I wouldn't drive down Leeson St

Spook_ie

But this "mad bitch" did, and fair play to her for dealing with the D4's in a way which I wish we were allowed to........

http://www.anfearrua.com/db.asp?a=topicdisplay&tid=405519

An Irishwoman's Diary

Eileen Battersby

It was late. The all-night car park had in fact closed at 1am and our station wagon was locked in. We had to wait. It was nearly 4am before that happy reunion took place.

In an attempt to salvage the night, I decided to post my credit card payment in Donnybrook, as the traffic was bound to be lighter than during working hours. Not since the days when I used to live in Dublin and always travelled by bike had I had such a pleasant few minutes gliding through the dry city streets.

All those bright lights. You forget about them in the country. Bright lights and that cold neon glow. The car was clean. I felt organised and was enjoying the fluency of driving without the usual city bumper-to-bumper crawl. But the fun lasted only about three minutes.

A riot appeared to be going on in Leeson Street. What political demonstration could possibly be taking place in the middle of the night? But no, there was no "cause" at stake - it was not about race or religion; it was only the crowds vacating the night clubs.

People falling against each other, screaming, making vulgar gestures, four 20-something males, pants down, were busy seeing who could urinate the farthest. The watching girls added their comments, desperate not to be left out of something apparently as cultural as a urinating contest.

The car in front of us screeched to a halt as a youth threw himself in front of it. We slowed down; it would have been too easy to hit one of the drunken, flaying figures.

Then, a couple of young men jumped on to the bonnet of my car while their pals slapped their hands against the windows and made grabbing gestures. My view was filled with smirking faces, teeth, fingers and hands.

Suddenly a jeering voice shouted at me. I turned around as a lanky character in a pink shirt screamed obscenities at me, lifted the tail gate and proceeded to climb into the back of my station wagon. I'd had enough and wasn't scared, just furious.

I stopped the car and pushed open the door, forcing another fellow who had been pounding on my window, busy calling me a "fat old cow", to jump back out of my way. He seemed surprised and backed off.

Absolute rage is a strange sensation. It is as if your mind splits into two; one half was telling me to stay in the car and lock the door - the guy was already in the boot space - the other half was saying: "Use your fists - you didn't have two brothers and spend all that time running, jumping, climbing and riding bikes and horses for nothing."

My house had been burgled and ransacked recently and I hadn't forgotten that either. One of my dogs had been viciously beaten during the robbery; she has been left weakened, vulnerable, defeated by some swine who thought he was great, beating a brave young house pet with a cast-iron frying pan.

My tack had been stolen; saddles, bridles as well as computers, files and instruments, music, archive material, my daughter's violin. A disgusting mess of torn papers, letters, books, prints, maps had been left.

All of this surged through my mind and then, crazily, I also remembered I had a new bridle and a new horse rug - replacement tack - in the boot. I wasn't going to lose another horse rug. The rug became monumental.

Holding the keys in my hand, I ran out and snapped open the tail gate. "Get out of my car," I said in a low, menacing growl. "Get out of my car." The fellow laughed and stuck his fingers in my face.

"Get out of my car," I repeated, pulling him by his hair. He stopped sneering and screamed in pain. I kept pulling and pulled so hard, a clump of sweaty hair came away in my hand.

He shrieked as I grabbed his shoulder and half hauled him out. The intruder lurched away from the back of the car. I kicked him, maybe three times. I punched him in the face and felt my fist against his teeth. There was blood on my hand, I'm quite sure he didn't bite me. I slammed down the tail gate.

Then, as I turned around his jeering buddies, all middle-class boys with south Dublin accents, who had been chanting "fat ugly c**t", roared "mad ugly bitch, mad ugly bitch" back - but they had stopped laughing.

Now they were indignant. Outraged. It was obvious what they thought. How dare I react with such bad temper? Had I not realised I was supposed to be crying and pleading for mercy?

I swung round and went to pull open the driver's door. A young fellow - young enough, as they all were, to be my son - kicked it closed. I turned and kicked him. Luckily for him, I kicked higher than I had intended and merely winded him. I could feel my foot landing in the soft pad of his stomach.

He fell over, though, and I got into the car and gunned it. No one played at blocking my path this time. On delivering the payment, I drove back to Leeson Street, intending to offer my two cents worth to the guards. But the street was empty.

