"The best little town in Ireland is Ringsend - it's the people." This is the opinion of Willie Hawkins, a man who has lived here all his life, and he's very proud of it. Born and bred in Thorncastle Street 78 years ago, Willie loves the place and is full of wonderful stories about times long ago.

With satisfaction Willie displays his certificate of service received from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for his hard work and dedication to the lifeboat stationed at the Pigeon House Dock.

Now living on Leukos Road, all that Willie possesses of his brother is a photograph of a handsome young man who was killed aboard the Leukos. He was a victim of the Germans who sank that boat during World War II, a story Willie could never forget.

Willie's father and uncle, a blind man named Jack, made nets for Gaelic games and tennis clubs, exporting to New York. Like Willie, his father before him worked on the lifeboats, also as coxswain.

Since childhood Willie's nickname has been "Gillah." He's not sure how he got it but "in those days everyone had a nickname." At the time he remembers most, most if not all the houses in Ringsend were tenement houses. There were also many boatyards.

The children loved to swim and the water was much cleaner then. The sand was good too. He and his friends used to go fishing for crabs. Mackerel fishing was also a hobby, as it was with hundreds of keen girls and boys, women and men. When they had no bait the children used tin foil or a safety pin and this did the trick.

Between the ages of 12 and 18 Willie would join his father fishing in the river for herring. On one particular occasion four boats set out, including in their crews locals such as Charlie Fitzpatrick, Joe Rattley, Tommy Whelan, Robert Gavin and Willie's father, Phil Hawkins. In each of these rowing boats there were ten men, four of which were rowing. The men used nets approximately 150 yards long and, for each rowing boat, there was another boat which would hold the catch.

Joe Rattley was hauling in his net when he realised he had a problem - the net wouldn't budge an inch. To the delight of all involved, the net was full of herring. No one present could believe the enormity of the catch. With amazed excitement, the lucky lads began the task of collecting their prize into baskets. To do this, they used the normal procedure. They made a big bag shape from the net and began the laborious task of scooping out the fish from the net into the boat. Then the fish were put into baskets. The reward for Joe Rattley and his men was two boats full of fish. The catch was then brought up to the dock where the baskets were tied and manually dragged up the dock wall.

All the workers usually got a few free herring. The profits were divided out into 15 shares among the crew. One for each of the men and five for the boat owner. On that day Willie estimates there were 400-600 boxes full of herring, making it a nice little earner for the crew.

Another amazing memory of Willie's is of a man called Murphy, a man of short height. Murphy was, apparently, a jolly man with a good word for all. He was disfigured after a terrible accident involving hot tar but is remembered as "an awful curser." Willie says the man's bad mouth was legendary and that the "toffs," or boat owners, used to gather round and listen to him for a laugh.

Willie Hawkins was, in his time, a rower with the extremely successful Stella Maris Rowing Club. When he was a member they remained unbeaten for three years, though they raced against the best boats from all along the East coast. Tom McDonald was the stroke, Michael Purcell No. 3 Oarsman, a Brother Donaldson was No. 2 Oarsman, with Willie as No. 1 Oarsman, "the Bum Oar," he says, laughing. A man named Mick Leonard was Coxswain.

I am told to mention Ger Dunne who lived in the Coastguard Station. He was the best oarsman Willie ever knew. In one regatta he rowed in five team races and won them all. Willie heard that Mr. Dunne never touched alcohol. This could be the secret of his success.

When Willie was young, the girls were always in boats and swimming in the Dodder. "They were better oarsmen than the men," he admits like a gentleman.

Around the age of eighteen Willie began working at the local bottlehouse, now Telecom Eireann, on Ringsend Road. It was at this time that he became involved with the lifeboat. It was called the "Helen Blake." A wealthy English woman had donated the boat and the other expenses were funded by firms giving donations and annual flag days.

The crew of which Willie was part were all Ringsend men. When Willie was coxswain Jamesie and Phillie Kinsella were the mechanics, bowman was Paddy Hannigan and 2nd Coxswain was Tommy Donaldson.

After Willie married and became coxswain, he would be notified ast his home in Thorncastle Street if any ship or boat was in distress. On his way to the boat he would pick up the rest of the crew. This was literally a race against time, as every second counted when there was potential loss of life.

On William's first rescue, two girls had stolen a rowing boat and were going northbound from what is now Fisherman's Wharf. They were off to try to rendez-vous with some sailors who were docked in that area when the tide took them off-course. Their mis-endeavour ended when Willie and the boys rescued the frightened maidens.

Finally, another amazing story about another Mr. Donaldson. The children always had problems with itchy boils. Willie doesn't know why but all the children seemed to suffer from this irritating annoyance. Their mothers used to try to cure them by filling lemonade bottles with boiling water And putting them over the boils. That was until Mr. Donaldson invented his own magical ointment which appeared to cure the boils without fail. Needless to say, the miraculous cure was in big demand. I wonder if Donaldson had any cure for Christmas hang-overs?