Stirring Memories Archives - Helena Byrne https://helenabyrne.com/product-category/exhibitions/stirringmemories/ Irish Storyteller & Singer Sat, 04 Jan 2025 17:12:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 185618525 “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~Stirring Memories Part 7 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartseven/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartseven/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 21:25:53 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1409 The post “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~Stirring Memories Part 7 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

It’s a busy County we live in today and it’s a safe bet to assume that many of us don’t know very much about our neighbours next door. Rather than calling in to our local grocer on George’s Street, we might opt to shop online. Instead of meeting for a walk along the pier, we sometimes choose to meet friends and family virtually. We may even find our future husband or wife through online dating, quite a contrast from the nights of blossoming romances on the dance floor of the Top Hat. Modern technology has brought many conveniences to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (this exhibition for example, is available worldwide through the internet). What has not changed however, is our need to connect with our community.

The Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Day Care Centre members who too part in this project chose to share memories about an abundance of topics; from swimming in the Dún Laoghaire Baths to seeking out their nearby air raid shelters; taking on hard labour jobs fresh out of school to getting dressed up for a Saturday night in the dance hall. But as diverse as these stories have been, one theme has continued to emerge; knowing your neighbours and connecting with the community around you was at the very core of their lifestyles. While it would be remiss of us to romanticise the past or dismiss the struggles of decades past in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, there is also surely something to be learned from this sense of community that was so prominent in decades gone by.


Above: ‘Locals enjoying some ice-cream at Monkstown Post Office.’ Photo Courtesy of Carole Cullen

“You knew everyone on the (Booterstown) Avenue. One of the main property owners when I came there (in the 60s) was Paul Costello, the designer’s father, his family, they lived at the top of the avenue. That house is still there, Booterstown House.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“You went out and left your key in the door.” – Kathleen Clarke, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

“My mother-in-law actually owned this house (on Longford Terrace) and there were four flats. And we lived in what she was pleased to call “the Garden Flat”, But we called “the Basement Flat”, but never mind. And Lennox Robinson lived in another one of the flats… And Lennox took (my) dog every day for a little walk. I gathered that where the walk was, was to the, em, the pub. And on Saturdays when I was doing my shopping, and I had a tussle outside the pub every time because the dog wanted to go in the pub! I had a postcard which Lennox had sent to my dog, so I recently gave that to the Chief Librarian (in Dún Laoghaire).” – Dorothy Kinmonth, The Clevis Unit Member

Left: ‘Lennox Robinson’s Postcard to Dorothy Kinmonth’s Dog.’
Photo courtesy of dlr Local Studies (dlr LexIcon)

“Growing up in Devitt Villas, there was loads of us and we’d be sitting on the railings, you know? And me mother would always say “Now, you’re not to go into anyone’s houses. They have enough to do without any of yous going in.” Cause there was fourteen of us!” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“At that time, you knew everyone from house to house. I know two people now. The rest of the avenue (Booterstown), I haven’t a clue who lives on it. How the families change over the years. Houses are sold off. Different people moving in.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

Right: ‘Shankill Main Street.’ Photo courtesy of Mary Boyle


“When we came here first, Dún Laoghaire was completely different. You didn’t have, as what they call it now, the old shopping centre, that was there, on Marine Road. There was a row of shops there, coffee shops, little grocery shops.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“There were no lights after 12 o’clock (in Leopardstown). Everything went dark. And there weren’t really many houses. Brewery Road, there was hardly anything on it. And it was lovely taking the children as babies for walks. You were into the country as soon as you went up the Brewery Road. Of course, no motorway. But now it’s so different, and all the apartments and offices. There’s so many things going up.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“I’m living in Booterstown since 1964. It’s changed so much in those few years. There was a post office, there was a pub each end; Gleeson’s and the Punchbowl. You had a grocery shop, you had a fuel depot, there was a butcher as well. But now there’s none of that. The shops are gone. You see, the supermarkets done away with the small shops. When Superquinn opened in Blackrock, all the smaller shops closed down slowly. That was the first big store.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

Left: ‘Dempsey Brothers Butchers, Monkstown.’ Photo courtesy of Carole Cullen

Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~Stirring Memories Part 7 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartseven/feed/ 0 1409 “Have you heard who got a fridge?” ~ Stirring Memories Part 6 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartsix/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartsix/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 21:04:46 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1394 The post “Have you heard who got a fridge?” ~ Stirring Memories Part 6 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

