John Ó Néill

@StreetnamesBelf @jggb1 @JamesEHennessey @northbelfast100 After Rev Isaac Deacon (formerly Trinity Church and Mossville, Antrim Rd)? Not a common surname.

anyone able to help with how Deacon Street in North Belfast got its name? As you will see from our website it was named in 1905. Surmising it was called after an individual or a family called Deacon. @JJCONeill @jggb1 @JamesEHennessey @northbelfast100 ? RTs appreciated.

The Belfast Newsletter, was once a radical imprint that has a significant place in newsprint heritage. Ironically - @KNEECAPCEOL probably understand the Newsletter's own legacy better than those in charge now.

@PDufaigh @JackmanNeil @jdmccafferty @BridMcGrath @ucdarchaeology @TuathaIreland @Archidub1 @dubcivictrust @irarchaeology @dubdecodedtours Use plasticine to make two halves in the mould, put them together and post a photo? Can protect mould with cling film if needed.

Plaster mould from 18thC context on Bride St, Dublin. Any ideas what it was for?? Looks like maybe a brass doorhandle but the underside is flat - not globular @jdmccafferty @BridMcGrath @ucdarchaeology @TuathaIreland @Archidub1 @dubcivictrust @irarchaeology @dubdecodedtours

Come with me to explore Belfast’s oldest burial ground, Shankill Graveyard…

@alliethinks @StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @placenamesni @james @BelfastTele Link here is John Blakiston-Houston of Orangefield? He and his son Richard (died 1933), were ardent horsemen (see Richard's obit, N Whig 23/5/33). Cameronian Dr appeared as Blakiston Gdns in directories from mid-30s to late 40s, but was never developed until it was renamed.

@JJCONeill @StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @placenamesni @james @BelfastTele This is from Ireland's Saturday Night, 03 September 1932, and Cameronian Drive is not on the list (the earliest ref I can find to it in the newspapers is 1949), but it seems too big a coincidence not to be connected (with perhaps a nod to the Covenanters at the same time).

Cameronian Drive anyone? How does it get its name? @alliethinks @Edward__Burke @JJCONeill @placenamesni @james? #belfaststreetnames

@alliethinks @StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @placenamesni @james That is the explanation given to Eddie McIlwaine in his Ulster Log in @BelfastTele on 14/4/1983 (William Robb listed as a Civil Servant in Bristow Pk in 1960, seems a credible source).

@StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @JJCONeill @placenamesni @james Cameronian was also a Derby winner, which fits in well with the other local streets, like Ladas Drive and the Orbys en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameronia… bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe…

@alliethinks @StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 That's pop culture for you.

@JJCONeill @StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 The barque then sank in 1901, around the time the street was named, so it was a familiar name in the news for a while. Seems an odd thing to name a street after, but we do love the Titanic here!

Looking for some help with Rydalmere Street off the Donegall Road in South Belfast. It appears in the 1907 Belfast Street Directory - any idea how it got its name? @alliethinks @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 @JJCONeill? RTs appreciated. #belfaststreetnames

@alliethinks @StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 Yeah the 'Street' bit has to be a typo - but I meant that the barque Rydalmere's misfortunes at sea in 1894 may have prompted its use for a terrace, then for a street.

@StreetnamesBelf @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 @JJCONeill Think that one may have been a newspaper typo, because it is just Rydalmere (rather than Rydalmere Street) normally.

@StreetnamesBelf @Drumberny @alliethinks @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 Think you just answered your own question. 😀 This is from the Ulster Echo on 5 March 1895, the year after the Rydalmere was in the news.

@Drumberny @alliethinks @Edward__Burke @samguthrie91 @JJCONeill

@StreetnamesBelf @alliethinks @placenamesni ...but the N Whig on 5/7/1881 suggests it was a Macrory family connection to the name of Ilchester Gardens in Middlesex (which, at least, may have been named after the Earl).

@StreetnamesBelf @alliethinks @placenamesni There is an Earl of Ilchester, the incumbent in 1880s had been in an earlier Gladstones govt and on Privy Council. He was known to travel to Ireland but had a pretty unspectacular career. Neither Ilchester town nor previous Earls had an impact on public consciousness...

