General Ration Book

"This iconic item is important to me as I was five years old when it was issued to me so I could not have been aware of the conditions of the time. It is unused which points to improving circumstances and perhaps even honesty on my parents part- they did not, could not perhaps, use it for themselves or swap some of its coupons for other ones. The Ration Book is an emblem of a time long passed in Ireland but a reminder of the suffering that war brought to our neutral country. In 1951 the United Nations was in its infancy, the European Union was still a long way off and the idea of relief agencies hardly conceived. Our self-reliant Government endeavored to feed its people. My parents were National Teachers and speakers of Irish at home- hence my name is in Irish."