a cara......in 1953....castlebar was a small ....sleepy ...county town.....the town slept in the shadow of the reek and nephin....the bacon and hat factories were the industrial hubs....peter devers ...christy hobans and lavelles{danny mcellins}...were the main high class grocers and provisioners....and smiler murphy's...paddy kings...byrnnes....and john kenny's were the favourite waterholes....eddie cannons had a special appeal.....the crane on market square....with its heavy chain scales...were the a focal point....the local siocholonie featured such notables as john cashin.....john lohan....sgt hubert glynn ...supt. dick heydon...and chief supt. butler.....the circuit court ....was the grand stage for judge durcan....where the dramatics of such notables as fitzgerald kenny...and state solicitor thornton...entertained greater than ..."two and a half men".....dentist obrien....and burke....extracted teeth....and my old friend henry taphouse ignited dread in all that sat in his famous chair....and whilst you sat paralysed in this spot ....henry never failed to recount many of his great stories of when he was a justice of old.....mchale road was a hive of activity and excitement......peter omalleys....was the the store of choice.....pop duffys had just broken ground......but murrays ...and tom clarkes were also very popular....on saturday mornings we were always awakened by the sound of ass and carts...as local farmers sold their produce ....tommy moran was one of the most famous....his cart always filled with sacks of potatoes and cabbage....i lived across from mcgintys....and i was fascinated so much by the uniforms of sgt. paddy mcginty...and his son paddy joe.....georgie whittaker had gone to renmore to join the army...with brian wilson.....i was always impressed by the polish in sgt. mcgintys boots and leggins.....they shone in oxblood polish....evry sunday father and son would uniform up and go to the barracks.....paddy joe and i were friends...and in conversations he would swoon me in talks of ...finner camp....field manouvres ...and weekend camps at renmore......on july 4th. 1953 he won me over.....and convinced me enough to want to join.....i had one hurdle ...that was the convince my dad i wanted to join....we warred about it for awhile...but on that above date .....i went to the barracks with paddy joe...and was sworn in as private no class ....i remember so well going to quarter master sgt. tim daly ...and getting my issue....complete with my 303 rifle...and bayonnet....god i was proud of that green swag.....i placed my cap insignia into its position...and and gave it a polish.....i rushed home to jump into my uniform complete with leggins and boots...and webbing....i was areal life gomer pyle..... i had to go the barracks the next tuesday night.. for a drill....paddy joe picked me up....as we left number 10....i remember my dear friend nell keane pulling my leg....and generally taking the piss......as we left the big number one of the day....i believe .....was belting out from radio luxembourg......in the military barracks...across from the famous square...there was a giant marquee......with the side walls open....here i could see the great hardwood ....dance floor where....people flocked to hear ...the sounds of such great bands....as the cecilian sextet.....mick delahunty....brose walsh....stephen garvey.....des fretwell ...jack ruanne and others........back on the square ....attention was barked out.....and we were put through our paces....right wheel....left wheel.....by the left....1 2 3 4....platoon stop....stand at ease....and so it went......after the drill we went to sgt. daly and issued travel warrants for saturdays bus to finner camp......it was exciting.....outside tansy's bus stop.....i ..in full uniform.....waited long before the time....but was soon joined by such veterans ...as larry cresham....eddie cannon....hero guthrie....the mcgintys.....pat moylette...etc.....soon we were on the bus ....and headed off towards ballina.....i remember as we drove by enniscrone....i looked out the high waves ....rolling in from killala bay.....i looked at the sand dunes......and remember passing the atlantic hotel.....the conversations were lively....as we approached sligo.......and as we left ...we fell under the shadow of ben bulben......it looked spectacular...splendid ....magnificent....i was awed at its beauty ...and beganto reflect on w.b.yeats and why this was his place of rest.....and his gravestone inscription....cast a cold eye.....on life...and death.....horseman pass by......we were now approaching donegal county.......and i remember my first glimpse of bundoran.....we passed the famous arcade.....and drove towards the main street......and on towards ballyshannon....and half way finner camp.....the bus pulld up....and we gathered our belongings and entered the camp....i remember our flag waving so proudly as we entered and paraded to the mess hall....here we waited until we were assigned missen huts...platoons....and camp orders.......i remember my first morning on parade as we were on the giant parade square.....here we were drilled ...by a camp sgt.....and the .....with one order of attention we were turned over to the ...mighty bark of.....sgt. major mcfadden......he let go with one mighty bark....a..tten...tion......you there in the rear rank ....leave your nose alone man....he yelled....had us formation line......stand at ease....stand at attention....present arms.....he then tirned us over to the camp officer.....afterwards ...we fell out and came under the direction of our sgt.......that evening .....myself and a bunch of the lads headed into....bumdoran.....we stopped off at rafferty....the famous burger joint of mrs. jimmy garvey.....later i went into visit my old friend....and bargain king....cyril chapman...at the arcade.......then down to the rides by the beach...the big ride was the dive bomber.......and then we set off for the most famous of bundorans pubs....the cavan house.......bradys.....this is the life......more of finner camp ....i sceal eile....la eile.....ac anois....

.........slain.....agus..........tog go bog e