A number of years ago the Dunne family lived in a small cottage up in the hills above Killarney in Ireland. There was Seamus and Isobel Dunne and their family of six boys.
They lived a happy but isolated existence, being up in the hills which was fairly remote from the nearest town, so it came as a bit of a shock to the parents when their eldest son Neal announced that he was off to seek his fame and fortune among the bright lights of London.
Well, his parents tried their best to dissuade him, but he was focused on this particular dream and there was nothing that they could say or do that would make him change his mind.
One day in early May, off he went to London, after a tearful farewell to his family.
All they knew was that he would be heading for London WC5 and would be writing back with news and details once he had arrived.
Well, Summer came and went in that idyllic but remote area of Killarney and there was no word from their son.
As Autumn approached and their was still no word from young Neal, his parents were starting to worry themselves sick in case something bad had happened to him.
When Finnegan the local publican from Sheehan’s Pub announced that he would be visiting London the next week to see his brother, the Dunnes quickly persuaded him to help find out how their boy was getting on in the big City.
Finnegan set off for London and arrived at Paddington Station in London the following Tuesday, armed with the information he had been given to find Neal, “London WC5”.
As he strode purposefully across the concourse of the station, he noticed a sign to the right that read “WC”.
He immediately made his way through the door, down the stairs, and there he came across a row of small doors with numbers on.
Quickly consulting his notes, he made his way to WC number 5 and banged fiercely on the door.
“Are you Neally Dunne?”, he demanded.
“Yes, but there’s no paper”, came a small voice from inside.
Finnegan responded, “Dats no excuse for not writing to your Mother!!”
Image used under a Collective Commons License from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_portrait_of_Fitzgerald_family_at_the_door_of_Waterford_Castle,Ireland,_1909(6112223300).jpg