (1847), and was one of the three-man scientific commission established in October 1845 to find a cure for potato blight. KANE was more than just a 'token Catholic'; he was a figure of European stature who had come up despite the Protestant monopoly of higher education. The Queens Colleges in Cork, Galway and Belfast were however condemned by Cardinal CULLEN, and the Catholic establishment held out for a 'Catholic University'. This blocked access to higher education for the rising Catholic middle class for two generations, until the NUI was set up in 1906. The effect of this on the development of access to core-European scientific and technological culture in the Irish national context was devastating. It resulted in the virtual confinement of scientific culture into a Protestant colonial ghetto, though before the 1900s occasional Catholics filtered in, mostly via education abroad.

Tammy, your County Tyrone website is great! You have done a lot of work on it and I really appreciate your effort. I only wish I had ancestors from Co Tyrone but those that do, will find many leads on your site. -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com

SNIPPET: The chains encircling the concrete posts in front of the main door in 1996 were rusty and the scutch grass grew high on the old sturdy wall. But the Ballroom of Romance, the Rainbow, in Glenfarne on the side of the Enniskillen to Sligo road was still standing. The music is long gone. Big Tom doesn't play there anymore. In 1996, Glenfarne, Co. Leitrim is a village of three pubs, a post office, 50 or 60 families and a barrel of memories. Fifty years of good times when the dancing years flourished as they came from miles around to step the night away. It began in a small hall, little more than a galvanised shed, when a young man returned from Depression-hit America with a pocket full of dollars and a fistful of dreams. John McGIVERN was 22 years old, had left the small family farm and worked as an elevator operator in Jersey City. He went to night school and studied the art of public speaking. He came back in 1934, persuaded Michael KEANEY to form a local band and ran weekly dances. In the 1950s, bands like Stephen GARVEY and Brose WALSH and Jack RUANE, all Mayo musicians drew the crowds and were paid seven pounds between ten players plus a meat tea, according to receipts still extant. (Alcohol was never served). It was a band called the Melody Aces from Newtownstewart in Co. Tyrone who were responsible for the lasting nomenclature: "The Ballroom of Romance." They suggested to John that he personally introduce a romantic interlude. He always dressed in a tuxedo, got on stage and sang, "Have You Ever Been Lonely." Then he encouraged the men and women to make themselves known to each other and give each other a twirl (and, I heard, a shy peck on the cheek!). The system worked and even when the big showband stars came to the Rainbow, John was given his matchmaking spot. Visiting acts like The EVERLY Brothers, Billy FUREY, Ronnie RONALD and homegrown products like the Clipper Carlton, The Royal, The Capitol, were halted in favour of the "Interlude." In 17 years up to the 1974 John McGIVERN noted that 202 marriages came from his "Ballroom of Romance" and 157 engagements. John met his own wife, Maureen, at a dance in the Rainbow. She was from Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. They were married in 1954, had three sons and several grandchildren. John McGIVERN died on 10 May 1996 at the age of 84. Maureen had fond memories of the dancing and kept thousands of souvenirs - receipts, band cards, posters. "You know we were invited to every wedding. To this day I'm still in contact with some couples." At the funeral Mass for John McGIVERN (he was buried 100 yards from the Ballroom) four members of the Melody Aces played some special music. Edward McNAMEE, Gene TURBETT, Patsy McGONAGLE and Shay HUTCHINSON sang in unison, "Have You Even Been Lonely." -- Excerpt, "Leitrim Guardian" yearly magazine.

Well, the robot is done already. FYI Here are the stats on our community site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cotyroneireland/ All new items are marked NEW* ~~~quote~~ Date and time of your last completed re-index: Monday April 20, 2009 2:22 PM According to the spider logs, your search index contains 629 documents. A total number of 1052201 words were found and indexed. 2630502 word-endings were created. ~~~end quote~~~ Enjoy Tammy http://www.tammymitchell.com

HER FACE I saw her face in the local paper, One hundred years old. Her skull Barely skimmed with skin Impaled on that frail frame, Thin lipped; enduring. The fight still lit her eyes Though now they lay sunken In the shadows of too many years. Her hair blown back like one Facing into the wind; defiant. She carried the lines of private Jokes, shared now only with the dead; But her contented smile, the way it Gently filled her face from the inside; That was beautiful, proud, complete. -- Nigel McLoughlin ("The Leitrim Guardian")

