Dundalk Nostalgia thread

Ann22

I thought it'd be nice to have a thread that we could talk about old memories of the town, for those that grew up in the 70s and 80s. Like does anyone remember McDonnell's shop in Ard Easmuinn? Anybody who went to the Redeemer school should, it'd be so packed at lunchtime. The bell would ring when you'd go in. Loads of sweets would be in jars on the counter. Jaw Breakers and Fizzle Sticks.:o
The big hill down to the school when it'd snow would make a deadly slide if you had a big plastic bag to sit on:o. Bonfire night in the Summer when you'd be black going home. Games we'd play-'Red Rover', 'I-2-3' (some called 'tip the can'), 'Polo', 'A Broken old ship (came over the sea, and all that was left was the letter...) Charlie the ice cream man, Larry Rice's shop-on-wheels and the mineral man who'd go round the estates selling limeade, raspberryade etc. Halloween night when we'd go 'mumming' (halloween's coming and the geese are getting fat).
Games with balls girls would play like 'plainy Irish Rhubarb' or 'Plainy marmalade':o
Hopscotch and skipping games-'Under, over, in, out'. That one with elastic bands around your ankles 'England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Inside, outside, inside, scales!'.The old phone boxes that were dotted around the town, sometimes you'd have to walk miles to find a working one. 'Cheers' pub when it was great crack...World cup 1990! Could you ever forget?! And before that back to when it was 'The King's' bar and Mickey Grant doing DJ. Jokers, Images with the deadly video Juke box, Evitas and Tivolis-remember free before 11pm on a Friday night for women and the meal upstairs you'd get a ticket for on admission. Ah, fun times.:)

TheBigFella

At the risk of sounding like an alco...

MJ's on Park st. with its huge staircase.
The Wine Tavern were we all started drinking at 15/16.
The Mineshaft (bottom floor of the Tara)
The Cellars bar
Willies before the Kehoes got it.

Jocks when he was just a stall outside McGuill Travel before he moved to outside the post office.
The square before the fountain, when the carnival used to set up with its swinging boats.
Roller discos in the Downtown, long Walk.
Tarot video in The Demesne, 1st video shop in town.
Sheep in the De La Salle field. (No, I didn't)

bettedavis

TheBigFella wrote: »

At the risk of sounding like an alco...

The Mineshaft (bottom floor of the Tara)
.
)

oh my god the mineshaft! i thought i'd never drink anywhere else. i'd love to go back in there as it was back in the day, free juke box and the pre requisite of having long hair and only wear black. ah memories. i remember you could get a vodka tonic and diet coke, a pint of bulmers and 2 bags of crisps for a fiver and still come back with change. a great night to be had for 20 quid and still get a bacon cheese burger in abra when it was proper abra and j.c. used to do the door! i remember back in 94 they did a special screening of 'in the name of the father' a wobbly tape from jonesboro. you'd have thought daniel day lewis worked in the place it was that packed. Good times!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Not exactly nostalgia (meaning home sickness) but old memories certainly. That's if you consider the Wine Tavern or McDonnells shop to be a long time ago.
What about McCabes Shop in Ard Easmuinn or Paddy Hands in Park Street or the Oriel Cinema or Cannis McManus in what became Jocks in Earl Street, or Liptons, or Superquinn first time round, or the Home and Colonial, or Woolworths, or Hanrahans Chippy in the Laurels, or Bella Bakers, or Annie Morgans?
Where does it end?

Wertz

lol the Mineshaft....great memories (or lack of) of that place.

Earl Inn back when you usedn't be able to get up the stairs...Jokers, where I both worked and went out to...easily one of the best atmospheres of any pub in the town both then and since.
Going to have to mention club nights at Pa's DSC even though that's a wee bit more recent (94-96)...groundbreaking both music and attitude wise...in Dundalk, clubbing was all downhill from there as fas as I'm concerned.

TheBigFella wrote:

...before the Kehoes got it.

ANYWHERE before the feckin' Kehoes got it...

Hmm, it's all about the pubs really...I didn't spend my formative years in the town so no really old memories of other stuff...Woolworths where Boyds is now...the 4 Lanterns when it was the closest we'd ever get to having a McDonalds...oh and the smell of the brewery...miss that.

