kSANtSKIU(3E & Ulb l KIL l Hlb l UKILAL bULIt I Y
iecretsrfs report 202314
r year started off In September wlth a rn0￿ exdtlng IIIu8trated talk a hid￿ vaRey In scAJth Y￿$1
)onegal. Chrlsty Glllesple was anxlous to k>cally publidse his illustrated book cn thi.s of a
)lace. only accesslble by foot which attracted many famous folks to thill out Chnstys 18thef in lavrf was &.
laughan. well known Dentist of this town.
n October we w￿1 back In Ilme wtth Dr GI￿￿ Kelso who13 an expert of the area tt
new) town of Banbridge. Glynn pointed out that L¢Wbrlckland had be￿ a most hywtsnt place in arwi
Ime8 The evldence of dd Abbeys and of course the cr8fMK>g He showed vffy ancient m¥ys-
ovember talk brought to file the Amerfc8n Amiy HQ based In Brownlow House from 1942 Davld M•lln vns
xw speaker and he had vanous photographs arKI film of them arrivin9 in Northffn Ireland He had $4yThe
ndefful footage of an old veteran who ietumed Jusl a few yeafs ago aThd was hwed by the I￿1 cthffKJ'l
Tlstrnas lunth was held on 14 Decembw at Belmort Hotel and Ge￿ wovthd a fe￿ sry
tertainmenL
January tslk was provided by Mrs Joy Smlth who heads the ABC Famlty Hlsm Society. g)e and
nembers look on a Pfojecl tylng to ellcjl the ho￿£*y ol folks who had earty last caitiyy In tt* Brack
irea. Old plate photographs surfaeed in an dlapldaled c(Kmty houx they wlnted by spea"aksts. Ihs
nformation used and a book was publlshed.
)ur own Gernldine Foley dellghted us in February with her studles ifflo the CCffineCti￿ of NL4Vry arrfj
)emefafa. A local man James Blalr had obtained large tr8Cts ol plantations wrole h(yne freqU￿ty
Jescribing his WO￿ there. His mother had retained these lettws. A ierrbbk 10 the skne Irade aThl tr
Iches that were acqulred by slave owners.
)Illhall estate outside Dromfft wfth its farnws ghost stry was the Mafch tslk ty Wakff. head of
)romore High School Hlstory Depaemwffll. He amused us with VaricX￿ ts￿$ of the famity who had re￿ed
here and of course the story of the ghosL
)ur Chalrman Geoffrey th•1 for a dwnge we as mernkn in artefacts 8f¥J descfte
rables WLYe placed ar￿ the room and folks went around leaming V*￿1 was btiNJ showTh rtffn5 dats
>ack to 1600's and 17Ws were on display as well as more modern iiems
or May we have Jlrn c￿WaY t81king about local lilerary notsble peo* WKI ow AGM *411 be held.
>adly we lost 2 of ￿1r Members during this past Seaso￿ Mlss Ella Browne and Sean Mdlrty both kn Cxlob
>023. They both had C￿lnIXrted much to c4x Sodety over the year5 •nd are s•Jty ff#ssed.
Thanks as always ts eVery￿e who helped wlth lea etc. and the Wcy)de￿ Mfs Pat Hanna as abty
Isslsted by Geraldine our Vice Chalr It is a difficutt job coplng with afriving just wor10 the meetx
d especially casual visitors. So much work goes on behind the loo Mr5 Rose Middleton has been
Issisting with the Treasury post and we thanks her her work too.
ieoffrey Davidson has done a wonderful Job as ow new Chaifman arbd keeps w Th￿tr"n9$ irrtvesik4
lorence A Chambers
ay 2024