Drummuck Camp, Broughshane, Co. Antrim

Drummuck was Camp 9 of the 16 established sites for Gibraltar evacuees who came to live in Northern Ireland during the summer of 1944.

Drummuck (Camp 9)

Buckna Road

Broughshane

Co. Antrim

Northern Ireland

Thousand of evacuees from Gibraltar arrived in Northern Ireland in July 1944. Military action in their homeland had forced them to leave for the United Kingdom. Luftwaffe attacks on London saw several thousand of them cross the Irish Sea.

Drummuck (Camp 9) stood on the Buckna Road, Broughshane, Co. Antrim. The camp consisted of a series of large Nissen huts used as a kitchen, a school, and a community centre. Each family lived in a smaller Nissen hut on the site.

Residents at Drummuck

Some of the evacuees from Gibraltar who lived in the Drummuck Camp, Broughshane, Co. Antrim. If you have any further information on these people, please let us know.

Entertainment at The Braid

On 8th December 1944, the Ballymena Weekly Telegraph reported on a concert staged at Drummuck. The organising committee consisted of Mrs. P Villa, Mr. J Lenia, Mr. M Bensusan, and Mr. D Monteverde. The pianist was Mr. S Bugga.

  • The cast performed an operetta ‘La Dolorosa’.
    • Cast:
    • Nicasia – Miss M Bejerano.
    • Perico – F Rocca.
    • Rafael – W Vinet.
    • Padre – W Mascarenhas.
    • Padre – P Gole.
    • Jose – Mr. Francisco Spiteri.
    • Bienvenido – Mr. Moses Bensusan.
    • Juanico – Mrs. Victoria Monteverde.
  • Mrs. A Martinez sang ‘Silver’.
  • Mrs. P Villa sang ‘Mi Mare’.
  • Miss Hortencia Casey and W Mascarenhas sang ‘Tatuaje’.
  • Miss Rosa Pons performed a rumba.
  • Miss C Viagas performed a pasodoble.
  • Mrs. Martinez and chorus sang ‘Mario De La O’.
  • Miss A Bejerano and chorus sang ‘Talaverano’.
  • M Macias sang ‘Ranchera’.
  • Mrs. Martinez and A Ferro performed ‘Wus Comico’.
  • Mrs. Villa sang ‘Salome’.
  • Mrs. L Spiteri sang ‘Malavena’.
  • Miss A Bejerano and W Vinet sang ‘Oigami’.
  • Mrs. Martinez and W Vinet and chorus sang ‘Morena’.
  • Miss Hortencia Casey sang ‘Manojo De Claveles’.
  • Miss Herminia Lucas sang ‘That’s The Moon’.
  • Miss Viagas and W Mascarenhas sang ‘Los Claveles’.
  • Mrs. Villa recited a poem.
  • The cast sang ‘Agua del Mediterraneo’ and ‘God Save The King’.

Ministry in the Camp

Chaplain to the Broughshane evacuee camps was Father Dominic McHugh. Early on a Sunday morning, he said Mass in the Dunaird Camp. People from Drummuck would also attend this service. The people of Breckagh Bridge would attend a later Mass service at Aughacully.

Father McHugh attended the spiritual needs of all the Gibraltar evacuees in Co. Antrim as well as performing funerals and weddings.

The 50th anniversary of the official withdrawal and return to Gibraltar was in July 1998. Ballymena Borough Council marked the occasion by erecting a plaque at the former Drummuck Camp.

BESbswy