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| Historic Map of Mount Collyer ca 1830 |
Having been to see the Belfast film at Cineworld, my curiosity was aroused about that well-known actor, Sir Kenneth Branagh.
I've known about him since his acting role in the "Billy Plays" produced by BBC Northern Ireland and set in the late 1970s.
Certainly he had a convincing Belfast accent in those dramas, though Sir Kenneth actually lost his local accent within a few years of moving to Reading, Berkshire, from his home town of Belfast about 1970.
Kenneth Branagh sounds, to all intents and purposes, English. I wonder how easily he can revert to a Belfast accent?
At any rate, I was curious to find his roots in Belfast; so, with the assistance of Google maps and "sat-nav," I found the location of the Branagh home fairly easily.
They lived at 96 Mountcollyer Street until young Kenneth was about nine, when, because of civil unrest and a degree of intimidation, I think, his father decided to begin a new life away from Northern Ireland.
Mountcollyer Street runs from 32 Crosscollyer Street to Parkside Gardens; and, in 1974, there were 170 houses; John Brannagh [sic] lived in number 49; Henry Brannagh in 83.
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| Mount Collyer House ca 1889 (NMNI/WA Green) |
MOUNT COLLYER HOUSE appears to have been a Georgian dwelling of two storeys over a high basement, double-gabled.
Following several prominent clergymen including Dr William Hamilton Drummond, the textile manufacturer ANDREW MULHOLLAND, father of the first Baron Dunleath, resided at Mount Collyer till about 1846, when they moved to Springvale (Ballywalter Park) on the Ards Peninsula.
The Rev Dr James Saurin, Vicar of Belfast, died at Mount Collyer in 1772.
The Rowans seem to have been the last family to live there before the old house was demolished, and the grounds were developed for the Mountcollyer and Crosscollyer housing about 1882.
Mount Collyer features in DAB Dean's Plight of the Big House in Northern Ireland, as does Jennymount Castleton, the larger house to the north of Mount Collyer in the old map.
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| Mountcollyer Street, 2006, prior to Demolition (Chris Paton, Scotland) |
Was Mountcollyer Street hit by a bomb during the Blitz? I believe so, in 1941.
The only photograph I've seen appears to be of a post-second world war terrace.
Mountcollyer Street faces Alexandra Park, so the terrace seemed only to have been built on one side.
The northern park side has always had railings as far as I know.
Young Kenneth Branagh walked through the park to Grove primary school in the 1960s (the school closed in 2010).
It's on a gentle slope, and was probably a pleasant part of town to live in, being so close to the park and playgrounds.
Local residents insisted that it's not in "Tiger's Bay" area.
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| Approximate Location of 96 Mountcollyer Street (Timothy Ferres, 2022) |
I encountered three local residents, two of whom remembered the street before it was demolished.
They pointed out the approximate location of Number 96.
I imagine that new houses will eventually be built on the present wasteland.
First published in 2021.
1 comment :
The picture published here is of the very top of Mountcollyer St. These houses were replacements after a blitz bomb hit the houses. The houses further down the street were older with bay windows. We lived in No. 17 which had its back facing the park and another terrace across the street facing our houses.
Kenneth Brannagh's memories of the time are not very accurate. I was born in the street and lived there at the time he lived there, and it was definitely not part of Tigers Bay.
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