Cabbage Street: Memories of a Lifetime in Mullingar

When a much-loved Mullingar man, the late Jimmy Muldarry of Patrick Street, died twenty or so years ago, after twice attempting without success to have his remarkable homespun memories of earlier times in the town published, he would hardly have realised that it would take a further two decades before his fellow Cabbage Street native, Tony Lyons, would attempt to fulfil his wishes, Tony has translated, not without great effort, Jimmy’s unedited recollections of bygone days in the town and of the people he knew, into a very attractive and readable Mullingar book. Generously illustrated with local photos, some from more than a century ago, others of more recent vintage, all of them will delight a great many local families, especially relatives of those whose photos appear. Jimmy’s many personal insights and opinions are equally a delight, in what is a unique new contribution to Mullingar’s social history of the forties, fifties and after – recorded in Jimmy’s colloquial language. It is a delightful read, and no established family from the town or the surrounding villages should be without this absorbing recollection of times past.