Review
A charming reissue of this gentle 1912 history of Belfast, says Sean McMahon
- The Story of Belfast and Its Surroundings
- Appletree
Béal Feirste Cois Cuain
For a town that was ‘knocked up from the swamp in the last hundred years’ Belfast has become very bankable.
Appropriate then that Appletree, native son, should republish in facsimile this charming if slightly unworldly book by native daughter. It was written in 1912 but either because of tunnel vision or understandable distaste it betrays not a trace of the contemporary city, with its loss of the Titanic and the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant.
Since her target readership are ‘the young’ the author may have felt that a positive approach was the only apposite one and settled instead for a well-mannered historical/cultural tour of the city, indicating with reasonable accuracy the Gaelic origins of such place names as Falls. Shankill and Ballymacarret. Yet her account of the things that made Belfast great is given with verve and lucid commentary. Similar treatment is given to Bangor and other East Ulster towns. In Ms Lowry’s day there was a concept: ‘a gentleman’s knowledge’, some facts and not too much academic rigour; the author might have accepted the just description of her work as ‘a lady’s knowledge’.
