Kells Archaeological & Historical Society |
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JIMMY
MURPHY Jimmy
grew up at Normanstown ,Carlanstown. After being
apprenticed as a mechanic he went to work in a garage in
Navan, then in Doyles garage in Kells (now
Supervalu) and finally for 16 years in
Breslins garage. Jimmy lives at St Colmcilles
Villas and is married to Alish from Moynalty. |
Interview
with
JIMMY MURPHY
This is Danny Cusack on
Thursday 23 October 2010 and Im here at 18 Colmcilles
Villas Kells talking to Jimmy Murphy.
DC:
Jimmy, perhaps youd like to start off by talking a little
about your circumstances. Did you grow up in Kells, go to school
here
JM:
I grew up in Normanstown and went to school in Carlanstown. I
went to school when I was seven year old and the school teachers,
the principal was Master Keaveney and Miss Brogan was the junior
teacher and the senior teacher was Miss Smith. I played football,
a lot of games on the school team. Later on when I was 10-11
years old Master Keaveney had a garden, an acre and a half, and
hed grow a lot of apples, strawberries and raspberries.
When it came to go home at 3pm wed go and do a bit of
gardening and could be there until 6 oclock in the evening.
I was great friends with Jack Fitzsimons; he was a classmate of
mine. Jack is an architect here in the town. Kevin Hegarty
(hes dead), Billy Briens, Owen Collins, John Smith, Tommy
Collins
they were all friends of mine. Then in my holiday
time my father worked as a butcher and I used to go
with him and kill pigs, all with local people, farmers.
Theyd feed a pig and you could have it for Christmas. He
used to do the killing and I used to go with him as a young
fellow. That was most of my time. Football after that in the
evenings. And out hunting, I loved hunting, coursing ... with
dogs. I spent a lot of my time at that and football. When my
school days were over I went to
DC:
Oh I think I know it
JM:
Well we worked there for 2 ½ years and then I came back so I did
to Kells in 1954 August54 to a place called Doyles Garage
and that was above where Super Valu is now and I was there for
ten years with Doyles and then after that Breslins
bought it and I was 16 years with Breslins and then I
finished up in breslins
by the way I had to do a five
year to six or seven serving my time
.that was the lot of
it
.thats mostly it as regards working end of it
..
DC:
So you were a lifetime in Garages
JM:
A life time in it ...yeah ...then I came to live in Kells in 1954
.got married and lived in Kells where I am today
.
DC:
And have you lived in this house all of the time?
JM:
All the time that is what about
54/5 years
so what
would be the next one? The changes I have seen
DC:
Yeah work away the changes you saw in Kells in your life
time
.
JM:
I remember the Fairs in Kells
the fair would be on the
street in Kells
Farrell Street and it used to be a very
busy day for us
the fair days the farmers would leave in
old tractors and cars and what ya have it
I remember
the fairs and plenty of rows with the travellers
fighting
outside the pubs in the evenings and we would be coming home from
work and sure we would stand and see the fights
so I
dont know anymore about that
the famous characters
that I knew was
a fellow called the Gauson
Dolan
..
DC:
I think I heard that name before
JM:
And Gemma Molloy was another
.they were famous characters
you know like
I remember them around the town
DC:
Were they noted for anything in particular
JM:
There antics and all that sort of thing
the guards and
stuff
fellows that would be up to no
.and there
was a fellow too called it was a funny name
..Itchy Mc
Cormack they called him he was a character too so he was he had
the shakes and that why they called him it
.he was another
character ...he used to come into us in the garage to pass the
time you know and the boys would be running away from him
..
DC:
Like he was contagious for something
.would you say
its a big difference the change
.you know the Fairs
and the cattle dealers have all gone so some of the characters
have gone
.would you say there is a big difference
.
JM:
There has been a big change in the town that time
.there
was a place called Mc Minnions it was beyond where the old ESB
office is now
..it would be lined on a fair day and on
especially on a Saturday as well with delph selling delph on the
street
.stalls you could buy anything from a pair of
boots/shoes to delph
.that was all the changes I see now
.the bread carts and the horses
and the
messenger boys on the bikes that time with baskets in front of
them
.the delivery boys we used to call them you know
thats all big change you know
from what today
is
.people would not realise that that went on ...the way it
was
.like
DC:
Sure
..thats exactly why I want to record it
.
