Page 3COURIER – Wednesday, 4th September, 2013

THE Mid Ulster Photography Club is now into itsninth year.

It is a cross community club and is made up ofpredominately novice photographers. Anyone withan interest in photography is welcome to join.Throughout the season (September to May) theyparticipate in the Northern Ireland PhotographicAssociation (NIPA) competition rounds as well asour own internal competitions.

This year they will have more guest speakersplanned than before covering a wide variety ofphotography disciplines, backed up with our ownin house studio sessions.

They meet every other Tuesday night upstairs atthe Ballyronan Marina Centre at 8pm, with ourfirst night being on the 3rd September.

New members are always welcome and anyonewho wishes to find out more about the club cancontact us on secretary@midulsterphotography-club.com, on Facebook, Mid Ulster PhotographyClub group or through our web site www.midul-sterphotographyclub.com.

Mid UlsterPhotography

Club reconvenes

DC Camera Clubstarts again

DC Camera Club recently brought to a closeanother very successful season. Formed five yearsago the club has now over fifty active members.

Last year saw the completion of a very busy pro-gramme which included photo shoot outings aswell as hotly contested club competitions both atAdvanced and Novice levels.

The club reopens on Wednesday 4th Septemberat 7.30pm in Gables Restaurant, Carland. NewMembers will be made especially welcome withsessions arranged to introduce them to the enjoy-ment of this wonderful hobby.

Last season's competition winners were:Advanced Trophy: Brian ScullionNovice Trophy: Aidan KellyAdvanced Top Print: Rosemary HughesNovice Top Print: Aidan KellyAdvanced Panel: Eileen McCauslandNovice Panel: Evelyn McKennaClub Critique: Briege Martin

A PUBLIC inquiry has been announced into thenew Mid-Ulster ‘supercouncil’.

The one day inquiry is one of nine being heldinto the new Local Government districts inNorthern Ireland. It was announced by the districtelectoral area commissioner.

In a statement the commissioner, DickMackenzie, said: “Following the consultation peri-od and analysis of the objections received, I havedecided that it is appropriate to conduct nine out ofa possible 11 public inquiries.

“The inquiries are a vital part of the processleading to the final shape of the electoral areaswhich will be used for the election of councillors tothe new Local Government districts. The AssistantCommissioners will provide an independent viewon the objections to my recommendations.

“I would encourage all those who have madeobjections or who have a comment on those objec-tions, to attend the relevant inquiry and presenttheir opinions.”

The inquiries will be presided over by assistantcommissioners and will provide an opportunity todiscuss objections that were raised during the con-sultation period.

Objections must relate to the proposed groupingof wards and the naming of the electoral areasonly.

The written representations received about theprovisional recommendations can be viewed on thecommissioner’s website at www.deac-ni.org.

If anyone has any specific language or accessrequirements, they should let the commissioner’soffice know in advance so that appropriatearrangements can be made.

The inquiry into the Mid Ulster council area willtake place at the Glenavon Hotel, 52 Drum Road,Cookstown, this Monday 9th September from10am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm.

Donaghmore industrialist behindtreasure trove of old photographs

HIDDEN trove of photo-graphs taken over a centuryago are believed to have beentaken by a Donaghmoreindustrialist.

A total of 296 slides were foundin the deanery of Killaloe in CoClare and passed on to the Churchof Ireland RCB Library in Dublin.

Now the archivist at the RCBlibrary, Dr Susan Hood, says thephotographer behind the photo-graphs is “almost certainly” DavidBrown.

David and his twin brother,Robert, ran a soap factory inDonaghmore, the largest in Irelandat the time. They produced theMcClinton and Colleen soapbrands.

The brothers used the wealththey accrued through their businessto indulge their many hobbies,among them photography.

Some of the lantern slides depictscenes from Ireland around the turnof the 20th century, however thereare many others from further afield.

David married Ada Wilson,

whose brother William was aPresbyterian Minister, later to servethe New Row Presbyterian Churchin Coleraine.

The brothers-in law travelledtogether to the Middle East andreturned with a wealth of photo-graphs that throw fresh light on lifein Palestine over 100 years ago.

Mystery still surrounds how theslides ended up in Killaloe, CountyClare, in the Republic of Irelandbut according to Dr Hood the evi-dence that David Brown took thephotographs is very strong.

According to a copy of theColeraine Herald in 1897, the RevWilson had given a lecture about hisjourney to the Holy Land as part ofa group in the Spring of that year.The lecture was accompanied bylantern slides taken by a compan-ion.

"We are pretty convinced thatthis is the identity," she said.