SNIPPET: Alfred Joyce KILMER (1886-1918) is best remembered for the following poem, "Trees." It first appeared in "Poetry Magazine" in 1913, and it was title poem in Kilmer's collection, "Trees and Other Poems," the following year. Joyce Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, NJ, and attended Rutgers and Columbia universities. In addition to publishing two other collections of poetry, he edited an anthology of Roman Catholic poets. Kilmer was killed in action while serving in the U. S. Army in France during World War I. His wife, Aline (1888-1941), was also a noted poet. TREES I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray. A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain, Who intimately lives with rain Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. -- A. Joyce Kilmer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2009 10:53 AM Subject: [Irish Genealogy] "Easter Week" -- Mr. A. Joyce KILMER (1886-1918)b. New Brunswick, NJ > SNIPPET: Poet and literary journalist, Alfred Joyce KILMER, was born in > 1886 in New Brunswick, NJ, married Aline MURRAY (1888-1941), who was also > a > noted poet. He is best remembered for one short poem, "Trees." <snip>

SNIPPET: Poet and literary journalist, Alfred Joyce KILMER, was born in 1886 in New Brunswick, NJ, married Aline MURRAY (1888-1941), who was also a noted poet. He is best remembered for one short poem, "Trees." His mother, Annie Kilburn KILMER, wrote an autobiography, "Leaves From My Life," pub. NY 1925. Joyce KILMER enlisted in the NY National Guard and died in the 165th Reg. of the Rainbow Div., 2nd Battle of the Marne, July 30, 1918. KILMER received posthumously the Croix de Guerre and is buried in France. The first two verses of his poem are a refrain from Wm. B. YEATS' "September, 1913." He also refers to Lord Edward FITZGERALD (1763-98), Irish conspirator, member of the "United Irishmen;" Patrick SARSFIELD (d. 1693), Irish Jacobite; Robert EMMET (1778-1803), a "United Irishman;" and to Padraic PEARSE, poet and schoolmaster, general of the Easter 1916 uprising. EASTER WEEK "Romantic Ireland's dead and gone, It's with O'Leary in the grave." Then, Yeats, what gave that Easter dawn A hue so radiantly brave? There was a rain of blood that day, Red rain in gay blue April weather. It blessed the earth till it gave birth To valour thick as blooms of heather. Romantic Ireland never dies! O'Leary lies in fertile ground, And songs and spears throughout the years Rise up where patriot graves are found. Immortal patriots newly dead And ye that bled in bygone years, What banners rise before your eyes? What is the tune that greets your ears? The young Republic's banners smile For many a mile where troops convene. O'Connell street is loudly sweet With strains of Wearing of the Green. The soil of Ireland throbs and glows With life that knows the hour is here To strike again like Irishmen For that which Irishmen hold dear. Lord Edward leaves his resting place And Sarsfield's face is glad and fierce. See Emmet leap from troubled sleep To grasp the hand of Padraic Pearse! There is no rope can strangle song And not for long death takes his toll. No prison bars can dim the stars Nor quicklime eat the living soul. Romantic Ireland is not old. For years untold her youth shall shine. Her heart is fed on Heavenly bread, The blood of martyrs is her wine.

SNIPPET: Francis HUTCHESON (1694-1746), was a Presbyterian moral philosopher and the son and grandson of Irish Presbyterian ministers. He studied for the ministry in Glasgow but chose to run a dissenting academy in Dublin for ten years, during which he published his "Inquiry into Beauty and Virtue" (1725), and "Essays on the Passions with Illustrations on the Moral Sense" (1728). Appointed to the chair of moral philosophy in Glasgow in 1730, his teaching earned him the title of Father of the Scottish Enlightenment. His views of God and man were more optimistic than those of the Westminster Confession. His moral teachings, which included the opinion that victims of unjust regimes had the right to rebel, contributed to the ideology of revolution in Ireland and colonial America.

