Many thanks Elwyn. As always you provide a wealth of information which gives me a much clearer picture. I was particularly interested in the 1920s and 30s as all my relatives who would remember them have long gone. I have been reading something called ' the Irish borderlands Project' carried out by St Mary's University, London. It was interesting but from what I did hear from my family it didn't always fit with what I knew. So thankyou for explaining things so clearly for me.Regards MarionSent from my Galaxy -------- Original message --------From: Elwyn Soutter via CoTyroneList <[email protected]> Date: 28/06/2022 18:22 (GMT+00:00) To: marionshephard via CoTyroneList <[email protected]> Cc: Elwyn Soutter <[email protected]> Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: The border after 1921 Marion,I cannot speak for the Clady Bridge crossing but my family lived in Fermanagh and routinely crossed the border into Monaghan and elsewhere all through the 1920s & 1930s and beyond. People went back and forth after 1921, just as they did before. You would have had no difficulty attending church on the other side of the border, and I am not sure there was ever a regular Customs presence on Sundays anyway. There were Customs posts on the major “approved” crossing roads but these were generally only staffed from 8.00am to 6.00pm. There were Customs Officers on both sides of the border, so there was an Irish Customs control as well as a British one. Folk were always a little anxious that they’d have something seized, or would have to pay duty. (During WW2 my mother in law used to smuggle the odd half pound of butter from Monaghan to Fermanagh, usually concealed in her underwear. She would travel by bus and was always anxious about being challenged, but never was). As far as I am aware, provided you used an approved crossing point, there were no restrictions on vehicles or any other form of wheeled transport, unless you were importing a vehicle permanently or were carrying commercial goods. The usual excise duties would apply then. Passports weren’t required. There was no passport control, only Customs. Most of the time, after 6.00pm there was no-one on the border at all, and I don’t think there was much coverage on Sundays. Plus there were several hundred minor “unapproved” roads. There were no permanent controls on them. They were supposedly only to be used by vehicles requiring local access to land, eg farmers, and by persons on foot. In practice they were fairly widely used to cross the border by car. There were mobile Customs patrols that occasionally checked them but from what I heard they were few and far between. You could theoretically have your car seized if you used an unapproved crossing but you normally got it back if you paid a small penalty. Commercial carriers did pay some duty when bringing goods across the border (and they could often reclaim tax, if exporting) but otherwise there wasn’t really a vigorous control. Most people continued to cross fairly easily as they did before partition. Just you needed to allow a little time in case you were stopped. My feeling is that a horse drawn carriage in the 1920s would be unlikely to have faced any restrictions in crossing. (I have never heard of any). As international border crossings go it was always very “light touch.” There were no fences or any other markers along the border, save at the approved crossing points. The last Customs controls on the border were abolished on 1.1.1993. Elwyn On Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 17:33:09 BST, marionshephard via CoTyroneList <[email protected]> wrote: Hello allI am wondering if there is anyone who has some local knowledge about the border between Tyrone and Donegal at Clady. My family were split in two by the border in 1921, although the Donegal members seemed to have managed to continue attending their church in Tyrone ( Urney Presbyterian) and my father born in Tyrone seems to have known his mother's family home in Donegal. Their route across the border was via Clady Bridge over the river Finn. I have been reading about the establishment of customs posts and how it affected people living along the border. Does anyone know if clady Bridge was an approved crossing or not, and how easy was it to move between the two counties there? I know movement on foot was allowed and restrictions were introduced on motor vehicles but what about horse drawn carriages?I would be grateful for any information or thoughts that anyone has.Regards Marion Shephard Sent from my Galaxy=================================Send a Message to the List - [email protected] Archive - https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.comJoin the list by sending an email to - [email protected] receive the Digest version, send an email to - [email protected] by sending an email to - [email protected]=================================
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