Local Faces – Hilda Hamilton

Mother-of-four Hilda Hamilton has been living in Killinarden for the past 41 years and is the manager of the Killinarden Community Centre. 

I moved to Killinarden Estate from Drimnagh with my husband Tony and two babies in 1977.

I was delighted when I got the house. My mother was originally from Bohernabreena so I had a knowledge of the area.

The estate was covered in muck back then, with tiny, little pathways.

You always knew who was from the area because the bottom of their trousers were always covered in muck.

We had very little services and no shops back then.

There were caravans in the estate that sold things like bread and milk.

After some time, the parish organised a bus that brought all the women and their trollies to Superquinn in Walkinstown every Friday for their shopping.

It used to be great craic.

We made good fun out of the things we hadn’t got.

What Killinarden had got from the very start however, was brilliant community spirit.

I was involved in the community with many others since the start, we had to fight for everything… buses, footpaths, traffic lights and shops.

I’m very proud of Killinarden.

The community fundraised for its own community centre, which opened in 1987.

I was always in-and-out of the centre and worked there over the years on a CE scheme and then on a Jobs Initiative.

In 2004 I became the centre manager.

I thoroughly enjoy what I do and I believe that the role of the community centre is to connect people and build community spirit.

We try to promote the social, economic and cultural development of the community, and organise a number of activities and supports for people of all ages.

Social inclusion was on our minds back in the eighties before it became a thing.

People living in Killinarden have been excluded over the years because of their address but that hasn’t stopped them working together.

There are a lot of good people living here and the community always tries to solve its own problems.

For all the bad things that happen, Killinarden still has community spirit, and there is a lot of support for families within the community.

I wouldn’t live anywhere else.