JM:
That time too on Fair days they used to come in and camp around
the town so they would
.the boys with the stalls and that
...you know to sell all the different things and like ...the
guards the policemen that time shoving them into yards and off
the streets
.they would see two or three stalls on the
middle of the street you know
.you dont see
it
well you would see it a bit when they brought back this
thing now
you know the Fair day in Mullagh and Kells
.thats bringing back something that was
.the way
it used to be ...in my time
.not a whole lot more I
suppose
.my time in Kells was more into the football
.I remember the races in Loyd when Gymkhanas and John C
Brady started it up you know like and they held it one
year
two years like that time the hill of Loyd was
for the people standing on the left hand side and the races was
down where the factories is now
.the land out around it
there used to be belonging to Mc Donaghs
.. farmers
and they used to give a certain amount of them fields to the
racing for the day of the racing
.and when John C Brady
tried to start it
the people all built house in the middle
of it
you know down the years and they destroyed
it
you know you couldnt never get the land enough to
make a decent racecourse out of it
so that put an end to
that
so I dont know what else I can think of
now
yeah probably should have told you that one day
the bosss sister Paddy Beggan and her work mate in the
office May Barrett used to go to dances this would be
..I
wasnt married at the time I was young ..they used to take a
car out of the garage and get me to drive it and I went with them
to a dance in Castlepollard one night
.and sure it was
three or four o Clock in the morning
.it was a hunt ball it
was four in the morning when I was home and I hadnt much
sleep but they came out looking for me from the Garage to go to a
breakdown that was over in Kilcock
. And I had the car with
me and a brother of mine he was coming in from the town and I put
his bike on the back of the car and we were coming onto
DC:
You were not going to hang around
JM:
You couldnt cause they were all gunning for us
it was
actually I saved your mans life on the bike so I did cause
he just blew out
.he came up off the back road and the wind
caught him he didnt get to wheel in
the wind swept
him right across in front of me and I had to swerve away from him
leaving me
and I went around him with the car and that was
the time I hit the bridge
..If I hadnt of it would
have been a lot more serious
.so that was another experience
I had like in my time
I dont know what more ones I
have
DC:
You mentioned you grew up in Carlanstown out in the
country
..would you have scene a big difference between
country people and Kells people when you first moved in or did
you get on well
..
JM:
I got on fairly well but there was a big difference
.we
would come in from Carlanstown on a Saturday evening and we would
all be standing around the corners and there was a place called
Billy Mc Giverens
its where Gavigans shop /office is now
well Brigit Mc Giverens that was a collecting
place
.and if you were making a date with a girl or
anything you would always make it for there so you would
.it was called Mc Giverans corner
.she used to
sell fish and rabbits and all that sort of thing
.it was a
meeting place so it was for the country fellows
..all the
townies would be on a different side
.they would more
or less be sneering and laughing at us
.some of them might
have been a little more dressed than what we would be
like
..you know what I mean
.we would be rough and
ready from the country you know
.it was sort of a distant
thing you know the town and the country
..it did remain
that way for a long long number of years but it gradually all
changed then
.Id say all the work that people were working
from the country and they became mixed more
.like you could
imagine them years ago in the 1950s and 47 48 and 49
47 was my first time to stand in Croke Park at
the all Ireland semi final between Meath and Kerry
.the
photograph
.Paddy Beggan my boss put a van under
us
..he had an old van that time and their must have been
ten of us and that was my first time to see Croke Park in 1947
.so that is a long time ago
.I seen all the other
finals in Croke Park I seen a good many of them
so I
did but I was always into football
.there was a couple of
us including my brother
.we didnt mind what
teams
we wouldnt be one-sided
.we would go
to Croke Park no matter what teams were in the All Ireland
.the atmosphere and all that
.. Carlanstown is a
changed place today so it is
from my days the was
only the old school
they have the new school there now and
many many new houses there now
it was funny
the houses
were always on the left hand side and all that was on the right
hand side was two pubs
Kiernans old pub there and Briodys
.thats all that was there the rest was fields after
that like you know
.
DC:
There is a lot more now
.
