Memories

Mums story about going to the Circus is in the main true. However she forgot and still can't remember also volunteering for the bare back horse riding later in the evening. Frank my brother also seems to remember mum being attached to a rotating board and the knives being thrown as Mum slowly revolved. I can't remember exactly either, myself, Frank,Trevor and Graham were in knots of laughter and Mildred was almost having a heart attack as the knives or Tomahawks were thrown. The other thing about Duffy's Circus was that every performer had about four or five roles during the performance. I don't think the Indian was a native American, I think he came from Cork, later he became a Lion Tamer, then played in the band. I think they had about twelve or more people but it seemed like about fifty and all with glamorous names from all parts of the World. It was an unforgettable night and it was over 40 years ago now. Duffy's Circus is still on the go and currently are on tour again in Dublin.

Ten Drum Rolls

Mums Story about trip to the Circus
Its not everyone can say they got a drum roll, when they appeared at Duffy’s Circus. In fact it’s not everyone who had an opportunity to appear in the Circus. Well it happened to me once.
My two sons Frank and John saw a bill poster advertising ‘Duffy’s Circus and they persecuted me to bring them to the Circu. So I agreed to take them, and we were joined by our next door neighbour Mildred and here two boys Graham and Trevor.
Husbands were recruited to take us to Terenure and to call back later to bring us home.
And so we set off, boys with their bags of swag and mothers with a packet of Aspirin.
The Band played the march of the Gladiators and out came a procession of the circus performers. The excitement was ninety and there were Clown, Dancing Girls, Bareback Rider, Jugglers, Ponies and a Lion Tamer.
After a little the Ringmaster announced that ‘Thunder Cloud’ an Indian Chief was going to give an Exhibition of Tomahawk throwing and asked for a volunteer from the Audience “ any brave lady like to appear with Apache chief Thunder Cloud”
Mildred turned to (Frank my eldest) and said “ I am sure your Mum would like to volunteer”. Well some little Devil must have whispered in my ear, and never being one to turn down a dare, up I got and went down into the Ring amid great applause.
The Ringmaster nearly had a heart attack as it appears that usually a Circus member pretends to be a member of the audience, but because I hopped up first he had no alternative but to let me take part. He kept on repeating to me “ Don’t move Mrs. whatever you do. I had no intention of moving as much as an eyelid and was already regretting my action.
Out came The Chief with his ten Tomahawks and he got me to stand with my back to a wooden door. Well I can tell you that every time he threw a Tomahawk I got a Drum Roll followed by a thump as the Tomahawk became embedded in the door. I can still remember the thud today.
Mean while up in the audience Mildred was also having palpitations and already trying to think of how to break it to John (My husband) that I had been killed by Indian Chief Thunder Cloud. She regretted daring me to go on. He would ask her “ why didn’t you stop her”
However it finished at last and I returned to my seat, the four boys were thrilled by it all.
It often comes up in conversation that night. My Son Frank now nearly 53 years of age says “ I can still remember the look on Mildreds face when you went into the Circus Ring.

Howth

Another day trip the Maguires always went on was a quick trip out to Howth. Its a short train journey or by car and even occasionally I cycled out with a few friends. Its a little fishing village and very popular on Sundays. It has the usual selection of Pubs, Cafes and Restaurants. On weekdays you can buy fresh fish from numerous fish shops. Until the late 50's you could go for a trip around Howth on the Hill of Howth tram. Unfortunately lack of investment and indeed passengers meant it closed down before I was born. Frank my brother was lucky enough to take a trip. All I ever saw was the remains of the tramway in Sutton and you can still see the odd pole. Here are 2 more photos. You see Mum in the second picture walking towards the 2 trams.

http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/261/fiche_technique.htm?ID=261

Nelson Pillar

Until 1966 The Nelson Pillar stood looking down over O'Connell Street in Dublin. It was blown up by Republicans in 1966. I think I went up the Pillar once, my Brother Frank definately went up a few times. Dad must had taken up his 'Brownie' camera so here we have 2 photos looking down towards O'Connell Street Bridge. On the right is the G.P.O. The General Post Office, scene of the 1916 Easter rising. Further on is the long missed Metropole Restaurant and Cinema. The photos must have been taken about 1953. You can still see the tram rails, though the tram system had closed down in 1949 and it would be another 55 years before Trams again crossed O'Connell Street. The other photo shows the left side of the street and that side of the street is remarkably unchanged today. 'Clerys' still is a large Department Store and the big clock you can see in the very centre of the picture is still there today and remains a meeting point for Dubliners today.

