Collecting Sardines at George's Quay, Cork (1950s)
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| Both well dressed! Illustration AI generated. |
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| No sardines today (July 2025) |
Recently, while walking back from lunch at Izz Café, with our Basbouseh dessert safely boxed, we paused at the quay wall just opposite. Here, the steps that run down to the water revived memories for CL. Back in the 50s, she would be sent down from a nearby street on a special errand. At a specific time, a small boat would pull in, its floor covered in sardines. She paid a few pence, maybe a "tanner" (6 pence). The man wrapped the tasty little fishes in newspaper, and she made her way home to her Nana (a sardine lover, "bones and all").