LOTTOWINNER

Cannis McManus in what became Jocks in Earl Street


His wife taught me Irish in the Marist, his TV shop closed up in a bit of hurry! overnight as I remember.
Another under-age drinking den was the snooker hall at the back of McCourt's Arcade.

Ann22

Celine Few Eyebrow wrote: »

Not exactly nostalgia (meaning home sickness) but old memories certainly. That's if you consider the Wine Tavern or McDonnells shop to be a long time ago.
What about McCabes Shop in Ard Easmuinn or Paddy Hands in Park Street or the Oriel Cinema or Cannis McManus in what became Jocks in Earl Street, or Liptons, or Superquinn first time round, or the Home and Colonial, or Woolworths, or Hanrahans Chippy in the Laurels, or Bella Bakers, or Annie Morgans?
Where does it end?

I remember McCabe's in Ard Easmuinn, for some reason used to be sent up there on Sundays for messages.
Don't remember Paddy Hands but do remember Peter Hughes'. There was 'Backhouses' supermarket that used to deliver in cardboard boxes.My dad used always called that shop 'Bella Baker's before it was 'Diamond's' then 'McGiverns', dunno what's it's called now. Remember Faugheys' and Monahans' shops in McSwiney St and Lucy Soraghan's on the corner in Park St beside the old veg shop?
Azzi's chippy in Market st, then more recently 'Gulliver's' restaurant beside Dunnes in Park St, the 'Bluestone Grill' where Mullen's is now in Roden Pl and when Malocca's was in Park St. Oh and the Golden Fry in Bridge St-lovey grub there!

TheBigFella

bettedavis wrote: »

a great night to be had for 20 quid

We used to drink in the Mineshaft when we were still at the 'De La' and had no cash. If we went out during the week we'd buy the cheapest drink the had which was Blackcurrant and water for 16p.
When things were really tight we would mix our own and smuggle it in and keep under the table. How skint were we????

bettedavis

having been thinking about the mineshaft for the 1st time in a million years i got into the car at lunchtime and they were playing enter sandman by metallica on today fm. Freaky coincidence, haven't heard that since the mineshaft days. as these things always happen in 3's, i expect to bump into the long haired love of my mineshaft days on the street tomorrow......and he will be bald as a coot !

uoluol

Now here's one for any real Dundalker (is that the term??).....

Remember the graffiti cryptic message "The sweat is hopping of dot" written on a wall opposite where the bus station now is? Would love to know the story behind that message....

Ann22

I remember reading that message! Wtf?!:DI can't for the life of me picture the actual wall it was on though. The tennis court that used to be in Ard Easmuinn had 'c*cks and fannies make babies' on a wall beside it. I used to think fannies were boobies so that baffled me for years.:o The China bridge used to have something about H Block on it among other nationalist slogans.

Third_Echelon

Wertz wrote: »

Earl Inn back when you usedn't be able to get up the stairs...Jokers, where I both worked and went out to...easily one of the best atmospheres of any pub in the town both then and since.

Going to have to mention club nights at Pa's DSC even though that's a wee bit more recent (94-96)...groundbreaking both music and attitude wise...in Dundalk, clubbing was all downhill from there as fas as I'm concerned.

I was in college in Dundalk from 1998 to 2003, but my Dad worked in Dundalk for a good few years before that, so I remember 'the town' from around the early 90's...

My first night out in Dundalk was in Pa's.. Groundbreaking wouldn't be a word I would describe it as Only 2 minutes in the door as some fella was offering us various chemical delights... only in pa's :pac:

The Earl back in the day before it was the pyramid and parker browns? i think they called the bar? Anyway, when it had the overpass, bridge thing. My first couple of college years it was like that anyway.

When the Muirhevna Inn was called the Muirhevna Inn. It was grubby, smelly and had broken furniture, but it was fun. The refurb to The Malt House was nice though...

Rock the planet/LA rock.. old skool!

The old cinema where you could hear the film in the next screen. I remember having the weird experience of watching the re-release of the exorcist and hearing the spice girls movie sound coming through the wall... :pac:

Wertz wrote:

the 4 Lanterns when it was the closest we'd ever get to having a McDonalds...oh and the smell of the brewery...miss that.

