tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14723924337187669942024-03-05T02:27:03.942-08:00Tony Conboy's Oblique ViewUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger259125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-11979690426720596742022-02-11T23:39:00.001-08:002022-02-11T23:39:08.105-08:00Update 12th February<p style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">World in Jeopardy</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The
whole world is in a terrible state o’ chassis” so says Sean O Casey in his play
‘Juno and the Paycock’ set in 1922. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
are today no different. The possible disaster of a ‘hot war’ involving a
possible Russian invasion of the Ukraine is mind-boggling. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
a little forked diversion here it was maybe eight months or so that I tuned
into a documentary on the Assad family dynasty of Syria. The present President is Bashar Assad with
his wife Asma. Bashir was a doctor in England and married Asma who was born in
London with Syrian parents. When Bashar’s father died he succeeded his father.
It was thought by many that ‘the doctor’ would be a much more benevolent ruler
than his father in a troubled land. That was not how it turned out. An end camera
shot of Bashar was of him driving through one of many destroyed cities of
Syria. That Middle Eastern region is seen as the birthplace of civilization and
goes back to biblical times. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
image of an educated man seeming relaxed and confident about the destruction
all around him and the thousands of people who were killed or imprisoned to
satisfy his interpretation of the appropriate rule, was to me incredible. There
have been many modern examples of this. Syria,
Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
was reminded of a sketch I had seen decades ago during some crisis which I
would like to have now. It was a drawing of the planet earth with all the
evidence of it having been through a catastrophic war of destruction. Atop the
graphic of a destroyed world globe a couple of military figures were hailing
the fact that; ‘We won!”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Could
that be the case with a possible war beginning with an invasion of the Ukraine.
Are Putin, Biden and their acolytes really willing to risk a war with all the
incredible utensils of war available to them? The title used by soldiers of the
First World War to artillery bombardments was, ‘hell’. The capacity of the
great powers today has multiplied to ‘unleash hell’ by any factor of X. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Senior
people will remember the threats of a possible third world war in the early
sixties during the Cuban Crisis. As the
U.S. military strained at the bit to use their terrible resources luckily
common sense prevailed. If a ‘limited’ war began where would it stop? Could it
be stopped? In 1965 Barry McGuire pounded out one of the great chilling
anti-war songs part of which I post to here. You really have to hear it of
course. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Eve of Destruction<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Barry
McGuire<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The
Eastern world, it is explodin'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Violence
flarin', bullets loadin'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You're
old enough to kill but not for votin'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You
don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
you tell me over and over and over again my friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ah,
you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Don't
you understand what I'm trying to say?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can't
you feel the fear that I'm feeling today?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
the button is pushed, there's no running away<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There'll
be no one to save with the world in a grave<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take
a look around you boy, it's bound to scare you, boy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
you tell me over and over and over again, my friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ah,
you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
seem to remember reading that Douglas McArthur toyed with the idea of using a
nuclear bomb against the Chinese at a point during the Korean War. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">*************************************************<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Think of all the hate there is in Red China<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then
take a look around to Selma, Alabama<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ah,
you may leave here for four days in space<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
when you return, it's the same old place<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You
can bury your dead but don't leave a trace<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hate
your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You
don't believe we're on the eve of destruction<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You
don't believe we're on the eve of destruction”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tomorrow is Saturday a Sports Fest.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
is hard to come down from Barry McGuire but thankfully tomorrow is another day! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
a sports nerd, which I imagine people who read this from time to time can see,
tomorrow, Saturday 12<sup>th</sup> is a feast day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Manchester
Utd. V Southampton early on I’ll give a miss to as I’ll try and get a walk in
then. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
rugby Wales v Scotland at 2.15 which I will probably get snitches of as I’m
doing something else. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then
come the GAA club hurling and football finals. My pick there is the contest in
hurling between pretty close neighbours Ballygunner of Waterford v Ballyhale
Shamrocks from Kilkenny. I fancy the Kilkenny cats to do the business with T.G.
Reid the man to watch. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
will have a problem with Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin v Kilcoo of Down. Though
Kilcoo are favourites I go for Kilmacud. K.O. 5. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My
problem with watching that game is that there is a bone crusher of a rugby game
with Ireland v France in Paris. K.O. 4.45. The loss of Johnny Sexton is a big
one for Ireland but they seem to have a very good side with a number of very
seasoned players to come on from the bench. Impossible to call.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then
on cue comes a top league hurling game with Limerick, the current giants, v Galway
with King Henry (Shevlin) in charge of Galway, at 7. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
would have been some day if the U.S. Super Bowl topped it off but that starts
on Sunday night at 11.30 p.m. That can be a long night. It takes place in
California with the Los Angeles Rams v Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are nearly
the epitome of the ‘zero to hero’ catchphrase as they have shocked American
football followers with their rise to fame this season. Of course the quarter-back,
25year old Joe Burrow, has had a major role in that transition. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">[It
is worth noting that the GOAT has retired at the end of the season just gone.
The ‘Greatest of All Time’ has been Tom Brady]. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
sporting first which we should all applaud was that of Cavan lady Leone Maguire
who had a significant win in a U.S. golf tournament last weekend. She was the
hero of the victorious European Solheim Cup team last Autumn. She looks like a
lady who will be a regular ‘contender’ in ladies’ golf, in the states, for
years to come. An honourable mention goes to another golfer, Seamus Power from
Waterford. He blazed around Pebble Beach with the first two rounds of 64 each last
week. This had him in a leading positon. He dropped back with two modest rounds
on the Saturday and Sunday. However, for a while there it looked as if it could
have been a mighty double for the Irish golfers. Still it was pretty
impressive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll
adjourn here and maybe get back to the keyboard sooner rather than later.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take
care. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
are not there yet even if our world seems to suggest that we are home and
hosed!<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-36114714902082241372022-02-01T04:39:00.003-08:002022-02-01T04:39:21.933-08:00Update 1st February 2020<p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 16pt;">Journey
to a Funeral</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
walked quickly winding our way through the alleys avoiding the sea-front which
was being lashed by a gale. A knock at a downstairs window to be joined by a
companion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
continued down Lower Salthill, through Nile Lodge and along Newcastle Road all
the time shielding our faces from the wind-driven rain. Past the hospital
corner to where the transport waited at the college gate. This was spring
morning- February but three days old- but spring had been denied.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
dark hulk of the bus blended with the dawn blackness. We waited at the bus door
waiting to be inside. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“We
move at seven”, said the organiser. “If there is room you can come”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
were not really supposed to be there. We waited anxiously, nervously hoping. A
trickle of people filled the few vacant seats that remained, the trickle of
people against the trickle of time. Time won. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
bus moved off like a ship away from a quay. We relaxed a little. Rumour spread
of floods and storms and impassable roads. The bus trundled on uncertainly as
if echoing our own uncertainty. I felt uneasy, maybe I shouldn’t be going.
Maybe I should not have given in to that abstract impulsive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
dawn light had wrestled with the elements but now gave up its forlorn battle with
wind, rain and cloud. The elements had won and a dark sullen sky overshadowed
all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
wound our way through counties Galway, Mayo and Sligo. The country did not look
alive this morning. The end of the world, for some. In Donegal we stopped as a
funeral passed. It was not the first funeral we had met on the way. There were
many funerals throughout the country on that day. But then there are funerals
all over the country every day but not as many as today. Today was different. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
wound our way now very slowly as if nervous of reaching our destination. We cut
across through the Gap of Donegal. Not a sign of life. More dark houses but yet
no sign of life. Soon there is a whisper, the border! Confusion, which way? As
if wishing to turn away. We pass a burnt-out customs post. The driver has been
urged to bring us into the city over three miles away. We might be late. He reluctantly
agrees. We come to a signpost for Letterkenny but turn in another direction. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Through
the mist we see something up ahead. Coming closer we see the green hulk of a
half- track stretched across the road. The soldiers wave us down with their
rifles. A soldier steps up into our bus.
A hush. He is unarmed. Outside his crew watch. A few drink from enamel
mugs. They shift about restlessly. They are cold probably. We freeze inside as
the guns eye us arrogantly. The lone soldier walks through the bus. He scans
each anxious face. No other sound. He gives a cursory inspection, finds
nothing. Relief. The bus creeps through the narrow path left by the driver of
the army vehicle. We have difficulty. Not an inch. The bus loses patience and
lurches into a hollow and out again. The driver regretting his decision.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
look back. A soldier makes a sign of the cross, in mockery. Yet we are through
and soon the cars line up in front of us. We stop and leave the bus which
immediately begins to turn and retreat. It will wait for us over the border
that evening. We will have to make our own way back to the meeting point. Confusion
again, which way now? A suggestion ‘Up the hill’. A suggestion becomes a fact. We
try to hurry. We may not be in time. The rain lashes the hill. A big bleak hill
dotted with equally bleak housing estates against a murderous and revengeful
sky. The rain water rushes down the sloped roadway, it too in a hurry to hide.
We scramble on through torn up pavements and burned-out barricades. We move
through an estate following the former trickle which is now a crowd. We reach
the gates and push through into the graveyard of the adjoining church. We follow
the well-ordered plots. From the headstones it can be seen that it is not an
old graveyard. Very young as headstone inscriptions relay ’68. ’69, ’71, ’71,
’72 tell that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
move on slowly now. There are a number
of open graves ready, one here, a couple more over there. A number of others
speckle the green hill with the brown-black earth. One area catches our
attention. We walk towards it and stand and look into the group of open graves
as they lie side-by-side. Twelve graves in all here today and another in
Donegal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
coffins of the dead are borne out along the pathway. We line the route. The
rain still unrelenting on the Regan. The hearts of many are cold. The
apparently endless cortege passes through the ranks of the shocked and silent
witnesses. The coffins are laid into the earth. Five in one neat row. The
ceremonies are performed and slowly we retreat. The reporters and photographers
record. The curious still try to absorb it all. Parse might have said, ‘a great
offering, a great sacrifice, a foul deed’. It was not meant to be so. The
aggrieved too are silent, trying to comprehend the nightmare of their loss
without understanding how or why?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ten
years later, today Wednesday, I remember another quotation “Where does remembrance
weep when we forget”, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-68608053934215396432022-01-12T23:55:00.003-08:002022-01-12T23:57:16.182-08:00Update 13th January<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Peter Flannery R.I.P.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Many
people in the town of Boyle were saddened when they heard of the death of Peter
Flannery at the age of 60. During the times that we are living in I have not
seen or talked to Peter for a while. I believe he had been ill for some time in
the latter part of 2021. I remember him down the years as he played and
followed football. He loved to follow the Roscommon and Boyle teams. He also
loved to talk football and did so with enthusiasm. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
remember him telling me of a meeting he had with Kevin Heffernan the great
Dublin footballer and manager. Kevin was down in Green Isle and met Peter who
may have been a workers Rep. at the time. Now some of the time they would have
engaged with the reason for Kevin’s visit to Boyle but a lot of the meeting
also included a good conversation on football. Peter was very impressed with
Kevin and I’m sure Kevin was impressed with Peter’s knowledge and enthusiasm
for the game, likewise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">No
Roscommon game was too distant for Peter and friends and I feel he was at the
Roscommon v New York game in the Big Apple in 2006. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In
his lifetime he covered a range of activities. He worked at Green Isle Fish
Factory in Greatmeadow and then went to work in Wo Co in Carrick-on-Shannon. He
was a taxi man for a period and also leased Wynne’s Bar for a time close to
twenty years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
had a great interest in politics being a follower and activist for Fianna Fáil.
He was elected to Boyle Town Commission in 2004 and later became a proud Mayor
of Boyle via the Commission. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">His
nephew paid him a fulsome tribute at his funeral mass and referenced his kind,
honest and hard-working character. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
was a big man with a big heart and it can be said he did his very best for his
native town, a town he loved. May his gentle soul now rest in peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The DOME <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In
the Connacht GAA game ‘The Dome’ is the topic of conversation. This is the NUIG
Connacht GAA Air Dome at Bekan near Ballyhaunis. This certainly has the WOW
factor and it is great to see the poor ‘wehst of Ireland’ lead the way with
this innovation. The stats for the edifice are very impressive being 150m X100m
with 26 m high. It cost 3.1 million euro to put it in place. It has a normal
game capacity of between around two and two and a half thousand. Using the full
space for a concert it might take circa 15 thousand. It was begun in October 2019
and completed some 9 months later. It is heralded as the largest sports dome in
the world. Apart from the full-size playing pitch it also has a running track,
a gym and a flexible seating stand. One of the guiding lights in the project is
the long-time Connacht GAA Secretary John Prenty. It is really a remarkable
venture. It has already been storm tested. The only concern might be a major
snow fall. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
asked Gerry Nerney, who was a spectator at the Roscommon v Sligo game last weekend.
He was very positive about it. “We would have been frozen on a very cold night
otherwise” he suggested. Donie Smith said it was a” very enjoyable experience”.
He continued “When we were on our way to the game we had a blast of hailstones
so we were thankful that we did not have to compete in those elements”. He
referred to “its ideal role in early year games in pre-season competitions as
we see now”. The pace of the game was
also a factor that may have positive fitness benefits. One of the stats from
watching these games was the high scoring of points suggesting that the no wind
dimension was a factor. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It
has many other roles as suggested by John Prenty and former Roscommon player
Cathal Cregg who is ‘stationed there’ as it were. There is a fee to use the
facility of course to enable upkeep etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Years
ago when I was involved in inter-school games and we looked to clubs for a
pitch for games it was difficult to get one. There was a reluctance for clubs
to give one as one game, at the wrong time, could do so much damage to a pitch.
