Confirmed Bachelor: The Gay Diaries of David Strain

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 free 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).

You may also like the following events from NMD Museums:

• This month, 18th October, 01:00 pm, Thomas Russell Bus Tour in Downpatrick
• Next month, 5th November, 07:00 pm, The lifeboats of Dundrum Bay in Downpatrick
• This December, 3rd December, 07:00 pm, Femina Culpa: poetry, crime and justice in Downpatrick

Also check out other Arts events in Downpatrick, Literary Art events in Downpatrick.