The Wayback #51 | Eleanor Kerrigan

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Wayback #51 | Eleanor Kerrigan

Released on December 19, 2024, "The Wayback with Ryan Sickler" features a heartfelt and humorous conversation between host Ryan Sickler and comedian Eleanor Kerrigan. This episode delves deep into Eleanor's expansive family life, childhood adventures, and the dynamics of growing up in a large household.

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1. Early Family Life

Eleanor Kerrigan opens up about her early years in a bustling household. As the eighth child among ten siblings—six boys and four girls—Eleanor describes the challenges and chaos of her upbringing.

Eleanor Kerrigan [05:37]: "We were only halfway at this point. That's nuts."

The sheer number of siblings created a lively and sometimes tumultuous environment, setting the stage for many of the stories shared throughout the episode.

2. Family Dynamics and Sibling Relationships

The interactions between Eleanor and her siblings were filled with both camaraderie and conflict. She recounts instances of playful mischief and the inevitable squabbles that arose from sharing limited space and resources.

Eleanor Kerrigan [10:22]: "Cuz Jimmy was older, so, you know, he's at the age you could you hit him, I guess."

These dynamics highlight the complexities of navigating relationships in a large family, where each member plays a distinct role.

3. Car Rides and Family Trips

Traveling with ten children was no small feat. Eleanor shares vivid memories of packed car rides, often leading to uncomfortable and chaotic situations.

Eleanor Kerrigan [06:49]: "I throw up on your mom's lap. On my mom's lap. She's trying to clean it up. Hey. Jesus Christ. What the hell is that?"

Such experiences not only tested familial bonds but also provided a backdrop for many memorable and humorous anecdotes.

4. Living in a Large Household

With only one bathroom shared among ten people, daily routines were a logistical challenge. Eleanor describes the creative and sometimes desperate measures the family took to accommodate everyone's needs.

Eleanor Kerrigan [20:08]: "We just have to rip up the partition, redo the plumbing."

The lack of adequate facilities often led to amusing and sometimes exasperating situations, showcasing the resilience and adaptability of the family.

5. Home Challenges: Plumbing and Space

Eleanor discusses the practical challenges of maintaining a large household, particularly focusing on the plumbing issues that arose from having a single bathroom.

Eleanor Kerrigan [21:20]: "My mom still owns that row home. It took her 54 years to pay it off."

Despite these challenges, the family found ways to make the best of their living conditions, often relying on the help of resourceful relatives.

6. Extended Family and Vacationing

Vacationing with such a large family was another area rife with challenges. Eleanor recounts trips to Wildwood, New Jersey, where extended family members gathered, creating a temporary but lively household.

Eleanor Kerrigan [33:53]: "We were sleeping head to foot. Yeah. It was crazy, but it was fun."

These gatherings, though logistically complex, were filled with fond memories and strengthened familial bonds.

7. Childhood Adventures and Mischief

Growing up with ten siblings provided ample opportunities for adventures and mischief. From playing hide and seek in dark basements to creative games that often bordered on the reckless, Eleanor's childhood was anything but dull.

Eleanor Kerrigan [26:00]: "Bobby hid in the dryer. We threw him in, and he loved it."

Such stories highlight the inventive and sometimes daring spirit fostered within a large family dynamic.

8. Family and Hockey Culture

A significant aspect of Eleanor's upbringing was the family's passion for hockey, particularly their support for the Broad Street Bullies—a reflection of Philadelphia's spirited sports culture.

Eleanor Kerrigan [30:13]: "She made my sister Karen stay home to watch the little ones. My brother Jimmy was stuck somewhere."

Attending games amidst family chaos underscored the deep-rooted love for the sport and its role in bringing the family together during trying times.

9. Reflections on Family and Growth

Towards the end of the episode, both Ryan and Eleanor reflect on how these formative experiences shaped their perspectives and relationships. Eleanor touches on the delicate balance between fond memories and the underlying tensions that accompanied them.

Ryan Sickler [34:05]: "Some of the hardest times or still to this day."

This reflection offers listeners a poignant understanding of the complexities inherent in large families.

10. Conclusion and Promotions

As the episode winds down, Eleanor promotes her comedy special "No Country for Old Women" and encourages listeners to follow her on various social platforms for more content. Ryan wraps up by thanking Eleanor for her candid storytelling and inviting listeners to engage with both hosts’ work.

Eleanor Kerrigan [35:35]: "Follow on all the socials and check out the YouTube. Check out TikTok."