4 lanterns was a classic alright. I think its gone now completely isn't it? I was driving through there recently and didn't see the 4 lanterns sign. Spent many a 4am burger adventure in there after a college ball...

I miss going to 'The Jockeys' pub for toasted ham and cheese sambos and soup for lunch.. legendary stuff..

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Ann22 wrote: »

The China bridge used to have something about H Block on it among other nationalist slogans.

You're seriously confused here! The China Bridge (which was modeled on a Chinesse bridge as seen on Willow Pattern plates) was at the bottom of what is now the Long Walk. It was gone decades before the H Blocks were even thought of.
Do you mean the littleunderpass bridge for the railway linking Ard Easmuinn and Pearse Park? If so, no comparison!!

Wertz

Third_Echelon wrote: »

My first night out in Dundalk was in Pa's.. Groundbreaking wouldn't be a word I would describe it as Only 2 minutes in the door as some fella was offering us various chemical delights... only in pa's :pac:

Trust me, as someone who used go out clubbing prior to this around the town, and ended up having to go to the North or Dublin for decent club nights, Pa's was a breath of fresh air, even if it was a cramped dump that reeked of barfood. At one stage they were coming from as far away as Navan and Dublin to the place. Great vibe to those nights.

Third_Echelon wrote: »

The Earl back in the day before it was the pyramid and parker browns? i think they called the bar? Anyway, when it had the overpass, bridge thing. My first couple of college years it was like that anyway.

Aye when it had the steel walkway thing and even prior to that...they buried that spot when they turned all egyptian and ended up with a white elephant. The Earl could be great again if it had the right owners.

Third_Echelon wrote: »

When the Muirhevna Inn was called the Muirhevna Inn. It was grubby, smelly and had broken furniture, but it was fun. The refurb to The Malt House was nice though...

Rock the planet/LA rock.. old skool!

My local for years till they did it up and got stuck up doormen. Great place to go out for an early drink and a few games of pool before heading to the town proper.

Rock the planet lol, forgot all about that place...used to be worth a punt on a friday night for cheap drinks and decent sounds...then the scummers ruined it.

okgirl

what a blast from the past! Enjoyed reading all the posts about Dundalk of olden days. Memories came flooding back of mass in St. Patricks or the Redeemer and then a treat on the way home to Peter Hughes. the sunday morning traditional music in the Lorde and in Peter Mc laughlins. HARRY LEE'S shoe shop. Do you remember the adds he ran on Telestar radio for them. Completely self produced. The square before the fountain when it was a car park of hardcore and puddles. Does anyone remember the little veg shop facing the court house. Mc Donnells, I think. A husband and his wife ownded it. It's all coming back now.......The Emer bakery, the phone kiosks' in the post office, the smell in the post office, MJ's lounge and the Mineshaft. The Curry van at the square! Mc Donnell's shop in Seatown where you could buy a single fag and hope the nun's didn't catch you! Rolling skating in Blackrock on a Sun afternoon. Sitting at Kelly's monument after school or on the steps of the Argus. Laps of the Shopping Centre on a Sat, looking cool. What about '40 coats' who used to push the shopping trolley around the town. Who was he? What happened to 'mad Benny'? Telestar radio and Gerry Byrne's Love Songs. I wonder if any of those couples are still together??? I am gone a while now but visit regularly. It's all so different now.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

okgirl wrote: »

Does anyone remember the little veg shop facing the court house. Mc Donnells, I think. A husband and his wife ownded it. It's all coming back now.....

Do you mean Donnellys at the end of the little run of single storey wooden shops? Two men ran it; a Mr Donnelly and Michael Whyte. Both long dead I'm afraid.

Wertz

Celine Few Eyebrow wrote: »

Do you mean the littleunderpass bridge for the railway linking Ard Easmuinn and Pearse Park? If so, no comparison!!

That is still locally known as china bridge. Never heard it called anything else.

okgirl wrote:

Laps of the Shopping Centre on a Sat, looking cool.

lol

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Wertz wrote: »

That is still locally known as china bridge. Never heard it called anything else.

