The Impeachment Clock

Last night, Aileen left me a comment that said, in part, "I don't know too much about America except that I have loads of blood relatives here." I could reverse her comment and say that I don't know much about Northern Ireland, but I had some blood relatives there in the last century.

Here's Part 1 of a family story (illustrated) for Aileen.

Hugh McDonald (Alan's Grandfather)
circa 1910


"[T]he man in the photo holding the cup [is] Hugh McDonald"

Hello Alan,

I was at a meeting tonight and one of the people there had asked me to supply him with some photographs of ambulances from the Belfast Fire Brigade. As I was showing them to him another person at the meeting George Morrison (The ex Chief Fire Officer) started to identify the different photos as he had been born in Ardoyne Fire Station in Belfast.

A photograph which I have attached shows the old horse drawn ambulance along with its crew holding one of the challenge cups which they had won. George said that the man in the photo holding the cup was Hugh McDonald and as well as being the First Aid instructor he was also the father of Archie McDonald, and that the McDonalds lived in number 6 Ardoyne Fire Station. George knew this because he lived in number 4 Ardoyne Station. So Hugh McDonald would be your Grandfather.

George told me that because the McDonalds lived in Ardoyne Archie had joined the Auxiliary Fire Service during the early years of the war, and as such was operating from that station whenever he was killed.

I had never heard this story until tonight, because if I had we would have been able to have put more into the book, as this is one of the photographs which we used. Also it happens to be one of the photographs which is on the web-site. So there you have it your grandfather Hugh McDonald was looking at you on the web-site all along.

All the best for now.

Bill Broadhurst

June 10, 2002

More to come in Parts 2 and beyond. Stay tuned.