Michael Moynihan: Is this the last generation of kids free to walk about on hottest days?

Everywhere behavioural norms are changing as the world heats up, but that’s often a matter of adults conforming to working conditions, or exercising their own freedom to act. For children it’s different.

On a recent trip into town, I ducked out of the heat and into Vibes and Scribes second-hand shop, where I happened across Vive Moi!, Seán Ó Faoláin’s autobiography. On offer for the extremely reasonable sum of €5.99, it found its way into my arms and off home with me (I paid, don’t worry).

Ó Faoláin was born in 1900, so the book is as ripe in places as you might imagine, but among other gems, I was struck by his memory of boredom as a child, when his mother would hunt him and his two brothers out the door for a walk around the town.