The all-weather pitch that has been there at Bekan has alleviated that and this
dome will encourage teams greatly to try and avail of this major unique venue. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So
bless all who sail in her and I look forward to visiting it myself to see this
second wonder of the western world. (The first?…the airport up at Knock, close
by. All that reminds me of a reporter from Dublin seeking out the residence of
a big-time builder in the county. He stopped his car to enquire from a worker
on the roadside. That person told the reporter to continue for another 3 miles
and he would see the big house of the person he was looking to meet. “And can I
see the house from the road? Enquired the reporter. “It can be seen from space”
replied his informant. From now pilots have a clear marker for Knock. Another
miracle.) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
imagine that the Connacht model will attract a great deal of attention and will
have surveyors queueing up to see this spectacle. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Pearses Crowned Kings of Connacht<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have mentioned before how down I was when leaving the Hyde after the Roscommon
v Galway Championship game last summer. Now I have been healed a good deal with
the performances of the Minors v Kerry for the 2020 championship; the Minors v
Galway in the 2021 Connacht Championship and the U 20s’ performances v Down and
then Offaly in the All-Ireland final. Added to this then was the county minor
final between Boyle and Roscommon Gaels. Last Sunday Paraic Pearses gave an
exhibition of point-taking v Knockmore in the Connacht senior Club Final in
Ballina. It ended Pearses 1.13 Knockmore 1.11. They now go on to meet the strong
Dublin side, Kimacud Crokes, in the All-Ireland Semi-final. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Pearses
are a very good side with a finely balanced team throughout. Their work ethic
is totally effective and they have a number of game-changers. Paul Carey gave
an exhibition of point scoring on Sunday and got ‘Man of the match’ because of
it. He was still run close by Hubert Darcy for his award. The Daly trio
contribute hugely to the overall context while David Murray and Conor Payne
were other stand-out players. The one possible flaw may be the goalkeeper
Whelan. The All-Ireland Semi-final v Kimacud Crokes takes place at the end of
January. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It
was their first Connacht title and now join Clann na nGael, St. Brigid’s,
Roscommon Gaels becoming the fourth club to win the Connacht senior Championship.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Top
winner in Roscommon’s Connacht wins with 6 in a row from 1984 to 89 is Clann na
nGael. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Patsy Hanley Traditional Musical
Giant.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">On
Sunday night last I watched the repeat of a tribute to Roscommon traditional
musician Patsy Hanly from Cloontuskert. Patsy is known far and wide for his
music and also because he is gentleman and a funny man. He was earlier a
regular visitor to north Roscommon. Maybe it was there on the borders of Sligo
and Roscommon where there was a well of so many great flute players and Patsy
came to source of the music. He absorbed it totally and now is an ambassador
for the North Connacht style of music cultivated by giants like Coleman,
Morrison, Horan and Finn, Josie McDermott. The McDonaghs and McNiffs of Ballinafad,
Pakie Duignan, Tommy Guihan, John Carlos and John McKenna amongst <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
referenced many more musicians from various parts and a number were on hand to
express their positive opinion of Patsy such as John Carty and John Wynne.
Patsy mentioned Cosgrove’s bar in St. Patrick’s Street Boyle as a place he
played in in his early years. He played regularly later in the Ceili House Bar
on the Crescent Boyle many a time. The two great All-Ireland Fleadhanna held in
Boyle in 1960 and 1966 were historic watersheds in the popularity of
traditional music. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Patsy
has appeared on television and everywhere he goes he is welcomed with open
arms. We attended a TG4 awards occasion a few years ago in The Waterfront
Theatre in Belfast as Patsy was honoured with a Gradam Cheoil for</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">his service to the propagation of Irish music.</span></div><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">His
music is interspersed with stories and anecdotes and wit that makes him a most
entertaining individual. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
was employed as a draughtsman for Roscommon County Council for most of his
working life. His life had a share of sadness. He lost his wife Pauline at her
early age. In 2003 he lost his daughter Nora to cancer aged 15 in 2003. He
reflected on her passing with “I think of her every day of my life”. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Patsy
Hanly is a person of which Roscommon can be justly proud. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Television Magnetism <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
watch<b> </b>a good deal of television
these times. Maybe I am not alone in doing that! Last night, which was Tuesday
night, I did not turn on the television at all. I was putting down a frame of
paragraphs for this blog and it was easier to abstain because I felt there was
nothing worthy of watching. That is a rare thing I confess. I know of a few
people who pay little heed to watching television at all. I knew of one of my
students back in the day who answered my query of what he had watched on
television over the week –end with “Sir, we don’t have a television in the
house”. That was the most interesting answer that I could have received. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway
I seem to remember some writer –maybe Shaw- expressing something along the
lines of; “If I leave a theatre not having learned something I feel it has been
a waste of time”! Now I am diligent in
my approach! I get the Sunday Independent for a few reasons such as I am used
to it and its contributors, it can keep me going for half the week at least,
its sports coverage is pretty decent and it has a Sunday to Saturday inclusive
Television guide. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> I’ll
outline one of the good days as a viewer and that was Saturday January the
first. It had a rich line-up of
programmes and being New Year’s Day I would have no conscience about occupying
the armchair for a lengthy period. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> It had
the following programmes in no particular order;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A very good profile of the
BBC’s international sports star of 2021 Rachael Blackmore.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">On TG 4 Connacht had a
tough struggle but overcame Munster. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Sports Story’ with Joe
Brolly being interviewed by Tommy Martin. Brolly is always worthy of watching
or listening to for a variety of reasons. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There were 3 films (I have
not arrived at using the word ‘movies’ yet having moved on from the ‘pictures’
of my adolescence.) Two of them were ‘Sicario’ a pretty violent drugs
Mexico/U.S. border action film. Then there was David Lean’s ‘Great
Expectations’. This is probably the film I have at the top of my favourites
list with so many elements adorning it. It was adapted from the book by
probably the second greatest story teller in literary history, Charles Dickens,
the man who invented Christmas. (The Bard could hardly be pushed out of first
place). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Being New Year’s Day there
were games to watch with the BBC 1 ‘Match of the Day’ night-time compilation
being the micro-wave device for watching 8 or so of those games. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There were a number of names that failed then, but would not
on other days, to get a hearing with, Bob Dylan, Freddie Mercury, Morcambe and
Wise, Michael Caine and Tommy Tiernan as examples.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is not always that there would be days like this but
Christmas provides a bonanza of programmes that decorate Christmas as readily
as any of the other elements. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">From the Kingdom to the Capitol</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">We
Irish are pretty good at claiming people from abroad who have Irish
connections. The soccer people bought into that very successfully some decades
ago. The county GAA authorities are moving in that direction as if it was a new
thing for them. We had Conor Cox starring in the Dome last week and a good
goalkeeper from Oranmore as well. Sligo,
I hear, have tagged into a Spillane who plays his football with a Dublin club.
Also Kerry have brought three senior players from Limerick into their ranks.
That is Kerry hurling!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Now
back to the heading. I tune into CNN (Cable News Network) fairly often. Well over
a year ago a contributor with a very Irish accent caught my attention and my
hearing sensor was confirmed by the visual one as a teddy bear image appeared
on screen. A map of the south west with Kerry highlighted confirmed all. That
was my introduction to Donie O’Sullivan. He has in the past year become a real
decoration on the CNN platform. Donie first came into play as he attended some
Trump rallies during the 2020 Presidential elections. On those occasions he
tried to get a handle on why people favoured Trump to such a depth. While the
CNN tag was like the proverbial red rag to those supporters when Donie asked a
question his accent confused the subject and mellowed the interface. “You from
Ireland. I’d love to go to Ireland”. I suppose some people could not feel
threatened by this teddy bear correspondent. Then it all exploded. It was
January 6, 2021 in the Capitol area of Washington and the ‘insurrection’ and
occupation of the Capitol building by a mob. The first CNN man was already in
situ…the Kerryman. He stayed as close to the fire as he could despite the calls
from the top anchor newsman Wolf Blitzer to ‘be careful’. Donie was an
important contributor to the CNN account of that tumultuous day. His reputation went from near zero to hero. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Donie’s
parents returned to Ireland from the U.S. in 1977. His mother was born in
Boston. The morning after the Capitol Riots Donie was the prime name on
newshounds in Ireland and a TG 4 crew arrived at his parent’s house in
Cahersiveen. His proud parents got the first blast of celebrity by association.
Their boy had done very well. Later on a visit home, he was snapped up to do a
stint on ‘The Late Late Show’ and then a full and very good documentary arrived
on RTE 1 on January 4 with a repeat on the January 6<sup>th</sup> the first
Anniversary of the Capitol riot. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The
success happened because he was the right man in the right place at the right
time. His instant stardom was the result of a maybe 15 years’ immersion in modern
media and chasing his dream. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
imagine that documentary will surface again. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Epilogue<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
had intended to refer to a few more items like the World Darts Championships at
the Ally Pally (Alexander Palace) in London and a related piece on the EU ban
on Tattoo ink but, I have to take the dog for a walk right now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Stay
safe. Get proper quality masks. We are not there yet. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Have
a good (can one use ‘happy’ yet?) 2022. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">As
Dave Allen used to sign off with; “May your Gods go with you”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-61417418393441049632021-12-23T15:23:00.000-08:002021-12-23T15:23:19.730-08:00 Christmas Blog Thursday, December 23. 2021. <p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">Christmas
Blog Thursday, December 23. 2021.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some Memories of my early Castlecoote
Christmases<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas Shopping in the 50s’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas
shopping is always special, encapsulating joy, excitement, anticipation, and
expectation. It crystallised on the day that the ‘big true Christmas Shop’ was
brought home and the sturdy Raleigh bicycle hadn’t the capacity to cope with
that. It was then that the donkey and cart, pony and trap (a lovely mode of
transport), horse and cart, the odd tractor and carrier box, and the rare car
were to jostle for staging posts around the shop. What a picture they made.
(The car owners were few, Dr. Coyne, Fathers Fleming and Father Keane, Mattie
Hughes and the returned ‘yank’ Johnny Kelly were representative.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My
friend Jimmy Coyne who worked in Hughes’ shop in Castlecoote then, relayed to
me recently, when talking of those times, that on those Christmas days as the
shop boy;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #595959; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;"> “The atmosphere was such that I cannot
describe but I can remember it as if it was yesterday. It was just magic.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
this array of normal groceries enhanced with delicacies arrived at the home
most of it was stored in a special room labelled as the ‘good room’ or the ‘top
room’ of the house, not to be touched until the big day or the day before, if
required. As youngsters, we were always curious to see the real treats and what
the shop owner added to our ‘shopping list’ as a reward for being a loyal
customer through the year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">People
would have saved some extra money for this special outing helped by some early Christmas-card money from members of the family in England or the magical
dollar bills from connections in New York or other great cities in that
dreamland of the fifties that was the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
memorable staple of those years was the home-baked Christmas Cake rich with
treacle, currants, and novelty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas Dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">With
a fairly big family group, parents and four boys and three girls, there were
two tables used. The usual large kitchen table with, perhaps, a new colourful
oilcloth with a smaller table appended for the younger family members.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
was not turkey in those times but a ‘goose’ with slivers of rasher and
stuffing. One of the highlights was the annual appearance of the ‘dessert’
always jelly and custard in my memory but exotic nonetheless. While my father
might have his bottle of stout and mam a rare sherry we had Monica Duff
(Ballaghaderreen) lemonade. We teased ourselves with it when removing the cap
and letting the fizz shoot up our nose! We teased each other by trying to be
the last one to have a decent amount of the dessert still remaining while the
rest had cleared their plates. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
remainder of the evening was spent playing board games. Snakes and Ladders was
pivotal. Later I got to really enjoy playing draughts something I could
resurrect. Then came the card games. The new deck of cards would be taken from
the box and had a special aura and odour. Sometimes the upturned tea chest
served as a table of convenience. The game of choice was ‘25’. This was played
with a steely determination and a caustic eye. Despite being the season of
goodwill the fragile tea chest was sometimes tested as people played badly,
reneged or seemed biased for or against another individual. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas
Day had begun early with the Santa devotees up early. I remember one incident
in that phase of my childhood. I was the first person up to inspect the
stocking for Santa’s delivery. I was a bit unhappy and felt that Santa had left
me a mite shorter than my older brother. So I decided to balance the booty. It
led to some puzzling- to me- later delicate interrogation. How it turned out
has not been recorded. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas Eve<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas
Eve has been perhaps marginally the most atmospheric day of the calendar year.
There was a real hustle and bustle around the house. There was an effort to
ensure that everyone played their part. That did not always work! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
tended to the fires as maybe the ‘top room’ was brought into service then as
opposed to ‘The Station’ or visiting ‘yanks’.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
work of the farm went on of course with milking of cows and tending to their
enclosure with hay from the loft and bedding from the stray pike. The rota for
cow-milking sometimes was a subject of debate. Occasionally there were early
lambs and watching over the sheep was a regular vigil with the storm lamp deep
into the night as we sought the flock in the mist of darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
family members went to Mass on Christmas Eve at 12 midnight. This would be a
crowded church. There you would see those who were home on holidays from
London, Manchester, Birmingham and the occasional star visitor from New York or
Chicago. My sister Carmel, then a nurse in London, would visit some Christmases
but preferred the summer of good weather and the Ballygar carnival. The rear of
the church was often a mixture of those of little faith or some who had already
spent some celebratory hours in Hughes’; Ansboro’s or Ward’s bar in the area.
These construction workers (mostly) seemed to be doing well abroad as they had
the shiny mohair suits, Brylcreem hair with a slick or a lick and a harlequin
tie. Sometimes their manner was somewhat disrespectful and tested the patience
of the stern Father Fleming. He was, I imagine, restrained by the probability
of a surge in the Christmas collection and no major intervention was employed.
I, at the requisite age, liked to be on the fringe of this group as an observer
of course. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
more conservative group of the congregation went to mass on Christmas Day and
welcomed the visitors with genuine good will and all was well with the world.
Most families had a particular seating arrangement with blue bloods locating to
something akin to the box seats in the front pews. There they would have the
full family with members home from Dublin where they worked in the civil
service. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">St. Stephen’s Day also Wren Boy’s
Day.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
participated a few short years on St. Stephen’s Day as a ‘wren boy’. One year
my older brother and I headed off. Across the bridge to Fuerty and met a man we
thought would be a reasonable mark. So we gave it our all with the song ‘The Wild
Colonial Boy’. He listened to us
attentively but his review on our conclusion I will not repeat here. That
knocked Brendan out of the frame but I soldiered on. I suppose I’m a kind of a
nightmare for an audience if I ever sang. I couldn’t sing but I would know all
the words of a long song!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On
that occasion, I knew that the Heavey family connections were home from Chicago
and in residing in Castlestrange. Though it was maybe two miles on I didn’t
want to abandon my odyssey and trudged to that house through the snow. There I
sang my song, made sure my mask was at half-mast, was easily recognised and
welcomed as if I was Bing Crosby. It was made worth my while by that family
which I have always regarded highly. I had decided to abandon my tour and was
helped by being brought home in a car by a visiting cousin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
I prised open the treacle tin, tipped its content onto the table and counted. Though
I had not made many calls I still had a pretty penny by being selective after
my opening rebuff. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
thinking how to end this reflection I can think of no better way than repeating
Jimmy Coyne’s summation; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The atmosphere was such that I
cannot describe but I can remember it as if it was yesterday. It was just
magic.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sin é.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Slán is Beannacht.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take care, try and follow the safety
guidelines…get your jabs. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I wish you all the very best that you
can be this Christmas and that 2022 will be a year of hope realised and that
the magic returns in full. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I especially include those from
abroad who read my ramblings here as I am told. T.C. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-13525160084517068042021-12-10T23:45:00.002-08:002021-12-10T23:45:26.282-08:00Update 11th December<p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">Saturday
DECEMBER 11, 2021</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <b>Remembering
Hal Cawley<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Many
tributes have been paid to one of football’s most amiable characters in the
region, Hal Cawley, who has gone to his eternal reward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle
Celtic confirmed on Thursday that the club’s “father” Hal Cawley had passed
away and the tributes poured to Celtic’s Facebook page. The word ‘gentleman’
was appended to many of those tributes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
club described him as “a gentleman to one and all”, and although he was
“quietly spoken, when Hal spoke it was always something worth hearing.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
a statement, Boyle Celtic added that the club wouldn’t exist without Hal’s
contribution, highlighting how Hal and a group of local friends brought Boyle
Celtic back to life in 1966.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Through the 70s’, 80s’ and 90s’ when
the club literally had nothing, great men like Hal Cawley, John Cryan, Seán
Daly, Mick Gilmartin, and a few others kept us open, behind the scenes, and it
will never be possible to thank them enough for what they did,”</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> reflected the club.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle
Celtic went on to say that Hal took great pride in the success of the club’s
youth teams in the knowledge that the future would be bright for his beloved
club who are currently top of the Roscommon and District League Premier
Division table.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“<b>Hal Cawley always had a touch of class
about him</b>,” the club continued.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
February 2019, the Roscommon Herald and SUPERVALU honoured Hal with a Hall of
Fame award, an accolade he was very proud to receive from Republic of Ireland
soccer international and special guest Ray Houghton.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“When he
spoke that night, many from outside the club got a flavour for his vast
knowledge of the game, the incredible history of it that he had and names of
local area players who had played at the highest level in England, that most
had never heard of. Those of us involved in the club have been lucky enough to
hear some of the great stories he had, stockpiled in that sharp mind,”</span></i></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Boyle Celtic recalled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another
proud moment for Hal was seeing the club reach the FAI Junior Cup semi-final
against Evergreen FC in April 2017 at the Showgrounds, Sligo. He was very close
friends with the club’s secretary Richard Kennedy, and indeed all Boyle Celtic
members and players who had the height of respect for him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Hal had many, many friends around
the town, in football and outside of football. I know we will all miss him.
