Hi everyone..... firstly, let me thank you for taking an interest, in reading this appreciation of my father Brians' life...... BRIAN ANTHONY MULLAN was an extremely talented man, as well as a devoted husband, to my mother Sadie, and a loving, protective father, to his children, myself Paul, Big Joe, Margret, Donna and Jennifer, and all his adoring grandchildren...... We all miss him desperately.... Brian was born on 9th April 1940, at Ringsend, near Limavady, Co Derry.... to his father Dan, and mother Annie.... (Cam, Ringsend) He had two brothers, Danny and Charlie, Charlie sadly passed away suddenly,quite a few years ago, whilst building a house near Limavady, leaving his two children, Philip and Margaret, who still reside in the Limavady area. Daddy also had five sisters, Maureen, Peggy, Marie, Teresa, and Nan, who sadly passed away, a few years ago...... His passion and love for all things mechanical, was obvious from an early age, as by all accounts, he was always tinkering at engines, bicycles etc, and designing all manner of toys and items, to keep himself and his brothers and sisters amused... He told me about a Riley MPH car (1930's), which he and his brothers owned and worked on,at one stage, fitting it with a different engine, as the original one had given up..... the same car today, is worth a fortune..... He even managed to track down the cars owner recently, and got speaking to him,and had photos sent to him, in its restored condition... he loved that car... I have heard stories recounted of him, and Danny, on their motorbikes, years ago too, racing around the roads at Coleraine, Dungiven, Ringsend, Garvagh etc..... and he wasn't always the 'safe driver' he'd have us kids believe.... I heard that he'd taken both sides out of his shoes, trying to 'straightline' an 'S' bridge...... ejit !! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daddy always loved to have a good car, and thanks to his hard work, and the love and care of my mum, Sadie, he was always able to achieve that...... from MG Midgets to MGB's to Rover 2000's to BMW's Opel Manta's to Landrovers to RangeRovers, and all the classic cars that he restored or handbuilt over the last few years, his 1937 Falcon (1937 Ford Model C Special), 1972 Lotus Elan +2 S130 and his Bedford CF Motorhome (handbuilt by himself)...... pics of all these cars will be in the gallery eventually.... In his earlier years, dad worked in Chemstrans (Monsanto) in Coleraine, however in the evenings, he would be found working at home, fixing a relative or a friends car, inside if he had a garage, or outside in the yard, didnt seem to matter either way.... he was a hardy lad... Most of the people who knew dad, will have known him from around the time in the late 1960's, when he worked for a well known garage owner in Ballymoney, Owen Harrigan, also sadly has passed on... I can remember seeing daddy in Owens garage, I must only have been 5 or 6, working at old Anglias, Cortina's etc... he was in his element..... God bless him At around the start of the 1970's... StockCar racing came to Aghadowey, and of course, daddy had to be involved.... I remember him bringing home his first stock car..... me and Joe were full of excitement, and loved to watch daddy rebuild the car (all the cars at that time were built mostly the same shape, but Brian being Brian, had to have his built different to the rest....) I remember myself and Joe lying in bed, waiting on him coming home after his first race meeting, and he came in late that night, face beaming, because he had won on his first run out.... we were so proud of him, a pride that has increased with every passing day since... We had many an episode with his stockcars.... one day in particular, in the summertime, he had the stockcar out in the backyard in Robinson Avenue, Ballymoney, where we lived for a few years..... and he was going down the street to get a part for it. His last words before he left were "You two stay out of that car till I come back..." Of course, us being the wee angels that we still are.. I climbed into the stockcar, Joe closed the 5 point harness, and that was me..... tied there until daddy came back..... well caught... he could only laugh at our own stupidity, at getting stuck. His stockcar racing ended, when one of his fellow drivers was burned to death whilst racing.... daddy and a couple of other drivers stopped and tried to get him out, but couldnt get his belts off.... dad lost interest after that... His attentions then turned to boats after that.... his first was a plywood speedboat, that he bought from Ballymoney carsalesman Norman Reid,it was named 'Skippy'.... we had lots of runs out in the Bann in it, using the slipway at the rear of the 