The Post Man
“The Post Man”
Post men hardly ever bring bad news to children. Instead of "light" bills and "phone" bills and every other kind of bills, they usually only bring birthday cards and things like that. So, you can understand why we were very fond of Ned Walsh.
In rural Ireland, back in the sixties many older people were, described as being "sore" and they would rarely speak to children as equals. Ned was different, he always seemed to be in good humour and he was never in a hurry, despite having to deliver mail around the county on a bicycle.
He could often be seen letting cattle across the road for Kate Martin or shepherding a clutch of ducks to the river for Sonny Reilly. He had the same word for everyone - "WEATHER".
Ned came up the Prizon road at about the same time that we would get out of school. We would always scan the top of Hunt's Hill (like watching for tae in the bog) hoping he would come into view, because every now and then Ned carried "GOLD". This gold came in the form of several rolls of comic books from England. In this day of instant replays and mobile phones it is hard to imagine the excitement we felt in getting a few comics, but still I remember it clearly.
It often took us hours to get home because we wouldn't pass Brian Glynn's gate, without reading every last one. Weren't they gentler days too, when our parents did not have to worry about our being late.
I don't know if our Aunt Bridie knew what these
times meant to us, but almost forty years on I have very fond memories of Oggy Doggy and Doggy Daddy.