Someone's got their timing wrong somewhere since, according th this edition of The Irish Independent (Jan 30th 2002) Robbie McMahon is around 75 at the moment. If so, he'd have been about 10 or 15 in the late '30s/early 40s. The article says he's been known as "Mr Spancil Hill" for about 40 years (i.e. since about 1960) which might put us nearer the mark. Any confirmation of the facts here?

Cheers!
Ian