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Notable Quotes:

• Eleanor Kerrigan [06:49]: "I throw up on your mom's lap. On my mom's lap. She's trying to clean it up. Hey. Jesus Christ. What the hell is that?"
• Eleanor Kerrigan [10:22]: "Cuz Jimmy was older, so, you know, he's at the age you could you hit him, I guess."
• Eleanor Kerrigan [26:00]: "Bobby hid in the dryer. We threw him in, and he loved it."
• Eleanor Kerrigan [35:35]: "Follow on all the socials and check out the YouTube. Check out TikTok."

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Conclusion:

"The Wayback #51 | Eleanor Kerrigan" offers a rich tapestry of stories that paint a vivid picture of life in a large, dynamic family. Through laughter and nostalgia, Eleanor Kerrigan shares the highs and lows of her upbringing, providing listeners with both entertainment and insight into the complexities of familial relationships.

Transcript

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Now.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Ryan Sickler]

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[Ryan Sickler]

Guys, we have a new tier on our Patreon and it includes exclusive bonus content. Listen up. Right now, for just $5, you get the Honey Do a day early. You get it ad free and you get a full bonus episode of the Honeydew with y'all where listeners highlight their low lights and it's going to stay that way. Five bucks and for just three. $3 more. You're also going to get the way back a day early and ad free. But that's not all. You'll get exclusive bonus content with the guests, some fun segments, maybe some games and we'd love to get you guys involved. And that's all for only $3 more. And there's no censorship on any of the Patreon episodes. Subscribe now. Tempe, AZ I'll see y'all December 20th and 21st at the Tempe Improv. Get your tickets on my website to all [e-mail].

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Hey, baby.

[Ryan Sickler]

We're gonna be here all day. We're gonna be here all day, baby. I like that kind of party. Welcome back to the Way Back, everybody. I am Ryan Sickler. Ryan Sickler on all your social media and Ryan sickler.com. and again, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for this show. It's been so much fun to sit here and just talk about nostalgia growing up, what it was like for everybody and have laugh after laugh. I really love this show. Feels great. Love all the guests. Go check out every guest. They're all just about 30 minute episodes. I know you guys say we. He's got to be longer. That wasn't what was happening back in the day. Back in the day, you had a 30 minute sitcom, was 22 minutes with commercials and we're going for 30 without. All right. Very excited to have my guest in the Way Back with me today. Ladies and gentlemen, Eleanor Kerrigan.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

In the Way Back.

[Ryan Sickler]

Thank you for being here in the Way Back with me. Princess is sitting with us.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Princess is with us.

[Ryan Sickler]

She loves you.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yes. That's my girl.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right now, please promote everything that you would like to promote.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

I have a special Al called Though country for Old Women. It's on YouTube. Comedy Store channel. It's on my YouTube as well. If you go to my website, eleanorjcarrigan.com it is on there as well. And also my tickets for my shows.

[Ryan Sickler]

So go watch this, I'm telling you.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

And follow on all the socials if.

[Ryan Sickler]

You don't know this lady. One of the funniest working comedians, hands down. It's not even close.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Thank you. You're amazing.

[Ryan Sickler]

All right, so we've talked a while. You and I have known each other. We've done plenty of podcasts together. I always ask people if they sat on this seat back in the day, the old school station wagon seat that faced out in traffic. That's how I like to start this.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah, we for sure did. I just. I don't remember the cloth. Like I said, I. I do a joke about, you know, there would be all 10 of us in this. My dad had, I want to say it's called an Impala. You know, my dad owns a typewriter store, so he had a little money. That's closer. That second one.

[Ryan Sickler]

The Impala.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Impala. I think it was the Impala. I think I'm right. Or that white one down there. But we always had blue. We always had blue. So it was like that. But there's no seat turning back, right?

[Ryan Sickler]

No, there definitely is.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

I don't remember that.

[Ryan Sickler]

No doubt. There's one in every one of these things. And it was again, it could have been. I'll tell you why you probably don't know the back in the day, those seats also would fold down flat. So you had a whole area in the back. Like almost a play pen.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

That's what.

[Ryan Sickler]

You know what I mean? And it was metal.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Cuz we hung out that, right?

[Ryan Sickler]

That was that seat. If you would have popped that seat up, you would have had it facing out the back.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

My dad always had stuff back there and there was a terrible story. Now I was only an infant when this happened, so I only know from other people telling the stories. But we went from Philly to Syracuse, New York to visit either my mom or my dad's for. I don't remember, but he had the nose. All of us. I'm number eight.

[Ryan Sickler]

Yes. So real quick, how many total kids do your mom and dad have?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

10.

[Ryan Sickler]

10? And you're the eighth?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

I'm number eight.

[Ryan Sickler]

How many boys, how many girls?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Six. Boys? Four. Girls?

