My grandfather Jimmy O Sullivan was one of if not the longest serving echo seller in Cork. He started at 7 years old and passed away doing the job he loved while collecting the papers down Echo Lane in 2001 at 78 years old.
I remember then well. I would be around the same age of not older. They were all characters and we had our favourite one's that we bought our echos from. Those were The days the chocolate crumb the banana boats and the Echo boys...
I did the same on the Dublin streets when I was 10 . I loved it for the money the danger and mitching of school to sell the Herald and Press. Church Street was my selling road .
Enjoyed every minute of this interesting documentary. Listening to those respectful, polite and unassuming boys almost reduced me to tears! Bless them!!
Reporter is very good. Her interaction with the lads was very friendly and unpatronising. Very brave and positive kids risking their safety out punting newspapers in the street. Wouldn't see it happen nowadays. Great time capsule from a different time. As the man said he was selling it at 7 yrs of age. Hope robot and his mates lived safely and had a future amongst the troubles. I'm an only child who envies all the kids with alot of brothers and sisters. Family is everything and they look after eachother. And learnt alot from being an echo boy. It was a street education. What are the songs they sing. I'd love to know the lyrics I can't make out some of it being a Scots highland lad. Thankyou for the fascinating post
I went shopping with my parents once a month in Cork all through 70s ... drove from Drimoleague. We all had that style, clothes and hair, even in school.
@@liamcronin8110 like the man in charge of giving out the papers said"it done me no harm" and I can vouch for that. I didnt sell papers but I worked on the docks at 15. Someone like you wouldnt believe me if I told you what job I was doing.
I'm sure they're still with us. Most of them would be around 57/58 now. Hardly an age where people die off frequently from natural causes. I hope anyway.
Yeah parents don't make there kids go out on the street to earn a meal anymore,, Thank god, don't mind Rose tinted glasses stuff, Abolute poverty had them on the street,
My mother would bring me into town every Saturday in the 1980s. I remember the Echo Boys well. Watching this made me think about how much the city has changed over the years. It's mad to think about all the people in Cork now that wouldn't even know what an Echo Boy was! God be with those days.
Robot in later life became the Cork terminator but not with an Austrian accent but a proper Cork accent. Instead of "I ll be back" it's "what's the craic. Bless ye robot wherever you are you remind me of an old friend from high school. He wasn't Irish but his manner. Pauses in speech and the way he presented himself not to mention he was a spitting image of an old pal. Mischievous and innocent at the same time.
Jarlath Daly, Kevin Lynch, Jimmy Mack and Finbar O'Connell. Starting at 7:27 when she starts asking about the good stands, what are the places the boys mention? The Fords? Where is that in Cork? 7:54 what place does Kevin mention? And again at 8:07?
Thank Christ for shops..😂. I remember I couldn't walk down a street in cork. With out getting the ears blowing off me by them. Still one left out side GPO in city.you could heard in Kinsale. 😂
I'm confused by John Kelleher saying that his customers 'settled up' at the end of the week ~ I thought they paid him thru the window of the car :/ Anyone here know what he meant? Thanks!!
@@michaelarnold417 Plus, do you know how long after this John Kelleher worked, or if he is still alive? He comes across as so likeable in this video.....
@@kp9952 I imagine it happened through the window of the car, as with most of the other customers. There is no space to park on Col corner, it's heavy with one way traffic in the late afternoons. I don't know what became of the man himself!
I bet they've all done alright for themselves. You'd learn more about life and business as a kid selling paper's on the streets than you ever learn in university doing gender studies
