Billy Gallagher
Page Three
A year later we bought 16 Rowanbyrn in Blackrock for £9,800. We got the maximum mortgage of £7,000 (you were only allowed 70% of purchase price and also the husband’s salary was only considered in calculating what repayments would be possible). At that time there was a period of inflation in Ireland and not long after that the rampant inflation period of “Red Richie Ryan”. Inflation peaked, brought on by an oil crisis, at 27%.
To get a mortgage was difficult; you needed a long history of saving in one of the building societies and they hated people who were self-employed (they didn’t trust their figures). We were at a wedding in Lamb Doyle’s and Michael Fingleton was one of the guests. He was running “The Irish Industrial Building Society” in Upper Camden Street. I never left his side and got my mortgage accordingly. Over subsequent years I remortgaged several times and always it took one phone call to Fingleton and the job was done. I was still paying off that bloody mortgage when I eventually retired in 2010 from the tax free element of my pension fund.
When the Irish Industrial was changing its name to The Irish Nationwide I was there in a “packed” audience to support my friend. He has always been most supportive and honourable, he built that building society from nothing to significance before it all blew up in his face.
