Maria O’Riordan was born in Ballinahinch and came to Ballina with her husband in approx. 1930. She has lived in Ballina for 62 years.
Will me tell what your husband did for a living – he drove a lorry, did he? Yes, he drove a lorry.
For who? First for Mc Keogh’s, Ballina, and second then for Phil Flemming, it was there he ended up like, he was in bad health for seven years before he died.
And where was Flemming’s? Outside there in Birdhill, he was killed on the road, Phil Flemming was, God be good to him, on the 15th August.
What would he have had in the lorries? He used to bring coal and everything to Mc Grath’s, when he was with Phil Flemming he was driving for the Council.
Where would he would collect the coal from? From Limerick, he used to bring coal and everything from Limerick, bring everything from Limerick and bring stuff to Mr. O’Brien below.
O’Briens 1955
Hugh O’Brien, can you remember anything about Hugh O’Brien? I knew him well, he had a big shop there and sold everything. He came from the North, he came to McKeogh’s first, in the office, he was here when I came sixty two years ago, and then he bought that house he was in, I don’t know was selling it and he started up a business in it.
Did he employ a lot of people? No, not alot, we’ll say only a few in the shop, himself and his wife, his wife was from the Glen, I can’t think of her name, she had lots of money. I’ll tell you who she was – do you know Peggy Kett who was married to Courtney? She was an aunt of Peggy Kett.
Did she put all her money into the business? She did and left lots of it after her when God took her, she left it to Peggy Kett who was married to Michael Courtney.
What would your husband have earned a week? Well when we started off in life first all we had was one pound and thirty pence to rear a family on.
And how many children did ye have? We had nine children, I have two children buried and seven alive – you know Phil, who is married to PJ Moroney, and Paddy, and Naoise and Michael.
Where did you come from originally? From Ballinahinch.
And your husband was from where? From the County Limerick.
So what made you come to live in Ballina? There was a job going at McKeogh’s and my husband got it, and we were married then and we got a house then above in McKeogh’s yard, and we lived there and I lived in Killaloe, beyond where Mrs. Crowe is living now, opposite Crowe’s, I lived there for twelve months, and I lived above in Ballina for a good few years and then we got the house here.
When you say you lived in McKeogh’s yard – did they have houses? There was a small little house there with one room in it, but you see I had only one child then and I used to milk the cows and do the washing for McKeogh’s for two shillings and six pence a week.
Sure the youngsters don’t know what hardship is now.
So where did all your children go to school? To Ballina.
And who were their teachers, can you remember any? I do. Mr. Dillon and his wife and Mr. O’Brien, they went to him, he was from Killaloe, none of his family are there now, I don’t know where they are. He was pensioned off and Mr. Dillion came. He was married to a girl of the Wixteds’ from Newport and she was a teacher as well. They didn’t go to Secondary School and they were all good scholars like, but there was no such thing that time, only when you’d leave school look for a job. There was no Secondary School like now.
What were working conditions like for your husband – what hours would he have worked? Early in the morning but not terrible late at night, he would only be on the lorries like, but not terrible late.
What people can you remember from Ballina? If you were to name the old houses, people that are no longer here or where there are no longer even houses? Below now in Ballina, where I lived, Mills’s lived there, they’re not there now. The Madden’s lived there. The Kelly’s lived there.
Where was this Mrs. O’Riordan? Do you know where Gooser’s is? I lived there, all little houses along there, they belonged to McKeogh’s. Mills’s lived in them and the Kelly’s lived in them, Rita Kelly, is married beyond in Killaloe and the Maddens down there, Pat Sullivan, one of them is married to Mick Gough. And the Duracks, they’re living down here, they came up here, we all came up together, (Cullinagh), got houses out of them houses.
McKeogh’s owned all those houses. And did you have to pay rent? Half a crown a week, for a room and a kitchen.
That wasn’t very much, was it? No not a lot.
Any anybody else now that you can remember in Ballina? Liam Ryan, his mother’s father was always there like, the Manly’s. There were people by the name of Nix’s that lived in that where Joe Manly is now, and their daughter lived beyond there in the slip-yard, her husband worked over there, they sold that then and a man by the name of Herbert bought it and Joe Manly bought it off them. Then O’Brien’s, where they were living, Morgan’s are in it now.
That was Hugh O’Brien’s. And where Tony Mills has the pubic house – Darcy’s was in that.
