Portrush Tales

Dana - Rosemary Brown - continues her stories of Portrush and of her older sisters Susan and Eileen, and of family and lifelong friendships, and how those days helped to shape her experience.

Rosemary Brown - who became known as Dana - tells us more about her summers at Portrush, working at Minihan's shop, performing at the Portrush Palladium, and of family and lifelong friends from Portrush days. 

Rosemary Brown - who became Dana, who became Ireland's first Eurovision Song Contest winner, in 1970 - and her sisters and brothers came to Portrush every year to visit their aunt, Mary Minihan, who had the shop near the harbour. Like an episode of 'The Derry Girls', Rosemary describes their arrival at Portrush, seeing Barry's, the beach, the harbour, the shop, ........  and tells of her singing performances at Fawcett's Hotel and then at the Palladium.
I begin by asking her if she prefers to be known as Dana or as Rosemary.

The Brown family - such a range of musical talent! And Susan goes on to tell of 'The Big Nights' at Derry, where everyone was expected to do their piece, their performance.

Susan tells of some of her life at Portrush, the fun they had, and being with the Minhan's and friends, and remembers her Uncle John Minihan.

Susan says that Portrush was the formative years of The Brown Sisters, her and Rosemary who we know now as Dana, as they performed at Fawcett's and then the breakthrough of a whole summer season at the Portrush Palladium in 1964, through to being offered a 5-year contract with Decca.
In this podcast, Susan recounts those years, in the early 1960s.

Crewmen from the Norwegian vessel Bergen are swept overboard, in truly horrendous seas. They are believed to be in a lift raft. The crew of the Portrush lifeboat are called together, to consider launching.
It is November 1965. Robert McMullan, winchman, remembers the launch.
Over 50 years on, he is moved to tears as he remembers the heroism of that crew.

Up the stairs, to years P5 to P7, with stories and memories.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://portrushstories.wordpress.com/2021/07/23/primary-school-iii/

Stories of the early years of primary school in Portrush, P1 to P4.
This episode is also available as a blog post: https://portrushstories.wordpress.com/2021/07/20/primary-school-ii/

This is the first episode of several on Portrush schools, looking back to their origins in the 1820s, with history and your stories.
It is also available as a blog post: https://portrushstories.wordpress.com/2021/08/08/portrush-schools-i/