Before the White Cottages or Risky Business there was ... a certain DEBS photo (return to testimonials page by clicking here)
Holy Faith/De La Salle,1979... Jackie O’Connor: ‘Just look at the lads, what were they like?!’
“THERE were no limousines, no fake tans, no manicures, not even hair colour. And many of the dresses were borrowed, including my own. It was my sister’s. We just didn’t have the money to go out and spend on dresses and that,” says Jackie O’Connor.
Jackie and Joc (centre of the photo) were just good pals when she asked him to the debs. Just a few short years later they got married and are now looking forward to celebrating their 25 year wedding anniversary later this month.
“We got married very young”, says Jackie. “We didn’t think then that we’d be 25 years married one day and still living in Skerries”.
Indeed, Jackie and Joc didn’t move far from the school. They live in the White Cottages, just a stone’s throw away, and they run it as a guesthouse.
“It was the two schools together, the Convent and De La Salle and there was the meal and dancing and speeches and all the rest.”
“Look at the lads. What were they like!” Jackie goes on to talk about the people in the photo. The first girl is Adrienne Egan. She now lives in Scotland but was best known for her angelic looks and for being the best gymnast in the school.
Then there is Dave Mc- Gloughlin, better known as ‘Curly’. He was best known for playing guitar on South Strand ‘to attract the foreign students’. He is now better known as the lead singer of Risky Business. His hair looks a little different now.
Joc, beside him, was better known as ‘Freckles’. He is now married to Jackie. Jackie Williams (looking radiant in the centre), now married to Joc, was better known as ‘Willie’. She was known for going to school on her Honda 50 - outrageous at the time. The nuns didn’t like this at all. But she lived in the country so it was the best way to travel.
The last of the boys is Eddie McIntyre. He was better known as ‘The Fonz’ and was a big hit with the girls. He is now living in Dublin.
Then finally there is Janette Derham. She is living in the Netherlands, but her parents, Tom and Eleanor Derham, still live in The Kybe, so she comes back regularly. Like Adrienne, Janette was also a gymnast.
Jackie still has the program for the night with the full list of students and teachers from both schools. It’s covered in signatures of all her pals.
But what we ALL want to know is ... does she still have the Honda 50? “Well, I’m thinking about getting another one”, she laughs, “It must be a mid-life crises!”
