The Commons

You have arrived at The Commons blog – a place to share the journey

  • There’s a donkey in the room

    Have you ever had the experience of being transported back in time as you sit in an old church and let your imagination run away with you? Your eyes take in the design that an architect, long gone now, dreamed about and brought into being. The shapes, the patterns, the variety of materials all carefully planned and chosen. You can smell the richness of aged wood and the mustiness of ancient fabrics. On your skin you can feel the coldness, trapped inside the stone walls and seeping out to reach you. Your ears are aware of the echo of sounds, travelling through the expanse of space, reaching up into vaulted ceilings.

    All these sensory experiences enable you to imagine the people who have walked through the doors of the building. To imagine the weddings, the christenings, the sermons, the hymns, the friendly chatter and the laughter of children. If you get a chance, I would encourage you to take a moment in the sanctuary of the old Ballynafeigh Methodist Church and let your senses be overtaken and your imagination awakened.

    Recently I had a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with two couples who have been a part of the story of Ballynafeigh Methodist Church for over 60 years. Ian and Anne Wood met as teenagers on the Ormeau Road and were married in Ballynafeigh where Anne was already part of the congregation. In May this year they will celebrate their Diamond Anniversary. Their daughters were christened in Ballynafeigh and were involved with Brownies and Girl Guides. They recall busy Sundays when there were 4 opportunities to attend church! Sunday school at 10.30am, 11.30am morning service, 3pm Sunday school again and then a service later in the evening when the ground floor and the balcony would be packed with people.

    Green Church was fondly remembered by Ian. The hall at the back of the building with its green walls – hence the name – would be filled with teenagers from near and far. A stage was constructed from pallets, lights were hung to create a fun atmosphere and guitarists shared their music with the crowd. The festivities went up a gear on New Year’s Eve when barn dances were part of the celebrations.

    Marian Blakley has memories of weekends spent with her Granny on Sunnyside Street. Ballynafeigh Methodist Church was just a dander up the main road and Marian, aged 13 would attend wearing a big hat with a feather in it. She and Chic were married in the church in 1978 and their children were also busily involved with Brownies, Guides and Boys Brigade.

    Marian emphasised the fondness that people held and still hold for the church at Ballynafeigh. Her aunt and uncle emigrated to America many years ago but always considered the Ballynafeigh church their spiritual home. When they passed away, their ashes were returned to Belfast and a service of blessing was held in the sanctuary.

    There is history and story in every part of the building and even its contents. The communion table and other church furniture were given in donation to the church and congregation. A plaque on the pulpit remembers Rev Charles Keys who died while preaching from the pulpit.

    And what about that donkey? Ian and Anne’s children, and now grandchildren too, were mesmerised by the shape of this long-eared creature, found in the grain of the wood in the back of one of the pews.

    So if you do take a few moments in the sanctuary to sit in silence and let your senses travel back in time, don’t leave until you’ve found the donkey in the room.

  • The Commons – a new name

    Names are important. They hold a lot of meaning. They are carefully chosen. Sometimes names get shortened. Sometimes they’re not quite spelt right. You probably like yours. But you might not. The Commons, as a new name for the building at 338 Ormeau Road, has been carefully chosen and holds a lot of meaning in the context of the purpose of the building .

    The Commons as a name, probably conjures up in each reader’s mind, a different picture with a lot of accompanying interesting stories. We’d love to hear them. When I was a teenager, our youth group often met on the local ‘common’ to play ball games and generally ‘hang out’. The memories of long summer evenings, laughter and camaraderie are happy ones. The pond on my local common had all kinds of water birds visiting and often the odd Sainsbury’s trolley too.

    Historically in Ireland, the commons were pieces of land that were shared by all the local people and used to graze livestock, celebrate festivals, hold sporting events such as archery and bowling, enact plays and of course, dispose of dung! Dublin had quite a few of these common lands just outside of the medieval city walls. You might recognise a few names – St Stephen’s Green, Abbey Green (which was connected to St Mary’s Abbey) and the Steine are among them. It seems that these existed from Viking times until the late 18th century.

    Our very own townland name, Ballynafeigh, where The Commons is located, translates to ‘town on the green’ which beautifully connects to this historical context. The Ballynafeigh Community Development Association describes Ballynafeigh as ‘one of the longest surviving shared neighbourhoods in Belfast’. (June 2023)

    Land law relating to these greens and commons, had its roots in the Brehon laws which date back to 1000 years BC. This ancient legal system of Ireland was handed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next until they were committed to paper by Irish judges, or Brehons in the 7th and 8th centuries. Under these laws the ownership of the commons was communal and not individual. These spaces were for everyone in the community, young and old to share and enjoy.

    So, The Commons, Ormeau Road is a space ‘on the green’, where everyone in our local community can find something to share and enjoy. The seeds of these things are sown already in community meal, community choir and seasonal celebrations. But imagine for a moment, as the wider community comes in to take a look and to share the space, that more seeds of communal living will be sown and take root until a plethora of events and activities bringing us all together, will take on a wonderful rhythm in our common space.

    Hopefully though, there won’t be too much disposal of dung!

Join 38 other subscribers