'It was hard work. We learned it all together through life, never read 'the manual '

'It was hard work. We learned it all together through life, never read 'the manual '

Billy Gallagher remembers his wedding day and his honeymoon in Austria where he and his wife went skiing.

Billy Gallagher

Trinity College Dublin

1955

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Billy Gallagher

Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Life Story

Wicklow, Glen of the Downs

1950's

We had no sexual relationship before marriage and on our wedding day one of her married brothers took me aside and told me not to rush sex, to leave it for a day or two until we were both ready.We were married in Donnybrook Church on 15th January 1972, spent our first night in a dreadful room, the size of a ballroom in the La Touche hotel in Greystones. It was a cold wet night, a cold vast room with a bed that sank in the middle and a one-bar electric fire. We flew to Austria on a skiing holiday the following day and consummated the marriage that evening after a swim. It was hard work. We learned it all together through life, never read 'the manual', never had experience either before or since and have no idea even today if we are any good at it or not. I do know that we have six children and no accidents ever. Contraception was never either considered or an issue.The wedding day itself was for family only, about 25 of us. I made a speech and cried all through it. That was in the Glen of the Downs hotel in Wicklow (15th Jan 1972).We returned from honeymoon on a snowy Sunday, Bloody Sunday in Derry. We were diverted to Shannon and came by a dreadfully cold and slow train into Amiens St station at about 3 a.m on the Monday morning. We had to make our way to the airport in the snow for the car and got into our flat at 39 Mount Merrion Avenue about 7/8 a.m. We had bought a suite of furniture in the auction rooms on the Quays forﾣ17 (second hand) and a kitchen suite forﾣ80 (brand new).We have a marriage that worked well in the traditional manner. I went out to work and Eithne made the home.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)