Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach

I started facilitating the Warrenmount Book Club five years ago now. We have read many great books but the most memorable thing for me remains the people who make up our Club. I would really like you to meet them.

There is Mary from Tipperary who remembers saving the shillings for a very risquee pair of satin pyjamas she saw in a shop window when she first came to work in Dublin

And Bob who can tell you the difference between a veteran and a classic. A classic has been around since before 1959 and a veteran has been around since before 1929 – car that is!

And Lily who remembers her brush with fame when she met the glamorous Diana Dors in Brighton – ‘you could sweep the floor with her lashes’ Lily recalls.

And Joan who remembers travelling to Portrush for her honeymoon in 1965 and passing huge bonfires. Recently she visited Northern Ireland by train and enjoyed pate and crackers.

And Francis who recalls, as a child, the tensions between Protestants and Catholics. When his mother brought home a copy of a Salvation Army Newspaper his father said ‘Don’t be reading that oul thing!’

And May who who had a romantic first driving lesson on Dollymount Strand in a beat-up car which ‘was like something you’d race at Mondello’.

And Peggy who remembers baby chicks and ducklings hatching in a corner of the kitchen as part of her mothers 1950’s agri-business.

And Barbara who loves reading and eating Magnum minis. Her favourite is Almond. She is not so fond of the Classic but ‘when there is nothing else you’ll eat what is there’.

And Maureen who recalls when it was 6p for a single of chips. ‘I looked forward to it all day, just waiting to inhale the aroma of the vinegar and to feel the warmth of the newspaper wrapping in my hand.’

And Eileen who loved watching ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and remembers the Pony Express Delivery man in the film being chased by indians. Arrows would be flying by his head but he would always get to deliver his post in safety’.

And Kay who went to a gypsy fortune teller who told her she would marry a man in uniform. Soon after she fell in love with a postman.

These are just some of the stories from the regulars who come to The Warrenmount Weekly Book Club in Dublin 8. You couldn’t make them up.