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Home Thoughts

Family Ties on McHale Road
By Bernard J. Halligan
Sep 5, 2004, 17:15

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My family, the Halligan’s were amongst the first inhabitants of McHale Road. James & Delia Halligan moved into No. 33 McHale Road in the early 1930s and went on to raise a very large family of fifteen children, there. Times were tough in those early days in the history of Castlebar’s McHale Road. The wonderful thing about living on McHale Road is that most of the families that lived on "the road" were in the same boat.

The main source of employment for the McHale Road residents, was the bacon factory, and it was not unusual to have had more than one member of a McHale Road family employed there, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. I know that many members of my family started off their working careers there.

I myself, did not spend anytime in the bacon factory as I was at the younger end of my family and we departed from Castlebar in 1963 to go to England, when I was only 15 years old, therefore, this work option was not available to me.

Even though I only spent 15 years of my life in Castlebar, I have many fond memories of the town. Growing up on "the road" we had everything anyone could ever ask for. We had the one of the best playgrounds you could ever want in "McHale Park" and there were many "unofficial" big games played there amongst the numerous fine soccer and Gaelic football players who lived on the road. These games were just as important as any game ever sanctioned by GAA.

The young inhabitants of "the road" fiercely protected their McHale Park territory from "rival gangs" from other areas of the town.

I can still remember the excitement on Sundays when there would be a scheduled Gaelic football match in McHale Park. In those days the spectators did not arrive in cars, but on bicycles and by foot. Some of us "more entrepreneurial types" would set up a bicycle park on the "back road". We would greet our "out of town" guests and offer to take care of their bicycles for them. I seem to recall that the fee was threepence. We would give them a numbered "cloakroom" ticket and the corresponding half of the ticket would be placed on their bicycle, for identification purposes. It was most important that they retained their ticket, as when the match was over we would have taken off, to spend our well-earned profits. We did a roaring business for most games.

Once the match started we would select the best of the bicycles and go on a "Tour de Castlebar". If the owners had any way of tracking the mileage they would have returned to find that their bicycles had clocked up quite a few miles while they were enjoying themselves at the match. Those were the days!!!

My most recent visit to the "road" unfortunately was a sad one. I was there to attend the funeral of my brother, John, who had returned, after 40 years living and working in England, to live at #21. He spent 6 wonderful and enjoyable years on "the road" prior to his sudden death.

It was during this recent visit that I experienced, once again, the closeness of the road’s inhabitants. On the Sunday, when John’s remains were removed from his house to be taken to the church, the people of the road formed an honour guard that followed the hearse all the way to the church. What a wonderful gesture this was, and a tremendous act of togetherness from the inhabitants of the road. As a further sign of respect the McHale Road people did not fly any flags or banners that Sunday, even though, the Mayo team were playing Galway in an important match at McHale Park.

I have to say that I was proud to be a McHale Road man, that day and I want to personally thank the McHale Road people for the kindness and respect they showed to my wonderful brother, John. Whilst my present home is many thousands of miles from McHale Road, here in Canada, I am, and always will be, a McHale Road, Castlebar man at heart and I will continue to return there as often as possible to visit family and friends.

Bernard J. Halligan

© Copyright 2006 by the author(s)/photographer(s) and www.castlebar.ie

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