Almost a century in Arcadia

Her story is immersed in Arcadia, from the time when the current urban area was almost completely countryside, and when the town stopped at the railway bridge on Ballymahon Road. Alice Egan's own time began a long way back, over 95 years ago when she was born in Arcadia where she had continued to live since her birth year, 1917. Her life story is fascinating, and has been recounted before, almost eight years ago, in great detail, in a biography, 'Growing Up in Arcadia' - which Alice and her two sisters, May Green and Madge Roche wrote together. Sadly Madge died at Christmas 2010, but May, who is well known from the Cova shop, is still hale and hearty, and recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Alice, whose maiden name is Kilroy, had five brothers, Peter, Paddy, Johnny, Vinnie and Freddie, all of whom are now deceased. Alice was the second youngest of her family and was always known as the one who had a phenomenal memory, and who could recall the family stories. "Ask Alice and she will tell you," is what May has affectionately said over the years about her sister. The Kilroys lived on a family farm in Arcadia, close to where the Cova shop is now, and at the time of Alice's childhood in the 1920s, there was little development, just mainly green fields where the houses, the sports centre, and the bypass road is now. Their father, Peter Kilroy died of illness at age just 49 years, leaving a family of eight children. "We had two very good parents, and my mother, Alice was a really wonderful person, because when my father died, there was eight of us and youngest was four years old, and we had a cousin a priest in the west of Ireland who wanted to know where we would go, and wanted to send us somewhere," said Alice. "But my mother said, they are going nowhere, and I'll put them under the protection of the Sacred Heart, and they'll never want." The family prayed together, and stayed together, and that unity in the Kilroy clan has continued to this day, with the three sisters' families, the Egans, the Roches and the Greens living as part of the one family unit. They also remain close to their other extended family members, the children of the Kilroy brothers. Alice and the Kilroy family lived off the land on their Arcadia farm, and sowed potatoes and vegetables, fed the cattle, milked them, and provided milk to the local community. "We collected rainwater in a barrel at the side of the house, and used it for cooking and washing clothes, and it was very soft water, and we all washed our hair with it," said Alice. "It was a nice walk to collect water from a pump down in Clonbrusk, and my mother told me to take two buckets for balance, and the water was beautiful to drink." Alice still drinks a lot of water today, and is noted with having beautiful skin and looking decades younger than her 95 years. "I drink a cup of tea in the morning, and at night, and throughout the day, I drink water that I have boiled, and I don't drink anything else, neither alcohol nor minerals," she said. In the time she grew up, Alice and the family lived a very religious life. She remembers at age 15 going to the 'Adoration' in St Mary's Church, wearing a sleeveless dress but carrying a cardigan, and having to wear the cardigan in church. "You couldn't go into church in those days unless your arms were covered, but nowadays you can go in wearing your bathing suit," she said laughing. However she also says much has changed for the better in religion, and she is happy to see less fear, more openness, more freedom of expression and broadmindedness in today's world. Davy Egan has never been far from Alice's mind, since they first met in the mid-1930s. He was a member of the Athlone Athletics Club, and he was friends with Alice's brother Johnny. At the time Davy and Alice met, the Kilroys were building a new house in Arcadia, and Davy was doing athletic training near the Kilroy home. Alice was asked by her mother to show Davy the new house, and that was the start of a lifelong romance. However Alice was only 17 when they met, and they went out together for nearly a year, but her mother wasn't happy with her daughter getting serious so young and Alice decided to take her mother's advice. "I took her advice, because in those days you never questioned, and so Davy and I parted, but it wasn't to be for long, because deep in my heart Davy was always there," said Alice. "He followed me to 10am mass, and handed me a letter to read. When I came home, I quietly read the letter, and showed it to Mama and my Aunt Madge, and my aunt said, if her daughter had got such a lovely letter from a young man, she would have no hesitation in encouraging the romance." Alice remembers Davy saying in the letter, that wherever he went, or whoever he met, that she was the one, and he hoped that they could rekindle their friendship, and that is how it all began. The couple married on August 24, 1943, and the marriage was celebrated by Fr. Quinn in St. Mary's church, and they lived happily together until Davy passed away in 1991. "He was the best man a woman could ever get," said Alice, treasuring the memories of their happy life together. Davy had worked in Liptons shop in Church Street, and his mother and sisters, Bridie and Aggie had run the Egan School of Irish Dancing in Court Devenish. "Davy was restless in Liptons, and I knew he was working hard there, so I said to him, he might as well start working for himself," said Alice. "He decided whether to go into the baking or the sweet business, and decided on selling wholesale confectionery, and he did his first order in the Cova shop, which my sister May had started on the same day as Davy started his business, in November 1948." Davy and Alice borrowed the sum of £500, which was an astronomical sum in the late 1940s, from a very good friend. Davy drove a baby Ford van throughout the midlands, selling stock, and came home with the van full of stock, and stored it in one of the bedrooms of their house in Arcadia. Davy and Alice had bought the house from her brother, Peter Kilroy, who built it on the family land in the mid-1940s. The house was built on the rough terrain of the farmland in Arcadia, and Davy and Alice had no way of moving their van out to the main road, so they built their own roadway. "There was no roadway in Arcadia then, so we had to make the roadway," said Alice. Alice helped Davy in every part of the business, and her family today says that she was actually "the backbone of the business, by helping with accounts, and doing the ordering of goods, in the days when they had no telephone". "As time went by, we had lots of sellers of goods calling, and the business kept up," said Alice. The Egan wholesale business is still continuing, sixty four years since it was first founded, and is today run by Alice and Davy's son Paddy. Their eldest son, David originally ran the business with his father, until he branched out to his own business, and Davy and Paddy then continued to run the family business. Davy and Alice were also very avid golfers, and were members of the Hodson Bay Golf club, and it's a sport that their sons, David, Gerard, Paddy and daughter, Alice has also followed. "I think golf is the best game ever, and it's great to be out in the fresh air playing," she said. Their son, Gerard went on to become a professional golfer for many years. He continues to teach the sport, the love of which he gained from his parents many years ago. Today, Alice waits anxiously for golfing news from all her children, and how they did on the golf course, and is very up to date with the golfing world. Alice is still living happily, at age 95, surrounded by her family in Arcadia, and has no regrets about her life, though she does remember tough times. Every first Friday of the month, Alice enjoys a visit from her local priest, Fr. Declan Shannon, and looks forward to their chat. "I wouldn't change a thing about my life, and would do it all the same again," she said smiling.