Tunney Galvin (b. 1927)

Track 1: Growing up in the family home, over the family betting office in Rock Street, Tralee. He and his siblings assisted in the running of the business and gained an interest in the sport of horseracing and greyhound racing. Track 2: As a youth in 1944, taking over the business from his father. His early years as a bookmaker in Tralee, at the greyhound track and the racecourse. Track 3: Race meetings during the 1930s at the racecourse, Tralee. The accoutrements of a bookmaker in those days: the leather bag; the slate; the box on which he stood; the clerks who worked with him down through the years. Track 4: With prompting from Áine, his wife, described the challenges of telephone communications at this time to the betting office from the racecourses, and getting race results from the Exchange Telegraph Company in Limerick. The selling of Sweepstakes tickets from the betting office. Track 5: Discussed ‘the lang’, which was a shared language exclusive to bookmakers. Memories of Listowel Race Week, the most profitable for bookmakers of all the racecourses that he attended. Track 6: An overview of the profession and the challenges a bookmaker encounters.