It's an ugly little story and I'm not proud of acting like a thug. I feel diminished for having been caught up in the sort of moronic, threatening "fun" that is making driving through Irish streets almost as dangerous as walking them.

kowloon

Theres nothing worse than being a Sober person in town when the clubs shut down.

FunkyChicken

Haha them poshos got beaten up by a fatty

Dragan

You see, thats the kind of story i love to hear, drunken assholes getting there ass beat.

Puts me in a good mood for the whole day.

rusalka

Fair play to her - she's fantastic.

Rage is a very powerful force, and I'm speaking from the experience of reacting in a similar way once. I totally non-violent and non-confrontational (I always expected I'd cower or run if confronted ), but once I was "mad as hell, and not gonna take it anymore!":mad:

Violence in any form scares me, but I have to say good on her for fighting back.

garthv

Fighting back?!
The bitch is a psycho,
Your man just got into her car, he didn't start punching and kicking her. Sounds like she was highly pissed with getting robbed so she took it out on a few drunk lads.
Another reason for not drinking on Leeson street.

s_carnage

Hats off. I think this post should be a late entrant into the Boards Awards 2007!!!!

cance

good for her!

Mossy Monk

garthv wrote: »

Your man just got into her car

Is that all he did? If some prick jumped into my car unannounced I'd flatten him.

Dragan

garthv wrote: »

Fighting back?!
The bitch is a psycho,
Your man just got into her car, he didn't start punching and kicking her. Sounds like she was highly pissed with getting robbed so she took it out on a few drunk lads.
Another reason for not drinking on Leeson street.

It takes a very special mind to somehow see this as being HER issue.

No offence mate, but if i'm ever driving anywhere and someone ( drunk or sober ) climbs into my car and refuses to get out then, quite frankly, it's clobbering time.

Hrududu

Your man just got into her car, he didn't start punching and kicking her. Sounds like she was highly pissed with getting robbed so she took it out on a few drunk lads.

Yeah he JUST got in her car. Why would a woman driving alone at night surrounded by drunk yobbos not see the funny side of that.

Rob_l

Dragan wrote: »

It takes a very special mind to somehow see this as being HER issue.

No offence mate, but if i'm ever driving anywhere and someone ( drunk or sober ) climbs into my car and refuses to get out then, quite frankly, it's clobbering time.

Yeah i agree you get into my car your should thank your lucky stars I stop to just hit you and dont drive you off to a nice secluded spot I can leave your body

Setun

Please tell me it's non fictional.

cjt156

Rob_l wrote: »

Yeah i agree you get into my car your should thank your lucky stars I stop to just hit you and dont drive you off to a nice secluded spot I can leave your body

Agreed; come on in a$$wipe! I've got a shovel and a map of the Wicklow mountains....

r3nu4l

Dragan wrote: »

It takes a very special mind to somehow see this as being HER issue.

QFT!


Fair play to her for standing up to these scumbags (posh or not, they're still scum!) and not letting them intimidate her

Hagar

garthv wrote: »

Fighting back?!
The bitch is a psycho,

The woman is obviously a psycho, who in there right mind wouldn't welcome the opportunity for some fun and japes with an unexpected inebriated passenger.

garthv wrote: »

Your man just got into her car, he didn't start punching and kicking her.

I have to agree, it was jolly decent of the chap not to start punching and kicking her.

garthv wrote: »

Sounds like she was highly pissed with getting robbed so she took it out on a few drunk lads.

Indeed, her threshold for lawless behaviour is way too low.

garthv wrote: »

Another reason for not drinking on Leeson street.

A timely warning we would all do well to heed. Beware of frightened, unaccompanied middle-aged women when frollicking about drunk.

Lil' Smiler

It sounds like something you see in a film where werewvoles and the likes jump on her car and try to over turn it etc..


The poor woman though, scary sh*t!!!!

r3nu4l

Excellent stuff Hagar, brilliant

/Bows in homage

eth0_

I'd like to high five that woman, fair play to her fighting back against drunken posh knackers.

If someone jumped into my car they'd get a cigarette lighter to the eyes.

r3nu4l

eth0_ wrote: »

If someone jumped into my car they'd get a cigarette lighter to the eyes.

