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‘Clontarf Baths was a great place to swim as a young teenager’

Family Fortunes: On one occasion, my sister’s friend lost her two front teeth there

My sister’s friend Rosalie on her scooter

Áilín Doyle
Fri Jul 20 2018 - 06:00

News of the opening of the Clontarf swimming pool in Dublin brought back many memories. As a young teenager when the tide was out and we couldn’t swim off the Bull Wall, my sister Neasa, her friend Rosalie and I often went swimming in what we then called the Clontarf Baths.

Unlike some of my sister’s friends, Rosalie did not mind the kid sister tagging along. It was a good place to swim, it was like a huge swimming pool but the water was salt water.

There were rows of wooden changing huts which were a big plus for us teenagers. Boys went in through one entrance and girls through the other and met up in the water.

On one occasion Rosalie lost her two front teeth which were on a denture, necessitated by a fall some years previously. She was distraught. She was a lovely looking girl and although not vain she knew the absence of the teeth changed her appearance.

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No luck

My sister and I joined her in looking for the teeth. It was difficult because the pool was deep and the water was, as usual, pretty choppy. We had no luck. We returned the following day but again the search proved fruitless.

Rosalie confined herself to the house until she got a replacement denture and when friends called to see her, her mother was under strict instructions to say that Rosalie was sick and could not be visited because she might have something infectious. German measles were around at the time. There were many callers. She was always in demand with both the guys and the girls because she was a lively girl whom it was fun to be with.

The enclosed photo is of Rosalie on her scooter which she bought a few years later. She replaced this with a Heinkel bubble car the following year and she and my sister travelled all over Ireland to fleadhanna.

Life moved on and Rosalie and my sister eventually settled in America. Rosalie had studied chemistry in UCD and got a scholarship to work there in cancer research. Through my sister I remained in touch but sadly both are now dead so I won’t be visiting the Clontarf pool, it would be too sad. I hope, however, that the present generation get as much fun from the new pool as my generation did.