Christy McCarthy (b. 1925), former lecturer In Motor Car Engineering

Christy McCarthy was born and reared in Clashanure, Ovens. In this recording he speaks at great length about his memories and stories relating to his father’s involvement in steam threshing for the local farmers. Christy explains how difficult times were in the 1930s. He describes the workings of the internal combustion engine and explains how his great interest in motor-car engineering was engendered at a very early stage in his life. He recalls his time as a student in the Crawford, from 1944 and in 1946 he began work as a welder at the Ford Marina Plant in Cork, remaining there until 1949. He studied at teachers’ training college at Ringsend in Dublin from 1949 to 1951 and began work at the Crawford in 1952 when David Daly was CEO and Teddy Murphy the School Principal. He worked under Paddy McCarthy at the Motor Engineering Department. This recording concluded with Christy McCarthy’s memories of the relocation of his department to Bishopstown in 1974, and the changes and developments in motor engineering over the following years.