We stood each other up under the clock

Aine Monahan, 75, from Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, has worked as a draughtsman and a secondary school teacher.

MEETING under Clerys’ clock was gas. We stood the fellas up; they stood us up. You’d go to a dance in the Olympic ballroom blah-di-blah, the lights were dim and you made a date under the clock and when you’d see him — oh merciful hour! We were lucky we had Nelson’s Pillar there at the time because you could hide — but sometimes they saw you! You’d go home then and say, “What the hell was I doing thinking about meeting him?” What were they saying when they stood us up? We were like and like.

They were different times. Of course there weren’t any mobile phones then and even your girlfriends might let you down. You could take the bus into town and if something happened, there was no way of letting someone know you wouldn’t be under the clock.

It was also a place where you met your aunties, you met all kinds of people. Clerys was a fantastic shop and we miss it. You could get anything in there — materials, clothes, make-up, small bits of furniture, carpets.

A lot of times you’d meet someone to go see a film. There were several cinemas nearby.

I had lots of boyfriends but I knew I couldn’t get married. My mother died from childbirth in her 30s and my father married three times.

I didn’t want to settle down and have children because I didn’t want to leave them the way I was left. All my mother’s family were doctors and it wasn’t any use.

I still have the odd one or two boyfriends — not lovers, now. I love travel — I’ve been everywhere except South America.

I’m retired now — they throw you out when you’re 65 — but I’m studying psychotherapy, playing tennis, learning golf, and I sing in a choir.