Rest in peace, old friend,”</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Boyle Celtic’s statement concluded. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hal as a Gaelic footballer.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
Hal was presented with the Roscommon Herald/SUPERVALU ‘Hall of Fame’ award at a
presentation in The Abbey Hotel Roscommon last year I congratulated him here in
a blog. Then I went on to bring attention to his place in Boyle GAA as I wish
to do now. Hal was a regular GAA player with Boyle in the latter fifties and on
the winning Junior team in ’64 when there were only Junior and Senior grades.
The team won six games before defeating Rahara in the final. The manager of the
team was Bob Carr. Another member of that team panel who died recently was
Seamus Scally who died in Dublin and was a close friend of Hal. Another great
friend of Hal’s was paddy McDermott who passed away some years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hal
worked for Stewarts when they were supplying electricity to the town as they
did from the early 1900s’. When the ESB took over the provision of electricity
Hal transferred to the ESB. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hal
was a very visible individual as he cycled around Boyle going into Daly’s or
Boyle Celtic Park. I accompanied him to Bellmullet, Mayo for a Celtic game once
with Gerry Emmett and Johnny Greenan and it was a memorable outing. So many
people have their own memories of Hal and a lot of these are ‘up online’ on the
forums of now. All good. These
background icons in clubs give a sense of security and continuity within a
club. Hal was a thinker and his opinions were sincere and thought out. He will
be missed at Celtic Park.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;">This
Week-Ends Sport</b></div><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: 14pt;">F1 Grand Prix Sunday at 1 Sky and Channel 4.</b></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Might
I alert you to the sports event of the week-end which is the last Formula One
(F1) Car Race of the season in Abu Dhabi. This is Ali V Frazier territory. The
two protagonists are Lewis Hamilton of England going for a record eighth World
Title versus the new kid on the block, Max Verstappen of Netherlands going for
his first win. A few races back Verstappen was well ahead in the points table and
the series looked almost over. But Hamilton has won the last three (?) and they
are now level on points. While I have been aware of motor racing for years I
never tuned into it like this since I happened on the Brazilian Grand Prix. It
has traditionally been broadcast on Sky but Channel Four have wrangled this
Sunday’s event for viewing with them also, with a preliminary position on the
grid trials on Friday and Saturday. You won’t be on your own as the viewing
audience worldwide will be huge and the drama could be electric and possibly
dramatic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">GAA Season still in progress.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Pearses v Mountbellew –Moylough in the Connacht Club Championship will take
place on Saturday in Hyde Park. Knockmore of Mayo await the winners in the
final and the tournament is pretty wide open in my eyes so it is a real
opportunity to go all the way as St. Brigid’s did in 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Boyle GAA Club’s AGM is being held virtually
on Sunday evening at 8 pm</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Sunday Independent Tabloid Sports
Supplement;<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Which I am still reading<b>)<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Legacy of Tiger Woods<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
Sunday’s edition of the above presented a number of articles that caught my
eye. <b>Eamon Sweeney</b> is consistently
interesting and last Sunday profiled the role of one of the greatest sportsmen
across all games i.e. the golfer Tiger Woods. He is only overshadowed slightly
in the golf statistics by the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus has won 18
majors while Tiger Woods in an interrupted career has won 15. As a black man, he
broke through so many barriers as many in the game were jealous of his achievements
probably because he had one obvious difference which was the colour of his
skin. It must have been difficult for a ‘revered’ (!!) golf course like the Masters’
at Augusta was a reservoir of prejudice and discrimination. For golfers
especially this essay is very worthy of your reading time. Eamonn ends his
stellar piece with “Golf didn’t deserve him”.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joe Brolly and Referees<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joe
had a rambling article in defence of referees. Soccer referees at schoolboy
level in Leinster went on strike because of the abusive treatment they were
victims of in their league. A Mayo T.D. and former footballer Alan Dillon
suggested that the treatment that referees got during GAA games was “no
different than that in soccer”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
referees have got a deal of criticism down the years their treatment especially
in Roscommon has been pretty good. I cannot remember any serious incident with
a referee in a Roscommon club game. Actually, I can …it was in the early
seventies Roscommon v Galway. You see how something like that sticks. Anyway, Joe inserted an incident from a game –I presume in Derry- when a referee got
abused and his report to the county committee went as follows; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">“Given the notorious history of this
fixture I brought the two teams to the centre before the throw-in and exhorted
them to conduct themselves in the true spirit of eh Gael, whereupon I was
struck a strong blow from behind which rendered me unconscious. In the
circumstances I have nothing further to report” Signed P. Haughey (Referee) (page
12)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Nadine Doherty’s Tribute to a GAA Backbencher (page 11) <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">This was a lovely story
of Nadine’s GAA connections as a star player for Donegal ladies team, watching
Michael Murphy raise the Sam Maguire Cup in 2012 and the being connected to a
man called David Mackay. His name would not be out front in the Croke Park
civil service but he was obviously proud of Nadine and his Donegal roots. He
ensured that on great days like those of 2012 that she and her mam were close
to the action on the big day by giving them his own tickets. David was Nadine’s
uncle and he passed away recently. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Dermot Gilleece on Golf (Page 20).<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Dermot Gilleece is an
outstanding golf journalist. On Sunday he wrote a piece under the headline of;
“K Club strives for return to the top”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">As a sidebar was a piece
titled <b><i>“The end of a long road towards equality</i></b>”. It talks of the
breakthrough of ladies into the last bastions of ‘men only’ golf clubs.
Apparently Portmarnock and Royal Dublin have opened the gate to that great advance,
it smacks me as being like the delegate from Saudi Arabia at the U.N. when
women’s rights there were being discussed and the delegate declaring that moves
were afoot for women there being allowed to… drive! He declared it with such
self -satisfaction that he seemed a tad disappointed when he did not get a
round of applause for this great advance in women’s civil rights. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Now and I quote Dermot <b>“As a club of ordinary members, all that
was required to bring women into the fold was a PROPOSER and a TWO SECONDS from
the</b> <b>existing membership…a<i>nd nobody thought to do so since its
foundation in 1885”!</i></b><i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">I remember suggesting
this to a lady member of Boyle Golf club maybe 40 years ago when having a talk
on this issue. I suggest that she replied, ‘Oh no, don’t do that’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Rugby with Brendan Fanning<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Connacht which at one
stage were going to be disbanded as a rugby entity has really emerged and for 15 minutes or so looked very good against a star-studded Leinster. In Sunday’s
Indo Brendan had articles on two Connacht players; that is if Robbie Henshaw of
Athlone is allowed. The other is Jack Carty and his exclusion from the Irish
team is a debateable question. Mentioning the absence of Carty from an Irish
panel another omission crashes into my mind from tonight –Friday. It comes from
the All-Star GAA awards. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The Hurling All-Stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">This has a hurling team
of 12 yes 12 Limerick players and one each from Waterford, Kilkenny and Clare.
This must be a record for one county to dominate to such a degree and it
illustrates how dominant Limerick are right now. Also, the beaten All-Ireland finalists and the
man not chosen Patrick Horgan who has been a consistent and major hurler for
Cork. Maybe the selectors thought that Horgan had enough in the four he has
already but that could hardly be the guideline.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">In looking at this team
it brings to mind the famous Dublin team of the late fifties. There were
fourteen of the team from the one club it being St. Vincent’s. The odd one not
from that club was the goalkeeper. I wonder how the Vincent’s keeper felt about
that. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">This was the 50<sup>th</sup>
Anniversary of the All Stars. Roscommon’s first winner was Mickey Freyne in ’72
followed Dermot Earley in ’74 and ’79; Pat Lindsay in ’77; Harry Keegan ‘78/
‘80/ ’86; Tom Heneghan ’79; Gerry
Connellan ’80; Danny Murray ’79/ ’80; Paul Earley ’85; Tony McManus ’89; Enon
Gavin ’91; Francie Grehan ’02. One real deserving Roscommon All-Star by my
reckoning who was passed over was Frankie Dolan for 2013. Enda Smith was a nominee
a few years back. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">As you can see I got a
lot out of that tight Sunday Independent Sport’s Supplement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The An Post Books of the year were announced this week <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">I was going to list a few
of the books but changed my mind! Every year there are fine and lovely books
for all tastes. I’ve just highlighted three that interest me more than the
rest. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Eason Novel of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Irish Independent Crime
Fiction Book of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">56 Days – Catherine Ryan
Howard<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></b></p>
</div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Sport book of the Year in Association
with Ireland AM.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></b></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Fight or Flight: My Life, My Choices –
Keith Earls, with Tommy Conlon<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Sunday Independent
Newcomer of the Year <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Snowflake – Louise Nealon<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Odgers Berndtson
Non-Fiction Book of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland
Since 1958 – Fintan O’Toole. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">This book was the overall winner.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Dubray Biography of the
Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? –
Séamas O’Reilly<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Bookselling Ireland
Cookbook of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Everyday Cook – Donal
Skehan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">National Book Tokens
Popular Fiction Book of the Year <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Aisling and the City –
Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Bookstation Lifestyle
Book of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Décor Galore – Laura De
Barra<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">TheJournal.ie Best Irish
Published Book of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The Coastal Atlas of
Ireland – Val Cummins, Robert Devoy Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett, Sarah Kandrot<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Specsavers Children’s
Book of the Year (Junior)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">A Hug for You – David King, illustrated by Rhiannon
Archard<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Specsavers Children’s
Book of the Year (Senior)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The Summer I Robbed a
Bank – David O’Doherty, illustrated by Chris Judge<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Teen and Young Adult Book
of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The New Girl – Sinead
Moriarty<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">RTÉ Audience Choice Award<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Your One Wild And
Precious Life - Maureen Gaffney<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Library Association of
Ireland Author of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Marian Keyes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Writing.ie Short Story of
the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Little Lives – Deirdre
Sullivan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Listowel Writers’ Week
Irish Poem of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Longboat at Portaferry –
Siobhan Campbell<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The Love Leabhar Gaeilge
Irish Language Book of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Madame Lazare – Tadgh Mac
Dhonnagain<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The An Post Bookshop of
the Year<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Kennys Bookshop and Art
Gallery, Galway. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">I’ll adjourn with that
for now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Take care of yourselves
and try and follow the golden rules. It’s difficult but despite life’s trials
and tribulations it’s still popular.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-65455870866385413192021-11-26T01:59:00.002-08:002021-11-26T02:13:39.248-08:00Update 24th November<p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">Blog
Thursday November 24</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Cross Street’ by Jarlath Tivnan. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A
lot of people will be familiar with the name Jarlath Tivnan by now. He has
adapted and written a number of plays and this weekend he has his new play at
‘The Arts Centre’ in Roscommon town from Thursday night to Saturday night
inclusive. The play has been developed with the theatre company Fregoli in
which Jarlath’s first cousin, Maria Tivnan, is a founder member in 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Cross
Street’ is an actual street in the middle of Galway city that I know pretty
well. There is a real ‘Bohemian’ atmosphere about that core of Galway with the
Druid Theatre, many music pubs, great bookshops like Kenny’s and Byrnes and a
great atmosphere especially on busy sunny summer days. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Jarlath
is also an accomplished traditional musician with his brother Conor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Fregoli
has been regular players at the Roscommon Arts Centre to the mutual benefit of
both entities. Maria has also been involved in Boyle Arts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle People on the Box<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A
number of Boyle people have been visible on television in recent times. Earlier
this week Rachael Lavin featured on the Claire Byrne programme in a discussion
on the subject of the moment i.e. Covid. The other guest is now a very familiar
face on television it being Luke O’ Neill. Luke had an article in the Sunday
Independent last Sunday titled; ‘Don’t despair…Strength will Get Us Through’. I
hope so ‘with a little help from friends’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway, Rachael was obviously well prepared as she shot out statistics on the status and
twists and turns that are now the unending story of Covid infections,
vaccinations, age profiles, the non-vaccinated and so on. Rachael is a rising
star and the best of luck to her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">With regard to the ever-optimistic Luke
O’Neill I hope he is right but it is a very tough journey and an awful number
of people will be scarred by it all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Oasis of Achill<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
don’t know if oasis is an appropriate word but for many Achill is a special
place. On Nationwide on RTE on Wednesday evening Donie O’ Connor appeared in a segment on his friend, the artist Paraic McCaul. Apparently, along with art
Paraic is an accomplished musician also and of course Donie is a diamond in
terms of his music which we all love here in Boyle. Achill is a significant
part of ‘The Wild Atlantic Way’ and has been a tourist destination for many
decades. An island I have visited a number of times, which I enjoy going to
also, is ‘Inishbofin’ off the coast of Galway, not far from Clifden. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">John Mulligan’s ‘The Kettle’s Boyled’
in the Roscommon Herald.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
am a regular reader of John’s short piece in ‘The Roscommon Herald’. Last week the title of his piece was; ‘Would
cutting the national herd affect farm incomes?’ In it John explores the various
supports which farming benefits from. I am from a farming background but while
I try a little to be informed I would have a long way to go in getting a grip on
the various schemes and supports that obtain. John writes of farm incomes being
made up of 74% of farm subsidies in 2018 and an astonishing 158% in the case of
sheep and cattle. It is somewhat
difficult to get your head around that. I remember farmers getting a subsidy
some years ago for ‘set aside’ land. Perhaps that was an environmental payment
of sorts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">While
farmers can lobby for greater subsidies on an ongoing basis people in the small
business sector traditionally fell or progressed on a business model. Pre Covid
these businesses could not seek supports if their business was not going well.
