Dunphy, women and the Joys of life

ONE of the most striking things about Eamon Dunphy’s upbringing in Drumcondra, on Dublin’s northside, was the love his parents had for each other.

Every evening when his father arrived home from his day’s work as a builder’s labourer, it was “a cause for rejoicing,” writes Dunphy in the first volume of his autobiography, The Rocky Road.

When his father lost his job and returned home having traipsed around for the day unsuccessfully looking for work, Dunphy’s mother Peg would embrace him gently: “Don’t worry love, we’re fine.”