Stephen Sutcliffe Poet here is his work

Stephen Sutcliffe Poet here is his work

Stephen Sutcliffe Poet here is his work

I grew up in Ballyfermot a place you all know well
And because of this I have some tales to tell
One of six children from Kylemore Drive
A truly great house to be alive

Family Values were top of the list
And every night our foreheads were kissed
Money was tight that much was true
But we always found something to do

The Ring on the Drive was were we did thrive
Playing football with jumpers for posts
Was the thing that I loved the most

Playing Bull dogs charge the laughter and the noise
Innocent fun for all the girls and boys
Soon a new game began
Like pussy four corners or a game of kick the can

The Boys hung round together
And the girls did too
But some games we played together
In fact there were a few
Like a game of racing and
of course kiss chasing

Jumping in the puddles baking in the sun
Back out to play when all the chores are done
Trying to make a few bob by cutting peoples grass
Putting a few coppers in the plate at mass

Every Summer our huge treat
A week away from our little street
Off to Mosney car packed to the rafter
Probably not health and safety
When you look back after

So here’s to Ballyfermot the place
Were I did grow
And learned all the things that we Ballyer people know
A place of proper people
Who are always on your side
That’s why being from Ballyer
Fills me with pride

Spoilt rotten. ….
Do you remember the late ninetys and 2000s first decade to win just one Sam every Dub they prayed. ..Then in the year of our Lord two thousand and eleven a late point from Clucko sent us all to Heaven. .Then two years later Sam came our way again as in a tight final we outscored the Mayo men. Another two later it was Kerry in the rain and when that was over it was them who felt the pain. .the year after went for back to back and after a replay it again the DUBS having all the craic. ..2017 it was 3 in a row where despite Lee Keegans GPS Deanos free kick new just where to go. .Last Sunday Sam was offered lodgings up there in Tyrone but he didn’t want to go there as he loves Molly Malone ..So now there is talk about the Drive for five which I think was possible well not while i am Alive. .But to me those Barren years will never be forgotten even though at the moment we are Spoilt Rotten. ..
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So it’s seventy years of Ballyer a place we all adore so let’s all raise a glass to many many more.. A place where the people are decent to a fault sure I think that it’s from Ballyer where the earth it gets it salt.. A place where lifetime friends are made and deep inside my heart many memories have stayed.. Growing up in Ballyer was a joy to behold even if you ears were clipped when you were very bold.. You went to the shops for neighbours and and did any other job and you were so delighted when given two bob. The dogs on the street all lived outside and from rocky early I used to run and hide.. Things where very different and you rarely watched T. V I didn’t really like it because the remote control was me.. And every few weeks the electricity would go out and you couldn’t find the candles even though they were about… The Mackerel had to be gutted which would make me ill when the heads and tails I had to drop down to missus Gill. Now don’t worry she was not an auld bat she simply wanted them to feed her lovely cat.. So many different things that we did back in the day don’t happen anymore not even kids at play but in our hearts and minds they will never go away..

