Aim: This workshop is intended as a trigger to encourage older people to gather their memories and record them in written form using their computer skills so that they pass on a living heirloom to the younger members of their family.
Format: Kitchen Table Wisdom: Recreating the old ways of gathering around the kitchen table for news and everyday chatter about life, this intimate setting is a very inviting opener for sharing life stories and remembering events long forgotten.
Facilitator: Susie Minto has a deep love for stories and their energy. She enjoys telling all kinds of tales - traditional stories and legends from her Scottish roots and from many world cultures, as well as personal anecdotes and spontaneous stories straight from her imagination.
Please phone to book your place as there is limited availability
Friday, May 23, 2008
Seaside Joys by Tony Beatty
This is June and still very cold at times. We were in Courtown, Wexford for the weekend and it rained at night, there was also thunder and lightening that was very bad. There was no one in swimming or paddling.
I love the East Coast of Wexford. It always seems to be lovely and sunny in that area. That part of the country is very popular with Dublin people. They used to be delighted to get away from what we call the Concrete Jungle, (Houses everywhere).
In the last few years it has changed very much, with houses being built all over the place. The lovely fields and byways seem to be getting very scarce. I would say at the rate things are going, the whole county will be covered in a few years. I have been going to Courtown (Gorey) Co. Wexford for the last 25 years and always looked forward to getting away every weekend.
It was lovely to have peace and tranquility and be able to sit by the seaside on the lovely sand. Watching the fishing boats and the many different types of small crafts. It was also lovely to see the children swimming and jumping around in the waves and having a very good time. (I would feel like jumping in the surf myself)
I remember only a few years ago when the weather seemed to be a lot nicer. There was a group of friends went to the hotel on Saturday nights for a few drinks. We made up a lovely crowd who used to have a singsong.
We were after working hard all week and this was our only break away from the real world. It was not that we were good singers or big drinkers but it was great to let your hair down and relax. The family had their enjoyment all day and would be up early Sunday morning to go at it again. It was lovely to be fresh for the next week.
After a few weeks at the start of those early days we just met up and fell into getting on well and picking the couples we fitted in with best. Then we settled down and enjoyed the company. The different things started to come out (best singers, best jokers, pitch & putt players etc.) You enjoyed the singsongs and then started to include them at Birthdays and general get togethers.
One of the best things about these groups is you don’t get into their hair (annoy them). They are close but don’t know about your problems and you don’t know about theirs, unless they want to include you. ( In other words you’re close but not too close).
The group broke up over the years with some dying and others moving abroad. A big problem was also the hike in rents and upkeep. When we started the rent was 250 for 12 months. It is now E1035 and only 9 months is allowed even with the increase.
Another big problem is all the extras now. You cannot get anyone to fix the TV set or plumbing without the owner getting his commission. Other things like a wooden veranda on the outside. The owner gets his own man to supply and fit the material then he makes on both labour and material. The prices of these verandas vary from (E2000 to E3/4000) each.
In the 25 years we have got that much older and money is getting scarce. I don’t know How long our trips to Courtown will last
The children have all grown up and gone their special ways. It will be up to them to make their own memories of their own family’s seaside trips and holidays. But no one will ever be able to take away our memories and enjoyment of our seaside trips. Let’s hope they enjoyed them as much as I did in making them.
I love the East Coast of Wexford. It always seems to be lovely and sunny in that area. That part of the country is very popular with Dublin people. They used to be delighted to get away from what we call the Concrete Jungle, (Houses everywhere).
In the last few years it has changed very much, with houses being built all over the place. The lovely fields and byways seem to be getting very scarce. I would say at the rate things are going, the whole county will be covered in a few years. I have been going to Courtown (Gorey) Co. Wexford for the last 25 years and always looked forward to getting away every weekend.
