It was a Monday morning, just six days before Easter Sunday, that Eileen arrived. The path was prepared and pattern set by her almost four year old brother and sister aged two. By the time she was twelve, the family had reached the full compliment of seven children and her mother and father. They lived over the corner shop, owned and run by her mother. Her father was a Cooper at a local brewery.
Eileen’s father was a quiet serious man not known for a sense of humour, yet Eileen was the only one to get away with devilment. As a young girl she was diagnosed with an acute appendicitis and her father walked with her from the South Circular Road, in Dublin, to the Meath Hospital, for admission and surgery. Once over that hurdle, she never looked back.
She had the quick wit of her mother and a head for figures, a gift her mother put to good use in the shop. Back in those days customers often paid for the groceries at the end of each week, so records were hand written into a large book. Eileen quickly mastered the cross and long tots, which eased the load for her mother. At sixteen she left school and went to work at Cassidy’s Ladies Fashions in George’s Street in Dublin. She never complained, but she knew she was going to work so that her brothers could be educated.
1931. Eileen Moloney
Photo of Eileen at 17
She had a good eye for fashion and particularly hats so was moved to the Millinery department which she loved. In those days, unlike today, ladies hats came in different sizes. The were stored in large deep drawers or glass cabinets.
Cassidy’s Millenry Dept
Eileen at work in Cassidy’s.
She was light on her feet and loved to dance and was never short of a partner. Lilly, one of her aunts, was a wonderful seamstress and took great pleasure in creating dance dresses for Eileen. She often told of a green fabric she saw in Denis Guiney’s window, on her way to the Custom House, On the way back she went to purchase enough for a floor length dress. The grumpy salesman told her that since it was in the window she would have to come back the next week when the displays were changed, he could not remove it before that.
Another dance dress.
Years later he said he remembered that day and thought the colour would look well on her! That grump became her husband and my father!
Eileen Moloney & Dan Molony
Mammy & Daddy on her wedding day.
With time they had a family, but it was not all an easy journey. Of her nine pregnancies, her first and penultimate babies were still born and the third survived for five hours. The remaining six are still going our various ways, having nurtured our own families and for some there is another new generation following on.
Nana & Dan with their six children in 1955
Two years after the birth of my sister, the baby in the photo above, mammy had a serious heart attack. To her horror she was not allowed to eat butter, fat or cream, she was to cut out using the stairs e.g. come down in the morning and not go back up until bedtime! The loo was upstairs, What was she supposed to do…. Tie her legs in a knot? 😡 She was not to stand if she could sit and not to sit is she could lie down! How those ideas have changed! It is just as well, since mammy had little chance of sticking to them.
One year later Daddy was ill and in and out of hospital for a year. Mammy’s health issues were put on the back burner while looking after him. They both kept going, with health lifting and dropping like a temperature gauge.
Despite all the hurdles, mammy never lost her sense of fun, She became a great cook, a wonderful mother and great friend.
So to day on her Hundredth birthday, may we all drink a toast to her memory (tea would be appropriate, it was her favourite tipple), share the happy memories and listen carefully for her laughter!
Eileen Molony nee Moloney 1914 – 1996
Happy 100th Birthday Nana 🙂
Very appropriate that her first grandchild should be the first to comment. I hope you have a cup of tea in her honour today!
Tea’s not my thing… Especially milky and with sugar like nana made it…. But I might just squish in a slice of cheesecake!
I was thinking of making one of those today – the one with pastry and no cheese, also known as Paddy’s cake!
Absolutely loved this! Family history blogs, especially with pictures, are my favorite. Well done, Marie.
Al, my aim was to leave a record for the younger generations, by the time they are ready to ask questions, Barbara’s dad and I may be floating on a cloud!
The bonus for me is: the last Family Post on 30th January brought a comment from a family connection searching for family info.
P.S. You are beyond cute in that family photo. Love it.
😆 That is about the only photo from my childhood, with no Bow/Ribbon on my head!
Enjoyed this share! Happy Birthday to your mom.
Glad you enjoyed it, Nancy.
What a lovely tribute! Your mother was a beautiful woman. May she live on in your memories.
Gigi, just looking down at my hands as I cook and bake, I am reminded of her, if I pass a mirror she is looking out at me.
Lovely, GM. You tell wonderful family stories
Thanks, speccy.
What a great, tender family story. Happy birthday to your mother, she lives on in you all.
I see her quick wit and way of cooking coming through in Elly!
Lovely post GM, your mother looked so much taller in prior pics – she lived to a good age considering her health.
XO
WWW
WWW, she was five feet seven inches for most of her life, but grew down quite a bit as she aged. 82, was not bad despite all her difficulties.
What a great post. You have your mother’s sense of humor. I’m taking care of my mom right now and at 91 she is trying so hard to be independent .
That sense of humour got us through many a difficult moment over the years. We inherited from her mother, my Granny.
That is a beautiful story so well told. Starting off with parsnips and ending up as you did was a bit unusual!
Ramana, surely by now you know I like to surprise!
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Beautiful tribute for a beautiful lady.
That she was until we arrived to give her wrinkles and grey hair! 😆
Those photos do show a beautiful and fun woman. It’s always a tribute to someone when I hear of a life full of challenges and many disappointments and heartaches, yet they are still remembered as fun and having a sense of humor. I am so glad you shared.
Debra, it was mammy’s mother, my granny, who taught us all to use laughter to break tension and lighten a heavy load.
Nana smoked!!!!! ???????
No! She tried one cigarette when she was young, it made her sick and she never touched them again.
I was wondering 🙂
What made you ask the question?
Jen said she did, but then when I expressed my disbelief she said she would go check her sources!! 🙂
No. Nana did not smoke or drink alcohol. Tea & butter were her passions!
That’s what i thought! 🙂 (Phew!)
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I think my Grandma worked with her in Cassidy’s. I have a picture of them together in 1936 there, does that make sense?
Welcome Duncan to the party, even if six years late. Mammy loved her time working in Cassidys and I met several of her friends and colleagues from there, when I was a child. Maybe I met your grandmother. Any chance you could send me her name and a photo. Do you have any stories of their time in Cassidy’s, if so I would love to hear them?