The Village People.

Photos of people that lived in Dunmore East over the years.

A trailer load of Dunmore’s agricultural youth, taken in the 1960’s. 

Tommy Mulally, John Dunne, John Quilty & Patsy Power as photographed in 1958.

A photo of Audrey & Margaret Rutter with Billy Power, taken in 1955, I think.

What a pleasure it must have been for Mr. Mullins to come and teach these boys every day, each one being scholarship material and impeccably behaved. The boys in the picture were named by Gerry O’Regan, with one or two corrections of my own which might be wrong. 

Left to Right - Back Row: Gerry (Ringo) Regan RIP, Ray (Small Boy) Whittle Dermot Murphy RIP.

Second row. Peter O'Neill, Neil (Dodjo) Whittle, Maurice (Cess) Glody RIP, Tony Meaher, Michael Farrell, Eddie Flynn, Leo Whittle.

Third Row, Tom Ahearn, Matt Quilty RIP, Gerard (Guss) Walsh, Paul (Boozey) Townley, Pat O'Toole, Bill Shipsey, Brian Power, Paul Power, Ian Power RIP, Johnny Quilty, Domenic Healy, Aiden (Pro) Flynn.

Fourth Row, Declan (Manalito) Flynn, Gerry Taylor, Stephen (Mull) Mullally, Sean Murphy, Peter O'Sullivan, Richard Quann, Francis (Fonsie) Ahearne. John Delahunty, John (Busty) Griffin RIP, Sean (Nick) O'Toole RIP, Pat (Slicker) Power RIP.

Front Row, Declan Power, Richard Power, Kieran (Pinchie) Flynn, Pat Flynn, Pat (Fitzie) Fitzgerald, Jackie Dunne, Michael (Mocky) Murray, Stan Power, Joe (Cully) O Toole, Eamonn (Yaw) Power, Collie Power and Bill Shipsey.

I think the ladies featured in this photo are Mrs. Glody, Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Mason, having a laugh outside of Bill's. I'm fairly sure that the photo was taken by David Campbell during one of his visits home in the 1960's.

I'd imagine this photo was probably taken in the 1940's.

This is a photo of the pupils of Bellelake School taken in 1942. My mother, Margaret Rutter (Hearne) and her brother John Hearne are in the second row from the back on the left of the picture, John is second in the row and my mother is third. My aunt Josie is in front of my mother.

Davey 'Muck' Murphy in the wheelhouse.

The young mothers of Dunmore eagerly awaiting the emergence of their sons and daughters from the classroom, I'd say the photo was taken in the early 1960's.

Musician extraordinaire, Gerry Power, performing in the Butchers Bar.

Gerry, Ann and Paddy O'Regan, relaxing in the hay during the early 1960's.

Attendees at the Board of Works dinners dance, photographed in the mid 1960's.

Nicky Flynn was a man of many talents, here he is seen planting an explosive device. I'm not sure who the other man is, or if he was ever seen again after the explosion.

A happy group queueing up outside the dispensary in Dunmore to get the small pox vaccine in 1962. This photo is taken from a newspaper cutting, so the quality is not perfect.

A tough looking gang wait patiently in hope of gaining entry to Lawlor’s Hotel. In the group are Gerry Burke, sitting on the bike and possibly a Haven barman on the window sill. Beside him from the left are Richie Fanning, Neddy Fitzgerald, Richie Power, Jimmy Cullinane, Tom Murray, Charlie Harte, and Davy O'Rourke. The photo was taken in 1956.

I don't recognise this woman, but the wall is located outside of where the dispensary is now. Crab Cottage can be seen in the background.

A photo of John Dunne doing the daily bread run for Harney's Bakery. John was around 17 when this picture was taken.

A photo taken in the 1960's outside of Eddie's house, I think.

This is Patrick Power, photographed around the time he started work on the quay. I’d say this photo was taken in Killea School around 1970. I remember being in a similar pose myself at the time; my photo came in a small red slide holder that could be attached to keys. The idea was that a parent could hold it up to the light if they’d forgotten what their child looked like.

I think getting the actual photograph cost extra, so I was forever locked into the slide viewer. Thankfully, Ned Power splashed out and bought the full package.

I’d say Paddy could have been a professional footballer if the quay hadn’t called him.

This photo is of Brendan, Maurice and Patrick Glody with Thomas McGrath. I’d say it was taken in the late 1960s, at the top of Kerry Lane—the lane going up beside Bill’s. Jet the dog can be seen in the background.

All of these boys went on to become lifeboat men, and there are people alive today who wouldn’t be, without their service. Sadly, Maurice and Thomas passed away during 2025, long before their time. Condolences to both families.

In 1971, Gilbert O’Sullivan recorded the song “Matrimony”, which became a worldwide hit the following year. It is a song people still enjoy listening to, and one that many attempt to sing. In my opinion, only two people ever truly did it justice: Gilbert himself and Joe O’Toole.

As far as I know, Joe never actually recorded the song; he always favoured the live performance—a sure sign of a true artiste. This photograph shows Joe during one of his impromptu renditions, possibly in the Candlelight. As the saying goes, there was no show like a Joe show.

This is a restored newspaper photo featuring Walter “Walkie” Power and Kathleen Dreelan, taken at a Gaultier G.A.A. dinner dance in the Tower Hotel in 1977.

Walter was quite the ladies’ man in those days. Stories have it that whenever he came into the village, women would throw personal items of clothing at him. However, Walkie wasn’t bothered by any of it and took it all in his stride. The man’s a living legend.

Here we see Thomas McGrath, Louis O’Dwyer and Brendan Glody, caught mid-moment on a night out at a Waterpark Rugby Club disco in the Haven Hotel. The photograph dates from the early 1970s and comes to us via a newspaper cutting of the time.

The Haven was the place to be back then, the beating heart of the local nightlife. On disco nights it drew crowds from far beyond the village, with people travelling miles in the hope of getting past the door. Admission was never guaranteed. The queue outside could be long, the odds uncertain, and only the coolest—and occasionally the luckiest—ever made it inside.

Once you were in, though, you were part of something. The music, the heat of the room, the sense that this was where things were happening. Nights like these became stories, retold years later with a smile and a shake of the head. 

This photo depicts a small slice of early-1970s social life, a time when the nights were still full of promise and getting in meant you’d made it.