You amaze me! I was born in Coxes Field, later to be called Ard Easmuinn, when the estate was fields of turnips and cattle. I lived there for almost 50 years and I have never heard it called the China Bridge. I used the bridge 4 times a day from I was 6 years old until I was over 40 and less frequently before and since, and the only China Bridge I ever heard of was the one on the old estate where Superquinn now is.
Despite your nostalgia, I think your calling it the China Bridge must be a relatively new invention based on someones recollection of the original bridge (which was a masterpiece of design and construction).

Wertz

Celine Few Eyebrow wrote: »

Despite your nostalgia, I think your calling it the China Bridge must be a relatively new invention based on someones recollection of the original bridge (which was a masterpiece of design and construction).

Only living in the town since '88 and anyone I hung around with from Ard Eas or that part of the town always referred to it as such. I'd say you're correct though...that's how some stuff gets passed on.
Be interesting to see a pic of the original one...

gernon

okgirl wrote: »

What about '40 coats' who used to push the shopping trolley around the town. Who was he? What happened to 'mad Benny'? .

Both long dead I'm afraid
40 coats was Barry Evans a Welshman who 'lived' at the old Louth Hospital on the Crescent and Mad Benny was Benny Loughran from Ravensdale. That little fruit shop at the Square may have been McBrides?
Anyone remember Pat McGraths music and record shop at the Demesne ? many a hour lost rummaging through 45's and LP's

Ann22

I was in my teens when I first heard it referred to as the China bridge. My dad who was born and reared in McSwiney st never called it that, it was someone of my age I heard it from. It probably was mistakenly called that in the first place but everyone I know now does. I habitually call the other little bridge down by the Clans the 'Tesco' bridge since Tesco was where Dunnes was but I only refer to it as such to my family 'cos it sounds silly.:o

Ann22

Donal McArdle's used to be there in that wee row of shops at the square too. I remember my mother buying me a bun in the Emer - one of those pink lumpy ones full of jam and cream,dropping it at the bus office in the puddles and sadly watching it out the bus window as we drove off:(.
Remember Radio Carousel before Telstar? With Hugh Hardy's lunchtime show 'Country Call'-he died lately RIP. The other DJs Mike Ahern, Kieran Murray and Ray Stone. My sister queued for their autographs in the shopping centre .

mr_angry

I remember my Mum taking me to St Gerard's Novena in the Redemptorist every November - one of those Dundalk 'rites of passage' that I don't think I've heard of anywhere else!

There's not much I miss about 80's / early 90's Dundalk though. It was a pretty grim time, where lots of Park St. was boarded and painted light-blue, although even the paint had flaked off, and the boards were rotting. Even Clanbrassil St. had some of the same, although the Chuchullan paintings next to the Isle de France were memorable.

The smell of hops brewing from the Harp was fairly rank too!

MonkeyTennis

I love the smell of the harp!

Does anyone remember the Bluestone Grill ?? Before Mullens.. Now thats a tasty burger

Third_Echelon

mr_angry wrote: »

The smell of hops brewing from the Harp was fairly rank too!

Yeah used to turn my stomach every morning walking up for that 6.30am train to Dublin...

Funny thing though, in Dublin I lived near the Guinness brewery and the smell of Guinness brewing was actually quite nice.. Harp on the other hand was a bad smell...

patrickc

Ann22 wrote: »

I thought it'd be nice to have a thread that we could talk about old memories of the town, for those that grew up in the 70s and 80s. Like does anyone remember McDonnell's shop in Ard Easmuinn? Anybody who went to the Redeemer school should, it'd be so packed at lunchtime. The bell would ring when you'd go in. Loads of sweets would be in jars on the counter. Jaw Breakers and Fizzle Sticks.:o
The big hill down to the school when it'd snow would make a deadly slide if you had a big plastic bag to sit on:o. Bonfire night in the Summer when you'd be black going home. Games we'd play-'Red Rover', 'I-2-3' (some called 'tip the can'), 'Polo', 'A Broken old ship (came over the sea, and all that was left was the letter...) Charlie the ice cream man, Larry Rice's shop-on-wheels and the mineral man who'd go round the estates selling limeade, raspberryade etc. Halloween night when we'd go 'mumming' (halloween's coming and the geese are getting fat).
Games with balls girls would play like 'plainy Irish Rhubarb' or 'Plainy marmalade':o
Hopscotch and skipping games-'Under, over, in, out'. That one with elastic bands around your ankles 'England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Inside, outside, inside, scales!'.The old phone boxes that were dotted around the town, sometimes you'd have to walk miles to find a working one. 'Cheers' pub when it was great crack...World cup 1990! Could you ever forget?! And before that back to when it was 'The King's' bar and Mickey Grant doing DJ. Jokers, Images with the deadly video Juke box, Evitas and Tivolis-remember free before 11pm on a Friday night for women and the meal upstairs you'd get a ticket for on admission. Ah, fun times.:)

god i remember so much of Dundalk and all mentioned in this thread, have to say larrys shopvan was great he even took butter vouchers for anything going..

