'The young lads all carried various forms of ju-jitsu weapons, presumably in case they were attacked by hordes of Ninja warriors on the way home '

'The young lads all carried various forms of ju-jitsu weapons, presumably in case they were attacked by hordes of Ninja warriors on the way home '

Harry Browne remembers forming a residents association with his neighbours one of the duties of which was to organise social events and activities in the area.

Harry Browne

Trinity College Dublin

1970

This item is protected by original copyright

This content may be downloaded and used (with attribution) for research, teaching or private study. It may not be used for commercial purposes without permission.

Harry Browne

Marriage and Family

Life Story

Donnycarney, Dublin

1970's

Our house was built on the grounds of the old Artane School and some of the residents of the houses on the opposite side of the road, much older houses, resented us building there as they had been accustomed to letting their children play in the fields as they were then. There was also a small river - The Wad, and this was placed in a culvert in order to facilitate the building process. This obviously annoyed the earlier residents as they saw it as a loss of an amenity to which they had an entitlement. That resentment in some cases continues today. We formed the Elm Mount Residents Association as a cooperative group to assist in dealing with the builders, the Corporation and other organisations which we might encounter. The 'Residents' as they were called, also arranged social events like dances, day trips etc for the members. There were a number of sub committees of the main group such as a sports committee, a social committee and so on. I was co - opted onto the social committee and amongst other duties we ran a series of teenage discos for the youth in our area. The stewarding of these occasions led to some very amusing incidents. One evening we had the usual full house in attendance and ju - jitsu was popular around then. The young lads all carried various forms of ju - jitsu weapons, presumably in case they were attacked by hordes of Ninja warriors on the way home. These weapons had to be handed up at the entrance and recovered on the way out. One of the boys had a 'Gurk' consisting of a short pole attached by a chain to another short pole. This could be swung like a mace and made to wreak havoc amongst the enemy. Sadly when he came to reclaim his Gurk, it could not be found. The cry of 'Wheres me Gurk' rang round the Elm Mount estate for many months afterwards. Sheila and other women formed a Ladies Club, very popular at the time, which provided a weekly break for the housewives of the area. They could have a speaker call to address them at one session and demonstrations of sewing or cookery at another, plus they got out to meet other women without the encumbrance of children or husbands. From that Ladies Club Sheila formed friendships which have lasted the intervening forty five years.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)