A walk around Falkner Square in Liverpool is always interesting. The buildings are quite impressive although not quite as grand as the houses in the nearby Georgian Quarter, now much utilised for film locations, although Falkner Square itself made a film appearance in the 1971 film Gumshoe with Albert Finney.
What’s attractive about it is that it has its own central park and resembles the sort of square you would find in Bloomsbury. I was always told, that in days gone by, only the people who lived in the Square had a key to the park, although the City Council now claims it as ‘one of the earliest public open spaces in the city’. I suspect it wasn’t open to the public in its earliest days.
Falkner Square is said to be named after Edward Falkner, an ex-soldier and former High Sheriff of Lancashire, who mustered a force of 1,000 men to defend Liverpool in 1797 when fears of a French invasion were at their highest. He was a successful merchant, involved inevitably in the slave trade, but who died in 1825, so he can’t have been directly involved in the development of the Square.
Joseph Sharples’ Pevsner Architectural Guides Liverpool says ‘The central garden is shown planted on a map of 1831, but the stuccoed houses did not begin to appear until the mid 1840s.’ The only architect he mentions is William Culshaw who designed number 29 in 1845 along with many Liverpool buildings.
One relatively new feature is the Memorial to Black Merchant Seamen who served in the Second World War. This was unveiled in 1993 on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic and contains the words “They Held Their Course” RespectDue. The bronze plaque, which, shockingly, has endured some vandalism but is now restored, is attached to a large decorated piece of sandstone. This came from the old Liverpool Sailors’ Home, which was once a very prominent landmark in Canning Place near the city centre. Now only the ornate gates survive and can still be seen at the entrance to Liverpool 1.
Memorial to Black Merchant Seamen who served in the Second World War
I was delighted to attend the launch of Balloo, Killinchy, A Hidden History by Lesley Simpson, Moira Concannon and Leanna Russell on Saturday, 15th August at Florida Manor, Killinchy. It was a wonderful occasion and a great start for a fascinating and beautifully produced book.
With Rev Dr Stanley Gamble, Rev Dr John Nelson, Lesley Simpson and Moira Concannon
The authors tell the story of the locality through maps, family history, newspaper reports, churches, mills and stores and, most of all, the local houses. Of particular interest to me is the house known as Templebrook Valley which was the home of the Rev Samuel Watson minister in Killinchy from 1797 up to his death in 1856. He was at the centre of one of the major disputes between the Synod of Ulster and the Non-Subscribers in the 1830s and the new Remonstrant meeting house was built for him in Killinchy in 1846.
When the Non-Subscribers were ejected from their original meeting-house, for three years they held services in the grounds of his house. The book tells the story of the Rev Samuel Watson and his ‘long and interesting life from his suspected involvement with the United Irishmen to his move towards Unitarianism’. One of 13 children, three of them becoming Non-Subscribing Presbyterian ministers, Samuel Watson was also a significant farmer in the locality. Sadly his house was left to fall into dereliction in the twentieth century although a new house has now been restored on the site.
There is a great deal in the book about Samuel Watson. At the stone-laying ceremony for his new meeting-house it was reported that:
…seventy clergymen and strangers joined the congregation for a celebration which culminated in a substantial dinner, in a commodious wooden house that had been erected for the occasion with the Rev. Samuel Watson presiding.
I was particularly amused by one quotation taken from James Gourley in 1874, a perhaps not entirely unbiased commentator, who asked an old man who had sat under Samuel Watson’s feet:
What sort of doctrines did he preach? ‘Ohm’ said he ‘at that time there was no word about doctrine.’ ‘And what then did he preach about?’ ’Mainly about far away countries and wild beasts’.
Samuel Watson’s obituary in the Northern Whig described him as ‘…one of the oldest and ablest Ministers of the Church.’
