Reminiscences of my daily schooldays journey
Back in the day (the late 1950’s, many moons ago), I lived on Oliver Plunkett Avenue, Monkstown Farm. I attended pre-primary school in Convent Road and CBS Primary and Secondary on Eblana Avenue, Dun Laoghaire. Every schoolday I walked to Dun Laoghaire with my sisters, and walked back home again in the afternoon. Back then, times were harder and money was scarce – my father was a foreman carpenter at the Board of Works in Dun Laoghaire Harbour – and being a large family of seven children, we didn’t have bicycles, so walking to school was our only option. I can’t imagine many children walking that distance to school now – nowadays it’s all drop-off and pickup by car, or else they take the bus. However, me being a very extroverted character, I enjoyed those daily walking journeys, meeting and talking to all kinds of different folk (adults and children) along the way.
My sisters and I began our journey by leaving Oliver Plunkett Avenue, and turning into St Patrick’s Crescent. In turn, this took us into Mounttown Flats and onto a laneway exit onto Mounttown Road Lower, just above McCormack’s pub. It is hard to believe, but I remember the council workers laying the new surface to the road there back then. Mr King was the works foreman at the time, and we had many a brief chat while the works were ongoing. He was a lovely man to talk to. I met him again later on, when he was overseeing the resurfacing and car park works in Clarinda Park East when I was living there. Onwards from Mounttown Road Lower, we headed down York Road to Tivoli Terrace North, just opposite the Presbyterian Church. From there we walked to Cross Avenue, sometimes stopping at Mr Farrell’s shop to get a packet of broken biscuits, or maybe a packet of tayto (no airtight packets back then!), then we turned down Convent Road, and just past Barnes’ Newsagents to the door to our school on the left.
A vivid memory of those early school days was that one day, whilst going into the classroom, part of the ceiling collapsed onto the school desks. Luckily no one was hurt and we got a few days off school while repairs were being attended to! I cannot remember all my teachers’ names in Pre-Primary, but a Mrs Clarke, from Adelaide Street I believe, was my favourite teacher there. After school, I remember going home to Oliver Plunkett Avenue as quickly as possible so we could get out to play on the big green area outside our house. I couldn’t wait until I exited St Patrick’s Crescent, ran around by Our Lady’s statue and finally reached home! Great days – friends, football, playing hoopla and toss penny! Later on, when I attended the CBS school in Eblana Avenue, I remember teachers Mr King, Mr Doheny and ‘Lofty’ (I can’t recall his surname) and also the principal, Brother Davis. Also, in later Primary and Secondary years en route to school each morning, to give myself some much needed pocket money, I delivered morning newspapers from Mrs Greer’s newsagents in Mounttown. My route was along by Gambles Hill and Knapton Road.
Later, whilst in CBS Primary Eblana Avenue, our family moved from Oliver Plunkett Avenue to Adelaide Street in Dun Laoghaire, so the journey to school was much shorter and vastly different, but still exciting nonetheless. My deep love of the harbour area was kindled then due to living in close proximity to it. Adelaide Street is probably my favourite place to live, and I would relish any opportunity to live there again. Because of living in the town centre then, after school I would wander off to explore Dun Laoghaire Harbour with my great school pal Gerard Brandon, from Tivoli Terrace East. It was Gerard that introduced me to my lifelong hobby and passion – photography. When I saw his lovely camera and photos, I instantly knew I wanted to do the same. Gerard and myself spent many an exciting hour exploring the borough and searching for new photo subjects. Reflecting on my school journeys, I love the fact that they instilled in me a great sense of adventure and a desire to explore more and more features of our delightful town and its people, and later on in my teens to explore further afield too.
Walking to and from school in Dún Laoghaire gave me great times, great friends, great places and great discoveries, for all of which I am very thankful.
Peter Keane is a landscape and portrait photographer, born, raised and living in Dún Laoghaire. https://www.facebook.com/peter.keane.5
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.
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