Date of Birth: 1st January 1926

Place of Birth: Arcandrisk, Barntown

Date Interviewed: 15th November 2010

Summary: Bernadette Curtis grew up in the Arcandrisk area of Barntown, not far from Wexford town. She has vivid memories of Arcandrisk House, owned by Lady Dean-Morgan, and describes the old woodland and rhododendrons where she and her friends played and collected flowers. She would join her mother in a pony and trap on her weekly trips to the market in Wexford’s Bull Ring to sell butter and eggs. Bernadette got an ice cream as a treat on these trips. Barntown school was tough and the children were slapped regularly. The boys would wrap horsehair around their hands which helped break the teacher’s cane! Arcandrisk has a holy well noted for curing sight problems. Bernadette was a blood donor for many years and a volunteer with the Meals On Wheels service for fourteen years.