BELFAST MAGAZINE
ISSUE
Exploring Ireland FORE ABBEY
The
TROUBLES
72
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROSEMARY STREET
Mystery of the Naked Murder Victim
Victorian Belfast Police Reports
BELFAST BOAT RAMS SHARK
Old Belfast Photographs
NOVEMBER 1977
Belfast boy’s sad fate
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Belfast Magazine
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Victorian Belfast Police Reports 1857
Castle Junction in Victorian times Literary Thief Inspector McKitrick charged a young boy, called Francis Hand, with having stolen several copies of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens from Henderson’s shop on Castle Place. The case was postponed until further information about the young boy could be discovered, but the case never appeared again. An actor in the dock An actor named Cully was arrested at the Smithfield Theatre during Easter 1857 and charged with assaulting a man named McCann. Cully claimed that McCann had interrupted his performance and that afterwards he had approached the man. McCann who did not appear in court but instead sent his sister to give evidence counterclaimed. He stated that he and the actor had both had a lot to drink and had begun to quarrel, he couldn’t remember what they
were arguing about. During the fight Cully ran off to the props room in the theatre and returned with a stage sword, which he proceeded to attack McCann with. Whether Cully was exhausted from his performance on stage or he was not very adept at using a sword, but he failed to make contact with McCann, and fell over in his attempts to strike McCann. Cully then grabbed a hammer which was lying nearby and struck McCann on the head with it. McCann retreated and called in the police. Cully meanwhile got dressed and was arrested but denied all the charges. While in court Cully pulled up his trousers, to the delight of the spectators, to show the magistrate that he had indeed been on stage the night before, his costume was still on under his pants. The magistrate decided that as McCann had not even bothered to turn up in court to challenge his attacker, that Cully escaped without as much as a fine.
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Belfast Magazine
Royal Avenue in Victorian times
Unsound meat A butcher from Hercules Street, John Morell, was well known to the Belfast Police Courts. He had appeared there on many occasions. In May 1857 he appeared charged with having in his slaughterhouse a quantity of unsound meat. When Constable Bunting produced the meat in court, it created so strong a stench that the magistrates ordered that it be removed from the courtroom. Bunting gave evidence that he had received information about the quality of the meat at Morell's premises and when he searched the rear of the building he found a quantity of beef hanging up and covered by a sheet. In his defence Mr Morell claimed that the meat was for his pigs and that he did not intend to put it for sale. The magistrate did not believe him and stated that
the meat was unfit both for humans and animals. He fined Morell 20s and costs and instructed that the meat should be burned and destroyed. A Professional A young man appeared in the police courts in May 1857 and he appeared to be a respectable young man given the clothes he was wearing. He gave his name to the police as McParland but in court it transpired that he was called Browne and he lived in Hudson’s entry. The man was dressed in the manner of a ‘fop’ and was charged with dog fighting and assault. The Humane Society prosecuted the charge of dog fighting and both the charges were proved. Mr Browne was known as a professional pickpocket, and was sentenced
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to pay a fine of 5s and costs for dog fighting of weight and her clothes were unkempt and and 10s and costs or fourteen days ragged. Her visits to the police court had become more frequent during the previous six imprisonment for the assault. months. She was found guilty of the offence and was fined 2s 6d and costs. The Notorious Mrs McCance Sarah Jane McCance was written about in the An Expensive ‘lark’ Belfast papers a great deal in 1856 and 1857. She first appeared in 1856 when she was In June 1857 George Stewart took part in a arrested after she had duped several of the prank that he was to bitterly regret. He was better stores in Belfast into supplying her with walking along with his friends when they saw clothes, food and other goods. They had all old Robert Humphrey who was whitewashing been taken in by her style and personality. She some premises. They thought that it be a great dressed in the highest fashion and she was an joke if they stole his whitewash brush from exceptional actor, able to put on airs and him and pawn it. When Mr Humphrey’s graces and act out different personalities. The discovered what had happened he reported police finally caught up with her in 1857 and Stewart to the police and he was arrested and she then appeared in May 1857 charged with charged with theft. Stewart claimed that the theft from a Mr George Gordon of Dock brush was taken for a lark and not with any Street. By now Mrs McCance could be felonious intent. Stewart was sentenced to scarcely recognised. She had lost a great deal fourteen days imprisonment.
Shocking death On June 22nd 1857 it was reported that a terrible industrial accident had occurred in the Eliza Street Spinning Mill in Belfast. James Anderson who worked at the mill was stooping down to oil the machinery in the mill when one end of his neck scarf caught between the belt and the revolving drum, instantly lifting him up and then it carried him round with the drum nine times. There was not enough space between the top of the drum and the ceiling to allow him to pass and he was killed on the spot. Although the machinery had been stopped immediately the unfortunate man was taken from the drum quite dead, horribly mutilated and his head almost severed from his body. His wife who was living in England at the time was sent for by telegraphic message, Mr Anderson and his wife had one child.
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Belfast Magazine
BELFAST MAGAZINE
COVER PICTURE
5 Churchill Street, Belfast BT15 2BP Tel: 9031 0859 Fax 9035 1326 E-Mail:
glenravel@ashtoncentre.com Web Page:
www.glenravel.com The Belfast Magazine is a bi-monthly publication compiled by the Glenravel Local History Project. It is just one of several Glenravel titles which aims to promote an interest in the subject of local history. It has always been claimed that history belongs of the higher classes and looking at the way it has been presented for decades then this would seem to be the case. Glenravel are not interested in the history of lords and earls, their estates and titles, instead we are interested in the history of working class life. We are not interested in politics either and we must stress that if an article appears in the magazine which appears to be a bit one sided then this is due to the simple fact that it is taken from a Nationalist or Unionist newspaper. We use both to try and balance things out. The Glenravel Local History Project is a local historical scheme based in the North Belfast area. It’s activities are centred around the educational promotion and restoration of the areas historic burying ground at Clifton Street and is named after the nearby Glenravel Street which was destroyed to make way for the disastrous Westlink road system. The Belfast Magazine is not funded by any grant making body and is entirely funded by you - the reader. It’s profits are not used for personal gain but for the continuing work of the overall scheme. If you would like to support our work and advertise your business at the same time then feel free to contact our team at the above.
Looking up Clifton Street around 1910. The old Benn Hospital can be seen to the right. This stood on the corner of Clifton Street and Glenravel Street the street from which our project obtained its name. BELOW - The same view today.
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Belfast Magazine
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OLD BELFAST NEWSPAPER REPORTS
Belfast Boat Rams Shark Crew on the Ulster Queen, the steamer which travelled the route between Belfast and Liverpool, had an unusual journey on the 1st July 1935. The steamer was on her way to Belfast when she rammed a 30ft shark as she passed the Isle of Man.
