When I Was Your Age
INCLUDES INTERVIEWS WITH BERTIE AHERN, MARY KENNEDY, SEAN O'ROUKE, MARY COUGHLAN AND MANY OTHERS.
What was life like for Ireland's grandparents when they were young?
What has changed for the better? What values do they wish to hand down?
In these pages, grandmother and chronicler of times past Valerie Cox talks to fellow grandparents, creating an unforgettable trip down memory lane.
Through schooldays, dating, jiving, child-rearing, working life, holidays, fashion and more, memories are shared of a pre-digital age when the world seemed smaller and community life was central.
They also describe the magic of the grandparent-grandchild relationship, and their hopes for the upcoming generation.
Full of tender or surprising reminiscences from across Ireland, along with revelations on what truly matters in life, When I Was Your Age includes contributions from some of Ireland's best known grandparents - a beautiful gift and a time capsule for the future.
In a long career as a reporter working in newspapers, radio and television, Valerie Cox has interviewed people from every county in Ireland. Over eleven years working on the Today programme on RTÉ Radio she travelled around the country covering stories as diverse as the closure of schools, Garda stations and post offices. She was out with the rescue services in floods and snow and covered the events that make rural Ireland special, including the ploughing.
She is the author of four previous books, Searching, which tells the story of Ireland's missing people, The Family Courts, A Ploughing People, and Growing Up With Ireland.
Valerie lives in rural County Wicklow with her husband Brian and the couple have five children and four grandchildren.