[Ryan Sickler]

Six and four. Okay.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And what girl are you? In order?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

The number three.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

On the third there's. I only have one little sister.

[Ryan Sickler]

Okay.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

And so they're all. We're packed in this car, right?

[Ryan Sickler]

12 of you in this station.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. Dad's up front chain smoking. I'm sitting on my mom's lap. Windows are up. We're fine. Everybody's fine. Fine. And so the car is a little smoky and there's luggage because you got to remember, you got all of us, but you also got to have luggage because we're going to stay overnight. And is that up on top or.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that also in the back?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

That's in the back. I'm. I'm going to say it's in the back because of this. The boys were sitting in the back in between the bags kind of thing. So everybody's just wedged in there. I don't think anything's on top. I got to be honest. And my dad was big on those. Hook on you. So maybe there was something up there. I just don't know what it was. They're not called Hook on yous know what they are?

[Ryan Sickler]

Yeah, the straps. Yeah.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We used to pull each other's clothes apart with those. Anyway, that's not what they're used for. What do you mean?

You would take those straps?

My brother Billy would Go hook on you. And I'll be like. And whatever it was, he'd. He'd say it, but he was already, like, halfway away from you. So you're. You're gonna get a wedgie or you're gonna get something. And so the hook on you. I don't. I don't know the real name. That's what we call them. And so we're in this car drive. We get up to. Everybody's getting car stick, starting with yours truly. This is why everybody tells the story with the hatred for Eleanor. So I throw up on your mom's lap. On my mom's lap. She's trying to clean it up. Hey. Jesus Christ. What the hell is that? You know, yelling with the Terry tin. His mouth and.

What's a Terry tin?

That's a kind of cigarette.

[Ryan Sickler]

There it is.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Oh, I just had an anxiety attack.

Let me see that.

Oh, God. And they're soft pack always. And he would sleep on them. So when we would steal them, they were flat.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, yeah.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We would smoke them like this.

You would steal them and you smoke them flat. Look at. Lady's got a.

[Ryan Sickler]

What the hell is that?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

She must have talked the wrong cigarette. Why does she have a black eye?

[Ryan Sickler]

Harry tin better. Why?

That's a bad ad.

I was trying to say charcoals in it. I don't know what in the hell that is.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Oh, I see.

[Ryan Sickler]

She's got a black eye because she's fighting to smoke her cigarette. Then switch.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

That's the big black eye. I gotta tell you, the graphics back then, that's what I'm gonna. Mine's gonna look like if I do my own. I'm gonna do my own makeup, guys.

Here I am for old women, Right? That's you right there.

Look, they all got.

They're all getting beat up.

It's all ladies.

[Ryan Sickler]

It's all ladies.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

What the were they promoting? Not only cancer. You could beat your wife. She'll fight you.

This blonde lady down here is like you look at this.

Oh, my God.

They don't want to switch.

[Ryan Sickler]

Your dad loved them. Never in my life.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Terry, this sticker dress cigarette.

Me either. Only from my dad.

Do you know anybody else to smoke these cigarettes?

No, because I started smoking, and that's uncomfortable, too. But I was 9, and so my dad left when I was 7. So I would steal them from my brothers, you know, and they would smoke them flat like that. And I was just like, guys are stupid. You know, When I was like seven.

[Ryan Sickler]

Or eight, I interrupted. You're throwing up in the Car, I throw up.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

My mom's trying to clean it up nice. Like, trying to. Oh, don't get daddy upset, you know, and she's cleaning it up and everybody. It was like an effect. Like it went. Everybody in the second row started throwing up. Everybody in the back started throwing up. My dad lost it, right? I turn that car around, all that shit, you know, we get up to Syracuse and they. Everybody's fighting and it's awful. And they're cleaning shit out and they're cleaning up the car. And then we hang out with the people. And then I don't know if they stayed overnight again, I'm very little, but. But on the way back, my brother Jimmy got really sick in the back. So he opened the suitcase and he threw up in it. And it was my dad's brand new suit. Like whatever they wore to that party.

He threw up all over it.

That's disgusting.

Just quietly trying to be like.

Cuz he was like, I will give. Yeah, yeah. Cuz Jimmy was older, so, you know, he's at the age you could you hit him, I guess. And so he opened it up and threw up in there. And when they took the stuff upstairs, you just hear my dad. Jesus Christ. And I just did. Mother's holding him back, like, please don't kill him. Please don't kill them. We don't know which one did it.

[Ryan Sickler]

We don't know.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

There's nine possibilities back there.

