School Days & Growing Up in Drumcree

In the second part of this Memory Meitheals feature, the conversation moves from mill life to school days and the everyday adventures of growing up in the Drumcree and Glebe area. Florrie Moynihan (née Rowley), Mel Rowley and Gerry Reilly recall the teachers, classrooms, neighbours and small excitements that shaped childhood in rural Leitrim.

Stories of friendship, local characters and family life sit alongside Florrie’s reflections on leaving home for Dublin, offering a gentle contrast between past and present — between the grounded, close-knit world of Drumcree and the bustling city she has lived in since the 1960s.

Together, these memories paint a vivid, affectionate portrait of community life, preserving voices and stories that might otherwise be lost.