BILLY Gillen was impatient. You see, it was the day of the All Ireland hurling final and Billy, as usual, had a ticket for the match. Having arrived at Central Station at 8.30am he found there was a queue stretching out to the street. One of the ticket booths was unmanned and one of […]
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The train, the pub, the match: it’s All-Ireland day again
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Joining in the autumn feast on our doorstep
Dúlra’s thinking of getting a wee stall down St George’s market and he’s going to make a killing. Because he’s got a brilliant idea that will fly off the shelves. He’s going to call it Black Mountain in a Bottle. And as he learned this week, it’s not all that hard to make this […]
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The bald monk is set for an Irish return
IT was high in the sky above the house gliding on the thermals like a kite. Birds of prey are often seen over Belfast homes – especially if you live in proximity to our hills. But this was unusual. It didn’t have the straight eagle-like wings of a buzzard, but it was about the […]
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A lifetime of union struggle
Patrick McKeown was born on March 16, 1854 and, as was the custom in those days of high infant mortality, he was baptised the following day, St Patrick’s Day, in St Michael’s Catholic church near Dromara, Co Down. In all probability you will never have heard of Patrick McKeown. That comes as no surprise, […]
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The great British window bake-off
HERE’S a picture of a cake shop in Old Swan, Liverpool, that Squinter took during his recent visit to the city. Squinter’s seen a few eyecatching cakes in his time, not least the marching season doozy on Facebook of an East Belfast kid’s birthday cake in the shape of a bonfire complete with tyres […]
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Falls cyclist is one in a pillion
MID-afternoon Monday and the Falls Road is sweltering in the kind of weather we only seem to get when the schools start back. Squinter’s dandering countrywards past St Dominic’s, grateful he brought his sunglasses but sorry he left his hat in the house. A heat haze rises from the tarmac, throwing the heavy traffic […]
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