The book is full of detail and uncovers such fascinating stories as the 1893 excavation of Templebrook Valley by the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society with the co-operation of Samuel Watson’s two youngest daughters – Anna and Sarah who were photographed at the excavation which uncovered Bronze Age vessels now in the Ulster Museum.
The view from the back of Florida Manor
The book is richly illustrated throughout and is full of fascinating information. It is a credit to its authors and will be enjoyed by all with an interest in local history, the history of county Down and Irish Presbyterian history. The launch was a splendid occasion at Florida Manor, as the following photographs show.
I was pleased to again take part in a tour of Belfast City Cemetery led by Tom Hartley. Tom is now the author of four books on the cemeteries of Belfast and I was pleased also to pick up a copy of his latest work, More Stories from the Belfast City Cemetery. This was his penultimate tour of the last series he would give as part of the Féile an Phobail and like all these tours there was a very large attendance.
Start of the tour, showing some of those present
I see the first guided tour I attended was in March 2022. You can read that account here – Silent yet eloquent Memorials. There are a number of changes to the Cemetery made since that time, like the completion of the visitors’ centre, new signage all around the Cemetery, the restoration of the Vaults – which house the remains of such industrial luminaries as Sir Edward Harland and Thomas Gallaher – and a lot of new planting.
It is a very impressive cemetery, imaginatively laid out and designed by William Gay of Bradford in the shape of a bell (as in Belfast) and it contains some incredible Victorian, Edwardian and later memorials.
Gustavus Heyn, shipping magnate
Some parts are still quite heavily overgrown and other parts have suffered badly from vandalism.
The Jewish section of the graveyard comprises a separate walled section although this has particularly suffered from vandalism and since 1964 Jewish burials now take place at Carnmoney Cemetery.
Entrance to the Jewish Cemetery
Inside the Jewish Cemetery. On the right is the remains of the Tahara, the mortuary chapel
The Cemetery also includes a Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery with 296 burials from the First World War and 274 from the Second World War. There is also a Cross of Sacrifice (the same size as that in Botley Cemetery) and a First World War Screen Wall which carries the names of 74 soldiers who are buried in the First World War plot, 58 soldiers who are buried in unmarked graves and 8 soldiers who are buried elsewhere in the Cemetery.
Cross of Sacrifice
Part of the First World War Screen Wall
Second World War Royal Navy and Merchant Navy graves
There are a lot of significant people from Belfast’s past who were Non-Subscribing Presbyterians who are buried here, perhaps most notable are Lord and Lady Pirrie. Viscount Pirrie was the chairman of Harland and Wolff when the Titanic was built and was to have sailed with his nephew, the designer Thomas Andrews, on its maiden voyage, but was prevented from doing so by illness.
Grave of Lord and Lady Pirrie
I have written before about one of the most notable Non-Subscribing Presbyterian ministers buried here, the Rev John Scott Porter, and was pleased to hear from his great great great granddaughter as a result. He is buried with his brother, William, who was once the attorney general at the Cape Colony, and actually introduced at that time a franchise that was inclusive of all races. The Celtic Cross that marks their grave is one of the most impressive in the cemetery:
The grave of Rev John Scott Porter and William Porter
I also produced a short video about John Scott Porter at that time. This is available to view here:
Click above to see the videoThe grave of Florence and Albert James Lewis, the parents of C.S. LewisThe tour at the Vaults and Central Steps
In this post we are looking at some more examples of the work of Allen Daniel Coon. The total output of postcards he produced between 1902 and his death in 1938 must have been enormous and they covered a very wide geographical area. I hadn’t noticed that one card I picked up a few years ago was by him:
Old Cemetery, Ballycarry, 1929
This was produced for John McKee News Agent and Confectioner, Ballycarry, and is interesting because he has labelled different features of the graveyard, although you can only see the tip of the spire of St John’s Parish Church and can’t see the ruins of the old church at all as they are obscured by trees.
This is what the ruins look like today:
Ruins of Templecorran Church, Ballycarry
You can read about our recent visit to this graveyard here.
