The never-ending quest for two tuppences and a telephone box

A Different View with Dave O’Connell

There was a lovely old teacher back in our halcyon schooldays whose daily pursuit in life was an ever-recurring quest for two tuppences – because that was the price of a phone call.

And in an era before mobiles or online betting – not to mention the demands of remaining in the classroom during teaching hours because there was no such thing as Zoom – he needed access to the school’s only public phone to ring the bookies to put a few bob on a horse.

Those of a certain age will know that the price of a local call was four old pence, made up of two tuppenny pieces – and because they were the only coins that worked for phone calls, they were frequently as rare as hens’ teeth.

Or, in this teacher’s case, winners on the racetrack.

A punter who enjoyed much better success with a payphone was, of course, the legendary Barney Curley – so much so that said phone box is now preserved at Bellewstown Racecourse, scene of one of horseracing’s greatest betting coups.

The difference was that, in 1975, Curley didn’t use the phone to place his bet. Instead, he deployed an associate to make sure that the only phone on the racecourse remained engaged so that none of the bookmakers around the country could get through to the course and find out what was going on with this particular race.

Curley organised a team to hit 300 betting shops across the country to get a bet on a horse called Yellow Sam at 20/1 – the starting price that bookmakers were unable to force down because they could not get through to the course.

The only phone was occupied in the lead-up to the race by a buddy of Curley’s, making forensic and marathon inquiries about the health of a fictional relative.

Curley’s coup landed him £306,000 – somewhere north of €2.5 million today – because he, unlike our old teacher, knew how to use the phone to win big from the bookies.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.