In Reply to: FRANCIE PHILBIN posted by CURIOUS on June 20, 2005 at 23:15:23:

Francie Philbin was a legendary character around Castlebar many years ago. I only know about him from stories my father told me about him. He lived in a small hut ? out the Rathbaun Road as far as I can remember what I was told.

He was a religous enough man who often frequented the church. One evening he was in the church, and as often as not Francie used to say his prayers out loud !!!. He was praying away with gusto this evening, loudly !! "Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee, blessed is the fruit of thy womb JESUS" !!!!! The priest who was saying the service was getting exasperated at Francie's LOUD praying, eventually losing the rag and he said looking down at Francie " Francie would you ever quieten down and say your prayers quietly" Francie gave the priest the look and said back to him "Ara father you should know better, I'm talking to your betters" !!!!!!!!

Another story related to me. Francie was selling an ass at a fair in Castlebar one time, and the sale was going very slow, and not much sign of a genuine buyer. This fellow came up to him and asked him cheekily is that ass any good. Quick as a flash Francie retorted "This my good man is a great ass, and pointed to the cruciform markings on the asses back. Look at markings on his back. Do you know that the BVM ( the Blessed Virgin Mary ) rode on that asses back into Jerusalem !!!!!

That's only two little stories of Francie to start the ball rolling. I'll expect to see many more stories from our Nostalgia Board contributors