- Jan 24, 2007
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Many and varied have been the books I have read over the years. I love a good book especially factual books. The only fiction I have read has been science fiction in the 1970s.
I find it essential to take notes on the interesting and helpful bits. We then learn something and can go back to it again and again. Some books are so special we want to go back to them and re-read them.
If things were more normal I would be out more and especially walking would take up a lot of my time. I now bring you my favourite and most interesting books:
“THE BOYNE WATER” by Peter Beresford
A wonderful book for studying the great Battle of the Boyne. King James became too dominant with his Roman Catholic religion. He was even condemned by Pope Innocent who supported King William. They were like palls which makes it so strange that the Orange was set up. Surely William would turn in his grave if he knew about the present silly nonsense over Drumcree etc. etc.
“SIEGE OF DERRY” by Patrick Macrory 1980
A similar type of subject. There is even a bit on Dungannon. A ghost was seen, “the terrified inhabitants of Dungannon saw a vision of a giant woman stalking around the town with a spear in her hand.” At the end of the Siege the army were owed thousands of pounds in pay. Even the poor of Derry were paying some soldiers. The Siege as described in this book is full of detail. I wouldn’t like to read this book now as my view of War has changed. I now find it hard to read about such destruction.
“BELFAST, THE MAKING OF THE CITY” by J.C Beckett 1983
The Donegall family owned Belfast and were famous for getting into debt. The first Marquis is responsible for making Belfast a great city with his grand buildings. The Donegalls were the city’s first M.P.s . Another son of the city was Samuel Davidson who was a Bible critic. He was editor of the “Orthodox Presbyterian” in the 1830s.
“Livin in Drumlister, ballads and verse of W.F. Marshall
1983
Classic poetry that is so valuable and so enjoyable. He was educated at Dungannon Royal school. This is part of the school song which he wrote:
Hurrah! Hurrah! Dungannon wears the crown
Hurrah! Hurrah! The castle and the crown.
“RICHARD BRANSON, THE INSIDE STORY” by Mick Brown 1988
Branson was my hero and maybe still is but he is doing too well now. Brown (in my personal opinion) did not put the case enough for the charity work Branson has done. Charity work helps to make the rich acceptable. His Mother pushed him a lot. She said, “shyness is selfishness, come on, you’re only thinking of yourself when you should be thinking of other people.” She taught him not to squander money. Interesting reading about his pop music, Virgin Records business. Then slowly but surely so many other businesses followed on. Then there is quite a lot about Branson’s famous Court battle with British Airways. At long last he won that fight which showed up the corruption of Lord King. Now of course British Airways is much reduced with a lot of financial worries.
“WOLF TONE” by Marianne Elliott 1989
A big thick book of over 400 pages but so enjoyable. A well educated Protestant and founder of Irish Republicanism Nationalism. The speeches of Tone are especially interesting. Page 48 tells of his,” considerable family connections to the Knox family of Dungannon. The Honourable George Knox was the son of Lord Northland.
“KINGS IN CONFLICT, IRELAND IN THE 1690s edited by Eileen Black 1990
This is a book that was published by the Ulster Museum in Belfast. It went with an exhibition of the same name. Both the exhibition and the book were very interesting and enjoyable. As I study the Battle Of the Boyne this makes it more clear to me what it was like. The illustrations make you want to go back to it again and again.
“GREAT NORTHERNERS”by Art Byrne and Sean McMahon 1991
A great book about people who tried their best to make Ulster a better country to live in. William Pirrie took over as Chairman of Harland and Wolf in 1895. He became Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896. William Thompson, Baron Kelvin was a scientist and inventor. He made many discoveries in engineering. His statue can be seen as you go through the gates into the Botanic Gardens in Belfast. Cecil Francis Alexander was the wife of the Bishop of Derry and was a great hymn writer. “All things bright and beautiful” is the most famous.
“HANNAH, THE COMPLETE STORY” by Hannah Huxwell with Barry Cockcroft 1991
A remarkable woman of great courage and endurance who lived a tough life with a lot of hardship. Watching her on television was very moving. Barry Cockcroft changed her life, bringing her into the 20th century. A good house, television appearances, books, countless newspaper and magazine articles and much more. This book should be read in all schools as it would be a real eye opener. Young people need to see different lifestyles to help mould their character.
