Though I was born on a small farm in the townland of Derrybeg in Newry, I spent most of my childhood in Omeath where my father, grandfather and great grandfather were born. I was educated at Ardagh National School at a time when there were still numerous native Irish speakers in the area. Among them were Ann O’Hanlon, Oweny Dip (Owen Kane) and Mary Rua McKeown. All the O’Hanlons in fact spoke Irish: there were so many of them they were recognised by their sobriquets only: Paddy Judy, Paddy Greasaí, Paddy Briney, Paddy Bán, Paddy Dargle, Paddy Shot. I didn’t for a long time know them as O’Hanlons at all.

Omeath people then generally had small farms and dabbled in the sale of cockles, mussels and oysters. A major bone of contention was that Omeath people had to pay the ‘cockle landlord’, Lord Clermont, for gathering cockles. The Hall family too had to be paid if one wished to pick up the wrack!

Some of the Omeath folk went to Kilkeel to buy fish which they subsequently sold in Armagh City, Newry, Dundalk and South Armagh.

Side-cars were common in the village with up to fifty of them in the summer, ferrying visitors to Calvary, Carlingford or simply to the Half-Way House.

I was not destined to stay however in Omeath!

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