Thank you for forwarding further information on Carrickfergus. Such a lot of information between your references, Peter, and what Jean forwarded. I can still "feel" the air and dodging into a doorway to get away from the heavy rain when we were headed toward the Irish Quarter West. At that time I hadn't dug a lot into my mother's Irish relatives, and didn't know anything about their "station" in life. Later, when I pieced their lives together when they would settle in Glasgow, I realised that this family, and myriad others, are the true heroes to leave what was familiar, albeit very humble, to start a new life, even if just across the pond in Glasgow, not knowing at all if they would survive, never mind succeed. The ones from Carrickfergus "made it" well enough, but other of my mother's Irish forebears, three sisters and some of the husbands from Belfast, lived in abysmal circumstances in Glasgow, where they ended up dying in the poorhouse. All seemingly were illiterate. The First Presbyterian church was a history lesson in itself and an inspiration about how buildings can be saved if people put their minds (an money) to it. Instead of destroying the church, it was refurbished, and then some, for some enormous amount of money and paid off by the congregation in no time at all. The architecture of the interior reminded me of many of the churches in Glasgow where I grew up, with the pulpit reached by a flight of stairs for the head minister and another pulpit below for the assistant minister. This "aerie" was a great podium for any Bible-thumpin' orator as he could be seen and heard readily! I wondered, too, how such as this Presbyterian church in Carrickfergus then and now could afford the salaries of two ministers as the town itself does not have a large population. We're not "castle aficionados," but Carrickfergus was the only castle we'd been to with life-sized figures in costume placed around the battlements to add a little more realism to the "ambience." One regret was that I did not buy beautifully designed tiles of historical scenes in the gift shop while I was there as a continuing memory of our trip to this interesting town where some of my forebears began their lives in very humble circumstances, it would seem. Again, thank you for indulging me in my queries about the different quarters of Carrickfergus. Maisie . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter J Wilkinson" <pjw@people.net.au> To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com>; "Jean irelandgen rice" <jeanrice@cet.com> Sent: 2009-04-14 20:16 Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > Dear Maisie > > I have an interest in Carrickfergus through my "De Courcy" heritage, the > Anglo-Norman knight, John DeCourcy (1150-1210) having been the original > constructor of Carrickfergus Castle in the defence of the Uliad lands he > took from the native Irish commencing in February 1177. > > Jean quotes from Samuel McSkimin's 1829 work. In 1909 a 3rd edition was > edited by E. M'Crum of Belfast, where the original author's name is spelt > "Miskimin". > > There is also a work by R. Robinson, titled "Carrickhergus, Irish Historic > Towns Atlas", No. 3. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, published in 1986. > > For more information Wikipaedia has an informative article. Just Google > "Carrickfergus". Also, try www.ehsni.gov.au. > > Peter Wilkinson > Melbourne > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Maisie Egger" <campsiehills@sbcglobal.net> > To: "Jean irelandgen rice" <jeanrice@cet.com>; > <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:13 PM > Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN > (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) What an unbelievably quick turn-around to my query about the various sections of Carrickfergus. Thank you so much for this information, and for the poem. As the saying goes, I was "blown away" with the information you found, Jean. Now if only I could return to the area and check it out once more. Maisie From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) Description Co. Antrim (1829) -- "The town of Carrickfergus, at present, has a much better appearance than at any former period, and extends along the northern shore of that bay to which it gives name, nearly a mile. Within the walls the streets are generally narrow, and are called by the following names: High-street, Castle-street, West-street, North-street, Cheston's-street, or Butcher-row, Essex-street, Lancaster-street, Antrim-street, alias Gaol-lane, Church-lane, Back-lane, Governor's-place, and Joymount-court. The houses are built either of stone or brick, mostly of the former, and commonly slated; many of the best houses have been built within the last thirty years. A few still present an antique appearance: the greater part of these are built in frames of oak, in that manner formerly called "Cadge-work." Some of them had originally windows that projected several feet into the adjoining street. That part of the town lying without the walls is called the Irish and Scotch quarters. The latter is on the east of the town, and its streets and rows are distinguished by the following names: Joymount-bank, Scotch-quarter, and the Green, alias Green-street. This quarter takes its name from a colony of fishers who arrived from Argyle and Gallowayshire, chiefly during the persecution in Scotland, about 1665; their descendants still retain their original calling. It is believed that the Irish quarter had its origin soon after. In November, 1678, we find the Duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, and council, by their proclamation, ordering all Roman Catholics to remove without the walls of forts, cities and corporate towns; a few years after which we find the name Irish quarter noticed on our records, instead of that of West Suburb. The streets of this quarter are called Irish quarter south and west; their west ends are joined by a street called Brewery-lane, or Davy's street. A few houses a short distance from those places are dignified with names of Pound-lane and Tea-lane." -- Samuel McSkimin, "History of Carrickfergus, " 1829. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:51 PM Subject: [Irish Genealogy] Query re Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) Query from Lister Maisie: <snip> I am wondering about the significance of why this area was named Irish Quarter West. Was there an Irish Quarter East, South and North? If so, were they so named for a purpose? If anyone is familiar with Carrickfergus and might know the answer, I'd be interesting in knowing. Maisie

