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Roast chicken for dinner on Sunday? Well then it was roast chicken sandwiches for lunch on Monday. And Tuesday, if your mam could get it to stretch far enough.
A more exciting form of lunch leftover occurred if there had been a birthday celebration in the house the night before. There was little more intoxicating or envy-earning than producing a slice of cake (preferably from Superquinn) wrapped in tinfoil.
5. Petit Filous
Walk into any primary school classroom and you will be greeted by an overwhelming smell of pencil parings and slightly gone of yoghurt.
King amongst these yoghurts is the humble Petit Filous, and it’s swanky cousin, the Frube.
Those lucky enough to have a Soda Stream machine and parents sound enough to replenish the supply of gas and flavoured syrup could feel sufficiently smug about swigging out of one of those special bottles.
Remember these? If you were lucky enough to have Pringles to bring for lunch and it wasn’t even Christmas, you were sorted with your special Pringles transporter.
Another source of great envy in classrooms across Ireland. Less swanky sandwich fillings included haslet, corned beef and that mysterious beast ‘pork, onion and tomato’.
Then came the teacher asking who had anything spare to donate. Before long you had the crust off a peanut butter sandwich, half a hazelnut yoghurt and the black bit of a banana sitting in front of you. Grim.
Monday 25 November, 2024
Monday 25 November, 2024
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13 Irish primary school lunchbox memories
THESE DAYS IT’S all Lunchables this, Cheesestrings that and fancy ready made drinks as far as the eye can see.
We’re celebrating the school lunches of yore with a look back at a simpler times…
1. A flask of soup
A myriad of delicacies awaited you inside your Rainbow Brite/Bosco/He-Man/Fraggle Rock/Sheera Thermos.
Would it be oxtail? Cream of vegetable? Or that heady cocktail of scotch broth?
2. Sandwiches with a hint of banana/mandarin
You were either a ‘fruit inside the lunchbox’ child or a ‘fruit tossed into the schoolbag’ child.
Both had their ups and downs.
Fruit in the lunchbox meant that everything else was tainted with the taste. Cheese sandwiches with a hint of banana anyone?
Fruit in the bottom of the bag meant battered mandarins and bits of pear on the corners of your Busy at Maths.
3. Diluted orange
Robinsons Orange has been keeping Irish children hydrated for decades now. The trick was getting the water/orange ratio just right.
If you were swanky you might have a special dedicated lunch bottle to bring your orange to school with.
Most of the time though it was a recycled Cadet Cola or Ballygowan Sports bottle.
Psst everyone knew Capri Sun was just glorified diluted orange, but it was so, so much better.
4. Leftovers
Roast chicken for dinner on Sunday? Well then it was roast chicken sandwiches for lunch on Monday. And Tuesday, if your mam could get it to stretch far enough.
A more exciting form of lunch leftover occurred if there had been a birthday celebration in the house the night before. There was little more intoxicating or envy-earning than producing a slice of cake (preferably from Superquinn) wrapped in tinfoil.
5. Petit Filous
Walk into any primary school classroom and you will be greeted by an overwhelming smell of pencil parings and slightly gone of yoghurt.
King amongst these yoghurts is the humble Petit Filous, and it’s swanky cousin, the Frube.
6. Soda Stream
Those lucky enough to have a Soda Stream machine and parents sound enough to replenish the supply of gas and flavoured syrup could feel sufficiently smug about swigging out of one of those special bottles.
It was a kick in the teeth if you were forced to carry inferior diluted orange in the Soda Stream bottle. Or even worse… milk.
7. Mystery bars
Supermarket own brand chocolate bars frequently come in a mystery wrapping. Were you getting a wafer? A biscuit? Some caramel perhaps? Who knew?
8. Fancy bars
Any brand name bar on special offer was sure to make it into school lunchboxes.
Favourites included:
McVitie’s Gold
Rocky Bars
Club Milks
United bars
9. Pringles
Remember these? If you were lucky enough to have Pringles to bring for lunch and it wasn’t even Christmas, you were sorted with your special Pringles transporter.
10. Billy Roll
Another source of great envy in classrooms across Ireland. Less swanky sandwich fillings included haslet, corned beef and that mysterious beast ‘pork, onion and tomato’.
You can even buy a Billy Roll tshirt.
11. Wagon Wheels
Now regularly available for €1 a packet, there was a time when Wagon Wheels were the height of sophistication and a much coveted lunch item.
Shout out to the underrated jam version too.
12. Tiny cartons of milk
Warm, slightly leaking, unmanageable straw hole. Ah the memories.
13. Forgetting your lunch
The ultimate humiliation.
First, there was the crushing realisation.
Then came the teacher asking who had anything spare to donate. Before long you had the crust off a peanut butter sandwich, half a hazelnut yoghurt and the black bit of a banana sitting in front of you. Grim.
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