THE GRUSHIE 1968

Every Saturday all the kids on the road would head up to the Parish Church.
It was'nt for Religious reasons it was more for Monetary reasons.
Sunday was Mass day.
Carroll's family home was literally around the corner from the Church.
Saturday was Wedding day in the Church and the kids would gather

for the Grushie.
The Grushie would happen after the ceremony and the Best man would throw a
load of coins out of the wedding car as it drove out of the Church.
One Saturday at about 2 o clock Bem,Rick,little Ger and all the little urchins gathered around the Church grounds.
The Wedding crowd emerged from the Church.They then assembled to get their photos done .

Afterwards the Happy couple get into their White Mercedes.  Then the Best man and grooms and Bridesmaids  get into their car behind.
There are about 30 kids all gathered anticipating with great excitement the fall of coins.
Some with holes in their raggy clothes .Some with battered shoes with flapping soles.
Talking shoes we used to call them.
Next the moment everyone is waiting for ,A hand comes out the car window and into the air goes
a load of coins."It's raining coins",shouts one of the kids.
The coins go everywhere , Tanners ,three-penny pieces ,pennies,halfpennies ,The odd  Shilling   ,so do the kids.
Girls ,Boys are rolling on the ground fighting over every coin.
Silver coins are  the ones everyone is after.

Bem spots a lovely shiny one and makes a dive for it.
Govo had dived at the same time.
Bem's shoe gets caught on the kerb and his sole rips open.
Heads banged together and while Bem and Govo are rubbing their heads , Josie picks up
The One Shilling coin.She jumps with joy and runs off.
After all the dust had settled all the kids head over to the Kiosk which was across from

the Church.It was situated in a roundabout.
Mister Carter was the blind man who ran it.
There was only a little hatch in which he served the Customers.
The amazing thing to the kids was he generally was able to know all the kids by their voices.
Any kid that tried to trick him with coins had no chance ,he knew the feel of them off by hard.
Penny toffees and loose sweets and Lollipops were the order of the day.
The kids who ended up with no money from the Grushie would be hoping for some scraps .

Generally most kids would share the goodies as they could be the ones who ended up with no money the following week.
Bem and Govo ended up with no coins but Josie came over with Bullseye sweets for Bem,whom she had
a soft spot for.         Bem went all red when the Boys all slagged him about Josie.                Bem threw a few on to Govo who was still rubbing his head and said to Bem,
"Carroller ,you have a head like a brick,but thanks for the Bullseyes".
Jim Brown who only lived across the road said,"Anyone fancy a game of ball ?".
"Yeah,go and get your football,Jimmy",says Rick.
"Can you get some sellotape ?,jimmy",says Bem.
"What for?",says Jimmy.
Bem holds up his shoe and moves the sole up and down and says,"Because I have a talking shoe".

"Ha ha,I'll see has me Ma got any",says Jimmy.
Jimmy comes back with the ball and a lump of rag.
"Here,try that ,no sellotape in the Gaff",he says.
Bem ties the rag around his shoe.
"That does the job",he says to Jimmy.
The boys play for a couple of hours.
It usually ended with siblings fighting each other.
This time it was Bem and Rick.  Bem had scored the winning goal and Rick who was on the losing side was not very happy.He was very competitive with Bem and started slagging Bem about Josie.
Handbag stuff it ended up.
"Your dinner is ready",shouted Jacky from across the road to Rick ,Bem and Ger.
The Boys made a dart for the house and Bem and Rick were neck and neck all the way to
the front door where Rick just got in first,poor Ger was left lagging behind.
The Da had made them a big fry up,Rashers,eggs,sausages and beans.

Every Saturday the Ma and her sister Joan would go into Town for some Retail Therapy.
Them few hours were precious to her as the rest of the time she was always very busy with 11 kids
to look after.
The fry was gulped down fairly quickly but Rick's plate was always empty first.
"Any seconds ,Da?",says Rick.
It was his regular question after every meal.
"No,Rick,sorry it's all gone ,have some bread",says the Da.
It's 6 o clock and only the 3 oldest boys,Rick,Bem and Ger are allowed back out to play.
"1 more hour and be back in for 7 o clock",says the Da to the Boys.
Out the door they go for another hour of playtime.

