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Confirmation Day: Left to right: myself, Simon Byrne and Paddy Dempsey. Simon's family were the 'Blueshirt' Byrnes. The 'Blueshirts' (Army Comrades' Association) were the followers of General Eoin O'Duffy and were a pale imitation of the European fascists. O'Duffy lead a party of these to Spain in 1936 to support General Franco's insurrection against the Spanish Republic. We are standing outside Kealy's hotel and public house. The door on the left of the picture led to a room from which a bank operated on fair days (i.e. days when a fair for the sale and purchase of animals and produce took place in the town). The lane on the right led to a Handball Alley (handball was a game like squash, but the ball was struck by the hand rather than a racket). At this time gamblers played 'pitch and toss' there on Sunday mornings. On the right-hand side of the lane, running back quite a distance, are the garden and partly ruined outbuildings (which included stables and a bakery) of my great-grandfather's shop and business. |
