I was born in Halifax, Yorkshire in 1956. Our house was across the road from the city graveyard, surrounded by high stone walls. On the other side of the graveyard was our primary school, Caddy Field.I was strongly gender non-conforming from a very early age. I refused to grow my hair or wear girls’ clothes.… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Kate Thompson
Tag: community engagement
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Pierce Turner
At eight a.m. I could hear my mother shouting my name up the stairs to the third floor where I lay in bed fast asleep. The call would be for my brothers Paddy and Seamus as well, and of course my sisters Breda and Bernie, who were on a lower floor. Everyone would move before… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Pierce Turner
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Catherine Agada Joseph
As a young girl in secondary school, I used to walk for 30 minutes every morning at 7am to school, and another 30 minute walk back home at 4pm. It never felt like a 30 minute walk because many other children in my neighbourhood also attended the same school. We would all wait for each… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Catherine Agada Joseph
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Una Mullally
Across the Greens of a Concrete Suburb Walking to and from school as a child in the late 1980s and early 1990s was always about a succession of shortcuts. This journey began by crossing the park behind Super Valu in Deansgrange, a place of spring chestnut trees, winter frost, and autumn swallows. Then, up Kill… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Una Mullally
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Tom Doorley
My earliest memory of my journey to school involved catching the bus – usually an 11 or a 16 – on Drumcondra Road to get to the Dominican Convent in Eccles Street, now long demolished and replaced with much of the Mater Hospital. In those days there was a stable yard close to the back… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Tom Doorley
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Karl Doyle
I got a lift to and from school everyday with my mam.On the way to school we would chat and listen to 98fm (I loved Dermot & Dave). On the way home my friend Tadhg would come with us because his house was on the way. Tadhg and I used to ramble on about whatever… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Karl Doyle
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Mairéad Ní Nuadháin
Going to School in Ballaghaderreen the ‘Back Way.’ I don’t remember my first day at school but photographic evidence exists. Pat O’Connor, the local pharmacist, who was also a photographer took a picture of myself and Edward Hiney. I don’t know who owned the schoolbag but we seem to have had just one, that we… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Mairéad Ní Nuadháin
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Adriaan Palm
Cycling, I can do it as long as I can remember. First a small bike, with two support wheels to help me balance. I can’t remember how long it took me to learn how to cycle, but in real terms it can’t have been very long. Maybe a few weeks. Then came primary school, Bloemcampschool… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Adriaan Palm
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Cónal Creedon
Downtown Cork city is like being centre stage in a West End musical. It’s an animated warren of shops and arcades, inhabited by every class of shopkeeper, hawker and market trader you could imagine. It’s a city of characters and chancers, and a wander through the streets is an education in itself. It’s true to… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Cónal Creedon
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Nora Corcoran
My earliest memories as a child going to junior school was that we lived in the town, and my father used to drop us down in the morning. We had a Ford Escort van. I come from a Mincéir / Irish Traveller Family, and my father was a Tinsmith who made and mended pots and… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Nora Corcoran