It was lovely to have peace and tranquility and be able to sit by the seaside on the lovely sand. Watching the fishing boats and the many different types of small crafts. It was also lovely to see the children swimming and jumping around in the waves and having a very good time. (I would feel like jumping in the surf myself)
I remember only a few years ago when the weather seemed to be a lot nicer. There was a group of friends went to the hotel on Saturday nights for a few drinks. We made up a lovely crowd who used to have a singsong.
We were after working hard all week and this was our only break away from the real world. It was not that we were good singers or big drinkers but it was great to let your hair down and relax. The family had their enjoyment all day and would be up early Sunday morning to go at it again. It was lovely to be fresh for the next week.
After a few weeks at the start of those early days we just met up and fell into getting on well and picking the couples we fitted in with best. Then we settled down and enjoyed the company. The different things started to come out (best singers, best jokers, pitch & putt players etc.) You enjoyed the singsongs and then started to include them at Birthdays and general get togethers.
One of the best things about these groups is you don’t get into their hair (annoy them). They are close but don’t know about your problems and you don’t know about theirs, unless they want to include you. ( In other words you’re close but not too close).
The group broke up over the years with some dying and others moving abroad. A big problem was also the hike in rents and upkeep. When we started the rent was 250 for 12 months. It is now E1035 and only 9 months is allowed even with the increase.
Another big problem is all the extras now. You cannot get anyone to fix the TV set or plumbing without the owner getting his commission. Other things like a wooden veranda on the outside. The owner gets his own man to supply and fit the material then he makes on both labour and material. The prices of these verandas vary from (E2000 to E3/4000) each.
In the 25 years we have got that much older and money is getting scarce. I don’t know How long our trips to Courtown will last
The children have all grown up and gone their special ways. It will be up to them to make their own memories of their own family’s seaside trips and holidays. But no one will ever be able to take away our memories and enjoyment of our seaside trips. Let’s hope they enjoyed them as much as I did in making them.
My Life Sory by Joe Roche
I was informed that I was born near my Mother in Rathmines in 1927. I have no memory of the event. In fact the first event I can recall was the Eucharistic Congress.
My father had a bicycle with a saddle on the crossbar and I traveled around the south City. The docks were always included and the origin and the origin of any ship or cargo was discussed with the local people. This gave me an interest in travel and geography. Thanks to the Library in Rathmines I was able to get books on worldwide travel. I owe Andrew Carnegie a debt for setting up the Libraries in Dublin.
Rathmines in the thirties was a happy time for me. Like all my friends my expectations were simple by today’s standards, for instance one penny could get 16 toffees or a bar of chocolate. Four pennies was the price of Cinema admission. It was usual to try and collect two jam jars and exchange them for four pence in a local shop. It could take half a day to locate two jam jars; but a visit to the Lucy Lane usually brought results, unless other kids had the same idea. Two old pennies would be worth about one cent today.
The summer meant swimming in the Canal or the Dodder and the best of all the sea at Sea Point or the Forty Foot. This meant a lift on the Da’s bicycle so until I could ride a bike sea swims were rare.
Once a year we all went to Bray for the day. The narrow street down to the Sea front was full of shops selling all kinds of desirable goods but the money was in short supply. So it was down to the sea and a swim in very cold water. A small fire was lit and tea made. Boiling water was sold along the front to those who could afford it.
The Emergency (Second World War to the rest of the world) put a different style of life into the Rathmines area. The blackout and rationing and the bombs dropping in the South Circular Road and Terenure made the gang join the Air Raid Precautions Service. Some went to the Fire service while I went to the Emergency Communications. I now had a second hand bicycle and this meant I could go anywhere I wanted.
I went all over Dublin, Wicklow and Meath. I joined An Oige and went into the Six Counties to secure Tea and Cycle Tires which were not available in Dublin unless you knew someone who had a supply. The same applied to chocolate cigs, whiskey and almost everything required for normal living by our standards.
