Liam Murphy

LIAM MURPHY: Trad’s misunderstood twin whistle

Being confined to the house has many drawbacks but it leads to many unforeseen moments too. Last week I was doing a ‘bit of redding up’ in the loft when I came across a box of tin whistles. The first one I pulled out was an old black Clarke’s. I attempted a few toots on it and I was glad to find that I could still get a few notes.However, I was aware that no-one could hear me (you have to be careful nowadays as being overheard  playing the scale of D might give grounds to an  unseen listener for a committal order). In no time at all I was halfway through my imaginary Armagh Pipers’ book and was quite pleased with my efforts on Roddy McCorley. I managed a Kerry polka and a slip jig before I decided to place the box close to the loft door where I could reach in, pick up a whistle and play when I knew the coast was clear and I could be sure no-one would be listening. I can remember my first attempt at blowing a tin whistle. Away back in 1961 on St Stephen’s Day my Uncle Paddy arrived at our house with two Basset hounds. He had been out hunting, had retired to the local pub and was now visiting his sister for “a bite to eat”. My mother told him about me passing my driving test earlier that week and Paddy told her that he had heard that and the reason he had called was for me to give him a lift to Mary Ann’s where the huntsmen were gathering for a social evening. Having dropped the hounds in an outhouse we arrived in Mary Ann’s to find the place full and an evening of song and music in full flow.

LIAM MURPHY: Boris Johnson’s bridge fantasy is nothing new

You have to hand it to Boris Johnson. Sometimes we snigger at his remarks but most of us have to admit that he is unpredictable. Often when he makes a pronouncement the press have a field day and then all is forgotten until the next big story, which in many ways is a pity.

OPINION - Liam Murphy: Will this partition centenary tell the brutal truth?

I LISTENED to Boris Johnston last week telling us about his love for the ‘union’ and the forthcoming celebration of the centenary of “this wee place.” I found myself wondering how much he knows (or cares) about the north of Ireland and the conditions and atmosphere here when partition was introduced here almost 100 years ago.

Holy cow! Coming to terms with the sunset of life

THE village in which I grew up had some great characters. One was a man named George Grace. George was what we called “a returned Yank”.

You definitely can’t take Belfast out of the man

THEY say you can take a man out of Belfast but you can’t take Belfast out of the man. I was reminded about this as I spoke to two men on the telephone during the past week.

OF TIMES PAST - LIAM MURPHY: The alternative Ulster Covenant of Rev James Armour of Ballymoney

I WAS in Belfast city centre last week for the first time in three months. I was to meet a 'returned Yank',  a man who has returned to these parts after nearly sixty years in USA. I was told he had two hours to spare.

Happy 90th birthday to the Donegal man whose medical discovery saved millions of lives

SOME things happen by chance. In 1985,  two men, one from Japan and the other from Donegal, were awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for the discovery of the anti-parasite drug  ivermectin. That was in 1978, but it was a few years later before the two men met.

OPINION - LIAM MURPHY: Soundbites as smokescreens to hide governments' Covid shambles

[caption id="attachment_39819" align="aligncenter" width="700"] NEW ERA: Walkers social distancing at the Waterworks[/caption]

A year of some ups but a lot more worrying downs

  So another year has passed. It was a year that will not readily be forgotten. Islamic State extremist attacks in Belgium, France and Germany, the destruction of Syria, the ongoing refugee crisis and the rise of the right wing vote throughout Europe, the fallout from the Brexit referendum in June and the election of former Apprentice host, Donald Trump, as US President and leader of the so-called free world are just a few of the events which few of us could have foreseen.

Hazel was next to every Irishman’s heart

  Belfast born artist John Lavery married Kathleen McDermott in 1889. Shortly after the birth of their daughter Eileen she died of tuberculosis early in 1891. In September 1903 while painting on the beach at Peg Meil in France he was introduced to Hazel Martyn, a 17-year-old who was accompanied by her mother and sister. Hazel fell in love with Lavery but her mother didn’t see him as a suitable partner since he was “a mere artist” – the Martyns were from Chicago and extremely wealthy – and was more than twice her age. She whisked her away to Paris and contacted Dr Pierre Trudeau a young New York doctor who was an admirer. Three days after Christmas they were married. They had barely settled into their apartment in Park Lane when Trudeau developed pneumonia and died leaving Hazel to give birth to their daughter the following October. Clandestine contact between Lavery and Hazel resumed and when she returned to Europe in July 1905 to the health spa at Malvern Wells he visited her and painted her portrait as “A Woman in Black.” Her mother was still opposed to the friendship and insisted on a six month separation. She brought Hazel to Rome and was delighted when she fell for a secretary at the US Embassy named Leonard Thomas. A second marriage was quickly arranged but Thomas jilted Hazel.

M’learned friends and not refs will soon make rugby calls

JUST before the start of the GAA Championships it is customary for the President or one of his acolytes to call a press conference to gravely inform the public that the Association are determined to eradicate foul play. Last year we were told that referees were going to concentrate on “cynical fouling” which was a “matter of grave concern” and referees wouldn’t hesitate to produce black cards.

Rich and fascinating history of Belfast’s best-loved bar

Kevin Barry was just a lad of eighteen summers

Nelson blast echoed across Ireland

  I’m quite sure that Belfast-based teacher Finbar Carolan and his colleagues John Sullivan, Eamon McGirr and Gerry Burns never heard of Seamus Sutcliffe or Francis Johnston. Yet they all had a connection to one of the momentous events in Ireland in the twentieth century.

1916 centenary year full of so many great events

  AS WE head to the final quarter of 2016, I have to say I’ve always felt that a year only starts when St Brigid’s Day has come, and it has all but ended when the All-Ireland football final has been played.