My First Car
(as told by Tommy Brien to Webmaster 2/3/02)
I was a proud young man as I retuned from Pat Donohoe's garage having bought my first car. It was 1952 and I was eighteen years old. There were only three other cars in the village and all owned by grown men, Tom Kavanagh, Billy George and Billy Nolan.
It was an Austin 12, 4 door saloon,
built c. 1937 and with a reg. No. IC 2157 - similar to the one shown
below.
(Wm's note: This photo has been masterly superimposed
on Paul Kavanagh's modern picture of the village. I don't know how he
did it but many thanks Bozi - if you are into vintage cars then log
onto his website )
The car was owned and used by John Donohoe and I spent hours admiring it and wishing I had sufficient money. In truth I had just £30 (€38) and Mr. Donohoe wanted £75 for it. My desire must have been obvious as he asked me if I had the money. I told him of my circumstances and he said that I could give him the £30 and pay the rest at £5 per month. I was overjoyed. He charged no interest and I dutifully gave him my monthly £5. When I called to pay my last instalment he said, 'I'll let you off the last £5 sonny - (that's what he used to call me) - that's for you for being so prompt'
At that time I was working for the Dept.
of agriculture on a drainage scheme. We were known as Dillon's ducks -
after the foreman.
Our wages were £2 -19 - 0 or about €3.75 / week.
Intead of going to work on the bike I'd drive and the lads that came with
me would make a contribution to the car costs.
Later I did some Hackney work and the charges at the time were 1 shilling a mile or about 6 cent - Carlow was £1, Tullow 10s (50p) and Dublin was £5