I knew those cigarette lighters had to have a use of some sort!

JayoCluxton

Fair play to her but she really should take the taxi sign off her roof!

I imagine her friends now call her Eileen Batters Boy !!!

rcs

Cynical I know, but does the fact that she's a literary critic not tell you that most of the story is probably made up.....

Some lad probably gave her the finger as she was driving past & she goes... I know what'd be a good story for the paper tomorrow...

:rolleyes:

mikedragon32

And to think it could all be avoided if she just locked the doors of her car while driving...

Story smells like bullsh1t to me. I worked on the doors in Leeson Street for long enough to know that while there's some tom-foolery goes on, there's usually a few Gardai around to keep an eye.

However if it IS true, fair fcuks to her for sticking it to them.

Earthhorse

Yeah, Battersby is always making up stuff for the Times to print. No one could possibly read as many books as she claims to.

And as for this tale of a woman "driving", come on, get real!

cjt156

Earthhorse wrote: »

And as for this tale of a woman "driving", come on, get real!

Shouldn't she get 200 lashes for being in a car with a man who's not a relation?

donaghs

Going down that route, wouldnt just driving the car be a crime?

Rob_l

donaghs wrote: »

Going down that route, wouldnt just driving the car be a crime?

I think its fine so long as they are accompanied by a male member of their family

40 lashes for getting sharia law wrong

fits

Can totally sympathise with her reaction (and her total rage after her house was ransacked after experiencing a similar scary emotion myself).

I'm sure many of us know people who drink on leeson St and behave like that. (I do anyway)

testicle

I think she should be arrested for assault.

JIZZLORD

i thought women couldnt drive out saudi direction, but they can become pilots

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

jimi_t

rcs wrote: »

Cynical I know, but does the fact that she's a literary critic not tell you that most of the story is probably made up.....

This was probably the largest amount of unadulterated ****e I've seen since Roisin Ingle's last article. The fact that she has a car is probably about the only thing coming close to the truth in that 'Triumphant-country woman overcoming adversity in the form of 'D4's " claptrap. (Paul Howard, you've created a monster :rolleyes: )

Wossack

sounds like fiction to me

latenia

There are a few things in the account which don't ring true, leading me to believe that it's wildly exaggerated if not total bull****.
Firstly, she says that the all-night carpark closed at 1am. No explanation is offered for this but what is more curious is the fact that it re-opened at 4am. Seems a bit odd.

"We had to wait"

I thought you were alone in the car.

"I ran out and snapped open the tail gate"

So the ****faced guy managed to close the boot of your estate from the inside?

"The intruder lurched away from the back of the car. I kicked him, maybe three times. I punched him in the face and felt my fist against his teeth. There was blood on my hand, I'm quite sure he didn't bite me."

So after you kicked him and he was backing away you punched him in the front of his face?

"I drove back to Leeson Street, intending to offer my two cents worth to the guards. But the street was empty."

In the time it takes getting from Leeson St to Donnybrook and back at 4am (maybe 10 minutes tops) the street went from riotous to empty?

Spook_ie

I think most taxi drivers would argue that there is a semblance of truth in the writing, certainly the behaviour of people on the streets after clubbing is very well described. In fact so well described that the author has at least ( in my view ) been on Leeson St. after the clubs close, as a driver or a clubber you're guess is as good as mine.

eth0_

Maybe you should email her and put those points to her.

Having thought about this, i'm not so sure it's fact either. Would you admit to assaulting someone in a national newspaper? The guy she beat up could think "Chi-ching! Know I know who that was, i'm sueing!"

Earthhorse

latenia wrote: »

"We had to wait"

I thought you were alone in the car.

Her and the other customers of the carpark.

latenia wrote: »

"The intruder lurched away from the back of the car. I kicked him, maybe three times. I punched him in the face and felt my fist against his teeth. There was blood on my hand, I'm quite sure he didn't bite me."

So after you kicked him and he was backing away you punched him in the front of his face?

He backed away from her by walking backwards. I know you might find it hard to believe but some of us can do that.

latenia wrote: »

"I drove back to Leeson Street, intending to offer my two cents worth to the guards. But the street was empty."

