Gerry Downey, Barber at the D4 Inn, Dublin
I’VE BEEN a barber for 53 years, since I was 15. I apprenticed in a place in Merrion Row and we’d go to government buildings to cut hair. I’d go with my boss to sweep up when he was doing Dev’s hair. Dev always called me Gearóid and would only speak to me in Irish.
I opened in the Berkeley Court in 1978 and then moved here to what was Jurys and is now the D4 Inn.
What’s nice about working in hotels is the mix of clients. My son, Gerry Jr, has been working with me for the last nine years and he does the hotel guests while I do my regulars, some of whom I’ve had since I was an apprentice. Their grandkids come into me now.
I’m in at 7am to get the papers and get everything right for our first appointment at 7.30am. If I’ve a quiet moment it means I can do the crossword too. It’s all men here and every client gets half an hour and we don’t rush them. If it’s a colour it takes longer.
Being a barber means you get to know even more about people than a barman, because it’s one-to-one here.
If I were to write a book about all I’ve heard there’d be a mass exodus from the city but what is said here stays here so my clients, who would be pillars of the community, have no fear on that score.
I’ve cut loads of famous people’s hair as a result of being in the hotel, such as Neil Diamond who was very nice.
When Seve Ballesteros was here to play he sent his brother, who was also his caddy, in first and inspected his haircut before he’d come in himself. Bernhard Langer was in too, he was a complete gent.
This morning I just finished Mike Murphy, who’s looking terrific these days. He and I played football as kids and he’s smashing company. Last week I had Cathal O’Shannon in who is incredibly entertaining.
I don’t stop for lunch but I might go and get coffee and a sandwich at some stage. It’s great being in a hotel that way. But usually I’ll work right through until 2.30pm or 3pm before heading home to Rathfarnham. I play golf too, though less than I used to.
I work Tuesday to Friday and a half day on Saturday but maybe within a couple of years I might scale that back a bit and take things easier. But all the chat makes what I do so enjoyable that it’s hard to stop.
The biggest tip I’ve ever got was €3,000. It was just before Christmas three years ago but I can’t tell you who it was, but my family had a great Christmas as a result.
In conversation with
SANDRA O'CONNELL