Billy McMullan, Fort Camden
Dublin Core
Title
Billy McMullan, Fort Camden
Description
Extracts from my first encounter with Billy:
"The Car Park to the School House - that's the GAA Hall now - used to be called the Camp Field. The Navvies who helped build the Fort could move 20 tonnes of earth a day! They worked hard and lived hard. They lived here in this field under big canvas tents & that's how it got it's name.
Looking at this entrance to the fort - it's not the original entrance - on your right you see a slope, I wondered what the slope was for? It's where the navvies wheeled their barrows when they were digging out the moat.
The first few windows were the Wash House, the next few windows the Cook House - there was an Adams Cooker in here - the next few windows the Dining Hall and then those were the Billets where they slept.
Gerry McKrawn would hand out the Crockery and Bedding. The Wash House had beautiful taps.
Straight ahead there was a wooden stairs to the lower window. From the top of the Guard Room to the doorway - it was wooden.
On the left, this is a Rubble bank, created from some of what was dug out of the bank by the navvies. It's mainly stone with just a little earth." Each Navvy was in charge of 1 horse and cart moving a tonne of earth and stone at a time, by 20 times back and forth."
"The Car Park to the School House - that's the GAA Hall now - used to be called the Camp Field. The Navvies who helped build the Fort could move 20 tonnes of earth a day! They worked hard and lived hard. They lived here in this field under big canvas tents & that's how it got it's name.
Looking at this entrance to the fort - it's not the original entrance - on your right you see a slope, I wondered what the slope was for? It's where the navvies wheeled their barrows when they were digging out the moat.
The first few windows were the Wash House, the next few windows the Cook House - there was an Adams Cooker in here - the next few windows the Dining Hall and then those were the Billets where they slept.
Gerry McKrawn would hand out the Crockery and Bedding. The Wash House had beautiful taps.
Straight ahead there was a wooden stairs to the lower window. From the top of the Guard Room to the doorway - it was wooden.
On the left, this is a Rubble bank, created from some of what was dug out of the bank by the navvies. It's mainly stone with just a little earth." Each Navvy was in charge of 1 horse and cart moving a tonne of earth and stone at a time, by 20 times back and forth."
Date
1860 - 1900
Contributor
Billy McMullan
Type
Audio, paper
Identifier
CFM.10.124
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Norma O'Connor
Interviewee
Billy McMullan
Collection
Citation
“Billy McMullan, Fort Camden,” The Camden Fort Meagher Archive, accessed September 19, 2024, https://normaoconnor.com/cms/items/show/358.