Cabra History.Com

Many thank’s to Veronica O’Sullivan for allowing me to use this great photograph, a copy of which was originally published in the Irish Independent Newspaper. ‘The two men are Roy O’Sullivan, my Da’s cousin, who lived on Carnlough Road (the Kilkiernan Road-end) and Bob O’Sullivan himself. The lad in the centre is Joe O’Brien from Ventry -I think he was the Club’s Star boxer. I’m afraid I don’t know the other lads. I think there was a Fr. Moore connected with the running of the Club’.

Like so many of the men in Cabra in the early days both Roy and Bob saw the need for something to keep the young people off the streets and out of harms way. These men gave of their time and often money to form Clubs for boxing, football, pipe bands, swimming, hurling, amateur dramatics and so much more. And of course they had the full backing of their wives who very often fed the children in these clubs and organisations. They sometimes became the ‘Mammy‘ to a whole group of these young children, feeding them bread and jam and wiping snotty noses. What a great service people like Bob and Roy did for the children of Cabra and I’m sure that we all appreciated it then and still appreciate it now. They were great role models for us all. Thank’s lads…