Initially no one on board felt the impact of the steamer striking the shark but within minutes the attention of the crew was attracted by the sound of dull banging against the side of the steamer. Worried that the steamer had engine trouble they reported the sound to the second officer, Mr T Wrigley, who went to investigate. Realising that the sound was
coming from the front of the boat he leaned over as far as he could and spotted the shark, wedged in the bows of the ship, it was thrashing its huge tail against the side of the steamer. The fish had been struck in the middle of its body and was firmly held
at right angles to the bows. Its mouth was badly injured, torn and bleeding, an injury which could not have been caused by the ramming, most probably caused while in a fight with another large fish. Mr Wrigley thought for a while about what they could do to help the shark, its pain and distress was obvious to all on board but they were
Elaine Hogg unable to reach the shark, let alone free it from the bows. The shark was not going to survive the extensive injuries it had suffered but the crew did not have any means by which to put he shark out of its misery. The shark embedded on the bows, was carried the whole way to Belfast, still attached to the steamer, and when the Ulster Queen swung into her berth at the quayside the fish became disengaged, and sank to the bottom of the quay. In an unrelated incident a few days later, a large shark, over 32ft long was washed ashore near Culdaff in Co Donegal. This monster shark, one of the largest ever seen in Irish waters, was caught in the nets of the Culdaff fishermen, who had to cut their nets to free the huge beast which was when the dead fish was washed ashore. People travelled for miles to see this enormous fish, which like the fish rammed by the boat showed signs of massive injury. Perhaps these two great sharks had fought each other, neither of them surviving the fight!
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Belfast Magazine
Belfast boy’s sad fate n 1935 the area of Knock in East Belfast was being rapidly developed as the city increased in size and population. A new sewage system was in the process of being constructed at the old Dundonald Road. At the end of the road was Knock village, which has since become part of the city of Belfast.
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In early March 1935 a group of young children, led by William Gamble of Geraldine Cottages on the Kensington Road, were playing around Mr Morrows boot shop. They were playing hide and seek, William, two girls and a young boy, 4 year old James Jackson from Cherryvalley Cottages, Gilnahirk Road. William and the two girls ran off the front of the boot shop thinking that James was following them but he did not
appear. They heard a sound a as if someone was running over tin and then nothing. William asked the girls where James, the "wee fellow", was but they said that they didn’t know. He often hid from the others and then turned up later so the children thought nothing more of it, played around for another couple of minutes and then went home. It was about 5.15 pm when the other children left and by 5.45 James mother began to look for him. She did not even know that he was with the other children, and went to look for him. Neighbours helped her and by 6.30 pm the local police were called to help in the search for the little boy. Robert Simpson from the Gilnahirk Road was one of many neighbours who joined in the hunt. Mr
Simpson came across William Gamble who told him that he and James had been playing with the girls up near the construction site for the sewage pipes and he described the noise he had heard just before he left the area.
while Constable Neville started CPR, to try to save the young boy. Dr Young was not at home but Dr Nicholl hurried to the scene to help the constable, Dr Young arriving a few minutes later. Unfortunately, James could not be saved, Constable Neville of James had drowned. Ballyhackamore barracks, with some This tragic fate of the neighbours, shocked the people of hurried up to the site Belfast, none more so and saw that a that the Belfast manhole had been coroner Mr T uncovered. The site Alexander who had a watchman but expressed his sincere he did not see or hear sympathy with James the children. Mother after the Constable Neville inquest. decided to climb into the manhole to see if The construction site James had fallen in. was run by Grainger Robert Simpson Bros and they were climbed down with represented at the him and there they inquest to hear the found the lifeless strong remarks from body of James under the coroner. almost 5 ft of water. The coroner Neighbours quickly described the case as ran off to get the ‘heart rending’ as he nearest doctors, Dr was critical of the Young and Dr Nicholl construction site and
Belfast Magazine
the health and safety of the area. He acknowledged that there was no legal redress for the family of James Jackson, not even monetary compensation for funeral arrangements as the laws did not provide for such an event. There was no evidence to show that the manhole and been protected sufficiently from the danger of anyone falling in, no signage to indicate danger. Nothing to let anyone know of the existence of such a death trap, nor did the law require for such signage, a very different case form today. All the evidence showed was that the manhole was covered by a piece of sheet iron, but there was no evidence that it was secured. The coroner felt that negligence existed, but there was no redress in respect of the negligence. The police agreed with the coroner and sated that there was not sufficient
protections and Constable Neville described the site as ‘a disgrace to humanity’.
The construction company offered assistance to Mrs Jackson for the loss of her son, Mrs Jackson
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having been widowed in recent years, and offered any help they could to alleviate her suffering.
LISBURN MURDER
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n June 1920 a young women called Jane Carlisle was murdered by a Canadian ex soldier who was living with his sister in the Milbrook Road area of Lisburn.
Jane Carlisle was with two friends, sitting by the River Lagan after finishing work in the Island Spinning Co’s Works. The Canadian man, John McNair came along, drunk and aggressive, looking for Jane. She didn’t want to talk to him but despite her friends, Martha and Maggie Geohegan, urging her to move on Jane refused to leave the banks of the river. The Geohegan sisters were frightened and walked on, leaving Jane by the river on her own, but with John McNair a short distance away. Within minutes the sisters heard shouts coming from the river, and Maggie Geohegan rushed back only to see John McNair grab Jane and throw her into the water, going in himself after her and pushing her down under the water. John McNair emerged from the river and walked out to the river bank but Maggie did not see Jane again until she was pulled from the water, drowned. Passersby tried to resuscitate her but Dr James Munce who quickly arrived at the scene of the tragedy, close to Gregg Street, pronounced her dead. McNair ran off and Martha Geohegans husband arrived, followed by the police who went off to find John McNair when Maggie told them what had happened. He was arrested at his sister’s house and charged with Jane McNairs murder. Without a doubt John McNair had caused the death of Jane McNair as he had thrown her into the water, but he had not beaten or abused her before she entered the water and her death was due to drowning and he did not face the death sentence. Jane Carlisle was from Mercer Street in Lisburn and was survived by her parents, two brothers and five sisters. She was well known and very popular young lady in the town.
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Belfast Magazine
Burglar Caught in Garden J ennie Watson who lived at 25 Kingsmere Avenue off the Cliftonville Road in Belfast left her home around 5.00pm one Saturday in March 1935. Every Saturday Jennie had the same routine, always returning to her home before 9.00pm. She was very security conscious and always checked the front and back door of her home to make sure that it was locked before she left. Her home also had locks on all the internal doors which she scrupulously turned before leaving home. She returned a little earlier than usual that Saturday and found that she could not get her front door open. She was concerned, a little frightened and wasn’t sure what to do so she called into number 23, the house next door, to get help and advice from her neighbour, James Maxwell, who was a motor mechanic. James told Miss Watson to stay at his house while he went to investigate, and he went into Miss Watson’s back garden and saw a man coming out of the kitchen window. Maxwell quickly ran down the garden and caught hold of the man. The man shouted, "Let go of me," but James Maxwell managed to keep hold of him until the local police arrived. Constable Hogg was the policeman on duty that evening and he arrested the man, John S Lewis who was from the Upper Newtownards Road, in east Belfast. He took him to Antrim Road barracks where he was charged with breaking and entering and stealing money, jewellery and other goods with a value in excess of £13. When Lewis appeared in court the constable stated that on the way up the Antrim Road towards the barracks Lewis asked to have his arm released and when the constable did as he
was asked, Lewis slipped his hand into his overcoat pocket and threw a heavy object over the nearby hedge. Lewis was searched thoroughly at the barracks and in his possession the police found a case containing a gold brooch, a case containing two gold brooches, two gold rings, a pearl necklace, a silver brooch, a gold locket and gold bangle. He also had two keys, two spectacle cases, and a pair of gloves on him at the time. Mr Maxwell had also handed to the police a brooch case and two purses before they left Miss Watsons house. The police on further examination of the garden found a bloodstained stone in the garden and Lewis had blood marks on his forehead and coat when he was arrested; his trousers were also torn.