Fight them all. Is it this one? Is it this little one? Like, it's. It was so. I can't imagine, like, I don't remember that, obviously, because I was a baby, but that was. Things like that. I can't imagine going on a long trip in these. And I always joke about, you know, we'd all 10 of us be in there, and my dad, if he made a hard right, I could get pregnant by one of my brothers. Because these things you just slide across, right? Yeah, I remember that. Squeeze the lemon. Yeah, yeah, yeah, squeeze the lemon. We were just flying around. I remember being hanging out the back. Oh, that might have been his truck, his suburban truck. That might have been later, he had this big suburban truck that me and Billy were like out the back window counting cars or saying, we're beating you, you know. Stupid kid. Totally nothing anybody would ever do. Today there would be a plethora of cops, maybe even the National Guard would come in for the way we were hanging out the back. And we're like, my dad's just driving, chain smoking, and we're hanging out the back window. And my dad hit a bump and I went. And I had a headband on and cracked in half. And my head started bleeding. The headband, the comb went in my head. I was like. I mean, for a while I was like, I don't think I could drink water. It'll probably squirt right out. That hurts so hard. And it was bleeding. I couldn't tell my dad, so I just mad. And we threw the headband away. Her hair stayed nice. Yeah, that's blood. Keeping it together.

My dad, I'm bleeding or I'll get in trouble. That's the way it was. I'll get beat.

That's old mood loose. You just let the blood keep the hair nice. You know what I mean?

[Ryan Sickler]

So I'm guessing after dad splits, you're not a vacation family anymore. You're not really take. Or are you in.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We weren't one before that. That now that's where it gets weird, the vacation thing. Because people always, you know, would go away to this, go away to that. My mom never drove.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that right?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Never had a license.

[Ryan Sickler]

Oh, never did. Just. I thought you meant just didn't perform.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No, no, no. She got a license later. She goes, I gotta learn. And my dad, they're separated. Years at this point. Years. I'm a teenager at this point. So they've been gone. He's been gone a long time. And he saw her driving on the road, and he drove up to her and, like, started yelling, oh, nobody's safe out here. Were you out here, girl? Like, because they got along. They didn't, like, you know, they were very classy about their breakup. And so she. She goes, get the hell out of here. And then she got nervous and she never drove again. So she. So we don't have. If you don't have. We don't have a car. We're not going anywhere. So for years, we didn't go anywhere. And then Jimmy, my older brother, he got his license. Tommy, Karen. So they would offer to drive, but we would go. When Jimmy drove down the shore, he was worse than my dad at that point because he was a kid. And he caught us drinking, and my brother Charlie had a pee. I don't remember what car we were in because it's traumatic. And Charlie was like, I'm gonna d if it'll be. And so he just peed in a bottle of sorts of. And it wasn't like a water bottle. It was probably a soda bottle or a beer can. No, I'm kidding. But he peed in that and cuz. Jimmy wouldn't pull over because he was mad at him. And I'm like, you can't. Like now I'm like, you can't have his kidneys explode. But like, he. He was a kid himself. So he was just like. And Charlie was just crying quietly in the back like, okay, I can't say nothing. I can't.

No one can say anything in your.

So he just peed in the bottle. It was just. And we. I remember being like, so we're gonna keep that in the car.

Yeah. What's happened to that? Hot pissed.

That was the first time I saw Charlie's. And first time I'm like, all right. It's weird how he's getting it right in there.

[Ryan Sickler]

And.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No, I'm kidding. I get that's awful. Charlie will have a heart attack. But it was. It was just like. Because we. Like you were saying with the bathrooms.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's what I want to talk about growing up with. Now you got dad left. So there's 11 of you in a house.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

How many toilets are in a dog?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We always have a dog. The woods. So we have. My uncle Tommy is. Was an amazing, like, carpenter. Whatever. Like, ah, there's my Fluffy.

[Ryan Sickler]

Don't we look alike that Fluffy?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Are we twins or what?

[Ryan Sickler]

You do look alike a little bit.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

How do you look?

[Ryan Sickler]

People look like.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Like your dog. Look at the 30 year old, by the way. 30 years old right there.

[Ryan Sickler]

No, you're not. Shut your face.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Like an old lady. Shut up.

The hairstyle people. That was the 80s though, for sure.

[Ryan Sickler]

Big hair.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

That doesn't matter, I think. Let's see, Fluffy was. We got Fluffy. Like when she could barely walk. And she was my therapist. She was my. I would hide under the table with her. I'd be like, no one loves me in here. And you're the only one. And I hate it here.

[Ryan Sickler]

We gotta get out.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

I can't get in the bathroom. I don't know what's happening. Like, it was so bad. And she was my bestie. But I was probably in fourth grade there. Who looks like that?

