Longford and Castlebar, a before and after
Longford, a crossroads, a place I go through or around on the way home with Luigi’s Takeaway, St. Mel’s Cathedral burned down, a street with boarded up houses, “we have an Aldi and a Lidl you know”.
Car dealerships, travellers, shopping outlets, the best double quarter and cheese I’ve ever got in McDonald’s.
A nightmare at rush hour, to know the back roads is a help, which way is quicker though?
A place in which I’ve wanted to get from one side to the other asap.
But to stop and see... is it alive on a Saturday in October?
Well, it most certainly is alive. But alive in the right way?
A compact place, with a sense of pride in one way but an unwillingness to show it in another. Much revolving around the central main street on a Saturday afternoon. The walk by the river is an almost welcome relief to just get away from it all. The street with the forgotten architecture and military barracks is just a stone’s throw.
The dormant shopping centre with the eerie vacant shell and non functioning escalators is just out of reach, lying idol, waiting for a time (when maybe in five years) it’s doors will open out from beneath the tower.
A series of forgotten alleyways and cars coming in from the hinterland for the weekly show.
The spire of St. Mel’s is seen from every angle, but you can’t go too close to inspect the damage; it’s a sore topic, I’m told.
The crowd seems to gather around the shops at 4, better make an exit.
Castlebar, my hometown, a place I seem to know so well, but do I really?
A place of so many memories over time. From playing ‘tip the can’ on the street on a summer’s evening, walking to school and home for lunch every day, marching around the town in the band on St. Patrick’s Day, secretly dreaming of what I could do if I got my hands on the plans.
A place where a lot of people know my name, a friendly place I like to go home to, but would rarely spend a good deal of time.
Still quite small minded, a simpler life, but still a great pride.
Can it live up to the buzz of Longford on a Saturday afternoon?
It does and obviously predjudicedly, it does better.
I never knew how beautiful and unusual some spaces were if you just dart down an alley. Maybe seeing things threw a camera lens makes you see things differently. Google Maps doesn’t help, you see nothing.
Vistas and views and looks of bewilderment. It must be the camera. Take my photo please!
But I’ve never noticed the river in the same light. It’s clean and reflective and takes a great photo, what a difference the sun makes. Seeing places and things I never usually see from my doorstep.
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