Apparently nobody interested in my Gambling at sea story, so how about Gambling on land. Obviously the ladies won't be interested in this but maybe some of the older male contributors like Dabbler and Barney will remember the Pitch and Toss and Puntoon schools down places like "Laverys Lane", "McCleans Lane" & "The Dummy's Lane" and of course "The Plots". I was only 13 or 14 when I used to frequent some of these on Sunday afternoon though I wasn't always allowed to particapate. Mauri

i think we were all born with a deck of cards in our hands

Lisnagarvey or Lisnagarvy (from Irish Lios na gCearrbhach, meaning "ringfort of the gamblers") is a townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Lisnagarvey is also the original name of Lisburn and remains the Irish name for Lisburn today.[2

Mauri & Barney,

The Fort Of the Gamblers was the right name for our town.

It was burned to the ground twice, once in 1707 by an accidental fire. Lord Conway's s Castle, built around 1636, shared the same fate as the houses. A portion of the walls remain in the castle gardens or did, but was deemed dangerous. I don't know if it was removed when the gardens & "Ryans" were renovated.

The first house built after that fire was a Mr. Ward's, next to the Market House,it had an inscription on it about the fire but where that still remains is another mystery.

The second fire was in 1920's when Swansea was shot coming out of the Cathedral. The shooting was in revenge for the killing of the Lord Mayor Of Cork, Terence Mc Swiney, who was shot one early morning at the top of the stairs in his own house, apparently on the orders of Swansea.

Catholic building were targeted after that, but unfortunately everyone suffered as the fires spread. The name of the town was then changed to Lisburn.

It was on the verge of the same thing happening just before we left, but enough said about that, the History books will tell the tale.

Pat ( Been there, seen it all)