It's pretty serious.

My sister was a hairdresser too, so she would do all kinds of wild. But anyway, so Karen. Maybe I was in like sixth grade there, I don't know. But I do look old. It's funny. And I used to buy beer for people as a kid. And because you go into Asian. She's so tall. Is that right? Yeah. 21. Give me the beer. And they were fine with it. No problem. I go out there like Are we gonna get an older person to get a spirit? No. Eleanor's here. What? What? Like, because I was tall, he would go. So I was saying, like, 15. 16 is when I could walk in, no problem. And I have my sister's ID that said I was. She's 10 years older. So at 14, I was going to nightclubs.

[Ryan Sickler]

God, 14.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

They were like, oh, she's 20 foot. No question. Not a question. Oh, go ahead. Not. What's your street address? Nothing.

[Ryan Sickler]

No quizzing it. What's your birthday?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No, because you saw that elderly woman there, that young. I was a golden girl when I was 6.

You were a golden girl.

But anyway, so she.

[Ryan Sickler]

So you're saying your uncles.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

My uncle Tommy was like, it's just two. If you're not. This is an awful story again. I wasn't born yet. My mom was pregnant with my brother Johnny. And my dad said, we're gonna, you know, figure out getting a new house. So my mom thought he was gonna buy a new house in a. A bigger house to fit at that point would have been five kids if she, you know, she was pregnant with Johnny.

[Ryan Sickler]

So they're only halfway. Yeah, only halfway at this point. That's nuts.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

So my mom, they go to the realtor and they find out they can't afford anything else, so they're going to buy this house. And my mom cried the whole way home, and she was like, we can't fit. We can't fit. So my uncle Tommy put a bathroom, a powder room down. This was the big solution. A powder room downstairs.

[Ryan Sickler]

Was there only one bathroom at the time?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. So you're eating dinner and there's a toilet right there. We have. Everybody always goes the. It's in the kitchen. Everything's in the kitchen. Like, we're all in the kitchen, too. And then you go upstairs Mellet.

[Ryan Sickler]

And we don't have air condition.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No air conditioning. And also, it would.

It's disgusting.

That's got to be Billy. That's Billy. I'll say it's Billy.

I'm like, are you shit there right now, dude? Yeah. I'm like, God, I just want to.

[Ryan Sickler]

Come in the fridge and get something real quick, you know?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

You can't.

[Ryan Sickler]

I don't even want to have a drink out of there.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

You gave me the flashback of a lifetime. And this is. You gotta help me. You gotta help me. And I run in the powder room. My brother John, he goes, look how long that is, dude. Every time you believe.

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[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Leave this. Look at this. If we had the Internet, oh man.

None of us are having lives.

Every single time. They got me in that bathroom to look at their. I mean, I could tell you the colors.

[Ryan Sickler]

So this is what I'm saying. I just lived in a house. It was me, my two brothers and my dad and we had one bathroom and it was a problem. You've got 10 people and that would be like, look man, I, I'm. I need to take a. Open the door while you're taking a shower and I gotta, I'm gonna sit here and take this right now. And it's in the steam, it's in the hot, and you flush and you'd.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Have somebody brushing their teeth.

[Ryan Sickler]

We did it all.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We did it all.

Flushing the toilet to mess with the water naturally.

I mean it just, just walk by.

And hit one if it's over. Like you.

What the is wrong with you? Always. And they always knew who it was. It was the best. Now, did you have a door on your bathroom? A door?

A door. Yeah, we had a door.

We broke it down and we had a sheet we pinned up. I swear on Johnny Go, we had a. She always shouldn't say that out loud, but whatever I always say, I swear to God, but I swear on this person that I liked, so I always say their name. And so I, I swear to God, that's what we did. We had a sheet pinned up that, that got ripped down too. Because if you took long and they were like, get out. And then just the animals came through and we would be. I'd be in the shower, Jimmy be taking a. Johnny would be brushing his teeth.

[Ryan Sickler]

But the powder room, God, are you serious?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

I swear to God. And then downstairs, you know, the powder.

[Ryan Sickler]

Room'S just a toilet and a sink, right? A half bath.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

But also if you flush that toilet, that flux floor with upstairs too, so we're all one little.

You said my uncle was an amazing handyman and then you just said this.

Well, he couldn't redo the whole plumbing.

Of the house, but he just like.

Hey, you got a washing machine, you got a dryer, you got this. But your pipe is this big, so use it sparingly.

This long over here.