All they could do was adapt or close down. They had no CAP. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">When
I came to live in Forest View and looked out at the sweep of the Curlew Hills
there was a certain amount of tillage and ploughed land for various crops,
potatoes, turnips, oats, and so on. That was the case with what were titled
mixed farms of my youth. There is hardly a sod turned on those hills now.
Farming is now a different animal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">On
the next page I read Gerry Boland’s letter on ‘Industrial Farming’. On this
occasion Gerry was highlighting the fate of breeding pigs and the conditions in
which they are incarcerated. It would nearly influence one to become a
vegetarian. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Apparently, a section of the farming community saw fit to bring their tractors to a protest
rally in Dublin in the last week. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">(A
couple of days later some members of the haulage industry did like-wise with
their trucks and were photographed going three abreast driving slowly down the
M50. It certainly was not a way to ‘win friends and influence people’ with all
the concerns that people have right now. That and the season that’s in
it!) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">“Our Forestry industry is in crisis,
but nobody cares” <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This
was John’s subject for this week’s column. I was a bit aware of this subject
after a conversation some time ago with a retired forester. I will not treat
too much of it here in any depth, John does that much better than I ever could.
Licensing seems to be at the heart of the matter. A stark number stood out
which was that over 24, 000 hectares were licensed for felling while around 5
and half thousand for planting. The Minister for Forestry is Senator Pippa
Hackett. I never heard of her. Also, it is said that farmers are driven away
from tree planting by bureaucracy and time delays. This is an industry that is
seen as a significant element in absorbing carbon<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have walked in an area where timber has been harvested and thought about how much
timber is actually wasted in terms of being left to rot after the cream has been
taken away. Is there nobody licensed to make use of this renewable fuel? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Book Season<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This
time of year seems to be the high point of the book season. I see that Sean
O’Dowd highlights a book by his brother Michael on the ‘Home Page’ of
realboyle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
week saw Barry Feely another of his books. Fair play to him as to have a book
in print is a big task. This one is titled <b>‘Good
Mercy…The Life & times of the Mercy Nuns, Building Boyle Community’. <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It
is a tribute, as the title says, to the role played by the Mercy nuns to a
number of key elements in the life of Boyle and its people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">They
arrived in Boyle in January 1875 and their involvement ended in April 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">While
the educational work of the nuns is fully treated of the role of the nuns with
their commercial laundry is also described. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">While
the official launch was cancelled due to Coved the book with his other
publications is available in the Una Bhán Shop at King House. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Dukie …The Game of Life <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The
above title was launched recently in Roscommon by Seamus Duke who has had a
career in local Journalism and especially from his time as a political and
sporting commentator with Shannonside Radio. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Seamus
is one of the core group of those who go by the moniker true blue Rossies. I
was not at the launch but as might he said, all the usual suspects were there
in force. Seamus is a colourful character and has a very visible presence in
Roscommon town and well beyond it. He has a zest for life and living it and that
is displayed in this account of ‘The Game of Life’. The centrality of Roscommon
town has been a help in all that and the book name-checks a myriad of
sporting, political and social personalities. He developed a large circle of
friends and colleagues with whom he associated and shared many memorable
occasions. All these get the full and effective treatment in this enjoyable
book. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> His primary sporting reference is with Gaelic
football. He begins with an account of the passage of the 2006 minor team to an
All-Ireland final replay v Kerry in Ennis. While he describes several sporting
highlights this was probably THE top of the list. As someone who was also there, I can say that he really does the victory that day justice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He has always been a great supporter of
Roscommon Gaels Club and devotes a number of chapters to their great days
especially during the seventies when they had a fine team. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">By
association with Brian Keenan and Ollie Hannon, he shared great days and wins
when their horses Montelado and Sir OJ were performing at top venues like
Cheltenham. He also covers Leitrim’s memorable win in the Hyde when they won
the Connacht title in ’94 for the second time the last being in 1927. He
describes his interaction with many politicians and details the excitement of
memorable election counts. Another highlight was his being, with friends,
always with friends, when Padraig Harrington won the British Open golf title at
Birkdale. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">From
page 104 he relays to story of a great young Roscommon golfer Ken Kearney. He
was an outstanding amateur golfer. He then joined the professional circuit but
reverted to the amateurs soon again. It was the era when Harrington, McGinley
and Clarke and others were his contemporaries and went on to do great things. I
had been aware of Ken at the time and wondered what he did then and this is the
first time that I have read a brief account of his career. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Another
phase in life was Dukie’s support of Manchester Utd. and his visits to matches
there, with friends. A highlight was interviewing George Best who was always an
idol of his from boyhood days. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
obviously loved doing radio and could multi-task to a dizzying degree. After a
long run with Shannonside the station was taken over by another group and the
choice presented to Seamus was not palatable and he decided to leave. His
account of this fracture is personal and emotive. He was leaving something he
obviously loved doing. He was going to an uncertain future and he with a young
family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Seamus
is the son of Seamus Duke senior from Elphin who died a young man leaving his
mother with a young family. He pays tributes all around to his mother, wife and
family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">His
very full life was a series of improvisations and he jumped many fences. It is
all described in this very enjoyable book with great zest as he ticks off his
bucket list of exciting sporting events, with friends and ‘banter’. The book is
available in Boyle at Supervalu beside the wee entrance gate and costs
€15. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So
in terms of Roscommon, there are books this year from Frankie Dolan a few months
ago and also one by John Scally from Brideswell on ‘Great GAA Teams’ which
includes the Roscommon team of the forties. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
would still and always recommend Mike Lennon’s monumental ‘A Dictionary of
Roscommon Biography’ for aspiring young Roscommon local historians (and I hope
they are out there). It has over 800 pages and lists thousands of Roscommon
people of note and those connected with the county from outside. It will set
you back 30/40 euro. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Sports</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle
Under 20 team takes on Strokestown in the Abbey Park on Saturday the 25<sup>th</sup>
at 12 noon in the Division 2 Championship. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This
weekend there are a number of interesting provincial games. A top one is
Roscommon’s senior champions Padraig Pearses v Mountbelllew-Moylough of Galway,
in Hyde Park. I presume it will be streamed some way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Nothing compares to local’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This
was the heading for ‘Hold the Back Page’ by Eamonn Sweeney (former St. Mary’s
College student) in the Sunday Indo. of last Sunday. He went through a number
of counties where some pretty extraordinary things were happening. In Tipp. for
instance, the club players of Loughmore were out for the 17<sup>th</sup>
weekend in a row playing competitive championship games. The reason for this
lay in them being a dual club who were contenders for both football and hurling
championship wins. A number of replays filled in any gaps there might have
been! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In
both Armagh and Galway the two great clubs lost out. The Armagh kingpins
Crossmaglen-winners of 21 of the last 25 county- titles- being ousted by Clann
Eireann of Lurgan. Corofin lost out to Mountbellew-Moylough. He them cited
happenings in Clare and then came Antrim. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
got quite interested in the happenings in Antrim as a club called Creggan
Kickhams won their first title in 67 years, the last one being in 1954. A phone
call confirmed that Kickhams was the club of a really great Boyle Club activist,
a while ago now, Kevin Young. The
winning injury-time goal was appropriately scored by Sam Maguire! Wasn’t it
great and yes Kevin was there. Experiencing a moment like that is one of the
great communal joys of life in this country. North, South, East or West there
is nothing like winning a county final, only one that has not been won for a
very long time such as this one. Cheers Kevin. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Evergreen Beatles<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">BBC
dedicate 3 to 4 hours of its Saturday night schedules to one group. It seems to
have started with Abba but last Saturday it was the turn of Paul McCartney and
The Beatles. I found it very interesting and it showed what great songwriters
McCartney and John Lennon were. They began when I started to tune into pop
music as such on Radio Luxembourg in the early sixties. Through the sixties, they were a phenomenon and it was a great period for good popular songs. Paul
McCartney has always come across as a very humble, accessible and easy to talk
with individual. This was very evident on Saturday night. On Sunday morning listening to Miriam O’Callaghan
one of her guests was the Belfast poet Paul Muldoon. He was there talking of
his book on the Lyrics of the Beatles songs. While the early Beatles songs are
fairly straightforward forward there are undercurrents to the many of the later ones
that deserve scrutiny. So for the millions of people for whom the Beatles are
still their music heroes Paul Muldoon’s treatise will be interesting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Next
Saturday night it is Queen and Freddie Mercury who are in the Spotlight
beginning at 8 and going on until 11.35. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">‘The Lake District of England’ <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
saw this very interesting programme on Saturday last but in looking at the
television programme now, for the times of the Queen series, it pops up again
at 7 on BBC 2 on Saturday. The interpreter is the excellent Simon Reeve. The lake
District has been made famous by its association with the poet William Wordsworth.
The main river there is the Eden river and on one a number of occasions it
caused Carlisle to be flooded to a major depth. Simon investigates efforts at
rewilding and returning the Eden to its original windy way as mitigation
during severe rainfalls. Another, of the number issues he looks at, is the
impact of long-term tourism on The Lake District in terms of locals being
unable to afford housing and employees having to be bused from long distances
to service the tourist facilities there and so on. Could that happen in our
superb lake District? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway, it was interesting to me and Simon Reeve is a guide to follow on his many
worldly travels. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s a Small World<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">We
have all heard that said for decades now. But as I try to write here now on
Thursday the 25<sup>th</sup> of November the following happening of 15 or so
minutes ago may be a good example of that phenomenon. In another room I hear a
set of Irish music. Nothing very strange in that you might say. However, when I
investigate, it is a WhatsApp from Anne’s niece in…Abu Dhabi. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">She
had just happened on an Irish music session in a hotel there, where there is a Board
Fáilte promotion of Ireland in train. She recognises one of the musicians who
was from… Boyle… and with whom she had played music when they were teenagers.
It was… James Carty… and friends who were there courtesy of Bord Fáilte. So she
gets on her phone and within seconds, James’s music is to be heard in our
kitchen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">An
early example of this, maybe 8 years ago now, went as follows (from my memory
of it) made radio, maybe the Joe Duffy Show. A young man in Tulsk comes across
sheep on a road in the area and puts it up on Facebook as ‘Gridlock in Tulsk
traffic’. Looking into his Facebook in Perth Western Australia was another chap
from Tulsk. I’ll call him Tommy. The sheep
area is very familiar to Tommy and he gets on his phone to his mam. ‘Hello
mam’….’ Tommy is that you. OMG’. ‘Mam I just rang to tell you your sheep are
out on the road’. Mam, another ‘OMG’. Tommy ‘Mam sort that out and I’ll ring
you back’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In
our next edition here we will be sending greetings to all (that we know of)
Boyle people abroad, as we do. So if there is anyone you’d like to add to the
list let me know. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">My
phone is down at the moment but should…’be back soon’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">We
will leave it at that. Go get your Booster. It is a gift for Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Take
care wherever you are. Tony. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-45133822511272274112021-11-03T12:11:00.002-07:002021-11-03T12:11:38.323-07:00Update 3rd November<p> <span lang="EN-IE">Blog Sat. October 30 last one </span><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Oct</span><span lang="EN-IE">. 5.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Coming Weekend’s Sport;</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle
GAA have two very important games this coming weekend, both finals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(So,
from GAA Notes on realboyle)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle LGFA <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Intermediate Final.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Ml. Kerins & ‘The Well’ -sponsored Intermediate Ladies will play St Dominick’s
in the Championship Final this Saturday, November 6 at 1.30pm in Elphin. Your
support would be very welcome. Note that gates will be in operation for this
game with €10 standard admission and €5 for concession entry (cash only).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle
won their place in the final following a win in a thriller of a semi-final v
Eire Og on Sunday the 24<sup>th</sup>. Boyle had a comfortable lead at half
time on the score of 2. 7 to 0. 4 though playing against the wind. Eire Og were
much more decisive in the second half and whittled Boyle’s lead down to 2
points. With virtually the last kick of the game Eire Og were awarded a penalty
but the taker’s shot came back off the post. The final score was Boyle 3.7 Eire
Og 1.12. I would not know anything about the team they meet in the final only
to say that the vibes are that St. Dominick’s are a rising club over all
aspects of GAA activity. Boyle have some fine players in Suzie Keenehan,
Isabelle and Sophie King, Saoirse and Roisin Wynne, Megan McKeown, Caoimhe
Cregg and Kate Harrington with the team manager being Vincent Flanagan. Quite a
few well known surnames there in a Boyle GAA context. So every good wish to
this team on Saturday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2021 Division 1 U17 Championship
Final Boyle v Roscommon Gaels</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
minor team, which you will have heard me talk about before, take on a strong
Roscommon Gaels side in the Division 1 Championship Final on Sunday, November
7th, in Hyde Park, at 2:30pm. This could be a cracker with two highly skilled
teams and little to divide them. In terms of favourites I am reminded of an old
timer when asked what he thought the odds were for an upcoming big game put it
at 60/50. That is nearly logical in terms of this game also! I referred to the
Boyle team after their fine win over Michael Glavey’s/ Eire Og in Kilbride as a
real exhibition of quality football. While they dipped somewhat in their win
over Clann na nGael they still took a big scalp there also. So I look forward
to this game with great interest. Boyle have won only three, that I know of,
minor titles over the decades. They were in 1938 and ’39 and 2011 with a Donie
Smith led team. So we wish the team and manager Shane Spellman and the other
team mentors the very best in this final. I know that a migrant from Boyle to
Spain will be glued to some device to follow the game’s progress. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Masters Final<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Good
luck to Club Men Lochlainn Conboy and Seamus Kane as they prepare to line out
against Cavan with the Roscommon Masters in the GMA Plate Final on Saturday,
November 6. The game is set to be played at 2pm in the Fr Manning Gaels GAA
Grounds, Drumlish, Longford”. (per Boyle GAA Notes)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">County Finals</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
watched both of the county Intermediate and Senior football finals. The
Intermediate final between St. Faithleach’s and St. Dominick’s was very
disappointing. The quality of the football was poor. While I always like to say
that players do not go out to play poorly (except you’re Harry Keane) and the
conditions were bad also this certainly reflected all that. The game went to
extra time by which time I had migrated to milking the cow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
county needed a good game and it came in the senior final between Clann na
nGael and Padraig Pearses. While there were the usual mistakes, slipping and
sliding, loss of possession et al there was some fine moves and scores
especially the two Pearses goals. Pearses thoroughly deserved their win. They
had the better all-round team plus substitute options and the Daly trio are a
formidable force for their team. So now South Roscommon has three top teams and
an emerging St. Dominick’s while the North-West is still struggling to leave
their mark on the Fahey cup. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
was good to see my old pal Patrick McKiernan from Ballyfarnon as the man with
the whistle and fair play to him for doing a good job and working hard to
progress in this challenging occupation.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Athleague Take County Hurling Title;<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
was a pretty unique final in the sense of the two teams contesting it, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Athleague
and Tremane, come from the same parish. The final third of the parish is Fuerty
which is a tad more into football though many of the hurlers here are also
members of the Fuerty football team. Tremane is a small club in terms of size
but had a really top era in the seventies, once toppling Kiltormer of Galway in
the Provincial championship. Their top player is Niall Kilroy of the county
football team. He was the only stand–out player for Tremane in this final also.
