“This is the earliest photograph of my father (Thomas Downes), sitting on the crossbar of his father’s (Edward Downes) push bike on O’Connell Bridge. My grandfather, Edward, was born a twin in 1901. My father, Thomas, was born in June 1938 and he was also a twin, but sadly his twin died at birth. In the photograph, my father is about three years old. They were on their way to the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook to see my grandfather’s twin brother, who had Parkinson’s disease. My grandfather never went anywhere without his pipe. He was the head porter in Allied Irish Bank in Dame Street, formerly the Munster & Leinster Bank. My father went on to become a porter for the same bank.”
(1942)
Submitted by Alan Downes