A VAGRANT HEART O to be a woman! to be left to pique and pine, When the winds are out and calling to this vagrant heart of mine. Whisht! it whistles at the windows and how can I be still? There! the last leaves of the beech-tree go dancing down the hill. All the boats at anchor they are plunging to be free -- O to be a sailor, and away across the sea! When the sky is black with thunder, and the sea is white with foam, The grey gulls whirl up shrieking and seek their rocky home. Low his boat is lying leeward, how she runs upon the gale, As she rises with the billows, nor shakes her dripping sail. There is danger on the waters -- there is joy where dangers be -- Alas! to be a woman and the nomad's heart in me. Ochone! to be a woman, only sighing on the shore -- With a soul that finds a passion for each long breaker's roar, With a heart that beats as restless as all the winds that blow -- Thrust a cloth between her fingers, and tell her she must sew: Must join in empty chatter, and calculate with straws -- For the weighing of our neighbor -- for the sake of social laws. O chatter, chatter, chatter, when to speak is misery, When silence lies around your heart -- and night is on the sea. So tired of little fashions that are root of all our strife, Of all the petty passions that upset the calm of life. The law of God upon the land shines steady for all time; The laws confused that man has made, have reason not nor rhyme. O bird that fights the heavens, and is blown beyond the shore, Would you leave your flight and danger for a cage to fight no more? No more the cold of winter, or the hunger of the snow, Nor the winds that blow you backward from the path you wish to go? Would you leave your world of passion for a home that knows no riot? Would I change my vagrant longings for a heart more full of quiet? No! -- for all its dangers, there is joy in danger too: On, bird, and fight your tempests, and this nomad heart with you! The seas that shake and thunder will close our mouths one day, The storms that shriek and whistle will blow our breaths away. The dust that flies and whitens will mark not where we trod. What matters then our judging? we are face to face with God. -- Dora Sigerson Shorter (1866-1918)

Dear Maisie I have an interest in Carrickfergus through my "De Courcy" heritage, the Anglo-Norman knight, John DeCourcy (1150-1210) having been the original constructor of Carrickfergus Castle in the defence of the Uliad lands he took from the native Irish commencing in February 1177. Jean quotes from Samuel McSkimin's 1829 work. In 1909 a 3rd edition was edited by E. M'Crum of Belfast, where the original author's name is spelt "Miskimin". There is also a work by R. Robinson, titled "Carrickhergus, Irish Historic Towns Atlas", No. 3. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, published in 1986. For more information Wikipaedia has an informative article. Just Google "Carrickfergus". Also, try www.ehsni.gov.au. Peter Wilkinson Melbourne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maisie Egger" <campsiehills@sbcglobal.net> To: "Jean irelandgen rice" <jeanrice@cet.com>; <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:13 PM Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > What an unbelievably quick turn-around to my query about the various > sections of Carrickfergus. > > Thank you so much for this information, and for the poem. > > As the saying goes, I was "blown away" with the information you found, > Jean. > Now if only I could return to the area and check it out once more. > > Maisie > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> > To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> > Sent: 2009-04-14 18:21 > Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN > (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > > >> Description >> Co. Antrim (1829) -- >> >> "The town of Carrickfergus, at present, has a much better appearance than >> at >> any former period, and extends along the northern shore of that bay to >> which >> it gives name, nearly a mile. Within the walls the streets are generally >> narrow, and are called by the following names: High-street, >> Castle-street, >> West-street, North-street, Cheston's-street, or Butcher-row, >> Essex-street, >> Lancaster-street, Antrim-street, alias Gaol-lane, Church-lane, Back-lane, >> Governor's-place, and Joymount-court. The houses are built either of >> stone >> or brick, mostly of the former, and commonly slated; many of the best >> houses >> have been built within the last thirty years. A few still present an >> antique >> appearance: the greater part of these are built in frames of oak, in that >> manner formerly called "Cadge-work." Some of them had originally windows >> that projected several feet into the adjoining street. >> >> That part of the town lying without the walls is called the Irish and >> Scotch >> quarters. The latter is on the east of the town, and its streets and rows >> are distinguished by the following names: Joymount-bank, Scotch-quarter, >> and >> the Green, alias Green-street. This quarter takes its name from a colony >> of >> fishers who arrived from Argyle and Gallowayshire, chiefly during the >> persecution in Scotland, about 1665; their descendants still retain their >> original calling. It is believed that the Irish quarter had its origin >> soon >> after. >> >> In November, 1678, we find the Duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant of >> Ireland, and council, by their proclamation, ordering all Roman Catholics >> to >> remove without the walls of forts, cities and corporate towns; a few >> years >> after which we find the name Irish quarter noticed on our records, >> instead >> of that of West Suburb. The streets of this quarter are called Irish >> quarter >> south and west; their west ends are joined by a street called >> Brewery-lane, >> or Davy's street. A few houses a short distance from those places are >> dignified with names of Pound-lane and Tea-lane." >> >> -- Samuel McSkimin, "History of Carrickfergus, " 1829. >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> >> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:51 PM >> Subject: [Irish Genealogy] Query re Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) >> >> >>> Query from Lister Maisie: <snip> >>> I am wondering about the significance of why this >>> area was named Irish Quarter West. Was there an Irish Quarter East, >>> South >>> and North? If so, were they so named for a purpose? >>> >>> If anyone is familiar with Carrickfergus and might know the answer, I'd >>> be >>> interesting in knowing. >>> >>> Maisie >> >> >> Check out the Ireland GenWeb website at: http://www.irelandgenweb.com/ >> >> Great place to get help with your family research. >> >> County Westmeath has been adopted! >> >> Help wanted: Still need County Coordinators >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > Check out the Ireland GenWeb website at: http://www.irelandgenweb.com/ > > Great place to get help with your family research. > > County Westmeath has been adopted! > > Help wanted: Still need County Coordinators > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

