Ards Forum

There are a couple of great singer songwriters from Portaferry.

They are Susan Tomelty and Rosemary Woods.

Does anyone happen to know when they'll be performing in Belfast?

The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) have an ongoing campaign to open the Irish Republic's 1926 Census. Access to this valuable resource, the first census taken after the foundation of the State, will prove to be of immense help to those seeking ancestors born in Ireland before the...

Many people have recorded the traditional folk song The Enniskillen Dragoons. Folk singer Tommy Makem came up with his own version. Does anyone know whether the Ottilie Patterson who sings the version on YouTube is the Ottilie (born in the Ards area) who married Chris Barber in 1959 and recorded man...

I don't make a habit of posting messages three times.

There are times this PC of mine appears to have a mind of its own.

A pupil at Movilla High School assaulted a teacher in May. This week the pupils at the school have missed three days of classes due to strike action by twenty five teachers. The teachers' union said their members voted to strike after they weren't paid when they refused to teach the pupil involved i...

A pupil at Movilla High School assaulted a teacher in May. This week the pupils at the school have missed three days of classes due to strike action by twenty five teachers. The teachers' union said their members voted to strike after they weren't paid when they refused to teach the pupil involved i...

A pupil at Movilla High School assaulted a teacher in May. This week the pupils at the school have missed three days of classes due to strike action by twenty five teachers. The teachers' union said their members voted to strike after they weren't paid when they refused to teach the pupil involved i...

If any members of this site spot broken links on threads on this board
could they send me a message so that I can delete the offending link
and have a look for a similar link

A large amount of information about our ancestors can be found by using Google or other search engines. This is probably the best method as the links on some sites are broken. If you are stuck and can't find a way to find out moe about their occupations open a thread giving a few details about the a...

Be careful when you are out for the day to have a look for your ancestor's gravestones. Sometimes they can do you a serious injury. They are probably safe enough if they're in a churchyard but if you're in a cemetery which has not been well maintained it's possible for a stone to topple over. EDIT A...

The November edition of Ancestors has an article by David Annal who recommends being cautious when reading headstones as the family may not have been able to afford a stone at the time their relative died so it's possible many years passed before a stone was erected and some of the facts about the i...

Childline 0800 1111

Rape Crisis line 028 9032 9002

Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

Taxis in Newtownards. link removed
Ards Cabs 02891810000/8123456

You can't have people walking around at times when the buses aren't running

Portavo ... An Irish Townland and its Peoples by Peter Carr. Part One of this book Earliest times to 1844 was first published by White Row Press in 2003 and Part Two The Famine to the Present was published in 2005. The Londonderrys ... A Family Portrait by H. Montgomery Hyde. First published by Ham...

The Union of Newtownards was officially formed 3rd September 1839 and had a population of 53,873. Michael Gould's book, "The Workhouses of Ulster", which was published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in 1983 contains a picture of the Newtownards workhouse which was completed on the 21st...

Three paintings, by Groomsport artist Debra Wenlock, were shown at the largest automotive fine art exhibition in the United States at Hopkins Center for the Arts, Minnesota this summer. The exhibition, one which artists were invited to submit some pieces of their work, included paintings, sculpture,...