Miss Watson told the court that when she finally got into her home, while Mr Maxwell was struggling with Lewis in the garden, she found that the glass panel beside the door was broken. The glass in the kitchen window, which was open, was also broken. The kitchen was in a state of disorder and she immediately knew that her glasses case and a missionary box containing money were also missing. The door from the kitchen to the hall had been forced and her bedroom was in a real mess. She was able to identify the jewellery which was recovered from the accused. With so much evidence against him Lewis stood little chance in court, despite pleas from his defence trying to establish that perhaps Lewis could be seen as a ‘friendly’ burglar,. Lewis was found guilty and sent to the Belfast Prison.
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Daring Escape from Belfast Training School There was great excitement in the Greenisland area after a thrilling chase and rescue in Belfast Lough. It all started when four boys escaped from the Balmoral Training School on the Ballysillan Road in Belfast. The boys, whose ages were between 12 and 14, went missing from the training school at around 4.00 pm on September 21st 1954. The entire school and grounds were searched but no trace of them was to be found and they were reported missing to the local police. There were no reported sightings of the boys that evening and overnight and nothing was known of what the boys did between the time they left the school and 3.00 pm on the 22nd September when they were spotted by a woman from Greenisland who saw four young boys on the shore. The woman knowing nothing of the boys escape watched them from her house as they climbed into a small rowing boat and row out to an uninhabited island 100 metres for the shore.
They stayed on the island only a short time before rowing back to the shore. She thought nothing of their antics until the boys casually left the boat they had been using in the water before they set off along the beach. The boat drifted into the Lough and the woman phoned the police in Carrickfergus and reported what she had seen. The police immediately realised that it could be the four missing boys and set off by car to Greenisland. On the way there they spotted one of the boys climbing over rocks near the ruins of an old tower. Believing that the other boys were likely to be close by two of the policemen got out of the car and gave chase. Within minutes another boy had joined the first and then the last two boys scrambled out of the ruins of the tower where the boys had been hiding. All four boys headed towards the sea and on reaching the water they waded out into the Lough until the water was waist high. The boys taunted and shouted
at the two policemen who remained on the shore. The constable who had remained in the car set off for Carrickfergus for reinforcements and it was left to a Constable Montgomery and Constable Pyne to try to capture the four boys. Thinking that they were home free the boys began walking in the water towards Carrickfergus. It was hard work and after a few minutes they stopped and appeared to be discussing their plan of action. One of the boys then split from the other three and set off in the direction of Whiteabbey while the other three continued on towards Carrickfergus. Constable Montgomery believing that this was the leader of the pack decided to stay with the boy who was walking in the direction of Whiteabbey. In the meantime Constable Pyne shouted at the other boys and tried to persuade them to come ashore, pleading with them but they would not listen. Constable Pyne then decided to change into a
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swimsuit and in three trips brought the three who remained together ashore. At one point he had to swim after one of the boys who was determined to elude capture. Constable Montgomery was in pursuit of the remaining lad who had made it as far as Seapark Old Peoples Home but the boy was now exhausted and the policeman
was able to persuade him to The boys were returned to give up his escapade. Balmoral training school, the boat in which they had rowed All four boys were taken to to the island was recovered, the police station at undamaged, from the middle Carrickfergus, where they of Belfast Lough by local told the police that they had fishermen. The four boys had intended to spend the night on not reckoned on the tenacity the small island but when they of the local police from had rowed out there they were Carrickfergus and had so hungry that they decided certainly not expected them to to come back ashore to get go into the water to get them out! something to eat.
Although many people will remember this as the old Belfast Water Office in Donegall Square North it was actually built as the head office and linen warehouse of Richardson Sons & Owden in 1889. Today the building is part of the Marks & Spencer Department Store
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Linfield v Glentoran Irish Cup semi-final at Cliftonville 1952 Queen’s Bridge 1952 A sheep takes refuge in the doorway of a shop in Donegall Place after it was found wandering early in the morning 1952
The Connswater River with the Newtownards The oil tanker British Skill being prepared for her 1952 Road in the background 1952 launch at the Belfast Shipyard
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Belfast Magazine
Exploring Belfast’s Old Streets Raymond O’Regan ROSEMARY STREET Links Royal Avenue to Bridge Street. It is partially developed on the 1685 map up to the back gardens of houses in what was then Hercules Lean (today Royal Avenue). his small street is full Academy in 1785 and was it’s of the history of the first principal. The school city. At one time later moved in the 19th there were three Presbyterian Century from Academy Street Churches in this street. The to its present home on the First Presbyterian Church site Cliftonville Road and is now dates back to 1695. The known as "The Belfast Royal present building, the third on Academy". this site, dates back to 1783 and was the brainchild of the The historical First minister, at the time, Dr. Presbyterian Church reflects Crombie along with the the industrial, political and architect Roger Mullholland. social life of the 18th, 19th The beautiful elliptical shape and 20th Century Belfast. of the church is a joy to see. Amongst its many members Dr. Crombie also founded the were:
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- Sir Edward Harland - Thomas Andrews Jnr., (one of the designers of the Titanic) -Dr. William Drennan, founder of the United Irishmen -Francis Dalzell Finlay, owner of the Northern Whig Newspaper - John Wesley preached here on Monday 8th June 1789 -Thomas McCabe (United Irishman), a goldsmith and watchmaker at 6 North Street, Belfast, who in 1786 prevented a slave ship company being set up in Belfast. Wolfe Tone referred to McCabe as "The Irish Slave" -Heron, co-founder of the Ulster Bank (their old Head Office, in Waring Street, is now a luxury hotel called The Merchant) - Members of the Joy Family associated with the Belfast Newsletter - Montgomery, one of the founders of the Northern Bank -Marcus Ward Family – Printers (Buried in Clifton Street Graveyard)
Belfast Magazine
This church has always had a long tradition of free thinking liberal attitudes. The First and Second Presbyterian Churches (the second church, opened in 1708 was at the rear of the first) were non-subscribing Presbyterian Churches as they did not subscribe to the "Westminster Confession of Faith", while agreeing with parts of it. Some members of the First and Second Churches left in the early 1720s to form the Third church, because they did subscribe. When the Third Church was lost in the Blitz of 1941 they re-established their church in North Circular Road in north Belfast. They still retained the old connection as the new church was "called "Rosemary Church". The famous Irish patriot Henry Joy McCracken was a member of the Third Presbyterian Church. The Second Presbyterian Church closed in 1896 and can now be found in Elmwood Avenue and known as "All Souls", they, like the Third Church, retained the connection to their original home in Rosemary Street as their church hall is called "Rosemary Hall". On 19th October 2008 the church celebrated its tercentenary.