“SEAN O’CASEY” a 2 volume autobiography 1992
O’Casey was born suffering from weak and diseased eyes. He lived in poverty for many years. The Gaelic League and Seinn Fein took up his interest for a while. He
became a great playwright. The play that made him famous was, “Juno and the Paycock” in 1925.
“OH REALLY O’REILLY” by C.H. Walsh 199...
This book is mainly an interesting insight into the world of stocks and shares. He had a lot of trouble with Fitzwilton and Waterford Crystal. These are Irish companies of course. O’Reilly kept having bad luck as profits and shares went down. When he went to the U.S. it was different. Heinz with its 57 varieties made him Irelands richest business-men.
“CENTRAL BELFAST, An Historical Gazetteer” by Marcus Patton 1993
As I love the old buildings of Belfast, I couldn’t resist this book. Its great to have information and history of so many places. Sadly some buildings have been destroyed by bombs. Most interesting of all for me is about the original castle in Belfast. In the 1660s it had a bowling green, cherry garden, apple garden. Also there was strawberries, currants and gooseberries.
“THE GUINESS BOOK OF IRISH FACTS AND FEATS by Ciaran Deane 1994
An excellent reference when we need some Irish factual information. Most enjoyable and comprehensive. Dungannon gets a mention. The architect of the Royal Albert Hall in London was Francis Fowke (1823-65) educated at Dungannon College.
“LONDON” main contributer Michael Leapman 2000
This book is part of a wonderful series of, Eyewitness Travel Guides.” It is very comprehensive on practically everything you need to know about London. No travel guide can compare with the depth of knowledge and colour illustrations galore. Buildings are shown with unique cutaways and floorplans which gives the reader such detail. It is such a pleasure to read that when you start it is hard to put it down. I have never read such a beautiful book in my life and if I could spare the money I would buy the complete series. Now when I travel to London I don’t really want to buy any books about it as all I want is here. It also takes away my need for taking photos.
“PARIS” main contributer Alan Tillier 2002
Another guide of the same splendid series. I got this one free when I booked a holiday in Paris. It helped me plan and enjoy my holiday. Here is a short excerpt. “Everything in the area of Invalides is on a monumental scale. Starting from the sprawling 18th century buildings of the Ecole Militaire on the corner of the Avenue devla Motte Piquet, the Parc du hamps de Mars stretches down to the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. The avenues around the Tower are lined with luxurious buildings, some in the Art Nouveau style, and numerous embassies.
Next I give you comments on my most interesting religious books:
“CHMPIONS OF THE REFORMATION” by Janet Gordon 1877
A lovely old book to look at and to read. It records eight great Christian people who stood firm for their faith. We owe so much to these people for our civil and religious liberty. Of George Wishart I quote, “an orator whose warm and persuasive eloquence made the dormant heart of his country throb and vibrate with new life.”
“HISTORY OF THE IRISH PRESBYTERIANS” by E.W. Monteith 1967
Rectors in Drumglass date back to 1378. Sir Arthur Chichester in 1618 had 600 acres about Dungannon. He set out to build the town with 500 acres. It is especially interesting to read of the Knox family who next owned the town and providing so many gifts in furniture etc. to the Church.
“JOHN WESLEY” by S. Ayling 1979
Hard to believe but in the book it tells of Wesley coming from a family of 19. His Mother was the youngest of 24 children – incredible. The Wesley home allowed cards, dances, local fairs, horse racing, taverns and the Theatre. He had 400 books and booklets published. Wrote 15-18 sermons per week and covered 4-5,000 miles per year.
“GODS FROINTEERSMEN” by Rory Fitzpatrick 1989
An early book on the Scots Irish. It was also an excellent C4 television series. Famine came to Scotland in the 1690s and the survivors crossed over to Ulster. “It was this immigration of the 1660s, greater than any of the previous ones, which confirmed the position of the Scots as the dominant element in Ulster.” When it came to Revolutionary War there weren’t enough Catholic Irish so the Presbyterians supplied forty per cent of fighting men. “The Scots-Irish, fought for American reasons” in an American context.“68 YEARS A COUNTRY COLUMNIST” by Speedy Moore 1996
The 1859 Revival was a special time for two of the staff of the newspaper he worked for, The Coleraine Chronicle. Two compositors gave their souls to the Lord. The book tells of all sorts of people Speedy met through the years. Sandy Spence takes up about the most pages. He was Ballymena’s longest serving Mayor and longest in Europe – 1978-98.