[Ryan Sickler]

I mean, that's a lot of bodies. You have to really think about septic tanks and stuff like that. Plumbing, like, that's a lot of flushing to this poops. All of it.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

To this day. My mom still owns that row home. No, it took her 54 years to pay it off. She paid off her mortgage.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did they have to redo the plumbing? Has it been redone?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No, she hasn't done it.

[Ryan Sickler]

Original plumbing still works.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Still up, though. She's had things done here and there, but like to get it to work properly, where you could go to the bathroom downstairs, flush it, and if somebody's taking a shower upstairs, it's not gonna up, or if you're doing dishes or running the dish, it's not going to mess with the water. You'd have to rip up the payment, redo the. All the way underneath that to get that to work properly. So, no, we don't have the money for that.

[Ryan Sickler]

A couple years ago, I took my daughter to visit one of my cousins. She's always. She's like my dad's first cousin. She's more like an aunt, but she's a cousin and I think she's in her 80s now. We walk in her house and I tell my daughter, I go, you think I'm old?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

I go, what we're about to see right now, this is a time warp. This is what her oven is still like that one there, that black and ge. Black and white one here like that. And we walk in and she's done nothing, no upgrades or anything. And I said, stella, you'll see she still has a parlor area. And then the dining room, the kitchen doesn't even.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

That's exactly how my neighbor's room's got.

[Ryan Sickler]

Enough room for a small, maybe two person, tiny little something to put on. You cook, you go out back.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Oh, right there, that's A good one. That second one.

[Ryan Sickler]

That's it. That's her stove right there. No doubt. What year is that? That's ex. She hasn't done. That's the one that came with the place.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. It's killer because it opens up like that, and it's.

[Ryan Sickler]

She's got the old GE fridge, the white one with the handle here. You pull open. It's got a little tiny shelf for freezer stuff.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. We have updated that stuff because you have to. We break everything, so, you know. And you could only hold somebody's hand over that fire a couple times, and then you got to get a new one because there's too much flesh in there.

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you. When you go down in the basement in the row home, is it low ceiling?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Not. We got a decent one. It is pretty. It's pretty high, actually. My grandmom's was real low. Like, her steps were narrow. And you go down, you're like, whoa. But my brother Charlie lives in the basement of my mom's house, and he. They redid it years ago. And then Charlie, like, you know, puts his flare in it, but it's. It. It's pretty nice. But as a kid, we didn't have that. It was. It was broken.

[Ryan Sickler]

Charlie waited you all out. Now he's got the whole.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

He's got the whole.

He left and came back. So that's a whole another story. But we had the unfinished basement, so the pipes were exposed in the ceiling. And the guy who redid it was my mom's neighbor. And I. I don't know, did it. But if it doesn't feel, like, closed in, like, he did a good job, whatever that ceiling is. And then they did the floors and stuff. But for years, it was. My dad had this, like, sledgehammer. We used to put holes, and we would play miniature golf. We would put in there.

No.

Oh, yeah. It's terrible. Children. We were just. But we were playing miniature golf with a hockey stick, so it wasn't like a real golf. And then we play hide and go seek in the dark. And if my mom wasn't home because nobody was allowed over because the house was always a mess, but if my mom wasn't home, we would invite other kids over, and we had this kid come over, and we're playing hide and go seek in the dark, and he almost broke his ankle because he fell in a hole. Frankie. Scarlett. Sorry, buddy. And he literally was like, oh, what was that? So we stopped playing. And then one time, and I may have told this before, my brother Bobby Hid in the dryer. No, that was his. Like, oh, I got it. You're never finding me. Lights not on or off. You're never finding. So we figured out he was in the dryer and Billy turned it on. Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Did it.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Did it cry?

Oh, it was great. Around and he goes, yo, that was awesome. So they got helmets and we went back in.

Yeah, they started riding the dryer.

Absolutely. Absolutely. I did it twice.

I throw you around.

Really? How are we not dead?

Seriously?

[Ryan Sickler]

Seriously.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

In the dryer. Bobby loved it. He did it because Bobby was really little. Like, he had a big head. They used to call him Soup Bone. He was really skinny. He didn't grow till he was in, like, 11th grade. He fit anywhere. And he was love. And he loved that kind of. So his kids are a little up, but he's fine. No, no, no. Imagine.

[Ryan Sickler]

Slow stick. And I want you to tell a story that you told years ago about your mom and the Broad street bullies.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

And so I don't remember what year it was. I just know, and I'll say I remember this. It was a crazy storm outside, and it was mayhem in the house. Like, just. We were all in. You know when you're stuck in and it's just crazy stuff going on and we're fighting with each other and doing whatever and running around the house like crazy and trying to find something to eat. The radio's on. Like, the radio. The TV's on. Like, it's just. Just. There's no head.