The 1940s to 1960s saw huge developments in the use of electrical appliances in households across Ireland, and the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area was no exception. The radio would soon find itself competing with the television. Often rented rather than purchased, viewing special events was a huge social occasion for the community, with neighbours flocking to those few households lucky enough to have a TV set. The introduction of fridge freezers would also have a gradual but significant impact on how people shopped, slowly but surely making the ‘ritual’ daily visit to your local butcher, fishmonger or greengrocer unnecessary. This shift in shopping habits would not only have an economic impact on small, local businesses, but also on the community as a whole, with many people missing their daily chat with fellow locals and opportunity to catch up on local news.


“A lot of us only got tellies in the 60s. We listened to the radio. The Kennedys of Castleross was widely listened to and agony aunt Frankie Byrne.” – Shankill Day Care Centre Member

“We were the first ones to get a telly on our road. It was for the Queen getting married. The house was full. Everybody came to have a look…They all sat around. And the gas part was you could hardly see with all the sparks (static). They’d say “Oh isn’t that lovely”, and the next thing you wouldn’t be able to see anything.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“We got a fridge; one of the small ones you put up on (the counter). It was only a little thing, you know? It got around the place that we had a fridge. Next door said first of all, “Can we put ice-cream in your fridge? It’s for after the dinner”. So I said ok. Then the other neighbours came knocking at the door, “I have a chicken for the dinner. Would you put it in the fridge”? I said alright. Now, we had to walk down to Monkstown Church at the time. Our church wasn’t built. But we forgot about the chicken. We didn’t do it deliberately at all. We had to walk up from Monkstown and it was a good walk. And when we got home she was saying, “What happened to my chicken? Me husband’s dying of the hunger”! We were mortified, but it was very funny at the time. I don’t think they asked us to mind anything else after that.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

Right: ‘Your Refrigerator at Last.’ Advertisement courtesy of ESB Archives


Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “Have you heard who got a fridge?” ~ Stirring Memories Part 6 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartsix/feed/ 0 1394 “I’m just popping out to the shops.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 5 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartfive/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartfive/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 20:37:17 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1378 The post “I’m just popping out to the shops.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 5 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

Stop by Boland’s bakery for your bread. Perhaps visit Monument Creamery, where the worker behind the counter will cut to size and weight the amount of butter you want to purchase. Pop into Edward Lee’s for your drapery and watch your money fly along the mechanical ‘cash carrier’ to the cashier. The lack of large grocery stores or home fridges meant that a visit to your local shop was made several times a week, if not every day. However, far from describing the errand of daily shopping as a laborious task, interviewees deeply reminisce the local stores they often frequented, as well as other establishments such as cafés and cinemas across Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. These stores were social hubs in the community, a place to connect with neighbours and get your daily dose of banter. A far cry from the self-checkout tills in large grocery stores today, you knew your local shop keeper and he or she knew you.

“Lee’s had two shops. I think they sold everything. Clothing and household. They had a furniture shop down where Dunnes Stores is now (in Dún Laoghaire) at the end of the main street. And then they had a grocery shop. Where Penney’s is now, there was Findlater’s. And then you had Murdock’s. They were another big store.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member


Above: ‘Findlater’s Department Store in Dún Laoghaire, where Penneys is today.’ Photo courtesy of Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre

“Teddy’s! And people used to queue for Teddy’s, and it’s everywhere now (laughter).”

“What was your typical order from Teddy’s Ice-cream?”

“Oh, the one with the chocolate on it (laughter). It was expensive, but it was lovely. A treat.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“The Pavilion Cinema was there (in Dún Laoghaire) and the first film I saw was ‘The Parent Trap’… with Maureen O’Hara, I think. It was right down where Meadows and Byrne is now… It was one of those sort of ‘Art Deco’ style cinemas.” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member

“There was one shop called the Nook (in Booterstown), and everyone shopped there. Because you went into the Nook this morning, and you heard who was married, who was dead, who was gone on holidays, who was coming back. That’s the shop it was. All the gossip. And I think there was one of them in every locality, wasn’t there? Martin Lysaght was the man who ran the shop. It was like the social centre for the whole area.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

