Denis Hayes (part 1)

Track 1: Denis was born in 1915 in Glandore, west Cork. He discusses the maternal side of his family, the O’Sullivans, who had a public house in the village, which also sold hardware and groceries. His father was a naval officer in the First World War. He describes his days in the National School for Industry, in Leap. Track 2: A discussion on the Ascendancy families in the area, and the relationship between Protestants and Catholics in the area. Track 3: Anecdotal stories about the Black and Tans, the fishing, farming and mining families in the locality. Track 4: In 1936, joining the Forestry Service, after his short teaching career in Dunmanway. Track 5: The different locations he was transferred to during the Emergency period. Track 6: Recalling the family-run sawmills in the midlands, the cutting and carting of large trees from the estates of landed gentry and the planting of fire trees in the 1950s. He recalls a meeting in Shannonbridge held by the Land Commission, attended by Oliver Flanagan. Finally, he discusses his memories of the Eucharistic Congress in 1932, and de Valera’s visit to West Cork.