IT'S BEM'S LIFE 1968.

PALLASKENRY.
Bem ,Del and Ger were members of the local
Youth Club,St John Bosco.
Every year the club went to a Summer Camp
to Pallaskenry in Limerick.
You could pay your money every week
until it was paid off.

Us kids were very lucky as a lot of kids
never got to go as their parents could'nt
afford it.
The Da worked in 2 jobs as money
was tight back then and there were
limited job opportunities.
He was a van driver during the day
and by night a Barman in the Clontarf
Cricket and Rugby Club.

On the Morning the club was going to
the Summer Camp ,The Ma locked Bran
in the Back Garden so he wouldn't follow us.
 We got on the Bus after saying
goodbye to the Ma and the Kids.
As we went up by the canal towards
the Naas rd , Del shouted, " Look,it's Bran ".
He followed for a good few miles till
he got tired.
We were worried he would get lost
down the countryside.

The Summer Camp was great.
All types of Sport,Storytelling,
Games , Hikes, Cinema and
much more.
2 weeks in the Summer.
(Bem went for 4 years on the trot.)


When the lads got home they were so relieved
that Bran had made his way back home.
For the 2 weeks down there the boys had
no way of knowing if he was lost as
no one had a phone back then,
Not a house phone and mobile phones were not
invented yet,