ah yeh charlies ice-cream was great as a kid anyhow...

Snoddy

The Sunshine Bar...

Mad Benny Isn't dead?! Sure I seen him a few weeks ago.
And that other Mad chap that rides the bike and sings, he won an Elvis competition in the marshes there.

Remember woolworths and all the stalls and Jimmy the veg man.

Benny Bradys on a saturday afternoon, all the wee ones a bottle of red lemonade and a 20p to run down to Donal Mcardles for some sweets,

B&M on Clanbrassil Strett, My Mother did her shopping in there on a saturday

I remember when the Dunnes in Park Street had a food section.

Super Crazy prices... Remember that, when H.Williams was it? closed down in coxes and we all had to go to SCP for the yellow pack goods!

I remember getting chester buns.
Ice house hill before they did it up. It was way more fun back then. The Black Pass.
When they put real trees upon top of the harp.
When Santa came through town on a sleigh and threw lollipops at you

Pighead

Ah yes, many a summers weekend was spent watching bands of varying shitness perform in the Sunshine beer garden. Great days. Maybe head across to Wisemans for a game of pool and watch some other crappy bands.

Bobo the forty year old man with the 4 inch ponytail, owner of that record store on Park St (Think it was next door to MJ's?) organiser in chief of these band nights. Wendimiller, Musclehead Vs Gravity Man, Fleur (A Suede covers band in Dundalk WTF!) After Purple and Rumble. Legends one and all, forget the bit where Pighead said the bands were crappy. He's just jealous he was never in any of them. Although he did do handclaps for After Purple one evening in Wisemans.:cool:

Ann22

Snoddy wrote: »

The Sunshine Bar...

Mad Benny Isn't dead?! Sure I seen him a few weeks ago

Seriously?! I was sure he was dead, that he was killed. Feck! Everyone was talking about it a few years ago. Maybe it was a ghost you saw.:eek:

Wertz

Pretty sure Mad Benny is dead.

DundalkDuffman

Mad Benny is indeed RIP. Found at his home in Ravensdale a few years ago. There were also about a dozen bikes there as well !

Feelgood

Ahhh the days of buying 50 year old German army boots in Jocks and the fake hand grenades they used to sell.

Here were did Jocks disappear to anyway?. Flannery's snooker place is gone too..

Snoddy

:eek::eek::eek:

Must have been a ghost or I entered a time warp at the square, I could have sworn I saw him legging it across the road with his stripey bag.

Wonder if we'll ever have eccentrics like that again?

Wertz

Snoddy wrote: »

Wonder if we'll ever have eccentrics like that again?

A safe bet I'd say.

Ann22

Ah I'd say there'l always be local odd folk:). The singing chap that marches up and down the town dressed in mad stuff, he was interviewed in the Argus a while back and they called him Rambo, and there's that nice little smiley happy red faced man with the hat that's always in the Long Walk shopping centre talking gibberish to everyone? I saw him driving a car once, looked totally sensible behind the wheel.

gernon

Paddy McDowell aka John Rambo aka The King definitely one of the few genuine characters left around Dundalk . I seen him frighten the **** out of a lorry driver at the lights on Castletown Road one evening as he suddenly burst into song:D
The little guy who shakes everybodys hand in the Long Walk is Paddy Clarke from Kilkerley he had a mild stroke a few years ago and has a slight speech impediment but if you took him for an eejit you wouldn't be long leaving him back.

Ann22

Ah God bless him. Then there's your man on the bike with the long grey hair. Is it Buckie they call him? He rides for miles on that bike. Years ago there used to be a creepy auld fella with a mad red face who used to stand at the old bus office all the time, probably a nice man, just looked strange.

up the town

Funny you mention Rumble, I hear a reunion could be on the cards for jackie Murphys possibly round Christmas.