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It’s been 70 long years since Ballyfermot came about a strong community well that’s without a doubt.. The people and the place is forever in my heart but don’t ask for reasons as I don’t know where to start.. Maybe on my old road that was Kylemore Drive were I learned to laugh and play and how to survive. Or maybe in the convent were new friends were made and some memories that will never fade.. Or it might be the De La Salle were we started to grow and we learned the simple way things that all the Ballyer people know.. It could be the John’s collage although I didn’t stay for long soon moved to the Tech but both hold memories so strong.. Its could have been Quinnsworth were I got my first job and was able to hand up the parents a few Bob.. Or maybe it was one the many football teams were goals were scored and we lived our childhood dreams.. Or maybe it was Chasers were we had the odd sly pint feeling six foot tall and walking like a giant.. Or maybe Hector Grey outside the Sunday mass trying to get a bargain well the craic it was just gas.. But to be honest the place that’s stood the test is my childhood home were the memories are the best..
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Here are some more Ballyer memories inspired by the celebration in the Library last night………………… Around the corner from me was the Church in Cloverhill even now thinking of it makes start to shrill. The parish priest was Father Brown and for a holy man he sure could frown.. He would stop the mass in full flow and point somebody out and was only short of telling them to shut their bloody mouth.. The houses in Cloverhill could not have been well planned for the rest of Ballyfermot used to call it Lego land.. I just remember the graveyard when they turned it inside out the lads would The act the maggot and let a banshee shout.. In the Lawns on Saturday morning football was our joy and most of us played it from a very young boy.. Joe Kelly and Joe Flaherty made it sweet for me but sadly in the last few months I have wished both R. I.P.. I remember when a train cashed at the top of Leafanu to try and collect the goodies well there was quite a que.. A factory also burned down the dealt in pet food and with the shopping trollies half of Ballyer Qued.. I personally made a few bob going from door to door and the people would ask you when can you get more.. It was whiskers and Pedigree chum that went on the pets plate the pets didn’t know themselves for that good they never ate.. The kids today would call us all bonkers if we brought them down the. Pheno to try to collect conkers.. A simple game like marbles could keep us out all day but don’t lose all yours or the next day you can’t play.. I was reminded the other day of a game we played on a Square lined in tar and you could loose your pussy four corners if you moved to far.. Run and knock at doors hiding for the craic you just couldn’t beat a game of the auld knick knack.. What a place we lived in an what a place to grow and living all around you where people in know..
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I have just seen on a Ballyfermot page.. very soon Ballyer will be 70 years of age.. And although i don’t go back that long.. It makes me think of memories that are still very strong.. Of some of the people and places that are not there no more.. But of who or what I have memories galore… The shop around the corner was a place called seven days.. and tesco was three guys and then gu Bays.. Paris video and extra vision are long since gone.. Tim Younges
was the lawns were we had an auld sing song.. Sean Dunnes swimming pool or just simply the baths.. The wasn’t health safety or even shower mats.. Across the road was cue tips for the snooker and pool.. Or the poker machines if you want to act the fool.. Then there was a supermarket that I was told was the Elephant.. I try to remember that but I simply can’t.. I remember it being five star and of course Quinnsworth.. It was there I earned my first pay for sweeping up the dirt.. Herliys dirty aggies which became the EBS great memories of all well I have to answer Yes… Joe molloy mecca Stanley and hills too.. just some of the bookies who took your cash of you… The ESB and Winstons have long since gone away.. and plenty drank in Hardys back in the day… Abracadabra kebra and wonder burger made me fat…. Although the Lido also had a hand in that.. And of course there was Collie the man with the plan who could fit almost anything inside his little Van.. He looked after everyone be it paddy John or Mick an until Friday he would gladly give you tick… The old stew house down the glassy Lane and the white horse by the name of Dibadale.. The rent office also long since gone.. I better stop now because I keep on rattling on.. So happy Anniversary Ballyfermot through the glory and the pain hope you enjoy my trip way down memory lane….
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When we were young.. In Ballyfermot back in the day we used to go outside to play.. We didn’t need much to start a game all of which had a different name.. An old rope would fill us with hope. Skipping and jumping around like a leper getting faster all shouting pepper.. Then the one I liked the most swinging around from the lamppost.. A shoe Polish tin and a piece of chalk gave us a game. were we hopped and not walked. No wonder we were all built like Twiggy half a day spent playing piggy.. An old tin can which we gave a kick run and hide but you better be quick.. It didn’t matter if you were small. if you had two pence you could play against the wall.. A shore on the street by means fair or foul was enough for a game of moul.. With a tennis ball you could play rounders or cricket but keep it out of the garden or some auld one would nick it.. With a football there was not much you couldn’t do.. A match sides heads and volleys to name a few.. The where other games were you ran and you hid the joys of the Ballyer Kid.. We did so much to have ourselves fun the most dangerous was the peg gun.. Pigeon lofts built out the backs go carts made with nails and thumb tacks.. All of this we did for free and when the. Ice cream man came you might get 10p..And the kids today they scream and they moan if they ain’t got the latest I phone…
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In the late eighties and early nineties too it was to Chasers I headed when I got the goo.. We would meet on Sunday mornings before a Dublin game Henry Daniels Whacker Whelan Paul Quinn and others i can’t name.. We would have one or two then head to Tommy Wright’s for another few.. In the soccer season with the big match on ITV leg it to wonder burger around a quarter to three.. This was when we had a holy hour and the most famous wine was blue nun or black tower..so while we where drinking and having the craic who will ask Jim or Joe about the auld stayback.. Colepark F.C led by Tommy Doyle in through the door a heap of them would pile.. Some Oakseys and Dempsey’s where nearly always there laughing and joking with out a single care.. The first thing you would see when you walked in the door was a Horse headed fountain which isn’t there no more.. Standing at the bar was an old cute hoor well known by the name of Peter Moore.. Sometimes on a Saturday afternoon I would have a pint with Derek (Ronnie) Delaney taken way to soon.. And to all the other patrons who have long since gone in all our memories the good times linger on…
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Ballyer in the Blood……..

