MURPHY FLOODS NIGHT OF NOSTALGIA
THE Bailey Cafe Bar and Restaurant provided the venue for a very special staff reunion recently in Enniscorthy.
Former employees and owners of Murphy Floods Hotel gathered together to reminisce about old times and renew acquaintances for the first time since the well known and highly respected establishment was destroyed by a fire in September 2005.
The blaze caused extensive damage to the building and on the night of the fire around 50 customers in the premises along with those in adjacent pubs and homes had to be evacuated for their safety.
The hotel was established in 1920 and was in the ownership of the Murphy-Flood and Wall families for three generations.
To say it was one of the most iconic landmark sites in the county would be an understatement.
The range of clubs and organisations that held their meetings there was vast and as a place to socialise it was known all over county Wexford.
From local bands to some of the country’s foremost entertainers the hotel played host to fantastic nights of music and entertainment down through the years.
Many of those memorable nights were recalled at the reunion event which was such a success that what was intended to be a short get-together for former colleagues ended up going on until the late hours of the night.
A very special moment occurred when a visit was paid to Nancy Wall whose family was synonymous with the hotel.
A group of former staff members took the time to visit her and thank her for giving them the opportunity to have such brilliant and wonderful memories of working in a place where everyone was a friend.
Mrs Wall was delighted to welcome her visitors and said she also had great memories of the hotel as a result of her own family’s long association with it.
One of the organisers spoke to this newspaper about the reunion and said it was a fantastic night that went much better than anticipated.
‘We just planned that it would be a small get-together for a small number of people and it ended up that we got a great crowd to attend,’ she said.
Some of the people in attendance spent many happy years working in the hotel and some of them were able to recall their time as staff members back in the late 1950s.
It was a fantastic night out for all concerned and the organisers were delighted that a large number of people were able to attend.
‘We knew there was a lot of interest in it getting closer to the date because people were talking about it but we were really delighted with the turnout because it really made it all worthwhile,’ said one of the organisers.
They also thanked the Bailey staff for their hospitality.