Pictured: Jean Gilshinan with some of the baby clothes which she and her friends produce.
Photo: Kevin O’Gorman.
A craft and pastime that has seemingly gone by the wayside has been brought back to life by the residents of the Ailesbury Nursing Home in Sandymount.
Beth Rooney, who passed away last year, inspired fellow residents to start knitting when she noticed another resident feeling the cold and suggested that they all pull together to knit her a blanket.
When this project was finished they put their hands to everything else they could think of so that even the driver, John Scannell, got a Dubs scarf when watching games on the Hill.
But their real skill came when the activities coordinator at the nursing home, Noirin Reilly, announced her sister was expecting a baby. They decided to knit the anticipated baby some outfits and had dolls as models for sizes, “but when the newborn was delivered it was actually smaller than the dolls and so the women put together something to fit,” said Reilly.
Eileen McCann, Jean Gilshinan and Mary Power were the main contributors of the knitting boom. There was so much baby clothing that they didn’t know what to do with them until Eileen McCann suggested they donate them to the children’s hospital at Temple Street.
“It’s always good to see a baby in home-made clothes,” said resident Mary Power. The setting for this endeavour was in the main sitting room where guitarist, Brendan Shanahan, was strumming out chord patterns while the women were delicately weaving patterns of their own in the shape of bonnets and cardigans for babies, and fingerless gloves for adults.
By Paul Carton
