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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…
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…
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…
Paddy Marshall: Blackpool, Pidgeon Racing, Cinema,
Paddy was born in 1941 in Great William O’Brien Street, and grew up in Narrow Lane, nearby; he describes the area around it which constituted his neighbourhood. He came from a family of 10. His mother was from Watercourse Road, his father from Narrow…
Mary Marshall: Blackpool, Childhood, Hunting,
Mary grew up in Thomas Davis Street, Blackpool. Both her parents were from Blackpool. Her mother liked to use Grand Parade library, and her father was an avid reader who told stories from Greek mythology. At the time the area bounded onto the…
Eileen Jones: Blackpool, Shawlies, Sunbeam,
Eileen Jones (b. 1931) was born in Millfield Cottages. When she was 4 years old her family moved to Welsh’s Lane in Blackpool; members of her extended family lived nearby. Her mother was born in 1896. Her father was a builder’s labourer.
There was…
There was…
Brenda Twomey: Coal Quay, Peg Twomey's, Childhood Games
Brenda talks about the Coal Quay, and about her family’s shop Peggy Twomey’s , also known as the Food Emporium. She describes the business as her mother’s concern. She talks about the family nature of the business. She feels that Cork Corporation has…
Breda Sheehan: Halloween Games, Childhood Games, Family
Breda (born circa 1950) grew up in Spring Lane, Blackpool. As a child she used to play in The Glen, which was then in the countryside. The neighbourhood houses were small, with an outside toilet, so that every Saturday the children were washed in a…
Marie McAllen: Ballyphehane
Marie was born and raised in Ballyphehane, before and after development of corporation housing. Her Mother’s family name was Cronin and her grandmother was Halloran who owned Halloran’s orchard where the Ballyphehane Church now stands.
Tim O’Brien: Cork Fire Brigade, Murphy’s Brewery, Murphy’s Rock,
Tim talks about working for Cork’s Fire Brigade, and about changes to the job over the years. He has been a fire-fighter since 1975 and loves the job.
Tim was born in Watercourse Road. His father worked in Murphy’s Brewery. His mother came from West…
Tim was born in Watercourse Road. His father worked in Murphy’s Brewery. His mother came from West…
Brigid Carmody: Traveling Community, Tradition, Change,
Brigid is a Traveller. She talks about her childhood within an extended family, and about Traveller heritage and culture.
Brigid talks about growing up quickly within an extended family. She describes adult life in a caravan and the difficulties of…
Brigid talks about growing up quickly within an extended family. She describes adult life in a caravan and the difficulties of…
Karina Abdulbaneeva: Art, Russia, London, Spirituality, Nature, Nationality, New Year’s Day, Religion,
Russian born Karina Abdulbaneeva, talks about coming to Cork from London in 2001 and her impressions of the smallness and accessibility of the city. She describes the helpfulness of Cork people and the spirituality of the country in which she feels…
Noreen Geaney: Childhood Games, Céilí, Halloween, School, The Stations.
An account of growing up on a small farm in the Cork countryside and the simplicity of life in the 1950s.
Noreen was born in Cuileann Ui Chaoimh in Co. Cork. She had three sisters and one brother. She attended Owen na Bui National School. She lived…
Noreen was born in Cuileann Ui Chaoimh in Co. Cork. She had three sisters and one brother. She attended Owen na Bui National School. She lived…
Emeka Ikebuasi: Customs, Nigeria, Political Unrest, Stories, Refugee
Emeka Ikebuasi from Nigeria describes the harrowing political events which led to his family coming to Cork as refugees. He talks, in depth, of his village upbringing in Nigeria and highlights village ceremonies, the telling of stories, witch doctors…
Kay O’Carroll: The Northside, Emigration, Childhood Games, Music, Tenements,
Kay O’Carroll describes her early life growing up in Gurranabraher giving engaging and colourful detail about childhood games and activities, the community spirit, women’s work, going out to the cinema and show bands as a young woman.
Kay was…
Kay was…
Liz Steiner Scott: America, Customs, English market, Children's Games, Maternity, Religion,
Liz was born into an upper middle class, liberal, Jewish family in 1948 in a suburb of New Jersey, USA. She has one brother and one sister. Her maternal grandparents lived close and were part of their family life. Her father commuted daily to New…
Isabelle Sheridan: English Market, Food, Culture
Isabelle Sheridan is from a suburb outside Paris called Le Pleine de Mont Esson. She moved to Ireland in 1986 and eventually established the well-known charcuterie called ‘On the Pig’s Back’ in the English Market in Cork. She discusses her childhood…
Marie-Annick Desplanques: Brittany, Breton, Coiffe, Crêperie, Foodways, France, Children's Games.
Marie-Annick Desplanques grew up in Brittany, west France. She moved about frequently as a child because her father worked on the railways. She discusses food, games, Christmas in France as well as moving to Ireland from Newfoundland and the…
Noreen Hanover: Christmas, Childhood Games, Cinema, Ghost stories, Milk and Cake Shops, Pawnbrokers, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Working life,
Noreen grew up during the 1950s in Nicholas Church Place, off Cove Street. She says the house was a tenement house shared with a family who lived upstairs. She went to the South Presentation Convent School. Her father died when she was 10. She left…
Eileen Claffey: Childhood Games, Food, Farming, Festivals, Irish Language,
Eileen grew up on a farm in Inchaclough, West Cork with one brother and four sisters. She was the third child. They had a cousin and a neighbour’s child living with them. Her parents were hardworking– her mother used to work at least 12 hours a day.…