Don Dooley Transcript - July 27th 2010
Heather: Okay, so my name is Heather Reid, and I am here today to interview Mr.
Dooley, uh can you please state your full name for our records?
Mr. Dooley: My name is, uh, Donald Ignatious Dooley.
Heather: Thank you. And how long have you lived in Logy Bay?
Mr. Dooley: Well, I' ve lived on Logy Bay road since I was a youngster and we used to
live in The Rooms in Logy Bay, uh, in the summertime, because we had a summer home
down there. I would say probably, ten to fifteen years.
Heather: Okay, uh, so, were your parents from here?
Mr. Dooley: My parents were, my mother was from Outer Cove and her name was
Margaret Fox.
Heather: Okay.
Mr. Dooley: And my father was from Logy Bay road.
Heather: Uh, so, where was your home located when you were young and where was
your summer home?
Mr. Dooley: We, uh, we always lived on Logy Bay road, in the place where I'm living
now. Uh, and we had a barn there, we used to have barn dances there. And our summer
home was in a place called The Rooms in Logy Bay.
Heather: Okay, can you, uh tell us about The Rooms?
Mr. Dooley: Well, The Rooms was an area where the two Cadigans used to go out
fishing in the summertime. And, uh, we used to come, my father was, was in the taxi
business and we came there for recreation, so as youngsters we had to come down here,
too. And we used to swim in a little pool in the back of the house and catch fish, and, uh,
we also had an American Military institution there, a small one, I think a radar station.
Heather: Okay, awesome. Uh, so can you describe your house?
Mr. Dooley: Well, the house was a bungalow, they used to call it in the days a summer
shack and, it had uh probably a couple of rooms and a kitchen, and so forth.
Heather: Umm, how many grades or classes were in your school?
Mr. Dooley: Oh, the school I went to was a two room school on Torbay Road, called
Baley Haley school , okay? Which doesn't exist today, but I went there in 1936, well I
spent ten years there before I went to the Irish institute of brothers.
Heather: Umm, did you ever attend church here?
Mr. Dooley: Uh, yes, on occasion, when father Morrissey used to be here and a couple of
the others, yes.
Heather: Do you remember any of the other priests that-
Mr. Dooley: Weill know Father Walsh now that's here and I knew Father Morrissey,
and all, I heard about was Father Daniel Callahan and how strict he was in the early days
but I never, ever, knew him.
Heather: Okay, is Religion much different today than when you were younger?
Mr. Dooley: Oh theres been a lot of changes.
Heather: Yeah?
Mr. Dooley: You know, now you kneel down to get your, now you- in them days you
used to kneel down to get your, your communion, today now you stand up and put your
hand out, and, uh, the women, uh, you know, wore hats or had to wear a hat or something
and the men didn ' t, and uh there were a lot of changes in the church.
Heather: I could imagine. Umm, so any special stories about church that you'd like to
share?
Mr. Dooley: Well, some of the stories are very interesting in my, in my career, I was-I'll
stick to Newfoundland first- I was in Pasadena, in the West coast of Newfoundland and
Father Gale was celebrating his forty-fifth anniversary as a priest, and he was giving a
sermon on the Trinity and right in the middle of it, he couldn't remember what to say, he
went, he came to a blank. And I shouted out in the church cause he was looking for a
word and I said, "Shamrock!" and he thanked me very much, cause that was the word he
was looking for, the three divine persons- Saints. So, anyways, afterwards, he was
thanking the women for his forty-fifth anniversary so Mr. Dooley went out and got a
lovely bottle of wine to celebrate.
Heather: Laughs
Mr. Dooley: So, I was over in Norris Point, one time, and I went to a very small church,
and they had no water to celebrate mass with, which is pretty unusual and I happened to
have, in my car, one bottle of bottled water. How I ever had it, I don't know. But I had
fifty bottles of wine so if they had to run out of wine I had lots of wine, but I went out
and I got it and brought it in, and mass went on. You know, it was a very small church.
Heather: I could imagine. Uh, so was anyone in your family a farmer?
Mr. Dooley: My grandfather had a farm on Logy Bay road on each side of our house we
lived in, now he grew potatoes, turnips, carrots. We actually had strawberries and we had
gooseberries, and rhubarb. So we had- and it was all organic stuff in them days.
Heather: And, its not there anymore?
Mr. Dooley: No, because there's houses on it now.
Heather: Good. Umm, so did you have a phone when you were growing up?
Mr. Dooley: Yes, we had a phone. We had a phone for as long as I can remember, the
number was 410, I cant remember if it was a party line, certainly then it became 2410,
and then we got whatever we got today.
Heather: Oh yeah, the seven digits we have their today.
Mr. Dooley: Yup.
Heather: So what did you do for indoor entertainment when you were younger?
Mr. Dooley: Well, I, well when I got a bit older I used to go to dances in Torbay and
Flatrock and also in Killbride. And Outer Cove, I cant honestly remember if Outer Cove
had dances ever Sunday or every second Sunday, but yes that was very common to do
then. And I would be involved in jiving and lancers wine.