Left: ‘One of the many Monument Creamery locations that were found across Dublin.’ Photo Source Anonymous

“Palm Grove was an ice-cream parlour in Dún Laoghaire… You could have tea and cakes. You had to take four cakes and two teas, and if you weren’t eating the cakes, you could get a refund. Now we’d be watching them (other customers) and they wouldn’t think of getting the refund, and they’d go out. And then we’d (picking up the cake) say “refund please”. So, we’d get the money for the cakes (laughter)”. – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“I used to work in the ‘60 Minute Cleaners’ in Dún Laoghaire. Now, that’s when I think Lipton’s were down there, and the Gas Company and all… My sister used to press the clothes and I was a shop assistant”. – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“My mother was a cashier in Lee’s. And they had this (cable cash carrier) system for putting the money in and sending it back from each department.” – Mount Merrion Day Care Centre Member


Above: ‘Dempsey Brothers Butchers in Monkstown.’ Photo courtesy of Carole Cullen

“We’d go to the Monument creamery for our butter. They made the butter up and it was gorgeous… real creamery butter… And May Pole (Dairy) and Boland’s Bakery.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“You’d be sent down to the shop and you’d get bread. And I remember my sister going down and she’d eat a lot of the bread (on the way home) and she was trying to hide it so that Mam didn’t know that she’d eaten it. She got herself into more trouble because Mam would say “There’s a big hole there”. – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

Left: ‘Legendary Dún Laoghaire fishmonger Vera Breslin who ran a fish stall in Dún Laoghaire for seven decades, selling fish since the 1950s.’ Photo courtesy of Frances Howard

Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “I’m just popping out to the shops.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 5 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartfive/feed/ 0 1378 “I loved the dance halls… I used to say, oh I wish it was Saturday night!” ~ Stirring Memories Part 4 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartfour/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartfour/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 20:20:16 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1365 The post “I loved the dance halls… I used to say, oh I wish it was Saturday night!” ~ Stirring Memories Part 4 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

It’s Saturday night. You get dolled up in your favourite dress, jump onto the bus in Dún Laoghaire and make your way to the Arcadia dance hall in Bray. Perhaps you’ll meet a few nice dance partners. Perhaps you’ll meet your future husband! Either way, a great night of music and fun lies ahead.

Nowadays, you’re likely to meet a romantic love interest online, but for young singletons in 50s & 60s Dún Laoghaire, the dance halls were the place to be. The likes of the Top Hat, the Ierne and the Arcadia were exciting scenes with music from the infamous showbands of the era, an escape from the mundanity of worklife and offered the thrilling possibility that you may meet the love of your life on the dance floor.

“We went from one to the other really. The Top Hat if you wanted to be posh (laughter). The Workman’s Club, the Arcadia in Bray. The Irish Club and the Ierne. They were all in Parnell Square. If you had a drink on you, you wouldn’t be let in the door. Some of them would have a break with tea and coffee. And men stood at one side and the women stood on the other side. And if you didn’t get asked to dance, you’d be a wallflower. So you did make the effort (to dress up) before you’d go (laughter). The men asked the women to dance, unless there was a lady’s choice during the night.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member


Above: ‘Dickie Rock and The Miami Showband perform Simple Simon Says at the Arcadia Ballroom, Bray 1968.’ Photo courtesy of the Bray People Newspaper

“The Dress Dances at the Gresham. They were very good, but they gave you a supper which was so horrible. It was cooked ham which they had got cold and reheated. And mashed potatoes with lumps. Lumps you know! I went to one in Clery’s and the food was great.” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member

Left: ‘Arcadia Ballroom Poster. Dancing was outside or inside depending on weather.’ Photo courtesy of Wicklow Libraries

“I met my husband at the Arcadia. Many romances came out of the Arcadia… Our first date was after Christmas, in Dún Laoghaire… And at that time everybody was emigrating. They were going back to Dún Laoghaire to get the boat to England. So, all the buses were passing by, they were all full. So I couldn’t get a bus, and my date was half seven. So, there was a couple standing at the bus stop, and they were going down to Dún Laoghaire to the Pictures. I says to them, “I have a date tonight with a fella, but I’m sure he won’t be there. I think I’ll go home”. “No, don’t go home,” they said. “Come down to Dún Laoghaire with us, and if he’s not there, you can come to the pictures with us… Anyway, we went down to Dún Laoghaire and I was an hour late. And he was still standing there waiting on me… We went down to the Roma Café, and it wasn’t coffee in those days. We had a cup of tea and a chat, and we went for a walk. We were sixty years married… That was my true love” – Kathleen Clarke, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

