Clarks reunion a night of great memories from the past
Easily one of the biggest nights over the weekend had to be the Clarks Shoes reunion which took place on Saturday night in the Crowne Plaza and a huge crowd had turned out specially for the occasion.
The night was the brainchild of Madeline Carroll from McSwiney Street and Lucy Holmes from Lordship who told me they were sick and tired of only meeting up with all their old workmates at funerals and decided to do something about it. Facebook was the main connector for many of the ex-workers and word of mouth brought the rest together for an excellent night.
All credit to the two ladies for their three months of hard work which culminated in a room festooned with photos and a slide show spanning 1958 to 1985 and they even put together an excellent ‘ Memory Room’ adjacent to the hall where they had a huge selection of artefacts made by Clarkes down through the years.
I was only on my way up to the function in the lift when I caught up with Denis and Noreen Murphy from Blackrock who were with Peter McKevitt from Dowdallshill and Denis told me he was the last man out of the factory at the end, tuning off the lights and locking the doors as he went!
Next I got a word with Jimmy Maguire from Happy Valley who had been 10 years in the factory and Austin Dawe who said he had been there for 40 years and it was great to see all the old faces there.
I then caught up with Hugh Mullen from Sportsmanshall who thought he was probably the oldest there at 93 and he was having a great laugh meeting up with all the old familiar faces.
After this I headed over for a chat with Sheila Grant from Glenwood and Kathleen Dunne from Blackrock who old me that she had met her husband Dessie while she was working there and both said they had worked in the three factories on the Ramparts, Quay Street and the Demesne.
Not too far away I got a word with Helen McCrave from Willow Grove who had been there for 6 years, she was with Kathleen D’Arcy from Bachelors Walk who had been there for 7 years and they were delighted to see all their old workmates there.
After this I headed over for a word with Marie Lennon from Riverside Crescent, Fidelma Traynor from Pearse Park, Patsy Agnew from Mountain View who told me she was there from start to finish ’ 59 to ’ 85!
Seated adjacent to these ladies I then caught up with some girls who told me they were far too young to have worked there and they included Caroline O’Connor from O’Hanlon Park, Jackie McArdle from Blackrock, Imelda Hoey from Brid-a-crinn and Ellen Wynne from Kilkerley who assured me it was going to be a quiet night, not a chance on that one.
Heading for another table I then met up with Rosemary and Jackie Winkless from St. Malachys Villas who were with Joe Martin from Dublin Street and Rosemary said that her and Joe did all the variety shows for Clarks and loved it.
Not too far away I then got taking to Anne Cunningham from Greenacres who had been there for 6 years and Marguerite Goss from Carrickmacross who was there for 4 and assured me they loved the place that much, if it opened in the morning they’d be the first there banging on the doors waiting to get back in.
I then headed over for a chat with Big Paul Dullaghan who as with his wife Miriam from Legion Avenue and Miriam said she had been with Clarkes for 20 years and it was great to see all the old faces again and the slide show was just great.
After this I met up with Pat Watters and his wife Dorothy Walsh from Meadow View who had been there 20 and 2 years respectively and were really enjoying the crack with all their old workmates.
Beside them I caught up with Freda Curran and husband Gerry from Ard Easmuinn who were there for 10 and 40 years respectively. They were enjoying meeting everyone again and Gerry had his guitar with him so an auld session was guaranteed.
I then headed for a table where I got talking to Phil Duffy from St. Alphonsus Road, Eilish Mulholland from Oaklawns, Rosemary Duffy from Cluan Enda, Catherine Duffy from Cluan Enda, Ann Tuite from Blackrock Cove, and Paula Duffy from Greengates who said she was Ms. Clarkes in festival queen competition.
After this I got a word with Nancy Ward from Meadow Grove who was with her brother Brendan Murphy from Lis Na Dara and said it was wonderful to see all the old faces again.
Next I met up with Anne Reynolds from St. Marys Road, Eileen Rice from Brid-a-crinn and Aileen Lennon from Blackrock who were having a wonderful night and wanted to congratulate the organisers on the reunion.
Not too long later I met up with Barbara McGuinness from Oaklawns, Maran McCourt from St. Clements Park and Mary Conlon from Louth Village who were having a fantastic night and were very impressed with the slide show with all the photos and everyone who had turned out for the night.
Finally, as I was departing I met up with Patricia Leavy from Mount Avenue who had worked in Display and Design in Quay Street in the 60s and was really looking forward to seeing all her friends and workmates again.