Larry left the accountancy firm of Phelan and Prescott to enter the family grocery firm at Monaghan Street. But in 1974 the premises were badly damaged in an IRA bomb-attack, and never re-opened. Starting a meat-processing industry at the Carnbane industrial estate, he established the Mourne Country plant at the Greenbank estate. PR work was in the hands of ex-International goalkeeper, Pat Jennings.

As a student at St Colman�s College, he had captained the side which won the Mac Rory Cup. Also in the squad were future MP for South Armagh, barrister and author, Paddy O�Hanlon, as well as Ray Morgan, who coached Violet Hill teams which won Mac Rory and Hogan Cups. Larry Powell was selected for the Down senior squad in 1964. And in the 1968 All-Ireland Final, he came on in place of the injured captain, Joe Lennon, hanging up his boots two years later.

Meanwhile, a famous prot�g� of Don Patterson was Ronan Rafferty, a native of Monaghan Street. Son of chemist Des Rafferty, Ronan was the youngest-ever winner of the British Boys Championship, won the Irish Close Championship at 17; played on the Walker Cup team; later in the Ryder Cup squad; top of the European Order of Merit, and captain of the Irish International team.

Another well-known sportsman, based in Monaghan Street, has been estate agent Ross Carr of Clonduff, a member of the Down squad, which brought the Sam Maguire Cup back to the Mournes, after an absence of 23 years.

Corpus Christi Processions, Civil Rights Marches, Civic Week, Pioneer and even Orange parades have passed along this route, sometimes to Edward Street railway station. But this bustling centre of commerce did not escape political violence over the years.

The Savoy Cinema was bombed for showing a film of Queen�s Elizabeth�s coronation, - and 50 years later it was the scene of rioting, during a Civil Rights March. The British Legion Hall was bombed in the 7O�s, while two young men were killed, when a bomb exploded prematurely at a local public house. Local businesses often suffered from car-bombs and incendiary devices.

A bomb, left on the balcony of the Savoy Cinema in 1952, failed to detonate, so the person responsible returned and re-set device. The son of local baker, Eddie McAlinden, was shot dead by British soldiers at Ballyholland. Martin, a journalist with the Frontier Sentinel, and Official IRA volunteer, was killed along with Oliver Rowntree, near a cache of gelignite.

Most dramatic and significant event to take place in Monaghan Street was Newry�s first Civil Rights March, held on March 11, 1969. Organised by People�s Democracy, the parade was scheduled to proceed to the town centre via Merchants Quay, Sugar Island and Hill Street.

However, Major Bunting declared that �the loyal people of Ulster will hold their biggest-ever protest� in the frontier town; and the UVF stated that �we will not permit any band of rebels and anarchists to parade in Protestant areas.� The RUC banned the parade from the controversial section, while the Stormont Cabinet decided that the march should not pass through the 'unionist sector.'

When the demonstrators, headed by Civil Rights leaders and politicians, including Unionist councillor Aubrey Wylie, reached the Savoy Cinema, they found their path blocked by police tenders, fronted by the RUC Riot Squad. The crowd was addressed by John Hume, Michael Farrell and Turlough O�Donnell (later Lord Justice), appealing for an alternative route to be taken. This was rejected, and there were calls for a sit-down protest.

But scuffles broke out with the police, who retreated towards their barracks, abandoning a row of tenders. These were either set on fire or pushed into the nearby canal. I was on top of one vehicle, in order to get the best photographs, felt it moving, and hopped off just in time! Extensive destruction of property was later caused throughout the town. Shocked by the violence, the organisers held a meeting in the Town Hall, where a more responsible committee was elected, under the title of Newry and district Civil Rights Association. As John McCaul commented in Cuisle na Gael: �Under the direction of Michael Farrell, Cyril Toman, Niall Vallely and associates, Peoples Democracy was overtly embracing Marxist ideology. Tommy Keane and company knew that the organisation would only lose the support of Catholics, and further alienate the Protestant community, if they kept the name of Newry PD.�

Meanwhile, a major development in Monaghan Street was the demolition of Bells Row, a group of little houses behind McGovern�s wholesale grocery premises, which took place in the early 50�s. They were along the lines of Nicholson�s Court, Collins Row, Orchard Gardens and the old Monaghan Row. The cul-de-sac consisted of two-storey houses, a room and kitchen downstairs, and a large room upstairs.

But a report spoke of �serious flooding, rats and colonies of mice, cockroaches and other vermin infesting every home. Rodents came out of holes in the ground, the walls and ceiling, attacking a nurse, tending an expectant mother. No one will ever know to what extent places such as this were responsible for various forms of sickness all over the town; or how many of those unfortunate people went to an early grave, because of the houses they were compelled to live in,� according to report.

Mrs Annie Trainor and her husband Frank were the last to leave the Row, after a period of 40 years, having been allocated a house at Linenhall Square. She recalled when it was �as good a street as there was in the town then. We had the best of neighbours, Johnney McAteer and his wife, Ned Nixon, Kate O�Hanlon, Mr and Mrs Robinson and Jimmy McAteer.

�But, during the flooding, the furniture and dishes would go cruising down the river. And I�ll never forget the curfew. If you were caught out of doors after hours, the Tans could bump you off. But we had the good times, as well as the bad, and now we are scattered all over the town. Maybe it�s for the best.� And all this was just a stones-throw from that bustling centre of commerce!

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