.ohn Walsh, my grandfather, was born in 1915 on Stafford
Street in Dublin’s north inner city, to Julia Ann (McCann)
and William Walsh. He was the oldest of nine children, eight
of whom survived to adulthood; his sister Angela died at the
He was among good company as 44 Stafford Street was the
birthplace and home of Theobald Wolfe Tone, the leading Irish
republican and one of the founders of the United Irishmen, and
after whom the street was renamed after Irish independence.
By 1920, the family had moved to Ushers Quay, an area on
Dublin’s south quays near the Guinness brewery. Perhaps this
move was due to a change in the living conditions in Stafford
Street or because of their growing family.
By 1921, Civil War had broken out in Ireland. My granddad
used to tell me stories about having to walk behind barricades
as a young boy, just beyond the Four Courts on the north quays.