Athleague is regarded as the old heart of hurling in Roscommon and its wins go
back to the early 1900s’. My father, Pat Conboy, played hurling with Athleague
and football with Fuerty away back and was a dual player with Roscommon. I
played hurling with both Athleague and Tremane and had a rare outing at senior
level with Athleague once. But in those years I was more a wandering soul being
in England and spending summers in the U.S. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wandered off there also. Athleague won but the standard was so very
disappointing that I will not go into any detail on it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">COP (Conference of Parties</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">…not a lot of people know
that. It is a very 'humble' title for such an enormous gathering of the great and
the questionable)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
hugely important get-together of the supposed influencers within this little
planet of ours is ongoing in Glasgow until Friday the 12<sup>th</sup> of this
month. The lead stars will just take their bows and then the workers (as in
bees) will try and achieve changes that might save the world. It is surprising
that the old standard sign from Hyde Park, London. proclaiming ‘The End is
Nigh’ is not blowing in the wind of Scotland. One participant interviewed by
RTE suggested that she had a “Front row seat to the end of the world”. I also
heard the Irish Minister for Agriculture Donegal man Charlie Mc Conalogue
waffaling on with bull******** to top RTE presenter Sarah Mc Inerney about
methane, the national herd and protein etc. I do not know how these
well-briefed presenters can wear this ongoing cruelty. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My
star (of) COP is <b>David Attenborough</b>
who is to the world of nature what Shakespeare is to the English language. He
will leave a legacy of film documentaries that could be stacked up in parallel
to Hamlet, Macbeth and so on. Then there was the absence of the princes of
India, Russia and China. That is like Manchester United playing with Ronaldo,
Cavani and a goalkeeper. Even Bolsonaro of Brazil got someone to sign him in. An
old Dáil trick. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hopefully
no more collecting the tyres from Green Street to Felton. The prospects seem as
if it is all on a knife edge. A big issue here is with farming reducing the
‘national herd’ which produces an inordinate amount of methane. Senior people
look at their offspring but looking at the very young generation it is worrying
to think what kind of a world we leave them. Fair play to <b>Greta</b> <b>Thunberg</b> for
ringing the alarm bells and embarrassing the knobs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
snippet of information that I overheard that interested me was as follows. The
third largest contributor of greenhouse gases is…THE PRODUCTION OF <b>CONCRETE.</b> Not a lot of people know that
either. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Television Viewing</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My Sports Highlights of this Year so
Far.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps
I watch too much television but (of course) it is the medium of our time. What
do I watch? As you would expect I watch a lot of sport and a lot of sports.
Probably the sports event of the year for me so far has been the Solheim Cup (ladies
golf competition between Europe and the U.S.) with its highlight being the
performance of Cavan’s Leona Maguire. It was magnetic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Ryder Cup had a whole range of drama and even if Padraig Harrington’s side was
well beaten, the event overall was riveting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
European Soccer Championships with Italy emerging as winners on penalties after
extra time v England. Italy had the character of the competition too in their
captain Giorgio Chiellini who possessed the characteristics of a pirate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Irish ladies’ soccer team with a win v Finland and a great performance, though
losing v Sweden. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
win by Mayo over Dublin. The recovery of the Roscommon minors v Galway and the
U 21-win v Down. The power displays of Limerick. Boyle minors v Michael
Glaveys/Eire Og. I nearly forgot ‘The Edo Olympics’ and the Para Olympics’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
I also watch cricket from time to time and also some baseball games if they
involve The Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, especially the
finals which they call ‘The World Series’.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
imagine I’m leaving some sports out Ladies GAA games which are regularly top
class. That is enough to be going on with!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Documentaries<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I have
watched a number of really excellent documentaries during Covid. I started off
with the great sports exposé titled <b>‘The
Last Dance’</b>. This was a series on the man who is regarded as the greatest
basketball player ever, <b>Michael Jordan</b>.
It follows his team ‘The Chicago Bulls’ in their relentless pursuit of national
title number six. I have seen it written that the three greatest U.S.
sportsmen are listed as Muhammad Ali; Babe Ruth who was a baseball player with
the New York Yankees in the 1920s’; and Michael Jordan. Tiger Woods was on his
way to being there but a tree got in the way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘The Salute’</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At
the Mexico Olympics of 1968 in the 200 hundred meters final two Black U.S.
Carlos and smith took gold and bronze medals. They were divided by an
Australian names <b>Peter Norman</b>. On
the podium Carlos and Smith raised one arm each in a Black Power salute. Norman
was wearing a human rights ‘button’. The reason that they wore just one glove
each was because one of them forgot his gloves and Norman suggested the
improvisation of wearing one glove each. The head of the Olympics an almost
fascist American named Avery Brundage was outraged and the Americans were sent
home. They were ostracised for decades and their careers were over. Norman too
suffered a similar fate for, as it were, contributing to the protest kind of. Until
this film was made by his nephew and released in 2008 very, very few remembered
Peter Norman the great Australian and world class sprinter. He was ignored when
Australia hosted the 2000 Olympics and died in 2006. Carlos and Smith, his
life-long friends were pall bearers at his funeral. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(*I
tripped across the film ‘Salute’ on BT Sport, I think.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Political/Historical Documentaries.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blair & Brown. The New
Labour Revolution. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blair
could have been a force for good but allowed himself and Britain to be sucked
into the Iraq (Get Saddam Hussein) War by U.S. Hawks like Bush, Cheney and
Donald Rumsfeld and an enthusiastic military power base with the ‘Big Lie’ of
WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">America after 9/11.</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I just saw the second part of this
on Tuesday night on RTE 1. Not for the sensitive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘<b>Once Upon a time in Iraq’</b> RTE 1 @ 11. 50 p.m. on Thursdays tells
the story of the invasion of Iraq, the lack of any plan for after the invasion
and the chaos that followed and will continue for decades. Some 3000 people
were killed in the Twin Towers atrocity. In retribution tens of thousands,
including American soldiers, have died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Those
countries have been destroyed and they now face ongoing chaos, the threat of
famine and, for many, persecution. All this in a purgatorial existence not to
mention the trillions of dollars that were wasted through all of this madness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Two
and three above are not for the squeamish. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
the French revolution an old aristocrat was asked the following question; “What
did you do for the duration of the Revolution?” answered<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I
survived” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll
adjourn at that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take
care, follow the guidelines.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <sup> </sup> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-25262524309610691982021-10-06T00:06:00.003-07:002021-10-06T00:06:44.541-07:00Update 5th October<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blog
October 5<sup>th</sup>. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle U 16 s Convincing County ‘A’
title win</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have been telling anyone interested in Gaelic football who I talk to in Boyle
about a special town team who play pure Gaelic football. The proof of my mission
was to be seen on Friday night last, under lights at Kilbride. It was a
wintery, cold night but the football played was heart-warming. Their opposition
on Friday last was a combination of Michael Glavey’s and Eire Og with a number
of top-class players. They had beaten Boyle in the Abbey Park just a few weeks
ago. This was in a league game for this year’s under-17 minor Championship. So
this 2020 final was expected to be an even affair. However, it did not turn out
that way. From ten minutes or so in Boyle began to assert themselves and at
halftime, they led by 1.6 to 0.4. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
second half proceeded in a similar fashion and ended with a convincing victory
for Boyle 1.13 to 1.7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The detail of the
game is clearly set out in Ronan Flanagan’s report for ‘The Roscommon Herald’,
Sports Section page 8.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ronan
nominated Conor Kelly as ‘Man of the Match’ and it was a clear decision amongst
many sterling performances. Conor is the son of John Jnr. and grandson of John
Kelly Snr. who was an All-Ireland U 21 winner with Roscommon in ’66 and a
regular county senior player from then to the mid-seventies. Colm was outstanding
in this game displaying all the skills with an energy that was special. I will
not go beyond mentioning Colm here as there were so many fine performances
throughout the team that it is best to list the team and panellists in total as
they all contributed to an outstanding and really enjoyable exhibition of
Gaelic football. The skills of foot-passing, gathering and securing possession,
understanding and support play, driving at and through opposition attempts at
defence, unquenchable energy and pace, great free-taking, in other words all
the skills a coach would delight in. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
don’t say this lightly but it’s as good as anything I have seen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
saw this once before when watching a St. Jar lath’s team win one of their many
Hogan Cups in Longford, maybe 30 years ago. The thing I brought from there also
was that all was done in silence from the players which was replicated last
Friday. Some side-line mentors were probably not on that hymn sheet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
left one skill for last. I saw one the finest high-fielding catches I have seen,
from young Eden Kerins (grandson of Liam) about 15 minutes into the game. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
team: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sean Caravan/ Joseph Coyle/ Daniel
Casey Capt./ Mark Dwyer/ Oran Henry/ Eden Kerins/ Mark Halligan/ Conor Kelly/
Niall O’Donnell/ David Duggan/ Luke McGrath/ Catha McKeon/ Shay Noone/ Gavin O’Connor/
David Flanagan with David Beirne/ Jamie Kennedy/ Nicholas Callan/ Oisin
McDermott/ Andrew McGee/ Karl McKeon/ Tommy Walsh. <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
congratulate especially their manager <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shane
Spellman</b> for his contribution to this win. Well done Shane.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Also
his acolytes Dessie Mcloughlin/ Kevin O’Connor/ Gerry Emmett and Jim McGrath.
There is plenty of knowledge and passion there. It can boil over a little but… <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
mention also the significant Boyle support that was in Kilbride on Friday night.
Apart from Cathal Feely I did not see many of the Boyle senior team present but
I might have missed them. The referee, Kerryman Gerry Carmody, deserves a
mention also for his handling of the game.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This same team now face into the
business end of this year’s (2021) U 17 Minor Championship. This is at the
stage of a semi-final v Clann na Gael this week-end. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It
is hard to switch gear from the above so I’ll post it to Sean as a stand-alone
item.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Maybe
I’ll come back with ‘normal stuff’ (!) like</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Crazy murders in the U.S.
and London. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The wild and crumbling
Atlantic Way: Donegal's and Mayo’s mica crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
scheme, which was to be administered by county councils predominately in
Donegal and Mayo, would give homeowners up to €275,000 to reinstate their
crumbling homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently that is not
enough. It is slated, as of now, to cost over €3 billion. Taking ‘The National Children’s
Hospital’ cost inflation as a yardstick it is just a guess what it might really
cost. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Where
is that block supplier now? I have heard little of his company. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
are 6,600 houses in Donegal and Mayo crumbling due to the issue and the
question is possible; Will it stop there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have not used this term for a while…’unbelievable’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A very disturbing issue at
Cork University Hospital which defies logic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An Attorney General doing
a decent ‘nixer’ over a year after his appointment as a Government apparatchik.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Irish army
discrimination and ill-treatment of a number of female officers and the
frightening trial procedures they have to face. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The spiralling costs of
fuels and electricity with threats of outages etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The spiralling cost of
house building materials.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The cost and lack of
availability of housing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe I should just say
the blanket spiralling costs of everything. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Online scams. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The streets of Dublin.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The struggle to adhere
with climate change needs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh Yes …Covid 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(You get a small indulgence
if you have read to here! I remember a ‘Plenary’ indulgence. What was the
lesser one called? They were to do with Purgatory! It was defined as, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
place where some souls suffer for a time before they went to heaven”</i></b>.
There is a mill in my home village of Castlecoote and one potential poet
defined it as; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“A place
where some souls suffered for a time… before he went to England”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thanks for having me”,</b> as contributors
like to announce on U. S. News channels. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-62421963884600500472021-09-20T06:36:00.004-07:002021-09-20T06:40:47.235-07:00Update 20th September<p style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">“The
Autumn winds blow chilly and cold’ is a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song
‘April it will come’. There is the touch of the Autumn snap as of now and we
face into a problematic time. It has a mixture of hope weariness and
reticence. ‘Hope’, the final quality captured in Pandora’s box, is that by
April a more positive picture will have emerged. That would be over two years
since the pandemic struck. It is two years of different living. Very
occasionally I meet a person I have not seen since before it all struck and I
can see those two years of age on their faces as I am sure they can in me. For
everyone, it has been a tough time but for senior people those two years of
restricted living are long lost years (up to a point) which we can ill
afford.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
of that loss can be seen in the Bard’s great poetic view of Autumn<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Sonnet 73 (‘That time of year thou
mayst in me behold’</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">William
Shakespeare <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">That
time of year thou mayst in me behold<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">When
yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Upon
those boughs which shake against the cold,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Bare
ruin’d choirs where late the sweet birds sang.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In
me thou seest the twilight of such day<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">As
after sunset fadeth in the west,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Which
by and by black night doth take away,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Death’s
second self, that seals up all in rest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In
me thou seest the glowing of such fire<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">That
on the ashes of his youth doth lie,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">As
the death-bed whereon it must expire,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Consum’d
by that which it was nourished by.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This thou perceiv’st which makes thy love
more strong,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To love that well which thou must leave ere
long.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Michael D. and another Zappone-gate<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Like
an eternal circle there comes around these division 3 or 4 news stories that in
the status of things are of little or no consequence. Zappone-gate has been on
the agenda for … a month perhaps… and as it begins to submerge for the
insignificance that it was it is now being replaced by a supposed snub from the
President, Michael D. Higgins, for not partaking in an event marking the
establishment of the Northern Ireland state. Perhaps the Catholic Church
representative was unwittingly bounced into attending but Michael D. took time
to analyse it more deeply. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
decided that it would be hypocritical of him to attend an event celebrating the
historical division of this island, an event he fundamentally disagreed with. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
agree with him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">People
may think that Michael D. is some kind of adult teddy bear but as a former
student of this, he has form in standing by his strongly held views which are
cogently thought through and not Twitter fed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
remember, from a good few years ago, hearing Michael D. on a radio debate with
a Chicago-American politician on some sensitive issue and ‘wiping the floor
with him and his argument’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Now
if Mister Bruton wants to attend I presume that can be facilitated and I
imagine it would not be a burden on him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The death of ‘Greavesie’.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">On
opening up the online line news on Sunday morning I was saddened when I saw
that one of my sporting icons, Jimmy Greaves, had died. With Gerry O’Malley he
was my sixties sporting, I suppose, heroes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The
first I saw of soccer football was on the Pathe News and such which were part
of attending the ‘pictures’ (later films) in ‘The Blue Moon’ and ‘Royal’
cinemas in Roscommon town. The first game I saw on television was the 1960
European Cup final between Real Madrid V Eintracht Frankfurt. It took place at
Hampden Park, Glasgow before an attendance of over 126, 000 people. Real
Madrid’s Di Stefano scored three and the great Hungarian Puskás scored four in
a 7 to 3 result. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
then became aware of English soccer and the dominant club team of the early
sixties was Tottenham Hotspurs with a great team. In my few years in London in
the mid-sixties, I started going to odd games in Fulham, Stamford Bridge, Loftus
Road and such. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Once
when working on a McInerney building site in East London I had a slight
accident. I was up on scaffolding, maybe 10 stories high, and jumped in a
window from the scaffolding which was no big deal only for…. a board with a
nail standing out was attached to the top of the window sill and my head sailed
by this but it left its mark and the blood flowed. I went to a nearby hospital
and got patched up with a wrap-around bandage. I took the following day off. I
was living in Ealing, West London then and decided to use the day to go and see
the great Spurs team quite a distance away in North London. A memory from it
was being the butt of jokes about my Sikh head-dress from adjacent Spurs
supporters. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">However,
the one vivid memory from that game was a magical goal by Jimmy Greaves. I
followed his career nearly always after that. He was a prolific and record goalscorer. He was a shoo-in on England teams up to and during the early games of
the 1966 World Cup but perhaps it was because of a slight injury or whatever he
was dropped by team manager Alf Ramsey from the World Cup Final England team
and replaced by a great West Ham player Geoff Hurst.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There
were no substitutions allowed in that era so there was no chance of a cameo
appearance. It broke his heart. I was still in London that World Cup sunny
summer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Jimmy
continued for a time with Spurs but then incredibly he was moved on to West
Ham. He also played for some other clubs as alcohol took its toll. He addressed
his alcohol addiction and returned to the limelight as an early television
soccer pundit and teamed up with Scot Ian St. John former Liverpool great
player. They were not just a soccer pundit team but a very entertaining comic
double act. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Jimmy
remarried his wife and had a good life but never lost his personality of
lovable decency. He got a stroke in 2015. About a month ago I watched a
detailed documentary on his life in football on BT Sport and the challenges he
overcame. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It
is some coincidence that today, Sunday Sept. 19, that Spurs V Chelsea is one of
the games being televised on Sky. Jimmy started with Chelsea then went to Italy
for a short spell and came back to Spurs with whom he will ever be associated.
