The children had been going to a small private school, Avoca and Kingstown preparatory school. The teachers were quaint old ladies who spoke both nicely and kindly. I was paying by post-dated cheques to Eithne's great embarrassment but all the…
Eithne more or less gave up work on having Patrick and became a full time mother of immense patience. Her contribution to our marriage would cover perhaps 80% of it; my only job was to earn the money. I went out to work, she ran the house and…
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…
Family life started on Bloody Monday 1972 (day after Bloody Sunday) at 39 Mount Merrion Avenue. We had rented an unfurnished apartment on the top floor of this very cold and draughty house. It was carpeted (cheaply) and an open fire fireplace. The…
In February 1973 my adoptive mother died suddenly,one and a half years after my late husband. A neighbour alerted the police that she had not been seen that morning. The police broke into the house and found my mother unconscious. Pamela and I…
In 1965 my husband Tom took his first heart attack,Pamela was only 4 years old. This was a very difficult time for me. A family,belonging to the church which we attended,came for my daughter every Sunday for Sunday school. The church is Rosemary…
After my marriage I accidently found my birth certificate,informing me I had been adopted at birth. This was a terrible shock for me. My natural mother had not been married. My father's name on the birth certificate was 'not known'. I then had to…
In 1990 the opportunity arose for me to buy a small semi-detached house in Priory Park Finaghy. My daughter and her husband and the family lived in Priory Park,therefore I sold the house in Edinburgh Street and moved to Finaghy. I continued my work…
When I got married in July 1959 I went to live above the shop which my husband owned,just off the Crumlin Road. The Crumlin Road is in North Belfast and is parallel with the Shankhill and Falls Road. Our shop was in Danube Street,this was a happy…
