An Interview with Mrs. Anne Love

    “Anne Loves ” husband, John, used to leave the house at half past six or seven o' clock in the morning and would  be due home at four o'clock in the afternoon. However, he was hardly ever home before  12 ‘o clock at night as he would have to stay on to sort out problems. 

Anne and John would often be asleep when there would be a knock on the door looking for John to come back to the pit if something was wrong. When John would come home his clothes would be full of "culm" and Anne would have to beat the clothes with a stick to get the "culm" out of them.

     The day Teresa Love was born, John got his fingers crushed in the pit and was sent to Kilkenny Hospital. Anne was always afraid when John would not come home until late. One day Anne and her friend went to the mine, to see what it was like, but there was no one there to show them around. Anything they touched was black. They came home as black as the miners. The money was very scarce, they could only buy what was needed and nothing more.

     One day John left for work. He was not back at 12 o'clock or by  the next morning when the children went to school. He eventually came home, ate his breakfast and went to bed. Shortly after  there was a knock on the door. It was someone looking for John. Anne said he had just gone to bed and she was  not getting him up! "what do you want"? He said Captain Wandesforde would like to speak with him. What does he want she asked ? He wants to say "thank you" to John for working all night, only for him the mine would be flooded. It was indeed very unusual to have the "Captain" call out to your house.