..... the time she came out to fetch my brother and myself and make sure that we were indoors by curfew time. It was easy for her to find me as I was only playing in the street just outside our own door: but of my brother David there was no sign.  Mum asked me where he was, but I didn’t know.

I could see that she was annoyed about something but I didn’t know why;  after all Davy was always wandering off somewhere or other - he was probably kicking football round in one of the other streets.

I was dragged back to the house and deposited with my great-aunt who lived with us at that time.  My mother then set out again on an expedition around some of the other streets.  Up round the top of the Murphy Crescent and back down Cochran Row went my mother: on the way, she checked out Plunkett, Davis and Emmet streets in an effort to locate my missing brother but all to no avail. She had no success in finding him.  The streets were almost deserted by this time but still there was no sign of David.

When my mother returned from her fruitless search, she was very upset and at a complete loss for what to do next.   I heard mum say to her Aunt that it was well past curfew hour but that she would have to take a chance and go out again and try to find him.

Turning to me my mother asked the question,

“Who was Davy with when you last saw him?”

Thinking that mum’s rather agitated attitude was somehow aimed at me, I replied huffily that he was with Joey Devlin and that they were playing football.

“Joey Devlin! That means he’s probably down in the Barracks then. God! They are building a barricade at the gate! He’ll not be able to get out of there! You stay here with Aunt Kate.  I’ll go and get him”.

So mother set out on another journey to locate her errant son.

…….. 3 of 5 “Curfew” ………..