County Town: Revisiting Castlebar's Spencer Street
By Tom Gillespie
IN March I wrote of the businesses I recalled that operated on Spencer Street, Castlebar, in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Until I was aged five years my family resided at number 4 on the street, after which we moved to Marian Row.
In that article I listed off many of the family-run businesses on the street, but, of course, my recall of what was there 68 years ago was not as sharp as I thought.
It took Geraldine Mullany (nee O’Connor) in Galway to remind me of her parents' Jim and Kathleen O’Connor’s hardware and fishing tackle establishment (pictured), that was a thriving business for 40 years.
The shop was located opposite Downes’ garage, in what is now part of Micheal McDermott’s extensive carpet and furniture business, with the O’Connor residence next door.
The O’Connors kept the business going steadily during the 1960s and ‘70s but the hardware section, as Geraldine told me, ‘waned’ during the ‘80s.
Jim, however, a master angler and a member of the Lough Carra Anglers Association, though in his 70s, diversified into a picture framing business which continued until the shop closed in the ‘90s.
How I had forgotten about O’Connor’s is beyond me as I was a regular customer there for fishing tackle.
Jim was very helpful to youngsters like myself. If I was purchasing artificial fishing flies, Jim would enquire where I planned to go fishing and then he would advise on the best mayfly, green olive or nymph, etcetera, that was suitable for that particular lake or river.
I have written before of my formative years in Spencer Street in an era when all families were less than well off.
But all, however, were equal in that regard. Very few on the street owned a car and the most popular mode of transport was the bicycle.
The Simms’ in Spencer House in Spencer Park were still in residence then and I remember my one and only encounter with Mrs. Simms.
Though just a gasur, we used to play on the back road up as far as Dolan’s and down to Tossie Kelly’s beside the County Cinema. Next to Dolan’s was Spencer Park and at the rear of the big house was an orchard which attracted my attention.
I was coming on five when I raided the orchard, only to be detected and captured by Mrs. Simms.
She marched me down Spencer Street, all the time maintaining a tight hold on my right ear.
My poor mother had to endure a tongue lashing from the good lady as she laid down the law and banned me from ever setting foot on her property again.
According to the Streets of Castlebar website, Spencer Street leads from the Green to Spencer Park, in which many houses there were built and owned by Lord Lucan.
But back to the 1950s, the street was virtually traffic-free and we played football and marbles there and cowboys and Indians along the back gardens, which backed onto the Paddock where the old telephone exchange was later based along Pavilion Road.
We had a cocker spaniel then, Topper, and I recall running with him across all the gardens from the cinema up, jumping over the fences as we went along.
Topper moved with us to Marian Row and was a member of the family until I was in St. Gerald’s College in the early 1960s. Unfortunately, he was poisoned and his death created a great void in our family.
Horkan’s shop and Julia Heneghan’s, now RehabCare and Room for a Rug respectively, were busy retail outlets, as were Golden’s, Lyons’s, Gavin’s and Jim O’Connor’s.
There were petrol pumps outside Henry Downes garage and at Elliott’s (Robinson’s), directly across from our house.
In the early 1950s the County Cinema burned down and while it was being rebuilt films were shown in Elliott’s garage and my sisters, Mary and Carol, and I spent many a night looking out the front window at the crowds going into the film house.
My first memory of Christmas in Spencer Street was when I got a big red tin truck from Santa. With today’s health and safety regulations it was off the Richter scale and would not pass any safety inspection.
We hung up Christmas stockings - my father’s largest - and were delighted to get a selection of sweets and an apple, orange and banana, one of the few times of the year we had fruit.
Times were simple then and the only entertainment we had was listening to the radio, in particular the Light Programme on the BBC.
It was from Spencer Street that I first attended school in the old St. Patrick’s National School on Chapel Street.
I recall the day well. My father took me there but I refused point blank to go in the gate, up the steps and into the building.
A persuasive Mrs. Josephine McDonagh, our teacher in baby room, won me around. She lived at Mons Terrace and each morning she would take the Spencer Street baby room boys by the hand and walk us to and home from school.
After moving to Marian Row I maintained contact with my Spencer Street school mates - Padraic Lyons, Mike Dolan, Tony Kelly (RIP), Ger Munnelly (RIP) and Eamon Courell.
The street has changed dramatically over the years but the houses on the cinema side are still there, the majority of them now owned by Micheal McDermott of McDermott carpets and furniture.