The Murphy's

"Mrs Murphy and Jack"

The kids from far and wide used to wait eagerly for "Mrs Murphy and Jack" to wander down the hill to spend summer in their little home in Ballyknock. They normally lived in Palestine St, Belfast - near Queens University. They must have caught a train out from Belfast and walked the couple of miles down to Ballyknock with crammed suitcases in hand.

In their younger years they had both been tailors by profession but Jack's failing eyesight had made that a distant memory. Mrs Murphy (she was never addressed by her first name) was always willing to do a little bit of sewing as a favour for friends - she never charged.

In Ballyknock, they had a beutiful little thatched cottage just up the hill from the McKeowns (later Montagues). Jack had lived there as a boy and his father (also Jack) ran the small farm.

Keeping the thatch intact was always Jack's main job when he came up to Ballyknock. Even though he was almost blind, he was a master at his craft. The roof always looked impeccable.