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The First Presbyterian Church is the only survivor of the three churches that used to grace this street. It is still today a full working church with the present minister the Rev. Nigel Playfair. B.A. M.A. a graduate of T.C.D. (services on Sunday 10.30am, all welcome.) We now start the journey down this short but historic street from the corner of North Street heading up to Royal Avenue.
No. 1-7 Corner of Rosemary Street/North Street. Co-Op Travel Agency (above). This was the site of a Sugarhouse in the 18th Century. Later it was the site of "The Stag’s Inn", owned by Dan Miskelly from 1819-1839. He would advertise in the local press cheap travel to and from Coleraine (he is buried in Friars Bush Graveyard). No. 9-13 A 1957 building on the ground floor is Langfords Shoe Shop. Next door is the McConnell Martin --building (you can find the
fascinating history of this company on the BBC "Your Place and Mine" website). On the ground floor is "Hot Shots" Coffee Shop and "Next D’or" Restaurant.
No. 15 Masonic Hall, 1954, was built on the site of the Third Presbyterian Church. The hall has a very open door approach and visitors are welcome. Many art exhibitions have been held here and a few years ago they allowed the erection, at the entrance, of a plaque commemorating that Henry
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been destroyed in the 1941 Blitz. The inaugural meeting of the WEA (Workers Education Association) took place here in the 1930’s. On the ground floor of Central Hall can be found –"M.E.T. & PELE Sport shop ,Sarnies Coffee Shop and Clements Joy McCracken was a Coffee Shop (the sign above member of the former church the cafe states that they are on this site. The McCracken "religious about coffee"). Family lived just across the road at the entrance to No. 41 First Presbyterian Winecellar Entry. Church (1783) See page 14 for description of this historic church.
throughout the city and he also included a visit to the Synagogue on the Somerton Road.
Laneway – leads to the Red Barn – R.B.G. Photographic Gallery/ Shop, previously the Red Barn Pub (Gordon Sumner better known as "Sting" used to work as a barman here). No. 45-47 An attractive Next door is B&M fancy Italian style building on the goods store housed in a site of the former Second modern building. Presbyterian Church Manse and now houses. Donagy & Carey Solicitors. Terry Donaghy was a well known and highly respected solicitor who sadly died on 6th January 2009 while attending a peace rally at the City Hall. On No. 32-39 Central Hall, Sundays Terry, after attending 1958/9, (part of the First Mass, would make it a point Presbyterian Church) It to attend services in 16 other replaced the manse that had Christian churches
No. 49 Suitor Boutique. This boutique has seen many famous people from the film world pass through it’s doors, e.g. Brad Pitt, Barbara Streisland and Robin Williams to name but a few. Some older folk may remember the pub called "The Star and Garter" that was previously on this site. There is a story that the previous pub to the Star and Garter had an
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underground passage to a cell under the Provost Marshalls House in High Street (Central Belfast – Marcus Patton – Page 278).
No. 51-55 For many years this was the site of Christie’s. Christies’ were a well-known family in Belfast and one member of the family in the 1980’s became Lord Mayor of Belfast. The usual convention was that you served three terms as Lord Mayor followed by an automatic knighthood. Unfortunately during the second year of Mayor Christies reign he came out against the firemen who were on strike at the time. His remarks did not go down well with the Belfast public and he had to wait until later for his knighthood. He passed away in 2008. Travelling down the street - Oxfam Charity Shop (built Today the shop is an Ann from the corner of Bridge on the site of the McCracken Summers store Street to Royal Avenue. Family home No. 16-20 Hair Traffic Hair Salon/upstairs Hairdressing Training School:
We have reached the end of this side of Rosemary Street arriving at Royal Avenue.
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- Here is Winecellar Entry (runs through to High Street) - Oxfam Charity Bookshop - Fresh Garbage (gothic clothes store) with on the upper floors Lisa Hairdressing and on the top floor a clairvoyant Bryan Lynch
same site opposite the First Presbyterian Church, at one time, stood an 18th Century theatre called "The Old Playhouse", one of the many theatres to be found in Belfast in the 18th and 19th Centuries. The building next door to TK Maxx extends into Royal Avenue, was at one time the home of Jaegar Clothes Shop. They are now 2007 an a new TK Maxx to be found in Donegall Store has opened. On the Square West and HSBC Bank now operates from this address.
- Delaney’s Restaurant (stretches around the corner into Lombard Street)
This completes the journey through 17th Century Rosemary Street.
Lombard Street No. 28 Gordon House (1878) – Upstairs is the long established firm of Solicitors Kevin Hart, ground floor is Deli-Lites coffee shop The building next door was originally part of Donegall Arcade but was demolished in
McMaster’s shop, Rosemary Street, 1917
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Donegall Square North seen from the grounds Purdysburn House. 1919 of the White Linen Hall around 1860 BELOW - The same view today
A bit of a mishap at Fortwilliam. 1919
Sam Cochrane’s in Upper North Street. 1919
For lots more old Belfast pictures, maps, advertisements and much more go to the Facebook profile of the Glenravel Local History Project
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Belfast Magazine
ROAMING IRELAND We at the Glenravel Project regularly visit different sites of historical interest throughout the country. For up to date information on all the latest trips visit the Facebook page of the Glenravel Local History Project
FORE ABBEY
ore Abbey ( I r i s h : Mainistir Fhobhair) is the old Benedictine Abbey ruin, situated to the north of Lough Lene in County Westmeath. Fore village, (sister parish of nearby St. Mary's Collinstown) is situated within a valley between two hills: the Hill of Ben,
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the Hill of Houndslow, and the Anchorland rise area. There can be found the ruins of a Christian monastery, which had been populated at one time by French Benedictine monks from Évreux, Normandy. Fore, Fobhar is the anglicised version of the Irish name that
signifies "the town of the water-springs" and was given to the area after Saint Feichin’s spring or well, which is next to the old church a short distance from where the ruined monastery still stands. It was St. Feichin who founded the ancient Fore Abbey around 630. By 665 (the time of the yellow plague)
there were 300 monks living in the community. A Benedictine Priory In the 13th century Hugh de Lacy the Norman and landlord built a Bendictine priory in the valley nearby. Many of the buildings that remain today (in ruins) are from the 15th century and have been
Belfast Magazine
restored throughout this century, making Fore Abbey the largest group of 300 Benedictine to have sojourned and remained in Ireland. This priory was dedicated to both St Feichin and St Taurin, the Evreux, Normandy abbot of the parent monastery Its 13th century church still has some docorations and graceful arcaded cloisters AND Attached to the church are the broken walls of two towers, where the monks once lived. Between 771 and 1169 Fore Abbey was burnt 12 times by pillaging invadors, such as the Turgesius lead Vikings. The Abbey is also noted for what local populations call its seven wonders:
• The monastery built upon the bog. • The mill without a race (Lough Lene water flows from the hill) • The water that flows uphill. • The tree that has three branches/the tree that won’t burn. • The water that doesn’t boil. • The anchorite in a cell • The lintel-stone raised by St. Fechin’s prayers. Another important aspect of Fore is the Fore Crosses one of which is in the village of Fore. There are 18 crosses; some crosses are plain (most likely to wind and rain erosion) whilst others still remain carved. These are spread out over 7 miles on roadways and in fields and bore witness to religious persecution during penal times.
