Date of Birth: 7th February 1937

Place of Birth: Wexford Hospital

Date Interviewed: 2nd December 2008

Summary: Brian Murphy describes life in Castlebridge in his early years and how his generation was the last to go barefoot all summer. Brian has a photograph of himself, aged about six, sitting in the front of a small boat with his father drawing turf out of The Cut at Castlebridge. He recalls his father making a “wind-charger” in 1943 which provided electric power for their house ten years before the ESB’s rural electrification scheme came to the area. Nunns malt stores was the largest employer in the village at the time and Brian remembers cleaning the dust out of the stores when he was sixteen – he describes the processes involved in the processing of the grain. Brian has been involved in handball for many years and he tells how the Castlebridge handball alley was built in 1929 for the sum of £21 using sand drawn from Kaat Strand. Over the years the alley became neglected but it was restored some years ago and a roof was installed. The sport is now very popular and, according to Brian, underage handball is particularly strong. Brian also talks about the local soccer club, Bridge Rovers, and recalls an incident which involved the club taking a case to the High Court.