50 years later I

This is our garden today. Undergoing a bit more work at the moment and hopefully finished by September. You can still see the Sundial. I did a bit of mosaic on it to brighten it up. The decking is nearly complete as is the extra crazy paving. Most of the big trees have died and in future just going to plant small hedging such as 'Box'.
Think we have some more photos of the garden over the years. Must have a look.

Back Garden

Once Mum and Dad moved into their new Home in Cherryfield, Dublin, Dad and Mum decided to set out the back garden with a rockery and various other design features. I dont think there was much of a garden in Mums old home just a back yard. There was a garden in Watergate in Kilkenny where dad was raised and I think he fancied having a rockery in his new garden. Anyhow Dad decided the layout of the back garden and even when he had no car he made up a wooden box for the back of his bike and he used to bring home rocks and stones from the Featherbeds. The Featherbed Mountains were about 10 miles from Dublin and quite a cycle uphill. Quite how he and Mum got all the stones home I don't know, Mum only had a basket on the front of her bike. I suppose it was mainly downhill back to Dublin. Eventually Dad bought his first car, a Morris Minor and they could bring home bigger rocks. Apparently Dad supervised and Mum lugged the rocks around the garden under Dads grand design. The basic layout from the late 1950's is still there today. The rockery grew over the years in height and it has been altered a little here and there. About ten years ago I had to dig up part of the rockery to build a Conservatory and removing some of the rocks was very difficult some were much bigger under the ground rather like Icebergs.
Dad also built a Sundial which is still there today. Also Dad planted many trees and shrubs which over the years got rather out of hand and at one stage there was over one hundred trees and shrubs, many which had to be removed and I can remember digging many of them out a few years ago and the task was back breaking. Dad was also found of 'crazy paving' and more recently I have been extending the footpaths and some of the old rocks have a new use as part of the crazy paving. I also copied Dad by setting of to collect more stones from 'here and there'. Cant say where I got the new stones of course!
Photo of the garden circa 1956-59

Zooming in

Zooming in on the photograph in the last post, I can identify my Aunt Maureen, Dad, his Mother and Aunt and I think one of his cousins, possibly Dan Costigan. I assume Grandad Maguire must have taken the picture. There is another photo of them at the Bridge and I think their is a much later photo of my Mum at one of the model Houses, taken many years later. The pictures are very small but scanning them in at a high resolution you can see more details. Although most people prefer black and white photography from the past I would love to have some colour pictures as well from the period. Some photographs we have were printed from very poor quality cameras. Some time in the 70's the main camera we had was of the 'Disc' type and the resolution was poor. Some of the colour photographs we have are no match for the quality of the much older 'Brownie' camera. The negative size the brownie made was much bigger than the later colour disc camera. Only now looking back I realise buying cheap cameras were a mistake but again Neither myself or Frank had much money. I think the first camera Frank bought was bought in 'Hector Greys' a famous shop for selling cheap goods. That camera actually produced very good quality black and white photographs. Later colour cameras were not as good. I have many photographs from the 60's and early 70's taken with the cheap black and white special and the quality is superb. that will be for another post.