'Agivey Bacon Factory'. I recall daddy entering it in a Regatta down at Portballintrae, years ago, and during the race, a piece of driftwood, holed the rear of the hull, and dad had to bring her back in to the harbour, standing up on the rear part of his seat, to see over the nose of the boat, as it was almost vertical, because of the amount of water it was taking on. He repaired it, repainted it, and renamed it... DO,MA,JO,PA.... the first two letters of our first names..... Jennifer wasn't born at that stage, obviously. After a few months, he decided that the family was getting too big for Do,Ma,Jo,Pa.... so he bought a brand new 18' Norman offshore cabincruiser shell, and set about building the inside etc into it..... what a job he made of it too... I can almost still smell the fibreglass resin. We had loads of good times on that big boat too.... one, which wasn't so nice, but memorable none the less, was when he accidently pulled an eel net up along with the anchor..... the end of it fell into the back of the boat.... I can still remember the squeals of my mum and sisters, tramping over them to get into the cabin, and get the door shut...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It wasnt long after that that we all moved to the house which we still call home today..... daddy bought the RangeRover in 1977, drove it a couple of years, then decided to rebuild it...... from the chassis up, and convert it to diesel.... a long, arduous process, which would have seen him in the garage from 5am to possibly 2am, day in, and day out... While he was carrying out this restoration, he was driving a 1978 CF Bedford Van, which he had reshelled from a new shell, shotblasted axles etc etc etc, Recaro seats, rooflining, inside panelling etc, and was sitting like a new pin...... 'A team' material... (if you're old enough to remember them..). When the RangeRover was completed, the van was surplus to requirements... so what does Brian do...... CUTS IT IN TWO, SETS 8' INTO THE CENTRE, FITS A HIGHROOF, AND BUILDS HIMSELF A CUSTOM MOTORHOME.... He gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 'handy-man'..... Words cannot do justice to the quality of work that my dad misunderstooduced, and yes, I am biased, but I also know my stuff..... anyone who knew Brian, and saw his work, not only the quality of it, but the ingenuity that went into designing some of the items, would say that the man was gifted, uniquely talented, and above all, a true gentleman... Let me give you one example, of many, as to how fussy he was..... He hated a rattle in any of his cars etc, and as is the nature of a motorhome, you have to have crockery etc in the vehicle.... Dad had a 'tea set', cups, saucers etc, that he intended to use for the CF.... so he made a hingeing pull out shelf, 3 tier, with the shape of each cup, saucer, plate, salt and pepper shakers etc, cut into it, so as each item was held secure, and therefore wouldnt rattle....... When this was completed, sanded down (it was mahogany), and varnished, (almost 3 days work), daddy decided he didnt like the 'tea set' he was using, bought a different one, and started all over again... such was his pursuit of perfection. He moved after some years, from his employment with Owen Harrigan, (both remained strong friends), to an engineering firm in Ballymoney, run by George Watt, and Jimmy McKeegan, (Watt & McKeegan), where he honed his engineering skills, and I remember calling in on my way home from school one day, to see him grinding a crankshaft on a big orange machine with 'PRINCE' stamped on it..... I was fascinated to see 'my daddy' at his work..... Through time, Watt & McKeegan parted company, and dad then worked for a time to Jimmy McKeegan (McKeegan Engineering), just around the corner from Owen Harrigans garage... I remember visiting him there, and meeting good friends of his, Danny Morrison and Bertie McElfatrick (sorry if I got the spelling wrong Bertie)... It was around this time that I started to accompany daddy to the work he carried out after most people would have went home to rest.... I was 'employed' as his 'gofer'..... getting him spanners etc..... I loved it... could have given school a miss.. (and often did, just to be with him...) He worked a lot at lorries... heavy work, before all the airtools etc, that modern mechanics have access to today. He worked for such well known local contractors, as Barkley, Connelly, Bartlett, Jimmy Simpson, and a couple of others, who I'll not mention, as lets say, their payment schemes left a lot to be desired.. (you know who you are...) He also carried out work for another local businessman, well known for his Classic cars, Stock car racing, and huge cranes.... his longtime friend, Tommy Shaw, Ballymoney.... I actually called with Tommy, and his lovely wife Margaret recently, to thank him for attending daddies memorial service, as Tommy himself, is having some health problems...... If you're reading this Tommy, "take care, and all the best"... I know daddy would have told you himself, had he been capable... hope to see you again soon... