Dingle people paint a picture of the town they love so well

A COLLECTION of ordinary people’s stories that combine to form a social history of Dingle is the material from which Carl O’Flaherty has woven his latest book, ‘Dingle People, Fishermen, Families & Friends’, which was warmly received when the first copies emerged from the cardboard boxes on Sunday.

Carl, a retired teacher who now lives in Swords, Co Dublin, was on home turf for the launch in O’Flaherty’s pub where Pat Neligan performed the official duties and lauded Carl’s success in compiling a warm and engaging social history of Dingle as seen through the eyes of locals and those who have come to call Dingle home.

The book contains the life stories of 35 people - 27 men and eight women – and through their family histories, adventures and observations a picture of Dingle’s evolution over the past century or so emerges.

The contributors range from Michael Ferriter, who was born in 1920, to people born in the early 1960s. Both dyed-in-the-wool locals and the more recently arrived who “have put their shoulder to the wheel” in the community are included, and they describe themselves through their ancestry and provide “warts and all” accounts of life in Dingle as they have experienced it.

One example is Paddy Lambe’s recollection of ‘The Jew Man’ who had a drapery business in Strand Street. Paddy’s and his siblings played with the Jew Man’s children in the street but some local merchants didn’t take so well to the foreigner and “felt that as they were paying their annual dues to the Catholic Church, in return its flock should be protected in both economic, temporal and religious matters. At least one local priest actively encouraged the community to boycott this outsider and as a result the family struggled to survive economically and they left Dingle forever [in the middle of the Second World War]. We were sad to see him leave as he was a good and caring neighbour,” Paddy recalled.

The book emerged from Carl’s work on his previous book ‘Dingle Before Fungi’, during which he picked up stories that he felt should be given a separate platform.

“It was great enjoyment for me to listen to people’s stories,” said Carl who acknowledges that the book would never have been possible without the people who were willing to contribute their stories to “a record cut in stone for future generations”.

The book is on sale at local book shops, from O’Flaherty’s pub and if those are out of reach, send a cheque for €20 to Carl O’Flaherty, Dún an Óir, Kilsallaghan, Swords, Co. Dublin, and he’ll dispatch a copy post haste.

Photos by Declan Malone Carl O’Flaherty signing a copy of his new book ‘Dingle People’ for Mike Moriarty from Ventry, with Margo Doyle (left) at the launch in O’Flaherty’s bar on Sunday. Carl O’Flaherty with his twin brother, Fergus, and Tom Fox (left) “without whom the book...