Our family was born and reared on Irish railway stations. Every few years my father, a station master, moved again in search of promotion. I loved the thrill of meeting new people in different places.
In all, we lived at six railway stations – Boyle, Milford, Castletown Geoghegan, Oranmore, Woodlawn and Collooney. We gathered new experiences in every new place. For me, the most interesting village was Castletown Geoghegan, where many people had animal or bird surnames, such as Rabbit, Hare, Fox, Pidgeon and Crow. The place boasted two colonels, Col Boyd Rochford and Col Bellingham.
Every year, Lady Boyd Rochford gave a garden party for the local children – a wonderful afternoon of entertainment. Col Bellingham used to send crates of oysters to Dublin by train, so my father was the happy recipient of gifts of oysters, which we were made swallowed whole, for the good of our health!
Treasured sixpence
In Castletown Geoghegan in the 1940s, clocks kept the same time, summer and winter, so people often found themselves an hour too late or an hour too early for trains and blamed my father for it.
One particular incident stands out regarding the village. When dues were taken up, the names of contributors were called out the following Sunday and the amount contributed by each. Professional people gave about £10, the middle class £5 and the poorer people a few shillings – once I made a big sacrifice by handing in my treasured sixpence. I was very proud of myself, when “Miss Rutledge, six pence” was called out in church. However, on arriving home, I got a telling-off for disgracing the family name.
Another incident I remember was when a bolt of lightning struck the metal staff of the signalman as he was passing it to the train driver. The staff flew into space and the poor man fell down on the platform. My mother revived him with a glass of poitín.
Most of these railway stations are now closed. The trains speed through and only memories remain of happy, carefree days, living on railway stations.
