Posted by murrisk on February 04, 2001 at 19:17:05:
The 5th Motor squadron, Castlebar barracks. On the Sunday I first showed up in uniform in 1963 (?) I was greated by Ken Lyons with a friendly "look whose here". The time I spent in the FCA was some of the best especially the summer camps at Finnar, the Curragh and Renmore with people the likes of the Lally's, Killeens, McHales, Ken McGreal, Mikey Guthrie, Skinty MacEllin,....... I remember peeling potatoes in the Curragh presumably as a result of some breach of rules. Benny Hill's "When I walk in the rear of the horse my dear I seem to see your face..." was big on the mess juke box in 1963. Party nights in Galway and walking back to barracks along the railway line. I remember one very daring, or foolish, fellow walked on top of the railings across the river mouth with no protection in the event of a fall. Anybody care to guess his name? Rifle fire in the butts at the back of the barracks and of course on the firing ranges at the camps. Terry O'Donoghue, regular army attached to the barracks, was to me the epitome of what a soldier should look like. Mickey Harney was another good fellow. I remember him coming to check the condition of the .303 LeeEnfield I had been issued. I received compliments for its condition! Fancy young fellows with .303 rifles in their homes nowadays!