Date of Birth: 13th September 1931

Place of Birth: 2 South Main Street, Wexford

Date Interviewed: 26th November 2009

Summary: John Sinnott’s parents owned a provisions store on Wexford’s Main Street selling salted meats, American bacon and pigs’ heads and trotters. His father died when John was six and when his mother died in 1946 his sister Eileen went to live with an aunt in George’s Street and John went to his uncle Peter Kehoe, who owned a bar and shop in Enniscorthy. John learned the trade from and his uncle and also worked in Buttle’s factory for a while. On returning to Wexford John got a job in Walker’s store on North Main Street and served his time as a “brown coat boy”. He describes the range of goods, imported directly from all over the world, on offer in the store. Whiskeys and wines arrived in huge casks and were bottled on the premises, teas were blended and the aroma of strong coffee filled the shop and street outside.