A TRIP TO NELSON'S PILLAR........1965

                     Every Sunday The Ma would get all us 5 kids ready and haul us all on board the 22 bus or if the Da was not working into his A40 AUSTIN car and bring us to our Nannies place  down in Sheriff st beside the docks.   Living in their flat was the Granda Michael, Nanny Nolan and 3 aunts,Joan,Lily and Rose.(Granda Michael "Bisha" Nolan along with his 2 sons ,uncle Paddy and  Christy "Bisha" Nolan were dockers and Christy had spent time  sailing around the world on a merchant ship).......One Sunday ,in  1965,Aunt lily brought the 3 stooges .....Rick ..little Ger and Bem on a stroll up to town,(Rob and Jacqueline were too small to bring)..It was a Beautiful sunny day .We all had our matching shorts  (just the boys) and our bodices under our T-Shirts(Bodices were like little buttoned vests ).We walked up along the Boundary wall until we reached Connolly Station,When little Ger started moaning.."Lily, Lily, I cant walk anymore me legs are hurting",he says.Now little Ger even back then was as solid as a rock.Anyway lily scooped him up and threw him on her shoulder and we headed up Talbot st.Little Ger looked down at us and started smiling.   Rick  says to lily."Lily that's not fair, can we have a lift too ?"   "Feck off " she says ."I have me hands full with this lump,He weighs a ton". And with that we all started laughing except little Ger who was not impressed been called a Lump.Next we got to a sweet shop and bingo ,little Ger starts whinging ."Lily i'm hungry ,Can i have sweeties"?

 In lily goes and gets us our goodies .After we scoffed our sweets Little Ger wanted to get back up on Lily but she told him to walk .Bem and Rick we're delighted,and started calling him a big baby,which prompted him to run at us like a bull,we were in stitches and took refuge behind Lily.We eventually get to O'Connell st and we says to Lily."Lily can we go up there ".pointing up at the pillar."Okay" says Lily and over we go .We got to the bottom of the pillar and looked up and on cue Little Ger started moaning that his legs were too small to go up the spiral stairs....so Lily throws him over her shoulder and starts up the stairs with Little Ger's woolly hair bobbing up and down .he looks at us and smiles and gives us a triumphant wink.Poor Lily was struggling up them stairs with Ger on her shoulder .Eventually we made it to top and had a look out over Dublin ...Lily had to give us a lift to see out over the rail.There was wire mesh all above the rail so there was no danger of falling . The people down below looked like ants walking around. We skipped back down the stairs,even little Ger ,with poor Lily lagging behind.We jumped on a bus and we ran up the stairs to the front seat,we felt we were driving the bus. We all slept like babies that night ..even poor Lily ...zzzzzzzz
P.S. A year later in 1966 the pillar was blown up by the IRA.

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"OUR LITTLE PRINCESS"..........1965

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"She's a little Princess ",gushed one of the neighbours as they all peered into the
Moses Basket.

 The 4 Boys were standing in the corner of the room taking it all in.
The Ma had just arrived back from Hospital with her fifth child,A Baby Girl.
"What is her name?",says Rita."We are calling her Jacqueline",says the Ma.
"Ah that's lovely",says one of the neighbours,"Are you naming her after Jacqueline Kennedy?".
"Yes,we are",says the Ma.
Rita says," Jacqueline Kennedy might be the First Lady in America  ,but Jacqueline is our little Lady here ".
They all have a laugh.
Bem had Butterflies in his tummy,he was so excited to have a little sister .
All that Weekend the front door was like a revolving door with all the visitors
that came and went. Dolls and teddy Bears were all around the Moses Basket.
Little Ger takes one of the Dolls and starts to play with it.
"You're a Sissy",says Rick laughing .
Ger was not happy,"Am not",he says .
"You are so",says Rick.
With that Ger runs in to the Kitchen. .
"Ma ,Rick said I'm a Sissy",he says.
"Do'nt mind him pet",says Ma as she strokes his big head of hair.
Ger was happy for the bit of attention.
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 P.S.Later that year (Nov. 22),John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas,Texas.
Everyone was in shock ,grown men and women wept openly in the streets of Dublin and all over the World.  His family came from Wexford ,so everyone in Ireland felt like they had lost one of their own.
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Part 4......1964.
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Saturday morning and little Ger wakes up first and goes downstairs
and wakes up the boys with a roar, "Where's my Ma".
Rick and Bem jump out of bed and with Rob trailing behind they leg it down the stairs
taking 2 steps at a time.They go in the Kitchen and there is the Aunt Lily trying
to comfort Little Ger as he hugs her leg,"It's okay ,your Mammy will be back in awhile",says Lily.
The Ma comes in later and tells us that the Da had a crash on his Motorbike and was
in hospital.The boys are all upset,but the Ma cheers them up by telling them they can visit
him the next day in the Hospital.
"What's a Hospital?",says Ger.
"It's a place people go to get better",says the Ma.
On the Sunday they all go to Jervis St Hospital to see the Da,Big Ger.
His leg was in plaster from his hip right down onto his foot,It was a bad
Break and he had to get permanent plates and pins in his leg.
"Bang goes my football career",says the Da laughing.
He allows the boys to sign their names on his plastered leg.
He would be out of work for 9 months that year recovering.
Later that year Bem was doing a Dress Rehearsal for the Christmas Show in Junior School on the School
Stage .Himself and His schoolmates were decked out with Black Berets and Sun glasses
and marching and singing the song,"A Nation once again".
In pops the Da on his crutches and calls Bem and the Boys over and gives out drinks and chocolate to all of them..
The Boys were all delighted as back in them days it was a big treat to get Chocolate as money was very scarce,and generally you could only afford
toffee bars which cost one penny.
You rarely got a chance to eat one all for yourself as there was always a kid
lurking around looking for a share of it.
Every Friday was goody night in our house at 177 so the Da used to send the 2 eldest(Rick and Bem) up for a block of ice cream and a bottle of minerals and a bag of Cleeves broken toffee bars which were very tasty.
The Ma used to line up the cups(glasses were only to be used for special Occasions)  and first put the ice cream in and then pour the minerals in on top.
It was every kid for themselves and every cup was emptied pronto.
There was no waste back then ,everything was consumed ,plates were licked clean
after every dinner and the Ma used to say,laughing ,"There's not much cleaning on them dishes,yous have practically
licked them clean".                                                

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