In Reply to: Re: golden memories posted by spiceloft on August 22, 2008 at 19:41:16:

a cara....im happy to hear paddy prendrgast is still going strong.....i remember the glory days of the mayo football team way back in the late '40s early '50s....there was agreat rivalry between the the red and green of mayo...and the green and gold of kerry.....meath was a force to be reckoned with too way back then...mayo had prendergasy meath had obrien...kerry had paddy bawn brosnan....i remember the year that mayo and cavan played i think an all ireland semi final....1949...i think....cavan played with the wind in the first half and scored i think 4 goals seven points ...mayo came back in the second half....tied the score but were beaten by one point......i think both teams later played a game in the now gone polo grounds new york ....there was tommy byrne..sean ford...paddy prendergast...sean flanagan....paddy and johnny mcandrew the mighty men from bangor erris....henry dixon...eamon mongey.....micksy mulderrig...padraic carney....what a thrill to watch his solo runs and see him take a free kick....mick flanagan....peter solan....tom langan....joker gilvarry........going uop to dublin to croke park in those days was as exciting as going around the world.......the steam trin pulled to castlebar station at about 6 a.m.we'd be up for the train about 5a.m......as the train approached the station from the bend at saleen...the heart would pound....at claremoris....the train from balina would connect.....then off to roscommon...we,d cross the shannon at athlone...there was acertain high ...crossing the shannon....i thoght of sarsfield.....and the defence of the bridge....then on to mullingar.....and eventually westland row.....when the dubs...first called me a coiltie....i felt kind of proud....i thoght that they were referring to kiltimagh....but later i discovered that this handle was aput down.....but if indeed it was a put down i was proud of mayo...so i was proud to be called a coiltie....re: larry cresham.....larry was a good friend and his wife may......i remember a rather funny story about larry and mary mc donagh....she and i were walking from the factory down by the fairgreen....larry was coming up the hill....how are ye...chants larry....a nice evening....mary responded spontaneously......you'll get your share of it.....she thought larry was been ....smart....going down by the barrack bridge mary would stop into minogues shop and get some sweets....and she say lets walk past faulners grove quickly....she was scared of that place....but i used to run a stone along the wall to hear the music that resonated from the wrought iron fencebuilt into the wall....there was a family called o.donnells they were coach builders ...they had a workshop in the back of faulners.....usually there one would run into powie roach.....navigating his way home ...2 sheets to the wind.......larry worked also for a time with bedad....joe mcginn..."bomber'...tommy....was a very good friend of mine....the last time i heard from bomber i was visiting manchester.....he gave me a call....way back then quite a few people were sent various places to learn about various dept....pop dean was sent to belgium....when i lived in london in the early '50s t.wall and sons was quite a going cocern....their factory was in n.w.10.....as i said in an earlier link......my late wife mary mcdonagh worked in the cannery as did her sister kathleen....the obrien girls from rehins...mary? bradley from up the station....and ....? lyons girl.....she later married "hucky" flynn....i never saw first hand the workings ...but when the big double doors were open...you could se the cans been filled from this retort.....and moving along the conveyor belt...in the summer they also used to can strawberries....mary...used to bring me the biggest strawberries.....i would wait by the factory wall for her to finish at six...then walk her to the hat factory......where she , her sister kathleen and friends would cycle out to derrycoosh....on a friday night mary would treat me to an ice cream at the garden shop....we'd go in and have a sundae....a dish of soft ice cream with a dash of rasberry cordial on top....what a treat...for sixpence....mary ward was the proprietress...jack wards wife.....jack was son of garda ward who lived next to kings on spencer street...jack was an electrician...with the everards...i remember sitting in this ice cream parlour on my birthday and mary giving me a potico shirt with atie as a gift....she slipped the gift onto my lap from under the table....i remember the blueness of the shirt....and it was so beautiful....my worry was getting it in home ....or having to explain where i got it....mary had saved up week after week to get me this gift.....she would turn over her paypacket faithfully to her parents every week....unopened .....she would get a half crown for herself....out of that she saved for this shirt.....i hid the shirt ....because very soon after that birthday ...i flew the coop for london..anois .....slan.....agus ...tog go bog e......