ONE of Paddy Jackson’s earliest memories of growing up in Ballyfermot was seeing the roof being put on the Gala cinema.
Paddy, now 70, moved into a house on Drumfinn Avenue with his family in 1955 when he was three-years-old, after moving away from the city centre.
Paddy Jackson
It was here where Paddy spent his formative years and went on to be the eldest of 10 siblings, including local Independent Councillor Vincent Jackson.
“Ballyfermot was an amazing place to live in,” Paddy told The Echo. “I moved there when I was three.
“When we moved, I remember seeing them putting the roof on the Gala cinema. Ballyfermot was a new area at that time, this was in 1955.
“We all played football on the road when we were growing up and played things like rounders and marbles.
“Money was scarce in Ballyfermot at that time, like it was in all working-class areas, so we made our own fun.
“But we had a great childhood growing up there. We used to go down to the Phoenix Park in autumn and knock chestnuts off the trees, and bobsleigh around California Hills in winter
