Where Dan Norr's Post Office and Shop, as we know it today is, was once the site of Michael (the Weaver) Sheehan's house. The carded wool from Joe Young's mill (behind the "Holly Bar") was spun by women in the Village and brought to the Weaver who wove it into cloth. Michael (who came from Glenmore, Co. Kerry) and his wife Jude were fabulous Gaelic speakers. Jude was the last keening woman (crying loudly over the body of the dead person) and she also laid our the dead bodies. She had red hair, and it was a local superstition that if you passed a red-haired woman going fishing, it would bring you bad luck. I was going fishing with Paddy (Flor Jack) O'Sullivan one day when I was young. Jude happened to come out the door just as we were about to pass. Paddy stopped in his tracks and wouldn't move until Jude had gone in. Just below the Weaver's house was a small rock on which the politicians used stand making speeches and all sorts of promises prior to elections. Further up the Village was Timmy Riney, the tailor. Riney came from Ardea, Co. Kerry, and was an ardent Kerry supporter. On the day of a football match between Kerry and Cork he would always hang the green and gold of Kerry out the window. One day, when I was about 10 years old, it was the occasion of a Munster final between Cork and Kerry, and feelings on both sides were intense. I wanted a red flag of Cork to hang out our window. My 4 years old sister Maura had a doll with a red dress on it. I was cutting off the doll's dress, and Maura was bawling crying. My father heard her. Up the stairs he came. I had the scissors in my hand. My father went to give me a "clout". I put up my hand to defend myself, but the scissors cut my father between the thumb and the index finger. That was the last Cork flag that was ever again attempted to wave out the window at Riney. Up the street was Kate O'Hara's shop. She was married to Michael O'Hara, a road ganger who came from Co. Galway, and who loved to eat river eels. When we were small, Vincie (Jer Denny) and I used spend hours down the river catching eels for O'Hara. The strange thing about it is that eels, despite their looks, were very tasty. O'Hara's wife Kate was a mighty diplomat. During the first World War sweets were very scarce, but everybody who came in to Kate got "the last sweet" she had. Jer (Denny) Harrington, her brother had a grocery shop, a hackney car, and the first threshing machine in Ardgroom and further afield. Quinlan (the Shoemaker) O'Sullivan was married three times. Just above Quinlan's was Jim O'Sullivan(Glas) from Kerry, and then Tady Harrington, known as "Tady the Ram", who was a butcher and used buy alot of rams. Then came Mikie O'Brien, a carpenter and pub owner (now the "Village Inn" --- a pub and restaurant). It was originally Jimmy (Pats) O'Sullivan's pub. Beside it was Johnny ("Kruger") Murphy's house. Johnny had a sidecar and a common cart and horse for bringing passengers and goods from Ardgroom Village to Castletownbere and back. Of his 7 children, 5 emigrated to New York. At the top of the Village was the "Holly Bar". The stones with which Tade Kelly (who was also a carpenter) had the "Holly Bar" built were got on the southern side of Glenbeg Lake, brought across by boat to Glenbeg Bridge, and carted down to the Village. The total cost of building the pub at the time was £20 (twenty pounds). Some holly branches were put up on the front window of the pub as decorations one Christmas about 100 years ago. A holly berry fell down between the window boards. It took root in the earth there, and over the years grew into a holly tree that now covers the whole front window. The "Holly Bar" closed recently. In a part of one of the oldest houses to the west of the bridge is where soup was given to the people to keep them alive during the time of the Famine. Behind Patsy McCarthy's was Mary Mullins' house, and near that was Johnny (Tom) O'Sullivan's. Johnny used always make out that if you kept singing to a cow while you were milking her, she would give you more milk. We had phycologists in our Village that time as well !! I hope you enjoyed the little "run" through the Village as it was in the olden days. Regards, Riobard. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 5.8 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1996 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message