Dedication
Dedicated to both the remembered and forgotten, who once inhabited the homes and farmsteads, walked the "loanins" and toiled the fields in the village and townlands of Glenavy and district, making their last earthly journey along the "loanin" to their chosen place of rest.
"Gordon of Stoneyford Violin Maker"
by
Michael Costello
Dedicated to the descendants of violin maker Hugh Gordon, some of whom still
reside in the
Stoneyford and surrounding areas.
Price £7 each.
Copies can be
obtained by
contacting
Michael Costello
on
07518631378.
£2 from each book sold
will be donated to the
Haiti Disaster Fund.
The Digger's has written an article about this book launch which tells us more about the author and the book. Read more »
Glenavy River Comes to Life
Explore the website of the Glenavy Conservation & District Angling Club to learn about their plans for the conservation and development of the Glenavy river.
GlenavyHistory.com
Welcome to GlenavyHistory.com, a unique website designed to provide an insight into the rich history of the village and surrounding district of Glenavy, situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Ongoing development in the area continues to sweep away former homesteads, farms, buildings and green pastures confining those places to memory.
Ringfort
You are cordially invited to take a browse through the village, townlands and district and explore the past.
GlenavyHistory.com aims to capture those days of yesteryear, and piece together the jigsaw of past generations using a variety of sources to include newspapers, photographs, postcards, local ballads, poems and memories. Here you will find tales of ancient times, ring forts, folklore, folk charmers and water diviners.
Over time GlenavyHistory.com will develop into a book without cover, chapter or ending and will expand as more material is added to the site.
Please do make contact if you have any material or memories you would like to share with others about Glenavy and the surrounding district.
Please do call back again.
"The Digger"
GlenavyHistory.com and The Digger support Junior Belfast Giants Ice Hockey Club
Fundraising Event
Deep River Rock Belfast City Marathon
Bank Holiday Monday - 7th May 2012
GlenavyHistory.com and The Digger are urging you to support a very worthy cause and invite you to make a donation to a local Northern Irish children’s ice Hockey team – Junior Belfast Giants who train at Dundonald International Icebowl just outside Belfast, Northern Ireland.
GlenavyHistory.com has regular visitors from all over the world. Many people have enjoyed delving into the history of Glenavy, County Antrim and surrounding areas and indeed many have found information relevant to their own family history. GlenavyHistory.com has free access and it is maintained on a voluntary basis. It was created to preserve the rich heritage of the area. This is now your chance to express your gratitude by making a donation to the Junior Belfast Giants.
Please sponsor Chris, one the Junior Belfast Giants U14 managers, who has signed up to walk the 26.2 miles in this year’s Belfast City Marathon. Official Race number - 10304. All monies raised from his efforts will be donated to Junior Belfast Giants (registered charity: XT28336 Northern Ireland).
How many of us remember kicking a football against the wall as a child hoping that we would become the next George Best? No matter what your sport at school, there were always those who had dreams and aspirations of reaching the dizzy heights of the game. Some made it, many didn’t, but generally an enjoyable time was had by all. Children in Northern Ireland involved in the relatively young sport of ice hockey are no different. Some aspire to become NHL players across the Atlantic whilst others have set their sights on the UK’s Elite League and want to play for home team The Stena Line Belfast Giants. For all who participate in the sport it is a time to have fun, meet new friends and keep active and fit.
The club caters for all age groups and currently have 130 registered members ranging in age from 4 to 18. The club emulates the world-wide sport, in that it is has support from all denominations, and there are a number of members who have moved to the province from Europe and North America. The club brings together members from north, south, east and west Belfast. The children involved with this sport have one significant disadvantage though. You won’t find another ice rink in the province. Most other sports are well catered for and have facilities the length and breadth of the island. Dedicated members of one team travel to Dundonald, sometimes on a twice weekly basis from their homes situated as far away as Ballymoney, Ballymena and Dundalk. The remainder of that particular team comprises of players from the Greater Belfast area, Ballynahinch, Carryduff, Comber, Dundonald, Hillsborough, Holywood, Lisburn, Newtownards and Saintfield.
With only one ice rink, ice-time is premium, and the club’s schedule has to fit in around public skating sessions, figure skating and other ice-based clubs that use the Ice Bowl. It would be difficult finding any other group of teenagers from the ages of twelve to eighteen, keen on turning up for an hour’s ice-hockey training commencing on a Friday evening at a quarter past ten. For almost a season and a half the teams have been training on a twice weekly basis and developing their skill base, but they lack game experience. There are no other clubs in Ireland who can put together a range of teams in the under ten to under eighteen age range and so the club has had to seek alternatives.
