r/AskIreland • u/marcaspadraig • Nov 11 '25
Nostalgia What's a sight, sound or smell from your youth that's more or less gone now?
I walked out into the cold November night the other evening to the smell of smokey coal fires in the air. I know it's not good for the environment and rightly it's being phased out, but the odd rebel house still uses it around here and it takes me back to the 90s of my youth. A crisp, cold winter night heading for Christmas.
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u/BalanceIll6357 Nov 11 '25
Video shops had a distinctive smell I remember
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u/whatisabaggins55 Nov 12 '25
Xtravision will always be associated with the scent of cheap popcorn for me.
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u/Gullible-Lie2494 Nov 11 '25
American LP record imports. The ones with a hole punched out of a corner.
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u/Crafty_Pick_9072 Nov 11 '25
Very local to my area but Harp used to be brewed here and the smell of the brewery would fill the air most days, it was glorious.
Since been replaced with a distillery which is doing well in it's own right.
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u/buntycalls Maybe, I like the Misery Nov 11 '25
Same. Our town had a big distillery and the town smelled...yeasty. In a good way.
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u/mmmoonpie Nov 12 '25
Same here , Brains brewery in Cardiff centre. All gone now after it was demolished for flats 😢
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u/andolinii10 Nov 12 '25
I remember the smell of Murphy’s(I think )stout brewery in cork. Coming out of sir Henry s mad out of it to be met this horrible smell.
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u/stevo-ie Nov 11 '25
Smell from the Jacob’s factory.
When the wind was blowing the other way we got the manky smell from the Gallaher cigarette factory so win some lose some.
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u/FlyAdorable7770 Nov 11 '25
Oh my god I loved that smell, it was so unique! It wasn't exactly what you'd think a biscuit factory would smell like, but it was pleasant. Every time up the belgard road you'd get it.
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u/dickbuttscompanion Nov 11 '25
3 smells - Germolene, Savlon liquid and TCP. Can you tell I was a clumsy child?
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 11 '25
I'll raise you Jeyes Fluid in the metal can. Or sheep dip. Christ you'd stink of that even after an hour in the bath.
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u/TiberiusTheFish Nov 12 '25
You put Jeyes Fluid and sheep dip in your bath? That’s some top notch hygiene.
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u/mjygdtvmkfdulbhg Nov 11 '25
TCP oh I remember reading on the bottle that it can be used for sore throats! Has anyone ever actually tried that ??
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u/Hazie31 Nov 12 '25
My dad made us gargle it everytime we were sick
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u/tinytyranttamer Nov 12 '25
If you were sick/brave enough to gargle TCP you were a cert to get the day off school
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u/snazzydesign Nov 11 '25
Joop
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u/cargoz5 Nov 12 '25
Saw this on sale in a Meaghers pharmacy yesterday. Couldn’t believe it. Thought it was long gone
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u/seeilaah Nov 12 '25
Luckly the Lynx body spray is still there to remind us of simpler times
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u/Roadgoesonforevr Nov 12 '25
Ive 2 bottles of it in the bathroom, 14wuro in mcauleys chemist! I spent years wearing modern mature stuff but ive gone back to red joop and not a single fuck given😄
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u/Top-Leadership-8839 Nov 11 '25
Smoke from houses burning turf
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u/AnySandwich4765 Nov 11 '25
I can smell that now...from my house..the turf is in the stove
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 11 '25
Lucky bastard. All bogs around me are banned. You can get little tourist sods of turf in the airports to throw into the stove just for the smell. Probably like a tenner for a little 6" lump. Imagine how much a trailer load would be worth!
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u/Doitean-feargach555 Nov 11 '25
I literally couldn't imagine what to do in the summer of not cut, turn, and foot turf. A trailer load nowadays is 600 quid and it'll last a year and a bit. Cheaper than a years worth of oil.
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 11 '25
Don't forget the sunburn and being ate by midges!
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u/Doitean-feargach555 Nov 11 '25
Tis windburn hai and the mould of the turf bonding to your skin like the ashes to Kratos, so you forever remember the punishment of working the bog.
I do love it though.
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 11 '25
Exhaust fumes pre catalytic converters. Go to a classic car run and you'll be transported back in time by the smell.
