Paddy's Memories of Ireland 1960s

Home Then & Now

Home for most of the four years was the common thatched roof house with greyish white walls. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling. No refrigerator, however the all-important small black and white television was acquired shortly after arrival. There was no running water and bathroom duties were conducted outside, or with a bedpan overnight. Paddy could not locate a photo of the old house and  with the marvels of Google found a similiar looking house. The old house has been completely renovated.

Adventuring to Tubbrid Castle Kilkenny Ireland

During Paddy’s four years in Ireland in the mid 1960s, he talked about his childhood adventures to the nearby castle, two miles away straight distance across the farm fields, or a tad further if he walked the roads.

Back then, Paddy’s memory was that the castle area was abandoned without a fence or any noticeable boundaries. Although he faintly remembers there were on occasion another boy or two who frequented the castle.

The castle was more of a ruin than a standing castle, however with the passage of time fast forward some sixty years, the owner of the castle, John Campion, took it upon himself in 2016 to restore the castle and completed it in 2019 when he made the renovated 3-bedroom home available for private rental.

The Church

The local Catholic Church, St, Patricks was about half mile walk, or 1.06 kilometers and Paddy was fortunate to find a photo of the chuch as it was bdfore it was rebuilt. The annex where Paddy had the boxing practice is still there with an addition added to the right.  

The Water Pump

One of Paddy’s adjustments to Ireland was no plumbing, no water in the house and the chore of fetching buckets of water from a water pump about a mile down the road. It looks like there has been some decorative painting to the pump.

Two Pet Lambs

A part of Paddy’s story that was omitted from the book was the adoption of two lambs. In hindsight the project of raising two lambs may have been an attempt by his Aunt Joe to distract Paddy from his Explorations and tendency  to find trouble. Paddy bottle feed the lambs and kept them until they were off the bottles and a few months past that until it was determined it was time to sell the lambs. Paddy had grown attached and was conflicted and even after using his acquired New York negotiating skills and fetching ten pounds, or five pounds for each of the lambs, he still shed a tear as the truck pulled away with lambs making their baa baa baaa's.

Two Ravens

If you've read the book or listened to the Audiobook you already know about Paddy's Ravens.

There was an rare bus ride to Kilkenny which included a visit to the Woolworths department store. The Woolworths closed in 1984 and since then the building has been home to other businesses.

Woolworths in Kilkenny

Butler's Pub

When the barn was on fire, Paddy mentioned about sitting in the entrance. This is it although no longer Butlers, the building is still there as a Ben & Breakfast.

“The Barn’s on Fire”