In the time it takes getting from Leeson St to Donnybrook and back at 4am (maybe 10 minutes tops) the street went from riotous to empty?

Yeah, it always takes me 10 minutes to walk off Leeson Street.

Spook_ie

I just re-read the item, can't see anywhere refering to being alone in the car.

Originally Posted by latenia
"We had to wait"

I thought you were alone in the car.

latenia

Earthhorse wrote: »

Her and the other customers of the carpark.



He backed away from her by walking backwards. I know you might find it hard to believe but some of us can do that.



Yeah, it always takes me 10 minutes to walk off Leeson Street.

On the first point: she says OUR station wagon in the previous sentence. Not MY station wagon. Combine this with the WE in the next sentence and it suggests that she is not alone.

On the second point: I doubt that a middle aged woman has the reach in her arms or the fighting technique to step into someone with a punch after delivering several kicks.

Your last point is pedantic-no street with a lot of nightclubs on it clears within a few minutes. If she was that eager to find a Garda, Harcourt Terrace is yards away.

latenia

Later on she says "the car in front of us." So in fact she's being disingenuous here. She isn't lying directly by claiming she was alone but by omitting any details about the other occupant apart from some stray articles and adjectives she is trying to give the impression that she was.
How many people after reading that would have presumed she was on her own without looking at it properly?

Schlemm

True or not, the moral of the is lock your doors.

Oh and don't go drinking on Leeson street, it's awash with dirty great knobs.

ballooba

I'm on Leeson St most weekend nights. There are elements of truth to her story but most of it sounds made up. I have never seen anything quite that bad on Leeson St. No one in their right mind would react the way she did. If drivers feel they are under threat or their vehcile they leave the area. Quickly. It's not a great situation and I always clear off if there is trouble but it's not as bad as she describes.

Judging by the description of the clothing I would say the night in question was saturday just gone? That was a particularly busy and messy night. Unprecedented levels of messiness going on.

I would think she is describing a fantasy that played out in her head about what she should have done. In reality I would think she got out of dodge. Rightly so.

Earthhorse

@latenia

Perhaps she was with a friend who didn't want to be identified?

Whether you believe a middle aged woman has or hasn't the reach or technique (by the way, how being middle aged would reflect her reach is beyond me) to do this is kinda beside the point. It's not impossible. Not even all that improbable unless you're imagining her delivering the punch perfectly. Indeed, on re-reading that part he isn't actually backing away from her; he lurches once and then she delivers the kicks and punch with no indication to us that he's moving one way or another.

And as for being pedantic, well, you're the one picking tiny holes in few hundred word blurb.

fits

I have to say I believe the article.

I can sympathise with aggressive instinct kicking in after being broken into as well, cos I've experienced it.

Spook_ie

ballooba wrote: »

I'm on Leeson St most weekend nights. There are elements of truth to her story but most of it sounds made up. I have never seen anything quite that bad on Leeson St. No one in their right mind would react the way she did. If drivers feel they are under threat or their vehcile they leave the area. Quickly. It's not a great situation and I always clear off if there is trouble but it's not as bad as she describes.

Judging by the description of the clothing I would say the night in question was saturday just gone? That was a particularly busy and messy night. Unprecedented levels of messiness going on.

I would think she is describing a fantasy that played out in her head about what she should have done. In reality I would think she got out of dodge. Rightly so.

You mean like the driver of the horse n carriage tried to in your previous post

Thread Hit & Run On Leeson St Last Night Circa 4am

Did anyone witness this last night? There was a lot of drunk people around, of which I was one. You may not have noticed it even if you were there. One of the Horse and Cart drivers intentionally drove through a small crowd of people.

RandolphEsq

If she was a ''fat ****'' how did she manage to lift her leg up to his stomach?

ballooba

Spook_ie wrote: »

You mean like the driver of the horse n carriage tried to in your previous post

The two gents driving that horse and carriage were not under threat. The street was partially blocked but they were not under threat. They seemed well able to handle themselves anyway.

JayoCluxton

Eileen Batters Boy's story actually first appeared in the Irishwoman's Diary in the IT on 12 November last for those wishing to put a time on place on events. As they say in IT letters pagespeak - Madam, I await hopefully the written response of Mr Frank Nally to same, Is Mise ....

