The Northern Bank Company.

The Northern and National Irish Banks in County Roscommon 1870 to 2010.
by Jim McCorry.

The main reason for the Northern Bank opening branches in the rural areas of what is now both the North and South of Ireland was mainly to collect deposit funds to finance the expanding linen, ship building and heavy industrial trades which were rapidly developing in Belfast and the large towns in Ulster. The aim was, in the main, not to finance local farming activities, although naturally enough this did happen in a number of cases.

Strokestown branch of the Northern Bank was opened in 1870. In 1911 the branch was under the managership of Albert Victor Brown, a native of Co. Dublin. By 1924 it was being managed by Mr T. J. Blair as Mr .A V. Brown had been transferred as manager of the new branch in Boyle, which had opened in 1918.

In 1908 a branch, long since closed, was opened in Elphin under the control of Michael Sandys, a native of Boyle, Co. Roscommon. Michael’s brother Richard was also a bank official. By 1924 Elphin was being managed by Mr H. J. Farrell.

The outbreak of the First World War was to have a major affect on the staff of the Northern Bank. Ninety-nine officials or 25% of the entire staff volunteered for war service in the years 1914 to 1918, of which fifteen failed to return. As most of the Bank’s branches were in what is now Northern Ireland it would be safe to presume that the vast majority of the volunteers would have been members of the 36th (Ulster) Division, but names like Patrick J. O’Reilly from Monaghan and Joseph A. McSweeney from Dungloe also appear amongst the volunteers.

Amongst those who volunteered at the start of the war was a twenty six year old official of Strokestown branch, David Henry Revels, a native of Jerrettspass, Co. Armagh. Revels took part in many of the major battles of the war including those on the Somme in 1916 and Ypres in 1917. He was wounded, later gassed and still later suffered a serious injury, however he survived the war and was discharged in July 1919 and returned to work in the Bank.

During the War of Independence the branch in Strokestown was robbed. At that time, and in fact up until the end of 1965, each branch, as a security measure, had been supplied with a revolver and six bullets. A young official by the name of Cusack, whose son was himself a Northern Bank official, pursued the robber, armed with the revolver. After a chase Cusack eventually caught up with the robber some distance from the town on the Tulsk Road. The robber gave himself up without a fight and it transpired that he was a member of the Black and Tans who had been temporarily stationed in Strokestown Park House.

Elphin branch closed many years ago, Strokestown branch closed in 2003 and Boyle is due to close before the end of 2010 thus bringing to a close over one hundred and forty years of Northern Bank history in Co. Roscommon.

Important Dates for the Northern / National Irish Bank

1809 - Establishment of private Northern Bank
1824 - Conversion into Northern Banking Company
1835 - Opening of first nine branches
1852 - New Head Office, Victoria Square, Belfast
1915 - First lady officials appointed (1st March Miss May Elizabeth Hall)
1929 - Change of name to Northern Bank Limited
1965 - Acquisition by Midland Bank
1970 - Merger with Belfast Banking Company
1976 - New Head Office in Donegall (sic) Square West, Belfast
1986 - Establishment of Northern Bank (Ireland) Ltd later National Irish Bank (N.I.B.)
1987 - Ownership transferred to National Australia Bank
2005 - Ownership transferred to Danske Bank, Denmark.

Sources: Northern Banking Co. Ltd Belfast Centenary Volume 1824 to 1924. 175 Years of the Northern Bank by Noel Simpson. 1911 Census of Ireland
 

Cheques from "Northern Bank Limited" Strokestown Branch (1948) (left) and (1938) (right).

Thanks to Jim McCorry for this information.

We would welcome more material relating to the Northern Bank. If you have some please contact us.

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