" LISBON LIONS 1967".

Back in the sixties when most people had no television people had to make their own Entertainment.
 Most houses had their own Wireless,as it was called back then ,now it's known as a radio.
We were lucky enough to have a T.V. in our house but all we had back then by the way of stations was R.T.E. 1.
Now and then they would show a few cartoons and that was the highlight.
Kids played all kinds of games on the streets.
Kids woke up ,went to school,came home ,done homework asap and then out to play.

Girls done their skipping and they also played a game which was called "Beds",in Dublin but more commonly known as Hopscotch.

Marbles was a very popular pastime for Boys.              
 But Soccer was the most popular on the streets of Dublin for all the young lads.
Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic were the most popular teams.

The 2 most popular players were Georgie Best of  Man. Utd and Jimmy (jinky)Johnstone of Celtic.
United had always got a steady supply of Irish players .
Celtic were founded by Irish priests.
Shamrock rovers were one of the most popular Irish teams.
Celtic and Rovers wore similar football strips,Green and white strips on their jerseys and white shorts.
Back then no one could afford a jersey.
Celtic had won the Scottish league the year before and they had a great run in the
European Cup(Champions league now).
Only the League Champions of each Country qualified for the European Cup.
It was a knockout competition and each round was played over two legs.
The final that year was being played in Lisbon.
Inter Milan and Celtic had made it to the final so there was great excitement on the streets of Dublin.
Everyone in Ireland treated Celtic like an Irish team as they were founded by Irish Catholic priests.
The Da had just bought a new Wireless and we all gathered around it while the match was on.
Back then the reception was'nt so good so there was a lot of buzzing noises coming from the Wireless.
Milan score first,everyone is downbeat as they had a great defence and were difficult to score against.
They had won the European cup twice already(This was Celtic's first final).
Celtic were playing some great football according to the commentator on the radio.
Next Celtic equalise from a shot by their fullback ,Tommy Gemmell.
Everyone is in raptures.
Bem,Rick and little Ger are jumping around with excitement.
"Ssssh",says the Da who kept trying to tune in the Wireless.
The Ma is sitting at the Kitchen table doing a bit of knitting,She looks as cool as a Cucumber.
Next a roar comes over the Wireless,"Chalmers has Scored for Celtic".
We all ran out on the streets screaming with joy.
The Da called us back in,"Lads they have'n t won yet there's still 6 minutes left.
Those 6 minutes felt like 6 hours.

Finally it was over,Celtic were European Champions.
Everyone were on the streets dancing with joy,even the Ma left down her knitting to join us.
   Everyone went to school the next day with a spring in their step.
After school we all replayed the final with our own matches.
Everyone wanted  Celtic as their team.
"The Lisbon Lions"....... European Champions.
About a week later the Ma called the boys into the Parlor one
day after school. "I have a surprise for you boys",she said.
"Close your eyes",she says to the 3 boys,Rick,Bem,and Ger.
"Here you's are",she says as she hands over 3 jumpers to the boys.
The boys try on their jumpers with great excitement as these were no ordinary jumpers,
They were in the green and white colours of Celtic.
"Ah ,thanks Ma",they say.The Ma had worked hard all week knitting them for the boys when they were either in school or bed or out playing.
"You's can thank Rita when you see her as she helped me to finish them for you",she says.
The boys grab a ball and go out to show off their new" football jersey's".
They were the envy of the road for awhile after that all thanks to the Ma.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX1968........THE RED DEVILS
It was Man Utd 's turn in 68 as they beat Benefica 4-1 at Wembley
after extra time,with goals from Brian Kidd ,Bobby Charlton(2) and the great George Best.
Benefica had the great player Eusebio on their side.