Copyright © Dick Keogh 1998
Revised 2003
Scripture References taken from the Authorised Version of the Bible

CHAPTER ONE

‘Up the Quarry and down the Pike; that's the way to ride a bike’. This little ditty was sung by many generations of the children who grew up in Quarry Street and Pike Street, in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Quarry Street was later named Mitchell Street, after John Mitchell, a Co. Derry man who founded ‘The United Irishman’ newspaper in 1848. He was elected M. P. for Tipperary in 1875. Pike Street was later named Kickham Street, after Charles J. Kickham. His highly-acclaimed literary works include the famous Knocknagow, a story of the Homes of Tipperary.

These two streets ran parallel to each other, and were linked together by Lime Kiln Lane, (later called Ikerrin Road) and Borroway. St. Mary’s, the Protestant Church, was erected in 1820. The original entrance to the Church was in Lime Kiln lane. Both Protestants and Roman Catholics were buried side by side in St. Mary’s graveyard.

Jack Kelly, my Grandfather on my mother’s side, was born in Quarry Street in 1894. He lived there for the rest of his life. His wife, Mary Fennelly, was a native of Moyne, a little village near Thurles. Their marriage was blessed with fifteen children, all of whom were born at home. Eleven survived, ten girls and one boy. Each of the children was Baptised in the Cathedral of the Assumption, in Thurles.

There were two Convents in Thurles at that time. One was run by the Nuns of the Presentation Order, and the other by the Ursuline Sisters. My grandparents sent all of their daughters to the Presentation Convent school. John, the only boy in the family, spent the first two years of his school life with the Nuns. After receiving his First Communion he attended the Christian Brothers’ School.

My Grandfather worked for a number of years as a truck driver with Ryan’s Brewery Stores. He worked a six - day week. On Sundays he was allowed to use the truck if he needed to travel to a hurling match. After attending first Mass and having a quick breakfast he’d pack a few sandwiches and then collect a number of his friends. Their money was pooled to buy fuel for the truck and to pay the entrance fee to the match. Great care was taken to ensure there was enough left over to buy a few pints on the way home. Jack’s ‘taxi’, flying the blue and gold coloured flags and packed with loyal Tipperary supporters, often wound its way to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick and Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. The hurling matches were usually replayed many times in the truck on the journey home. Referees often had their names mentioned in connection with their need of an urgent appointment with an optician. But win, lose, or draw, songs like ‘Slievenamon’, ‘It's a long way to Tipperary’, ‘Danny Boy’, and ‘South of the Border’, were the order of the day. These songs sounded very sweet after the vocal chords had been well lubricated by Arthur Guinness.

President de Valera cut the first sod of the Sugar Beet Factory in Cabra, Thurles, on 25th November 1933. Jack was still working at Ryan’s Brewery Stores at that time. Some years later he applied for a job at the factory and was employed as a casual labourer. He later trained as a crane operator. During the sugar beet campaigns he was responsible for emptying the wagons of beet which came by rail to Thurles.

Jack had a good job in the Sugar Factory. But he had a large family to rear. So he had to find some way of supplementing his wages. During the months of March to September he cut and saved turf. He sold most of the turf. After working hard all day at the Factory Jack would arrive home at 6.15 in the evening. After a hurried tea he’d cycle the five miles journey to the Peat Bog and work at the turf until dark.

When the children got holidays from school Grandmother took the whole family to the bog. They left home very early in the morning and didn’t return again until dusk. She and the younger children travelled by ass and cart. The rest of the family used ‘high Nelly’ bicycles. In those days some bicycles used ‘tubeless’ tyres. After countless puncture repairs the tubes were discarded and the tyres stuffed with rags or straw.

At one stage Jack left the Sugar Company and worked full - time at the turf, doing contract work for a number of people. His son John was now a teenager. He was skilled with the slane, the spade used for cutting turf. John was left - handed and this meant he and his father could stand side by side on the bank of turf, one of them cutting and throwing the sods to the left, and the other to the right. Some of the girls were ‘catchers’, and had to catch each sod of turf the slanes - man threw. The older girls were ‘wheelers’, and their job was to wheel out the loaded bog - barrows. Grandmother and some of the other girls were ‘footers’, and they stacked the sods, a dozen at a time. The sods had to stand in such a way that the wind could blow through the stack and the sun get at each sod.

The ass worked on the bog, too. It pulled a home - made sled that had been constructed from galvanised iron and wood. This sled, loaded with the dried sods, was often pulled through very wet, soggy ground. The sods were then heaped in piles near the road, ready to be collected. The turf destined for home was loaded on to the ass’s cart, to which high creels had been fitted. This meant those who had travelled in the cart to the bog that morning had to walk the five miles home in the evening.

