Jean's Journal: The changes we have lived through

by Jean Farrell

The following was written about those of us who were born before 1960. “We are the last living witnesses of a world that no longer exists. We are the generation that crossed two centuries and witnessed eight decades of transformation. We’ve lived from the age of handwritten letters to the era of digital technology.”

Many of us, dear readers, belong to that generation. I’m continuing to write about some of the changes that we have lived through.

Life altered greatly in the 1960s. In the years before this, Eamon de Valera’s policy of self-sufficiency didn’t work. In the 1960s Taoiseach Seán Lemass opened Ireland up to global commerce. This attracted multinational companies, helping create local jobs and lower emigration.

As young teenagers in the 1960s, fresh from school and the nuns, huge changes took places in our lives. One that made a great difference to us was the arrival of television. RTE began broadcasting in 1961 and most families purchased their first television around that time. This showed us, for the first time ever, how the rest of the world lived.

It made a major change in our own house. As little children we spent our evenings in our living room. Every night, as soon as we finished our tea, we all knelt down and said the rosary. Upstairs, in our old three-storey house, we had a fancy big sitting-room that was only ever used at Christmas.

On the day our television arrived, (I was in 7th class) we were very surprised when our mother told the man to bring the set upstairs to the sitting-room.

From then on, the minute our tea was over, we all headed up there. That was the end of the family rosary in our house!

Instead of kneeling on lino, contemplating the agony in the garden and the scourging at the pillar, we were sitting in comfortable armchairs, with our feet on carpet, watching the small television set. We thought we had gone to Heaven.

With only one channel, in black and white, we looked at The Monkees, The Virginian and The Fugitive (fleeing police Lieutenant Philip Gerard). Such excitement! We all watched everything together, including Daithí Lacha and Wanderly Wagon, with our little brothers and sisters. Quicksilver was another favourite from that time. Remember “Stop the lights!” with Bunny Carr.

I observed the female stars, on various programmes, with great interest. I decided, that when I grew up, I didn’t want to be like snobby Peggy Nolan in Tolka Row. I definitely didn’t want a life like Maggie Riordan. Instead I wanted to be Donna Reid.

Oh, how I loved The Donna Reid Show. Do you remember this American programme? At the beginning Donna ran lightly down the stairs of a beautiful house She handed a lunch-box to her gorgeous young handsome husband. And he kissed her goodbye. Would you believe that that was the first time I ever saw a husband kiss his wife – on television or in Athlone!

Then their two teenagers appeared, dressed beautifully, and they also were handed lunch-boxes by smiling Donna. (Mind you, at that time, neither the words ‘lunch-box’ nor ‘teenager’ were in our vocabulary!)

I went to bed, not dreaming anymore about living a holy life like the Virgin Mary. Instead I dreamt of living a wonderful life like Donna Reid!

No wonder senior church figures worried that television would bring “foreign, secular values and moral decay into Irish homes. They feared the medium would erode church and parental authority. Cardinal John D'Alton warned parents to guard against television addiction and inappropriate content.”

Isn’t this exactly what’s said nowadays about social media?

The Late Late Show, began in 1962. This show, as well as Gay Byrne’s radio show, broke taboos by debating contraception, religion, and women's rights. This was wonderful, I think. Many sensitive secret issues were brought out into the open. Listeners felt they were not alone in some awful situations.

Google tells me more about how life changed in the 1960s and 70s. ‘The Vatican II Council (1962–1965) modernized the Catholic Church. High-profile visits, such as U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s visit in 1963, boosted national confidence and global connection. People were ready for change. Irish living standards rose by half, emigration stopped and the population began to grow for the first time since the famine. ‘

The population in Ireland was at its lowest ever in 1961. According to the census taken that year 2,818, 341 people lived here. I was surprised to read this because numerous babies were being born to numerous Irish mothers at that time. However, the population was so low because so many people had to emigrate to find work, sadly. The population of Ireland today is 5,525, 000.

By the early 70s major changes were happening. I began teaching in 1971. We had a new curriculum in our schools, new money in our purses and free secondary school education.

Supermarkets were opening. I think that Kilroys, in Connaught Street was the first supermarket in Athlone. I clearly remember being astonished at the concept of customers being able to pick up groceries from outside the counter, by themselves. “But wouldn’t people just steal everything?” I recall saying to my mother!

Women readers will appreciate another great ‘invention’ from that time – tights! Instead of nylons, held up by suspenders, tights were marvellous. We wore these under our gorgeous miniskirts hoping we looked like Twiggy and Mary Quant (instead of The Virgin Mary!) We listened to the Beatle’s hits on Larry Gogan’s Pop-Call. And we listened to Radio Luxembourg ‘The Station of The Stars!

jeanfarrell@live.ie