“The sixties and seventies was when all the showbands came along. The Royal Showband and Dickie Rock. I think we all saw Joe Dolan at one point or another.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“I played golf with Joe Dolan. I was part of a local golf society. And very often he would play golf and immediately he’d be off to Germany or somewhere where he’d be off to sing. He wouldn’t have time to come back to the restaurant to have a meal or anything. He wasn’t bad (at golf). Better than I was.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“When you got married, you had to give up your job.” – Kathleen Clarke, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “I loved the dance halls… I used to say, oh I wish it was Saturday night!” ~ Stirring Memories Part 4 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartfour/feed/ 0 1365 “Have you picked up your gas mask yet?” ~ Stirring Memories Part 3 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartthree/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartthree/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 20:03:50 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1352 The post “Have you picked up your gas mask yet?” ~ Stirring Memories Part 3 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

While Ireland was of course neutral during World War II, childhood memories for those growing up in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area were undoubtedly still impacted by this huge historical event. Some of the darkest aspects of what the Irish government called ‘The Emergency’ were seen through the rose-tinted glasses of youthful innocence. Collecting your gas mask from Dalkey Town Hall and playing with it on the walk home was an exciting novelty, and the Air Raid Shelters scattered around the County made for the best makeshift playgrounds. Certain foods such as flour were rationed, leading to what was by all accounts, a very unpleasant ‘Black Bread’. Childhood naivety aside, the sense of danger generated by bombings in Dublin, still created palpable anxiety in the local community here.

“There was a lot of fear at the time, and there were those bomb
shelters, and you’d be run with your parents to the nearest bomb shelter. Only once I remember doing that as a child.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“There was an Air Raid Shelter down in Devitt Villas. And I remember going up, we went up to Dalkey Town Hall for our (gas) mask, you know? And we had to go up and get the mask and we’d have it on our shoulders. And like, it was just an ordinary thing, you know?” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“I don’t remember the war that much because I was born in 1938, but I remember the big excitement when the white bread came out after the war.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

Left: ‘Beehive bomb shelter in the grounds of Cabinteely House. One of a few constructed there. Associated with Irish Defence Forces planning around the period 1939-1945. The classical version was an air-raid shelter designed to protect up to 6 people from the blast of a 500 pound bomb.’ Photo courtesy of South Dublin County Libraries: Joe Walsh Collection


‘A ration card for a Mrs. Moylan from Boland’s Bakery.’ Source Anonymous

“We often had to walk home to Kill Avenue (from Dún Laoghaire Pier) as there were no cars or buses. The shortage of petrol during the war. I remember my sister brought a little puppy she found out to my mother in Drumcondra, and Mam said, “What will we call it”?… And she said, “Well, I think it was on the news tonight that the Germans had bombed the Kish, so we called him Gerry. He lasted much longer than Hitler did.” – Eva Sutton, The Clevis Unit Member

“In 1945, as a family we were walking along Killiney beach towards the end of the war when we came across a number of bags. These had been washed ashore from some vessel under what circumstances we can only imagine. My father, an AR (Air Raid Precautions) Warden, told my sister and I to stand away until he checked them out. Having satisfied himself as to their contents, he dispatched my sister and myself on our bicycles to fetch the local Rector who had a car. Having loaded the car with some of the bags he then reported the find to the proper authorities. I do not know what happened after that with the find, but what I do know is that a great amount of fresh ham was eaten in the parish in many houses the following week.” – Joan Richard Needham

“My mother and father emigrated to England to find work when there was no work over here. But unfortunately, my father died over there. He was only in his fifties. My mother was expecting her third child. And I think I was five at the time. So, she had five, four and a new baby on the way. That was in 1940. The war had just started in England and she was on her own there. We were down in the shelters from the bombs. That wasn’t the life that she wanted, so she decided to come home.” – Kathleen Clarke, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