JM:
Oh yeah its completely changed you know with estates now
.well thats nearly my whole life hood you know like
.I retired
..I fell into the pit in Breslins the
ladder came down with me
..i went down and broke this
shoulder badly and I damaged that finger there
.I finished
up that and I didnt go back to work
they changed the
sold there and they left and moved up near Navan so I didnt
move
.that was my storey
DC:
Overall how did you find a lifetime working in a garage was it
generally a good experience?
JM:
Ah yeah a good experience I had great
..I met an awful lot
of people not from just Kells but from the surrounding
counties
.Meath Cavan
..I knew an awful lot of people
from Cavan
there was a lot of Cavan people
.down and
around and into Westmeath over to Mullingar you know
Castlepollard that was an area where we used to get a lot of work
and even over around Kinnegad
..Ballivor that part
too
.you see that that time
my time in Doyles
garage from 54 on he was the main agent for Austin Cars do
you see for Co. Meath and he had the Hillman agency as well which
was the roots group common cars
.he had them and he sold a
lot of cars in different counties like you know
.and
thats how I got to know an awful lot of people
..and
met an awful lot of people and still meet them yet
some of
them rings me home from America, Canada often
you know
..fellows that served my time with me and any time they come home
they always come to see me
DC:
So you have built up a whole network of friends
JM:
DC:
So thats the connection
.thats
interesting
.. I think a cousin of my fathers Jean
Cusack who grew up at Petersville Moynalty
.I think he
served a short spell in Doyles
.he was born in
1940
so your probably talking the mid late 50s
now before he went off to America and he is still there
..
JM:
He wouldnt be a Cusack from Mapreath?
DC:
No a different Cusack
..Petersville,
Moynalty
..down the Ughtyneil road
Alish:
Thats Peter Finnegan that died lord have mercy on
him
.
DC:
That would be next door
..Jean Cusack was raised by his Aunt
.Helen Finnegan, Helen and Michael Finnegan on the next
farm to Peter
cause his parents died young.
Alish:
Did that Michael Finnegan come home from
DC:
No
.he was always there in Petersville
.there is a
couple of Michael Finnegans on that road
.
Alish:
And then there was a John Finnegan and he was adopted by
.
DC:
That was the same family
Alish:
He was adopted by
.
DC:
Helen and Michael
..
Alish:
But they came home from
DC:
Helen did.
Alish:
And the storey about them is ...he was going out with Helen
before she went to
DC:
John died just a few months ago
.
Alish:
And I remember that Helen Finnegan, so I do
.
DC:
Well she was my Grand Aunt.
JM:
And you were saying that he worked
..
DC:
I dont know if he was there long
when his younger
brother Jim was home over the summer I remember him saying that
Jean served some of his time in Doyles
it might
have been briefly six months or something
JM:
You dont know what year it was
.
DC:
I could find out
JM:
In August 54 I went into Doyles
.I went into it
as a foreman
..
DC:
Well he was born in 1940 so he would have been at least 15 or 16
so Im guessing around the mid 50s or late 50s
cause he went off to the States around 1959
.I just
thought I would mention it
..
JM:
I was trying to think back on the fellows that was
you
know
in it you see some of the lads that came in and they
only do a year or two and then go off to America or England you
know like and its hard to remember them all
DC:
That would have been Jean I would say it was just for a year
.small world..
JM:
It is
..
Alish:
I remember John Finnegan and I remember Helen but I dont
remember the husband
.but she used to go to Moynalty mass
thats how I would know
.cause Im originally from
Moynalty
DC:
Whats your
Alish:
I was Govern
my father was James Govern he was an over seer
on the council and my mother was from Oldcastle
.
DC:
Were you from the village or outside
..
Alish:
Between Kells and Moynalty ...the only cul-de-sac
we lived
up in off the road at Mc Cartans
.Mc
Cartans were racehorse
.
JM:
You know Mc Cartans
DC:
Oh I know the name its a cul-de-sac anyway
.
JM:
There is a lodge at the entrance
.up to Mc Cartans
..
DC:
Another person who adopted Kells!
Alish:
I served my time in Bells of Cross Street
.its not a
grocery shop any more its Doyles
a lot of changes
too
DC:
On going changes
.
