Times Past: Recalling memories of the Sandes Home in the Curragh

A retired soldier and Kildare town resident has been recalling his memories of the Sandes Home at the Curragh - a unique club for soldiers.
Sgt Paddy Dowling, who travelled from Borris in Co Carlow to join the Army in the Curragh in the 1960s, said the Sandes Home was a place where soldiers could have a good meal, play board games, read and generally relax in a homely atmosphere.
The Sandes Home in the Curragh was opened in 1912 and it continued to serve thousands of members of the Defence Forces for several decades after independence.
It all started in Tralee in 1868 when a friend of local woman Miss Elizabeth Sandes asked her to befriend a soldier in the town.
She did so and he brought other soldiers to her house.
Then she took a room in the town and started a club for the men.
She was a teenager at the time and she was to dedicated the next 64 years to building and improving a network of these homes.
Her idea was to give alternatives to regular pastimes of the period such as drinking and gambling.
The first Sandes Home was in Cobh in Co Cork.
There was a network of up to 19 of the Homes in many areas where the British Army was based, including India and Jamaica.
In an article in the Irish Times in 1893, quoted in a book: Sandes Soldiers' Home by author Joe Murray, Miss Sandes, a devout Christian, insisted that soldiers of all religions were welcome.
“There is no such thing as religious distinction in my establishments, we welcome all religions. A very large proportion of Sandes visitors are Roman Catholics. We have a room set apart for ‘bible' meetings, but nobody is compelled to go there.
“It is entirely optional, and as to Roman Catholics, we discriminate them by fish dinners on Fridays.
“Force in these matters defeats your own ends and none is used here.”
When asked about soldiers turning up a bit the worse from drink, she said that they would never turn him away.
“No matter how bad he is we take him in and we have a dormitory where he can rest while under the influence.
“We will not give him drink, but we would not drive him away to do worse.
“We make him quite welcome.”
According to Mr Murray, another Sandes Soldiers Home was opened in Edward Street, Newbridge, in September 1910. It was described in the Freemans Journal as been extremely large with a splendid concert hall, recreation, dining, and mess rooms.
It said: “The kitchen and bathrooms are fitted in the most modern manner, the place throughout being installed with electric light.” Just twelve months previous an advertisement was placed in the Belfast Newsletter seeking bids for the building of the Newbridge Home.
Miss Sandes attended a meeting in Belfast in January 1910 where the Lord Mayor welcomed her and she explained that she wanted to raise £10,000 to build three new homes at the Curragh, Newbridge and Athlone.
The reason why the Newbridge Home was built so quickly was it was mostly made of timber.
Paddy said: “During World War One, the homes played a very important role for the soldier. With conditions very poor, and regiments moving to the front all the time, Sandes Home was the only place a soldier could relax. Miss Sandes herself also gave daily bible readings to soldiers.
“Of the 19 homes that were in existence, all of them were managed by women. None of these ladies never married. It was probably an unwritten law to remain single.”
Paddy said that the three remaining Sandes Homes in the Republic gradually faded away and suggested the reasons were declining armies or lack of interest from the authorities.
Miss Sandes died at a Sandes Home in Ballykinler, Co Down, on August 1, 1934 and buried in Tyrella Churchyard nearby.
At the end of World War One, she was awarded a CBE - a fitting tribute to her contribution to military life at the Curragh.