I was down the country when they had those bombs. And we had tea and sugar and everything down the country, and up in Dublin they were all on rations.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member


“We weren’t hungry, but things were rationed. You couldn’t get a banana or an orange. We had ‘black bread’. My father was once given a loaf of white bread from a baker, and we all fell on it! We thought it was wonderful.” – The Clevis Unit Member

Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “Have you picked up your gas mask yet?” ~ Stirring Memories Part 3 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartthree/feed/ 0 1352 “Are you goin’ for a dip?” ~Stirring Memories Part 2 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriesparttwo/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriesparttwo/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 17:26:04 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1338 The post “Are you goin’ for a dip?” ~Stirring Memories Part 2 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown’s coastline has been a buzzing social spot over the years, as well as a busy workplace. Wonderful memories were shared of watching the mail boat come into the harbour and its cargo methodically placed onto the train before setting off down the tracks. There was outdoor entertainment at the weekends and sunny days in the Baths.

When people wanted to go further afield, jumping onto the boat to Holyhead was easy with the Harbour on your doorstep, although the rough and ready, stomach-churning Princess Maud was avoided wherever possible. Over the years, locals of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown have certainly made the very most of having the seaside a stone’s throw from their homes

“My sister and I enjoyed it there in Dún Laoghaire. Late evenings, we would all go to the open-air concert on the Prom. They were wonderful concerts… There was everything down there. There were dancers and singers.” – Eva Sutton, The Clevis Unit Member


Above: ‘The Baths in Dún Laoghaire.’ Photo courtesy of dlr Local Studies (dlr LexIcon), Séamus Kearns Postcard Collection

“I used to go (to the Baths in Dún Laoghaire) because I could bring the kids and sit and watch them, and there was two little pools for kids. You had to pay in, but not much. And I used to bring their dinner with me. Sandwiches, bread and butter, and a bit of chicken, and we’d sit there for the day.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

Left: ‘The Mailboat and Mail Train on Carlisle Pier, Dún Laoghaire.’ Photo courtesy of dlr Local Studies (dlr LexIcon), Séamus Kearns Postcard Collection

“The kids used to go down (to the sea at Booterstown) through the carpark facing the Punchbowl, and then they swam the other side of the wall. It was a right spot there for swimming and you had all the stones there to lie down in the sun.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“We used to go out a lot to Dún Laoghaire in the evenings. My father loved ships and boats. So he’d go out and we’d watch the mail boat coming in and out. And there were different ships that would come in and out there. And the train. It used to come right up beside the mail boat. And it was the mail train. So, the mail would come in at Dún Laoghaire and then would go off on the mail train and be distributed down around the rest.

In the summer they’d have a fairground… down at the pier… chair-o-planes and the helter skelter. There were swing boats, loads. And, occasionally now, you’d be bought some candy floss. I remember that was the first time ever I ate candy floss.” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member

“My husband was English… and he loved to go to Dún Laoghaire and we always had a walk on the pier. And we passed the gents and the ladies (toilets), and he said, “the first time I came to Ireland I went into the one that said ‘Mná’ because I thought it was ‘Men’.” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member

“I’m from the north side of Dublin, and I moved to the south side to bring a bit of culture to my wife (laughter). I was at sea for thirty years. I was a chief engineer with ‘B & I’ (now Irish Ferries) and ‘Irish Shipping’. I’d be away for months at a time. I loved the silence. I loved my work. I travelled everywhere but I used to go to Dún Laoghaire with a friend of mine. One day we got to the top of Clonkeen Road, passed by Dunnes Stores which was only a shed, I said “I’m gonna live down there”, and that’s exactly what I did. First house I bought was off the Clonkeen Road.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member


Above: Aerial view of Carlisle Pier with the Princess Maud and Hibernia.’ Photo courtesy of Justin Merrigan

“The Princess Maud… that was the worst ship on the Irish coast I can tell ya.” – Leopardstown Park Day Care Centre Member

Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “Are you goin’ for a dip?” ~Stirring Memories Part 2 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriesparttwo/feed/ 0 1338 “It grounds you when you know the value of things” ~Stirring Memories Part 1 https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartone/ https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartone/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 16:47:59 +0000 https://helenabyrne.com/?post_type=product&p=1327 The post “It grounds you when you know the value of things” ~Stirring Memories Part 1 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]>

  • “You knew your neighbours. Times have changed so much.” ~ Stirring Memories Part 7

It’s difficult for many of us today to imagine all the children in the family being bathed in a galvanised bath by the fireside, or not having the simple luxury of a toilet in our homes, but this was a reality for many people who were raised in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown some decades ago. The schooling system, by many accounts, was harsh. Money was tight for some families and food was simple, not plentiful. It was undoubtedly a very different time to grow up in when compared to the comforts we often take for granted nowadays.

