Meadow: Derrybeg Drive

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Those of us lucky enough to grow up in The Meadow of the 50s and 60s had a number of McCrums as pals – I remember with fondness the late Eamon, with whom we’d play football in the Big Green – then there were Terry and Liam who were of an age with us, class-mates and pals, and there is Martin (altar-boy in St Bridgets) and Finnoula. 

Crossmaglen

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Crossmaglen has been recorded on maps since c. 1609 but until the late eighteenth century it was but a small collection of houses. A generation later and it is described as follows in Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary…

Lilslea Drama Festival 2007

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The 26th Lislea Drama Festival will run from Saturday 24th February to Sunday 11th March, with eight productions, all of them staged on weekend evenings (curtain up: 8.30, except final night 7.30): with the exception of one on Wednesday 28th February which sees the staging of Kilrush Drama Group’s Antigone by Jean Anouilh.   I feature it first for this is one I will not miss!!

Cathedral in 20th Century

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But the most extensive structural extension to Newry Cathedral awaited the raising to the Dromore Bishopric of Henry O’Neill in the first decade of the twentieth century. He served as Bishop 1901-1905.

Town Boundary from 1839

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In the century following the opening of the Newry Canal the town thrived and expanded. The Act of Union of course brought closer ties with the larger island and the reform of some political and administrative affairs. 

Cistercians

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The Cistercian Order of monks was founded in Citeaux, France in 1098.  Religion…

Joey’s prayers answered

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It’s best, I presume, to keep two parrots together in the one large cage for company for each other.

The widow woman had inherited the birds ……

Jerretspass: concluded

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After the war things got very bad. There was no work and less money so eventually Tom Burns and I decided to go to Scotland to the coalmining. 

Imperfect Peace?

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Peace broke out in 1994

Then the semantic battles

Began, highly explosive verbs

And nouns were fired

Without warning by all sides,

Sending newspaper editors

Diving to the floor.

Dan McCaul

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Another photo (sorry about the quality – I was promised better!) from our upside-down friend in the Antipodes!


The Black Pig’s Dyke

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Ye know the dip in the road just outa Meigh on the way till Newry?  The Flurry River passes under there.  Well, the shrubbery on yer left on that hill is on a part of the Black Pig’s Dyke.  Ye didn’y know that, did ye?  I’ll tell you the story of how it came by its name.