While I was underage I joined the L.D.F. in 1943 and experienced a new outlook on life. Three weeks in Gormanstown under the supervision of CIS Doyle made me appreciate how well off I was at home and yet I grew to love the Army way of life; the comradeship, the organization and even the discipline and most of all the Bullshit. I am glad to say that each year we have a renunion which I always attend.
In 1945 I got a job as an apprentice Electrician and in 1952 I got a job in Manchester which was to change my lifestyle as after a short period I was in charge of all the work the firm carried out in The Republic and Northern Ireland.
In 1956 with the introduction of the Factories act 1955, my skills were saleable and I got a job in a semi-state Company with a pension at 65. I thought I was made. However Market Forces intervened and at very short notice I was told that the management thought I should retire at 60 so that I could enjoy the remainder of my life. My economic state was not taken into consideration.
So in 1987 I found myself in a situation I had not made plans for so I went to the local Citizens Advice Centre. They pointed me in the right direction as to how to preserve my Social Welfare Rights and prepare to reenter the workforce. I eventually got work with the Central Statistics Office and a variety of short-term jobs.
It was at his stage I decided that I owed a lot to The National Social Service Board and I applied to become a volunteer. I was accepted trained and posted to Mount Argus Centre. The expansion of the Sundrive Road Centre made Mount Argus redundant and volunteers were sent to Sundrive.
It was at Community Services Workshop that I was made aware of what’s now the Genie Project and I can operate a computer, go on the Internet, send an email. In addition I have met a small group of wonderful people who have had the same experience as me.
I owe any success in life to my parents, my wife and family, teachers and now members of the Genie Project, in particular Phil for showing me how to type at age 75 and Steve, who demolished all the electronic walls and cul de sacs that I have encountered in the last eight weeks.
I will sign off here.
My father had a bicycle with a saddle on the crossbar and I traveled around the south City. The docks were always included and the origin and the origin of any ship or cargo was discussed with the local people. This gave me an interest in travel and geography. Thanks to the Library in Rathmines I was able to get books on worldwide travel. I owe Andrew Carnegie a debt for setting up the Libraries in Dublin.
Rathmines in the thirties was a happy time for me. Like all my friends my expectations were simple by today’s standards, for instance one penny could get 16 toffees or a bar of chocolate. Four pennies was the price of Cinema admission. It was usual to try and collect two jam jars and exchange them for four pence in a local shop. It could take half a day to locate two jam jars; but a visit to the Lucy Lane usually brought results, unless other kids had the same idea. Two old pennies would be worth about one cent today.
The summer meant swimming in the Canal or the Dodder and the best of all the sea at Sea Point or the Forty Foot. This meant a lift on the Da’s bicycle so until I could ride a bike sea swims were rare.
Once a year we all went to Bray for the day. The narrow street down to the Sea front was full of shops selling all kinds of desirable goods but the money was in short supply. So it was down to the sea and a swim in very cold water. A small fire was lit and tea made. Boiling water was sold along the front to those who could afford it.
The Emergency (Second World War to the rest of the world) put a different style of life into the Rathmines area. The blackout and rationing and the bombs dropping in the South Circular Road and Terenure made the gang join the Air Raid Precautions Service. Some went to the Fire service while I went to the Emergency Communications. I now had a second hand bicycle and this meant I could go anywhere I wanted.
I went all over Dublin, Wicklow and Meath. I joined An Oige and went into the Six Counties to secure Tea and Cycle Tires which were not available in Dublin unless you knew someone who had a supply. The same applied to chocolate cigs, whiskey and almost everything required for normal living by our standards.
While I was underage I joined the L.D.F. in 1943 and experienced a new outlook on life. Three weeks in Gormanstown under the supervision of CIS Doyle made me appreciate how well off I was at home and yet I grew to love the Army way of life; the comradeship, the organization and even the discipline and most of all the Bullshit. I am glad to say that each year we have a renunion which I always attend.
In 1945 I got a job as an apprentice Electrician and in 1952 I got a job in Manchester which was to change my lifestyle as after a short period I was in charge of all the work the firm carried out in The Republic and Northern Ireland.