Bobo the forty year old man with the 4 inch ponytail, owner of that record store on Park St (Think it was next door to MJ's?) organiser in chief of these band nights. Wendimiller, Musclehead Vs Gravity Man, Fleur (A Suede covers band in Dundalk WTF!) After Purple and Rumble. Legends one and all, forget the bit where Pighead said the bands were crappy.

Ah the memories, Potters snooker hall and Mjs were great places for going on the mitch. The Muirheavna, now that was some spot, think I spent most of my 1st year at college there. Laps of the old shopping centre, hanging out, trying to be cool:D. The earl inn mad place especially on a college night, then up to the fairways, studio 8, it used to be the best about free drink from all the local barstaff, myself included.

kingshankly

what about that ejit in the vincents uniform whats his game

Ann22

I think I know his name but I won't say it here. God help him really:(. I believe he's a transexual. Think you have to live as a woman for about 2yrs before they'l operate. Saw him recently and he's dressing better than he was. Less flamboyantly.

FlipperThePriest

gernon wrote: »

Paddy McDowell aka John Rambo aka The King definitely one of the few genuine characters left around Dundalk ...

We were going around the town in the car with a squirt gun back in the college day and I nailed him right in the face at the top of the castletown rd, priceless. He took it in great faith waving and smiling after us - thank god, I'd say he'd kill ya! Heard some mad stories. Don't worry I got my comupins a few wks later when I got squirted by someone else. I know you might be thinking it's a cruel game but it's just summer fun! Strictly no women and children lol.:D

NightStrike

Feelgood wrote: »

Ahhh the days of buying 50 year old German army boots in Jocks and the fake hand grenades they used to sell.

Here were did Jocks disappear to anyway?. Flannery's snooker place is gone too..

Jock's is now outdoor exchange down there by the Long Walk. Jock himself still runs it. Just upgraded a hell of a lot!

Dan_B

What about Mongo, the guy who delivered papers on a bike.
Now he was one scary mofo!!

The VG in seatown that took butter vouchers for cigarettes.

Clarks forest, refuge of the mitchers

Crazy prices, man I worked there for £2.09 an hour.

Has anyone mentioned Tivoli's yet?

Ann22

Is that the same Mongo as the deaf fella who does tattoos?

trad

Anyone remember Mid-Summer Nite Maddness out in Ballymac?

peking97

Anyone remember McCann's Banana Walk?

10green bottles

trad wrote: »

Anyone remember Mid-Summer Nite Maddness out in Ballymac?

great nights at mid-summer maddness.
Great crowd and i learned very quickly to hold onto EMPTY glasses.
No glass no free re-fill.
I ended up one year drinking a (very large)pint from a hotel flower vase.The lads and lassies from the round table that were doing the bar piss*d their asses laughing when i presented that for a re-fill:)
Happy days indeed

trad

My best recollection of mid summer nite maddness is the Sachville String Band playing the Tenessee Waltz as an instrumental, one of the patrons waltzing by steps into the mic perfectly on cue and in key, sings a verse much to the amusement of the band and then steps back into his stride with his dancing partner.


What about the Roma? I friend of mine from Ravensdale who is 87 used to hang around there when he was up the town in the 30's.

DundalkDuffman

Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

Ann22

peking97 wrote: »

Anyone remember McCann's Banana Walk?

Where was that-the Ramparts? I remember McCann's fruit on the Ramparts and McCanns' bakery in Bridge St. Remember the van would go round. Our neighbours used to get a big tray of buns..bástards:D...we'd be looking out the window with our mouths watering:(. The heel of a McCanns loaf with butter and strawberry jam....mmm!

Ann22

trad wrote: »

What about the Roma? I friend of mine from Ravensdale who is 87 used to hang around there when he was up the town in the 30's.

I was wondering that lately, how long has the Roma been there? Mama Roma looks the same as she always did. My nan used to bring my sister up there to play Lulu's 'Boom bang a bang' on the jukebox around 1969. Amazing to hear it was there in the '30's. Must've been Mama or Papa Roma's parents or grandparents who had it then.