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the last few years, daddy concentrated more on the Classic & Vintage side of things.... his first car, which he restored and attended shows with, was 'The Byford'.... (I'll not go into all the details), however, he was well known, and easily recognizable when out in it... not only for the car... John Watt, The Singing Farmer, who often stopped along the roads with dad in his various vehicles, even included an article on him, in one of his many videos, but he had a bit of a 'thing' for as my brother Joe put it... "weird facial hair".... his beards were, lets say, not conventional... but the neither was Brian. I helped him on some complete, and very extensive restorations, on such models as MK2 Jaguars, Mk1 Cortina's, Austin 7's, the list goes on.... the final straw, was a Mini Cooper, in which he modified a brand new mini shell, to an exact replica of a Mk1 Mini Cooper.... only to have his passion, work and skill, dashed, when the owner, a well known local businessman, having been trusted by my dad to take the car home..... refused to pay what he owed.... it being quite a substantial amount. All daddy said was "well, good luck to him.." You may wonder why I mentioned the last matter, but to me it was of vital importance, as daddy loved restoring old cars.... and through his experience with one 'rogue', all the other genuine enthusiasts, lost out on a first class restorer, as dad just lost all faith and interest... He continued doing his own thing, restoring his beautiful 'Falcon'.... based on a 1937 Ford Model C, which he designed and handbuilt in aluminium... The work, time and love he put into that car, is unimaginable, unless you were there to see it.... Its first run out, and it was only finished two days previous, was a tour around Ireland, in which dad and my sister Jennifer completed over 1200 miles, and the car never missed a beat... (am I surprised..... NO!) Ironically, this was to be the very car, that daddy enjoyed his final 'run out' in.... since both of us attended an anniversary run at Powerscourt Estate in Dublin, on the 19th August this year... It took us almost four hours to drive down.... about 20 minutes of which, it didnt rain... we got soaked, but we both loved it... I can still feel daddys big arm, resting across the top of my shoulders..... God, how I miss him The weather on the day of the run, was excellent, as it was on our return run home...... Dad had stripped the Byford down again, as he complained about the body being too narrow etc.... he has carried out extensive alterations to it, although, sadly, will not be around to appreciate his good work... Both myself, and my brother Joe, will complete the car, in time, as a lasting tribute to daddy. Dad had a very fulfilled life, having such other hobbies as motorbikes, fishing, shooting, golf..... one story he told me about, was when he was golfing with his longtime, late friend, Ross Fleming, from Ballymoney.... was how he cut a hole in the lining of his trouser pocket, would pretend to strike the ball, and while Ross was helping him search for it, he discreetly stood over the hole, and dropped the ball in.... it was weeks before Ross caught on..... Aeroplanes also appealed to him, and he was only hours away from attaining his solo pilots licence, at Eglinton, as he was flying on his own etc.... don't know his reason for not finishing the course.... Another striking part of dads personality, was his dry (sarcastic) wit, as anyone who has been the subject of it, will tell you.... it was always in good humour, and he usually managed to have the last word...... a trait I seem to have picked up.... Everytime I walk into his garage, I am reminded of his dedication, ability, attention to detail, respect for property, engineering ingenuity, and sheer love for anything he put his mind to...... and both myself and Big Joe, intend to carry on his good work, helping to restore the vehicles he loved, for the appreciation of the next generations.... I hope he watches over us, and we can make him proud. I hope you have enjoyed reading this insight into the life of BRIAN MULLAN..... he was a big man, a talented man, a good man.....but may I just say one thing..... I always have, and always will love him with all my heart.... "HE WAS MY DADDY......." WE LOVE YOU DADDY.... GOD BLESS YOU.... XXXX