All Take Notice! Pound Road and its People, a 52-page booklet about Castleisland’s historic ‘community within a community,’ was launched at the rescheduled Garda Eugene Leonard Memorial Family Fun event by Castleisland District Heritage.
The formalities were conducted by former town crier Mikey Conway, Pound Road’s most senior citizen, who rang his famous bell to announce the publication to a large and enthusiastic crowd while the club’s Pat Hartnett declared the book officially launched.
Desmonds Provide Launch Platform
Johnnie Roche, Chairman of Castleisland District Heritage, addressed those present and gave special thanks to the officers of Desmonds GAA Club for providing the opportunity to launch this short memoir in tribute to the last of the old town of Castleisland.
He said that records show that at its peak, Pound Road was home to about six hundred souls – a town within a town. It is also on record that Pound Road or Pound Lane as it was originally known was the best place for evicted refugees of the landlord tyranny to find shelter despite its burgeoning population.
Johnnie pointed out that the booklet covered much of what made Pound Road a unique place and was glad to have produced this little bit of its history for the coming generations – to know where we’ve come from.
Citizen of Pound Road
The best known citizen of Pound Road in Johnnie’s younger days was the town crier – a man called Micky ‘Duck’ Conway, also known as The Bellman. Johnnie recalled how Micky ‘Duck’ was an institution in Castleisland as he marched from the fountain to the Carnegie Library and back again ringing his bell and making his announcements, his opening line All Take Notice!
“This evening we have with us, and holding the same bell, his son and namesake, Mikey Conway. Without Mikey’s fantastic memory and recall of the Pound Road of his time, this booklet would not have happened,” said Johnnie.
“He can reel-off the names of every family in every house on the road. But that’s not all. About seventy years ago his father became indisposed for a while and Mikey stepped into the breach and served as the Castleisland bellman for a period.
Ireland’s Last Bellman ?
This begs the question – is Mikey Conway the last surviving Bellman in Ireland? We’ll probably never know.”
Mikey, who is in his ninety-third year, has been working with Castleisland District Heritage over the last six months to put on record his memories, and the stories passed down from his father and grandfather, of the life and times of Pound Road.
“It is fortunate that Mikey has an interest in photography also because during the 1950s and 60s, he took many photographs of the cottages in Pound Road before they were demolished in the late 1960s.
Memory and Pictorial Records
“The combination of Mikey’s memory and his pictorial record was a book waiting to happen, and Castleisland District Heritage is proud to have facilitated this remarkable snapshot of an era long gone,” said Mr. Roche
Copies of All Take Notice! – Pound Road and its People are available locally now in: Jackie Reidy’s Menswear and Newsagents; Tommy Hickey’s; The Forge; The Crown; The Treasure Chest and they can also be ordered on the website of Castleisland District Heritage.
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