Anyone able to throw any light on how Ilchester Street came to be named. As you see we have some details about it such as when it was named and who requested it: belfaststreetnames.com/search-results… but why the name Ilchester? @JJCONeill @alliethinks @placenamesni? #belfaststreetnames

@niamh_journo A few years ago, I drew up an ISO-compliant infographic and a location map. See attached, explains everything.

Good discussion in work today about the definition of a "culchie" Some say it's just anyone from anywhere besides Belfast... Others say culchies *have* to be from rural/countryside areas. Is Newry culchie? It is a city after all... But can a city be culchie? Discuss please 🤠

@StreetnamesBelf @Drumberny @alliethinks @JamesEHennessey @CiaranDunbar @placenamesni There was a house called Dunboyne in Knockbreda in the 1930s and there is a Dunboyne Park in Larne, connection could be to either of those as a former/childhood home?

@Drumberny @JJCONeill @alliethinks @JamesEHennessey @CiaranDunbar @placenamesni Don’t know - would be good to know something about the two men who are named in the minutes.

Today’s request for help is for Dunboyne Park off the Springfield Road. The name was approved in 1962 for “Messers McCarroll and Steenson”. Any idea how it came to be named? @JJCONeill @alliethinks @JamesEHennessey @CiaranDunbar @placenamesni #belfaststreetnames

@Edward__Burke @StreetnamesBelf @alliethinks @JamesEHennessey Oakley Park previously owned by the Birneys - Edward Birney JP was born there and on Belfast Board of Guardians in 1890s, so may have suggested the name. Contemporaries of his on the Board may have had surnames (Tennent, Torrans) linked to street names in Oldpark.

Anyone able to throw any light on how Oakley Street came to be named? @alliethinks @JJCONeill @JamesEHennessey? RTs appreciated. #belfaststreetnames

@StreetnamesBelf @alliethinks @JamesEHennessey @Drumberny @jggb1 Russell, Alfred, Eliza, Grace, Catherine, Henrietta - were all the local streets named after people (are they May family members or friends)? Might be a question for @MDABelfast?

This is likely to be a difficult one Russell Street off Alfred Street. Seems to date to 1830s. @alliethinks @JamesEHennessey @JJCONeill @Drumberny @jggb1 #belfaststreetnames

This week we enjoyed of a not-so usual moment in archaeology: the discovery in real time of two fine pieces of Iron Age art. It happened in the San Vicenzo hillfort (Avión, #Galicia). #HillfortsWednesday

@StreetnamesBelf @jackieredpath There's more on the burials and references to it as St Peters here: treasonfelony.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/unm…

Looking 2 @jackieredpath, have you any light to throw on the “mystery” of Peter’s Hill. This is from Benn’s history of Belfast. @JJCONeill was recalling it had been called St Peter’s Hill at 1 point. Anyone? was there a church in this area which led to it getting the name Peter?

@StreetnamesBelf @alliethinks @Edward__Burke @JamesEHennessey @jackieredpath @placenamesni @jggb1 @samguthrie91 @Drumberny @JohnJBaucher Belfast Glass co on the site until it was sold in 1838. Boyd Street only laid out then. Seems unlikely the name predates 1840 or so. Area clearly developed by 17th century, though, and burials were found there in 19th century which may be medieval in date.

@alliethinks @Edward__Burke @JamesEHennessey @JJCONeill @jackieredpath @placenamesni @jggb1 @samguthrie91 @Drumberny First edition (1832-1846) of the OS map - no sign of Boyd Street, survey date: 1832-1833; second edition (1846-1862) survey date (1832-1833) with Boyd Street. Wondering what is going ongoing? @JohnJBaucher ?

Anyone able to help with this one: Boyd Street, how did it get its name? @alliethinks @Edward__Burke @JamesEHennessey @JJCONeill @jackieredpath @placenamesni @jggb1 @samguthrie91 @Drumberny? #belfaststreetnames.

I'll be giving a of @HeritageWeek talk on the Iron Age at the TII Connections and Reflections seminar on Thurs. See 👇🏼