Allen Coon produced a lot of postcards for this part of County Antrim in the later 1920s, in this case giving his location as Moira, NI. Five years earlier his postcards produced for Mrs Johnston, Draper & Boot Merchant, Hillsborough still give his location as Letterkenny:
Town Hall and Court House, Hillsborough, 1924
Interior of Parish Church, Hillsborough, 1924
The cards produced in Antrim in 1927 stand out from the others having a large border and a glossy finish. This time they are published for Mrs Simpson, Newsagent and Stationer, Antrim, who must have wanted something different in terms of design. By this time he is well settled in Moira:
First Antrim Presbyterian Church, 1927
Motor Boats on Lough Neagh at Antrim, 1927
Presumably the motor boats were used as pleasure craft taking people on tours of the Lough.
In Whiteabbey in 1929 he produced about 18 postcards for H. Quiery, Newsagent & Tobacconist. He must have exhausted all the possible views of the surroundings.
Whiteabbey Dam and Mill, 1929
Whiteabbey Memorial Hall, 1929
A lot of Allen Coon’s pictures are straightforward architectural treatments of churches or halls. But this one is slightly different in that a passer-by boldly walks into shot in front of the Whiteabbey Memorial Hall (opened just two years earlier in 1927). Was this pre-arranged to add a bit of extra detail? Or did the lady accidently cross into the frame while he was standing there with his camera? If this was an unforeseen intrusion into his picture he must have liked the look of the finished article since he could easily have taken another one. But there she remains for posterity, out on her messages, captured on film.
In this video we take a look at the career of Allen Daniel Coon, one of the pioneers of photography and cinematography in Ulster. The video tells something of his story, with many examples of his postcards, and tracks down his last resting place.
Video: Allen Daniel Coon (1867 -1938) Photographer and Cinematographer
The previous post on this blog is all about Allen Coon’s postcards produced for W.J. Ross of Finaghy Stores in 1927, but these are just a small sample of his vast output produced between his arrival in Ireland in 1902 and his death in 1938.
Allen Daniel Coon was born in Buffalo, New York in 1867. The son of a Baptist pastor and, tradition has it, a native American mother, his career followed a fairly conventional path in its early years. He read law at university and then established himself as an attorney in Buffalo. But at some point he tired of this life and took the road to prospect for gold first in California and then in Alaska. One assumes this was not entirely successful because at some point he took up photography. He was a friend of George Eastman, the founder of Kodak, and may have been related to him. Either way he travelled to England with him in 1900 moving to Ireland a couple of years later to set up his own photography business.
This was right at the beginning of the boom in the sale of postcards. In 1902 you could send a picture postcard for a halfpenny and expect it to be at a local destination at lunchtime. For skilled photographers the opportunities were obvious and operating initially from Londonderry, later from Letterkenny and ultimately from Moira (each place was printed as his location on the front of his postcards) he produced hundreds of postcards of impressive views, street scenes, local landmarks, prominent buildings and sometimes interesting people.
Clough Castle (no publisher listed on the back)
It is recorded that he charged local traders less than £5 for 2,000 postcards, which also included their name on the back of the card. From about 1924 he started numbering the cards starting with the last two digits of the year they were produced which is very helpful in dating the cards.
In the Census of 1911 he was recorded as living with his wife of three years, Clara, at Church Wall, Londonderry where he recorded his profession as Photographer and Theatrical Showman. Also recorded were their two eldest children (Gladys and Gaynor) and the fact that while his wife was a Presbyterian he declared himself to be an agnostic.
Moira Market House, published by Job Palmer, General Trader, whose shop can be seen on the right
The Theatrical Showman side of his profession was not an idle boast. Although his income from postcard sales must have been steady he was also perpetually ‘on tour’ travelling all over the north of Ireland with his camera and darkroom, setting up in towns as he went to film moving pictures and then show them to a fascinated populace along with films of Charlie Chaplin and other entertainers. In fact he also seems to have had an interest in some of the earliest cinemas established in county Donegal and in Belfast but his commitment to travelling from town to town with his films never waned right up to his death.