On the first day of school to the Dominican convent we went on new clothes the money was spent..
Up to the door brave as could be don’t start to cry said your mammy…
screaming and shouting we went through the door the very first chance we got to explore..
Looking around trying to see your best friend for eternity..
be a good boy say your prayers each night soon learnt to read and write..
After some years holy communion is made go visit the Aunts and Uncles hope to get paid..
Then Summer has ended the Dealer is here great hopes and expectations tinged with some fear…..
In the Dealer lifetime friendships begun and to this day most still run…………
outside of the school football was our thing and the winning side felt like a king..
Money was too tight to mention men on the dole or the State pension
So, money for the Gala on Sunday Afternoon was only for those with a silverspoon
The rest of us earned it ourselves by cutting the grass and washing the delf.
ask your wan will she dance with me you won’t dare bet you 20p. If she says yes up like a shot think your the bizzo felling so hot
if she says no well its time to go
drinking Cider in the lawn the start of your adult Dawn
In to town on the 79 hoping to have a really good time…no matter how the night went to be on the last bus was my intent
All of the lads on the back of the bus smoking and drinking with the minimum of fuss
Some night’s the people would sing a tune with familiar ring
the one that all The Ballyers know it starts with everywhere we go…

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Kilmainham Gaol

Today I visited Kilmainham Gaol. Opened in 1796 it tells quite a tale.. In the early years kids were locked up with the general population for stealing bread to fend of starvation.. In the early 18 hundreds the bold Robert Emmet was jailed in that place after he left the government with egg on their face.. They were not happy and an example was made not only was hanging to be his fate they also decided to decapitate…. And then during the Famine when the crop it did rot and most of the people hadn’t a lot they made it illegal to beg for a meal so to be fed a lot had to steal.. So the prison was full to the door and disease ravaged the walls and the floors.. In the 1880 s Charles Stuart Parnell in this gaol also did dwell. But unlike the rest who taught it was hell his conditions were really quite swell.. But in this place he signed a treaty which with the land league did not go down sweetly.. And from him not much more did you hear as it signaled the end of his political career.. And after the rising of 1916 when the system in place again it did fail all of our leaders were held in this gaol..14 MEN with blood of White Orange and Green entered this place and were treated obscene.. By firing squad they all faced their death but wrote moving letters before their last breath.. Some to mothers and some to the wife telling their children to make the most of life.. All very proud of the men that they met.. Not a single letter was filled with regret… One nice story of them times is Joseph and Graces wedding chimes.. Whether it was right or wrong it will always be remembered in a beautiful song.. And after the treaty and during the civil war a lot more prisoners entered the door.. And yet the killings didn’t abate as four more were killed by the Irish free state.. But soon there would be no more as in 1924. It closed it’s last Door……..
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Hero’s of 16.

A hundred years have past since you gave up the fight in the struggle for freedom which we know was your right. So thanks very much for the seven brave men who started our Republic when they signed with a pen. The. PROCLAMATION OF IRELAND to bring foreign rule to an end. There was Plunkett and Peirce whose beliefs were so fierce. Mcdonah. Mcdermot. Clarke. Connoly and Ceannt who on freedom for Ireland their lives were hell bent. And to all the volunteers who stood by their side you started a phrase we call IRISH PRIDE. BUT SADLY later a lot of you died. And when the seven were captured and brought to the gaol the system in place again it did fail. Our hero’s life did end in that place to British Governments eternal disgrace.
SO COME EASTER MONDAY OF 2016 BE ON THE STREET AND MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SEEN. SO LET’S HONOUR THESE MEN AND FILL THEM WITH PRIDE FOR THE FOUNDATION OF IRELAND EACH ONE OF THEM DIED
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Euro 88

WITH THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP ABOUT TO START THIS ONE IS ABOUT OUR FIRST ONE …………… THE FIRST ONE WAS GERMANY IN THE YEAR 1988 AND ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THE ATMOSPHERE WAS GREAT FIRST UP WAS ENGLAND OUR OLDEST FOE BUT BIG JACK SAID WE WOULD GIVE A GO.. AND AFTER A FEW MINUTES WE HAD THE BALL IN THE NET AND POOR BOBBY ROBSON HE STARTED TO FRET. BUT SOON THE ENGLISH BUILT UP A HEAD OF STEAM BUT COULD NOT GET PAST PACKIE THE CREAM OF THE CREAM…. AND WHEN IT WAS OVER THE ENGLISH WERE FILED AND THE WHOLE OF THE COUNTRY WENT BLOODY WILD……………. NEXT UP WAS RUSSIA WHO HAD JUST BEAT THE DUTCH YET FOR 70 ODD MINUTES THEY HAD HARDLY A TOUCH. WHEN RONNIE RATTLED THEIR ONION BAG THE IRISH TEAM PLAYED WITH A BIT OF A SWAG.. BUT ALAS IT WAS NOT TO BE AND WITH A RARE CHANCE THEY SCORED PAST PACKIE…..
. NEXT UP WAS HOLLAND WITH VAN BASTEN AND CO AND WITH A DRAW TO THE SEMIS WE WOULD GO.. IN THE FIRST HALF MCGRATH HIT THE FRAME OF THE GOAL AS THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE STARTED TO TAKE A LOOK IT’S TOAL. AND LATE IN THE GAME THE DUTCH THEY BROKE THROUGH AND THE HEART OF A NATION WAS BROKEN IN TWO..
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