View of Carlingford from the sea
Memories
Memories containing the words .
Luke Clarke
29 January 2017
Luke Clarke
Memory: Luke Clarke Memories 3
In winter time there was the pub quiz. There were the local pub teams and as it became more popular many teams from Dundalk and the surrounding area became involved. The team from the Fjord was very strong and won numerous prizes . On that team was Brendan Mc Kevitt, Dorothy Mc Gee (Harry’s wife) Brian Mc Kevitt (brother of Brendan) and Phill Small ( a sister of Paddy Small) who lived on the parade across from Anna Murphy’s shop. The building where she lived was originally John Reilly’s carpentry shop.
I also recall many Saturday nights in Billy Reilly’s Bar on Dundalk Street . This would have been during the late sixties early seventies. There was a shop as well as the bar and we would call to the shop which Billy’s wife Maureen ran and sit drinking minerals , eating chocolate biscuits and listen to the arguments in the bar which were generally about politics. There would be Paddy Thornton from Whitestown, Eddie Carroll from Willville , Patsy Mc Shane, Eddie Mackin , John Mackin , Charlie Gallagher, Jimmy Forty O Hare and George Brown .
George travelled to Carlingford by tractor which he named “Maggie”. The tractor was parked outside and Patsy Mc Shane would always get a lift home on the back of Maggie. I think Fine Gael was the popular party in Billy’s Pub. I presume that is why my father didn’t visit there on a Saturday night being a Fianna Fail man!
I remember one particular Christmas Eve, Eddie Mackin who lived in South Commons was just after leaving Billy’s a bit the worse for wear, and decided to go to Midnight Mass. I was serving that night, I think the year was 1967 and Canon Mc Donald was on duty. I remember the procession would leave the altar and go to the back door turn and go back to the altar. The bold Eddie was standing at the back smoking his pipe and carrying a six pack of Guinness. He got a wicked look from the Canon. Eddie blessed himself quickly and disappeared up the Rooskey Road.
James Mc Allister from the Grove Road was another great character who normally drank in P.J. O ‘Hares. James would greet you by saying “Up the Mediterranean”. One evening he was in O’ Hares eating the salted nuts that PJ had in small containers at the bar. Two American visitors came into the bar for a drink and started to eat the nuts on the bar. One of them asked PJ if he had any salted nuts and he replied that the nuts were salted. It emerged that James the Nun as he was called, was sucking the salt of the nuts and putting them back in the container!
Another customer of PJ’s was Jimmy Boyle from the Terrace. Jimmy was the best winkle gatherer in the peninsula. He went out in all weathers and knew all the hot spots where the winkles were more plentifull. In the summer time you could find Jimmy at Week-Ends outside Howes pub in Omeath selling cockles and mussels, that was when Omeath was as busy as Carlingford is now, I recall one occasion Jimmy was coming back to Carlingford from Omeath after a hard days work and decided to call into PJ’s for a pint. It was during one of the world cups tournaments. Jimmy never had much interest in soccer. He called PJ one side and said that Germany were awarded a penalty “straight in front of the goals” PJ smiled but made no answer.
Times have certainly changed and Carlingford is now a very different place to grow up in. There are up on twenty eating establishments in Carlingford. I can remember as a young fella standing outside Hugh and Maggie Brennans, being asked by visitors to where they might get something to eat. You told them to head for the Park Hotel in Omeath or Ballymascanlon Hotel.
Maybe if someone had plenty of time and patience it would be worthwhile to organising a primary school reunion from the old school, going back to Miss Quinn’s time and even further. I don’t think there are any from my school class living locally maybe a few. This might jog a few memories out there from past pupils who are spread out all over the globe. Or perhaps encourage others from that era who have a memory or a yarn to tell.
Maybe we could contact Kevin Woods and get something set up on the Carlingford People website and invite anybody who would like to record a memory to get in touch.
Luke Clarke
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Michael McCartney
29 January 2017
First Published in The Dundalk Democrat in 2009
An open letter to the villagers of Carlingford.
Forty six years ago on October 8th 1963 my mother held me in her arms as I took my first breath and came into this world. Last Thursday on October the 8th 2009 I held my mother in my arms as she took her last breath and left this world. It was a birthday I will never forget.
Johanna McCartney’s funeral was held last Saturday October 10th in Carlingford and as I walked through the ancient streets with my mother’s coffin on my shoulder, my aunt from America said to me, “when I die, I want to die in Ireland.”
With the Cooley mountains to my right and Carlingford Lough to my left, we walked past Saint John’s castle. I couldn’t help but wonder how many times since the Norman knight John De Courcy established Carlingford in 1184, had this scene been repeated. It felt good to walk in the footsteps of ancient Irish history. Comforting.
We stopped for a moment of pause outside the restaurant and bed and breakfast business my mother built and still owns. Originally called Captain Corelli’s and now known as The Baytree, it was a big achievement for her.
Johanna McCartney first came to Carlingford from Belfast in the early 1990’s. At the time she was a grieving widow getting over the death of my father Valentine who died from asbestosis. She was looking for a new life and a new start.
We knew the area well as we had holidayed for years in an old stone cottage at the River’s Foot in Gyles Quay. The Cooley Peninsula always held a special place for our family and it was fitting that my mom moved there to start afresh.
It’s often said that Irish villages treat newcomers with reserve and call them ‘blow-ins.’ In Carlingford this was not the case. The villagers treated my mom as one of their own and the feeling was mutual.
Seven years ago my mother suffered a stroke that robbed her of some of her independence. Not to be beaten, she relied on the telephone to communicate with the world. It was common for me to take ten phone calls a day from her.
My mother’s wake lasted for two days. A steady stream of villagers came to the house and I wish I had a Euro for every time I heard them say, “she was quite a character.”
I only found out during the wake that her friends and neighbours in Carlingford were also being telephoned ten times a day. They took her calls with a big heart and with no complaint. The villagers of Carlingford give more than they take. She’s gone now and I wish the phone would ring. Telecom Eireann will miss her.
I want to thank everyone in Carlingford for the love and support they showed my mom and my family. It’s a beautiful village with a community that should be proud of their ability to offer friendship to others.
My mom was glamorous. A go getter. A good listener who made you feel you were the only person in the room. She didn’t hide in the shadows. She was proud of Carlingford and did all she could to make the village blossom. They have lost a rose but gained a memory of a wonderful person.
May she rest in peace. She was a class act.
From her loving son Michael.
Michael McCartney,
Coastguard Avenue,
Helens Bay,
Northern Ireland.
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