'The house was cold as we had only the fire for heating, plus the range'

'The house was cold as we had only the fire for heating, plus the range'

Maura remembers the living conditions in her family's house before they got electricity.

Maura Corr

Trinity College Dublin

1950

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Maura Corr

Childhood and Early Life

Life Story

Dublin

1950s

My earliest memories are my brothers and sister and I sleeping in a bed which had to be taken down each night and made up in the sittingroom. It was like a large wardrobe Made by my father. We once found our pet dog missing, after a day wrapped up in the blankets. He survived.Watching the children coming home for school through the window, where first we had to remove the ice from the inside pane. The house was cold as we had only the fire for hearing, plus the range. My older brothers would stick their feet in the over to get warm and we'd even heat bricks in there, then cover them and put them in our beds to keep warm.We also had gas for lights and lamps and candles. The gas shade was easily broken and often we'd be half in the dark. One of my brothers eventually sorted us out with electricity. We were then the first family to acquire a TV in our area.

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

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)