Cabra History.Com

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween was always a great time for us as young children.  In school the Nuns or the Master would always tell us about Saint Patrick lighting the fire on Croagh Patrick and how the High King of Ireland got annoyed  because he wanted to be the one to light the first fire for the pagan celebrations. So from the word ‘go’ it was all excitement on Halloween.  We had Colcannon for our dinner and Barn Brack for our tea. The Ma’ would wrap a threepenny bit or a couple of pennies in grease proof paper and throw them into the big pot of Colcannon. The lovely smell of Colcannon wafted throughout the house and all the way up the stairs. It was always so exciting sitting down to your Halloween dinner because everyone was anxious to see who got money in their dinner. The Colcannon wouldn’t last long on the table in our house. You’d have to keep an eye on your plate in case one of the older brothers swiped a lump of Colcannon on you. After dinner we had to do our ‘ecker’ and when we had the ‘ecker’ done a basin of water was placed in the middle of the kitchen floor and a half dozen apples were placed in it for a game of  ’duck the apple’.  Sometimes we’d throw in a handful of monkey nuts into the basin and as they floated we’d try and scoop them up with our mouths. We’d also play ‘snap the apple’ by hanging an apple from a piece of string hung from the kitchen ceiling. I would stand on one side and m,y sister on the other with our hands kept behind our backs. We’d reach up to the apple and try and take the biggest bite out of it. The Ma’ and our Granny would sit by the fire enjoying the heat and the craic.  The Barn Brack was great with all the fruit in it and the ring wrapped up in paper. Who ever got the ring would be the next one in the family to get married. The Ma’ wouldn’t let us go knocking on doors ‘trick & treatin’ until we had our tea. The Da’ would rub soot from the fireplace on our faces and put some of his old shirts on us. What a sight! We’d all head off with paper bags in our hands to try our luck at getting fruit and sweets from our neighbours.  In one particular house they always had loads of stuff for the Halloween children. Other houses would keep their lights off and refuse to answer the door no matter how many times you’d bang on it. We would rarely venture any further than our own road because after a while your paper bag would be bursting with stuff and you’d have to go home to unload it all. But once we went back to the house we’d never be allowed out again. I especially loved Halloween because it is the day I was born on. So every year I was sure to have a birthday party, even if it was only a candle stuck in a Barn Brack. We always went to bed exhausted but hppy.

Congratulations to Gaelscoil Bharra, Cabra West  on their recently released single Cá bhfuil ár Scoil?  It is the highest new entry in the irish charts this week.  The all Irish school, situated in the grounds of the Girls Playground on Fassaugh Avenue  is a rundown shack of old prefabs that are over-run with rats and sorely neglected by politicians. This recent release highlights the terrible conditions  which the children and staff are forced to endure because of a lack of funds from the government. The school is situated next to the GAA Club which can be seen on the right of the above photograph… somethings never change!

How often did the Mammy drag you over to Thomas Street or Meath Street in search of a bargain? Into the clothes market for your Communion suit or a secondhand pair of shoes that you had to stuff the toes with newspaper to make them fit. ‘Sure you’ll grow into them’ was the usual retort from the Ma’. Or the other comment was about the poor starving children out in Africa who had no shoes. She never mentioned about herself and the Da’ never having shoes as young children or the hard times she was having trying to feed her brood. The Libertys was always a great place for bargains no matter what age you were there was always something to suit your fancy, anything from a needle to an anchor as they say. There was the shop in Meath Street that sold the loose butter, the butcher that sold dripping’ and the ould fella on the corner selling loose cigarettes. It was like one big family with everyone knowing everyone elses business. And of course the Ma’ knew all the dealers and the best ones to go to for a real bargain. Frawleys was always packed with customers trying on skirts, trousers and shoes. And don’t forget of course the oil clothe for the kitchen table. I remember the chemist shop in Thomas Street that sold the liquid DDT the Ma’ put in our hair to kill the fleas. Saint Catherine’s bakery was a great place to get the pillow case filled with crusty bread and sometimes stale bread. Now its all supermarkets with foreign foods whose names we can’t pronounce, New Age ozone friendly farmers’ markets and don’t forget to disinfect your hands in case of swine flu. Sure wouldn’t the Ma’ and Da’ laugh at us and they brought up in the tenements of Dublin City where they had no runnng water or indoor toilets. Times have certainly changed!

The young man in the yellow jacket is none other than Naller Roach from Rathoath Road.

Eileen and Margaret Quinn from Lower Killala Road