On arriving home a large pot of spuds was boiled. This was then tipped out on to the middle of the table. It was then a case of ‘stretch or starve’. The family occasionally enjoyed the luxury of bacon and cabbage. But the evening dinner usually consisted of spuds and buttermilk. After getting the younger children off to bed, Grandmother baked the home - made bread needed for the following day. This was baked in oven – pots. These hung on a hook on the crane over the open fire. One of the children sat in the corner and turned the wheel that operated the bellows. This kept the fire going. The freshly - baked bread, along with some hard - boiled eggs, was the staple diet for the turf - savers. Just before bed - time the stirrabout, or yellow meal, was boiled. This was re - heated and served for breakfast at approximately 6 a.m. on the following morning. The rule was that the family had to be already on the road to the bog before the Chapel bell rang out the Angelus at 7 a.m. The girls took it in turns to do the ‘catering’ on the bog. At twelve noon the fire was lit and the clear bog water boiled in Billy - cans and kettles. The home - made bread was then cut into slices and buttered. After the shells were peeled off the hard - boiled eggs the tea was wet. The long - awaited call of ‘come and get it’, drew the weary workers to the open - air kitchen. Then it was back to work until evening and the long journey home again.

After a number of years of contract work on the bog Grandfather returned to the Sugar Factory. Though he worked long hours the wages were not very good. So once again he sought to supplement his income. He decided to rear some pigs in the shed at the back of his little terraced house.

He bought the bonhams when they were just a few weeks old. He could rely on his good friend and neighbour, John McGann, to supply him with healthy young pigs. They were reared on offal and on scraps of food left over after the family meals. Occasionally, a bag of pig - meal was purchased. Whenever this happened the pigs’ rations were really stretched. The bag of meal had to last as long as possible.

Grandmother played a large part in the rearing of the pigs. On the day they were bought she helped Grandfather put the rings in their noses. Each day she sent some of the children to collect the scraps and leftovers from the relatives and neighbours. She then prepared the food and fed the pigs. When the bonhams had been sufficiently fattened, and the day of their departure had finally arrived, she sprinkled them with Holy Water. Jack then took them on their last journey. A buyer from Roscrea Bacon Factory visited Thurles each week and usually gave a good price for the pigs. Some of the proceeds of the sale were used to purchase a few more bonhams. The remainder was usually spent on clothes and shoes for the children.

CHAPTER TWO

Each Saturday night the clothes were ironed and all the shoes polished. On Sunday morning John and his sisters were all taken to Mass in the Cathedral. ‘Last Mass’ was their favourite because it included a lot of singing in Latin. The student priests from St. Patrick’s College and seminarians from the College of the Pallotine Fathers sang at this mass each Sunday.

Their ancestors had handed down many of my grandparents’ traditions and customs to them. Jack and Mary taught these to their children, and they in turn passed them on to our generation. This was especially true concerning their religious beliefs and practices. My grandparents always had a great love for the Blessed Virgin. They were very influenced by the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching concerning Mary.

Back in those days most of the people involved in praying to Our Lady sincerely believed that it was God who granted their petitions. But they also believed it was Mary alone who actually distributed all favours and graces. Some of the words of the ‘Prayer after the Hail Mary’ are as follows -

‘Mother of God - and our Mother - Our Advocate and Mediatrix, thou who art the Treasurer of God’s Graces, and who dost Dispense them as Thou seest fit - Oh, we beg of thee the Forgiveness of our sins’.

Jack and Mary depended upon the Blessed Virgin for the daily protection of their family. Each night, at bedtime, Grandfather knelt down at his chair in the kitchen and prayed. He asked Our Lady to look after the children. Whenever a thunderstorm occurred Grandmother took the bottle of Holy Water and sprinkled it on each child as she called upon the Queen of Heaven to protect them.

In those days the Church instructed parents to ensure their families recited the ‘Morning Offering of Reparation’ – ‘O Jesus, through the Immaculate heart of Mary, and in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being offered throughout the world, I offer you all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, in reparation for the offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for my sins, and the sins of the whole world’. They were also encouraged to say at least five decades of the Rosary daily. Families were encouraged to wear the Scapular of Mount Carmel as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Church suggested they should invoke the daily protection of St. Michael against the wickedness of the Devil. Reciting the following prayer, which was also said after Mass could do this – ‘St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Prince of the most heavenly host, by thy divine power, cast into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits who now wander throughout the world seeking the ruination of souls’.