[Ryan Sickler]

Your mom loved hockey, right? Like, wasn't that her? Like, like, that was her.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Okay, he's. He's not coming home. Let's watch the Flyers, that kind of thing. And so the Flyers were her fit. But this is what I remember. My mom answered the phone and she went, huh, huh again. Like, this is one of my first early memories. And she went, huh again. And she just hung up the phone. And she had Edie, my little sister, in her arms. And so Edie's a baby. Baby. And so she goes, maybe she was two, whatever. A toddler. Was that a toddler? Okay, so I. I don't carry the full term now. So she. She hangs up the phone. And on the radio they say that the Flyers game is still happening. If you could get there, we'll give you free hot dogs and hot chocolate. And my mom was just like, you know what? Fuck this. Wrap em up. So she made my sister Karen stay home to watch the little ones. My brother Jimmy was stuck somewhere, and I think Tommy, maybe Tommy and Kathleen were stuck Somewhere, but coming back, like, on their way. So she took Johnny, Charlie, myself and Billy. We bundled up, up. She put us on a sled. Our Fluffy, that. That dog you just saw, Fluffy, comes out of a snow drift. We were like, ah. And then you go, oh, it's Fluffy. Go home, Fluffy. Because she was like an old. You know, she would walk the neighborhoods. More people knew Fluffy than me. People used to refer to me as Fluffy Sister. Like, this is a problem.

More.

More people knew.

Fluffy Sister is hilarious.

My grandma, like I said, my mom didn't drive, lived a few blocks away from us in a different parish. And my dog Fluffy would walk her all the way home and then walk back.

[Ryan Sickler]

Sweet.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Like, I got you. Let's go. And my grandma hated dogs. But Fluffy would walk her home. And then my grandma would go, shoo, shoo, shoo. And Fluffy was like, I know. And she'd just walk home. And so this dog was out just being rogue like she always was. And she loved the snow. So she's like, don't follow us. We're going somewhere. Like, we're going out, you know, and we're bundled. And I remember she's pulling and pulling. Charlie and Johnny are walking. And I. I'm pulling sleds. Yeah. I'm pulling on the sled. And I. I go, mom, Mom. And we lost Billy in one of the snow drifts. He fell off. I'm sure we were fighting. And I was like. And he just went flying. So she had to go find him. We get to the Spectrum, which is only a mile, a little over a mile away from us. So we get there, nobody.

She's dragging her kids on sleds to go see hockey.

For free. For free. And you get hot dogs. We. It. You're lucky all of us ain't here. And so I'm just sitting. Hot chocolate. The hot dog is probably the last hot dog I ever.

And you have good seats, right? Because Nobody's.

There's maybe 50 people in the whole place. Face, maybe 20. I don't remember. Like, I just remember it was empty. It was empty. And Bobby. They were playing St. Louis. St. Louis Blues. And Bobby Clark checks this guy up against. And his nose goes. You know, it's just splat. Blood everywhere. That's how they would fight all the time, the Broad street bullies. And my brother Billy just looked, and he's just like. And then Bobby Clark, like, looked at Billy, like, almost fainting, and then looked at my mom, and she. He was like. And he just backed off the guy, like, maybe I shouldn't kill him in front of these kids, commit a felony on the ice in front of this little boy. But my brother Johnny and Charlie were such, like, Rick McLeish and Reggie Leach fans that they were like, kill him. Like they were at the age, you know, they could get into it.

[Ryan Sickler]

But me, Billy Kings game, they were playing the Oilers, it's just a couple months ago. And she's like, I hope we see a fight. And I was like, like, what?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

It's the only way.

[Ryan Sickler]

You really do.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

And then she got. We had two good ones.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Good.

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

You know, I told her, I was like, these days, Flyers had a school.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Good one this year.

[Ryan Sickler]

You were seeing one every game back in the day, I feel like.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No, but I mean, last year, really, they had a good one.

[Ryan Sickler]

Hockey still the last one to let you go.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. And it was great. And then we. It was just something we used to say, like, when we would play football, we won the fight, but we lost the game. Yeah, that happened a lot. But it was. That's how the. We looked at the bullies, like they were winning. And that's what got my mom into it, because that brought the city back. They literally brought back the city of Philadelphia because, remember, like, Detroit, when they're going through that time where they're like, Detroit's going under. Philadelphia was doing the same thing in the seventies. And so this. The Flyers brought it back, brought people happy and all that.

[Ryan Sickler]

Is that the only game you ever got to see?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

And money. Yeah, I don't go to games.

Yeah.

[Ryan Sickler]

Because, I mean, also, your mom's not taking 10 kids.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No. And her sister had 10 kids, too, so.

