A visitor to Mellery was obliged to arrive before eight o'clock in the evening. When you arrived, you put back your watch because they went by 'old time' then. I stayed a few days and was thrilled by the chanting of the monks of the Salve Regina at Vespers. On the return journey, I went via theVee -a valley of breathtaking beauty - and took in a wide circle of country before I arriving home again.

I then got my mind set on the idea of sleeping in all thirty-two counties. As it transpired, I managed to sleep in twenty-nine counties, missing out only on Sligo, Fermanagh and Armagh. Though I travelled these three counties extensively, I had left all three before bedtime.

I followed a threshing set for one season in the Suir Valley. The owner of the machine lived in Kilmeaden, County Waterford, but most of his harvesting work was in and around Kilmacow, in neighbouring County Kilkenny. We had to cross the bridge at Fidown, where you had to pay a one penny toll. So as to make things easier, my boss secured accommodation for me at Mrs. Walsh's in Kilmacow, while the threshing season lasted. The combine harvester was making its appearance just then, and was an early harbinger of the monumental changes that were to come to rural life and harvest time. Unfortunately, I got an attack of asthma and had to spend six days in Ardkeen Hospital (since upgraded to Waterford Regional Hospital)”.

John’s story is continued next week…

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