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200 Page 22 YEARS Belfast Magazine OF BELFAST HISTORY
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Belfast Magazine
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TROUBLES A Chronology of the Northern Ireland Conflict
NOVEMBER 1977
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Tuesday 1st November 1977 Shots were fired at a police land rover close to the M1 motorway. Nobody was hurt in the gun attack on the police at Kennedy way, Stockmans Lane roundabout. Two low velocity shots were fired at the land rover as it pulled off the M1. Fire was not returned.
the Manchester and Midland record store on Royal Avenue, at Boots in Donegall Place and Smithfield bus station. A caller to the Samaritans said bombs had been planted.
Outside the old classic cinema in Fisherwick Place a suspect handbag was spotted. Traffic was There were bomb disrupted during the hoaxes at the Belfast following army Telegraph offices and operation.
IRA firebomb attack on a furniture store in Duncairn Gardens
Wednesday 2nd November 1977
Regiment donated blood shortly after the incident to help him and later over 50 other soldiers who had volunteered were helicoptered to the Mid Ulster Hospital to donate more blood.
Walter Kerr, a 34 year old part time UDR lieutenant was killed in a booby trap bomb. He worked as a bank official and was married with 2 children. The device exploded under his car as he was leaving home at Coolshinney
A large furniture store at Strand Road in Derry was badly damaged in bomb attacks. Homemaker Discounts lost all its stock in the fire which followed the explosion. The police in the city had
Road in Magherafelt on October 27th. He died from his injuries in hospital where doctors had fought to save his life, amputating both his legs, he also had severe abdominal injuries. Soldiers from the Royal Tank
received a warning of bombs in a stretch of Strand Road, and the area was sealed off. Nobody was hurt. Bombs planted at the U Plan centre in Lower Donegall Street in Belfast and Thompson and McCreadys garage on the Strand Road caused minimal damage. A furniture store on Duncairn Garndes in Belfast was wrecked by a fire which
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the shop and left a small bomb with a can of petrol attached. It exploded shortly afterwards and nobody was injured.
Friday 4th November 1977
Thursday 3rd November 1977
Two shots were fired at an army mobile patrol at Iveagh Drive on the Falls Road. The shots came from the Beechmount area. Fire was not returned and no one was injured. A 20 year old Downpatrick man was admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds to the left leg. He had been found at Marion Park. A 21 year old soldier on leave from England was shot and seriously injured. He was shot in the chest and leg near his home at Bernagh Drive.
followed an explosion. Two men armed with a gun were involved when they ordered the owner and staff out of A loyalist group made an hour long documentary on security forces interrogation techniques and alleged infringement of suspects rights. The videotape recording, compiled by the Ulster Citizens Civil Liberties organisation, features UDA members who have been interrogated by the security forces. The UDA leader Andy Tyrie confirmed that the recording was available to anyone interested in what goes on during interrogations. It showed actual case histories where police brutality and infringement of rights
was alleged. A police patrol came under attack after three shots hit their vehicle in the Whiterock area of west Belfast. No one was injured and fire was not returned. A furnture store in Belfast was destroyed by a bomb attack. Two bombs exploded in the Northern Furnishing Co store in Dublin Road starting a fierce fire. Firemen fought the blaze but were unable to save the building. The bombs, small explosive charges connected to cans of petrol, exploded within thee minutes of each other.
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A policeman drove 12 miles to a Belfast RUC station with a bomb attached to the engine of his car. The bomb was not discovered until the car was searched at the entrance to Castlereagh police station. The bomb was intended to explode when he switched on the ignition of his car but he drove from his Co Down home without incident. Part of the RUC station complex, the buildings include the interrogation centre, the assistant Chief Constables office and the RUC driving school, were evacuated. The army set off one controlled explosion and after more than three hours the bomb was made safe. A blast bomb was thrown at an army sangar in Unity Flats. Soldiers fired four shots at the youth who threw the bomb but he ran off. No
damage was caused to the sangar and none of the soldiers inside were hurt.
Two low velocity shots were fired at an army patrol near High Street. The mobile patrol of the Gordon Highlanders was fired on in High Street and the shots came from the direction of Victoria Street.
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Saturday 5th November 1977 A cassette type device was found hidden in a seat on one of the train carriages of a train in Bangor station. Some damage was caused when the army defused the bomb. Gribbens furniture store in Duncairn
Gardens was damaged after two youths went into the building and left two packages which they said were bombs. Staff carried one of the devices outside and a small explosion followed but no one was hurt.
Monday 7th November 1977 A part time UDR man escaped injury in a booby trap attack. The three pound bomb exploded when the 20 year old moved a wheelbarrow at his piggery near Bellaghy. The man suffered shock. The bomb was hidden in a manure tip and attached to the leg of the wheelbarrow by catgut. Two reserve RUC constables escaped injury in an ambush near Rasharkin in Co Antrim. Police said that a bumber of shots were fired at their car sitting outside a house. Two shots hit the windscreen and
another two hit the front of the car . The policemen returned fire but no hits were claimed. 25 incendiary devices were planted in shops in nine towns and the IRA claimed r e s p o n s i b l i l i t y. Sixteen of the devices exploded and the most severe damage was to Stewarts supermarket at Derriaghy where a blaze started by eight bombs destroyed part of the premises. Other explosions were in the Strand cinema, Belfast, two at Co op stores, Francis Street, Newtownards, one at
Wellworths in Portadown, one at Wellworths and one at Robinsons sports shop at Market Square Dungannon, one at Eastwoods hardware store in Cookstown, and one at the Spar, Main Street, Portrush. The nine bombs that were defused were at the
Regency restaurant Newtownards, Wellworths in Dungannon, one at the Spar, James Street, Cookstown, one at Wellworths, Main Street and two at Woolworths, Castle Place, both in Strabane and two at Woolworths in Coleraine.
The remains of the Stag Inn at Shaws Bridge following a firebomb attack
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blaze until a suspect car was checked. There was a bomb scare at Ballylumford In Belfast 14 cassette power station. Two type incendiary brown paper parcels devices were found wrapped up with wire by the army in the made to look like roof space of a house bombs were found in being built at the stations hydrogen Farrington Court, store by a securty Ardoyne. A sawn off man. An engineer shotgun and two pulled the parcels out cartridges were also and took them to the found. No arrests car park but they were were made. hoaxes.
Thursday 10th November 1977 IRA firebomb attack on a furniture shop on Belfast’s Crumlin Road
Tuesday 8th November 1977 Extensive damage was caused to Kirks builders in Exchange Street, Belfast after a securty guard spotted a blaze, shortly after hearing an explosion. The Donaldson and Lyttle store in Great Victoria Street was not badly damaged
when a bomb was thrown into it but the can of petrol attached did not ignite when the bomb went off. There was some blast damage. The army defused an incendiary device found in Newtownards.