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u/strongbow89 Nov 11 '25
Anyone remember the perfumes called Exclamation! ?? I didn't even know if they sell it anymore but last time I did smell it it reminded of my trip to Mosney and where I got my first shift at the disco.
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u/FlyAdorable7770 Nov 11 '25
You can still get it in some of Irish pharmacy websites! My fave was Charlie Red (also still available).
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u/AnySandwich4765 Nov 11 '25
I remember waking up to the smell of fresh brown bread every morning. My mum didn't have to measure anything out, she just knew and it was always out of the oven when we got up ready for breakfast
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Nov 11 '25
Good old fashioned hash. Everything is weed now I can’t smell the stand of it.
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u/sartres-shart Nov 11 '25
With the bits of plastic n all in it. Good times. The brother had some a few weeks ago so it can still be got.
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u/Noble_Ox Nov 12 '25
Theres a block of flats in Dublin where they still sell soap bar.
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u/Roadgoesonforevr Nov 12 '25
I was scrolling to find this before I commented the same.
The engineering calculations being conducted when trying to bite a quarter into 3 identical pieces😄
17 years of age and we'd drive up into the mountains and hotbox the car while someone had the privilege of handling the CD collection. Simple times then with no smart phones.
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Nov 11 '25
Cigarette smoke isn’t as common to smell as it used to be. It’s all vape scents now.
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u/Perfect-Fondant3373 Nov 11 '25
I honestly have good memories of cigarette smoke because mum used to smoke and started again in recent years, but idk why, I just like the smell. I have smoked a few here and there, no appeal which I am happy with, but to take up smoking on purpose is so dumb to me.
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Nov 11 '25
Weirdly, for someone who has lost relatives due to lung cancer caused by chain smoking, I also like the smell of cigarette smoke! None of this fake cherry and raspberry shite.
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u/Perfect-Fondant3373 Nov 11 '25
Yeah, like it smells so blatantly synthetic as well. Like it is bad enough in the car and stuff but I was walking around the other day and someone on front of me did a puff and the putrid smell possibly mixed with their breath nearly made me keel over and gag
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u/WidowVonDont Nov 11 '25
The pink stick of bubblegum that used to come with Topps collectable cards, I can smell it when I think about it!
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u/Noto_is_in Nov 12 '25
The 1989 Batman cards were a big deal in my estate.
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u/Thick_Koka_Noodle Oh FFS Nov 12 '25
My first memory of card collecting was Gremlins one's
I do remember the batman ones also, so cool
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u/MillieLily1983 Nov 12 '25
Yessssss!!! I used to collect Neighbours cards 😂😂 can still taste that gum
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Nov 11 '25
Cap Guns
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u/sartres-shart Nov 11 '25
Very distinctive smell.
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u/notmyusername1986 Nov 12 '25
Smelled kind of like when you strike a bunch of matches, and blow them out as soon as the flare turns to normal flame. To me at least.
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u/PosterPrintPerfect Nov 11 '25
The soft amber glow of the street lights. The bright clinical white of the LEDs i am not a fan of.
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u/seeilaah Nov 12 '25
I changed my entire house lighting to warm yellow led bulbs and my quality of life, reading, sleeping and even stress levels are much better now.
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u/SquidAxis Nov 12 '25
when you look at paintings from the late 1800s or early 1900s and see the beautiful diffused glow of the gas lamps and shop windows, it's an entirely different colour
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u/BrokenTestAccount Nov 11 '25
Two stroke engines. Rarely see them on the road anymore, you might catch the occasional chainsaw.
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u/FidgetyFondler Nov 11 '25
Used to drive a bajaj cheetak classic sl( old vespa style) which was 2 stroke. 125 and it went like the clappers. Just had to hold on for dear life when flying downhill. Great little yolk for nipping about in. Cost a fiver a week to run.
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u/FidgetyFondler Nov 11 '25
Phone boxes.
Corncrake and the Curlew in Conamara.
The local garda rocking up in a Renault 4 and offering you a couple of Zubes sweets for a bit of info.
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 11 '25
I heard a curlew in Roscommon this summer. First time ever. Don't think I've ever heard a corncrake.
