Ag dul chun scoile ar an mbus i mBaile Átha Cliath sna 1960í
Bhí mé 14 bliain d’aois nuair a d’athraigh mo mhodh taistil chun scoile ó rothar go bus. Chuir an turas bus laethúil ó Chluain Dolcáin go Baile Átha Cliath ar bhealach mo leasa agus m’aimhleasa in éineacht mé. Bhí deis agam gach maidin tabhairt faoi ghiota den obair bhaile – foghlaim dánta de ghlan mheabhair mar shampla – nár dearnadh an oíche roimhré. Ní fhéadfaí obair dhéanach dá leithéid a dhéanamh dá mbeinn ag rothaíocht.
De ghnáth mar sin, turas faoi strus go lár na cathrach a bhí romham gach maidin agus turas sona gan bhuairt ar an mbealach abhaile sa tráthnóna. Ní raibh tuairim agam an uair sin go rachadh an fhoghlaim faoi bhrú agus faoi dheifir chun tairbhe dom ar feadh mo shaoil. Fearacht go leor iriseoirí, bhí an obair a rinne mé – go háirithe agus ‘Morning Ireland’ á chur i láthair agam ar feadh fiche bliain – ag brath go minic ar mo chumas ábhar nua a thuiscint, a stóráil i mo chuimhne agus a úsáid le linn agallaimh tar éis cúpla nóiméade Cuimhním freisin ar an deis a thug busanna na linne sin do phaisinéirí dul ar bord gan stró idir stadanna.
Bhíodh an t-ádh orm uaireanta dá mbeadh an bus abhaile ag gluaiseacht ar Ché Aston sara sroichinn i. Dá stopfadh an bus ag na soilse ag Droichead Uí Chonaill, thug an t-ardán oscailte ar chúl deis do phaisinéir déanach dul ar bord – dá ligfeadh an stiúrthóir ar bord iad. Ní foláir míniú a thabhairt ag an bpointe seo.Sna 1960í bhíodh foireann beirte fós ar bhusanna Bhaile Átha Cliath: tiománaí, agus stiúrthóir a dhíol ticéid. Is sábháilte busanna na linne seo le doirse ar ndóigh ach d’oir na seanbhusanna do mhórán, síor-mhalluairigh cosúil liomsa go háirithe.
As Béarla:
Going to school by bus in Dublin in the 1960s
I was 14 years old when my daily commute to school changed from bike to bus. The bus journey from Clondalkin into Dublin helped to cultivate a bad habit that turned out to be useful later. The half-hour trip gave me an opportunity to do some homework that should have been done the night before. Learning poetry off by heart is one example of last-minute work that could never have been done while cycling.
So my morning commute by bus was stressful, but the happy trip home more than made for it. Little did I know that late learning under pressure would come in handy later. Like many journalists, my job – especially while presenting ‘Morning Ireland’ for twenty years – often depended on an ability to grasp a subject, store key points in my memory and use them during an interview a few minutes later. One other thing I remember about going to school by bus in the 1960s was how sometimes it was possible to board between stops.
If my bus home had set out from Aston Quay just before I got there, there might still be a chance of boarding – if it stopped at the O’Connell Bridge traffic lights and if the bus conductor let you on, the open platform at the back of the bus was perfect for late passengers to get on. Here I need to explain that in those days Dublin buses had a crew of two – one to drive, the other collecting fares. Modern buses with automatic doors are of course safer, but the older open-access version was very handy for inveterate late arrivals like me.
Cathal Mac Coille presented Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One for twenty years before his retirement in 2017. He was TG4’s first political correspondent. Other jobs included work with the Sunday Tribune and RTE’s Northern staff in Belfast. He writes a weekly column for the Irish language website Tuairisc.ie.A Dubliner, he was educated at Moyle Park College in Clondalkin and Coláiste Mhuire in Dublin. He now lives in Phibsborough and cycles everywhere.
On behalf of the Museum of Childhood Ireland and Robert Burns, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all of our wonderful participants for their time and their stories. We are thrilled to be presenting this project and we hope you will enjoy following along with us in the coming weeks.
Have a story on this topic and want to get involved? Contact us on our social media sites, or email us at cbrowne@museumofchildhood.ie – we would love to hear from you!
Thar ceann Mhúsaem na hÓige Éireann agus Robert Burns, ba mhaith linn ár mbuíochas ó chroí a ghabháil lenár rannpháirtithe iontacha go léir as a gcuid ama agus a gcuid scéalta. Tá an-áthas orainn an tionscadal seo a chur i láthair agus tá súil againn go mbainfidh tú taitneamh as leanúint linn sna seachtainí atá romhainn.
An bhfuil scéal agat ar an ábhar seo agus ar mhaith leat páirt a ghlacadh? Déan teagmháil linn ar ár suíomhanna meán sóisialta, nó seol ríomhphost chugainn ag cbrowne@museumofchildhood.ie – ba bhreá linn cloisteáil uait!