21 things you’ll remember if you lived in Ballymun

Growing up in Ballymun was a unique experience. OK, it had its problems but few places had a community spirit to match the ‘Mun. Here are a few things you might remember if you ever lived in Ballymun.

1. Hoofing up flights of stairs with your ma’s messages when the lifts were broken.

2. Saying ‘go ahead’ to the driver when paying your fare on the 36 bus into town.

3. Swapping butter vouchers for groceries or cigarettes in the local van shop.

4. The nauseating smell in the stairwells.

5. Hiding your coloured armband when swimming in the baths beside the shopping centre to get a few extra minutes in the water.

6. Doing the weekly shop in Crazy Prices.

7. Going into the ‘Corpo’ rent offices in Jervis Street to pay off the arrears.

8. The central heating that made the flats feel like a sauna in winter and an igloo in summer.

The Towers Ballymun 1971- All very pristine. https://t.co/Rd5NqTA6Yx – for #Killester history (& other bits too!) pic.twitter.com/3IV3jwPRbm

— Killester History (@KillesterTweet) October 14, 2015

9. Your local youth club was in the basement of the flats, had no windows, metal doors and more locks than Mountjoy.

10. Buying loose cigarettes from the van furthest away from your gaf so they wouldn’t tell your ma.

11. Nipping around the back of the Comp for a smoke during the morning break at school.

12. Dancing the night away at ‘Buddies’ disco in Our Lady of Victories.

13. Feeling sophisticated at the short-lived disco bar in The Penthouse.

14. Using the hill on the main road as the world’s most dangerous slide when it snowed.

15. Buying carpets by the yard from Big Tom opposite the baths.

16. Grabbling onto the bumpers of cars and vans for a speedy slide when the roads were snow covered.

17. Spending your pocket money on bags of sweets in Jon’s or Miss Mary’s.

18. Going through the bin sheds after throwing something down the rubbish chute by mistake.

19. Tying ropes around the lampposts to make a swing.

20. Feeling nervous if you had to walk through the roundabout underpass at night. 

21. Watching the airplanes fly over from your balcony at night – and dreaming of being on one of them.