Heather: Okay.
Mr. Dooley: Not lancers wine, lancers music. There is lancers wine.
Heather: Haha, where were the dances held in Outer Cove?
Mr. Dooley: Oh, I would say the Parish school.
Heather: The Parish?
Mr. Dooley: Yup.
Heather: Okay. And did you need chaperons when you went to dances?
Mr. Dooley: No, no chaperons.
Heather: Uh, what did you do for outdoor activities?
Mr. Dooley: Oh, I played golf. I was involved in playing golf, lawn bowling during my
career. And five pin bowling as an indoor sport.
Heather: Okay. Umm, did you go to the Regattas?
Mr. Dooley: Went to the Regattas every single year, from the time I was knee-high to a
grasshopper as they say here in Newfoundland. But yes, cause we lived on- and then we
just went down through a field called Ross's field, and you were down by the pond then.
But yes I did go every year.
Heather: Has the Regatta changed much over the years?
Mr. Dooley: Not really, except it's a lot different for parking and what goes on, some of
the functions they have. Years ago they had the greasy pole and they don 't have that
anymore.
Heather: Umm, are there any Regattas you remember in particular?
Mr. Dooley: Well, I remember 1937 my little brother, who was only about a year old,
was killed by my father, whose car backed over him in the driveway. He must have got
out of the house so that was a very sad occasion. And uh, God rest his soul.
Heather: Mhm, are there any races that you remember?
Mr. Dooley: No, only looked forward to the championship races. To see, uh, how well
they were doing. And the other thing on Quidi Vidi where the Regatta was held, they had
horse races in the winter time on the ice.
Heather: Really? So what was that like? I never heard of that before.
Mr. Dooley: Well that was very interesting, because the horses- see the pond used to
freeze over on Quidi Vidi pond, so it froze over enough so the horses could run races on
it.
Heather: Okay.
Mr. Dooley: Usually in the month of February or March.
Heather: Umm, was the Outer Cove rowing team, were they really popular when you
were younger?
Mr. Dooley: Oh yes, they were always popular because they' re the ones that set the
record. So yes, of course, I have family members down there the Bolands and the Powers
and the Smarts, uh, are all related to the Dooleys.
Heather: Do you have any relatives that rowed in the Regatta?
Mr. Dooley: Uh, not that I know of unless one of the Powers or the Bolands or the
Smarts did.
Heather: Um, have any of your family served in the military?
Mr. Dooley: Yes, my uncle Jack was in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Heather: Okay.
Mr. Dooley: During the Second World War.
Heather: During the Second World War? Umm, do you have any memories of how
things were during the wartimes?
Mr. Dooley: No, except that I used to buy bonds out of what little change I had, to help
the war.
Heather: Okay. What were prices like at the stores when you were younger? Were they
much different than they are now?
Mr. Dooley: Oh yes, you could do a lot with ten cents or five cents, you know, I
certainly, you could get hot dogs, and chips, and a candy, the bulls eye, all of that stuff,
very inexpens ive.
Heather: Uh, did you have a post office near your house?
Mr. Dooley: Uh, no.
Heather: Uh, do you miss getting letters now that people are using the phone and the
internet?
Mr. Dooley: No because I don 't have any toys, I don't have any computers, I don' t have
emails, I don 't the only thing I have is a fax machine, I don't even have a cell phone.
Heather: Do you still get lots of letters?
Mr. Dooley: Weill get the mail, yeah. (laughs)
Heather: so what was usual mode of transportation?
Mr. Dooley: Uh well we always had cars in our family but in the early days grandfather
had horse and carts to do the duty down on Water Street and Duckworth Street, carrying
the goods and that but mostly the Dooley family was in the taxi business. In my early
career I had bought Burrage's Cabs and then I did that for a couple years I lost money
doing it and got out of it.
Heather: So were your father or the rest of your family involved in the cab company?
Mr. Dooley: Well my father owned a cab company along with three other people.
Heather: What was the name of the taxi company?
Mr. Dooley: Hotel Taxis it was right by the Hotel is at, where the Sheraton.
Heather: That's not still going on today, is it?
Mr. Dooley: Oh no and if it is it's not in that location.
Heather: Okay.
Mr. Dooley: I think its called Bugden 's today.
Heather: Oh yes Bugden's, so when the Red Cliffstation was there did you ever go
there?
Mr. Dooley: Yes I did, because it wasjust up over the hill and uh went out to see the
American station but ya only went out to look ya didn 't participate or anything.
Heather: Do you have any memories of going up to the Red Cliff Station.
Mr. Dooley: Uh no not really.
Heather: Uh do you remember garden parties around here?
Mr. Dooley: Yes they were really common around here common in summer time. I think
in all the town around this area they were interesting cause they games and dance and you
could have some food. And some of the older people would have something to drink.
Heather: Would you like to see them again?
Mr. Dooley: Sure I would.
Heather: Seems like a good time. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory - Avalon
