'When war was declared seemingly the concensus in the village was that no one supported the Hotel, but Daddy donned his hat and walked down the main street and into the Hotel as if nothing was wrong'

'When war was declared seemingly the concensus in the village was that no one supported the Hotel, but Daddy donned his hat and walked down the main street and into the Hotel as if nothing was wrong'

Margaret recounts how some of the shops and places of amusements in her village changed temporarily after the war broke out.

Margaret McLoughlin

Trinity College Dublin

1939

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Margaret McLoughlin

Childhood and Early Life

Life Story

Keswick Lake District, UK

1950s

We played a lot around the barracks and were a bit afraid of the black hole - the cell. After a fair if somebody was the worse for drink the sergeant gave him lodgings for the night. At that time there were five garda and one sergeant in the village. There were two mills - a flour mill at the station ( Mr Johnston and another man who lived up the high road could be seen every evening at six o'clock striding down the town with their overalls slightly white from the flour, and at the end of the town there was a saw mill. I don't know what employment they gave but every little helped. O'Hara's at the top of the town was the major shop. Every Christmas it was lit up like fairyland. It had a big life like Santa Claus and we children would go up and feast our eyes on him. Mind you there were no gifts being given out. It was the custom in the shops that the people that supported them during the year got a present. It could be a packet of tea or maybe a big bag of biscuits. How we looked forward to that treat. Mrs Creed was the most generous person . She never let a child out without a sweet. Likewise poor Phil Brady. My mother said Phil gave away all his profits. God rest him. As well as the grocery and drapery in O Hara's there was also hardware in the yard. There were five or six working in the premises. Across the road there was another hardware shop owned by Mr Robinson. He seemed to have his own clientele. There was always wellingtons boots and buckets hanging outside the shop Another grocery shop was Gilmores and at one time had a thriving bakery. I don't' know when it burned down but it was never started again. At the end of the main street was the Abbey Hotel owned by Germans named Jeiters and it was very famous. During the Summer parties of tourists would drive out from Sligo and partake of afternoon tea in the gardens. When we were bringing the water from the well we used to love peeping in the gate and seeing them playing tennis or having tea. When war was declared seemingly the consensus in the village was that no one supported the Hotel but Daddy donned his hat and walked down the main street and into the Hotel as if nothing was wrong. I suppose they all went back in time but Daddy was held in high esteem by the Jeiters. Paul would send up a salmon now and again and Daddy often accompanied him out to Carrickonerr Lake when he would be checking the water. Indeed Paul brought him to Dublin on a few occasions. I think the two of them went to the Theatre Royal to see the show. He was the county engineer at the time and before rural electrification we had the electricity. It was wonderful. The candles and oil lamps were used up to that. Another chore we had was to go to Gilmores to collect the oil for the lamps. Considering the bad light they had neither my father or mother used glasses until into their seventies.

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

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)