LAWLER'S SHOP

Turning into the fifties Jack and Judy Lawler had a thriving little sweet and grocery shop beside the Catholic Church where Londis Supermarket is now located. At the time the Lawlers had an infant son called Greg. My first remembered encounter with Jack occurred on St. Patrick's Day 1950 when my father treated us his children to our first ice cream of the year. Two penny ice creams were ordered but four penny ones were served at no extra charge and Jack became our friend for life.

Lawler's was a cosy intimate place and a meeting point for the locals. The leading lights of the Gaelic football and handball clubs were among the regular visitors. When an athletic club was re-established in 1958 Jack allowed the club the use of the Forty Acres for their events. The various clubs were kindly allowed to advertise their functions and events in Lawler's shop window.

Judy was a shrewd business woman with her feet firmly fixed on the ground. Jack was affable, good hearted and a dreamer of dreams. He was also a good man to tell a story. Together Jack and Judy made a successful team. The Lawler family was completed with the arrival of John.

Jack also farmed the Forty Acres or Big Field as it was sometimes called. Martin Brien, Paddy Mooney and Jim "Bumps" Winder are three people I recall who helped Jack with his farming. Jack was one of the first in the area to use silage and when the silage pit was built the occasion was celebrated with a dance in the new pit.

For regular visitors to Lawler's the kitchen often became an extension of the shop. Despite this the Lawlers themselves were able to continue the ordinary business of living - cooking, eating, raising their children, attending to their customers and organising their farming chores. In between times they kept their visitors in chat or if there was a crisis the visitors entertained themselves until the crisis was over.

Occupants of the wooden armchair in the corner of the kitchen beside the open fire included Bernard Purcell complete with moustache, pipe, hat, top coat and walking stick, Martin Murphy Senior of Dowdenstown, Frank Driver and Mick Deering. People possessing strong but opposing political views sometimes met in the shop and when they did we could be treated to an exchange of their views. I have no recollection of either side ever converting the other side to their own way of thinking. For the duration of the filming of " Shake Hands With The Devil " Lawler's Shop was transformed into a thatched Pub and for the purposes of the film became " O'Donovan's Pub ".

With the passing years Judy's health began to fail and Nan Hennessy came in to help with the housework. Later on Tess Reilly and Eleanor Dunworth helped out with the shop. The shop remained open as long as there were people around and if you forgot to get some messages the chances were that you could still get them in Lawler's no matter how late it might be. As a result we could be met some mornings by a half asleep member of the Lawler family.

In the harsh Winter of '62/63 when my brother Paddy was seriously ill the pipes bringing water to our home froze. We needed our Aga cooker for cooking, hot water and to heat the downstairs of our home but without water we would have to let the cooker out. In such severe weather this would be a disaster. Learning of our dilemma Jack without a moment's hesitation came to our rescue bringing us large barrels of water each day for as long as our problem continued.

In 1963 Greg at 14 years of age with the active encouragement and support of Judy became the youngest player to win an All-Ireland minor title when in partnership with Tom Geoghegan they won the hardball doubles title impressively. Greg went on to become one of our greatest hardball players winning in the process six further All-Ireland medals - three more minor medals one singles in 1967 two doubles partnered by Anthony Campbell in1965 and Cecil Winder in 1967, one junior doubles partnered by Robin Winder in 1967 and two senior doubles partnered by Billy Doran in 1969 and Cecil Winder in 1977.

In time a petrol pump was installed at Lawler's and later on the shop was extended taking in the whole of the existing house with a new house being built alongside the extended shop. Unfortunately Judy did not live long to enjoy her new home and its comforts. On the 15th December 1970 Judy died. With Judy's passing our community lost one brave lady who had bounced back from death's door on several occasions thanks to an indomitable will to live.

Following the sale of the shop and house to Paul Fleming the Lawlers went to live in the house on Larry Gahan's farm which Jack bought when it came on the market. That was in the seventies and unique though Lawler's Shop was it is now but a fading memory. To-day Jack is an active 80 + years old and in recent years could be seen on shopping trips to the village in the company of his daughter-in-law Marian and his grandchildren.

Matt Purcell (!997)