Do you know the houses between Mills’s and Morgan’s – were they always there? They were.
Who was in them? Gueran’s lived where Mick Seymour is, they were friends of his and they bought it from him and next to them was Peggy Hogan, there was a man living in that, he worked in the Railway, he was from back in the County Limerick, his name was Fitzsimons.
And then it was McKeogh’s all the way along? Yes
And where the Hardware is now – what was there when you first came here? I’ll tell you who lived in it and had a garage in it – there’s no-one belonging to him here now – I can’t think back!
On along then the rest of the little houses over along there, there was other people in them, wait till I see who was living in them – Casey’s lived in one anyway, ’tis closed up now. I won’t be able to tell you now who else lived in them.
On the right as you come up along where Helen Duggan and those people live…. Them the ones I’m talking about
Do you know what is Fern’s Hollow now, where LeFroy’s lived – who was there when you came? LeFroy’s, Miss Lefroy.
You know now where the Take-Away is, Patsy Nevin’s place? What was there? A Hardware.
McKeogh’s? Was it all a Hardware? Yes, well as far as I know, it was.
And was there petrol pumps and diesel pumps there? There was petrol pumps there, there was.
And coming up along, can you think of anyone else coming up along the road? There no houses, no, not a house from the fountain up, not a house.
And the school was what is now the hall. Yes. That’s where my children went to school, where the hall is now.
Where the new school is now was just a field? T’was.
Can you remember anybody else now that was around? No that’s all Ballina for you now.
What about any of these houses up here? This field belonged to Rohan’s and they sold it to the Council.
And how old are these houses? They were only about 12 months and when we came up.
So about 61 years old – 60 years maybe? No, I’m here 62 years so I’m up here over fifty years. There was only two of my children born here, one little girl died and Vera, she is married to Tom Aherne. She was born here, she was the only one, I brought the rest of them with me.
Can you remember the Creamery? I can, the Creamery was there and Banbury’s at the far side.
Can you remember them – what can you tell me about them? There was a couple of them there that didn’t get married and one of them was married, I don’t think they had any family now.It was a Hotel, was it? T’was a Public House and I think they used to keep people.
And then the Hotel below, McKeoghs had that, of course it wasn’t as it is now, McKeoghs, their aunt was married to a McKeogh, no relation like of the McKeogh’s in the shop, Jimmy McKeogh, their grandfathers’ sister was married there.
Now that’s all the news I have for you.
I was often in bed when the lads would be going to the pictures in Killaloe, because we’d have nothing to amuse us and then my sister lived below (Maggie Ryan) and I’d go down in the night time and I’d take Vera with me and then I would be afraid coming home because the roads were as dark as a bag and I’d have to run the road home, with terror of God in my heart.
Can you remember who was the Manager of the Creamery when you came here? Pat Larkin
And was it called The Cheesehouse – we heard it was? I don’t ever remember that that now.
Can you ever remember dances in there? I do but I didn’t ever go to them because they were on when I came here like, I didn’t ever come to them but there was dances in it.
Did you lads ever go to them? Of course they did, they missed nothing, where ever they’d scrape the money, they’d go, they never missed a thing.
You can’t remember how much they were, can you, to get in to them? I suppose maybe One and Six pence or maybe a Shilling
Did you ever go to the dances in Killaloe? No, never.
Did you ever go to the Pictures? I did, often, and I was there one night sitting down, when a box came down off the Gallery, down on the top of me, poor Paddy Ryan was there, that time he owned it, God be good to him, and they’d be above in the gallery and they would “be pelting down”, they would be only “codding” you know, and rousing him and “dragging” him around, and it landed down in my lap. Maybe you’d get a belt of an apple. But sure what difference – you wouldn’t mind!
Can you ever remember any of the films you saw – would you be able to tell the names of any of them? Or any of the actors or actresses in them? No, I couldn’t now.
So going back to Ballina, to the shops and everything, how do you think it has changed? How would you compare it? The young people of today have no “hardship”, what hardship have they?
We had to go down on our knees and scrub, scrub the ole floors and scrub old chairs and scrub the dressers, we had no lino, no nothing, bring in a bath pan and wash clothes, draw up water from the end of the road there and wash, so they’ve no hardship now. They have a hoover, there’s no polishing now, shake on a bit and dust around, and still they are always complaining, I suppose ‘tis the generation aren’t as well.
I never made the sup of tea for you…….
Killaloe-Ballina