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Confirmed Bachelor: The Gay Diaries of David Strain

Down County Museum, Downpatrick, English Street, Downpatrick, County Down, BT30 6AH
David Strain sitting

About

When the linen merchant David Strain died in the late 1960s, his diaries – covering 1920-1943 and 1962-1969 and containing about two million words – were deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Almost entirely unknown until recently, they are perhaps one of the richest sources we have for how gay men lived beyond the major metropolises such as London, New York, and Berlin.

In this illustrated lecture, Dr Tom Hulme tells David Strain's story: how he discovered his sexuality, searched for love, and ultimately forged a circle of gay friends - both in Belfast and his beloved Oughley Hut in Co. Down.


Tom Hulme is a Reader in Modern British History at Queen's University Belfast and author of Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life before Gay Liberation (Cornell University Press, forthcoming 2026).

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What's Nearby

  1. Down County Museum is located in the old county Gaol of Down. It houses fascinating…

    0 miles away
  2. The Saint Patrick Centre is the only permanent exhibition in the World about Ireland’s…

    0.07 miles away
  3. Down Cathedral, a Cathedral of the Church of Ireland with magnificent stain glass…

    0.11 miles away
  1. Located in the heart of Downpatrick, Down Arts Centre is the operational base for the…

    0.16 miles away
  2. Travel back to the past with real vintage steam trains through St. Patrick's Country,…

    0.24 miles away
  3. Built 1954 to the designs of S. McIlveen of Ferguson and McIlveen, Belfast. This is a…

    0.29 miles away
  4. The foundation stone of this church was laid by Bishop Dorrian in 1886.

    0.36 miles away
  5. Located on the north bank of the Quoile River, Inch Abbey was founded by John de Courcy…

    0.69 miles away
  6. Mourne Gullion Strangford Geopark is a UNESCO Global Geopark and recognised Area of…

    0.9 miles away
  7. The Strangford Lough and Lecale AONB boasts stunning landscapes and includes one of the…

    0.9 miles away
  8. The Reserve provides a relaxing natural retreat and offers visitors tranquil riverside…

    1.66 miles away
  9. Struell Wells was built around a stream flowing through a secluded valley. It was a…

    1.72 miles away
  10. Two miles outside Downpatrick is the replica of St Patrick's first church in Ireland.…

    1.92 miles away
  11. Castlescreen Farm is a working family run farm with many faces.

    Come and join us for one…

    3.21 miles away
  12. Situated 8.8km south east of Ballynahinch, on the north east shore of Loughinisland Lake,…

    3.51 miles away
  13. Restored ruins of a sixth century church of St. Tassach, said to have given the last…

    4.06 miles away
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