Month: June 2016

Wednesday, 8 June 2016: Annual Outing: Lisadell House

In keeping with tradition the last meeting before the summer recess was the Annual Club Outing. This year it was a coach trip to the West of Ireland on Wednesday 8 June enjoyed by some 45 members with wives and members of Ladies Probus. The first stop was Parke’s Castle on the shores of Lough Gill for a cruise to the Lake Isle of Innisfree. On a beautiful morning, members enjoyed coffee and scones in the passenger lounge with its panoramic windows, while the guide recited some of Yeats best loved poems, including “Stolen Child” and, of course, “Isle of Innisfree”. The party then moved on to Lissadell for a conducted tour of the house, with opportunities to visit the gardens and view an exhibition celebrating the life Constance Markevicz. All too soon it was time to get back on the coach for the short drive to Davis’ Restaurant or Yeats Tavern for a convivial evening meal. Back in Omagh members expressed their appreciation to Probus President, Paul Gallagher, for arranging the outing and to Club Secretary, Gerry McConigle, for his part in organising such a memorable day out.

Wednesday, 1 June 2016: Derick Rainey: Campsie Post Office

On 23 April 2015 Derick and Pat Rainey retired and Campsie Post Office closed after some 63 years of continuous service to the public. It was opened in 1952 by Miss Matilda [Tilly] Hamilton who married Thomas MacLaine in 1953. Together they ran the Post Office from the front room of their home in Campsie Road until 1985 when it passed on to Thomas [Tommy]McIntosh. The business was taken over in 1990 by Hubert and Jean Hamill and acquired by the Raineys in 2001. Derick admitted that he had no previous experience of managing a Post Office but found that his background in financial services stood him in good stead. Over the next four years he and Pat worked hard and in 2005 won the “Best Post Office in Northern Ireland” Award: in 2006 they were runners-up in the UK nationwide competition. In the decade which followed Derick and Pat expanded the business, moving into Banking Services, Motor Taxation, Greeting cards, toys and Stationery, First Day Covers and souvenir coin sets issued by the Royal Mint. Their success earned Mrs Rainey a portrait on the front cover of “SUB-POSTMASTER”, the trade paper of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters. In retirement Derick joined Probus and enlivened his to talk to fellow members with amusing anecdotes of customer requests and a short history of the Post Office since its foundation in the reign of King Henry VIII.