Moneymore, First Presbyterian Church (‘Published by Coon for Devlin, General Merchant, Moneymore’)
After partition he moved from Letterkenny to Moira and was ultimately buried there in the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church graveyard after his sudden death while on tour in Sligo. It is clear that his family had a close association with the Church, other family members are buried in the churchyard, but in the 1940s when the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian denomination launched a tercentenary appeal for the Sustentation Fund (1642 – 1942), Allen Coon’s wife Clara and his daughter Sylvia were amongst the members of the little congregation at Moira who gave their support. Indeed Miss Sylvia Coon was also one of the two local appeal officials for Moira.
Donations from Moira to the NSPCI Tercentenary Sustentation Fund Appeal, including Clara and Sylvia
We have a good collection of postcards of Dunmurry in our Library at First Dunmurry (Non-Subscribing) Presbyterian Church. The following video tells their story:
Here are the postcards:
Kingsway 1
Dunmurry Lane
Dunmurry Primary School
Kingsway 2
Multi-view 1
Mill Hill
Presbyterian Church
Multi-view 2
The Park
St Colman’s
Kingsway 3
All published by W. McCartney, Stationer, Newsagent & Tobacconist, Dunmurry. All with the unusual spelling of ‘Dunmurray’ on the front and back of each card!
Visiting Botley Cemetery for the first time, despite seeing the signs for the Commonwealth War Graves, I didn’t expect to find such a large military cemetery of a size and with such features as you would expect to find in France or Flanders. Like all Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries it is immaculately maintained, and a very moving place to visit.
I was surprised to find such a large graveyard of this sort in Oxfordshire, although it is inevitably true that many service men and women did die at home, either on home service, or were brought back because of wounds or found themselves in hospital because of accident or illness. Oxford provided a major regional hospital during the First World War, and again during the Second World War. Oxfordshire was also a major centre of RAF activity in the Second World War and Botley was then designated as a Royal Air Force Regional Cemetery. In the First World War the University Examination Schools housed the 3rd Southern General Hospital with room for 1,500 patients. The Schools weren’t the only venue for the war-time hospital, also put to use were Somerville College (for officers only), the Workhouse on Cowley Road, the Town Hall, University and New Colleges, and the Oxford Masonic Buildings on High Street. In the Second World War the Examination Schools were again used as a hospital.
Botley Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery has all the features that can be found in major cemeteries of this type. At the centre of the grave yard there is a Cross of Sacrifice, a large cross containing a bronze longsword, with its blade pointing down, it is said to be present in all graveyards containing 40 or more war graves. These were designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and are a familiar symbol of sacrifice in so many places. By 1937 there were already over 1,000 of these crosses in Europe alone, more were to follow after the Second World War.
Cross of Sacrifice
The Cemetery also has a Stone of Remembrance designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for use in CWGC Cemeteries containing more than 1,000 graves. There are now hundreds of these all around the world but only 12 in the UK. With around 743 graves Botley was regarded as a special case, perhaps indicating that it is one of the dozen largest Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries in the UK. Although not designed as such the Stone resembles an altar and carries a quotation from the book of Ecclesiasticus: Their Name Liveth for Evermore. Sir Edwin Lutyens was one of three principal architects of the Imperial War Graves Commission (as it was then called) and as well as his work in New Delhi and elsewhere is perhaps best remembered for his contribution to memorial architecture for the First World War, designing the Cenotaph in London and the Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme.
Stone of Remembrance
The third building found in the graveyard is the Shelter, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, the Principal architect of the Commonwealth War Grave Commission after the Second World War.