Talbots Inch, Kilkenny

Grandad Maguire, was born in Birkenhead. He came from irish parents who moved to Birkenhead. Still havn't found much information about that time but apparently Grandad came back to Ireland to work in a newly established Furniture Factory near Kilkenny. Talbots Inch is about 2.5km from Kilkenny and it became a kind of 'Model' Village. The Countess of Desert (Dysart) was a wealthy English woman who spent her money freely improving the town. She also built and established a Woolen Mills, built houses for the workers and also built a very early Suspension bridge for people to reach the Mill. Grandad worked in the factory for a number of year. Dad told me however at some time the Countess either ran out of money or perhaps after Ireland gaining Independance, the factory came in to the hand of the workers as a kind of Co-Operative. Cant be really certain but according to my Dad and I seem to remember Grandad saying, the workers ran the factory into the ground. It was commonplace for many workers to walk out with goods without paying and eventually the factory must have closed down. Possibly it actually burnt down, I cant remember and there is no other record.
Here is a very old photograph of the Suspension Bridge. Again it is long gone. Following a flood in the late 1930's the whole bridge was swept away. No one had bothered maintaining the bridge and it was never replaced. Possibly because the Countess was of English descent , and there was a very Anti british feeling following Independance. Apart from the Factory, the Countesses House was also damaged in a fire. Some of the Houses she built are still there and one recently sold on 'daft.ie' for nearly 500,000 euro.
I have just found out that my Dad did have a camera at the time. Mum says at the time if you collected cigarette cards, given with packets of cigarettes you could send away for a 'brownie' camera. Dad didnt smoke but as he lived over a shop and sometimes worked in the shop many customers used to give Dad their unwanted cards and he must have got enough to send off for a camera.

Watergate, Kilkenny II

2 photos, First is of Mrs. Maguire, (My GrandMother) tending to the back garden behind the shop. Quite a lot of plants and a little rockery which my Father continued in Cherryfield and Mum still has loads of pots all over the back garden, so must be some kind of tradition now. Second is one Mrs. and Mrs. Maguire. Not sure if my father had a camera as a young boy or did some photographer come to take some photos. Cameras were fairly scarce then and the photographs themselves are very small, just about the size of passport photos.

Old Photos

Scanned in some photos, which also helped remind me of some of the stories behind the photos. First up is of our Grandad at work in Dublin. As previously told he returned to Dublin late in the 1950's and got a job working as a Carpenter in a shop fitters. In fact it was one of his better jobs even though by now nearing retiring age. Grandad often told us his stories as we collected him from Mass on Sunday. For some reason he went to a Church near Mount Street and we waited for him in Dads car after we had gone to Mass in Johns Lane. On the way home he usually told us another of his stories. When he worked for the Dublin Shopfitters he mainly made up interiors for Pubs, Shops and Banks. The majority of the work being done in the factory and they then often had to go to a shop or bar after closing time and install the new interior and have it ready for the shop to reopen. Sometimes he used to get Dad to drive us to one of the shops he had help refit. In his garage in Kilmainham he always had loads of scraps of wood, odd smelling bottles of oil and french polish, old bent nails and so on. At home he used to make up small bits of furniture from scraps of wood, packing cases. He used to straighten old nails and screws, anything to save on materials. When times were hard he got into the habit of 'making do' and mending.

Grandad and a house in the 50's

This is my Grandad, taken at Mum and Dads wedding in 1954. He must have gone back down to Galway again after the Wedding. Must ask Mum but probably another long story there. Although nearly 10 years had passed since the end of World War II, the 50's was still an austere time and money was still scarce and it was still difficult to buy things we take for granted. One of the things Dad did tell me was when Mum and Dad bought the house in Cherryfield, the full price was about 2,200 Pounds and there was a grant of 200 pounds from the County Council. that left a Council loan repayable over 35 years at the princely sum of 7 pounds and 7 shillings and an few pence a month . At than time I think the average wage was about 12 pounds a week and I dont know what the going rate in the Civil Service was. I think 2 pounds a week was a lot at the time, a new car was about 600 pounds and a loaf of bread about 'thruppence' and a 'single' of chips 4 pence. In those day a penny went a long way and the penny could be further broken up as we had 'Farthings as well.
I have finally got a scanner at home so I hope to do some scanning of some 1950's photographs from the Maguire Archive of Memories. Also going to get Mum to write some memories from the 50's, the Wedding, buying the house, everyday things. Just to get some memories before they are forgotten.
P.S. in the previous post the photograph is the actual shop in Watergate, Kilkenny and that a very young Auntie Maureen at the front door. Somehow it looks rather American or something like a picture from the depression of the 1930's. Dont know why i think that but there you go!