Final Note -- Mrs. Asenath(Hatch) NICHOLSON traveled to Ireland from New York, recording her experiences on those visits during the 1840s and leaving behind her husband to run their boarding house. Her diaries were subsequently published. Per resources - She must have been a remarkable figure on her travels, wearing, what she referred to as her Polka coat, a velvet bonnet and shoes made of India rubber. She carried a parasol, a basket containing a change of linen and a huge black bear skin muff. Two bags that were slung from a strong cord round her waist held copies of the New Testament in English and Irish for distribution, and as she walked along she sang hymns or read the scriptures to her fellow travellers. A book that she wrote ("Ireland's Welcome to a Stranger") is a unique description of the poverty in Ireland before the famine, where she had "surveyed the beautiful domains and seen walking rags that by hedge and by ditch, in bog and field, are covering the length and breadth of the land." She ended her book with the prophetic words, "I have stayed in Ireland to witness that which, though so heartrending and painful, had given me but the proof of what common observation told me in the beginning - that there must needs be an explosion of some kind or other." When she returned to Dublin at the beginning of 1847 the "explosion" had taken place, the country was in the throes of famine. As practical as always, she took a room in a tall house overlooking the Liffey; her bed a short sofa surrounded by barrels of meal. She rose at four every morning and wrote or corrected proofs until eight, and then went over the river to Cook Street; there she dispensed Indian corn to about twenty destitute families "always cooking it myself in their cabins, till they could and do it prudently themselves." The turf was provided and the rent paid weekly (by her) - she lived off 23 pence a week, or less when she cut out her luxuries of cocoa, milk and sugar and only bought bread so that she could give more support to the needy. In the winter of 1847-48 she took a box of clothing and a little money to distribute in the West. There, as she wrote, she saw "misery without a mask." The appalling tales of suffering and desolation that she witnessed she recounted in her book, "Annals of the Famine in Ireland" which was published after she left Ireland. In "The Bible in Ireland" (1852) she wrote: "Mr. BURKE told me that the Methodists now number in Ireland about 29,000 members and 100 preachers. Certainly these indefatigable labourers have done no small business to make their way through Popery, Prelacy, Presbyterianism and Independency. They are instant in season and out of season." "Went to Arklow (Wicklow) at seven. I found a plain man in the pulpit, and heard a plain sermon preached to a plain people." Mrs. NICHOLSON died in New Jersey of typhoid in 1855, a woman of "the most self-sacrificing benevolence, with great independence of mind and force of character." ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:22 PM Subject: [Irish Genealogy] Pt. 3 -- Bibles in a Bearskin - Mrs. Asenath(Hatch) NICHOLSON's Travels in Ireland (1844) > Pt.3: Mrs. Asenath (Hatch)NICHOLSON came from NY to Ireland to "learn the > true condition of the poor Irish at home" in 1844. <snip>

