Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 5:00pm

Athlone's own memory man

There are not many Athlone residents who can recite, with fantastic recall, local history going back nine decades from a first-person perspective.

Peter Berry, who is originally from Percy Cottages on Magazine Road, talks passionately about the many events he witnessed and knew about, but where his achievements are concerned he talks modestly.

Peter was born in 1921, in the final days of British rule in Athlone, on a street which was mostly occupied by railway families, and where many families kept lodgers, who came to the area.

"There was a great community spirit in that area when one was in trouble and everyone helped each other, and there was a great love of sport among the children," said Peter.

"In The Batteries, we had the finest playground in the country, and it was ideal for all the usual pastimes and all the games such as hurling, cricket and soccer."

Peter was a child during the days when comics and cowboy books fed every young boy's imagination, and going to one of the town's three cinemas was a treat to be looked forward to, because there was no television.

"We played with taws and marbles, and last year's conkers retrieved from their hiding places, and also new ones from the nearby Rectory grounds on Magazine Road," said Peter.

"Much time was spent climbing the various trees in the locality and it was a source of immense pride and rivalry to see which of us would climb the tallest and most difficult tree and carve our initials onto the most inaccessible point to prove we were there and had our name and date recorded."

Peter spent many hours lashing a spinning top on the tarred road outside his house, and played handball against the back wall of Custume Barracks.

His memories are peppered with anecdotes and tales that paint a picture of life in Athlone at the time.

"In the mid-1930s, an aeroplane got into difficulty one time over Athlone, and landed on the Leinster side of the River Shannon opposite the callows in Coosan and many children chased the plane until it landed," said Peter. "There was a lot of political unrest in the country at the time, and there was big meetings held in the Market Square. Huge crowds would gather, and there would regularly be arguments and fights afterwards."

After Peter left the Marist Secondary school he went to work in Gentex where he played on their soccer team, when the well-known Dan Gallagher was in charge.

He had earlier played with a minor local team called Bohemians, which was managed by Johnny Finan from St Francis Terrace. Bohemians won a trophy one year, by beating a team managed by the Athlone soccer stalwart Peter Molloy.

Peter was working early in Gentex one morning at 6.30am, in November 1940, when he heard that the Woollen Mills had burned down during the night. "It changed Athlone, and more than 400 people were thrown out of work," said Peter. "It was a terrible tragedy for the town, and were it not for the Defence Forces the town would probably have been destroyed."

In 1942, Peter, went to work at Athlone railway station for the Great Southern Railway Company, and remained there for almost 45 years, with the last twelve of those in a supervisory capacity.

"I was secretary of a trade union which I enjoyed very much, but it was a difficult time, due to redundancies from the changeover from steam to diesel-electric, and from loose coupled wagons to liner trains and the dispensing of signal cabins for electronic signalling," said Peter.

He was involved with the social committee of the railway company when they organised a junior soccer team which was managed by Joe Mooney, in 1948, which Peter played half-back on, and they had a great success in winning the Beamish Cup and the Town Cup. Peter also played with Battery Rovers, and won the Reilly Cup by beating the army in a final. In later years, he played in over 40s leagues with McFadden's pub, and was the recipient of a trophy in 1968. He was also part of the railway's Tops of the Town stage team, which competed for many years throughout the 60s and 70s.

"At one stage I was a boiler washer on the railway, something I didn't enjoy, and worked in the locomotive department for many years, and at one time was a guard on the breakdown train," said Peter. "In that job, you jumped when you got the call and proceeded to the break-down, and remained on duty until the line was cleared."

In the early 1970's, Peter was a shunter, which was a difficult job and required great care and diligence, but one in which he found interesting. After three years, liner trains were introduced and Peter was appointed a senior depot worker.

In 1966, Peter was present for the inaugural meeting of Athlone Credit Union, which was arranged by the Chamber of Commerce and chaired by the late Andrew O'Connor. Peter has been an active member of the credit union since then, and has held many voluntary positions over the more than 40 years there. The first premises of the credit union was over Foy's Shop in Church Street, and the premises was owned by the Workers Union of Ireland.

"I was branch secretary of the National Association of Transport Employees in 1970, and remained there until 1986," he said. "During my time as an officer of the union, worker participation was introduced and worker directors were elected to the board of CIE."

When Peter retired from his job, he was asked by St Peter's parish priest, Canon Patrick Murray to act as sacristan for a short period but he remained at the job for ten years.

"I was involved in many diverse duties in the church such as collecting the weekly dues and delivering envelopes to houses. It was part of my duty to order breads and wine and candles and many other things that were required from time to time such as finger towels and alter linen which had to be washed and ironed and pressed regularly," he said. Peter also served as correspondent for the diocesan magazine, 'The Angelus' for many years.

When he retired from the sacristan job, he was presented with the 'Beni Merenti' medal at a function in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel. The medal was an honour given by Pope John Paul 11 for services rendered in the church.

Peter is a very active member of the Athlone Active Retirement Group, and also of the Castle Writers Group.

"The retirement group was established by the St Peter's pastoral council and participates in the Bealtaine Festival every year," he said. "At one stage we had sixty members and won many prizes for drama, creative writing, arts and crafts."

In 2001, Peter was involved in a railway commemoration committee which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the coming of the railway to Athlone in 1851.

"We produced a historical booklet, and I wrote a history of my time in the railway in it," said Peter.

Peter is the last surviving member of the Berry family, of which there was twelve siblings.

He and his native Athlone wife, Agnes, who was a member of the Lynch family from St Kieran's Terrace, live happily in the town of their births.

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