Every Picture Tells A Story

The story of a Celtic Park portrait shrouded in mystery

- Joe Sullivan

Until recently, a portrait of a Celtic-supporting World War I hero that once proudly hung in the inner sanctum of Celtic Park, lay gathering decades of dust deep within the bowels of the stadium.

That was, it lay there until a chance meeting as Craig Paterson, the Chair of Globalcelt got talking to his taxi driver on his way to Celtic Park – and from there, a story that spanned over 100 years began to unravel.

The taxi driver was Brian Bannigan and, as his fare was travelling to Paradise, it turned out to be a path that Brian had travelled many times over the years, and not just in a working capacity.

Brian passed on the story of his uncle, Robert Downie, whose bravery in battle with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers saw him awarded the Victoria Cross, and of a seemingly mythical portrait that once hung in Celtic Park. For years, Brian’s family had been trying to source the painting and the truth behind it, but to no avail.

On hearing the story and the plight of Brian’s family, Craig set the wheels in motion that, within a matter of days, saw the cobwebs dusted from Robert Downie’s portrait as it had been uncovered within the inner recesses of Celtic Park.

Craig said: “I was coming to Celtic Park for the annual Globalcelt conference and jumped into a taxi at Queen Street Station. When I told the driver where I was going, he told me he was a big Celtic fan, so we got chatting away as you can imagine.

“As I was just getting out of the taxi at the stadium, he said, ‘Do you mind if I tell you my story?’

“He told me about his uncle, Robert Downie, who had won the Victoria Cross and the whole of Springburn turned out to welcome him when he returned from the war.