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Dear Madam Editor This was at Whelan House in the 1940s. I was born in 1941 at 15a Whelan House, followed by my sister Margaret in 1943 and my brother John in 1948. We lived with my grandfather John Hynes, grandmother Margaret Hynes (nee Greg) my mum Annie McMahon (nee Hynes) my Aunt Margaret Hynes and Uncle John Hynes. On the first floor of Whelan House lived the Kinsellas, the Quinlans the Govens the Hynes the Rutters, the Gregs (nephew of Margaret Hynes). I believe that Marie Greg still lives there. On the top floor of Whelan House lived the other Kinsellas, the Sanders, the Hawthorns and the Tobins. Mary Tobin (nee Hynes) was Margaret and John Hynes’s daughter. She was married to Frank Tobin and they had ten children May, Ann, Kathleen, Margaret, Patrick, Frank, Phyllis, Pauline, Roseleen and John. As far as I can remember all these children were born in hospital while they lived at Whelan House. The only other families that I can remember that lived at Whelan House at the time were the Murphys and the Dwyers. I have fond memories of the fifteen years of my life spent there as there were many children and of them many were cousins. A lot of the family members worked at Lux and my aunt Margaret and my mother Annie worked for Mrs Lux in her home. I did return to Ringsend in 1991 with my husband so that I could show him where I grew up, went to school and also worked. The trip down memory lane was good even though a lot has changed. I have the same picture of the Sacred Heart in my house which was given to me by my mum Annie who probably got it from her mum Margaret Hynes. So there is a possibility that the picture once hung in Whelan House as well. Dear Madam Editor I’ve found it to be so rich in stories and history. I was privileged to purchase a copy of the Maritime History of Ringsend from Jim Driver before he passed away. And we cannot say enough about the friendly people we’ve come to know and love. This is our thank you to the people of Poolbeg and Ringsend for a wonderful experience that we will never forget. A Chairde I am the secretary of The Pride Of Ringsend Shamrock Rovers Supporters Club and I am appealing to your readership through the letters page for a photo of the white horse procession. If anybody has a photo of the white horse or of the crowd assembled outside the church I would be extremely interested in obtaining a copy. I will personally guarantee that any photo loaned to our Supporters Club will be copied and returned within twenty-four hours. I am acutely aware that such old photos usually carry sentimental value to the owner as a loved one is usually depicted, so once again let me reiterate that extreme care will be taken with anything should it be loaned to us. If anyone had a photo and felt they could not loan it out, I can bring photo scanning equipment to you if that was acceptable. The White Horse will play a prominent part in the official crest of The Pride Of Ringsend Shamrock Rovers Supporters Club and is currently being designed. We would be extremly grateful to anyone who could help us. Anyone who has any information whatsoever can contact me at 087-2933441 or by email at hoops1901@hotmail.com
Page 7 of ‘Freeman’s Journal’ dated 13th February 1880: Page 3 of ‘The Irish Times’ dated 11th April 1880: There is no mention of John Sheridan. My query is this: can any of your readers shed any more light on this tragedy, for example: were the two boats hobblers or were they salmon fishing? My understanding is that my Maguire forebears were Ringsend fishermen. Was there a special service in St Patrick’s Church Ringsend to commemorate the sad occasion that five young local men had lost their lives in such tragic circumstances? Dear Madam Editor We came across many old friends and would have loved to have a copy of the many photographs printed in ‘NewsFour’. She cannot see a computer screen too well, but spent hours with me going through all of your back issues and had many stories to tell about people mentioned in your issues. Would it be possible for me to obtain back issues of your paper? I know she would be able to read them much better as hard copy rather than sitting in front of a computer which is uncomfortable for her and also do you have a mailing list for people who live abroad and how much would this cost? Ed: Your name has been added to our mailing list. Unfortunately we cannot send back issues of the paper as we only have copies for our archive. Dear Madam Editor Volunteers, namely anyone who appreciates the Grand Canal and would like to see it litter free, will assemble at Leeson St. Bridge (look out for balloons tied to a canal bench on the city centre side) at 10am on the first Saturday of each month (5th August, 2nd September, 7th October, 4th November and 2nd December). Each volunteer will be given a refuse sack, a litter picker and rubber gloves. They will be divided into groups. The plan is to have each group tackle a stretch of canal. We aim initially to clean up the canal bank from the grand canal basin to Portobello harbour. If you are able to join one or all of our clean-up parties, we’d love to hear from you. The more advance notice we have of volunteers, the more ambitious we can be with our clean up plan (e.g we could aim to go as far as Harold’s Cross bridge or further if enough people turn up). In an ideal world other things we’d like to see are: a daily litter pick up along the canal; the provision and daily servicing of adequate litter bins along the canal; sponsorship of our clean up efforts by local businesses such as fast food outlets and sandwich bars. Finally, we note that Waterways Ireland have welcomed our plan to have a clean up day and have undertaken to meet with us at the end of each such day to collect our rubbish and dispose of it. So thank you to Martin Dennany of Waterways Ireland. Dear Madam Editor Thanks for your kind words about my story on Ringsend Church. I may have been at school with your brother whose first name I can not remember but he was a Campbell from the Coastguard Houses which you mentioned in your letter. The only other Jimmy Purdy at that time in Ringsend was a cousin of mine who was a shipwright in the Dublin Port and Dublin Board who also worked with me. I lived in Whelan House flats. Pictured above is a ‘hobbler’ boat from the early 1900s. See letter from Donal McKenna. |
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Dear Madam Editor