THERE’S yet one more insightful reminder of the Eddie Macken era amongst the Boomerang Bar photos; a small black and white photo of the local hero at his first show - Longford, 1960 - being led along on a pony by local man Harry Farrelly.

Looking on in the background is a young barefoot lad, sporting a close-shaven haircut. “That was quite normal back then, children ran around barefoot during the summer,” remarked Brian Gormley when I later mentioned this photo to him.