Between - Doughcloyne , Togher

Phillipine House 1970s later Between

Criostoir De Baroid R.I.P.

Northern Children's Holidays was an organisation set up in the early 1970s by  Criostóir De Baróid which enticed people in Togher and Ballyphehane to open their doors and take children from Belfast for short periods during the initial stages of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Eventually the old S.M.A. house on Sarsfield Road became a central venue in the late 1970s before switching for a short while to the S.M.A. Centre in Wilton from 1981 before the S.M.A. Society offered Between the Philippine House in Doughcloyne , Togher circa 1982/83 for a 30 year lease with an annual rent of just £1. The House at the time was a derelict farm house with outhouses to the rear. It was at this time that the organization changed its name to Between to highlight its efforts in reconciling the different communities in Northern Ireland. Criostóir was instrumental too in connecting the Irish Governments Foreign Affairs department with Loyalist paramilitaries at the very early stages of the peace talks. He is extremely respected by the Republicans also.

S.M.A. house , Doughcloyne , Togher
now Cork ARC Cancer Support Centre

S.M.A. Centre , Wilton

View of old Philippine House with extension
Between 1982 - 2001

Between signage on roof of canteen/recreation room

View of gardens

Togher Historical Association made contact with some of the staff and volunteers from Between who recalled their time with the organization as shown below.

Ernest Curtis - Volunteer bus driver

Ernest Curtis Staff : " I was a volunteer bus driver but my entire family was involved in all aspects of Between. We famously buried two cars in the old playground which resulted in a couple of mounds becoming small hills for the kids to climb up on! "

Tanya Dineen ( Ernest's daughter ) - Volunteer babysitter

Tanya Dineen Volunteer : " I was going to between since I was about 9/10 so since 90' 91' till close. As I got a bit older I helped with the babysitting on the adult nights out and did anything that was needed regarding cleaning , getting things set up for the day or simply playing and entertaining the kids that were there for the week. "

Staff photo and visiting U.S. support group
Kindly supplied by Tanya Dineen

Paddy O'Reilly Staff : " I was employed as the gardener. The old orchard was completely cleared out and we installed a basketball court , swings and a pond. We put a large plastic owl on the top of the old stone wall to scare off birds from the pond. I relayed the grounds in front of the house and put in walkways , seating and raised flower beds. "

Paddy O'Reilly gardener

Owl on orchard wall/playground

Local Togher children playing in Between

Billy O'Brien Togher Historical Association
Old Orchard/Playround
16th April 2015

Between put huge investment into the renovating of the house and outbuildings to house, feed and entertain Republican and Loyalist prisoners families who would visit on a rotational schedule , ( with one week given over to Nationalists and the following week given over to the Loyalists and so on ) , teenage groups , travelers groups and old age pensioners from across the six counties during the height of the conflict and the early part of the peace process. The house and surrounds and gardens were developed and maintained by Paddy O’ Reilly and others employed under the first Community Employment Scheme. Over the lifetime of the Between organization they operated the house as a respite centre during the summer months for the families through the hard work of many volunteers across those years right up to 1997/8. Many great friendships were made and maintained. Between was also instrumental in building bridges between Loyalist and Republican communities at a time when the peace process hadn’t even started. The operation was wound down circa 2001/2 following the implementation of the peace process. A great many thanks are due to all the volunteers and staff who contributed so enormously to this fantastic project which operated in Togher for well over 25 years!

Volunteers from Cork at unveiling of Wall Mural

20th September 2014

Over the 25 years period more than 12,000 plus people were hosted by Between and the group was honored in West Belfast when the people of the area from the Republican/Nationalist/Catholic community invited many of the volunteers up to unveil a massive gable end wall mural dedicated purely to the people of Cork with the Between House/Philippine House and Bus painted in the mural. A Facebook page " Memories of Between " was actually set up by people from the Unionist/Loyalist/Protestant Community in recent years.

Gable end of house showing Mural

Criostóir and Isobel

**The bus driver shown in the mural above is Sean Canny R.I.P. and his family was invited up to the unveiling as were all volunteers and they were taken aback. It was a fantastic event. There was an exhibition of old photos at the local GAA club. People from the loyalist areas were invited and came over as well. Criostóir and Isobel two founding members alongside two community workers from the area are also in the lower part of the mural ( see above ).

Criostóir de Baróid ( behind woman in scarf ) 1970s
Visitors from Northern Ireland
Man on left was known as " Elvis "

Early 2002 the House and lands were handed over to the Fellowship , a group dedicated to helping people dealing with addiction. It continues to do this work to date. Sadly as part of their ongoing renovations , the old Phillipine House and Orchard/Playground were demolished in 2017 to make way for new builds. The blog was on site to record the event here.

Eamonn Pearse R.I.P.
Kathleen O'Keeffe 2017
Togher Historical association
Demolition of house

Complete interior old playground cleared
in addition to front orchard wall 2017

 

 Acknowledgements:

Paddy O'Reilly
Ernest Curtis
Tanya Dineen
Kieran O'Connell
Several images/wording used are copyright of respective owners