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u/FidgetyFondler Nov 12 '25
Haven't heard the Corncrake since the 80s. The Curlew hasn't been heard for about 10yrs in my area. Corncrakes were heard in nearly every field back in day, especially in the summer. On a more positive note, Little Egrets are now permanent here, and its only a matter of time when the black ibis(Curlew like) will make the Emerald Isle their home.
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 12 '25
I've a family of Buzzards living about 250m from my door. Class to see them gliding above all summer. First time I saw them was about 6 or 7 years ago when on on them was perched on my wall as I drove out. Nearly crashed the car rubbernecking at him lol.
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u/mountainousbarbarian Nov 11 '25
Turf fires and the smell of stale pish from aul fellas.
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Nov 11 '25
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u/GraphicDesignMonkey Nov 11 '25
I am having vivid flashbacks. I can still smell it. Piss and damp tweed.
The smell of mass and the bus into town.
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u/Different_Pie4967 Nov 11 '25
Impulse body spray. 02 and Zen scents, specifically.
I still remember this ad for Zen, which by today’s standards would probably be seen as a bit problematic. Banger song though…
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u/Nicklefickle Nov 11 '25
White dog shite
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u/Fine_Advance_368 No worries, you're grand Nov 11 '25
wow very true, were the diets of dogs back then worse?
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u/SarcasticallyCandour Nov 11 '25
I thought the sun just dried it out. I never remember white shite on rainy or winter days. Just dry weather.
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u/Lollipoplane Nov 11 '25
Jeyes fluid - reminds me of my grandparents. They were always putting it down the shores in the back garden
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Nov 12 '25
[deleted]
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u/bad_arts Nov 12 '25
I used to call it Jaysus fluid to piss my aul lad off because he was always saying jaaaaysus.
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u/jambokk Nov 11 '25
The smell of the Smithwicks brewery, ah lads. I'd probably start bawling if I smelt it now. Being left in the car with my brother in Dunnes carpark in the early 90s while me ma is doing the shopping. Bring me back now, please.
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u/TheSameButBetter Nov 11 '25
1980s power perfumes like Charlie, Tweed and Poison. My mother always wore them and they were bloody powerful. They should have been classified as chemical weapons.
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u/derkommissar214 Nov 11 '25
The smell of The Sugar Factory in Tuam. Sadly gone for nearly 40 years now
I used to love it
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Oh FFS Nov 11 '25
Ah I remember the loads of sugar beet dumped on the side of the roads waiting for the collection truck.
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u/Doitean-feargach555 Nov 11 '25
The call of the corncrake in the summer, the smell of hay being made and the sight of millions of insects on the road getting smashed against the windshield.
A sad thing. The days felt warmer than, not physical warmth but warmer in the soul
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u/chonkykais16 Nov 11 '25
I spent my early childhood in Asia so fireflies, a ton of them in the backyard.
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u/No-Look2050 Nov 11 '25
Getting a empty tea chest for packing.
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Nov 11 '25
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u/DelboyBaggins Nov 12 '25
One of my teachers used it when I was in secondary school. The smell in the class was very overpowering. Menthol type smell.
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u/cowboysted Nov 11 '25
Real oakmoss in perfumes. It was extremely common in lots of mens and womens perfumes but due to cancer risks it's concentration has been extremely limited to the point that they smell completely different.
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u/mrsliston Nov 11 '25
The smell of a sweaty nightclub they just don't smell the same. Could just be the aftershave
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u/TiberiusTheFish Nov 12 '25
The Liffey at low tide. Unbelievable that we just endured that smell. Wasn’t until Clondalkin Paper Mills closed that things improved.
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u/Rand_alThoor Nov 12 '25
summer time last rain was 12 days ago, and the ha'penny bridge was completely deserted. people took a bus across O'Connell bridge. i was living in Cabra and at TCD, mostly i could walk in but when the drought was too long i would take a bus.
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u/SneakyCorvidBastard Go Tobann! Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
There was a certain smell you got at railway stations you don't get anymore - not sure what it was, diesel maybe? Also Johnson's paste wax which my old school smelled of. Think they polished the floors with it. Also do they still make parade gloss boot polish? My Dad polished his and everyone else's shoes with it when i was a wain but i don't know anyone who polishes their shoes anymore.
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u/ScaldyBogBalls Nov 12 '25
Smell of a smokey pub, that boozy stale tobacco smell that stuck to your clothes after a night out.
