White Row Press was set up in 1987. Our first title was Peter Carr's The Most Unpretending of Places: A history of Dundonald, County Down.
Two further Dundonald-related titles followed, a paperback edition (the first) of Agnes Romilly White's classic country comedy, Gape Row, set in Dundonald on the eve of the First World War, and its sequel, Mrs Murphy buries the Hatchet.
White Row Press was set up in 1987. Our first title was Peter Carr's The Most Unpretending of Places: A history of Dundonald, County Down.
Two further Dundonald-related titles followed, a paperback edition (the first) of Agnes Romilly White's classic country comedy, Gape Row, set in Dundonald on the eve of the First World War, and its sequel, Mrs Murphy buries the Hatchet.
Dundonald 1625
Battered and sellotaped. This original 1934 copy of Gape Row was mother to the 1988 edition
These were not just produced to bring quality, local historical fiction to a new audience. They were also attempts to help strengthen Dundonald's sense of its own identity at a time when the 1987 Belfast Urban Area Plan threatened to swamp the area with new housing, transforming its character and submerging it within Belfast.
White Row Press then, as well as being a lot of fun, was an act of resistance, an attempt at a cultural level to assert Dundonald's individuality and specialness in the face of what turned out to be impossible odds.
These were not just produced to bring quality, local historical fiction to a new audience. They were also attempts to help strengthen Dundonald's sense of its own identity at a time when the 1987 Belfast Urban Area Plan threatened to swamp the area with new housing, transforming its character and submerging it within Belfast.
White Row Press then, as well as being a lot of fun, was an act of resistance, an attempt at a cultural level to assert Dundonald's individuality and specialness in the face of what turned out to be impossible odds.
These publications caught the eye of local author Peggy Donaldson, whose Yes Matron, a history of nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast became our next book - a book that set down a marker as the contribution of nurses, in print at least, was usually overlooked.
After this, confidence high, we tried our hand at the broad range of Northern Irish and general Irish-interest titles that you'll see all on the site.
These publications caught the eye of local author Peggy Donaldson, whose Yes Matron, a history of nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast became our next book - a book that set down a marker as the contribution of nurses, in print at least, was usually overlooked.
After this, confidence high, we tried our hand at the broad range of Northern Irish and general Irish-interest titles that you'll see all on the site.
Qualifying nurses getting Queen Victoria's blessing
"So realistic as to actually transfer to today's reader the mounting terror felt by the people of the time.
County Louth Archaeological Journal
"So realistic as to actually transfer to today's reader the mounting terror felt by the people of the time.
County Louth Archaeological Journal
'The subtitle of this book is "The extraordinary story of the Great Frost & forgotten famine of 1740-41" and for once the adjectives are fully justifed. For the story... is truly extraordinary"
David Hanly, Sunday Tribune
'The subtitle of this book is "The extraordinary story of the Great Frost & forgotten famine of 1740-41" and for once the adjectives are fully justifed. For the story... is truly extraordinary"
David Hanly, Sunday Tribune
"Explains what can be a complex and confusing subject in clear language... well worth reading."
Ulster Tatler
"Explains what can be a complex and confusing subject in clear language... well worth reading."
Ulster Tatler
'Beautifully illustrated... an essential book for anyone interested in the history of Newtownards'
Ulster Archaeological Society News Letter
'Beautifully illustrated... an essential book for anyone interested in the history of Newtownards'
Ulster Archaeological Society News Letter
"Allen, a long-established and highly respected leader in the field of local studies for well-nigh thirty years... neatly combines narrative with authority... to produce a very attractive and readable local history."
Familia
"Allen, a long-established and highly respected leader in the field of local studies for well-nigh thirty years... neatly combines narrative with authority... to produce a very attractive and readable local history."
Familia
"Why didn't you scream, why didn't you leave? All the old judgemental questions. This wonderful anthology frees the trapped voices of women who have the answers, written on their body and in their being."
Susan McKay
"Why didn't you scream, why didn't you leave? All the old judgemental questions. This wonderful anthology frees the trapped voices of women who have the answers, written on their body and in their being."
Susan McKay