Yet more heritage collection photographs

Memory in the lensJim Collins has sent us in some more pictures for the Gathering Heritage Collection, writes Brian Byrne.

The one above shows the aftermath of a CIE truck in 1959 delivering Guinness to Nicholas Bardon that 'took off driverless', then made an unscheduled delivery having crashed through the bridge wall into what is now the Credit Union garden.

"The sign on the truck says 'We deliver anything anywhere'," Jim points out. The picture includes, Pat Dowling, Paddy Molloy, Brendan Walker, Jim Collins (The Miller), a young Brian Byrne (Ed: I don't remember being there at all!) and Noel Coleman.



The next one is Pat Lawlor (The Purty Boy), his wife May Gannon, with Jim Collins Snr, at the Lawlor home at Hillside in 1959, shortly after they were married.



The final pic of this trio shows the first three canoes on the river in Kilcullen in 1959. Jim Collins built the first canoe in the tech in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, while working for the ESB on the Erne scheme.

"The canoe was brought from Donegal to Dublin on top of a truck load of fruit, Free Of Charge," Jim recalls, "and then by Brennan's Hardware lorry to Kilcullen, also FOC.

"Within weeks of its arrival in Kilcullen, Paddy Maloney used the same plans to build two more canoes, one for himself and one for Tom Berney. In the Summer of '59 Kilcullen Canoe Club was formed which was the first canoe club in Ireland."

Pictured are Paddy Maloney, Tom O'Connell (in suit and tie), Tom Berney, Jim Collins and Noel McCabe. In the water are Anthony O'Sullivan and Sean Keogh.

More wonderful memories (if we could remember them!). Many thanks, Jim. This collection is really getting legs.