Reflective talk on Christmas traditions in store at Ballinascreen Historical Society

On Tuesday, January 3, the speaker will be Roddy Hegarty with a presentation entitled “Cooking the Goose – The truth about Christmas Past”.

Roddy is a native of Strabane but now lives in Belfast and is currently Director of the Cardinal Tomas O’Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive in Armagh.

He is a former chairman of the Federation for Ulster Local Studies and he lectures widely on a large variety of historical topics and family history.

He is a trustee of the Ulster Local History Trust and serves on the Board of the Northern Ireland Museums Council.

Roddy will take a light hearted look at Christmas and the notion of “tradition”.

He will explore the idea of nostalgia and how we form patterns of tradition with a closer look at one of our most iconic seasonal festivals. He might explode a few myths or open us up to some novel ideas on how to mark the festive season.

The Society would like to wish all our members and friends a very happy new year and thank everyone for their continued support. At the January and February meetings there will still be an opportunity to support Air Ambulance NI.

Many thanks to those who supported the book fair in December and everyone is reminded that for every copy of the Society’s two most recent publications sold, £5 will be donated to the charity.

Everyone will be made most welcome at this meeting in the Community Hub, beside Draperstown Library, at 8pm. The usual refreshments will be served.