Description

Jack McKinney retired in 2003 following four decades as an assistant and principal teacher in primary schools in
East Antrim. While working in Ballyclare he developed an interest
in the local history and culture of the town. This led him to compile
a series of accounts of Ballyclare’s history – notably its markets
and fairs, elementary education and the town’s celebrated papermaking
industry.
In 1980 he founded the Ballyclare and District Historical
Society and in 1993 was a founder member of the Ulster-Scots
Language Society acting as the first editor of Ullans, the society’s
magazine.
This book draws on Jack McKinney’s interest in local cultural heritage and his feeling for the lore and language
of rural communities as expressed in the colourful speech and anecdotes of the eccentric characters he regularly
encountered in Ballyearl and Mossley.
The stories of the time he spent as a pupil in Mossley Primary School and a teacher in Abbots Cross and Ballyclare
Primary Schools contain lively descriptions of unusual events and eccentric behaviour by pupils and staff.
There is also much to learn and enjoy from contrasting pupils’ experiences and the conditions in schools in the 1950s
and 1960s with what is normal in today’s technological age.
This book, unashamedly nostalgic, will be enjoyed by all readers as an authentic but
light-hearted picture of the life of an ordinary teacher toiling at the chalk face.