HAVING met at a dance in an Orange Hall at the start of the 1960s, Bangor couple John and Iris Neill are today celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.
As a young man, John Neill loved attending dances where the music was provided by the showbands of the day. On one occasion, he travelled from his home in the Shankill area in Belfast, to attend such a dance in an Orange Hall in Lisburn – little knowing he would meet the woman who was to become his life-time companion.
At that same dance was 15 year-old Iris Watson and her twin sister, June; they fell into company with John and a friend, and shared the train journey home to Belfast – only discovering then they actually came from the same part of the city, but had never crossed paths.
John and Iris became engaged on December 8, 1962 with John splashing out £99 for the ring.
On March 21, 1962, the couple married in St Luke’s church, Northumberland Street in Belfast. They lived in the city for the first 14 years of marriage, before moving to Bangor in 1976.
John and Iris went on to have two children, Martin and Karen, and are now grandparents to Jack, Rachel and Kade, and great-grandparents of Arlo.
Later today, they will be joined by the family to mark their 60th wedding anniversary – and to reminisce on their dancehall days.
