Can you help David?

A WATERSIDE man researching his family history has appealed for help in trying to solve some gaping holes in his family story.

David McNulty is keen to hear from anyone who may be able to shed light on the life of his grandfather, John McNulty, who was one of those pictured in The Sentinel’s feature on Page 21 on October 19, when we appealed for help in identifying the Ulster Volunteers pictured in an old photograph taken in or around 1915.

John McNulty is pictured fourth from the left in the back row, and David does not think his grandfather was anything other than a Private, but he has not been able to do very much research on his grandfather. Oddly, he, too, has a copy of the very same photograph, which was rescued from the family house in The Fountain many years ago.

“The family history runs that John was born to a large family on the Foyle Road and that he was born into poverty and I understand he was brought up by a family in The Fountain called Scott. I did not meet any members of the McNulty family until early in the 1990s.

“What I do know is that the family house in The Fountain has been empty for a while, and my father, Robert, and I went over to see what we could save, and we found some personal items there. My father’s sisters Maggie, Hessie and Cissy all had TB and died, so I cannot ask the older generation for help,” he said.

As part of his research David has been to the Somme Heritage Centre, but he realises that many of the stories he has been told are lost to time as he did not commit them to paper as a younger man. As a result he has snippets of remembered conversations with people that clash in places with other family members’ stories.

David is keen to find out more about his grandfather’s original family, the McNultys as well as the Scott family, and he would like to hear from anyone who remembers or had relatives who remembered the City Gramaphone Stores at 65 Fountain Street in Londonderry, which was owned or run by his grandfather. He also knows his grandfather was a member of the City of Temperence LOL1007.

“My grandfather died in 1945, so I never knew him, and a lot of my father’s contemporaries have passed away so I cannot ask them either. I know my father served during World War 2 having enlisted with the Inniskilling Fusiliers in Enniskillen and that he lied about his age to join, while my grandfather joined the Ulster Volunteers and served at home, and while I have his certificate of enlistment, I think it would be great to know more,” he said.

Anyone who can help David is asked to contact the Londonderry Sentinel on 028 7134 1175 or email [email protected], and their contact details will be passed on.