"The descriptions in theColeraine newspaper are so vividand match so closely to the actualpictures.

"We cannot absolutely prove it.

But it is a very convincing lead.How many Irishmen were throughPalestine at that time?

"The Donaghmore link showsthat the Brown brothers ran abooming local industry. Theyappear to have given a lot of moneyto other causes and supportedPresbyterian Church causes.

"The local historian PatriciaBogue said the Browns were a fam-ily who did good works all of theirlives."

Mr Brown campaigned to eradi-cate tuberculosis in Ireland. Thecheap availability of pure soap-based products that his companypromoted at events such as theDublin International IndustrialExhibition, photos of which are inthe Killaloe collection, made animportant practical contribution toimproving general standards ofhygiene.

He also promoted Ireland atindustrial exhibitions in Dublin,London and Paris. They even recre-ated a model Irish village to adver-tise Ireland.

"To sell Ireland, they created a

village with Irish colleens who weredancing and serving goodies to visi-tors. They walked around with thesoap products. The Browns werevery creative people who were giv-ing others employment."

Other slides show scenes from anorthern region of India. But near-er to home there are pictures ofBelfast, Ballyclare and Coleraine.

Many remain unidentified and DrHood would love to hear from peo-ple who might recognise a location.Personal photographs are alsoincluded in the archive.

But there are still questions thatremain unanswered and anyone whomight recognise a face or a placefeatured in the photographs, or whomight have any information aboutthe Brown family in Donaghmore,should contact the Church ofIreland Representative ChurchBody library in Dublin.

You can see the photographsonline at:http://ireland.anglican.org/about/174.

Public inquiryannounced into

Mid-Ulster‘supercouncil’

A DUNGANNON Councillor has regis-tered his “disappointment” that the PublicRealm Scheme in Dungannon has still notbegun.

Despite numerous projected start dates,the last of which was 22nd July, contractorshave yet to begin the £2.3 million scheme.

At a recent meeting of Dungannon andSouth Tyrone Borough Council the DUP’sLord Morrow said councillors had been“sold a pup”.

It is believed the delay is due to negotia-tions over a licence between the contractorfor the project and Roads Service. Nodefinitive start dates have been provided,however one source said the start of the

project was “imminent”.Lord Morrow told the Courier: “I think

it’s very disappointing that the contractoris not on site before now. I pushed this incouncil for a definitive date and after per-sistent questioning at one stage I was giventhe 22nd July. I took that with a pinch ofsalt and it transpired that my scepticismwas well founded because nothing started.

“I tried to find out why they hadn’tstarted and I was told it work was takingplace off site. Then I was told that workwas taking place on one area, namelyThomas Street, but try as I might I could-n’t find anybody there. So we are currentlystill waiting for a contractor.”

Still no sign of start date forbeleaguered Public RealmScheme in Dungannon town

Mystery shopperscoops Lottery £1m

THE Coalisland community isbuzzing with the news that amystery lottery winner hasscooped £1 million in theNational Lottery after havingtheir numbers checked at thelocal SuperValu store.

The unidentified winner isnot believed to have purchasedthe ticket at the DungannonRoad store but simply checkedtheir numbers there leading tospeculation that they may notactually be from the Coalislandarea.

A spokesperson for the storeconfirmed that the winningticket had been checked by oneof its cashiers but said none of

the staff working that nightrecognised the lucky customer.

ArmaghService

THE Rector of CastlecaulfieldParish Church, the Rev DrPeter Thompson, conducted aspecial service in Armagh onSunday, which was broadcast inNorthern Ireland and through-out the United Kingdom.

The service, for the CharlesWood Summer School, wasbroadcast from ArmaghCathedral and was broadcaston Radio 4 and Radio Ulster.

Street beside Damascus gate. Images from the Killaloe LanternSlide Collection in the RCB Library Dublin are reproduced herecourtesy of the Representative Church Body. sc3613.

A street procession, possibly a Sunday school outing. Images fromthe Killaloe Lantern Slide Collection in the RCB Library Dublin arereproduced here courtesy of the Representative Church Body.sc3614.

Unidentified coastal town or village, with church spire, terracedhousing and possibly a train station in the background. Imagesfrom the Killaloe Lantern Slide Collection in the RCB LibraryDublin are reproduced here courtesy of the Representative ChurchBody. sc3615.

View of Belfast Harbour with two men rowing in foreground and theRotterdam Bar and church spire in the background. Images from theKillaloe Lantern Slide Collection in the RCB Library Dublin are repro-duced here courtesy of the Representative Church Body. sc3616.