My old pal John McPherson, a great Spurs and ‘Saint and Greavsie’ supporter,
might encounter him in the Utopia of above. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Jimmy
Greaves was a special player and I will remember that goal of his always. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">P.S.
I just remember a little story from that Documentary on BT Sport. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Sky
was taking over the ITN channel transmitting ‘The Saint and Greavsie’ and the
two men met up to discuss its implications. Jimmy said to Saint John that he
was offered a job with Sky and turned it down. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Saint
John said to him; ‘Jimmy how could you do that, turn Sky down?’ <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Jimmy
answered; ‘Saint I feel like I’m getting too old to be climbing ladders putting
up those bloody dishes’!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Film ‘The Keeper’ <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
week I tripped across a film on BBC with the title ‘The Keeper’. I read the
little paragraph relaying the content and tuned in. It involved the capture of
a German soldier in France by British forces and his transfer to a ‘Prisoner of
War’ camp in Lancashire near the war's end and for some time afterwards. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film showed a traumatic event in the
German soldier’s early military life. A grocery supplier to the camp, who was
also a team manager for the nearby St. Helen’s Town soccer team, saw this
soldier playing football in the camp as a goalkeeper and was impressed. The
manager eventually got sanction to bring the soldier out of the camp to play
with his team. That had its difficulties in trying to overcome the prejudice of
having a German, a recent enemy, playing for them. However, he was so good that
the small club overcame that and soon his reputation spread and the Manchester
City manager arrived to look him over. He too was impressed and brought him to
Manchester City. Again prejudice and resentment followed at an even higher
degree. Again his ability subdued the resistance. He played in the Cup final
for Manchester City in 1955 v Newcastle then a powerhouse who won by 3 goals to
nil. Man City were again in the final of 1956 this time v Birmingham City. Near
the end of the game with Man. City leading 3 goals to 1 the Man. City goalkeeper
sustained a serious neck injury. Though obviously in great pain he played on as
substitutes were not allowed then. Pictures show him holding his neck as he
received his medal and it turned out that he had a broken neck.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
had married the St. Helen’s manager’s daughter and tragedy struck when their
first son was killed in an accident at an early age. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
played for Manchester City from 1949 until 1964. During the war he had received
an Iron Cross but in his football career he not only got the Cup Final medal
but also was awarded an OBE from the Queen of England in recognition of his
assistance in post-war reconciliation between England and Germany. He also
received a German equivalent of same. His wife, who was his rock, died a young
woman in 1980 but the German Iron Cross recipient and footballer who became a
hero and legend with Manchester City died in Spain in 2013 aged 89. His name
was Bert Trautmann.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Very Different Stories of Four
Women;<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Both
local papers cover the story of a Tipperary born woman who made a big
impression in Athleague circa 1920. The Roscommon Herald on page 16 and in The
People on page 36 have short articles on the lady named Aleen Cust MRCVS. The
letters after her name tell us she was a veterinary surgeon. Apparently
RTE/Nationwide were investigating this lady who is well remembered and regarded
in Athleague. A timber sculpture representation of Ms. Cust can be seen near
the bridge at Athleague. (Nearby is another timber sculpture to another legend
–living- Johnny Haughey forever associated with hurling in Athleague and the
county). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Dublin-born
Irish woman, Violet Gibson, came to fame in the late 1920s’ after she attempted
to kill the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. What motivated her is a
mystery. Had she succeeded it might have had an influence on subsequent
history. She too is getting the T.V. Documentary treatment on Wednesday Sept.
22 at 9.30 on TG4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Typhoid Mary Mallon <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
do not listen enough to the radio as there are so many programmes of interest
there. Amongst my favourites are ‘Sunday Miscellany’, ‘Playback’ a summary of
good pieces from the weeks programmes and the ‘RTÉ Radio: Documentary on One’
in the early afternoon each Saturday. This award-winning documentary series has
had outstanding programmes down the years and a Pod Cast of them is a real gold
mine. Last Saturday I happened on one called; ‘The Curious Case of Typhoid Mary
(Mallon). This told the story of a Mary Mallon from Ireland. She was a New York
cook, who, while not getting ill herself, became a ‘super spreader’ of the
typhoid disease in the early part of the 1900’s in New York. She was isolated
for decades on an Island in view of New York and died there. This suggests
likeness to the two great French books on Island incarceration ‘The Count of
Monte Christo’ and ‘Papillion’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Nicki Minaj<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">With
my fourth lady who hit the headlines this week, I must be amongst the few who
have not heard of her worldwide. That recognition got a real boost this week with
a slight tweet about resistance to Covid vaccination. Her name is Nicki Minaj!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I can say is that she can really dress
up. Why is she famous…I think it is in that peculiar way that is, ‘because she
is famous’! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll
rest my case there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Mayo Defeat by Tyrone.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It
was another of those huge disappointments for Mayo and its multitude of
supporters. In a way, Mayo seems to lose the same way regularly. A goalkeeping
mistake, a full back being over-reached by an opponent, and a lack of leadership
on the field. It is something that the current team captain has not scored in
any of his 5 or maybe 6 finals.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">There
has been plenty of ire to go around in Mayo following the result but I have no
wish to add to that. They keep falling but keep getting up. There is a kind of
heroic resilience there. Like all Mayo people I too, a Roscommon person, wish
them to win. I imagine that the last living members of the 1950 and ’51 Mayo
teams, Paddy Prendergast and panellist Dr. Mick Loftus, must feel these defeats
greatly. Anyway, Mayo can look forward to next year and at least a Connacht
Final win as the odds lie. I would like it if Roscommon could be so optimistic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">One
should not forget Tyrone coming from a drubbing in Kerry two months or so ago,
to win an All-Ireland final by beating Kerry in the Semi-Final and Mayo,
convincingly, in the final. That was something special and they should be
acknowledged for it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Missing C.S.P.C.A. Water Troughs<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">For
a Boyle Arts Festival talk I walked through Boyle to rehearse my topics. I
missed one I had been aware of and that was the C.S.P.C.A. (Canadian Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) trough. This ‘Philanthropic Society’
say fit to install these troughs so that animals on fair or market days had
water<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had been outside Dodd’s Bar for a long time.
Then it was transferred to the Courthouse steps and later to the front of St.
Joseph’s Hall. In those locations, it served as a fine flower receptacle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">After
a cursory search I could not locate same. Last week I started to make some
enquiries and then in a pure coincidence Sean, on the Home Page of Realboyle,
gave the same subject full prominence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He
numbered those as 3 which I was not aware of and came up sometime later with
the one at the end of St. Patrick’s Street. So there should be two more
somewhere. All I was aware of was the one from the Crescent area so if anyone
knows anything of its whereabouts please let us know. These are all part of
interesting street furniture, which have a history and storied background from
the town's past. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Solheim Cup Golf and now The Ryder
Cup<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
found the Solheim Cup for golf, where Europe defeated the United States, hugely
entertaining thanks in large part to the outstanding performance of Cavan’s
Leona McGuire. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Starting
Friday is The Ryder Cup the male equivalent of above. It takes place in the
U.S. this time and the European team is captained by Padraig Harrington. There
are two Irish golfers included in the 12 team players, Rory McIlroy and Shane
Lowry. While McIlroy is an acknowledged star of the game it is another great
achievement for Lowry. So this weekend is booked solid by thousands of golf
enthused people who will be glued to their television sets to watch the
thrills, spills and drama and maybe some controversy in The Ryder Cup. Even if
you are not a golf fan you should dip in and maybe see why this is such a
magnetic event. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I
remember here two Boyle men that I knew back the years who passed on recently.
One is Michael McPadden of Hanley Ave. who was in his middle fifties. He was a
student in St. Mary’s College but I also knew him as a footballer as the
McPadden lads all were. I have not met Michael for a long time. His picture on
the Home Page here showed a fine strong man. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The
other is Willie Suffin who I always with Bert Mahoney with whom he worked in
his earlier times. May they both rest in peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Slán. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-43667198915104421712021-09-03T23:50:00.001-07:002021-09-03T23:56:46.064-07:00Update 4th September<p> <span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">Blog Friday September 3</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">rd</sup><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Where to today?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Thoughts on Tyrone v Kerry.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I have asked a friend to get me a
copy of ‘The Kerryman’ newspaper so that I can read their take on Kerry’s
surprise defeat by Tyrone in the All-Ireland Semi-Final. That is part of my holistic
approach to getting a grip on what happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I have to hand this week’s ‘The
Roscommon Herald’ and Father Liam Devine’s short take on it also. As you may
know there was a certain amount about Covid and the Tyrone team for the last
few weeks. Liam too has a few mentions of that issue and I will quote one nice
one as follows;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <b><i>“The rapid recovery and the rude good health
of the Tyrone players must be a great boost and consolation to people who have
tested positive with Covid 19”. <o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It was the Kerry players who seemed
to be struggling with cramps and so on as the game went through injury time. I
presume that will be addressed in their post- match analysis. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway Tyrone won because they played
with a ferocity that may have been taken from Limerick's playbook. Their
determination, motivation, and drive and their taking of the goal chances were
key. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Their win now sets up a totally new
challenge for Mayo in the final. There is no calling of it with any degree of
certainty. Maybe Mayo will be less overawed by Tyrone than they would be by
Kerry? Will Mayo be able to cope with the total war of the Tyrone team and
substitutes? While the Mayo management will have been preparing, for the most
part, to face Kerry they will now have to re-gig their mindset to face a very
different challenge. Maybe this fresh challenge will present Mayo with (as is
being said) a better chance of getting the Holy Grail of Gaelic football. It is
intriguing, interesting, fresh, novel and only God knows how it is going to pan
out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Father Devine’s
Column<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This is one of the features that I
always go to when I start reading the Sports Section of, ‘The Roscommon
Herald’. This week he referenced four different items The game as above and
also that the Meath minor midfielder Jack Kinlough had Roscommon connections
which he has. His father Oliver (Ollie) Kinlough and his grandfather -Frankie-who
was the great forward with the Roscommon team of the forties. ‘Kinlough of the
Golden goals’ as he has been referred to from time to time. Ollie played for a
time with Padraig Pearse’s and also had some game with Roscommon a good few
years ago now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Gerry
O’Reilly R.I.P. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Liam also referred to the death of
Gerry O’Reilly of Rooskey. Gerry played wing back for Roscommon in the
All-Ireland of 1962 v Kerry. He was a Garda and lived in Templemore the Garda
training town in Tipp. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Liam also paid a tribute to Liam
‘Chunky’ O’ Brien who was one of the star players in the Kilkenny team of the
seventies. His club was ‘The Village’ one of the three great Kilkenny City
clubs. It is also the club of Brian Cody.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I remember being at a senior hurling
final in Nolan Park a decent few years ago and they honoured a club team from
Bennetsbridge at half time which had won several county titles in the sixties.
Even I was aware of the great players of that club team as the announcer called
out their names.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I have suggested to Father Liam that
he put together a book with material he has already had published in his
columns in ‘The Herald’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He is from the same townland as
myself in Castlecoote, Fuerty and he went for a time to Roscommon C.B.S. and
then to Summerhill and then Maynooth. He was in Sligo for a long time and
during that time was P.R.O for Sligo GAA County Board a position he took with
Roscommon when he transferred for a time to Athlone. He currently serves in
Loughglynn area.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">P.S. If you are reading through ‘the
Herald’ of August 31<sup>st</sup> you might read a very interesting essay
titled;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <b>‘Athleague
man cares deeply about his local environment’</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The man in question is James Moran
who I know pretty well and he touches on many elements of living in past and
present times and highlights the grave challenges that are ahead for the next
generation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Some Boyle
GAA Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Boyle Senior team play Michael
Glavey’s on Saturday in the Hyde Park at 6.30. After their fine performance and
win against Roscommon Gaels last time they will be hoping to copper-fasten
their grip on the knock-out stages with a win…but you never can tell!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Two members of Boyle GAA were
featured in the national papers recently with<b> Cian</b> <b>Smith</b> the Boyle team
manager talking to reporter Arlene Harris. Cian talked initially of how fate
and coincidence probably saved his life from cancer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He talked about his cancer from
diagnosis in 2007, intervention, the period of treatment to where he is now. It
is a very telling and clear account of his experience. I do not know if you can
access it online but it was published in the Health and Living section of the
Irish Independent of Monday, August 23<sup>rd</sup>. Cian a member of the
Roscommon All-Ireland minor winning team of 2006. His dad Mike Jnr. is
Chairperson of the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The story emphasises the necessity
for men to be more aware of health issues and not be dismissive of the warning
signs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Daire Cregg</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> turned up in the Farmer’s
Journal talking of his farming exploits. Between education in UCD, football
with Roscommon and Boyle and farming he certainly leads a very busy life. I
have been detached from farming for quite a while now but Daire’s condensed
story of heifers, bull calves, and ‘Friesian Jersey crosses’ told me I was well
out of touch with Daire’s farming world. Still, he was able to insert the
classic saying ‘every day is a learning day’. One that seems apt with Daire is ‘if
you want something done ask a busy man’. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Mention of
Castlecoote<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> R.T.E. will be transmitting a double
documentary programme, on Monday and Tuesday nights the 6<sup>th</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup>
of September on the tragic death of Father Niall Molloy in July 1985 aged 52.