Wednesday 9th November 1977 A Belfast wholesalers was destroyed by fire after an explosion. Fire swept throught G & S Wholesalers in Corporation Street
after a bomb exploded at the front door. No one was injured in the attack but firemen were unable to tackle the
20 women were picked up on raids at homes in republican areas of Belfast as the RUC looked for firebombers. Most of the women, in their late teens and early twenties, came from the Short Strand area. The rest were from west Belfast including Beechmount, Unity flats and one from Turf Lodge. The women were taken to Castlereagh. The RUC were acting on a tip off that teams of women were behind the wave of incendiary bomb attacks on shops.
store was Carpets and Linoleums in Great Victoria Street and a few minutes later another bomb exploded in a shop three doors away but only slight damage was caused to the premises of J A Rankin. The RUC had received a warning and the area had been evacuated.
A 34 year old man was shot as he stood at his front door in Ainsworth Avenue in the Woodvale area of Belfast. A car drew up outside and a man stepped from the car, produced a shotgun A carpet store was and fired. Some of the destroyed in a bomb pellets hit the victim on attack in Belfast. The the head.
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Friday 11th November 1977 52 year old Patrick Shields from Hamill Street in Belfast was killed in an explosion. Mr Shields worked as a security guaard at Keenans pub in King Street and was trying to clear the area when the bomb exploded. The IRA claimed that a warning they had given about the van bomb had been ignored. The RUC denied these claims and the Samaritans stated that the warning had been given to them 11 minutes before the explosion. Mr Shields was married and had 10 children. Four masked men forced their way into the lounge bar of the Kildress Inn in Co Tyrone. They then fired a shot through the CCTV and poured petrol over a pool table and lounge bar floor and set it alight. Three suspect devices planted by the gang in the car park turned out to be hoaxes but
the fire destroyed fitting and furnishings in the pub on the main Omagh to Cookstown Road. Churchills dry clearners in Howard Streeet was badly damaged in a bomb attack. A tin of petrol was attached to a one pound charge.
IRA firebomb attack on shops in Duncairn Gardens
Saturday 12th November 1977 Incendiary devices exploded in Gallahers tobacco factory in Belfast. Minimal damage was caused by the fire bomb in Henry Street. Two devices, hidden inside cardboard boxes went off, but the blaze was put out by the factory’s sprinkler system. Another exploded device and two others which did not go off
were found by an army bomb team called to the factory. Damage was mainly caused by water and was minimal. There were bomb hoaxes at Shaftesbury Square, outside the Belfasts College of Technology, Kashmir Road, and at the junction of Durham Street and Grosvenor Road.
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Monday 14th November 1977 Samuel Murphy aged 21 was a member of the Irish Guaards and was from west Belfast. He died after he was shot in front of his mother as they left her home at Bernagh D r i v e , Andersonstown. He was visiting her while on final leave before leaving the army. He was shot four times in the chest and legs and died in hospital ten days later. He had joined the army in 1974. A bomb exploded at Courtneys handbag shop in Howard Street starting a small fire which was quickly put out by firemen. The blast caused extensive damage. A firebomb went off in Cinnamonds estate agents in Wellington Place. Damage was extensive. Two incendiary bombs were found and defused in the Albertbridge Road area. The devices
were discovered outsdie the AIB bank on the Albertbridge Road and at Nabneys hardware store. Both bombs were made safe by the army. A man was slightly injured when a fire bomb exploded in Boyds sports shop on the Ormeau Road. The shop was Tuesday 15th November 1977 damaged by the Five shots were A petrol bomb resulting fire. fired at a gas thrown into a cylinder at the supermarket at Fire bombs exploded corner of Lisnagaver near in Gribbens furniture Albertbridge Road R a s h a r k i n store and Campbells and Montrose damaged a display furniture shop in Street. It was later unit and a ceiling. Duncairn Gardens. found controlled to be A Minor dmamge was harmless. explosion was caused to both shops. A controlled carried out on a car outside explosion was left Fire bombs planted in carried out on a M c D o w e l l s shops in Dungannon parcel left outside supermarket but the and Armagh were the Co op on the vehicle did not defused by the army. Woodstock Road. contain any A cassette type device An anonymous call explosives. was found at had warned of a A police no waiting L o u g h r a n s bomb on the road cone on the Musicland shop in but it was a hoax. N e w t o w n a r d s Irish Street, Road in Belfast was Dungannon. Later The army fired exploded after a another incendiary shots at a gas patrol found it was found by a cylinder left at contained a brown member of staff at T e m p l e m o r e substance. It was Wellworths store in Avenue. It proved later forensically Armagh. examined. to be harmless.
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Wednesday 16th November 1977 Marcia Gregg, a north Belfast teenager died in a fire at her family’s farmhouse at Wolfhill Road, Ligoniel, just outside Belfast. She was a pupil at Everton Girls School and the fire was started by an explosive device which had been thrown at the house. The fire was discovered by a passing police patrol
and army fire engines attended as 500 regular firefighters were on strike. Marcia had helped her brothers and sisters out an upstairs window but she was too frightened to jump herslef. Her father shouted for her to jump and assured her that he would catch her but she was engulfed by the flames. Her parents
and nine other children survived. A bomb exploded in a shop doorway in Belfast at the premises of Polyprint Fabrics on the Lisburn Road. It was spotted by a UDR patrol who then cleared the area and called a bomb disposal squad but the device exploded shortly afterwards causing damage to the shop and
surrounding area. In Cookstown a customer in the Spar shop in James Street picked up a packet of firelighters and found an incendiary device. This exploded as it fell to the floor but no one was injured. The shop floor was slightly damaged. In Downpatrick a burnt out incendiary was found in a coat pocket in a menswear shop in Market Street.
Friday 18th November 1977
electrical shop were policemen were Dunbar Street, extensively damaged slighlty hurt in the Belfast. Three in the blaze. Three blast. devices were found but only one exploded.
Cassette type incendiary bombs were defused in Derry. The devices were found in Etam boutique and Gay Girl boutique on the In May Street, Belfast, the army Strand Road. dealt with a suspect An incendiary bomb package in an office started a fire in the block but it turned out Dunbar Arms pub in to be a hoax.
Saturday 19th November 1977 A fire started in a derelict pub was used to lure soldiers to the fire. When they arrived at the scene they found four mortar bombs planted in the pub. Experts
defused the bombs. A firebomb destroyed Browns adversising agency on the Antrim Road. Two adjoining buildings, a photographers and an
Attack on the North Belfast Mission Hall
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Monday 21st November 1977 Police found a plastic bag containing a mortar bomb, explosives and a detonator in an alleyway at Twadell Avenue, Belfast, close to a grocers store which was petrol bombed. The patrol extinguished the fire before it caught hold and then
called in the army to defuse the device. 40 high velocity shots were fired at an army checkpoint on Monaghan Road, Aughnacloy. Two gunmen were involved, and troops returned the fire but claimed no hits. No soldiers were injured.
