My family lived in East Wall – we had three shops (Fitzpatrick’s) all near the docks, so it is quite close to the North Strand. I was seven years old at the time of the bombing and was due to receive my First Holy Communion on the morning after the bombing. I can remember the search lights, the air raid sirens and the drone of the bombers – I can still hear that sound. I duly made it to the Pro-Cathedral (I don’t know how we got there) and afterwards my father put me in the car (he still had petrol) and took me to my aunt and uncle on their farm in Cavan. I don’t know how long I stayed there but I often wondered, and never asked my parents, why I was sent away and not my brother and sister who were older. I was told just a few years ago that the Government had advised parents to send young children to the country. I don’t know if this was a fact. For many years after the war I screamed when I heard a plane.
This story has come to my mind as I have read an article about the Liverpool bombing which stated that the lights of Dublin led the planes to Liverpool, but I also remember the black out, so wonder if this can be true?