Father Molloy was then a curate of Athleague/Fuerty parish in Castlecoote. The
death occurred around a wedding in Clara in Offaly and confused details
surrounding his death have since then been contested by his family. His nephews
Bill Maher and Henry McCourt have been trying steadfastly to uncover the truth
of what happened to their uncle and who was really responsible. Perhaps this
R.T.E. documentary might throw some light on it but I would not be in any way
optimistic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Seamus
Heaney Nobel Laureate <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">On Wednesday night, on TG4, I watched
a repeat of a programme paying tribute to the great Derry poet Seamus Heaney. I
should have ‘taped it’ as it was a delight. It represented a kind and humble
genius, a supporting and guiding wife that was Marie Devlin and family siblings
who mirrored his humility. His life’s story flowed as if it was a stream. He
came from Bellaghy, went to secondary school in St. Columb’s Derry then on to
Queens University. There he met his wife Marie who was his soulmate. He lived
first in Belfast until 1972 and then in Wicklow and later Dublin. He lectured a
great deal abroad in Berkley University California, Oxford and Harvard. I
remember getting a poetry book ‘Soundings’ autographed by him during Boyle Arts
week when he gave reading in The Church of Ireland. He was awarded the Noble
Prize for literature in 1995. He got a stroke in 2006 and died August 31<sup>st</sup>
2013. I was in Dublin on his funeral day and regret not attending outside the
church at Sandymount then. I was in Croke Park for an All-Ireland Semi-Final
Kerry v Dublin with friends. Before the game started his death and funeral were
announced and a minute’s silence called. The crowd of 80, 000 stood and paid
their respects and ended with a round of applause. It was a unique and remarkable
gesture. His daughter mentioned it in the documentary and how shy Seamus would
be if he could have known. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">One of his book collections of poetry
has the apt title of, ‘The Spirit Level’ which makes one think, especially in
these testing times. I could go on a good bit about Seamus Heaney but maybe if
I add the poem which was nominated as Ireland’s favourite it would be better; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> ‘When all the others were away at Mass’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I was all hers as we peeled potatoes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">They broke the silence, let fall one
by one<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Like solder weeping off the soldering
iron:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Cold comforts set between us, things
to share<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Gleaming in a bucket of clean water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And again let fall. Little pleasant
splashes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">From each other’s work would bring us
to our senses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So while the parish priest at her
bedside<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Went hammer and tongs at the prayers
for the dying<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And some were responding and some
crying<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I remembered her head bent towards my
head,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Her breath in mine, our fluent
dipping knives–<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Never closer the whole rest of our
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The family too talked about the
inscription on his headstone and for whatever reason I looked at again later in
my scribbled notes when Ronaldo had scored his two goals; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">“Walk on air<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">
Against <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Your Better<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">
Judgement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">The Death of
Pat Hume<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> Another death, that is the death of Pat Hume on
Thursday. Pat was the wife of the one of the greatest Irishmen in Irish history,
John Hume. Like Marie Devlin, but in a very different environment, Pat was the
rock on which John rested and relied on to get him through all the challenges
and adversity of his times. The family were threatened, abused, mocked, but she
held it all together. She was one of those heroic Irish women. She was married
to John (another Nobel Prize recipient) for 59 years and in the announcement of
her death yesterday the family began “We are heartbroken to announce the death
of ……” We owe these women like we owe so
many mothers huge, unconditional, gratitude. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Epilogue<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">All this has chastened me and I will
not now enter the arena of farce that is a thing called Merriongate. Get real
as to the scales of significance. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Slán. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-77791855069932336812021-08-20T06:11:00.005-07:002021-08-20T06:11:48.249-07:00Update 20th August<p style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘The world is in a state of chassis’</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The
playwright Sean O’Casey wrote something of that nature in one of his plays. The
world today certainly is in a similar bind. It is arguable that the modern
empire of power and influence, the United States, is being rocked and is
potentially in decline. The dramatic collapse of the U. S. nurtured government
in Afghanistan and the chaotic, sad and dramatic scenes that have emerged in
Kabul is potentially a core picture of that in progress. The speed with which
it developed is staggering and the same can be said of the failure to realise
that such could happen.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Now a country
that was emerging from a medieval past is possibly going to be tossed back
again into that dark, depressing and dangerous environment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have watched more news and programming of current affairs from the U.S. in the
last eight months than I have ever done. Starting with the march on the Capitol
in Washington on January 6<sup>th</sup>and the resistance of such a percentage
of the U.S. electorate to accept the Presidential election outcome it has been
a hugely testing time for the administration in that country. The lack of
cooperation amongst the political parties for the common good is depressing.
Then we in this island have experienced a good deal of that also in recent
decades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Watching
from the wings are Russia and China. Around thirty years ago I visited a former
history teacher of mine -Tom Geraghty- from Roscommon C.B.S. days. After a long
conversation touching on a number of things I moved to leave. I was stopped in
my tracks when he posted the question; “And, and, what about China?” So that
had to be ‘treated of’ for another half hour. He viewed China then as the
emerging empire for the twentieth century and his view seems to be gaining
incremental evidence with each decade.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
challenges for a benign western society which has given a good life and example
to many for nearly sixty years or so are alarming. As we speak we have Covid
and its twists and turns; Climate change with its effects in rising
temperatures across global averages, enormous forest fires from California to
the Mediterranean and the Tundra area of Russia to Australia, Brazil and more.
Then there are the surges of refugees more than after W.W.2. The growth of the
drug trade with the suggestion that they can be sourced easily. Now that the
Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan the possibility of the drug trade from
there is said to be huge. The open trade and abuse of drugs in our own capital
city. Enough of all that for now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sport and its Diversion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
Roscommon seniors lost to Galway I was in some despair as to the future of the
GAA games in Roscommon. Then, as if from nowhere, like a Christmas
advertisement, came a series of county football wins that lifted the spirits.
Those same spirits needed some lifting! Oddly the first balm came with another
defeat that being by Kerry in the All-Ireland minor semi-final for 2020. The
foundation for this had been laid a good while ago with a win over Galway and
the quality of the performance remained. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then
the minors of 2021 continued with a great win against Mayo and especially an
outstanding comeback v old foes Galway. This team did not reach their best form
for the Connacht final and a with key player being injured they lost to a good
Sligo team who were bridging a gap of over fifty years. We certainly didn’t
begrudge it to Sligo. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Next
came the Under 20 team who defeated Mayo convincingly in the Connacht Final and
then overcame a somewhat arrogant Down team in the All-Ireland semi- final at
Cavan to set up an intriguing Final v Offaly. The gods deserted Roscommon with
some early missed goal opportunities and in the second half Offaly got into
their stride to reach a handsome lead. Still the fighting spirit of the
Roscommon team shone through again as they clawed their way to within a goal
score of Offaly but time ran out on them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
joy of the Offaly team and its supporters including V.I.P. supporter Shane
Lowry showed what it all meant to them also.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
any event we can look at these two grades with optimism for next year. We have
to be aware that the performances of teams, even those who bring forward some
veterans from a previous year, they are not predictive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It
all justified a long tenure on my flagpole of the Roscommon colours for this
year and if it is similar in 2022 it will be a great sign. Still as the old
prophecy goes ‘when man plans for the future the Gods smile’. Another one being
used by American military officers on CNN goes ‘plans can corrode at the first
point of contact with the enemy’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sport of the Home Front.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
Friday evening, we return to the domestic fare with a Senior championship first
round game v Roscommon Gaels in the Abbey Park. While our record with ‘the
Gaels’ has been negative the senior panel is being supplemented each year by
very good young players and this year is no different. So we can look to
qualifying from the group stages to the knockout section and then it is in the
lap of the Gods. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since,
by the next edition of the Oblique View, the major draw being promoted by Boyle
GAA and Boyle Celtic will be concluded at the end of August I suggest that, if
you are of mind to, you log on to the sites of either of these clubs to
purchase a ticket. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle Arts Festival</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish to commend the organising committee of the Boyle Arts Festival for keeping
the flame of the Festival alive when it might have been easy to put hands up
and pass for another year. The running of the events required imagination and
improvisation with the Marque coming to the rescue. I’ll just mention three of
the items amongst the many which impressed and they were Carole Coleman in
conversation with Kingston Mills who has been prominent on our airwaves with
guidance on Covid’s status. The talk uncovered a real picture of Mister Mills
and his background and his strong connection to Boyle. There are a number of
these events which will be available online at </span><span lang="EN-IE"><a href="http://www.boylearts.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">www.boylearts.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">. Another item to look out for there is a Donie
O’Connor song titled ‘Queen of Main Street’.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Three
regular performers Lizzie, Lynda & Ceara unsurprisingly repeated their
success from former festivals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
nugget for me was Laura Earley with an illustrated talk on mosaics in County
Roscommon. She told the story of Mister John Crean from Ballygar who
established a ‘factory’ for Mosaic production in Roscommon town in the 1950s’.
Early in the venture he brought a number of Italian craftsmen to the factory to
enhance their products. Two of them were Sergio Bennedetti and Luciano De
Paoli. I went to national school in Castlecoote where the school was located
close by the old church and similarly with a new church being built in the later
fifties. As schoolboys we witnessed all the construction activity and this
included the use of mosaics in the church where I served mass after its
dedication. I also got to know Sergio Benedettie who is very well known in
Roscommon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From
Laura’s talk I finally got to distinguish between mosaics and terrazzo which is
a composite of various chips of stone with a binding material. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
were three examples referenced from Boyle and they were Mac Namara’s on Main
Street, Carroll’s on Bridge Street and at the entrance to The Royal Hotel. Laura’s sister Katie – a milliner- featured
in two-page spread in The Roscommon Herald of August 10 with Ciara McCaughley.
So the Mullymux based Earley girls are part of a talented and innovative
family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sport Keeps Giving</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
really enjoyed the European Cup and now we are into the World Cup qualifying
cycle for the finals in Qatar in 2022, next year! There are three games for
Ireland at the beginning of September with Ireland playing Portugal away,
followed by Azerbaijan and Serbia all within a week. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ryder Cup Golf<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
competition will take place at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisconsin in the U.S. This
state is in the area of the Great Lakes of the United States. The American
Captain is Steve Stricker. He has a good few challenges as I read he has six
Captain’s picks. The European captain is Padraig Harrington which should help
Shane Lowry if he does not make the automatic selection. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The 1966 All-Ireland winning U 21
team remembered and recorded.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
above team and their campaign have now been recorded in a detailed book by a
member of the team, Paul Mockler, with a significant footprint of Mick Rock
from Elphin. They were a hugely talented team with many of them progressing to
the Roscommon senior team. The captain of the team was Colm Shine from Clann na
Gael who passed away not long ago. The team was managed by Dr. Donal Keenan the
Chairman of the County Board who was generally the main side-line voice for
senior teams during his time as Chairman.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Roscommon’s
opponents in the final were Kildare, which presented the Clarke Cup for the
winners that year, possibly expecting to win it themselves perhaps as they were
defending champions and had a star-studded team. Indeed, prominent sports
journalist John D. Hickey suggested that “It will be the eighth wonder of the
world if Roscommon beat Kildare in this year’s final”. Boyle had a number of
players with that team. Pat Clarke was at corner back and Pat Nicholson was at
full back while John Kelly Elphin/Boyle was at corner forward. John Nicholson
and Ray Sheerin were also members of the team and played in earlier games.
Amongst the other prominent players were Dermot Earley, Martin Joe Keane, Tom
Heneghan and Marty Cummins. It was a great team, a great game and a fine
victory. As a spectator it still echoes as one of my best memories a Roscommon
performance and result in Croke Park. All this is covered in detail by Paul in
this book with a picture from the Crescent Boyle of members of the team
saluting the welcoming crowd from Johnny Keaveney’s lorry. The book is
available from Supervalu stores and various other outlets at €12. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">P.S.
This book provides a template perhaps for other campaigns by Roscommon. The one
that stands out is the minor win in Ennis v Kerry in 2006 where the logjam of
traffic on the route down was a little similar to images prominent on
television screens. They are now the good memories. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All Ireland Hurling Final <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
takes place on Sunday next between Cork and Limerick. Cork won the U 20
championship this week and are in the minor final on Sunday v Galway. Cork has
been in the doldrums for a time winning the All-Ireland last in 2005 which is a
really long stretch for them but they seem to be coming strong right now.
Limerick dismissed Waterford in the semi-final while Cork overcame a dogged
Kilkenny after extra time in their semi-final. Personally having witnessed the
relentless power and ruthless approach of Limerick I feel they will win
comfortably. Cork are a team for the future but that is not this year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Limerick
the defending champions are going for a third title in four years which has not
happened for them since the days of Mick Mackey in the 1930s. This is a unique
final as the finalists come from the same province and Limerick and Cork have
never met in a final. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Covid and Boyle</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
read with disappointment that Covid is very prevalent in Boyle at this time.
Apparently, taking notice of the guidelines of masking and social distancing
and recognising the danger of community spread are being ignored by some in our
population. We are now listed amongst the top figures on various scales. With
the onset of children going back to school those figures of community spread
will be difficult to contain and reduce. So if we can get over this surge and
learn from it, maybe things can improve. It will take a more careful and caring
approach for ourselves and our neighbours to achieve that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TAKE CARE <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-42339910566985456312021-08-02T23:51:00.001-07:002021-08-02T23:51:44.856-07:00<p style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sport and More Sport</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
drama of sport continues like a roller coaster. After all the drama of the Euro
Soccer Championships, which was compelling, comes the Olympics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
first to more localised thrills in familiar arenas. This involves inter-county
championships. After the disappointment of the Roscommon senior defeat to
Galway in a drab and uninspiring Connacht championship game, some of us thought
that Roscommon’s future looked bleak. But then came a number of major
performances from the minors and U 20s’. Their victories have led to the U 20s’
being in the All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday next v Down in Cavan and the U
17s’ being in the Connacht final v Sligo in the Hyde on Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All
this in a way started with a defeat in an All-Ireland Semi-Final to Kerry -which
was a residue of last year’s incomplete minor competition- on July 11<sup>th</sup>
on the score of Kerry 3.21 Roscommon 2.13.
While that team lost to a very
good Kerry team the attacking and competitive style of play was uplifting.
