This morning, Eric Parkes (who proudly states "I am in my 89th year") will hang up his barber's scissors for the last time. It's a special occasion, and Waldorf Adare Hairdressing for Men, established in 1946 on Westmoreland Street, will start to swell to bursting point from 8.30 a.m. as customers arrive for their short back and sides. For his final styling job, Parkes will give his grandson, Ian Parkes, a haircut because he's getting married. The young Parkes is to marry Vivienne McCord later today in Ballymun, with the reception afterwards in the Gresham Hotel.
The salon's current proprietor, Liam Finnegan, and his daughter, Linda Finnegan, will welcome back the elderly Parkes, former head (president, vice-president and secretary) of the Barbers' Union of Ireland, to their inner-sanctum down the stairs under Bewley's Oriental CafΘ.
Parkes will be giving his grandson "a little military trim". His own wife of 57 years, May Parkes, will be going to the Conrad Hotel to her nephew, top stylist Thomas Lewis, to have her hair coiffed and styled. Then it's off to the church on time.
As to the hair of the great barber himself, it seems he wears it brushed to the side. "He's not bald altogether and he's clever underneath the hair," says his wife, with great laughter. Go mbeire siad beo ag an am seo ar∅s.