I find it essential to take notes on the interesting and helpful bits. We then learn something and can go back to it again and again. Some books are so special we want to go back to them and re-read them.
If things were more normal I would be out more and especially walking would take up a lot of my time. I now bring you my favourite and most interesting books:
“THE BOYNE WATER” by Peter Beresford
A wonderful book for studying the great Battle of the Boyne. King James became too dominant with his Roman Catholic religion. He was even condemned by Pope Innocent who supported King William. They were like palls which makes it so strange that the Orange was set up. Surely William would turn in his grave if he knew about the present silly nonsense over Drumcree etc. etc.
“SIEGE OF DERRY” by Patrick Macrory 1980
A similar type of subject. There is even a bit on Dungannon. A ghost was seen, “the terrified inhabitants of Dungannon saw a vision of a giant woman stalking around the town with a spear in her hand.” At the end of the Siege the army were owed thousands of pounds in pay. Even the poor of Derry were paying some soldiers. The Siege as described in this book is full of detail. I wouldn’t like to read this book now as my view of War has changed. I now find it hard to read about such destruction.
“BELFAST, THE MAKING OF THE CITY” by J.C Beckett 1983
The Donegall family owned Belfast and were famous for getting into debt. The first Marquis is responsible for making Belfast a great city with his grand buildings. The Donegalls were the city’s first M.P.s . Another son of the city was Samuel Davidson who was a Bible critic. He was editor of the “Orthodox Presbyterian” in the 1830s.
“Livin in Drumlister, ballads and verse of W.F. Marshall
1983
Classic poetry that is so valuable and so enjoyable. He was educated at Dungannon Royal school. This is part of the school song which he wrote:
Hurrah! Hurrah! Dungannon wears the crown
Hurrah! Hurrah! The castle and the crown.
“RICHARD BRANSON, THE INSIDE STORY” by Mick Brown 1988
Branson was my hero and maybe still is but he is doing too well now. Brown (in my personal opinion) did not put the case enough for the charity work Branson has done. Charity work helps to make the rich acceptable. His Mother pushed him a lot. She said, “shyness is selfishness, come on, you’re only thinking of yourself when you should be thinking of other people.” She taught him not to squander money. Interesting reading about his pop music, Virgin Records business. Then slowly but surely so many other businesses followed on. Then there is quite a lot about Branson’s famous Court battle with British Airways. At long last he won that fight which showed up the corruption of Lord King. Now of course British Airways is much reduced with a lot of financial worries.
“WOLF TONE” by Marianne Elliott 1989
A big thick book of over 400 pages but so enjoyable. A well educated Protestant and founder of Irish Republicanism Nationalism. The speeches of Tone are especially interesting. Page 48 tells of his,” considerable family connections to the Knox family of Dungannon. The Honourable George Knox was the son of Lord Northland.
“KINGS IN CONFLICT, IRELAND IN THE 1690s edited by Eileen Black 1990
This is a book that was published by the Ulster Museum in Belfast. It went with an exhibition of the same name. Both the exhibition and the book were very interesting and enjoyable. As I study the Battle Of the Boyne this makes it more clear to me what it was like. The illustrations make you want to go back to it again and again.
“GREAT NORTHERNERS”by Art Byrne and Sean McMahon 1991
A great book about people who tried their best to make Ulster a better country to live in. William Pirrie took over as Chairman of Harland and Wolf in 1895. He became Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1896. William Thompson, Baron Kelvin was a scientist and inventor. He made many discoveries in engineering. His statue can be seen as you go through the gates into the Botanic Gardens in Belfast. Cecil Francis Alexander was the wife of the Bishop of Derry and was a great hymn writer. “All things bright and beautiful” is the most famous.
“HANNAH, THE COMPLETE STORY” by Hannah Huxwell with Barry Cockcroft 1991
A remarkable woman of great courage and endurance who lived a tough life with a lot of hardship. Watching her on television was very moving. Barry Cockcroft changed her life, bringing her into the 20th century. A good house, television appearances, books, countless newspaper and magazine articles and much more. This book should be read in all schools as it would be a real eye opener. Young people need to see different lifestyles to help mould their character.