In 1956 with the introduction of the Factories act 1955, my skills were saleable and I got a job in a semi-state Company with a pension at 65. I thought I was made. However Market Forces intervened and at very short notice I was told that the management thought I should retire at 60 so that I could enjoy the remainder of my life. My economic state was not taken into consideration.
So in 1987 I found myself in a situation I had not made plans for so I went to the local Citizens Advice Centre. They pointed me in the right direction as to how to preserve my Social Welfare Rights and prepare to reenter the workforce. I eventually got work with the Central Statistics Office and a variety of short-term jobs.
It was at his stage I decided that I owed a lot to The National Social Service Board and I applied to become a volunteer. I was accepted trained and posted to Mount Argus Centre. The expansion of the Sundrive Road Centre made Mount Argus redundant and volunteers were sent to Sundrive.
It was at Community Services Workshop that I was made aware of what’s now the Genie Project and I can operate a computer, go on the Internet, send an email. In addition I have met a small group of wonderful people who have had the same experience as me.
I owe any success in life to my parents, my wife and family, teachers and now members of the Genie Project, in particular Phil for showing me how to type at age 75 and Steve, who demolished all the electronic walls and cul de sacs that I have encountered in the last eight weeks.
I will sign off here.
LIFE DURING WARTIME By Joe Roche
In 1939, Europe and the World went to War, while in the Republic of Ireland, we had an Emergency.
The Emergency is remembered by a shortage of Goods and Supplies. Essential food was rationed. Tea was in very short supply and at one period it was one half ounce per person per week. This is equal to about five tea bags today.
The Gang I knocked about with in those days discovered An Oige and we spent time in Wicklow Hostels and noticed that one group seemed never to be short of tea. So we established friendly relations. How come so much tea! Go North young men! There is a War on. How can we cross the Border and avoid Customs and Police on both sides? Simply go out The Newry Road from Dundalk and turn right over the Mountain before the Customs Station and head for Omeath. Cross the river on the Narrow Water ferry which seldom has Security on it.
So the day after we arrived in Omeath we crossed the border in spite of the fact that it was secure in preparation for the second Front. We were now about to take the advice of our friends in Wicklow about rationing in the North.
The drill was to go to the food office, which was generally located in the Town Hall, or Municipal Office of towns and villages in Northern Ireland.
On production of your identity card you would receive one weeks emergency rations. The scam was to visit as many towns and villages in one day and secure a weeks emergency rations from each office. Three a day was attainable.
You then used the tea coupons to buy tea; their rations were more generous than ours. As meat was short in the North our meat coupons could be traded for tea coupons. In this way to secure a pound of tea in four days was possible. Another part of the operation was to secure bicycle tyres and tubes. This was achieved by going into the North with worn out tyres and tubes fitted to the bicycle and replacing them with new. These were freely available in the North,
The return to Dublin followed the same route as we took to the North avoiding Customs, Police, B Specials Military Police both British and American and on our own return to Dublin a warm welcome for that pound of tea which involved a round trip on the bike of around four hundred miles in all kinds of weather, but after all there was a World War On…..
The Emergency is remembered by a shortage of Goods and Supplies. Essential food was rationed. Tea was in very short supply and at one period it was one half ounce per person per week. This is equal to about five tea bags today.
The Gang I knocked about with in those days discovered An Oige and we spent time in Wicklow Hostels and noticed that one group seemed never to be short of tea. So we established friendly relations. How come so much tea! Go North young men! There is a War on. How can we cross the Border and avoid Customs and Police on both sides? Simply go out The Newry Road from Dundalk and turn right over the Mountain before the Customs Station and head for Omeath. Cross the river on the Narrow Water ferry which seldom has Security on it.
So the day after we arrived in Omeath we crossed the border in spite of the fact that it was secure in preparation for the second Front. We were now about to take the advice of our friends in Wicklow about rationing in the North.
