Tag: Community Development
Denis O Hearn
Denis’s scholarly interests are in social movements, the sociology of economic change, industrialisation and transnational corporations. Denis was brought up in the middle of the New Mexico desert and remembers a c...
Jim Deery
Jim’s childhood was spent growing up on the Cregagh estate in east Belfast. His family moved to north Belfast when he was ten. “My fond memories of north Belfast are the Cavehill, I think it’s an underused tourist ...
Anne McVicker
Anne was born into a large family, being one of 9 children born in South Belfast. Anne spent most of her childhood growing up in the Cliftonville area in north Belfast. During her youth Anne recalls a lack of youth pr...
Catherine Couvert
Originally from France, Catherine grew up on a small farm. She remembers her childhood as a happy one, though living conditions were sparse. “Until I was ten, we lived in a house with one kitchen and one bedroom, a...
Dale Harrison
Dale remembers the beginning of the Troubles. “From memory the Troubles in the Woodvale were rife. To this day some people would say that’s originally where it all started. I do remember one evening. There was a full ...
Kathleen Kelly
The ten years, Kathleen spent as a teacher in the primary school in North Queen Street, brought home to her the poverty in which the children she taught, lived. Originally from east Belfast, where her father was a ...
John Scott
“I was probably one of the first ones to bring platform shoes to Northern Ireland so that’s one of my claims to fame.” John who grew up in a family of nine on the Shankill Road, left school at the age of 15 in the ...
Tura Arutura
Tura grew up in Chitungwiza in Zimbabwe during the pre-war period. He recalls it as being a “very colourful beautiful country. Very warm, very hot, it also reflects the nature of the people as well. They wear their he...
Tommy Wilson
Tommy Wilson grew up on the Donegall Road in the Village area of Belfast. “We had nowhere to go, we had to run the streets. The place where I lived was just housing and there were no green spots whatsoever to play gam...
WRDA Lectures – Baroness May Blood
The inaugural lecture of the Anna Eggert lecture series, organised by the WRDA. Baroness May Blood was the speaker for the afternoon and delivered a biographical lecture entitled “From the factory floor to the House ...
Mina Wardle
Mina’s father was an engineer on RMS Queen Mary, her mother suffered from arthritis. Mina passed her 11+ and was awarded a place at Grammar School but at 15 years, her parents could no longer afford to keep her at the...
Joseph Ricketts
Born and raised in Jamaica, Joseph’s father was a contractor who believed his sons should be responsible for their own land and be able to manage work on a farm. When they came of age, Joseph and his three brothers ha...