Posted by murrisk on November 15, 2000 at 01:53:45:
Pollnagollum boreen gave access to pretty landscapes and was, in its day, quite, secluded and private. This, I suppose, is why
it morphed into Lover's Lane. What a place of education for young fellows spying on the courting couples. Couples walked the
boreen before cars became commonplace. Quiteness descended when they found a quite nook, or maybe I should say other
activities took over. What a place of education for young fellows. We could always identify a couples location by the soft
murmurings and very often the smell of cigarette smoke was a give away. The trick was to sneak up to wall against which the
couple was propped without being heard. Usually our eavesdropping was discovered when we sniggered or coughed. We could
always depend on a chase - how long and how hard depended on how ruffled yer man was. All to often the chase ended with
a swift kick in the derry-air and a clip around the ear. But to meet the couples on the street later was always good for another
bout of sniggering and head tilting. Good people were born on the boreen. Skipper's grandmother was born there and many
years later your truly was born on the night the old cinema burned down. I arrived with the flames - Wagner would have been
proud of me - Gotterdammerung in Castlebar. I did not arrive alone. Sean Bourke and Pat Brady (R.I.P.) arrived on the same
night. Pat Brady, "The Steps below the Post Office" drowned in the lake in the 1956 (?). He fell from the diving board during
a regatta. I remember him laid out to this day. I have not heard about Sean in a very long time. I hope he too is well.