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  • Originally posted by paudge View Post
    Thank you for those nice comments DTW, high praise indeed. Its great to know that someone is reading my posts. I love to write about the people who were part of my childhood, love to keep the memory of those days alive.
    A man after me own heart
    We'll sail be the tide....aarghhhh !!

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    • Very interesting stuff Paude

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      • Originally posted by paudge View Post
        Yes I remember Dessie, Northern Ireland chap.
        Dessie as you know was a small man with glasses and on the 50th anniversary of the rising in 1966 there was a lot of trouble in town between the police and republicans.Dessie was arrested and when he appeared in court charged with assaulting a policeman,the judge asked the policeman what happened and he said that Carmichael had hit him and took his trungon off him.There was a lot of laughter in court as the policeman was over six foot an Dessie was only a tiny man.Swenies man had a guy who was named Joe Dolan in the group and Joe wrote a song about that incident and a little bit i remember about the song was the coras went tural uh tural a he hit me and took me new trungon away

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        • Originally posted by paudge View Post
          Hi Cosmo, the name doesn't ring a bell with me. I was there in the 60s, heating section.
          hi paudge,

          he was there in the sixties [middle] was a boilermaker or something like that, was from donore avenue.
          in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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          • Originally posted by rasher View Post
            Dessie as you know was a small man with glasses and on the 50th anniversary of the rising in 1966 there was a lot of trouble in town between the police and republicans.Dessie was arrested and when he appeared in court charged with assaulting a policeman,the judge asked the policeman what happened and he said that Carmichael had hit him and took his trungon off him.There was a lot of laughter in court as the policeman was over six foot an Dessie was only a tiny man.Swenies man had a guy who was named Joe Dolan in the group and Joe wrote a song about that incident and a little bit i remember about the song was the coras went tural uh tural a he hit me and took me new trungon away
            I remember all that Rasher, didn't know about the song though.

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            • Can someone help me out please? I have twice written out a posting for this thread but I just cannot seem to get it posted. I get a notice telling me to log in when I've already done that. So I log in again and try to repost my article and I get another notice telling me I cant post because I logged in after the page was logged or someting and to use the back button to relog the page but nothing works. What am I doing wrong? Never had this trouble before. Is the posting too long maybe? It is longer than any I've done before, I wanted to tell the story in two parts, should I try cutting it down? Any advice would be welcome.

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              • Originally posted by paudge View Post
                Can someone help me out please? I have twice written out a posting for this thread but I just cannot seem to get it posted. I get a notice telling me to log in when I've already done that. So I log in again and try to repost my article and I get another notice telling me I cant post because I logged in after the page was logged or someting and to use the back button to relog the page but nothing works. What am I doing wrong? Never had this trouble before. Is the posting too long maybe? It is longer than any I've done before, I wanted to tell the story in two parts, should I try cutting it down? Any advice would be welcome.
                Yeah P....sometimes when it's too long it tells you its too long and how many to cut it by....try posting in two parts and if ye quote the first part with the second it comes out continuous if ye follow....
                We'll sail be the tide....aarghhhh !!

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                • Originally posted by DAMNTHEWEATHER View Post
                  Yeah P....sometimes when it's too long it tells you its too long and how many to cut it by....try posting in two parts and if ye quote the first part with the second it comes out continuous if ye follow....
                  like me quoting what ive just written here.....
                  We'll sail be the tide....aarghhhh !!

