Personal description of the community existing in Virginia in the 1940s
Back in the 1940s, the people of Ireland lived a very different life than that of today. At the time we were living there the town of Virginia was typically Irish in it’s structure and makeup, by this I mean, there was a strong sense of community spirit and the Catholic Church was involved in and played an important part in many aspects of peoples lives. The professional classes, farmers, shop, and bar owners, governed the main commercial cycle of activities and events in the town and at the bottom of the social hierarchy were the Irish proletariat, ordinary wage earning, working men and women.
The rural Irish community and the physical makeup of the town where I was born and spent my early childhood in, Virginia, County Cavan, was like many other small towns in Ireland, at that time in the 1940s, there was a main street with a dozen or so shops and bars on each side. The population was very small, there were only around eight hundred people living in the town. The town was vastly different in every respect from what it is now, it was very quiet and peaceful, there was very little traffic and the pace of life was relaxed and slow, everybody knew everyone else and kept good close relations with their neighbours, and because most people had very little in the way of money or other luxuries or commodities, it engendered a sense of equality and willingness of people to help and support each other. In those days, no one could fall out with anyone because you didn't know the minute or the hour or the day you might have to turn to that person for help. But now, since the older generations haves passed on, I would be the first to admit, Ireland in these modern times and especially in the last ten years has improved in many respects, but I am sorry to say, that in Ireland and in many towns like Virginia a lot has been lost, as one old timer I met in the town said to me recently when I was there during one of my annual visits “the auld ways have disappeared and gone for good” and in their place you now have people with an entirely different set of values and outlook on life and it is not uncommon now, even in a small town like Virginia, due to the influx of new residents, people hardly know or care who lives next door them.
Significant families living in the town when I was living there, as very young child, were our immediate neighbours on Rahardrum Lane, some of the names I remember were our next door neighbour Mrs Sweeny, the Preston’s, Sheridan’s, Dunne’s, and the Quinn’s. Further away in and around the town there was the Kellet’s, Sodens. Gillicks, Farley’s Clancy’s and Morgan’s, Murray’s and Smith’s. Virginia was a particularly nice town to live in especially for children with its fresh air, big gardens, fields and open spaces, where children could play in safety despite the hardships and poverty which was being experienced by the townsfolk at that time, just after the Second World War; there was a lot of goodwill among the people. People had time for each other and the old Irish traditions which held communities together were still very much evident. Neighbours would meet in each others houses for ceilis as there was no television or even radio, people would gather, around open turf fires during which, and there would be traditional Irish music played, story telling, snippets of news exchanged, and some home made food would be provided.
Prominent places in the town I remember very well were the Old Mill which was still working I remember the whirling and clacking noise of the flax being processed and the big water wheel showing its impressive strength when called upon to operate the giant circular saw blade inside the mill, to saw trunks of trees into useful sizes of timber. Mc Donnells’s general store and bar, with its unforgettable smell of paraffin, aniseed and ground coffee, is where most people in the town shopped. The old National School, which I and number of my brothers and sisters attended, and the Town Hall, now the Council Offices. A good number Irish traditional sports were played in various locations in and around the town especially Gaelic football, hand ball, and hurling these sports which require a high levels of skill were played with typical Irish, aggression, energy and enthusiasm by the men and young people of the town. I also remember the haunting sound of the Angelus bells drifting over the town and fields calling people to pray at twelve midday and six in the evening. It was not uncommon to see a farmer, no matter how busy he was, with his hat removed in respect, quietly praying.
The rural Irish community and the physical makeup of the town where I was born and spent my early childhood in, Virginia, County Cavan, was like many other small towns in Ireland, at that time in the 1940s, there was a main street with a dozen or so shops and bars on each side. The population was very small, there were only around eight hundred people living in the town. The town was vastly different in every respect from what it is now, it was very quiet and peaceful, there was very little traffic and the pace of life was relaxed and slow, everybody knew everyone else and kept good close relations with their neighbours, and because most people had very little in the way of money or other luxuries or commodities, it engendered a sense of equality and willingness of people to help and support each other. In those days, no one could fall out with anyone because you didn't know the minute or the hour or the day you might have to turn to that person for help. But now, since the older generations haves passed on, I would be the first to admit, Ireland in these modern times and especially in the last ten years has improved in many respects, but I am sorry to say, that in Ireland and in many towns like Virginia a lot has been lost, as one old timer I met in the town said to me recently when I was there during one of my annual visits “the auld ways have disappeared and gone for good” and in their place you now have people with an entirely different set of values and outlook on life and it is not uncommon now, even in a small town like Virginia, due to the influx of new residents, people hardly know or care who lives next door them.
Significant families living in the town when I was living there, as very young child, were our immediate neighbours on Rahardrum Lane, some of the names I remember were our next door neighbour Mrs Sweeny, the Preston’s, Sheridan’s, Dunne’s, and the Quinn’s. Further away in and around the town there was the Kellet’s, Sodens. Gillicks, Farley’s Clancy’s and Morgan’s, Murray’s and Smith’s. Virginia was a particularly nice town to live in especially for children with its fresh air, big gardens, fields and open spaces, where children could play in safety despite the hardships and poverty which was being experienced by the townsfolk at that time, just after the Second World War; there was a lot of goodwill among the people. People had time for each other and the old Irish traditions which held communities together were still very much evident. Neighbours would meet in each others houses for ceilis as there was no television or even radio, people would gather, around open turf fires during which, and there would be traditional Irish music played, story telling, snippets of news exchanged, and some home made food would be provided.
Prominent places in the town I remember very well were the Old Mill which was still working I remember the whirling and clacking noise of the flax being processed and the big water wheel showing its impressive strength when called upon to operate the giant circular saw blade inside the mill, to saw trunks of trees into useful sizes of timber. Mc Donnells’s general store and bar, with its unforgettable smell of paraffin, aniseed and ground coffee, is where most people in the town shopped. The old National School, which I and number of my brothers and sisters attended, and the Town Hall, now the Council Offices. A good number Irish traditional sports were played in various locations in and around the town especially Gaelic football, hand ball, and hurling these sports which require a high levels of skill were played with typical Irish, aggression, energy and enthusiasm by the men and young people of the town. I also remember the haunting sound of the Angelus bells drifting over the town and fields calling people to pray at twelve midday and six in the evening. It was not uncommon to see a farmer, no matter how busy he was, with his hat removed in respect, quietly praying.