Counter Culture

A TOUR OF EAST ANTRIM.

By Doreen Corcoran.
Friar’s Bush Press, Belfast. 1990.
ISBN o 946872 38 4

A TOUR of East Antrim is a selection of historic photographs from the William Alfred Green (1870 – 1958) Collection in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. It illustrates life in the coastal towns of Larne, Whitehead, Carrickfergus, the town of Ballyclare and the then picturesque villages of Gleno, Glynn, Carnmoney, Ballynure and Ballycarry.

Green – from a middle class urban background – was destined for a career in the family tea business. Poor health forced him to find an occupation which would take him outdoors. He therefore became an apprentice assistant to RJ Welch, Ulster’s leading photographer of the day. In the early 1900s Green went into business himself and found himself drawn to observing country life and customs. However, only a few of the pictures featured in A Tour of East Antrim reflect this interest. This is because Green was a working photographer in a competitive business and he took many pictures that were to be later reproduced as postcards.

William Alfred Green took many black and white photographs of Whitehead, Carrick, Eden and Ballycarry. They all represent fascinating and evocative glimpses of a bygone era.

FOR FURTHER information about the famous photographer William Alfred Green, why not view this site: http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/wagreen.htm

– Reviewed by John Field.