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                  • Thanks DMW. I'll give that a try. The posting was gonna be in two parts. I'll have to make it three now. Its a longer posting than usual. No time now, heading out for a few lemonades

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                    • ichael and The Cardboard Girl. Part 1

                      Looking back over my boyhood days in the old neighbourhood I have to say I have a special place in my heart for Hendrick Street. I remember it as a lovely little street with a nice mix of people living there. In earlier days I believe it wasn't such a nice place to live, overcrowded tenements, a noisey rough street but in my time it had quietened down to the little street I came to love. There were three tenements, by no means overcrowded and about twelve ''private'' houses and of course Judd's, the skin and hide merchants. My school friend Robbie lived in Hendrick St and through him I began to ''hang out'' down there. I got to know other lads on the street, like Michael D [Mick] I remember Mick when he attended my school. He wore a school cap and he had a school bag with a shoulder strap, very posh indeed. Older than me, Mick was about three jumps ahead of me in school. Mick would sometimes join in when we kicked a ball around, using Judd's gate as a goal post or he might join in when we played handball, again using Judd's gate. His mother was a red haired little woman, very quiet, kept to herself. She never sat in the snug sharing a few bottles of Guiness with Robbies ma or Johns ma. The father was taller, baldish, very strict. Mick once told me that his father told him ''If I ever catch ya hanging around the streets with girls I'll pin yer ears back'' There ya go folks. Over time Me and Mick became very close friends. Mick worked as a messenger boy for O'Shaughnessy chemist in Mary St. One day he told me Mr O was looking for a new messenger, Mick was being promoted to the dark room to print and develop films. Did I know anyone who might want the messenger boy job? I voulenteered meself, the mother would be delighted with the few extra shillings coming into the house. Me school days were over, I was about to open a new chapter in me life. To be continued.

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                      • Michael and The Cardboard Girl Part 2

                        Working for O'Shaughnessy I got to know the city fairly well, got to know streets I hadn't heard of. Mr O was big into cameras, he sold new and secondhand ones, you could trade in your old camera against a new one. He used to send me up to Johnsons Court to a premises that repaired/overhauled cameras. I would walk up Grafton St looking like an over the top American tourist with three or four cameras hanging around me neck. Looking back its amazing I was never stopped by a garda ''Where did yeh get them cameras boy?'' One of me first duties I had to do every morning was carry a lifesize cardboard figure of a girl over to the entrance of the shop and secure her to the door. She held a sign which read ''Films left in before 11am will be ready for collection at 5pm the same day'' That was Mick's new job to get the films out on time. A girl named Carmel worked with him for a while. Her brother was a well known jockey at the time and she often passed on tips to Mr O. Back then there were a few tenements in Mary St/Wolfe tone St and I got used to seeing some young lads from the tenements going in and out of the Maro cinema next door to the shop. Sometimes they would hang about outside the shop, messing around, Mr O would send to to run them away. Well one day they were larking about and one of them attacked The Cardboard Girl. He grabbed hold of her and went through the motions of ''giving her one'' I went to her assistance at once, managed to drag him off her, gave him a good shove to send him on his way. Lucky for me he wasn't a big lad. I gained a few brownie points from Mrs O. ''Good man'' she said as she pat me on the back. Well, was I chuffed? I had rescued The Cardboard Girl, saved her from a fate worse than death. I felt like John Wayne and Audie Murphy combined. Still waiting for me medal. To be continued.
                        Last edited by paudge; 21-08-2017, 03:46 PM.

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                        • Michael and The Cardboard Girl Part 3

