Maisie Williams (b. 1926)

Maisie Williams (née Mahon) lives in an old gamekeeper’s lodge, high in the Dublin mountains, surrounded by forestry. She recalls six generations of her paternal family, who lived in her present house since the 1860s. Maisie’s parents spent their working lives sheep farming on the mountains. Maisie recalls the shearing, the meitheal, the long and hard working hours. In the 1940s the IRA maintained a training camp in the area and on one occasion they came to the rescue of Maisie’s father, who desperately needed help to save the hay. In 1949 Maisie married the late James Williams, who spent most of his working life driving a sand lorry for Bob Butler. James, Maisie’s son, now runs the farm and he has reintroduced sheep farming on the land.