This old photo of Mr.‘Macker’ Connor and his two grand-daughters, Chrissie Marshall (on the left) and Peggy, was taken at the corner of George Reynolds House and Stella Gardens about fifty years ago.

Macker’s wife, familiarly known as ‘Granny’ Connor, was a character in her own right. She was an old style Dublin shawlie.

In those days, long before television or video, she had a stall outside the ‘Shack’ picture house on Serpentine Avenue, also called the Ritz. It then became the Oscar and is now an Sikh Temple of worship. The Shack was a really good night out.

Granny Connor was always there, with her stall laden with all kinds of fruit, sweets, and cigarettes. She was invariably in good form and was known by a lot of people in our area.

She also had a great reputation for helping people who were less well-off than herself. In particular, she took in many a ‘nurse’ child and always looked after them very well.

In those days things were very much different to what they are today. Life was much simpler and people were satisfied in doing ordinary things like going to a football match on a Sunday afternoon.

At Shamrock Rovers in Milltown there would be hundreds of bicycles and many fathers would give their young fellas a crossbar to the game. This was a real treat, as wages were low. Long before the decimal money came in, when a pound was a pound, it was nessessary to put a single shilling in the gas meter.

Before supermarkets came along you would go to the cut-price shop such as Brackens, where the bank is today on Irishtown Road. You could buy things like a real black crusty loaf, and biscuits were sold loose, while milk was in glass bottles and it was a common phrase ‘no bottles no milk’. Butter was also sold, even as little as a quarter of a pound, and many people got their few messages on a daily basis.

As for old Macker Connor himself, he was a bottle maker. That was in the time when the bottles were hand-blown by the men themselves.

He also had an ass and cart and went around selling coal, turf, and logs. He used to bring fish, which was caught locally to the market every day. This too has all changed. Ask any local fellas who go fishing, such as Brian Reynolds, who happens to be married to Patsy Connor, another granddaughter of Macker.

Christmas in those days was much different too. Midnight Mass was always full. Santa Claus used to bring things like cowboy and indian outfits and dolls and prams.

Children seemed to be content with playing out on the streets till all hours, playing games such as ‘relieveo’, while the young girls played ‘beds’ or ‘piggy’ with an old shoe polish tin.

Hours would be spent with a skipping rope, while marbles was another game which was enjoyed. So, as this century comes to a close, and looking at this old photo, we have indeed come a long way.

Happy Christmas.