                          Another lad I got to know in Hendrick St was Billy. He lived in the tenement next door to Mick. Billy was an innocent type of chap, easily taken in. He was about the same age as Mick, worked as a messenger boy for a butcher in the Liberties area. The lads in the butchers shop decided to ''get it up'' for Billy, told him the boss was buying a new van for Billy to make his deliveries in. Well Billy swallowed this, hook, line and sinker. It was all he could talk about for days, maybe weeks. He promised me a lift in his new van, think he probably promised half of Hendrick St a lift. Well the big day arrived and Billy did in fact get a new vehicle, a spanking brand new..............messenger bike. Poor Billy didn't see the funny side of it, to say the least. He'd been taken in and made a fool of, was scowling for a week. It was a bit cruel doing that on him but I gotta admit I saw the funny side of it and had a giggle with Mick. Billy has long since forgiven us, I hope. During this period I moved to Finglas but kept coming back to me oul neighbourhood, desperately trying to cling on to me old mates. Mick's mother passed on and it was then that Mick started to rebel against his fathers strictness. He began to assert himself more, stood up to him more. He even began calling his father by his first name, Josie. Amazingly the old man seemed to accept it and went along with it. When my father died the following year Mick was a great comfort to me. He got me few bob wages off Mr O and brought it out to me in Finglas. I think at that particular time in my life I was closer to Mick than any of my other friends. Being older Mick seemed to know the right words to say and he'd been through the same thing himself. After about two and a half years I decided to leave O'Shaughnessy's. I had given in my notice before but Mr O gave me a raise to stay on a while longer but me mind was now firmly made up, I didn't want to be a messenger boy any longer, so Mr O let me go. I took up a job in Unidare, more money, a five day week. I finished at 4-30 on Friday till 8oc Monday morning. I had it made, on the pigs back, as Jimmy Cagney said, ''Top of the World Ma'' Shortly after I left Mick got itchy feet too and he left, much to Mr O's consternation, didn't want to lose an honest good worker like Mick but Mick decided he didn't want a career in the dark room after all. He toyed with the idea of joining the army, even went up to Collins Barracks to talk to someone, get the ball rolling. What Mick didn't know was that fate was about to take a hand, cause him to change his plans, send him in a different direction altogether. To be continued.
                          Last edited by paudge; 20-08-2017, 03:29 PM.

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                          • Michael and The Cardboard Girl Part 4

                            There was this guy living in the same tenement as Mick. A big fella, worked on building sites. He lived on the top floor, right over Mick and Josie. He liked to invite people up to his room for little gettogethers. Some of these gettogethers could get very noisy. Mick and Josie decided they'd had enough of it, they weren't putting up with the noise any longer. They confronted him as he came up the stairs, refused to let him pass. Angry words were exchanged, then all hell broke loose. When the dust settled Bob the builder was carted off to spend the night in the Richmond Hospital. Mick and Josie spent the night in the Bridewell. Up in court the judge gave them a months vacation in Mountjoy luxury appartments, all expences paid. They duly served their time, got released, went home to Hendrick St. Mick packed a bag and took the boat to Hollyhead. We kept in touch by letter for a while. In one of his letters Mick asked me to call in to his father who was still living in Hendrick St. I went and took a mutual friend along. We had a cuppa, chatted and left after an hour and a half or so. As we were coming down the stairs a wave of sadness came over me. The house was deathly quiet. Not a sound or a light coming from the other rooms. Josie was the last one living there. Bob the builder upstairs was gone, Tomo from downstairs was gone and so was anyone else I dont remember, all gone. Outside the street was deserted, no sign of the lads on the corner shooting the breeze. The other tenements were emptied out too, people all gone, most of them claimed by Ballyfermot. The street had all but disappeared right under my nose and I hadn't noticed it happening. That night I said good bye to what was left of my beloved Hendrick St. Shortly afterwards I heard Josie had departed too, went to London to join Mick. The years flew by. The letters between Mick and meself had long since stopped. I left Unidare, left Finglas. My brother in law had moved into my old gaff. One night there was a knock on the door. He opened the door, lo and behold, who stood there? None other than Mick, 17 years after he took the boat. To be continued
                            Last edited by paudge; 21-08-2017, 03:39 PM.