Domed Shelter
One of the first graves I noticed must be among the most poignant. It is that of Air Mechanic 3rd Class Osmund R.T. Fleeton of the Royal Flying Corps who was just 16 when he died. He came from Cork where his parents Robert and Jeanie Eloise Fleeton, lived at 1 Brookfield Villas, College Road. The official record says he ‘died of sickness 26th April, 1917’. ‘Ossie Always Beloved, Never Forgotten,’ his family inscribed on his grave.
Grave of Osmund Fleeton
Another Irish grave is that of Private James Byrne from county Kilkenny of the 1st Battalion the Leinster Regiment who died on 13th May 1915.
Private James Byrne
In one corner of the grave yard there is a solitary grave of a nurse – Staff Nurse Mabel Murray, of the Territorial Force Nursing Service, who worked at the 3rd Southern General Hospital and who died of influenza on 2nd November 1918 at the age of 35. She was one of the victims of the so-called ‘Spanish flu’ which swept over the nation at the end of the First World War, and it may be that the reason her grave is situated in a lonely corner is that they expected more of her colleagues to fall victim to influenza, but thankfully this did not transpire. She is not the only woman buried in the cemetery, however. Nineteen years old Aircraftwoman Glenys Doreen Harris is buried in the RAF section having been killed when an RAF Mosquito crashed in training at Upper Heyford on 24th September 1945.
Staff Nurse Mabel Murray
The graveyard contains the graves of many nationalities from both world wars including those who came from the then dominions of the British Empire (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa) as well as other countries including Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Italy, The Netherlands, and Poland. Botley also contains the only grave of a Greek soldier in Britain – Private T. Lagos, who died in Oxford on 18th October 1944. His headstone is inscribed with a quotation from Pericles’ funeral oration as recorded by Thucydides: ‘The whole earth is the tomb of famous men’. There are also a number of German graves from the First World War as well as a large section of 33 graves of German soldiers all dated 1944 who presumably were prisoners of war. It was strange to see the German war graves although their presence is perhaps slightly reminiscent of the memorial in New College Chapel to former German students who had been killed in the Great War.
German war graves
The precise number of graves in the CWGC cemetery at Botley varies according to which source you consult but I did notice a number of other military graves from the world wars located outside the Commonwealth War Graves area which might account for the variations. But it is certainly a very peaceful place, a well-cared-for corner of a municipal cemetery, a silent memorial to those who gave their lives.
On 5th June 2025 a party of about 20 of us set off on a journey to visit four Non-Subscribing Presbyterian churches in county Antrim plus an historic graveyard (including the ruins of a very historic church) and met a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian peacock along the way. We had as our expert guide the Rev Dr John Nelson whose extensive knowledge kept us informed and entertained all day.
We left Dunmurry and headed for Ballycarry where we visited first Templecorran graveyard.
The ruins of Templecorran church
The original parish church used by Edward Brice, the first Presbyterian minister in Ireland in 1613, is now in ruins but it contains many interesting items, including Edward Brice’s grave, the grave of the Rev John Bankhead and a memorial to James Orr, the Bard of Ballycarry.
Grave of Edward Brice
James Orr memorial
The church was renovated in 1622, during the ministry of Edward Brice, and being built in dangerous times was constructed to be defendable; musket loopholes can still be seen which would have covered all angles of the church should it ever have come under attack.
One of the musket loopholes
The church at Templecorran was slated (unlike the first Ballycarry meeting house which was thatched) and was occupied by Edward Brice and his congregation until he was ejected in 1637.
Inside Templecorran church
From the old church it is a short walk to Ballycarry where Dr Nelson told us the story of the meeting house, itself dating from the early 18th century.
Ballycarry plaque
Inside Ballycarry meeting house
It’s not far from Ballycarry to Raloo but some of us still managed to get lost! But we got there in the end to enjoy the Remonstrant meeting house of 1838 and adjoining modern church hall.
Raloo
Raloo interior
From Raloo we went to Templepatrick where we were able to enjoy our lunch thanks to the kindness of the congregation. Templepatrick is an attractive church which has often faced upheaval. In 1798 the brass canon used by the United Irishmen at the battle of Antrim were stored under the pews. One of these was dragged to the battle on a carriage which was fired once and blew the carriage to pieces.