Pt.3: Mrs. Asenath (Hatch)NICHOLSON came from NY to Ireland to "learn the true condition of the poor Irish at home" in 1844. Asenath was an intrepid walker. In October, with only 4/6d (about 25 pence) in her pocket, she set out for Galway from Roscrea (Tipperary), but when she reached the city, the money she was expecting was not there. Not at all put out, she made her way back to Roscrea. She stayed in the meanest cabins, sharing the room and sometimes the bed with her hosts, their pigs, cattle and hens. Her sustenance was three or four potatoes a day. Often she was given her night's lodging for free. When she went by coach, she complained much of the discomfort. On her first trip to Wicklow, she had with difficulty been squeezed into a seat. "We had proceeded a few miles, with nineteen upon the top, and one appended to the back, when a loud call from a car arrested us with, 'Can you take a few more passengers?' 'As many as you please,' answered the glad driver. The clamour, the entreaties, and threats of the passengers were all unavailing; the car was emptied of four occupants, each with a box or two and baskets and lesser appendages, and all transferred to the coach. The terrified girl perched on top of the luggage, over our heads was now ordered to alight, and without ceremony was packed among us though we were already eight where five could only have a tolerable seat. A corner of a trunk rested on my shoulder, and twenty miles I rode without having the free liberty of my head or full turning of my neck." (to be concluded). ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:24 AM Subject: [Irish Genealogy] Pt. 2 -- Bibles in a Bearskin - Mrs. Asenath (Hatch) NICHOLSON's Travels in Ireland (1844) > Pt. 2: In 1844, Mrs. Asenath (Hatch) NICHOLSON had come to Ireland from > New > York to learn the true condition of the poor Irish at home. <snip>

WORKING FOR PEACE: In the July-Aug 2001 issue of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine is an article and photos of Presbyterian Roy ARBUCKLE, actor, director and founder of the unique Irish music group "Different Drums," with its added cultural dimension of having a Lambeg drum (see below) and a bodhran (potent symbols of the Protestant and Catholic Communities in Northern Ireland)being played side by side in perfect harmony. The band has experienced a meteoric rise since its establishment in 1992, firming believing that it is a necessity for humanity to march to the same beat. Roy says, "Sometimes our concept has been rejected even before we start to perform. In the early days we had skin-head thugs who created trouble for us in Belfast, and later in Waterford there were Republicans who were not too happy that we were using the Lambeg drum. To them it was a symbol of British Imperialism." These kind of objectors are a minority, and when most people start to listen to what we are doing, all that kind of prejudice evaporates. The Lambeg has a certain edge for Catholic people because of its association with the Orange tradition ... To an extent we are dispelling the territorial dimension of the Lambeg, and presenting it in its own right as a musical instrument." Arbuckle recently remarked, "If we do not learn to create an authentic sense of community at local level, how are we going to stop wars between nations? This philosophy underlines everything we do as a musical group. We are not trying to change people, but we are attempting to help them to express themselves a individuals within a larger community, and how to develop their own culture without harming others." Roy was speaking at a one-day workshop for 345 children at the Academy Primary School in Saintfield, Co. Down - a small picturesque village SE of Belfast. Roy and his colleagues introduced some of the children to the practice of rhythm and taught them part of a piece of music which they played to the entire school later on. To reinforce the point, the group played three versions of one tune - first as an Irish "slow air" titled "Young Boy," then as a variation which became an Orange "marching tune," and finally as a hauntingly beautiful Irish reel, called "Swallow's Tail." Roy summed it up, "This is basically the same music, but it shows how in the end we all march to the same tune." The children, and their teachers, loved it. The principal, Stephen MOORE commented, "This is very much a cross-community school, and it is good for our pupils to hear the different forms of music expressed in this way." Roy ARBUCKLE's early musical experience was with local showbands. He developed an interest in traditional Irish music, and played with such well-known groups as "Chaff" and "Fiddler's Elbow." After spending eight years in Canada, Roy returned to his native city, and since then has been involved in cross-community projects. They participated in an Irish Festival in New Brunswick, which had the theme "Come Celebrate Orange and Green." A breakthrough came in 1998 when they were invited to take part in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin. They have participated in musical festivals in the USA, Europe and Japan, as well as keynote events including special performances for successive Irish Presidents Mary ROBINSON and Mary McALEESE. More recently they played at the new Odyssey Centre in Belfast, in the presence of President Bill CLINTON, British Premier Tony BLAIR, local Unionist and Nationalist political leads and several thousand cross-community reps. Arbuckle has also spent two weeks with the Kodo Drummers of Japan. Other highlights include a visits in 1999 to the USA as part of a "Both Sides Now" tour that included noted Irish musicians James GALWAY and Phil COULTER. They made a historic appearance at St. Patrick's Cathedral, NY, and on St. Pat's Day performed for President CLINTON at the White House. They have also performed at the Kennedy Center in WA DC. A close-up of a beautiful and colorful Lambeg drum reveals a portrait of King William on horseback; the drum as made by W & J HAMILTON of Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. It is apparently one of a matched pair which had been used by an Orange Lodge at Finnis, near Dromara, and were around 100 years old. This "great purchase" came from a shop in Belfast's Sandy Row, a well-known Protestant area. Around the same time Roy commissioned a new set of bodhrans from Eamonn MAGUIRE, a craftsman based in Ardoyne, a Catholic part of Belfast. The symbolism is inescapable of the symmetry of instruments acquired from both parts of that troubled city. Talented and enthusiastic members of the band include Stephen MATIER, Belfast, Brendon MONAGHAN, Banbridge, Kevin SHARKEY, Derry and Rory McCARRON, Derry. The group's engagement book is well-filled and their latest CD is called "New Day Dawning." Their music has produced a fascinating blend of sounds and rhythms - Irish reels, jigs and marches, an element of reggae, and traditional Lambeg chants played with a variety of instruments and drums.

