Posted by Tempus on September 19, 2002 at 18:11:31:

In Reply to: Re: Castle street posted by cc on September 18, 2002 at 11:22:37:

Careful now, that's Peter Dever's shop you're talking about!! Peter's grocery shop was a strange place, up the front step into the shop and further in there was another step up to where the bacon slicer was positioned.
Peter's son John, now proprietor of Healy's Hotel in Pontoon, worked there for a while with his uncle Martin. Martin then departed to open his own shop at the bottom of James Street in Westport and sadly, he died at an early age.Both brothers, Peter and Martin, were true gentlemen in Ellison Street shop.
Next door was Frank Beckett's tabacconist's. It always had an amazing array of knick knacks on the window.....cigarettes, tobacco, pen knives, lighters of all shapes and sizes, and little ornaments. Frank Beckett was an old man when I was a youngster and I remember seeing him standing outside the shop with his walking stick. He had an aristcratic air about him and used to be meticulousl dressed.
Quite a contrast to Maggie Bourke, who lived next door, and who would sit outside on the footpath, all dressed in black. Maggie had a great heart and had a word for all who passed by. She spoke with a very rough accent, and her sayings at times seemed like a direct translation from Irish.

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