Ulster Rambles

Even after the happenings and ‘goings on’ of the previous century in Ulster, I have always been proud to have lived there in my youth and to witness the many great people who have been a product of the Province. Over these last twelve years I have extolled about actors, writers and sportspersons who Jordan Brown with Welsh Open trophy have done us proud during recent times. Some of them, like Alex Higgins, George Best, Louis on Foxtel. Of course I never dreamed he was from MacNeice and Joey Dunlop have sadly gone. Others the place I still hold very near to me; Ballymena of like Willie John McBride, Rory McIroy, Liam Neeson, course. Yes, I would have watched every frame if I Michelle Fairley, Van Morrison and Jamie Dornan are had guessed his origins. This victory has secured him still with us, at the time of writing anyway. a Champion of Champions debut next season as well A new face has arrived on the scene; well new to me. as putting him in line to qualify for the elite eightWelsh Open winner Jordan Brown, from Ballymena man Tour Championship next month. (or so I am informed), I am delighted to mention Like every other sportsman, he is desperate to avoid continues Northern Ireland’s heritage of snooker being a one-hit wonder and stressed: “It’s a huge champions. boost for the future. It’s only going to lead to bigger The Co. Antrim Ferrari became the lowest-ranked player since 1993 to lift a ranking trophy when he stunned world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-8 last and better things. I think I’ve made my mark on the snooker world now. I’ve accomplished what I felt I was capable of and this is only the start hopefully.” month. The world Number 81 joined Alex Higgins, Well I certainly agree with his last word here but as Dennis Taylor and practice partner Mark Allen as always…. time will tell. Let’s hope it is a successful ranking winners from the Province. future for him. His fortunes have really changed. Just “I’m delighted to follow in the footsteps of the great Northern Irish players; it’s a very proud moment for me because I’m a very proud Northern Irishman,” he told reporters. (Well we all are!) “To follow in the footsteps of the greats like Alex, Dennis and my good pal Mark is just so special to me. It’s just a dream come true to be a part of that history. We’re such a small country and it’s great that we’ve produced so many great players. I’ve always been a keen follower of the history of the sport,” he recently claimed. Jordan Brown was a rank 750-1 outsider to win the trophy at the Celtic Manor so I imagine there were not too many punters putting their house on him, but he shocked the snooker world to pocket the £70,000 top five years ago Jordan was working full-time at a petrol station to make ends meet as he played snooker on the side; much like Alex I suppose. Maybe he moulded himself in this direction and he certainly admits to wasting vital time in the pub instead of chasing his dream. “I was just doing things I shouldn’t have been doing,” he was quoted as saying. (This statement begs more than a few questions.) “There was a two or three year spell where I just didn’t feel like practicing and I was too busy going down to the pub with my mates.” Or as we say nowadays “as you do!” I must say here that he must have travelled to Australia a few times, or had a few Australian friends to come out with a comment like that. I never used prize and a magical, memorable maiden title. I have the word ‘mates’ in Ireland nor come to mention it, in to confess here that I watched his match for all of 20 Australia either! seconds as I flicked through the sporting channels He ended with this statement, “There were times

when I was just lying in bed some nights instead of going to the club. I was just too lazy. I just told myself I had to give myself a decent go at it and put the effort in. Dreams can come true and I’ve proven that.” Sadly I must also report that ructions have begun in Antrim over a certain funeral where (apparently) more people attended than the rules allowed at the time. I often blame the media for the state of our minds and the state of the present world. My octogenarian grannie lived a happy life without being worried about the reception on the ‘wireless’. She was much too busy to listen to that ’rubbish’! However she did listen to the McCooeys.

It was the sort of program once heard, never forgotten. The ups and downs of the McCooey family were followed closely by thousands of listeners across Northern Ireland for just over 7 years. It was first broadcast on the 13th May 1949 and the series was based on the life of an ‘ordinary’ workingclass Belfast family. Each week people switched on their ‘wirelesses’ to find out the latest ‘goings on’. Apparently some listeners took the program to heart. For example, when the McCooey family redecorated their parlour, people phoned in worried that the family had failed to fix a price for the work beforehand and others wrote in to offer advice on what a fair rate should be. Money was scarce in the years after the war and labour was not easy to find either. The series was written by Joseph Tomelty, from Portaferry in County Down, with approximately 6,000 word scripts for each episode. As well as acting, he also wrote some plays, including his masterpiece, and

My sister and yours truly outside our Grandparents (who we never met) home in Kells Co Meath. 2018 a modern Irish theatre classic, All Souls' Night. A few years back I wrote about the Ulster dictionary; a hilarious book which explained many of the Norn Irlan colloquialisms which my sister had found on one of her many visits to the Province (I was visiting her at the time in England/Ireland and it was a great topic between us as we remembered many of the local phrases). Many of these ‘Ulsterisms’ were spoken in the McCooey serial. Here follows a few and an apology to everyone else who probably canny understand a wee word of them! Hey wee boy, you’re a real comeejan: Hey, you know that Geek, who usually spent all his time doing that studying thing? Well ya wounae believe it. He decided to go for a wander in the country but as he was reading and not looking where he was going, he fell into a schuck at the side of the lane, and before he knew it he was up to his oxters in mud. Then the farm children started to clod stains at him; one had a jammy shot and got him right on the bonker! The famous Jimmy Young also had a part in this serial. He portrayed the character of Derek the Window Cleaner. Stephen Boyd from East Belfast, whose real name was Billy Miller, played the local RUC man - whose catchphrase was: ‘I’m just makin’ one or two inquiries.’ Stephen Boyd played in dozens of films as a Hollywood contract actor and co-starred with some of the most famous actors in the movie industry. He was the co-star with Charlton Heston, in "Ben Hur", with Gregory Peck in “The Bravados" and with Tony Bennett in "The Oscar". Stephen was the one in The Chariot Race who got killed. Sadly, he never quite attained star status. I mention him here only because in his youth he played a part in the McCooeys, but he is worth a lengthy article in his own right. If you are interested, you could Google him on Wikipedia. Perhaps in the future I will devote further information about him and I am pleased to say, there always seems to be plenty more…. Celebrities that is.