The words of this prayer to St. Michael were a constant reminder to people of their need of daily protection against the Devil. They certainly instilled in their minds a certain amount of fear at the prospect of hordes of evil spirits wandering around, intent on the damnation of their souls. The concept of the need of daily protection was very much part of the mindset of the generation of people who lived in my grandparents’ time.

Many of the people who lived in the Quarry at that time believed the street to be haunted. So the Blessed Virgin’s protection was especially sought, particularly at night. Some of the old houses in the Quarry were built on a ‘Mass – Path’. The people who had lived many years previously had travelled on this path as they walked to Mass. The occupants of some of these houses claimed that late at night they could hear these deceased people talking and still walking along this Mass - Path.

There were reports of a hearse and funeral cortege being seen leaving Borroway at midnight and proceeding up the hill to St. Patrick’s cemetery. A number of people claimed to have seen this happen. One of these was a man who was so shocked by the sight of the late funeral that he was reportedly confined to bed for six months.

Many people also reported seeing a large black dog with red, fiery eyes, patrolling the street late at night. This spectre was called ‘The Black Dog from Hell’.

Most of the residents of the Quarry claimed to have heard the Banshee. They believed the Banshee followed certain Irish families. Whenever she was heard crying it was recognised as a warning that a member of one of the families was about to die. Some people claimed to have actually seen the Banshee. She was described as being the ghost of a small woman who combed her hair as she cried. If somebody found a comb on the ground they would not dare pick it up. The feared it might belong to the Banshee. What would they do if she returned to collect it that night? Nobody really knew who this Banshee was. Many years ago it was the custom in several parts of Ireland to hire women to cry at funerals and wakes. These women were called Keeners. Some believed the Banshee was the ghost of a Keener and that she returned to cry for those who were dying.

But as far as the locals were concerned the Banshee and the Black Dog from Hell were not the only ghostly residents of the Quarry. Some of them claimed to have either seen or heard the ‘Headless Coach’. They described it as being a ghostly, horse - drawn hearse. While very few claimed to have actually seen this terrifying sight, many people claimed to have heard it.

Some said they heard the sound of the horses’ hooves and of the wheels. Others said they heard the sound of the driver cracking his whip as the coach sped through the street late at night. They believed the arrival of the headless coach was confirmation that someone in the immediate area was about to die. Some even feared that the dying person might be taken away in the coach and never seen again.

A lot of people believed that certain ‘signs’ of impending death followed their families. For instance, if three loud knocks were heard it was regarded as a warning that very soon somebody in that family would die. A family that lived near my grandparents’ home believed that if a picture fell off the wall it was an indication of the impending death of a family member. These families believed the ‘signs’ had followed them for many generations.

To help counteract seen and unseen dangers most families had a Holy Water font hanging inside the front door of their homes. The fonts were kept topped up with the Holy Water that people brought home from the Chapel. Before leaving home the members of the household dipped a finger in the Holy Water. They then blessed themselves, making the sign of the cross. This was considered to be a very effective means of protection against accidents, illness and misfortune. The Holy Water was especially used if a person had occasion to be out at night.

The local fishermen were among those most likely to be out late at night. Many of the men from the Quarry fished in the river Suir, which flows through Thurles. The ‘shaky bank’, the ‘bleach’, and the ‘terrace’ were some of the favourite fishing holes. Some of the ‘experts’ preferred to fish for eels at night. They dipped the barrel - corks, which acted as floats, in white paint. This made them easier to detect when the fish were biting. But, irrespective of how well the fish were biting, these fishermen were determined to be home before midnight. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, the river Suir had claimed the lives of a number of people over the years. Some had drowned accidentally. But others had committed suicide. The fear of encountering the ghosts of some of these unfortunates ensured the riverbank was vacated long before the midnight hour.

Secondly, a number of people had reported seeing a headless nun walking around the grounds of the Presentation Convent late at night. The fishermen had to pass this very spot on their way home from the river. They preferred to do so as early in the night as possible.

But their superstition was not confined to the riverbank. A strong rod was needed when fishing for large pike. Sometimes this was made from a thick branch of a sally tree. A selection of trees, including whitethorn, sally, and elder, could be found growing in ‘The Fort’, which was situated at one end of the Quarry, at Loughtagalla. This ‘Fairy Fort’ was believed by many to have been the habitation of the ‘Little People’, the Fairies. Some of the locals claimed to have heard them play haunting music. Others said they had seen them dance around the Fairy Ring. People were fearful of offending the Fairies by breaking sticks in the Fort. So those in need of fishing rods looked elsewhere.

Superstition and fear were part of everyday life for many people. Their conviction of the need of daily protection against the forces of evil resulted in a lot of them depending upon the Blessed Virgin Mary to be their guardian. Devotion to her was widespread. The family Rosary was said daily in many homes

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