Why Mum is always right

In January we were lucky to be with Mum in Dublin, and she knew all the fastest routes and places to visit in the city. My own memories of summers in Rathmines are fading and to have some time there with Mum was great.

The phot is from The Long Hall - one of the oldest pubs in Dublin since the 1860’s was named after a chapel dedicated to Saint George in 1181, it preserves a Victorian atmosphere and is a popular spot.

Mum said let’s go - it’s where my Dad would do business. We were happy to have a drink, enjoy the atmosphere and think about him being there in the 1950’s - but we couldn’t fathom why he was doing business in a pub. Patrick Harrington (Paddy) was the cofounder of Shanley & Harrington a residential developer in Dublin in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s - our memories of him in the late 70’s and 80’s were of a quiet man, always reading the paper or watching the news.

Our trips to stay with our grandparents in the Rathmines house that felt huge (to a small person) hold the best of memories for me. Summertime had walks to John Foxes to buy the papers and 20 Major (yes!), picking gooseberries out the back and trips to a beach house in Portrane,. In September we’d collect appples from the trees in the long walled garden and every season had us terrified of the ‘box room’ upstairs which we were convinced was haunted.

Indeed, I’ve since asked ‘tinternet about The Long Hall and during the mid-20th century, it was known as a regular haunt for tradesmen, specifically noted as a "house painters union pub". In the days before mobile phones, social media and texting all the business was done in person ‘networking’ at the pub…the centre for gathering, for cheer, for sorrows and …for business.