Archive (1372 life histories found)

My mother died in 1994 and in the sixteen year period from 1995 to 2011 I lost five siblings, George, Freda, Tony, Carmel and Gary, to cancer caused by excessive cigarette smoking. All five were heavy smokers from a young age and all died in their…

In 1993 under the influence of a fit of madness Sheila persuaded me that it would be good to take part in a Maracycle for Co - Operation North. This involved a journey to Belfast on a bicycle, a journey of 100 miles followed by the return journey…

In 1992 I started a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management at the Irish Management Institute. This course lasted for three years and I enjoyed the entire experience immensely, except for the examinations. It was about thirty six years since I last…

We had a huge party for our 25th wedding anniversary in 1991. We hired a marquee which was left over from the visit of Pope John Paul 11 to Ireland in 1979. We continued the marquee motif forward into the invitations which we made to look like an ad…

Following the closure of Browne Brothers in 1986 a former employer, Fred Trenaman, called me and asked if I would help to establish a manufacturing operation making kit form aluminium doors. I happily accepted and started within a week. I worked for…

During the early years of our marriage I worked in Roche's Stores, as I said, a five day nine to six job. In 1972, however a decision was taken to close the Grill Bar and I found myself made redundant. This was a considerable shock, I had been…

Paul was born to us on 29th October 1969, the image of his mother with a shock of dark hair. After almost four years with no more children we decided to adopt Sarah Jane. We applied in April 1973 and got her in June. We adopted Robert after waiting…

Our house was built on the grounds of the old Artane School and some of the residents of the houses on the opposite side of the road, much older houses, resented us building there as they had been accustomed to letting their children play in the…

We had a very large garden due to the fact that the river Wad traverses it underground and no houses could be built on the spot. I was not an enthusiastic gardener and the garden was left to grow wild for a number of years. When we finally decided to…

We lived in various places for about a year whilst waiting for our house to be built. We had placed a deposit a year before the wedding but the developer sold our site to a different builder and delays ensued. Our eventual house is in Donnycarney…