Today my guest is Mary Ward. Mary is my aunt and has lived in Dublin all of her life. As a family, we have often discussed the idea of documenting our history and as part of that, I thought it would be a great opportunity to sit down with Mary and chat about her memories of living in Dublin over the last 70 years. From her childhood playing all day on the streets of South Dublin to her memory of the assassination of President John F Kennedy, Mary has quite a few stories to tell so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us
We started chatting about Mary’s childhood and how it compares to children’s playtime today (02:50), what entertainment they had at home (08:41), and her experience of school (10:00). We then began talking about the influence of the Catholic Church in 1940s Dublin (14:28), when she started working (17:40), and the nightlife in the 1950s Dublin (20:50). I then asked Mary about the possibility of emigrating (25:55), the family members that died young (27:44), and access to birth control (29:30). Next we chatted about the community sprit (31:35), the standard of health care in her youth (33:05), and what she misses most about the past (37:`15). As we neared to the end of our chat I asked Mary about the major historic events that she remembers (41:40) and for some advice for future generations (45:45).
Show Notes
- Some information on the Dublin district of Crumlin
- Dublin family life in the Dublin district of Ballyfermot in the 1960s
- Church life in 1960s Ireland
- For more, hear my conversations with Flo McSweeney, Clodagh Finn and Turtle Bunbury
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