What an unbelievably quick turn-around to my query about the various sections of Carrickfergus. Thank you so much for this information, and for the poem. As the saying goes, I was "blown away" with the information you found, Jean. Now if only I could return to the area and check it out once more. Maisie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> Sent: 2009-04-14 18:21 Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > Description > Co. Antrim (1829) -- > > "The town of Carrickfergus, at present, has a much better appearance than > at > any former period, and extends along the northern shore of that bay to > which > it gives name, nearly a mile. Within the walls the streets are generally > narrow, and are called by the following names: High-street, Castle-street, > West-street, North-street, Cheston's-street, or Butcher-row, Essex-street, > Lancaster-street, Antrim-street, alias Gaol-lane, Church-lane, Back-lane, > Governor's-place, and Joymount-court. The houses are built either of stone > or brick, mostly of the former, and commonly slated; many of the best > houses > have been built within the last thirty years. A few still present an > antique > appearance: the greater part of these are built in frames of oak, in that > manner formerly called "Cadge-work." Some of them had originally windows > that projected several feet into the adjoining street. > > That part of the town lying without the walls is called the Irish and > Scotch > quarters. The latter is on the east of the town, and its streets and rows > are distinguished by the following names: Joymount-bank, Scotch-quarter, > and > the Green, alias Green-street. This quarter takes its name from a colony > of > fishers who arrived from Argyle and Gallowayshire, chiefly during the > persecution in Scotland, about 1665; their descendants still retain their > original calling. It is believed that the Irish quarter had its origin > soon > after. > > In November, 1678, we find the Duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant of > Ireland, and council, by their proclamation, ordering all Roman Catholics > to > remove without the walls of forts, cities and corporate towns; a few years > after which we find the name Irish quarter noticed on our records, instead > of that of West Suburb. The streets of this quarter are called Irish > quarter > south and west; their west ends are joined by a street called > Brewery-lane, > or Davy's street. A few houses a short distance from those places are > dignified with names of Pound-lane and Tea-lane." > > -- Samuel McSkimin, "History of Carrickfergus, " 1829. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> > To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:51 PM > Subject: [Irish Genealogy] Query re Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > > >> Query from Lister Maisie: <snip> >> I am wondering about the significance of why this >> area was named Irish Quarter West. Was there an Irish Quarter East, >> South >> and North? If so, were they so named for a purpose? >> >> If anyone is familiar with Carrickfergus and might know the answer, I'd >> be >> interesting in knowing. >> >> Maisie > > > Check out the Ireland GenWeb website at: http://www.irelandgenweb.com/ > > Great place to get help with your family research. > > County Westmeath has been adopted! > > Help wanted: Still need County Coordinators > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

