'We were a short drive from Oxford and within walking distance of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill'

'We were a short drive from Oxford and within walking distance of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill'

Frank remembers living in Oxford, London.

Frank Gaynor

Trinity College Dublin

1975

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Frank Gaynor

Marriage and Family

Life Story

Oxford, England

1970's

We had a lucky break when we managed to rent a house in Woodstock. The owners were a university Professor and his wife who were moving to London for a year. We were a short drive from Oxford and within walking distance of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, who is buried in the nearby village of Bladon. We have many wonderful memories from that year around Oxford. The weather, apart from some chilly spells over the winter, was kind to us. During the autumn of 1975 we regularly went for walks with the children in the grounds of Blenheim Palace where the mature trees were displaying magnificent colours. That was followed by one of the hottest summers in England for many years. We took advantage of the sunny weekends to visit university colleges, explore the Cotswolds and do some punting on the Cherwell River. While I was attending the Institute at Norham Gardens Monica tried to combine working two or three days a week with taking care of the children. All too often on the day that Monica wanted to get out to work one of the children would be sick or require some special attention. In an effort to generate some much needed income I started working as a barman. My boss half - ignored the number of glasses I broke on my first night, but a couple of nights later when I fumbled with a cream dispenser, and parked some of the cream on the substantial bosom of one aristocratic lady, my number was up.OxfordThe rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre. For a distance of 16km along the river, in the vicinity of Oxford, the Thames is known as The Isis.Oxford is the oldest university in the English - speaking world with some evidence of teaching there dating back to the 11th century. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209 some academics fled to Cambridge where they established what is now known as the University of Cambridge. One of the largest colleges is Christ Church, which is also the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford. Hogwarts Hall in the Harry Potter movie was inspired by the Great Hall in Christ Church. It was while boating on the River Thames near Christ Church meadows in 1862 that Charles Dodgson entertained the 3 Liddell sisters, Lorina, Alice and Edith, with his story about a girl named Alice who fell into a rabbit - hole. Following a request from Alice Liddell, Dodgson put his story in writing, and in 1865 it was published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, under the name of Lewis Carroll. Other colleges that are likely to catch the eye of a visitor to Oxford are Magdalen College that dominates Oxford High Street, St Hilda's that overlooks the river, and Brasenose College with its stunning gardens. The Bodleian Library, which opened in 1602, has 176km of shelving. Not far from the Bodleian Library is Blackwell's Bookstore on Broad Street. To accommodate its large book sales room Blackwell's excavated underneath Trinity College gardens.

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

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)