Alish:
I remember long ago and they done it every Saturday night
we were working and you would work that time until 10 O
clock at night
and all the fellows from the country used
to dress them selves up and come out to Kells and stand at all
the different corners and walk around the town
.and
stay until maybe 10 or half ten and walk home
..
DC:
Just like that
Alish:
Some of them would have a lamp on their bicycle and some of them
would have none
.
DC:
They were risking it
.
Alish:
Every Saturday night without fail
.they would come into the
town
..
JM:
That was their weekends ...back to work on a Monday morning
DC:
So your involved in the football
.you follow the football
are involved with any other groups or activities around the
town
JM:
I was in the FCA, I was in them years 48/49..and I done my
holiday time in Gormanstown
I did a few years with
them
I enjoyed it with the lads you know
..used to look
forward to Gormanstown for a fortnights training
..we would
get the holidays from work
.mostly that now and the
fishing
I was very much into the fishing
.I loved
fishing and the football and coursing with
dogs
..hunting
thats where I used to spend many a
Sunday when I was a young fellow out hunting
.the fields for
hares and that you know
DC:
So you still enjoyed the countryside even though you lived in the
town
.
JM:
I always went out every weekend to the country
..I was
telling you about my father when he used to kill the pigs
..he would kill pigs for this man and they used to half the
pig
one half would go to a farmer down the road and then
when he would kill his pig a couple of months after
..thats the way they used to do it
because
the whole pig would be too much and they used to divide you
see
.and thats the way they done it that time in the
hard times you know
.. it wasnt going to the
shop every time to buy
they had their own bacon so they had
eggs, butter ,all that stuff and growing their own cabbage,
carrots, parsnips onions all that stuff
you never had to go
to the shop for anything like that
it was all grown at home
thats why the pig was very important for a lot of
people it was there means to feed 2/3 pigs and have 1 /2 to sell
a week or fortnight before Christmas
and that would be the
money to buy a lot of things for Christmas you know
DC:
Of course yes
..
JM:
ah indeed many the times in my spare time in the evenings we
would have to go out to pick potatoes and we would pick for the
local farmers we would pick a few bags of the rubbish and that
was for feeding pigs
the big farmers wouldnt bother
with the rubbish of the potatoes
. They would give you the
pick of them and we would pick them out of the wailings...you
know
and sure it was great feeding for the pigs
like
..that and a fistful of mashed oats or barley
.thats
when the bacon was so nice that time..
DC:
It was more natural
..
JM:
It would melt in your mouth
..you know
.
DC:
Were their many gardens in Kells when you first moved in
JM:
There was I put that shed in but there was a big garden it goes
right the way up nearly about to Monaghans Sports place
its a very long garden I used to plant that every
year and put potatoes in it and vegetables and done it for
several years until later years I gave it up ...it got of sort of
spun out ...you would need a 4 or 5 of topsoil in it because the
topsoil got spun out and all you have is rubbish you know
like
.a horticultural fellow told be one day you are only
wasting your time the ground is all spun out
he said you
need a couple of loads of topsoil .
DC:
To revive it
JM:
And another couple of loads of good farmyard manure....and bury
the whole lot it and leave it there for a year and then you will
have good soil the next year
DC:
He knew what he was talking about
. And now we have the
allotments out at Loyd so thats
JM:
Its making a come back
.to give people an idea of what it
was like
there is a lot of people today who enjoy doing
that
..if you were in a garage like I was all my life
you would love to get out to the country
you
know
to do something like that we used to go down ..you
would be called out to break downs to tractors out in the field
.I used to love it out in the fresh air you know
away
from all the fumes and everything ..
DC:
Especially growing up in the country
..
JM:
You had a graw for it like you know
..I had a great graw for
the country always you know
.it would never worry
me
even in the winter time we used to
a lot of people
would say I hate the winter
..
DC:
You can take the boy out of the country but you cant take
the country out of the boy
.as the saying goes
..
JM:
Thats it exactly
DC:
Well thanks for that Jimmy and if there is any other little
things that come to mind
JM:
Ill let you know
.it could come to your mind later on
you know
important things in years gone by
.if I think
of them Ill drop you a line
..Willie Carr, I know
Willie well
DC:
Well we will finish there for today, thanks Jimmy for talking to
us today and all the best
END OF
INTERVIEW