Short and very rare 4 minute video of Gorbals Wedding in the spring of 1961. The original was shot on a 16 mm colour camera by my cousin Mary Greene to send to my sister Maureen in Canada. It was many years before it resurfaced
Hi Brian, the '' O' Donnell " wedding was actually Vincent Fleming and Anna Coyle who are my Mum & Dad and were married 23rd April 1962.. They celebrated their 50th Wedding anniversry in April of this year. I showed them the film this morning and they were thrilled to see it as neither were aware that anyone was filming... Great film, thanks for posting.
Brilliant.... my mum and dad were married in Hospital street in '55 , and they had no photos of it so I get to see it vicariously through your video, thanks for sharing!!
The unpretentious ambience of the colourful wedding groups in this film is delightful. Scrambles required participants to adopt various strategies to, 'get in first' for the shillings, tanners, thruppennies, pennies and ha'pnees. Some were left staring into the distance as the newly married couple were driven away.
What a great video! Thank you for sharing it. I lived at 5 Norfolk Street, above Arthur Black's and it was wonderful to see the old place and St John's too.
Hi Cathleen, Thanks for the comment and the info on the wedding. I called it the O’Donnell wedding because I was sure I recognised the women coming out as part of the Duffy/O’Donnells who lived in Abbotsford Place (I think they were all related in some way and I think they came from Annagry)
I remember going to evening mass on a Sunday at St. John’s and Canon Boyle used to bring a huge alarm clock onto the altar so that he could time the mass perfectly . Devotions were immediately after mass and he tried to prevent people leaving by going straight into devotions . This would have been in the early sixties.
Hi Jacqueline, Glad you enjoyed it. I wouldn’t be so ungentlemanly to ask who your granny is (in case it gives her age away!). Incidentally I was fortunate enough to be selected to do a piece for the BBC Radio two years ago where I narrated one of my short stories. Your Gran might recognise some of the Gorbals photos in it. Unfortunately you can’t use links to other videos. If you search for ‘Gorbals Short Story’ or ‘Brian McHugh’ on yTube or Google you should get it.
Hi Pat, That’s fantastic! It must have been a bit of a shock and I’m glad they enjoyed it (and finally nailing down the date, it’s been a bone of contention for a while). I’d love to find out how they managed to cram in three weddings in one service (can you imagine the reaction of young couples today if they had to share a wedding service)
As kids there was nothing better than anticipating the moment to scramble for coppers. Sometimes there was a dummy throw in an attempt to throw us off but it was easily sussed.
We call them pub weddings in Dublin , I had one in 1981. A Great party still talked about today. A son and a party, the only two goid things that came from it. You Live and you learn. 🤣☘️
Hi Rosie, Yes, your dad and I were first cousins; and your mother was Pat McKenna’s sister. The woman in the beginning - Madge Martin - was your Grandmother. Your right, it is rather weird seeing these scenes from so long ago, but glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for posting the video Rose. Both my parents went to Ballyboes School. My dad Peter (Margaret’s uncle) and my mother Mary Sweeney from Derryreel. (You probably know the Sweeney’s - they still have a house there.)
Hi Brian. This wasn't an O'Donnell wedding. It was one of the Coyle sisters who was getting married (Anna). Another of the sisters, (Mary) was married to John O'Donnell. These are my aunts. What a brilliant video, thank you.
Hi Gang, My family all grew up in the Gorbals (1920-1968) and then later moved to Caledonia Rd, not far away. My grandmothers name was Kathrine McGuire and she had 4 children who all grew up in the Gorbals. Hugh, Joe, Ella(my mother) and John. Does anyone recognise these names? I believe they lived at Crown and Ballater st.
