Mar 04 2018
‘I remember…’
‘The first time I ever saw the Star Picture House in Crumblin was from my hospital bed. I was 12 years old and taken by taxi to the Children’s Hospital to have my appendix taken out. Doctor Kirwan from Skreen Road said my appendix was about to burst. I have a big scar across my belly from the 12 stitches I got. It was the night before my older sister’s wedding and I didn’t even get to go to it. I remember lying in the hospital bed looking out across the grounds at the coloured lights on the Star Picture House across the road. And across the road I could see a shop that me dying of the thirst because the nurse was told not to give me anything to drink until after my operation the next day. I wanted to go into the shop for a bottle of American Cream Soda to drink. From my bed I could see all the people coming out of the Picture House and then one by one all the lights went out. After my operation I woke up and saw my Ma’ and Da’ and my Granny Burke from Broombridge Road sitting beside my bed. I remember trying to sit up and the pain across my stomach nearly killed me. I looked at the Da’ and said ‘Am I in Heaven‘? The three of them started laughing at me. ‘No you’re not…‘ said the Granny Burke ‘…but if I hear you cursing again I know where you’ll be‘. Later on the Ma’ told me I was cursing in my sleep. A few days later I was home and on the mend. Now, many the time over the years I would show off my 12 stitches scar and tell people I was in a knife fight up in Finglas. I used to show them off to my kids and tell them I was fighting in Vietnam with the army. So, anytime I see the old Star Picture House these are the kind of things that come to mind…’