Page 23 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 1 - EARLY DAYS
Paul. The grandchildren have all escaped (at least for now).
As we all do, it’s good to research your family history. I found that the name Daly comes from the Irish Daly spelt O’Dalaigh. This is an Irish name which was the word for a meeting place. The Daly ancestry goes back to the fourth century to Niall of the Nine Hostages, the High King who had his Palace at Tara in County Meath.
I suppose there is some coincidence in the name and the connection to “meeting places” as I have probably attended more meetings in my life than anyone could ever count. It seems to be the way of insurance and business and particularly directorships that everything is run by meetings.
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As you might imagine, growing up in a large family was lots of fun and we all have some great memories. In my 80th birthday book some of those stories included my sister Sheelagh complaining that if she played doubles with me it was like watching paint dry as all she was allowed to do throughout the game was serve and then get out of the way.
My eldest sister Pat reminds me that as a young boy I wanted to be a priest and used to conduct impromptu masses at which my siblings had to take communion.
Those of you who know me well will also be surprised to know that when we were first married I used to take the children to the beach and Peter Jnr tells the tale of how I rescued him at the age of three while I was fully dressed and smoking a cigarette. To this day I do not like sand.
I was known to do a bit of gardening and Debbie remembers that in our first house --in Port Elizabeth I planted the trees in the back yard myself. I even got my hands dirty.
Talking about getting my hands dirty, some of you may not know
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