“SEAN O’CASEY” a 2 volume autobiography 1992
O’Casey was born suffering from weak and diseased eyes. He lived in poverty for many years. The Gaelic League and Seinn Fein took up his interest for a while. He
became a great playwright. The play that made him famous was, “Juno and the Paycock” in 1925.
“OH REALLY O’REILLY” by C.H. Walsh 199...
This book is mainly an interesting insight into the world of stocks and shares. He had a lot of trouble with Fitzwilton and Waterford Crystal. These are Irish companies of course. O’Reilly kept having bad luck as profits and shares went down. When he went to the U.S. it was different. Heinz with its 57 varieties made him Irelands richest business-men.
“CENTRAL BELFAST, An Historical Gazetteer” by Marcus Patton 1993
As I love the old buildings of Belfast, I couldn’t resist this book. Its great to have information and history of so many places. Sadly some buildings have been destroyed by bombs. Most interesting of all for me is about the original castle in Belfast. In the 1660s it had a bowling green, cherry garden, apple garden. Also there was strawberries, currants and gooseberries.
“THE GUINESS BOOK OF IRISH FACTS AND FEATS by Ciaran Deane 1994
An excellent reference when we need some Irish factual information. Most enjoyable and comprehensive. Dungannon gets a mention. The architect of the Royal Albert Hall in London was Francis Fowke (1823-65) educated at Dungannon College.
“LONDON” main contributer Michael Leapman 2000
This book is part of a wonderful series of, Eyewitness Travel Guides.” It is very comprehensive on practically everything you need to know about London. No travel guide can compare with the depth of knowledge and colour illustrations galore. Buildings are shown with unique cutaways and floorplans which gives the reader such detail. It is such a pleasure to read that when you start it is hard to put it down. I have never read such a beautiful book in my life and if I could spare the money I would buy the complete series. Now when I travel to London I don’t really want to buy any books about it as all I want is here. It also takes away my need for taking photos.
“PARIS” main contributer Alan Tillier 2002
Another guide of the same splendid series. I got this one free when I booked a holiday in Paris. It helped me plan and enjoy my holiday. Here is a short excerpt. “Everything in the area of Invalides is on a monumental scale. Starting from the sprawling 18th century buildings of the Ecole Militaire on the corner of the Avenue devla Motte Piquet, the Parc du hamps de Mars stretches down to the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. The avenues around the Tower are lined with luxurious buildings, some in the Art Nouveau style, and numerous embassies.
Next I give you comments on my most interesting religious books:
“CHMPIONS OF THE REFORMATION” by Janet Gordon 1877
A lovely old book to look at and to read. It records eight great Christian people who stood firm for their faith. We owe so much to these people for our civil and religious liberty. Of George Wishart I quote, “an orator whose warm and persuasive eloquence made the dormant heart of his country throb and vibrate with new life.”
“HISTORY OF THE IRISH PRESBYTERIANS” by E.W. Monteith 1967
Rectors in Drumglass date back to 1378. Sir Arthur Chichester in 1618 had 600 acres about Dungannon. He set out to build the town with 500 acres. It is especially interesting to read of the Knox family who next owned the town and providing so many gifts in furniture etc. to the Church.
“JOHN WESLEY” by S. Ayling 1979
Hard to believe but in the book it tells of Wesley coming from a family of 19. His Mother was the youngest of 24 children – incredible. The Wesley home allowed cards, dances, local fairs, horse racing, taverns and the Theatre. He had 400 books and booklets published. Wrote 15-18 sermons per week and covered 4-5,000 miles per year.
“GODS FROINTEERSMEN” by Rory Fitzpatrick 1989
An early book on the Scots Irish. It was also an excellent C4 television series. Famine came to Scotland in the 1690s and the survivors crossed over to Ulster. “It was this immigration of the 1660s, greater than any of the previous ones, which confirmed the position of the Scots as the dominant element in Ulster.” When it came to Revolutionary War there weren’t enough Catholic Irish so the Presbyterians supplied forty per cent of fighting men. “The Scots-Irish, fought for American reasons” in an American context.“68 YEARS A COUNTRY COLUMNIST” by Speedy Moore 1996
The 1859 Revival was a special time for two of the staff of the newspaper he worked for, The Coleraine Chronicle. Two compositors gave their souls to the Lord. The book tells of all sorts of people Speedy met through the years. Sandy Spence takes up about the most pages. He was Ballymena’s longest serving Mayor and longest in Europe – 1978-98.
