Up before DAWN
MEET THE EARLY RISERS
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AFTER 25 years working as a fishmonger, eight o'clock in the morning is a lie-in for Patrick Kirwan.
At least three days a week, the owner of the Fish Cart shop in Laurence Street, Drogheda, rises at around 4am to head for the fish market in Blanchardstown to buy the freshest of stock for the family-run business.
'I've been getting up that early for so long now, I don't even think about it,' says Patrick, whose father Peter started the business over 70 years ago.
'A typical morning would be the alarm clock going off at around four o'clock, and after I grab a bit of breakfast, I head for Dublin, and with the traffic so quiet that hour of the day, you'd be there in three quarters of an hour.'
The fish market used to be in the city centre near the old vegetable suppliers, but even though they have moved out to a modern, purpose-built centre in an industrial estate, Patrick says the buzz is still great that hour of the morning.
'The other lads selling the fish would have been all there from about three, with lads delivering straight off the trawlers all night,' he says.
'Since the Co-op started, the boats all land the fish into the Co-op, but before then we would have to go down to the boats ourselves, and that would mean getting up at midnight, two o'clock, or four o'clock, whatever time of the night they came in,'
Patrick says he has been an early riser for so long now that his body clock is completely adjusted to it.
'It all depends what you're used to and even at the weekends, I wouldn't stay in bed later than 7am,' he says with a smile.
'My son Peter has started here, but he's not quite so used to the early mornings!'
Patrick's father started on the boats when he was about 15, but things were a lot harder in his day.
'He started with a pony and cart, and he would go down to collect the fish himself, then take them into Drogheda, and head all over the countryside, to Monasterboice and Ballymakenny,' says Patrick, who lives in Clogherhead like his father before him.
'His first fish cart worked from West Street, then moved into Meatmarket Lane, then to Laurence Street, before its last home in front of the Tholsel. Then it was back to Laurence Street when we opened the shop.'
Patrick describes himself as 'a morning person', and says most people miss the best part of the day.
'Clogherhead is very quiet before dawn, very peaceful, and I'm really not as good late at night,' he adds.
'I finish in the shop at 6pm, and if I still had work to do, I'd leave until the next morning, so when I'm home, I can relax.'
So when Peter takes over the business, will Patrick eventually enjoy a lie-in?
'I doubt it,' he laughs. ' When I retire, I'll be the first person on the golf course in the morning!'