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                            • Michael and The Cardboard Girl Part 5

                              Mick introduced himself, asked for me. He was made welcome, brought inside for a cuppa. Before he departed he left a piece of paper with his address on it for me to contact him. It was over in Crumlin. I swear I fully intended to call over to see me oul mate from Hendrick St. I had a young family at that time. I was in a good job but it took me away from home quite a lot. When I was off I tended to spend my time with the family naturally. Before I knew it the days had passed, the weeks, the months. I lost the bloody address. I never knew if Mick went back to London, maybe he's still in Crumlin. Be great if he came on this site, he would surely look in on the Smithfield thread and recognise me straight off. I'll always regret the way I dilly dallied about calling over to him. I still go back for a stroll around the old nighbourhood. When I walk along Hendrick St I stall there for a few minutes. What I wouldn't give to see some of the old gang come along. I wonder if Yvonne, Nancy or Betty would still be up for a game of kiss chase. I bet I could still catch yeh girls. I loved to chase after Yvonne the most but gotta say Betty was the one making the most headway in the be bop a lula's department. Should be fully ripe by now. The only house still standing from my time is the undertakers house, dont think anyone lives there now but its still there with the figure of a white horse standing guard over the doorway. Hendrick Street's longest living resident. That horse even got into films. I remember me and Joe standing in Queen St watching Donald Sinden shoot a scene in Thundercut Alley for ''The Siege Of Sidney Street''. They filmed a lot around Smithfield area and in one scene people are entering the house in Hendrick St and theres the white horse standing proud over the door. If he's ever taken down I hope he goes to a good home, hate to think he'd end up in a skip. O'Shaughnessy's premises is still standing too, 10/11 Mary St. Closed and shuttered. As I pass I can picture Mr O, Mrs O, Mr Mullaney, the sales girls Miss Clark, Miss Byrne, Miss Glavey and of course The Cardboard Girl. With the possible exception of Mr Mullaney she was O'Shaughnessy's longest serving employee. Day after day she stood at that door in her one piece swimsuit, holding her sign, a smile on her lovely face as she watched the World go by. Unlike the rest of us she never griped about her lot, just got on with it. Three cheers for The Cardboard Girl The End
                              Last edited by paudge; 21-08-2017, 04:36 PM.

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                              • No going back

                                I was in Smithfield/Stoneybatter yesterday. Paid a visit to the site where my house stood. The house is long gone and the yard I played in is fenced off. There was a notice on the fence regarding the building of new appartments taking in the yard and the space's where my old gaff was and Lombardi's chipper. Afterwards I was thinking if I bought one I'd not only be moving back to my neigbourhood but to the very street I lived on as a kid, maybe even have the same number [3] again, how about that? But theres no going back, not for me anyway. I mean, what would I be going back to? A memory, thats what. Wheres the people and places that were part of my childhood? All gone from the area, sadly many dead and gone. My two dearest friends Joe and Christy have both passed on. Cancer took Christy. Not quite sure about Joe. He lost his son in a tragic accident in Spain. From what I gather poor Joe was never the same again. My other pals like Robbie, Tommy etc all gone too. Tommy went to Ballyfermot then England, Robbie headed to Ballyer too, dont know where he is now, not in Smithfield anyway. The Broadway and Feeno are gone too. Roy and Gene will never ride the range up that way again. Oh if I moved back I'd make new friends no doubt but its not the people and places that are there now that would bring me back. Its the people and places of yesteryear or rather the memory of them that would be bringing me back. Its the Smithfield/Stoneybatter of bygone days that I loved but thats not what I'd ge getting if I went back. I'd know I'd regret going back, torturing myself over something that no longer exsists. I'm better off just going for my visits and remembering what it was like, warts and all. I sometimes wish we all could have stayed there. Ok, some would have moved out anyway but at least it would have been their own decision, whereas we had no say in moving. The Corpo gave the mother the key to a house in Finglas, off yeh go mrs. It was a lovely house, a palace after living in a tenement all me life up till then. Why couldn't they have built new houses in Smithfield back then and gave my family and me oul pals family the keys to move in? Ah, I'm just wandering here. It was to be many years before they built new houses in Smithfield and surrounding streets. Smithfield belongs to the people living there now. I dont belong there anymore, only as a tourist of course. I have to make do with me memories, the Corpo cant take them away from me.
                                Last edited by paudge; 23-08-2017, 04:59 PM.

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