Surely ti Jayziz Somebody Knows Sumptin About Ballyer!

[quinner]

i have heard something about that....as kids we always looked down the fever shores......

the shores (storm drains) all had hinges in those days.....

[twangman]

Yep, you're bang on.
My memory of the story is as follows.
In 1950's, from the DeLa Salle boys school, anything up to a 1000 kids would dash out the gates at 12.30 to head home for lunch.
One unfortunate boy was knocked down by a bus and his head was crushed.
Apparently, when the fire brigade men were hosing the road, one of his eyes went down the shore.
What seemed like forever, after the accident, we would gather around the shore, like in a rugby scrum till some kid would say "I see it".
Then all hell would break loose, with anything up to a hundred or more in the scrum.
I met a guy from ballyer some years ago, who would have been 10 years younger that me. Over a pint I mentioned the eye down the shore story, and he said the scrum around the shore was still there when he went to the Deelers.

I can tell you all about it. It was the Dominican Convent beside the De La Salle. I was about 7. The teacher next door was absent and that class was sent into ours. We bunched up four to a bench. I was sitting beside this boy with curly hair, a nice quiet chap. I will never forget him leaving the school in his black trenchcoat. My mother collected me and as we were walking up to the corner to the main road we heard what seemed like a bicycle being crushed. It was in fact the sound of the bus wheel crushing the boy's head. We arrived at the scene and it was terrible. There was lots of blood but a strange colour purple rather than red. A sack was used, I think, by a policeman - the details are too gruesome to relate. The driver Mr Bartley, whom we knew well was distraught and it was the first time I ever saw my mother in tears. I knew from the coat that it was my little friend and this was confirmed by the boys who said that they were playing the game "Got ya last" ( a game we played regularly) and that he was pushed accidentally under the bus. My mother told me to run to the church to pray for the boy's soul- which I did. Much later in life I befriended the driver's son who was a fellow writer from the main road but I never mentioned the incident. It was easily the worst thing I have ever seen and it could so easily have been me.

[Ed O'Gorman]

I'm From Drimnagh,and when I was a kid we thought Ballyer was oit in the bleedin' sticks.Sorry! lol

[cosmo]

I can tell you all about it. It was the Dominican Convent beside the De La Salle. I was about 7. The teacher next door was absent and that class was sent into ours. We bunched up four to a bench. I was sitting beside this boy with curly hair, a nice quiet chap. I will never forget him leaving the school in his black trenchcoat. My mother collected me and as we were walking up to the corner to the main road we heard what seemed like a bicycle being crushed. It was in fact the sound of the bus wheel crushing the boy's head. We arrived at the scene and it was terrible. There was lots of blood but a strange colour purple rather than red. A sack was used, I think, by a policeman - the details are too gruesome to relate. The driver Mr Bartley, whom we knew well was distraught and it was the first time I ever saw my mother in tears. I knew from the coat that it was my little friend and this was confirmed by the boys who said that they were playing the game "Got ya last" ( a game we played regularly) and that he was pushed accidentally under the bus. My mother told me to run to the church to pray for the boy's soul- which I did. Much later in life I befriended the driver's son who was a fellow writer from the main road but I never mentioned the incident. It was easily the worst thing I have ever seen and it could so easily have been me.

twangs,

we must have been in the same class [or just for that day], the younglads surname began with k.

[twangman]

twangs,

we must have been in the same class [or just for that day], the younglads surname began with k.

I had only met him that day. He was a little dote of a fellow As to the date, I came to Ballyer in 1958 aged almost 5 so I think this occurred in 1960. Never heard of the eye story till now.

[cosmo]

I had only met him that day. He was a little dote of a fellow As to the date, I came to Ballyer in 1958 aged almost 5 so I think this occurred in 1960. Never heard of the eye story till now.

i was ten in 58 [nov] , so maybe it was his brother that was in my class, i knew his oldest brother through the soccer in ballyer . there was another school pal that was killed on a bus [putting his head out the window] during the school holidays. the number of children killed on the roads in ballyer over the years was very high .

[tolka1]

i was ten in 58 [nov] , so maybe it was his brother that was in my class, i knew his oldest brother through the soccer in ballyer . there was another school pal that was killed on a bus [putting his head out the window] during the school holidays. the number of children killed on the roads in ballyer over the years was very high .

I was in ballyfermot just once but can still remember the huge amount of kids there were on the streets so its a wonder more were not killed as kids are just having fun.

[mai]

i was ten in 58 [nov] , so maybe it was his brother that was in my class, i knew his oldest brother through the soccer in ballyer . there was another school pal that was killed on a bus [putting his head out the window] during the school holidays. the number of children killed on the roads in ballyer over the years was very high .

hi cosmo my hubby was 10 also in nov 58 you might have been in same class with him. peter murray he lived facing the school.

[cosmo]

hi mai,

I don`t think he was in my class, there were a couple of murrays o.k but there wasn`t any from ballyfermot road facing the school. I probably knew him by sight though.

[mai]

did you know eamonn downey he lived on the road facing the shops at aib end

[cosmo]

the name rings a bell , he wasn`t in my class though, I don`t recall anyone of my fellow classmates from ballyfermot road, usually I can place a name with a road as we were all in the same class`s [more or less] right through the years from the start.

[haroldsx]

Ballyfermot/chapelizod

Can anyone remember the name of the knitwear factory that was on the bridge at chapelizod where the apartments are now , please

[DAMNTHEWEATHER]

Can anyone remember the name of the knitwear factory that was on the bridge at chapelizod where the apartments are now , please

Was it Dargan's.

[camden]

Can anyone remember the name of the knitwear factory that was on the bridge at chapelizod where the apartments are now , please

Think that might have been Sunbeam who were based in Cork City.

[Sharkface]

Can anyone remember the name of the knitwear factory that was on the bridge at chapelizod where the apartments are now , please

It was called allied textiles as far as I recall and later it was sunbeam.