Archive (1372 life histories found)
'Donnycarney '
'O, it was out by Donnycarney When the bat flew from tree to tree My love and I did walk together; And sweet were the words she said to me. Along with us the summer wind Went murmuring - O, happily! - But softer than the breath of summer Was…
'We had our Honeymoon in Cornwall after spending one night in the Regent Palace Hotel in Leicester Square in London '
On the 14th September 1966 Sheila and I married in Mullaghea Church outside Kells Co Meath. The church is a very small one outside Kells by about two and a half miles and the entrance is on a country lane much frequented by farmers herding their…
'Another entertainment popular with our contemporaries was the new craze of Ballad Singing '
We got engaged on 24th August 1965 and celebrated with dinner in the Metropole restaurant. The Metropole was an entertainment complex with Ballroom, Restaurant and Cinema all under one roof. The engagement ring cost ԣ120.00, as small fortune in…
'The flats in Dublin at that time had to be experienced to be believed '
When I first met her Sheila was living in 'digs' in Mountjoy Street, very close to the City centre. She was working in Bailey Gibson on the South Circular Road. Later she moved to a flat in Stamer street on the South Circular Road. In none of these…
'Dates involved a trip to 'The Pictures' or going dancing in one of the many venues around the city '
Dating was a complicated business in those days. In the first place the meeting place said a lot about the people involved. Country people or Culchies as they were known met at Nelson's Pillar or under the clock at Clery's department store. This was…
'I asked to walk her home and on arrival at the house where she was staying I asked if I might have a goodnight kiss '
Shortly before starting in Roche's Stores I met Sheila Dunne in the Metropole Ballroom on 13th May 1963. This was a pivotal moment in my life. She was, and still is, a slim dark haired, supremely confident girl, not long up from Kells in Co Meath. I…
'There was a man who took a wife '
'There was a man who took a wife To walk beside him through his life They walked through sunshine and through rain They walked through pleasure and through pain She wore a dress of yellow gold She was a wonder to behold And underneath a purple…
'On my twenty first birthday I was working in the restaurant as usual when somebody told me that Kim Novak was dining outside '
As addressed earlier I did not stay long in London and on returning to Dublin I got a job in Alfredo's Restaurant situated in St Mary's Lane just beside the Corporation Fruit and Vegetable market. This was one of the very few high end Italian, or…
Tags: actress, celebrity, chef, restaurant, Star
'Arriving home in the early morning I noticed that the blinds in the front room were pulled down. This was a common sign of a death in the house '
I had, until this period, no direct experience of the death of a close family member. At the age of seven my baby brother Brendan died, but we were protected by our parents from detailed knowledge of this tragic affair. Family lore has it that my…
Tags: cemetery, cowboy, death, father, Television
'I fell foul of the Sous Chef (deputy head chef) who was the pastry chef '
As best I can recall I worked in six or seven jobs in the three or four years after I left Cathal Brugha Street. As I said before, jobs were easy to get and the pay was reasonably good. I recall that I worked in The Gresham, The Dolphin, The…