Henry Joy : 3

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Henry Joy McCracken was – like most of his family – a textiles manufacturer by profession. He ought to have succeeded, specialising in cotton, but his radical political outlook led to his neglect of his business, and Joy, Holmes & McCracken went to the wall.


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Ann Boyle Communion

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Isn’t it amazing how expressive – how illustrative – indeed how thoroughly familiar are the old black-and-white photos of our childhood? The central figure in this poignant tableau is Ann Boyle of Castle Street.  Her proud father Louis Boyle – Newry taxi-driver when there were no more than a half-dozen of them altogether – shows off his girl in her beautiful First Holy Communion dress.   Ann is now a retired schoolteacher (St Patrick’s, The Meadow) dramatis persona and leading light of the Newry Drama Festival Committee these decades past.

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