Bob Goodwin (part 2)

This recording was compiled in Bob Goodwin’s house on the mainland in Fahamore. Bob begins by saying that the other island family, the O’Leary’s, had left for the mainland in 1929 though they continued to farm on Oileánn tSeanaigh until leaving for Kildare in 1966 as part of the Land Commission initiative (The Congested Districts Board Act). Bob recalls his own family leaving the island in 1953, while continuing to farm the land there. He then tells of his young days living on the island, his pastimes and his schooldays, which involved staying with his grandmother on the mainland in Fahamore for the winter. He remembers the thatcher who would regularly thatch the house, and his grandfather who passed on his boatbuilding skills to him.