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Creena O’Connell: Gurranabraher, Shawls, Allotments
Creena was born in 1932. Her family were one of the first to get a house in Gurranabraher, an estate built in 1934. Her father was able to get part-time employment with Cork Corporation working on the roads; he died when he was 58.
She recalls a…
She recalls a…
Pete Newman: Shandon Street, Unemployment, Machoness,
Pete Newman (also known as Pete Duffy) was born in 1945. He grew up in Orrery Road off Cathedral Road. His relatives came from Broad Lane and moved up to Gurranabraher.
Cyclists going up Shandon Street used to hold on to the back of buses, which…
Cyclists going up Shandon Street used to hold on to the back of buses, which…
Bernard Casey: Cathedral Road, Childhood, Cork Jazz Festival
Bernard, at the time of this interview, was the chairman of the Cork Jazz festival.
He recalls air raid shelters in Cork during the 1940s. He talks about his routine as an altar boy. The first housing developments of Cathedral Road. The countryside…
He recalls air raid shelters in Cork during the 1940s. He talks about his routine as an altar boy. The first housing developments of Cathedral Road. The countryside…
Helen Goulding: Shandon, Catholic Church, Childhood
Helen, nee Bourke was born and reared in Barrack View near the North Cathedral. Her family later moved to Leitrim Street.
She talks about her childhood. People had little but shared a lot. Boiled eggs were eaten at Easter time. Everyone was involved…
She talks about her childhood. People had little but shared a lot. Boiled eggs were eaten at Easter time. Everyone was involved…
Una Lyons: Oliver Plunkett Street, Cinemas, English Market
Una (born 1960) grew up in a guesthouse, a Georgian building on Oliver Plunkett Street. She had two siblings. Her parents had an unusually cosmopolitan outlook. Her father was an engineer with CIE trains. The street was quite residential but she also…
Liam Ó hUigín: Henry Street, The Marshes, Childhood
Liam grew up in Henry Street during the 1940s. He talks about the marshes of Cork and Pike’s Marsh, named after a Quaker merchant family.
He recalls the practice of adding “a” to the end of some placenames, such as Pana for Patrick Street. There…
He recalls the practice of adding “a” to the end of some placenames, such as Pana for Patrick Street. There…
Noreen Cronin: Shandon, The North Infirmary, Childhood
Noreen grew up in a tenement in Dominick Street next to Shandon in the early 1950s. She went to the North Pres School and worked at the North Infirmary. Her mother used to deliver babies in the area and helped to wash and lay out the dead. Her…
Peggy Kelleher: The Lough, Marriage, World War 2
Peggy (born 1930s) grew up in Hartland's Road, near The Lough. She was an only child. Her father, William Power, from County Waterford; he worked at the Munster Arcade and lived through the Burning of Cork by the Black and Tans in 1920; he was…
Derrick Gerrety: Douglas Street, Loafers, Dublin,
Derrick was born in 1950. He grew up in St Joseph's Square, Vernon Avenue, Clontarf, in a working-class enclave within a middle-class area. He describes his childhood as idyllic. The houses in the square were rented from the Sisters of Charity;…
Bernie McLoughlin: Turner's Cross, Ford's, UCC,
Bernie was born in 1939 and reared in Turner’s Cross. His mother had been a bookkeeper and his father was a supervisor in the post office. He had an older brother and an older sister, and he spent a lot of time with his parents.
He remembers queues…
He remembers queues…
Mary Sheehy: Gurranabraher, Street Traders, Bonfire Night
Mary was born in Washington Street in 1948; when she was 6 her family moved to Gurranabraher. Her mother was a trader in second-hand clothes in Kyle Street and a barmaid, her father worked for Cork Harbour Commissioners.
As a child, she had to wear…
As a child, she had to wear…
Michael O’Connell: Faranree, Politics, Childhood,
Michael was born in the 1950s and grew up in Farranferris Ave below the Church of the Redemption in Farranree. He came from a family of 13 children. He was a student at the North Mon. His mother was a great GAA fan and a sporting person who played…
Padraig O’Horgain: Church Street, Funeral Customs, Republicanism,
Padraig O’Horgain (Pat Horgan) was born in Church Street in 1951. His father was a Republican and was interned in Britain between 1939 and 1946. His father later worked at Cork Harbour.
O’Gorman’s hat factory and other businesses were cited in the…
O’Gorman’s hat factory and other businesses were cited in the…
Marie Finn: Barrack Street, Blackberry-picking, Catholic Church,
Marie (b. 1938) grew up in Barrack Street. She left school at 16 and started working.
She talks about the games she played as a child and recites part of a rhyme. You could pick blackberries and sell them to a sweet-makers. Oranges and bananas as…
She talks about the games she played as a child and recites part of a rhyme. You could pick blackberries and sell them to a sweet-makers. Oranges and bananas as…
Margaret Newman: Shawlies, Blackberry-picking, Laneways,
Margaret Newman [born 1922] talks at length about the shawls women wore, where they were bought, the types of shawl, and their uses.
She talks about the Bandon railway line, which was so slow you could lean out of the windows and pick blackberries.…
She talks about the Bandon railway line, which was so slow you could lean out of the windows and pick blackberries.…
Margaret Newman: Sunbeam Factory; Christmas, Nicknames,
Margaret Newman was born in 1922. She explains that before the Sunbeam factory there was a flax mill, which employed some children in the late 1800s.
How children ordered their presents from Santa.
Note: This is one of 4 interviews conducted with…
How children ordered their presents from Santa.
Note: This is one of 4 interviews conducted with…
Kevin Leahy: Gurranabraher, Irish Army, Docklands,
Kevin was born (circa late 1930s) in Kelly’s Lane (later Boyce’s Street). His father was in the British Army and later the forces of the Irish Free State. When Kevin was 14 he went to work as a plumber.
He remembers Blarney Street, and women who…
He remembers Blarney Street, and women who…
Margaret Newman: Blackpool, Housing, Childbirth,
Margaret was born circa 1920. She talks about her pregnancies and the births of her children. She lived with a relative and describes her housing situation at the time; she looked after her relative after he became blind.
She tells a story about…
She tells a story about…
Margaret Newman: Greenmount, Cures, Working Life,
Margaret (born circa 1920) grew up in Greenmount, near The Lough. There were 4 in the family; her father had passed away and her mother, Kate, went out to work.
She got cocoa and buns at her primary school. She tells a story about finding out that…
She got cocoa and buns at her primary school. She tells a story about finding out that…
Donnie Walsh: Gardiner's Hill, Sport, Republicanism,
Donie was born in 1948. His family lived in Stream Hill, and then in Gardiner’s Hill. He used to visit his grandmother’s house in Carrigadrohid, which had no running water nor electricity. He talks about going to the well and collecting…