'I didn't get to visit Dublin until I was in my teens and Aunt Lizzie brought me back for a week. She bought me a lovely pair of blue shoes'

'I didn't get to visit Dublin until I was in my teens and Aunt Lizzie brought me back for a week. She bought me a lovely pair of blue shoes'

Margaret remembers some of the excitements of her childhood, such as taking the train to visit her aunt in Dublin.

Margaret McLoughlin

Trinity College Dublin

1945

This item is protected by original copyright

This content may be downloaded and used (with attribution) for research, teaching or private study. It may not be used for commercial purposes without permission.

Margaret McLoughlin

Childhood and Early Life

Life Story

Glendalough, Co. Wicklow

1950s

A great source of interest in the village was the trains which ran from Sligo to Inniskillen. They were people in the village who would go to meet the train and then relate who got on or off or if packages arrived for different people. It was the same with the Post Office everyone would know if a parcel came for a family and there would be great interest in its contents especially if it came from America. As we didn't go on holidays a very special treat would be to go to the Holy Well in Sligo on Garland Sunday the last Sunday in July. The train would be packed and when we arrived there, we had open air Mass and then there were all sorts of stalls selling all kind of things. It was great. There was one Garland Sunday when we missed the train. I must have cried all the way home from the disappointment. Mind you in later years when we were attending school in Sligo we would try our best to miss the rail car but Mr Lambe would coming running down the road with the flag in his hand and holding up the car for us - so aggravating. Very few owned cars at that time. There were two hackneys which took us to Bundoran for the day also to Rosses Point. They were our treats. The only people in the village who owned cars were the doctor Paul Jeiter who owned the Hotel and Sergeant Curley. The sergeant brought us to Strandhill or Rosses Point during the Summer. I didn't get to visit Dublin until I was in my teens and Aunt Lizzie brought me back for a week. She bought me a lovely pair of blue shoes. Another memento of that holiday was when Uncle John took Sean and myself to the new picture house in Dunlaoghaire. Talk about luxury. I thought it was a wonderland such thick beautiful carpets. We just sank into them. It was like heaven as I had never been in such a luxurious place. . It was a wonderful experience.

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

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)