The drill was to go to the food office, which was generally located in the Town Hall, or Municipal Office of towns and villages in Northern Ireland.
On production of your identity card you would receive one weeks emergency rations. The scam was to visit as many towns and villages in one day and secure a weeks emergency rations from each office. Three a day was attainable.
You then used the tea coupons to buy tea; their rations were more generous than ours. As meat was short in the North our meat coupons could be traded for tea coupons. In this way to secure a pound of tea in four days was possible. Another part of the operation was to secure bicycle tyres and tubes. This was achieved by going into the North with worn out tyres and tubes fitted to the bicycle and replacing them with new. These were freely available in the North,
The return to Dublin followed the same route as we took to the North avoiding Customs, Police, B Specials Military Police both British and American and on our own return to Dublin a warm welcome for that pound of tea which involved a round trip on the bike of around four hundred miles in all kinds of weather, but after all there was a World War On…..
Tony Beatty's Story
At the age of 4/5 years I went to Stanhope St Convent. It was a Convent run by the Sisters Of Charity.
I had a nun called Sister Sanaclause; She was a lovely person. My teacher’s name was Mrs Brennan, I remember she was a large lady; She was my teacher from Junior Babies ‘til 1st Class. I made my First Communion in there at 7 years old, I remember we were asked to decide on which School we wanted to attend.
My Mother suggested I go to the Christian Brothers in North Brunswick St. I applied and was accepted and started 2nd Class, I stayed there ‘til I was 14 years old. In the meantime I had done and passed my Primary Cert, and entered Secondary School, I then left after two years and left to go to work. I had applied for 4 different jobs and was ok to start in each.
My Father advised me to go for a job that would have an apprenticeship. There was a firm that was very well established called J&C McLaughlin’s Ltd. that was looking for a boy to serve his time as a Brass Finisher Apprentice. They were in Pearse St. Dublin and not too far away from where I lived.
I was to serve 7 years of which I was to attend Bolton St College at night (3 times a week for 5 years) I did this and passed my Junior and Senior Certs at my trade. The job we did consisted of working with non-ferrous metals. That is metals like Copper, Brass, Bronze etc.
I worked in a lot of churches in Ireland, England , Scotland and Africa. When I was 19 I went on my first big job on my own. It was unusual to be out so early on your own. This was in Cork City at a place called Wilton Cross. I had helped to make a copper house for the top of the Church Dome and also to erect a cross of top of this. There was lots of other work as well. I was working there for about nine months. This was in about 1969.
I also spent about a year in Galway Cathedral where I made the front and side doors (in the factory) and went to site to erect them. The Dome also had a tower 40 ft high called a Flitch. We made rails and statues all in bronze to last a lifetime.
I loved my work and always enjoyed doing it. I was about 20 years altogether on sites. When Brass work was scarce we went into Aluminium work. Erected hundreds of shop fronts. IDA Factories up and down the country. Jobs like Cork Regional Hospital (700 windows and Front Entrances). I went as far away as Calabar West Africa, This was for a Harbour to be constructed for the Nigerian Government, near the border with Cameroon on the West Coast. My firm had made different Buildings (Transit, warehouses, Fire Station, Maintenance & Office Buildings).
I stayed ‘til after I was 36 years with the firm. When it went into liquidation, I was lucky to keep on working with the new firm (only one out of the old firm).
I had run a new part of the firm when I came home from Africa. It was a steel Blasting & Spray Painting Factory. The new firm called Shirlings & Sons, asked me to set it up and keep it running, as they had no one to do it. (I had run it for 5 years) so had no problems. I worked for Shirlings for 14 years ‘til I retired. I had worked 50 years without a break.
In the last few years I had a few accidents. When working with another man loading a trailer, the chains slipped and the 5.5 ton load drove me through the floor of the trailer. I got a bit of a limp but arthritis set in on my spine.