No way.

Oh, yeah. We're a problem. And nobody pulls out your mom and.

[Ryan Sickler]

Her sister to combined or 20 children.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yes. So.

[Ryan Sickler]

Holy. Do they have any other siblings, kids, your mom? Just the two of them.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. Two children. I'm sorry. My mom has another sister and a brother. So My grandma had four kids and 27 grandchildren.

[Ryan Sickler]

So between two, 20 and the other two come combined for seven.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Just a three and a four. A little slow on a. A little smarter. So much so. But my aunt that had the 10 kids, she had a house in Wildwood, New Jersey, which is technically a vacation spot.

[Ryan Sickler]

Y.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

And her and her husband, their neighborhood went to. So she had to get out of there. And once the kids were out of high school, they then moved to Wildwood, New Jersey, and they were just going to stay down there. They sold that house. But my. My uncle, they stayed together, so, you know, that helps. She Wasn't a single mom like my mom.

[Ryan Sickler]

Right.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

And so they stayed together, and he was a sheriff, and he worked for General Electric. Like, he had great jobs with great pensions. So we. They would let us come stay with them in Wildwood. So now there's 20 kids.

[Ryan Sickler]

Jesus.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Four adults. We're sleeping head to foot.

[Ryan Sickler]

And how many. How many bedrooms? Yeah, I bet three.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No, one. Two. And a back out house, too.

[Ryan Sickler]

You're going head to foot like that?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Yeah. It was crazy, but it was fun. I mean, it was some of my fondest memories.

[Ryan Sickler]

I say the same thing about some of the hardest times or still to this day. Some of my.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

They had a system. My mom was in charge at this. My aunt was in charge of that. My uncles were in charge. My uncle was in charge of just keeping us in line because he was a big. He was like my dad. Yeah. Yeah, he was like my dad. He was big. My Uncle Bobby. And it like, you know, he'd just come in and we'd all just. Just.

[Ryan Sickler]

Don'T say anything.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We ain't going.

[Ryan Sickler]

We ain't going bleeding.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

We won't get out of. We know what Charlie K Is like. We don't. My dad's name Charlie, too. But the last two years ago, we all got together. My cousins, we went down and we were telling stories from childhood. And they were like, yeah, we waited in line for the bathroom. They only had one bathroom. And we were like, remember when Charlie threw Johnny through a window? And they're like. Like, no, that never happened. Remember when Daddy beat the. Out of Jimmy so bad he couldn't come to Christmas dinner? No. And my Aunt Joy's looking at my mother. Is this true? Like, we kept it on the deal?

Yeah. You don't want to blow that house.

No, we don't want to blow him up.

Yeah. You want to come back to that?

How?

You want to be invited?

What are you going to do? Have my. Go after my dad? He'll light you up. He's crazy. He'll shoot you right now. And he's 88. He's a little. He showed me a picture of a German Luger yesterday. Dad, he's crazy. God love him.

[Ryan Sickler]

Well, I love you, Eleanor Kerrigan. Thank you so much for doing this.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Thank you for having me on the playback. Sitting on this. I feel like I want to throw up.

[Ryan Sickler]

Don't, please. But please do promote your special and everything.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

No country for Old Women, please. And then go to my website, eleanorjcarrigan.com. follow the YouTube, too. I got to build the YouTube up. But again, I'm going to start doing something with the Internet. I don't know, I gotta figure it out because it's not just stand up clips. Those are boring. Come see a show for that. The clips don't tell enough. You know what I mean?

[Ryan Sickler]

Do you put the clips up a little bit here?

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

I do a little bit but I've been doing a lot of the special because I'm proud of the special and you can burn the material, whatever, it doesn't matter. So, yeah, follow on all the socials and check out the YouTube. Check out tick tock. I don't know if it goes away. We'll see.

[Ryan Sickler]

Thank you, Eleanor.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Thank you for having me.

[Ryan Sickler]

Go watch her special on her YouTube. All right. And as always, Ryan Sickle on all your social media. Go to my website right now. RyanCickler.com get your tickets, come out and see me on the road. We'll talk to y'all next week.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Look at the doggy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Podcast Host]

In the dry states of the southwest, there's a group that's been denied a basic human right in the Navajo Nation.

[Eleanor Kerrigan]

Today, a third of our households don't have running water.

[Podcast Host]

But that's not something they chose for themselves. Can the Navajo people reclaim their right to water and contend with the government's legacy of control and neglect?

[Ryan Sickler]

Our water, our future. Our water, our future.

[Podcast Host]

That's in the next season of Reclaimed, the lifeblood of Navajo Nation. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.