Templepatrick
Later when the congregation became Remonstrant the landlord Lord Templeton evicted the minister from the manse farm.
Templepatrick interior
While we were in Templepatrick a peacock was spending some time in the car park:
Finally we went off to Crumlin, a congregation founded in 1715, which built a new church in 1835 which was a miniature version of First Church, Belfast.
Looking through some wild flowers towards the church
Outside Crumlin
It is such an elegant building that deserves to be better known.
The church was particularly associated with the Rev Nathaniel Alexander who was 6 feet three inches tall. The pulpit consequently has a trap door that was open when he preached so he could stand at a slightly lower lever.
It was a great day out, many thanks go to Rev Dr John Nelson.
A few years ago a post on this blog attracted some interest about a ghost sign that emerged on Berry Street in Liverpool following the demolition of a neighbouring building. You can see that post here. Walking along Smithdown Road recently I was reminded of a number of ghost signs which can be found there which have long been visible and are probably quite well documented. But it means that Smithdown Road is something of a gold mine for ghost signs so I took a few pictures as I walked along.
The first is close to the junction of Nicander Road and Smithdown Road. Presumably the shop on the corner was A.J. Morris’s ‘Modern Grocer’ but I have no recollection of it. It is interesting that the original sign just about survives and someone has painted a replica on the adjoining advertising square, which perhaps also once housed a similar message or perhaps was adorned with posters featuring special offers. The ornamental tiles that form the frames here are an interesting feature.
A.J. Morris Modern Grocer
If you continue your perambulation under the railway bridge heading towards Allerton Road you will come across the next ghost sign. I have a long memory of this one, it is easy to miss but for years there was a rusty old windmill fixed above some of the shops. When I was a child I remember asking my mother why this was so and she told me that it marked the site of the Dutch Café. The Café had long gone by the time I remember first seeing the windmill but it must have had a fairly long-standing presence. Strangely when I was at school our history teacher told us about a difficult experience he had had with a group of Teds in the Dutch Café, presumably in the 1950s. I have forgotten whatever the point of his tale was but it was evidence for the existence of the Café. Other evidence has turned up on eBay over the years with black and white pictures of the staff dressed as Dutch girls being offered for sale. Tempting though it was I didn’t bid for them.
But although I am calling the windmill a ghost sign the people who own the Bathroom Centre underneath have had it restored and it looks quite smart, if slightly incongruous. And this is where this post starts to stray into Beatles territory. There are discussions of the Café online, also known as ‘Dutch Eddies’ and ‘Frank’s’. It had a very popular heyday with bikers and others and seems to have drawn John Lennon into its orbit. This is more than likely given its location. John and Paul apparently played pinball there. Other connections are claimed by various online sources but most interestingly John Lennon is said to have referred to the Café, as ‘the Dutch’, in the original lyrics for In My Life.
Dutch Café Windmill
So there is a lot you can say about a windmill fixed to the wall above a bathroom shop.
But further on the Beatles connection deepens. Some of the features, not quite ghost signs, of the Holyoake Hall are very redolent of the long departed Co-operative movement which built the Hall in 1913. It is actually quite an attractive building when judged as a whole, although the shop fronts of the modern occupants inevitably take the eye away from appreciating it as originally designed.
Holyoake Hall
I remember this being the Co-op supermarket which seemed pretty dreary at that time, although I am told by those with better memories that it was for a long time a very popular supermarket which sold many food items hard to get in Liverpool in those days. Above the shop there were what I presume were offices and also a large hall. In the 1960s and 1970s this was occupied by the British Legion and was a very popular venue because it was one of the few places you could get a drink in that part of the city. That would not be true today but there was certainly very strict adherence to the licensing laws at that time, as evidenced by the Hatfield Hotel near to the railway bridge on Smithdown Road. I neglected to take a picture of this place when I walked past during this odyssey, there were lorries, skips and scaffolding all around it, but it was clearly built as a pub and was never granted a license.