Despite this, interviewees shared so many fond memories of growing up here. Entire days spent playing with neighbours on the beach, waiting on the bridge for the steam trains to go by below and enjoying the simple pleasure of butter and jam sandwiches after a dip in the Dún Laoghaire Baths.


“There was nine of us, but we had bunk beds. So we were all together. We didn’t have rooms to ourselves… we only had two bedrooms… God help them, they (my parents) never really got anything to themselves. Daddy was only 49 when he died, and then Mammy was only 59. But they were just like, getting on their feet… and having a few bob just to spend… It grounds you when you know the value of things.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

Left: ‘Mews House on Clifden Lane (where the Lambert Puppet Theatre was).’ Photo courtesy of Carole Cullen

“Devitt Villas never had a bathroom. They never put them in… We had it (a bath) in front of the fire when we were young. The galvanised bath you’d have. And because I was the only girl in the
family I’d go first. And we used to think that carbolic soap was lovely. The red one, and then you had the ‘Sunlight’, which was white, and Lifebuoy. Oh, I can recall the smell of it now quite easily.” – Beaufort Day Care Centre Member

“We left Dún Laoghaire when I was five and a half. It’s funny. I have more memories of my years there than any other time in my life. And I can still experience the emotions that I felt way back. Happy memories.” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member

“Oh yeah, the Seven Churches before Easter and Holy Thursday. You went around, you had to visit seven churches. And the churches would be very decorated with candles and flowers, but the whole thing was who’d finish the seven (laughter)? I don’t think I ever did.” – Leopardstown Park Day Centre Member

“I liked school, but the Reverend Mother was very cross. But I never
let her away with anything. She used to call me Josie and I hated it, so one day I stood up and said, “Me name’s not Josie. My mother paid seven and six for my Christening name”. – Josephine Willoughby, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

“They were very hard on us, the teachers and nuns. We were sort of classified as orphans because we had a mother, but no father. But there was no mercy, you know?… The only mercy they had was written on the gate.” – Kathleen Clarke, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

“We didn’t really eat out. On birthdays my father sometimes brought us to the café above the cinema. The cinemas all hadcafes. And we had rashers and eggs and sausages. The Pavilion (in Dún Laoghaire), the Savoy which was opposite the Gresham, and the Adelphi, which was around the corner from the GPO. And it wasn’t expensive. And then he’d bring us to the Pictures.” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member


Above: ‘Children’s bathing place, Dún Laoghaire.’ Photo courtesy of dlr Local Studies (dlr LexIcon), Séamus Kearns Postcard Collection

“I went to school in Loreto (Foxrock) in 1942 to 48. They were turning out ‘Ladies’… Well, they didn’t turn me into a lady!” – Mount Merrion Friendship Club Member

“Our house looked down to the park and over to the sea between Booterstown and Blackrock. We spent all our time in the sea and playing games. At night-time, there were two tunnels and the tide used to go out so we’d go down and we’d all play. We’d build shops and hospitals and houses with the sand. And then the older girls would come along, and they would judge it. And we got lozenges if we won, the sweets, you know? We had a lot of fun down there, we had to make all our own fun. Then chasing and skipping, and we’d go over and have a swim. Come back for a big lump of bread and jam, and out with the skipping rope and we’d just play around. And we used to, when the trains were coming, the engine trains, not the Dart now, we used to all run down and we’d be on the bridge and let all the steam come up over us.” – Josephine Willoughby, Shankill Day Care Centre Member

Albums

Join my newsletter

The post “It grounds you when you know the value of things” ~Stirring Memories Part 1 appeared first on Helena Byrne.

]]> https://helenabyrne.com/product/stirringmemoriespartone/feed/ 0 1327