The club has faced many difficulties over the years, but now under a new management team, headed by Paul Robinson, the problems of the past have been successfully overcome and the club continues to go from strength to strength.
Jamie, a fourteen year old from Dundonald who has been with the club for several years speaks for most club members. "We are getting a lot better and we are looking forward to playing games and playing together as a team."
Jamie plays for the under 14 team. They travelled to Scotland at the end of January to play their first game against the Kilmarnock Lightning under 14 team. For game report see - U14s Away Game to Kilmarnock January 2012.
There has been a noticeable buzz of excitement within the club now a series of games for all age groups has been secured with Kilmarnock over the next few months.
The club has also entered its first tournament with Hockey UK 2012 and the teams travel across to Kircaldy, Scotland in April and May to compete against other teams from all over the UK.
Not every child will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with his or her sporting hero during their time in their chosen sport, but that is not a familiar story in the world of ice-hockey. The junior members of the team have the opportunity of performing mascot duties when The Stena Line Belfast Giants play home games in the Odyssey in Belfast. The Juniors experience what it is like to skate in front of a large crowd and they often have the opportunity to have a look at what goes on behind the scenes.
This year the club has organised what has become an annual event in the club’s calendar at Dundonald International Ice Bowl - "Belfast Giants v Wee Giants." All age groups played matches alongside members of The Stena Line Belfast Giants. It is a popular event with the club’s family members, friends and Giant’s supporters. This year The Stena Line Belfast Giants have donated as first prize in the club draw, a fourteen seat box in the Odyssey arena for their forthcoming match against Fife on Saturday 18th February. The three other prizes included an Indesit washing machine donated by Indesit Company UK Ltd., a Dell Inspiron 14z laptop donated by Dell, and one year’s full membership to Curves Castlereagh donated by Debbie Robinson. Much needed funds were raised for the club as a result of the event.
Several of the club’s members have been fortunate to attend the Best Of British Ice hockey camps which are organised in Scotland and England during school holiday times. It is encouraging to note that despite having little or no game experience, most of these children came back with silverware. See Jamie takes part in "Best of British" Easter Ice Hockey Camp. This is encouraging news for the club and it is a good reason why the club officials want to progress the sport and give these children a chance to progress and succeed in their chosen sport - ICE HOCKEY.
Ice-time, registration fees, insurance, travel costs and other overheads all have to be paid each season and each year the club spends tens of thousands of pounds just to get the children ice-time at the rink.
It is hoped that this recent fundraising venture will raise the much needed funds to secure the future of the Junior Belfast Giants club, and provide these young players with an environment where they can further develop in their chosen sport and perhaps someday realise their dreams of becoming professional ice-hockey players. In the words of the late Herb Brooks, a former ice-hockey player and coach to the team who secured the United States’ victory against the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics: "Great moments are born from great opportunities!!"
To sponsor the Under 14 team manager who will be walking the 26.2 miles in this year’s Belfast City Marathon please email one of the following (we'll send you the PayPal account details by return email):
june@juniorbelfastgiants.com
chris@juniorbelfastgiants.com
diggerarticle@hotmail.com
Please do give generously!! Thank-you!!
For further information on Junior Belfast Giants at www.juniorbelfastgiants.com
The Digger now writes exclusively for www.lisburn.com (March 2012)
"The Digger" wishes to thank "The Ulster Star" and Ulster Star readers for their support over the past number of years. "The Ulster Star" hosted many Digger articles from September 1996. Due to space restrictions, it has been decided to put the articles onto the internet.
Thank-you to Jim Collins for agreeing to host future articles on www.lisburn.com.
Find GlenavyHistory.com on Facebook!
Join others from around the world in sharing your knowledge and memorabilia on the history of Glenavy and surrounding area. See photos and read stories about the people and places in Glenavy, Northern Ireland.
DVD - The Building of Crew Orange Hall
This is a unique piece of Glenavy history and has been taken from cine film and put onto DVD. The DVD shows the building of the Crew Hall (LOL124), the laying of the foundation stone (18th October, 1958), the opening of the hall and the associated sale of works (30th March 1959). There are many people who appear in this DVD who are no longer with us. The quality is variable, but played on a home computer and slowed down, many faces can be identified. There is no original sound, although a music soundtrack has been added. Thanks to the Lewis family of Lisburn for preserving these memories and permitting us to share them.
Copies of the DVD can be obtained from
Captured Images
Unit 12 - 14 Rosevale Industrial Estate
171 Moira Road
Lisburn
BT281RW.
Telephone 08455202040
Website: www.captureourwedding.com
The Lewis family or lodge are not making anything from the sale of this DVD. Copies can be obtained for £10 each.