Tuesday 22nd November 1977 The army raided several homes in the New Lodge Road area of north Belfast but there were no reports of arrests. Provisional Sinn Fein said its centre was searched by soldiers as were the homes of members of staff. A booby trap bomb across from the Springfield Road Co op was defused by a controlled explosion, but the store was destroyed by a fire. The police had found the device in a black plastic bag and a petrol can attached to a wire grille on the
front window after an anonymous call to the Samaritans. One soldier was slightly injured in the incident. An incendiary device was found in a babys sleeping nest blanket at a house in Glencairn Pass. The mother had just bought the blanket and the army made it safe. An explosion ripped through the Belfast Car Hire firm on Grosvenor Road and another device found at the scene was defused by the army.
IRA firebomb attack on the Grosvenor Imports and Furniture Warehouse, Springfield Road
Thursday 24th November 1977 A timber store at Pennyburn Pass, Derry was destroyed in a blaze started by firebombs. The blaze was spotted by police but by the time army firefighters arrived the store was well alight. Four firebombs were discovered in the
Rock Bar in Derrys Strand Road. Two exploded causing slight damage and the other two were defused. A carpet warehosue on the Lisburn Road, Belfast was destroyed by a fire. It started when a bomb
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planted in Belfast failed to explode and were defused by the army. They were planted at a toyshop on the Ormeau Road and Telephone Rentals on the Antrim Two pedestrians, a 31 Road. In both cases year old man and a 16 only the detonator year old boy were cut exploded. by flying glass when a bomb exploded at a Soldiers fired a drapers shop on the number of shots at a Ormeau Road. The suspected gunman in blast started a fire the Oldpark area, no which caused major hits were claimed. The patrol had earlier damage. Two firebombs heard shots. exploded, the bomb was attached to a can of petrol which exploded on the doorstep of Marlborough Carpets.
A proxy bomb exploded outside Corrys timber yard setting a lorry on fire. No one was injured.
A bomb exploded outside a Prison officers home at Locksley Parade in Finaghy.
Friday 25th November 1977 City centre traffic in Belfast was thrown into chaos when two incendiary bombs exploded it the Smithfield area. The bombs at Smithfield
started a big fire which destroyed the Outlet record shop. A second device at Andrews showrooms prevented the army from tackling the fire. A hijacked bus on flames on the Springfield Road
Saturday 26th November 1977 A bag of bomb making materials were found on a building site in the Lower Falls area of Belfast. The find was made on a building
site in the Cullingtree Street, McDonnell Street area. An army bomb expert used a controlled explosion to blow up the bag. There was no damage
Belfast Magazine
Monday 28th November 1977 A 5lb bomb in a can packed with pieces of metal and bolts was planted in a sanger at the rear entrance to Newtownhamilton RUC station. Trip wires led from the sanger across the
entrance used by soldeirs and the RUC to reach the stations helicopter pad. The device was spotted and defused but security at the station was breached.
Tuesday 29th November 1977 A Belfast supermarket was destroyed after a bomb blast. An anonymous caller warned that two bombs had been planted in the Dub Stores in the Upper Malone area. A bomb
exploded starting a fire which was fought by part time firemen. A suspect package found in a nearby doorway was examined but turned out to be a brick wrapped in paper.
Wednesday 30th November 1977 Gunmen burst into William Clelands printing works in Cullingtree Street off Durham Street and planted three bombs on the ground floor. Staff were evacuated before the devices went off. A double bomb attack on the Crumlin Road targeted a chemists shop and Gillespie and Wilsons hardware store. There was a
telephone warning that four bombs would explode in the Cliftonpark area and when the army arrived they found bombs in plastic bags in the doorways of both shops. The chemist shop bomb went off first and the fire which followed destroyed the building, A few minutes later the bomb outside the hardware store exploded. Damage was slight.
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Mystery of the Naked Murder Victim nervous horse on the Carrickfergus to Straid road on a cold September morning in 1931 revealed one of the most baffling mysteries faced by detectives in County Antrim. James McCalmont was delivering buttermilk to customers when his horse became agitated and spooked at a beautiful spot on the road. The horse had travelled the road many times and McCalmont was curious as to the cause of his horse’s distress. On one side of the road was a heavily wooded area, the trees were just beginning to drop their leaves and others were showing the first signs of autumn as they changed colour. On the other side was a cornfield, full of ripening corn which belonged to a local farmer, Mr Loughran. It was the cornfield which seemed to be the problem so McCalmont stopped the cart and went to investigate, jumping over the wall into the field. He didn’t have to go too far into the cornfield before he found a startling and disturbing sight. Close to the edge of the field, amongst the long grass was a man’s body, naked except for blue and white swimming cap on its head, and there was blood dried on the man’s face.
A
McCalmont rushed back to Seskin where his employer lived and told him what he had seen and the police were immediately alerted, and when the local police saw the naked body they realised that this was a case for the detectives in Belfast who were summoned to Seskin. The Criminal Investigation Department in Belfast suspected foul play and the body was removed to Belfast where doctors were unable to confirm the cause of death other than the man had been shot in the head. Although there were no scorch marks they could not rule out that the mystery man had shot himself, although no weapon was found at the scene. With no clothes to help identify where the man had come from the police set about creating a poster with a photograph of the man to try and jog the memory of the public. The dead man was unusual looking, 35 years old, over 6ft tall, muscular, large brown eyes, a big face with a Roman nose, swarthy skin and dark hair. They were sure that a man such as this would have been noticed in the Seskin area and most probably in Belfast too, so unusual were his features for Ireland. One thing the police were certain of was that this man had not died in the cornfield in Seskin. They found very little blood at the scene so either he had been murdered and his body dumped at the field or he had killed himself and someone had taken it upon themselves to get rid of the body by bringing it to Seskin. Either way a car or cart was involved as this was a large, heavy man and so locals were questioned about strange cars they had seen in the area around the 4th September. Time of death was difficult to ascertain but he had been dead at least 24 hours before he was found. The breakthrough in the case came when a bundle of clothes were found outside the Church Lane entrance to the premises of Kane & Smith, a wholesale leather merchants in Belfast and the investigation switched to Belfast. The bundle included a white cheap rubber raincoat, trousers, a
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coat and a blue overcoat. It was the condition of the clothes which alerted the police to its possible connection to the Seskin case, the arms of the coat were ripped off had been cut off at the shoulder seams, while the trousers were sliced from the bottom right to the waist band as if they had been cut from a body. A bloodstain was also found on the coat. The blue overcoat was found to have been stolen from a car outside its owner’s garage in the city. A member of the public came forward stating that they had seen a man believed to be the deceased in late August at the Custom House Square in Belfast. He was then wearing a black serge suit, a double breasted coat and a soft felt hat. He was with a small dapper man who was wearing a beret and the police began to make inquiries around the docks area of Belfast, in the local cafes and eating houses. Within weeks the police investigation switched to England after a tip off that the man may have had connections to the circus and the police went to England with their photograph to see if anyone could recognise the dead man. On 21st September District Inspector Lewis and Head Constable Black of C.I.D. were in London at Scotland Yard following leads in England. Scotland Yard detectives had been making enquiries at Bertram Mills’ Circus, then in Leeds. Circus artistes were shown photos of the dead man and identified him as Achmet Musa. Musa was a Turkish Jew who was well known in circus circles, a loner