‘You can either lie down or go on’

History Hugh O’Brien pens new book on his hometown

By Gemma Good

Hugh O’Brien is fumbling around for something.

“Where is the tape recorder? Is there one up there on that shelf?”

I got up and looked on the shelf, which was bursting with books, posters, sketches and photographs. Seeing nothing like what I imagined a tape recorder to look like, I am forced to reveal that I have never seen a tape recorder before.

This sparks a boom of laughter from the Cootehill writer.

“Well God knows when I think of that,” begins Hugh, a look of disbelief on his face.

“When I think of that, that you haven’t a clue as to what a tape recorder looks like,” he said, barely able to finish the sentence.

“Lord that’s good.”

When Hugh resumed his composure and I my dignity, I found the recorder and passed it over.

I watched as Hugh managed this foreign object with ease. He located the cassette and inserted it, a low muffled voice filled the warm summer air and we are transported back in time.

“Testing one two three, that’s recording isn’t it?” said a younger Hugh.

A dramatist as well as a writer, Hugh was a self-confessed “heart throb” at just seven years of age, having starred as ‘Little Willie’ in the Victorian melodrama East Lynne in 1947. The “fit ups,” a travelling show, called into Cootehill town, bringing with them great excitement. They put on shows every night for one week.

East Lynne, written by Mrs Henry Wood was a “big tear jerker of the time.” Hugh’s character passed away, sparking much emotion from the awestruck crowd.

“I did a piece on that,” Hugh said, pointing to the bookshelf where ‘Little Willie, A History of the Fit Up’ lay.

Parking his acting career for some time, Hugh headed off to St Patrick’s College in Cavan where he completed his Inter Cert exams. He left school at the age of fifteen to work in the family business.

Young people at the time “didn’t have much choice” in the matter and “did what they were told,” therefore Hugh went to work in ‘Hugh O’Brien & Sons’ which was the town’s general drapers and outfitters.

After a spell in his father’s business, Hugh took up a position in Arnotts in Dublin. But with a “hankering to do something different,” Hugh heard Big Ben’s bells chiming from across the Irish Sea. He left with the intentions of studying journalism.

Considering the English universities “never even heard of” the Inter Cert, Hugh’s journalism career was stopped before it began. He worked in London for the summer. Despite not coming home with a qualification, Hugh found a passion for jiving and with this love, the beautiful nurse Noleen.

“We just clicked immediately, I can still remember what she wore that first night,” remembered Hugh.

Hugh met the Kerry woman in the Galtymore Theatre.

“It takes two to tango,” was Hugh’s response when I asked who the better dancer was.

When closing time came Hugh and his pals walked Noleen and her friends home. Making conversation, the girls asked where the gentlemen were from.

“We said Cavan and they burst out laughing,” recalled Hugh, noting his confusion at the time.

Not unlike Hugh at my incompetence with the tape recorder, the group of student nurses were hysterical. Eventually, they revealed their sister on the nursing ward was a Cavan woman who was a little too fond of the word “yis.” Rather than saying ‘will you stop’ she would say ‘will yis stop.’

“Actually she was from here, from Cootehill,” said Hugh.

“It’s a great Cavan one.

“It’s part of the folklore.”

In perfect harmony with one another, Hugh and Noleen returned to Irish soils to get married in Dublin.

At the age of twenty-four, Hugh decided to revisit his school days and sat his Leaving Certificate. He spent his nights at University College Dublin, where he qualified with a BA and H-Dip. He was stuck between law and teaching, opting for the latter.

“I love teaching,” he confirmed.

Hugh served as a History and English teacher at St Aidan’s Comprehensive School for forty years.

A history lover, Hugh made reference to the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt created ‘The New Deal’ in America, coming out of the Great Depression. This was an array of initiatives which aimed to restore wealth. The project changed the US, with a lasting legacy. In his first Inaugural address on March 4 1933, Roosevelt told Americans ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’, a quote that stayed with Hugh.

He incorporated his love of drama into his teaching. He has featured in Father Ted and several of Philip Doherty’s creations, most notably the up and coming ‘Redemption of a Rogue’ film which was shot in Cavan Town.

Still passionate about journalism, Hugh thought it was important to document the history of Cootehill town and so, in the 1990s he recorded all the business people with their account of how the town came to be.

“These are voices, one man I taped, he talked about Michael Collins and DeValera speaking on the one platform in Cootehill,” said Hugh, with a protective hand over his tapes.

One woman spoke of the construction of St Michael’s Church which Hugh wrote a book on. Another man recalled all the tradesmen in the town. He talked about the tea houses where dinners of herring were reeled in on market day, which was Friday in Cootehill.

Hugh documented all these voices with the intention of writing books on the history of the town.

In 2005 Hugh was diagnosed with Mascular Degeneration. The condition caused a vein to burst behind the eye, clouding over Hugh’s central vision. He has completely lost sight in one eye with only peripheral vision in the other.

“When I was losing my sight I had a whole lot of plans,” explained Hugh. “When I got it first I had other medical problems so I didn’t really see this as important.”

Despite his best efforts, receiving laser treatment and injections, Hugh could not suppress the condition.

“I live as it is. There’s only one thing you can do, you can either lie down or go on,” advised Hugh.

He was forced to completely re-invent how he did his work. With the help of the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, he learned how to type without his vision. A lecturer from Dundalk IT, who was also blind, showed Hugh how he could continue his work. First things first, she told Hugh to get a keyboard and learn how to type.

“She showed no mercy,” he remembered, grateful for the woman who reinvigorated his passion.

Hugh recalled Roosevelt’s speech to mind when listening to the thirteen tutorials showing him how to write on his computer.

“Only for the NCBI I wouldn’t be writing at all,” Hugh said.

He showed me the special programme on his computer which allows him to write his books and short stories. An automated voice filled the room as Hugh hovered over the files, selecting the one he wanted to open. As Hugh types out his stories, his computer reads them back to him so he knows what he has written. Alexa in the background checks facts and spellings. He steers the mouse towards his latest, ‘A Romp around the Town’ which is the first of the books Hugh had planned to write when making his recordings. The book contains the history of Market Street in Cootehill. He decided to do this street first with the other branch streets to follow.

When will you write the rest?

“Give us a breathing space there Gemma will you,” he replies with a laugh.