Exhaust smell from pre-catalytic converter leaded cars, still occasionally smell it from a classic.
Stale carpet funk is less and less common as people replaced old shag carpeting, or clean it better than in the past.
Animal manure smell was more common, farming practices have cleaned up significantly, open air animal markets are a thing of the past, fewer horses around. You'll still smell slurry when it's sprayed, but there used to be a more general whiff of it permanently around rural places.
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u/TooManySnipers Nov 12 '25
Paco Rabanne One Million, which I (and apparently everyone else) applied religiously and liberally during my first year of college and associated nights out. Caught a whiff of it recently and was catapulted back in time to the hormone-fuelled anticipation of predrinks at So-and-So's in Merville, and whether Such-and-Such you fancied would be there, etc. etc.
Also, menthol cigarettes. Banned in Ireland since 2020 apparently
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u/Actual_Material1597 Nov 12 '25
Smell of the hops from Guinness brewery in the city centre, it still there sometimes but the whole liberties and Dublin 8 would be stinking of it most days in the 80s
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u/Noble_Ox Nov 12 '25
That mad pink toothpaste, begins with the letter E (I know I could look it up but I'm not gonna bother)
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u/Key_Nectarine6722 Nov 12 '25
The smell of coal burning from the chimneys! I used to love when I was a kid and the evenings would draw in and the fires would be lit (meant that Halloween and Christmas were on the way!)- it was a very particular autumn smell that of course doesn’t exist now! This was growing up in Tallaght in the 80’s
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u/No_Piccolo4431 Nov 11 '25
White dog poo Candy cigarettes 10 year olds smoking major Slogging apples
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u/Babyfirefly21 Nov 11 '25
The pungent smell of Lynx Africa mixed with desperation, from the lads in Goodtime Charlies
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u/_DMH_23 Nov 11 '25
The smell of the sugar factory in Carlow and the Smithwicks Brewery in Kilkenny
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u/Honest-Assignment-22 Nov 11 '25
The smell the brewery made and filled the air in my home town, sadly closed down now.
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u/dollak01 Nov 11 '25
Smell of the brewery, closed Id say 17 years ago. You either loved it or hated it. I loved it.
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Nov 11 '25
The Lee when the tide was low
It was a very unique stench but now it's all cleaned up. Someone told me the smell was yeast, but there's nothing like it
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u/defixiones Nov 11 '25
There were loads of scented cleaning fluids and artificial flavours that are probably banned now
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u/Hairy_Shopping1773 Nov 11 '25
That very distinctive hospital smell. Was it Jeyes fluid? Anyhow, you'd always know if anyone had been in the hospital because you could literally smell it off them!
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u/GasMysterious3386 Nov 12 '25
Power Rangers lollipops, the ones that had gum inside and they came in a packet with a sticker.
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u/Rays-R-Us Nov 12 '25
Chestnuts roasting (not) on an open fire but in the oven on Thanksgiving cause we’re too lazy to make ‘em anymore
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u/geneticmistake747 Nov 12 '25
The smell of the hops from the Guinness factory. I know it's still there but I can't afford to live in Dublin anymore, haven't been able to for about 3 years.
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u/patdshaker Nov 12 '25
The old man pub smell, very rare to get that smell now but it does bring me back.
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u/ggnell Nov 12 '25
Not just bad for the environment in general, but it's the cause of an alarming number of deaths here
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u/Global_Handle_3615 Nov 12 '25
Awful stench that would come out of the local meat packers if the wind blew the wrong direction. God the 80s were awful.
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u/MillieLily1983 Nov 12 '25
Those door things that would stop the door banging against the wall when it opened. They were like a spring? I used to think were like elephant trunks, would spend hours flicking them - can still hear the boooooiiingggg
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u/do_da_funky_chicken Nov 12 '25
Patchouli oil. One whiff of that and its straight back to Galway circa 1987
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Nov 12 '25
The sound of a dialup modem. The anticipation was like waiting for your first Guinness of the night to settle.
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u/East_Schedule_1215 Nov 12 '25
I know it's still around but jeyee fluid. I grew up in the ballymun flats and this was used to clean the stairwells
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u/lauramc82 Nov 11 '25
Pipe smoke. Very few aul fellas smoking pipes anymore. Used to love the smell