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Tom Jones: Shandon Street, Emigration, Childhood
Tom was born circa 1950 in a building at the bottom of Shandon Street.
He remembers watching the Cork Opera House on fire in 1955. He recalls childhood games and explains the game of Kick the Can and Pitch and Toss. He talks about the nature of…
He remembers watching the Cork Opera House on fire in 1955. He recalls childhood games and explains the game of Kick the Can and Pitch and Toss. He talks about the nature of…
Rosarii Comber: North Gate Chemist
Rosarii Comber is a pharmacist at North Gate Pharmacy, a business that has been in her family since 1964. She begins the interview discussing some of the history of the building – that families would have lived above the business and that at one…
Patrick Cooney: Stonemasons,
Pat, who is not as stonemason but is from a long line of masons, grew up in London, his family left Cork in the 1880s
They brought their history with them- an oral history. They talked about Cork occasionally. One side of his family were masons- so…
They brought their history with them- an oral history. They talked about Cork occasionally. One side of his family were masons- so…
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…
Murty O’Sullivan: Masonry, building Trade, Celtic Tiger
Murty O’Sullivan, who grew up in Blackpool, is the third generation in the building trade as a stonemason, with the fourth generation just starting. He describes the tradition of families passing on trades through the generations and the difficulties…
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…
Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ O’Sullivan: Ballyphehane
Lizzie hails from Wolfe Tone Street on the Northside of the city. After spending a few years in England as a young adult she returned to Cork and was an early resident of the Corporation development in Ballyphehane. Lizzie has lived in Ballyphehane…
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…
Jim Fahy: Masonry, Apprenticeships, Emigration
Jim Fahy is a stonemason who was interviewed in 2015 by Michael Moore from the Cork Folklore Project, also a stonemason. Jim Fahy comes from several generations of stonemasons on both sides of his family. He describes the ‘closed trade’ system, which…
Jack Byrne: Blackpool, World War Two, Sports
Jack talks briefly about life history and remembers local sporting heroes such as Christy Ring.
Jack (born circa 1926) grew up in O’Connell Street. His parents were both Northsiders. His father worked for the Post Office. His mother was born in 1888…
Jack (born circa 1926) grew up in O’Connell Street. His parents were both Northsiders. His father worked for the Post Office. His mother was born in 1888…
Jack Johnson: Masonry, Fishing, Working Life
Jack begins by describing his family background in the mason trade and his own beginnings as a mason.
He then talks about social events and going to dances at The Arcadia club. Jack then mentions his growing up in Monkstown and schooldays.…
He then talks about social events and going to dances at The Arcadia club. Jack then mentions his growing up in Monkstown and schooldays.…
Billy McCarthy: Childhood, Catholicism, GAA.
Billy, a one-time Cork Folklore Project member of staff and long-term collaborator, was born in Cork in 1941 and grew up with his six siblings in Quaker Road. His mother was born in Cork and his father came from Dunmanway. Billy attended St Marie’s…
Billy McMurty
Billy McMurty was born in the 1930s in South Armagh to a Catholic mother and Protestant Father who was a marine engineer, Lived in Larne during the blitz. Grew up in Cobh after World War 2 and recalls Cobh through the decades. Speaks about education,…
Arthur Walker Snr: Evergreen Road, Ballyphehane
Arthur tells of his early life on Evergreen road and the move to Ballyphehane in the 1950s
Mícheál Ó Geallabháin: Family, Community, Social Class, Sport, Music, Emigration.
An in-depth, evocative interview about growing up in The Middle Parish highlighting poverty and the power of education in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Mícheál Ó Geallabháin gives intimate and warm detail about family life, community spirit, class,…
Edith O'Regan: Grattan Street, Healthcare, Working Life
Edith grew up in Youghal where she recalls playing childhood games including Red Rover, chainey, a makeshift tennis and sandcastles on the beach.
Describes attending school in cold substandard buildings. Preferred self-directed learning to rote…
Sean Higgisson: Grattan Street, Healthcare, Working Life
Sean grew up by the Lough in Cork city and spent holidays in Ardmore. Describes his family home and memories of his grandparents. Talks about playing football and the game Red Rover as a child.
His mother was not allowed to keep her job in the public…