I was given this old-fashioned rotary dial telephone from my great aunt Mairead Walsh (née Brady). Her father was Hugh Brady, and he was my great grandfather. Hugh Brady was a civil servant, he was Private Secretary to Frank Aiken, the Minister for the Coordination of Defensive Measures (1940-45) and later was Secretary, Department of Defence (1958-65). During the Emergency, he was appointed to the censorship committee as propaganda censorship became a central measure in the defence of Irish neutrality. As part of his job he was given this telephone so he could work from home on Griffith Avenue.