THE SINGER'S HOUSE When they said Carrickfergus I could hear the frosty echo of saltminers' picks. I imagined it, chambered and glinting, a township built of light. What do we say any more to conjure the salt of the earth? So much comes and is gone that should be crystal and kept, and amicable weathers that bring up the grain of things, their tang of season and store, are all the packing we'll get. So I say to myself Gweebarra and its music hits off the place like water hitting off granite I see the glittering sound framed in your window, knives and forks set on oilcloth, and the seals' heads, suddenly outlined, scanning everything. People here used to believe that drowned souls lived in the seals. At spring tides they might change shape. They loved music and swam in for a singer who might stand at the end of summer in the mouth of a whitewashed turf-shed, his shoulder to the jamb, his song a rowboat far out in evening. -- Seamus Heaney ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <irelandgenweb@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 6:21 PM Subject: Re: [Irish Genealogy] Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim -- Samuel McSKIMIN (1829) -- Query re Carrickfergus,Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > Description > Co. Antrim (1829) -- > > "The town of Carrickfergus, at present, has a much better appearance than > at > any former period, and extends along the northern shore of that bay to > which > it gives name, nearly a mile. <snip>

Description Co. Antrim (1829) -- "The town of Carrickfergus, at present, has a much better appearance than at any former period, and extends along the northern shore of that bay to which it gives name, nearly a mile. Within the walls the streets are generally narrow, and are called by the following names: High-street, Castle-street, West-street, North-street, Cheston's-street, or Butcher-row, Essex-street, Lancaster-street, Antrim-street, alias Gaol-lane, Church-lane, Back-lane, Governor's-place, and Joymount-court. The houses are built either of stone or brick, mostly of the former, and commonly slated; many of the best houses have been built within the last thirty years. A few still present an antique appearance: the greater part of these are built in frames of oak, in that manner formerly called "Cadge-work." Some of them had originally windows that projected several feet into the adjoining street. That part of the town lying without the walls is called the Irish and Scotch quarters. The latter is on the east of the town, and its streets and rows are distinguished by the following names: Joymount-bank, Scotch-quarter, and the Green, alias Green-street. This quarter takes its name from a colony of fishers who arrived from Argyle and Gallowayshire, chiefly during the persecution in Scotland, about 1665; their descendants still retain their original calling. It is believed that the Irish quarter had its origin soon after. In November, 1678, we find the Duke of Ormond, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, and council, by their proclamation, ordering all Roman Catholics to remove without the walls of forts, cities and corporate towns; a few years after which we find the name Irish quarter noticed on our records, instead of that of West Suburb. The streets of this quarter are called Irish quarter south and west; their west ends are joined by a street called Brewery-lane, or Davy's street. A few houses a short distance from those places are dignified with names of Pound-lane and Tea-lane." -- Samuel McSkimin, "History of Carrickfergus, " 1829. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:51 PM Subject: [Irish Genealogy] Query re Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim (GRIBBIN) > Query from Lister Maisie: <snip> > I am wondering about the significance of why this > area was named Irish Quarter West. Was there an Irish Quarter East, South > and North? If so, were they so named for a purpose? > > If anyone is familiar with Carrickfergus and might know the answer, I'd be > interesting in knowing. > > Maisie

Query from Lister Maisie: Tidying up some photos, I came across one I took of one end of Davis Street, where my husband is standing on an empty piece of ground marked Irish Quarter West, in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. Behind my husband is a row of small, rather humble shops. At the farther end there are some modern flats, presumably indicating that other older buildings had to have been demolished at some point. I have no idea, therefore, where the Gribbin family might have lived on Davis Street, as I have no house number as a guide. My mother's grandmother, Hannah Gribbin, was born in Davis Street, Irish Quarter West. Later, her father Robert Gribbin moved "across he water" to Glasgow where he married a woman from Glasgow. I'm assuming his first wife died in Carrickfergus. He and his brother were handloom weavers. The brother moved to Belfast and may have continued there as a handloom weaver. Robert became a lamplighter in Glasgow. We had the great good fortune to find the Presbyterian church in Carrickfergus open where the Gribbins had been christened. The trustee who just happened to be there gave us a tour and then offered to follow up on my query about the christenings. He was as good as his word, and I was able to further confirm the information he gave me with the Presbyterian H.Q. in Belfast....and at no charge, but with a polite suggestion that a donation would be welcome. All this as an aside. I am wondering about the significance of why this area was named Irish Quarter West. Was there an Irish Quarter East, South and North? If so, were they so named for a purpose? If anyone is familiar with Carrickfergus and might know the answer, I'd be interesting in knowing. Maisie