and wanderer who was always trying to make easy money. In early 1931 he had become involved with another man, Assim Redvan and they had an idea to set up a travelling show with a Turkish man who claimed to be the oldest man in the world. The "oldest man in the world" lived in a village outside Istanbul; Zoro Agha claimed to be 156 years old. Musa and his friend Assim Redvan set out to exhibit Zoro as a Fairground attraction. Musa and Zoro Agha spoke no English, but Redvan did. They promoted their travelling show, trying to get into the American market but they had little success. Finally they made contact with Eddie Cullens, a cinema projectionist who had vaudeville and underworld connections. Cullens was a Cypriot Jew who had become a naturalized American citizen. He saw possibilities in their scheme and teamed up with them as equal partner in a syndicate in the spring of 1931. Police straight away suspected that Cullens may have had something to do with Musas death as the Cullen matched the description of the man who was last seen with Musa and they arrested him on suspicion of the murder of Musa. Cullens, who came from the Bronx in New York, was naturalized in 1928. Although a cinema projectionist, he had some business flair and arranged to have Zoro Agha photographed so that he could sell the photos at carnivals to generate revenue. It was Cullens who persuaded Bertram Mills in England to exhibit Zoro Agha in their side show. The men felt there was money to be made in the Irish market and Cullens and Musa made plans to travel to Belfast to talk to promoters there. On 29th August they booked into Ryan’s Hotel in the Donegal Quay area of Belfast saying that they would be staying for an at least a week. Later that day they talked to a girl at Great Northern
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Station and arranged to meet her the next day, Saturday. Rose McGoldrick was to become an important witness for the police in their investigations into the murder of Musa as it was her evidence which switched the focus of the investigation on Cullens and the idea that Musa had been murdered by someone he knew. On 2nd September Musa and Cullens had become so friendly with the Ryan’s, owners of their hotel, that they took the couple for a drive around the town, stopping for a few drinks in various pubs in the city but they were involved in a minor collision, hitting a tram on the way back to Donegal Quay and denting the mudguard. On the day Musa was killed the Ryans met Musa and Cullens at a café in the city. Cullens and Musa went to the greyhound track with Ryan where Cullens and Ryan watched a couple of races. Musa stayed in the car as he had no interest in dog racing and when Ryan and Cullen returned to the car there was no sign of Musa. They looked into several pubs in the area and when he didn’t find him he returned to the hotel. The two men assumed that Musa had met up with a woman and thought no more of it. The two men shared another drink when they got back to the boarding house, retiring just before midnight. Musa had quite a reputation as a ladies’ man and during his short stay in Belfast he had met up with many women in the city, spending most of his evenings in the pubs and clubs of the docks area. Cullens left his car into a local garage to get repaired and the garage owner, James McIlroy noticed that after Cullens picked up the car from his garage his blue mackintosh was missing. He identified it, bloodstained and minus its sleeves, when shown it by the police. Unknown to Cullens, Musa had stolen the coat on the day of his death. Whereas Mr Ryan claims he saw Musa with Cullens after 7pm that day, Cullens said he was with Ryan until 11.45pm, and a farmer claimed that at midnight he saw Cullens in a car near Seskin. A car was obstructing the road and he stopped to have a good look as to what was going on. He said he saw Cullens clearly in his headlights and identified the car as a cream and brown Essex saloon, the make and model of Cullens car. If Ryan told the truth it would have been possible for Cullens to be there since five hours had passed since Ryan claims he last saw them. If for some reason Ryan had lied and Cullens was telling the truth then Cullens could not have found Musa, shot and stripped him, driven 13 miles to Seskin, dumped him there and left him to die. If Cullens was telling the truth the farmer who claimed he saw a man in a car obstructing the road as Seskin could have been mistaken, he did not come forward with his evidence until Cullens had been arrested; his evidence could have been tainted by the huge publicity surrounding the case. Cullens was charged with the murder of Musa and at his trial the barrister for Cullens, Mr Lowry, looked at Cullens in court, telling the jury he was a "Small attenuated figure of a man who is supposed to have handled this 14 stone, 6 foot tall man over a wall. To throw that body over would have been impossibility except for Hercules." He also pointed to the lack of motive and suggested the theory of Musa being "a man of exceedingly loose morality where women are concerned," who had left Ryan and Cullens at the greyhound track and gotten into trouble somewhere in Belfast because of his "inordinate immoralities." This, he thought was what had led to the Turk’s death.
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Belfast Magazine
The jury returned a verdict of guilty. The Lord Chief Justice donned his black cap and pronounced the sentence. Eddie Cullens, aged 28 was hanged at The Crumlin Road Jail at 8pm on Friday 13th January 1932 becoming the 13th person to be hanged there. Rabbi Schachter was in attendance and he later stated that "Cullens showed bravery beyond imagination, he had a smiling face when he parted and repeated again and again that he was going to meet his maker with the full satisfaction that his hands were clean of the blood of a murdered man." Cullens was the only Jew to be hanged in Northern Ireland and his persistent protestations of innocence on the gallows were impressive and left many people wondering if an innocent man had been hanged. When we look back at this case its seems improbable that Cullens could have committed such an act of murder and many questions have been asked as to why the police did not further investigate the possibility that his murderer may have come from the docks in Belfast where Musa had spent many nights with the girls who worked the streets, areas where violence and death were common. Musa carried a pistol with him and there is a strong possibility that Musa may have been killed by his own gun, perhaps trying to defend himself in a fight. Musa, having a poor command of English may not have been verbally articulate enough to defend himself, may have reached into his pocket for the pistol to scare his opponent off, a scuffle could have ensued in which the attacker took the gun and used it on him. The way in which Musa was left naked and exposed does not seem like the act of someone who knew his victim well, why would Cullen wish to humiliate Musa in such a way and surely he would have ensured that Musa was dead before returning to Belfast to make his escape, why leave him to bleed to death in a field? The murderer would have an accomplice, as Cullens’ legal representative rightly pointed out it would take more than a small man to throw Musa over a wall and into a field. If Cullens had planned to kill Musa surely he would have taken a shovel with him to bury the body and why would Cullens drive all the way out to Seskins, an area that he did not know well, when it could easily have dumped the body in the river and then left for England telling Musa's friends in England that Musa had met a girl and decided to stay in Belfast. Cullen could easily have told the Ryan’s in Belfast that Musa had to return to England in a hurry and no one would have been any the wiser until the body was recovered from the water, probably weeks later when the body would have been barely recognizable. If Cullen really had murdered Musa would he not have disposed of the body in a secluded area, he could have buried him in a place where his body would not be discovered for some time, in a deep grave. Having buried him, he’d likely have got rid of the shovel en-route back to Belfast. The way Musa’s body was left in the field doesn’t suggest the work of the organized, premeditated murder Cullens was accused of committing. Cullens had only been in Northern Ireland for five days when the shooting had taken place. He was in an area totally unfamiliar to him and to plan a murder there would have maximized the risk to himself. He could also not have any prior knowledge of the Seskin area, so could not have planned to take Musa’s body there. If Cullens was innocent, who did murder Achmet Musa? It is certain that 80 years later that we will never know the truth of what happened that night in September 1931.
Belfast Magazine
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