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sized for the period, its location at Boher in the foothills of the Galtees meant that its land varied in quality – there were some top-quality pastures off the Kilbehenny road, but there were also some poorer hill fields. Yet Ned was a shrewd farmer and a hard worker throughout his life, resulting in the Mullins’ farm being regarded as one of the best run in the area.

    The Galtee Mountains on the Cork-Limerick-Tipperary border make a dramatic backdrop to the Mullins family home at Boher, outside Kilbehenny. The farmhouse is marked with a red ‘X’. (Photo: Paudie McGrath)
    Pat was born on 19 November 1942 at the height of Ireland’s ‘Emergency’ and just as the German 6th Army was fighting its way to an icy grave at Stalingrad. The Second World War meant shortages of most things and even after the war ended in 1945, Ireland’s consumer industry was bleak to say the least. Most families considered themselves well to do if they had enough food for the table and if one family member was employed. Emigration was part and parcel of Irish life.
    Despite this it was a happy childhood for Pat who, like other youngsters, revelled in the outdoors and the myriad local sports clubs. When he was old enough Pat attended Kilbehenny National School, just over two miles walk from his Boher home. His older brothers, Tom and Denis (Dinny), were already farming, while his sisters, Mary, Peggy and Nelly helped around the house until they got jobs, married and moved away.

    Pat Mullins shows a ready smile as a young schoolboy attending Kilbehenny national school. (Photo: Mullins family)
    Dinny focused on helping his father work the family farm, while Tom pioneered the route that Pat would soon follow – working for other farmers in the general Kilbehenny area. Tractors were almost unheard of on most small to medium Irish farms, so all the Mullins boys knew how to work with horses – a handy skill when it came to getting work from outside farmers.
    Life in the 1950s in Boher was anything but easy. There was no running water and supplies had to be drawn each day from a well some distance from the farmhouse. Similarly, there was no electricity. While the ESB had connected power to Kilbehenny village by the 1950s, Boher – some two miles away – did not get its supply until the early 1960s. Telephones, like televisions, were simply unheard of in most country homes. Even householders who could afford a telephone and were close enough to an existing Post & Telegraph (P&T) line to apply for one had to wait for the privilege. Sometimes the wait for a connection lasted as much as four years.

    Pat Mullins’ Confirmation (Photo Mullins Family)
    After completing his national school studies, there was little question of Pat attending secondary school. He could have cycled the six miles to Mitchelstown to attend the Christian Brothers secondary school but, such was the economic climate of the time, an immediate job and income appeared far preferable to both him and the Mullins family. A secondary school education meant money for books, pencils and clothes – and that was something that was in short supply in Ireland in the late 1950s.
    When his son was old enough to work, Ned Mullins made a few enquiries at the creamery and mart, at local cattle fairs and amongst his neighbours. One local farmer, Jack O’Brien, had a slot open for a general labourer and, such was the Mullins’ reputation for hard work and diligence, Pat was offered the job the minute he expressed an interest in it. Jack O’Brien was a good, kindly employer and he looked after Pat as if he was his own son. The O’Briens were well known in Kilbehenny because Jack’s brother Tim ran the local hostelry, The Three Counties Bar.
    Pat’s job was officially that of ‘yardman’. The ploughman – or more senior farm labourer – was Tom Kiely. Pat settled in quickly and was blessed that he had learned so many farming skills from Ned, Dinny and Tom. But it was hard work,