But to return to Holyoake Hall, it has many attractive stone details that proclaim things like Unity and Co-operation, as well as dates – 1913 and 1914.
Datestone 1913
Unity
Co-operation
But this is where the Beatles fit in again for they played the Holyoake Hall twice (on 15th and 22nd July 1961) and according to Mark Lewisohn in his superlative book All these years. Tune In they were paid £12 for each gig.
Holyoake Hall is also just around the corner from Penny Lane and if we walk along that route and across Penny Lane to the start of Allerton Road we come to the last ghost sign, an intricate mosaic for Irwin’s. These must have been expensive advertisements to produce for this Edwardian grocery chain. Irwin’s was a very successful supermarket in Liverpool and North Wales from the 1880s, eventually selling out to Tesco in about 1960. A number of these advertisements still exist but this one is a particularly good one. It can be seen in its setting right next to St Barnabas’ Church which itself has another Beatles connection in that this is the Church where Paul was once a choirboy. It is also located on Penny Lane and now has a statue of John Lennon right in front of it, so Beatles connections abound.
Irwin’s Ghost Sign
I know also that some of my readers might like a Unitarian/Non-Subscribing Presbyterian connection and one can cheerfully be given. The curate and then rector of St Barnabas’ Church between 1904 and 1929 was the Rev James Kirk Pike. However, he started out as a Unitarian and was minister of Chowbent Chapel from 1885 to 1890 and then at First Church, Belfast from 1890 to 1893, followed by a short ministry at Warwick before joining the Anglican Church. So there we have a link – for those who would like one – that ties the Beatles to Unitarianism, albeit in a very tenuous way!
The view across the front of St Barnabas to the Irwin’s sign
I’ve blogged before about Mountpottinger – most notably here and here where more details about its history can be seen – it is an interesting building on a prominent site in that part of Belfast and the congregation has a very distinctive history. Today the building is leased to the Bright Umbrella Drama Company who are turning the old school hall into the Studio Theatre and the church itself into the Sanctuary Theatre. But the congregation still has a place on the premises and the exact date of the anniversary of the opening of the building – 3rd January 2025 – was the occasion for this remarkable celebration of the 150 years of Mountpottinger.
Adrian Moir introduces the evening
A lot of credit must go to Adrian Moir, the church secretary and former ‘Warden of the Fabrique’, as the Very Rev Charlie Kelly once termed him, who wrote and narrated this excellent celebration of the life of the congregation. It was a very positive collaboration between the church and the Drama Company which brought the history of the church to life covering three themes:
Foundation and Hope
Tragedy and Remembrance
Adapting to the times and a glimpse of the future
Trevor Gill delivers the Rev David Maginnis’s speech at the opening of the building in 1875. David Maginnis was a controversial but effective minister at York Street who came back to Belfast from Stourbridge to participate in the opening ceremony
The evening was interesting, engaging and witty and also very moving as it looked at the story of Ellen Mary Davies, the wife of the Rev William Jenkin Davies, who died tragically young and in whose memory the school room was built.
Memorial in the School Room
Lindsay Charrington playing the role of Ellen Mary Davies
There was further tragedy with the loss of members of the church in the First World War, including Captain James Samuel Davidson in 1916, on the first day of the battle of the Somme. Also remembered on the evening was church member Sydney Agnew who was killed during the ‘Troubles’ in 1971 to prevent him giving evidence at a trial. It was both fitting and touching that members of Sydney’s family were there to lay a wreath in his memory.
Glenn McGivern writing home from the front as Captain J.S. Davidson
But the whole evening was very impressive, a fitting tribute to 150 years of work and witness which now has the opportunity to be part of a brave new venture as a community hub working in the arts and in drama in the Mountpottinger area.
velvethummingbee 