SpAcEd OuT

Spook_ie wrote: »

But this "mad bitch" did, and fair play to her for dealing with the D4's in a way which I wish we were allowed to........

Sorry whats that supposed to mean so your saying you should be able to assault people from D4 who act a bit rowdy

You didn't even say dealing with scum the way i wish we were allowed to you said D4s

let me quess your not very successful are you hence your resentment for all people that are wealthy.

lifted the tail gate and proceeded to climb into the back of my station wagon. I'd had enough and wasn't scared, just furious.

I am sorry but I have yet to find a car where you can just open the boot without some form of button being pressed.

one half was telling me to stay in the car and lock the door - the guy was already in the boot space

So she was thinking about locking herself into the car with the intruder

My house had been burgled and ransacked recently and I hadn't forgotten that either. One of my dogs had been viciously beaten during the robbery; she has been left weakened, vulnerable, defeated by some swine who thought he was great, beating a brave young house pet with a cast-iron frying pan.

My tack had been stolen; saddles, bridles as well as computers, files and instruments, music, archive material, my daughter's violin. A disgusting mess of torn papers, letters, books, prints, maps had been left.

All of this surged through my mind and then, crazily, I also remembered I had a new bridle and a new horse rug - replacement tack - in the boot. I wasn't going to lose another horse rug. The rug became monumental.

Seems to me this is a fictional article and a pathetic attempt by her to make would be intruders think twice about robbing her next time [even though its unlikely it would have any effect]

"Get out of my car," I repeated, pulling him by his hair. He stopped sneering and screamed in pain. I kept pulling and pulled so hard, a clump of sweaty hair came away in my hand.

Unless he had long hair which I doubt this would be ridiculously hard to do

He shrieked as I grabbed his shoulder and half hauled him out.

Yes because being grabbed by the shoulder is painful

he intruder lurched away from the back of the car. I kicked him, maybe three times. I punched him in the face and felt my fist against his teeth. There was blood on my hand, I'm quite sure he didn't bite me. I slammed down the tail gate.

Firstly if this did happen, which I doubt, as he was leaving, for her to kick him 3 times then punch him would be assault as she was in no immediate danger.

But I doubt this is true I cannot imagine a middle aged women being able to draw blood from a punch and c'mon shes unsure if he bit her or not you would know right away

Then, as I turned around his jeering buddies, all middle-class boys with south Dublin accents,

Trying to get a little bitter swipe at the more affluent, but of course many other bitter people will lap this sentence up 'Those poshies deserved it'' etc.

who had been chanting "fat ugly c**t", roared "mad ugly bitch, mad ugly bitch" back - but they had stopped laughing.

Eh love if this is true however unlikely, they are still ripping it out of you.

Now they were indignant. Outraged. It was obvious what they thought. How dare I react with such bad temper? Had I not realised I was supposed to be crying and pleading for mercy?

Building her ego, wait till her friends read this, she is a true hero

I swung round and went to pull open the driver's door. A young fellow - young enough, as they all were, to be my son - kicked it closed. I turned and kicked him. Luckily for him, I kicked higher than I had intended and merely winded him. I could feel my foot landing in the soft pad of his stomach.

Yes I am sure a middle aged women could raise their leg and kick someone in the stomach and be a strong enough kick to wind someone

He fell over,

Oh come on, she must be a karate black belt.

I drove back to Leeson Street, intending to offer my two cents worth to the guards. But the street was empty.

Its about 2 mins in a car to lesson street how would everyone just vanish

It's an ugly little story and I'm not proud of acting like a thug. I feel diminished for having been caught up in the sort of moronic, threatening "fun" that is making driving through Irish streets almost as dangerous as walking them.

Trying to get some sympathy even though she knows everyone will be like 'No you did the right thing' this lady is a hero clearly.

Dragan

SpAcEd OuT wrote: »

let me quess your not very successful are you hence your resentment for all people that are wealthy.

Since when was everyone who lived in D4 wealthy? And if this is true, how do i get in?

fits

Actually for all the posts saying a middle aged woman cant kick or have any strength.... this journo keeps and rides horses. You get pretty strong, fit and flexible when you are looking after and riding horses every day, no matter what age you are... (no its not just sitting there)

You'd swear women were fit for the nursing home once they hit forty with this board sometimes!