Eileen Collins and Mary Sheehan

Track 1: Growing up in North Mall, Cork, in the 1920s and 1930s, and Eileen’s family’s background in the drapery business. Moving to Mount Pleasant. Track 2: Mary Sheehan traces her family and mentions her father, who worked in Queen’s Old Castle draper’s shop. Track 3: The burning of Cork City, and a story about it handed down by Mary’s mother who also worked in Queen’s Old Castle. Track 4: Eileen’s account of her years as an apprentice from 1941 in the drapery trade, working in T. Lyons and Co. In Patrick Street and later moving to the Munster Arcade and then to Queen’s Old Castle. Track 5: Mary’s appointment to the County Council in Mallow. And her involvement in window-dressing. Track 6: Eileen recalls opening her knitwear shop, which she bought from the Pearses. One of her staff members was Michael Twomey’s sister, who inspired her interest in the Opera House performances.