Archive (67 life histories found)
'A heavy set nun, she was, I remember clearly, very fond of the cane or her long black leather strap worn around her waist which came to hand very easily when the cane was not to hand.'
At four years of age, I started primary school and attended the Holy Faith Convent in Little Strand Street, Dublin, where I remained until I was fourteen years old. I walked to school with my sister and brother. Being a convent school, we were…
Tags: Bullies, Cane, Communion, Confirmation, Handwriting, Nuns, religion, school
'... my parents decided there was no future in an academic career'
I stayed at school until 1935,when my parents decided there was no future in an academic career,and I was apprenticed to a wool merchant in Hamburg from 1935 to 1938. Thus started my working life. My payment per month was for the 1st year 19.00 RM…
'J'member '
J' member. J'member the days we played ball on the streets, Not a care in the world as we munched on our sweets. No cars to disrupt us 'cept cops on the beat Plodding their way on oversized feet. J'member the days when the milk was delivered, The…
'Imagine trying to sell Newry as a shopping destination at the height of the troubles! '
All my life I have been involved with various organisations covering cultural, charitable and business. On the business side, I spent almost 20 years with Newry Chamber of Trade holding the posts of PRO and President. Imagine trying to sell Newry as…
'I have tried my best to live my life according to these standards and to pass them on to my children. '
Honesty, integrity, respect, reliability, good manners - these are the values that were instilled in me from an early age. First of all by my Parents, then at school and, as I grew up, by the teachings of the church. I have tried my best to live my…
Tags: family, Good Manners, Honesty, Intergity, Reliability, religion, Respect, school
'Corporal punishment was widely in use. '
Corporal punishment was widely in use. I can never understand why I should be punished for getting the wrong answer. If the teacher had been doing his/her job properly, I would have understood the question better.
Tags: corporal punishment, Learning, school, teachers
'The lovely fountain pen I got from Uncle Ben in Egypt'
School in St. Louis is mostly good memories. In Ballymena. Singing in the front hall with Sr. Marie Gertrude, playing around the huge rhododendron bushes which could become any place you wanted to imagine. My tenth birthday and the retreat. The…
'There was not anything particularly Gaelic about the curriculum in the school when I was there, though we did sing some Irish songs'
I started school in Cloughmills Public Elementary School on my fourth birthday. I always felt my mother had taken her first legal opportunity to get me out of the way but she assures me that she felt like the mother in this poem, which was one that…
Tags: Education, Gaelic, Gaeltacht, Irish Language, school
'I went to school when I was four years old'
I went to school when I was 4 yrs old, to Clonduff P.E.S. There would have been 30 to 40 pupils and two teachers: one lady who taught junior pupils up to third class and a male teacher who taught 4th, 5th and 6th and 7th class for pupils who stayed…
'I seemed to be always in trouble'
One memory I will never forget. I went to school when I was four years. The small children sat on a mat on the floor playing with blocks. I put one in my mouth behind my teeth. The teachers tried to get it out with no success. The principal came…
Tags: children, Hide and Seek, school