Rossiter, Nicholas Joseph (Nicky)

Date of Birth: 27th February 1951

Place of Birth: Wexford Hospital

Date Interviewed: 29th November 2008

Summary: Nicky Rossiter has written extensively in his books about growing up in the Bishopswater area of Wexford town. One of his earliest memories is of going to the Abbey Cinema in Georges Street to see “Korky the Kat”. The rough area across the road from Bishopswater called The Knock was the local playground for Nicky and his friends – but was also a scrap metal dump for Pierces Foundry. That scrap metal held hidden dangers and Nicky has the scar to prove it. He describes some of the popular street games of that time such as tig, taws, scotch and jack stones. Moving on to his teenage years Nicky describes how a typical Saturday afternoon would be spent in White’s Hotel Coffee Bar or Nolans or O’Tooles ( depending on which social set you belonged to ) followed by chips and sausages from Fortes and then maybe on to one of Wexford’s three cinemas. Over the years he has highlighted the need for a more pro-active approach to preserving more of Wexford’s historical features.