Watergate, Kilkenny

Dad was born in Watergate, Kilkenny. Really in the centre of Kilkenny City near the Smithwicks Brewery. The Maguires lived over a shop and Dads Aunt ran a Newsagent. Dad often told me about some of the odd things that happened in the 1920s. The shop being a newsagent meant Dad could read all the papers and magazines without having to buy them and thus spent hours under the gaslight reading them. Kilkenny was one of the first cities to have an early form of electricity. The local Brewery was built near a good supply of water (naturally) and the 'Smithwicks' brewery had its own mill race and water mill wheel which was used to provide motive power for the brewery. In the evenings when the brewery didnt need all the power of the Mill Wheel and according to Dad they used the spare power to generate electricity. So a few of the more wealthy inhabitants of Kilkenny could pay to have a basic power supply in the evenings. Later on the 1930s Ireland embarked on a 'Rural Electrification Scheme and the shop in Kilkenny finally got rid of gas lighting. In fact the old gas pipes were kept and the electricians use the old pipework to thread the new electric wiring around the house. One of the down sides of having a house beside a brewery built beside a river was that the river used to flood in Winter. According to Dad again, occasionally they were trapped upstairs as the floodwater rose to cover the downstairs entirely. I think it was true as eventually the house was knocked by the local council and they never built on the site, it is still a car park. The Brewery is still there although for how much longer is anyones guess. Dad himself was fond of the odd 'Smithwicks Barley Wine' but very few drink that nowadays and Smithwicks Ale has lost out to more modern european drinks and brands.
I am not sure when the shop closed down but as the Maguires never owned the shop, they had to move out when the shop went out of business. Dads Father worked all around Ireland and rarely found work in Kilkenny, Dad moved to Dublin to work in the Civil Service and the rest of the Maguires eventually moved to Dublin.
Mrs Maguire ( my Grandmother ) came up to Dublin with her Sister and my Aunt Maureen. My Grandad remained working in Galway. Some time after my Mum and Dad were married in the 1950's, Dad told Mum he had written to his Father simply saying he was coming down to Galway to meet him at the train station and if (Grandad) wanted to come back with them to Dublin he would be most welcome. Dad said to Mum he did not think Grandad would come back to Dublin or Home as it now was. Grandad lived in 'Digs' for years which were cheap guest houses where you got a bed to sleep and meals provided by the usual tyrannical landlady. Dad had bought a secondhand Morris Minor and he drove down hoping that Grandad would be at the trainstation. He didnt know if there would be anyone there, that was the time of few telephones and communications were not like today. Finally arriving at the train station in Galway my Grandad was there waiting with all his belongings and old suitcases. At last in the 1950s the Maguires had their own house to live in, and I suppose their finally was somewhere called Home for Grandad to come home to. Normally a Father tells the Son what to do but I suppose in this case, My Father had come to Dublin, had a good job. The Maguires got an Inheritance from a fairly rich Uncle and my Dad had pursuaded everyone to buy a house in Kilmainham. Getting Grandad to come 'home' was the final piece of the jigsaw. Dad was never one to share his feelings but he must have ben very fond of his Father and he was prepared to drive hundreds of miles to Galway with only a hope of someone being there in Galway to collect.
On the journey home to Dublin, Mum tells me they had to stop numerous times as the little Morris Minor only had very basic windscreen wipers and it rained the whole way home to Dublin. I have never heard what happened when they all were united in Dublin, but if it were a film the narrator would have said the rain was all the tears of joy of a husband and wife finally re united after years of being apart and only occasionally together as a family.