"Get up there, and don't be slippy arsed!"

(Taken from a profile of the late Daly sisters of Ballysax, Bee and Anne, written in 1995 by Nuala Collins.)

Above — Bee Daly with her beloved donkeys.

The Daly sisters, Bee and Anne, grew up in Mooretown and attended the Cross and Passion College first and later went to the Brigidine Convent in Goresbridge. Life for the three young Dalys — the sisters and their brother Francis — was good in the Kildare of the 1930s.

Their favourite racecourse was Punchestown, for a very strong family reason. In 1910 their father's horse, called Mooretown, won at Punchestown. He beat a horse owned by the Tyrrell family of the Fisheries, Naas. Later, Edward Daly married Julia Tyrell of that household.

Horseriding came naturally to all three of them. Anne remembers there was no such thing as teaching people to ride in those days. "That's something new, you know," she says. "You were told to get up there and 'don't be slippy arsed'."

They rode in point-to-points and hunted with the Naas Harriers, and remember Lady Helen McAlmont when she was Master of the Kildare fox hounds. Other local gentry names such as Colonel Blacker of Castlemartin, and Sir Thomas Ainsworth, are included in their stories of great horse riding out around Maddenstown.

Another time when Anne fell off her horse, Prince Ali Khan came to her aid. Maybe she allowed herself to be 'slippy arsed' that day! Who wouldn't when the Prince was there to the rescue, and Rita Hayworth was out of sight?

They recall the first dance held in Kilcullen Town Hall when it opened in 1934, and were delighted to be present when the Hall was reopened in 1994 — rubbing shoulders with and getting their photos taken alongside the then new residents of Castlemartin, Gavin O'Reilly and Alison Doody.

Hunt balls were attended in the Military College in Ceannt Barracks in the Curragh Camp. Tennis was played on the lawn at Mooretown. In 1938 they went to the Grand National in Liverpool with Alexander McGuire, known as 'The Match King', on a trip over and back to Liverpool in one day. His horse, Workman, was third.

Next year the same horse was first past the post, and Bee remembers having a one pound bet on him, a lot of money in 1939. Big parties were held in the Adelphi Hotel that time, with tables decked out in the owners' colours.

Anne was trained in Horticulture in the Botanic Gardens in Dublin under Mr Besant, the curator. She intended to travel and work in Australia and had a reference from Colonel Blacker — at that time Mrs Blacker's sister was married to Lord Gowrie, who was then the Governor General of Australia. But a bout of meningitis changed that plan. She later worked for some time in the gardens of some stately homes around Oxfordshire. No doubt some of those gardens are still thriving because of the touch of Anne Daly's hands.

Oxford was always a favourite place for holidays for Julia Daly and her family, because one of her people — the Tyrells — was a vet in the area. So it was no surprise when Bee decided to go over and work there. That was 1938 and her mother, now widowed, sold Mooretown and she and Anne followed.

Francis remained in Kilcullen and stayed for some time with his aunt Min Tryell and later lived for some years with the family in Oxford. By this time Bee had established her riding school at Buckingham Road in Bicester. She later ran the 'Lawn Stables Riding School' at Wolvercott.

Having arrived in Oxford, where the oldest University in England is located, Mrs Daly purchased a house and accommodated students who attended the university. Here they also met many people from all over the world who still keep in touch with them. But war clouds were rumbling over Europe and the Daly sisters' careers were to change again.

When the war broke out, hay was scarce for the horses and the riding stables had to go by the board. Bee and Anne did not want to go into uniform so their war effort was to go into the catering business and they established a cafe at Buckingham Road. It was called the 'Lawn Cafe' and it was just down the road from the airfield at Bicester.

Shortly after the cafe was opened, the stableyard at the back was requisitioned for aircrew and many Nissen huts were installed. "It was not long before we had lots of air force personnel for customers," Bee says. "The cafe menu was bacon and eggs, when available, with a pot of tea and toast."

During the war the Bicester RAF station trained pilots, navigators, and air gunners for Blenheim bombers and was known as the 13th Operations Training Unit. Aircrews came from many parts of the world, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Norway, Holland and America.

"We made many friends and had lots of happy and amusing experiences," Bee says. "Promotion came early for the fortunate few if they returned after a bombing mission. A Flying Officer could reach the rank of Squadron Leader or even Wing Commander in a few months."

Celebration parties were held at the Lawn Cafe, which had seating for around thirty. It was a convenient place for wives and girlfriends of airmen to meet after duty.

"We made the customers welcome at all times and would help them in little matters such as sewing and ironing," says Anne. "One day an air force fellow asked me for a loan of an electric iron and I asked him what he wanted it for. He said friends wanted to fry some bacon with the iron as they had no other means of cooking or frying the bacon. I did not lend them the iron as during the war years it was very necessary and important piece of equipment."

At one time the sisters ran two cafes. Anne ran one at Banbury Road while Bee continued her operation at Bicester.

While the Blenheim bombers rumbled overhead, the ladies found time for a little enjoyment. They played polo and recall that Dr Dennis Little had a polo pony and played polo at Wolverhampton.

Bee was riding out one day for Dr Phibbs, who owned the yard. They were short of team members so he taught Bee how to play polo and she gained a place on the team. In later years the same Dr Little, who owned a plane, flew the three ladies to the races at Longchamp outside Paris.

The Lawn Cafe came to an end when the sisters decided to sell up in 1949. The contents of the home and cafe were auctioned by E P Messenger & Sons on October 8th 1949.

Being a woman of many talents, Bee at one time was a diet cook at the nearby, now famous, Radcliffe Hospital. In her spare time Anne enjoyed reading and embroidery and made Irish linen hand-embroidered tablecloths with the RAF crest and the flags of the allies. These are now in the RAF museum in Hendon.

After 41 years of a hectic life in Oxford, the sisters decided to retire to the peace and quiet of The Park, Ballysax, where they still have an interest in horses. They have their three-year-old filly 'Geraldines Girl', along with 'Broad Top' and a beautiful colt foal, and also their three donkeys, 'Eve', 'Duchess' and 'Beauty'. They still have a keen interest in the racing scene. Every year they return to the big racing events in England and visit their friends in Oxford.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Brigid (Bee) Daly passed away on 31 May 2005, in her 91st year; Anne Daly had predeceased her on 12 July 2002, aged 88; Francis Daly died 9 May 2003, aged 90. The Diary is grateful to Jim and Nuala Collins for providing the photograph and the article from which the above is taken.)