Athenry Memories – Mike Mannion 2006

“If you thought it is hard to earn a living today, think back to the Ireland of the 3Os and 40s. Just like everywhere else, people, in Athenry, did what they could to make ends meet”. Mike tells Maria Gillen.

“Before, agriculture was the biggest employer in the area, followed by the services industries and then the railway station and its spin offs kept the wolf away from many a door”.

“Some people however had a few unique jobs” he continues. “In a time when the only shoes most Irish people owned were the pair they stood in, mainly because there was not much money around for a second pair or a replacement. A fellow used to come to the town to sell shoes at a knock down price. Of course, that gave him great sales, as his shoes were affordable to the average person, the only catch was that you had to take pot luck in what he could supply you with. Some people ended up with two different sizes or a pair that the dye ran off after only one wear”!

Emigration was compulsory for the masses. In the 1950s there was a scheme as Mike remembers which was called Assisted Passage. This was where you could immigrate to Canada for £8.00 and Australia for just £10.00. The reason for the cheap fares was both countries could not fill all the vacancies that arose, probably after the War. For many, this was an excellent opportunity, especially if you took the option to go to Canada and if you worked there for one year you could legally go on to live in the United States. Mike remembers some of his school friends took that option, but a lot of them came back to Ireland again, bringing a bit of life and colour back to the town.

Just like the boys, the girls of Mike’s generation had to emigrate too. They usually worked as domestics particularly for the Jewish community of Britain. Factories during the war years were big employers of Irish women. When the war ended employment improved and some girls got a chance to train in the professions, such as nursing. Mike remembers a girl from home that nursed in Britain while he was there. As a newly qualified nurse she told him that she was paid less than her domestic servant and factory worker counterparts!

Mike himself had to emigrate and he spent time working in the Yorkshire Mines but when he qualified as Health and Safety Officer he got to move around a bit. Some of his ports of call were, Devon and Cornwall. He really liked the time he spent there. He took well to the local people, they were mostly of farming stock and had quite a laid-back attitude to life, possibly like the folk he left behind at home.

When he got a chance, he used to come home as often as he could. That was the easy part but it was difficult, however, going back again. He recalls an incident once when he was making the journey back after his holidays at home, he arrived at the station to take the 3.30 pm “boat train” as it was called the station was awash with over thirty young people, both boys and girls making the journey with him. He remembers that hardly any of them were more than twenty years old.

This article was first published in Athenry News and Views, Sept. 2006