Loading another trailer, 60 frames sprang up and down and sliced off my R.H. finger After surgery they fixed it ok . At the end I got a bad dose of Dermatitis on my face, neck and scalp. I was advised to give up the work to get away from the fumes, vapours and paint, so even with no pension and only 65 I got out of the environment.
After saying all that I was slowing down. I found I could not stand or walk too long. The accident on the trailer had done the damage to my vertebrae at the top and bottom of my spine. I put in for an invalidity pension and got it. It is not much money to receive after all the years but I’m over 66 now so what the heck, I keep going with the help of my Computer & Classes.
I had a nun called Sister Sanaclause; She was a lovely person. My teacher’s name was Mrs Brennan, I remember she was a large lady; She was my teacher from Junior Babies ‘til 1st Class. I made my First Communion in there at 7 years old, I remember we were asked to decide on which School we wanted to attend.
My Mother suggested I go to the Christian Brothers in North Brunswick St. I applied and was accepted and started 2nd Class, I stayed there ‘til I was 14 years old. In the meantime I had done and passed my Primary Cert, and entered Secondary School, I then left after two years and left to go to work. I had applied for 4 different jobs and was ok to start in each.
My Father advised me to go for a job that would have an apprenticeship. There was a firm that was very well established called J&C McLaughlin’s Ltd. that was looking for a boy to serve his time as a Brass Finisher Apprentice. They were in Pearse St. Dublin and not too far away from where I lived.
I was to serve 7 years of which I was to attend Bolton St College at night (3 times a week for 5 years) I did this and passed my Junior and Senior Certs at my trade. The job we did consisted of working with non-ferrous metals. That is metals like Copper, Brass, Bronze etc.
I worked in a lot of churches in Ireland, England , Scotland and Africa. When I was 19 I went on my first big job on my own. It was unusual to be out so early on your own. This was in Cork City at a place called Wilton Cross. I had helped to make a copper house for the top of the Church Dome and also to erect a cross of top of this. There was lots of other work as well. I was working there for about nine months. This was in about 1969.
I also spent about a year in Galway Cathedral where I made the front and side doors (in the factory) and went to site to erect them. The Dome also had a tower 40 ft high called a Flitch. We made rails and statues all in bronze to last a lifetime.
I loved my work and always enjoyed doing it. I was about 20 years altogether on sites. When Brass work was scarce we went into Aluminium work. Erected hundreds of shop fronts. IDA Factories up and down the country. Jobs like Cork Regional Hospital (700 windows and Front Entrances). I went as far away as Calabar West Africa, This was for a Harbour to be constructed for the Nigerian Government, near the border with Cameroon on the West Coast. My firm had made different Buildings (Transit, warehouses, Fire Station, Maintenance & Office Buildings).
I stayed ‘til after I was 36 years with the firm. When it went into liquidation, I was lucky to keep on working with the new firm (only one out of the old firm).
I had run a new part of the firm when I came home from Africa. It was a steel Blasting & Spray Painting Factory. The new firm called Shirlings & Sons, asked me to set it up and keep it running, as they had no one to do it. (I had run it for 5 years) so had no problems. I worked for Shirlings for 14 years ‘til I retired. I had worked 50 years without a break.
In the last few years I had a few accidents. When working with another man loading a trailer, the chains slipped and the 5.5 ton load drove me through the floor of the trailer. I got a bit of a limp but arthritis set in on my spine.
Loading another trailer, 60 frames sprang up and down and sliced off my R.H. finger After surgery they fixed it ok . At the end I got a bad dose of Dermatitis on my face, neck and scalp. I was advised to give up the work to get away from the fumes, vapours and paint, so even with no pension and only 65 I got out of the environment.
After saying all that I was slowing down. I found I could not stand or walk too long. The accident on the trailer had done the damage to my vertebrae at the top and bottom of my spine. I put in for an invalidity pension and got it. It is not much money to receive after all the years but I’m over 66 now so what the heck, I keep going with the help of my Computer & Classes.
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