Arrival ... Agnes Milliken

I have lived in Donegall Pass for 35 years.  I moved here when I got Married.  I remember when I first moved here I didn’t find amyone friendly at all, compared to what I was used to in East Belfast.

We moved here during the ‘Troubles’. I remember the riots on the Newtownards Road and the soldiers taking over the Chapel in Short Strand. Even though the Troubles were quite bad, to me religion wasn’t important.  I had catholic friends and they were just the same as me.

When I moved to the Pass I moved to the opposite side to where I live now, that was were my husband came from. The people on the other side were a bit friendlier and, through time, I realised that I knew some of the people through my own connections.

There wasn’t much difference in the houses; the house we bought may have been a bit bigger than the one I came from.

I met Frank in Gallagher’s where we both worked and I moved here after I got married. For my wedding to Frank, I wore a pink and navy suit and, at the wedding, there were only a few family and close friends. We couldn’t afford much more as we were trying to save to buy a house.  Usually, when people got married they moved to the place the wife came from, so this was very unusual - that I moved to where Frank was from.

I didn’t feel accepted when I first moved here, it was not until I had my first child, Cathy, and people started to ask questions when I was walking past in the street. I was known as ‘Cathy’s mum’.