Little did those of us on the margins realise that this was to be the pattern
with the winning of the games since then. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Certainly
it has endorsed my leaving the Roscommon flag flying high in front of the
house. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
all of these four games have been great for Roscommon supporters to watch last week-end’s
U 17 win over Galway was the real thriller. Behind by 11 points at one stage
Roscommon through the second half stormed back to snatch the game near the
death amid high drama in a nail-biting finale. Roscommon 1.16 Galway 2. 12. It
is a rare day that a Roscommon team could achieve that against Galway. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since
I write these notes for a basically Boyle constituency I will mention Boyle’s significant
part in these games. Oisin Cregg had been a pivotal player in ‘last year’s’ U
17 team. His brother Daire is a key player in this year’s U 20 team which faces
Down. Boyle had two players featuring on the team v Galway at U 17 who were
Eden Kerins and Daniel Casey (nephew of David) with Niall O’Donnell coming on
towards the end. Apart from those 3 there are other Boyle players, David
Flanagan and Luke McGrath who are unlucky to be missing out due to injury and
then there are Gavin O’Connor and Joseph Coyle on the panel also. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Versus
Galway Eden Kerins gave a ‘Man of the Match’ performance as he drove forward,
distributed the ball with deft accurate passing and using his soccer skills to
effect a number of times. This is a pretty rare practise which I do not
understand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have seen these players a good few times at the various under-age stages and
they are a treat to watch especially when they take on an equally good
Roscommon Gaels team. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So
well done to all those young players. They have raised the spirits of Roscommon
supporters again and thanks to their club coaches down the years and their
management teams of now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle Ladies convincing win v St. Brigid’s
in League Final<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On
Sunday last I was present in the Abbey Park for a senior ladies league final. I
was hugely impressed by the quality of the performance of these ladies. Scores
were pretty close at half time but in the second half Boyle gave an exhibition
of point-scoring that I have rarely seen in the Abbey grounds. There was a
sequence of around five points, with no wide, by Boyle. They have many fine
players in this Ladies team. Since I am not in any way qualified to nominate
star players I’ll add the Boyle ladies team as posted by the Club P.R.O. here; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">R.
Johnson; S. Keenahan, I. King, S. Kerins; C. Cregg, S. Moran, S. King; R. Cox,
M. McKeon; G. Flanagan, S. Cull, M. Ward; H. Kerins, K. Harrington, N. Regan.
(Some familiar names there!)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Add
to this were the two Wynne ladies who came on and turned in a great shift. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
this week’s ‘The Roscommon Herald’ I came across a reference to Róisin Wynne by
the Herald reporter Kevin Egan which is worthy of inserting here. At the end of
his report on Roscommon’s defeat by Laois of the Roscommon team in the
Intermediate Championship (Sport page 16) he nominated 9 Laois players who
could have been nominated as ‘Player of the Day’. He continues; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“<i>However
it would be unfair to put any one of them ahead of Roisin Wynne, who was
nothing short of out-standing once she was handed the task of a marking- job on
Mo Nerney (Laois’s constant star). Between her (Roisin’s)goal-line clearance,
any number of superb tackles and factoring in how this was a task thrust upon
her early in the game as opposed to something she could prepare for, it was an
incredible showing from the Boyle player”.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now
that is as good a salute to a great performance as I think I have ever read. So
well done Roisin and well done Kevin. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now to some important Club Errata</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Boyle GAA and Boyle Celtic Major Draw takes place at the end of this month.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
the mean-time to get you there you could participate in Boyle GAA’s Club Lotto
where the Jackpot prize has now reached the dizzy heights of 10,000 euro. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Congrats to Boyle Celtic<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Congratulations
to Boyle Celtic who won a cup in the R.D.F. L. (Roscommon and District Football
League) on Sunday by 1 to 0 over Ballymoe. One of the stars of the team was
James Bolger from Corrigeenroe but alas James is returning to his college in
the U.S. shortly. He will be sorely missed by the sports clubs in Boyle. Bon
voyage James. Well done also to team manager Jake McCrann on this win. The cup
was in memory of the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the establishment of the
Roscommon League. So that would have been 1971 which means I must have played
in some very early games of that league. I remember playing in Glinsk, Galway,
near O’Dowd’s Bar! I remember John Mc Guinn, Sean Daly, James Candon, Freddie
Daly and John McPherson and maybe Hal Cawley. I could have been a contender! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Lions Tamed<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
the delight of their win in the first test v the Springboks (South Africans)
the British and Irish Lions were brought down to earth in all its morphisms on
Saturday last. As a ‘sports’ game it should not be given that title as it was a
‘bear wrestle’ and they were banned close to two centuries ago. It is likely
that in fifty years’ time people will look at recordings of this kind of ‘game’
in amazement that it was supposed to be regarded as a sport. The game stuttered
on in a stop-start nature with score and dangerous play reviews by the new
time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
few real plays in the game came from the South Africans and that was why they
won. I do not imagine the parents of the Lions members are looking forward to
the third and last ‘test’ next Saturday afternoon. I’ll tune in to see if the
Lions can make any headway against the Goliaths. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Death of Michael Fitzmaurice<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One
of Roscommon’s greatest ambassadors in the capital, Dublin, Michael
Fitzmaurice, passed away in the past week. While he lived in Dublin his heart
was always with Roscommon. He supported numerous initiatives in supporting
things Roscommon. He was founder member of the active Roscommon Association in
the capital. One of his legacies is the collection of Roscommon Association
Year Books later Roscommon Life. That was for around 25 years. I met him first
in Arnott’s Shop where he was dedicated employee for decades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He
was a major supporter of Roscommon GAA and many teams and players were the
recipients of his and the Roscommon Association’s hospitality down the years.
He was one of the senior stalwarts who are now a vanishing race. May his gentle
soul rest in peace. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Olympics</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
landscape of sport has been on show in Japan these weeks. I have tried to tune into
a certain amount of it especially the input of the Irish. The rowers came
through for the most part and were great with an attitude to match. Our own
Niamh O’Rourke of course did her very best in a close middleweight fight but
the veteran Chinese lady Li got the verdict. Still to get to the Olympics was
some achievement. Boxer Aidan Walshe though getting a bronze lost his chance of
going further after his Michael Carruth’s Barcelona ’92
gold-winning-celebration of jumping up and down resulted in an ankle injury
that put him out for the silver medal fight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(As
an aside I think that coaches should coach their teams to celebrate safely. Often
after a goal, in soccer especially, the scorer is buried under a pile of bodies
and it surprising that there are not more injuries as a consequence). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One
of the most enjoyable celebrations of a gold medal and an iconic moment of this
Olympics was when the two leading high jumpers decided that they would not go
into a jump-off. So Qatar’s jumper, Bashim, and his Italian opposing competitor
but friend Tamberi agreed to share the medal. Bashim looked on in bemusement as
Tamberi rolled around the ground in joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve
seen that shared impulse happen a couple of times. I doubt if it will catch on
Saturday in South Africa! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
will return to the Olympics next time and refer to Rory and Shane. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I have a turf assignment to address right now
so I will adjourn this wander through current sport and return to Tonroe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">P.S.</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
if you got this far! As part of the Arts Festival programme I will be
giving an illustrated wander around Boyle with the aid of screened pictures if
you feel comfortable in attending that. It takes place on Friday afternoon and
booking is required!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take Care.</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-37160353653895300162021-07-17T01:10:00.001-07:002021-07-17T01:10:56.346-07:00Update 17th July<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Boyle GAA Nursery Initiative.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">The True Spirit Shines Forth from the Actions of Babes; </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One of my positive ‘sights’ of Boyle arises when
walking up the Sligo Road from below the Abbey Park on a sunny day and seeing
the Cúl Camps for young players in progress. To see the lovely Abbey Park in
its historic environs dotted with wee kids like mushrooms is a sight to behold.
This was endorsed when I read the following notice in the GAA notes recently,
and I quote;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Last Monday July 5</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> , Boyle (GAA) started
our nursery programme </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">with the most enthusiastic kids that ever walked or
ran on grass</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. There were 66 boys and girls and over 20 coaches and (club)
officers in action on that Monday evening. The 4 to U 6 programme focuses
on basic movements and skills with the most important skill to having fun and
making friends . Well done to all”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And isn’t it great to be able to add our own ‘well
done’ to all involved also? That is the spirit and long may the aspiration of
skills, fun and friends be to the fore with those growing kids and enlightened
mentors.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*Speaking of the fine Abbey Park there is a big draw
in the process in conjunction with Boyle Celtic to raise funds to provide
better facilities for both clubs at their playing fields. The Abbey Park must
be one of the best-used sporting facilities around. It is great to see the
togetherness of both the soccer and Gaelic club clubs taking on this major
fundraiser in true community spirit. Now if anyone reading this abroad
especially it would be great to see them come on board by purchasing a ticket
and in so doing be in with a chance to win a major prize of a car plus while
supporting the home place. To do so, if you log into the websites of Boyle
Celtic or Boyle GAA you can buy a ticket online there. Or if necessary
contact me at </span><a href="mailto:conboytc@gmail.com" style="font-size: 12pt;">conboytc@gmail.com</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Roscommon and GAA at a Crossroads.</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Roscommon Senior team gave a disappointing display
when being beaten by Galway in the Connacht Semi-final. It is not as if they
did not try their utmost which we should always bear in mind. Losing to Galway
is not new and if one studied the statistics that would be borne out. We have
had our days in the sun and rain in Salthill and other venues. Our population
mitigates against the pyramid of numbers. Each spring we dust ourselves down,
put last year's disappointment aside with renewed vigour and …most years get
chastised for our optimism!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">Still there are chinks of light coming through the
floorboards. One was the display, a while ago now. It was the Roscommon minor
team especially in a win over Galway. We made our star contribution then with
young Crag and reserve goalkeeper McPherson on standby. This group stayed
together for many months to take on a fine Kerry team in the All-Ireland Semi-Final last Sunday. This too was a great game with young Crag injured being a
big deficit but they never gave up and had some obvious bright players in Hand,
Gamely and others as the scoreline shows the coat of negativity was left aside
as they went at it ‘hammer and tongs’ and gave us a lovely exhibition of skill,
openness and sportsmanship. Congratulations to all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">The U 20s’ also are in the Connacht final v Mayo
having defeated Sligo last weekend. So we can look forward to that and not
take the flag down yet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>The Crossroads</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The defeat of Leitrim 0.11 to Mayo 5.20 has poured
more fuel on and sparked a renewed debate on the logic of these matchups.
This, for the most part, is tied into the Provincial structures which have
obtained since the beginning. But is this still fit for purpose? I doubt it but
many conservatives will not be for changing. This week in his very popular
column in The Roscommon Herald Fr. Liam Devine suggested that the system of
Senior, Intermediate and Junior as practised by the LGFA is worthy of
consideration for a change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">It works well within the county so why not outside? It
is outside for inter-club competition rivalry leading to All –Ireland days for
Senior, Intermediate and Junior Clubs. I was part of that a few years ago when
Forty got to the All-Ireland Junior Final and though defeated they were really
satisfied that they got to play in Crooke Park. Historically Roscommon for some
years in the latter years of the 1930s’ took part only in the Junior
championship. Then in 1939 they reached the final of that competition and lost
but retuned to win it in 1940. That team formed the basis of the great days of
the forties for Roscommon. At under-age, I’ve always felt that winning or more
importantly participating in a competition at whatever level is much
better than being out of one’s depth at a much higher level. The milk ad is a
real example of perspective. ‘Another team would have lost by 15 goals.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Lough Key Park.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">I have visited Lough Key Visitor and Activity Park a
number of times of late. It is really in full bloom especially when the sun
shines. The staff and management there have tried extremely hard to enhance the
facilities and services that people can avail of. I presume that most people
from around Boyle appreciate what they have on their doorstep. There are numerous
kiosks now to facilitate patrons. Once the park seemed to resist such
customer/visitor aids. Now there are plenty of diversions. I look forward to the
opening of the playground! With the Coved time emphasis on holidaying at
home, I presume that it has helped swell the number of people who use the
camping sites. There is a big increase in Irish ownership of camper vans and
such. Ireland seemed to me to have been behind the curve with this type of
holiday escape. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">The fairly recent Renaissance of cycling continues at
a pace and one sees this in the park as all ages avail of pedal power. It is
such an exercising, valid and safe way to get to grips with the various tracks
and trails of the park. The introduction of the new cycleway from the park and
into Boyle is a real bonus. In more reasonable times one could imagine the
volume of users of this lovely cycleway and end up in the town of Boyle.
Boyle had been on a very positive visitor curve in 2019 and hopefully, that will
crystallise next year. So Louise keep pushing the positive boundaries.
Keep the faith as the populist saying goes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>McGahern Barracks is Open to visitors</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">The Barracks in Cootehall is open by appointment only
from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Appointments
can be made via the Barracks website, <a href="http://www.mcgahernbarracks.ie"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">www.mcgahernbarracks.ie</span></a>
or by contacting 087 9588734. Entrance fee is €5 per adult and €2.50 for
children aged from 11 to 17. It is on my ‘to do’ list. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>The Elixir/Beauty of Sport;</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">The end of the Euros was also the end of a month of
high drama and entertainment. It was perhaps the most dramatic and enjoyable
sports Tournament for decades. Maybe that call is influenced by its immediacy.
One has to review it in reverse order starting with the Final. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">It was certainly high drama. England’s immediate,
unexpected score, distorted the scene for some time. Italy, probably the best
team in the Tournament were deserved winners. They were involved in two of the
most dramatic games of the series, their win over Spain and then against
England. Italy had the ‘personality’ of the Tournament in their captain Giorgio
Chiellini and the second Gladiator Bonucci. Chiellini showed his leadership and
also his enjoyment of the challenges he faced. Regularly too we saw him smile
and show how relaxed the great player could be on numerous occasions during the
competition. He was someone with whom the Italian support could muster around.
They too had a charismatic manager in Mancini. This quick revival resulted from
their failure to get to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. This was incredible for
Italy and also hard to believe is the fact that this Euro win is their first
since 1968! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For the naysayers in terms of supporting England, it
must have been a joy but for the minority in this country who tipped the scale
in the direction of wanting England to win it was disappointing. This is an
ongoing debate for a long time. While the team management and teams themselves
are very likeable entities a lot of the ire is due to that section of support
who do so much damage to the image of the total package. Booing the national
anthems of opposing teams, the drunken and aggressive behaviour as witnessed in
Lansdowne Road some years ago. The ‘gung ho’ of the red top papers, the
equating of a potential win as being another item of evidence of a false
positive for BREXIT and so on. They make it hard to be on their side
nationally.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The team members themselves seem to me to be probably
to a man genuine decent people. Who can criticise Harry Keane, McGuire, Walker,
Rice, Grealish. A number of those have recently emerged as social benefactors
led by Marcus Rashford and Raheen Sterling . Thousands of Irish follow these
same players with various teams in the English leagues. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">However, those whose job it is to try and expunge the
cancer in the English support have an almighty task on hand. But it has to be
done. The pictures of hundreds of ‘fans’ without tickets rushing into Wembley
was like a repeat of the attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.
A commentator I saw on television describing the drink and drug-fuelled scene
on Wembley Way long prior to the game was frightening.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>The British Open Golf;</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The grey skies of post Euros have passed and another
iconic sporting event is in progress i.e. the British Open Golf on the
Royal St. George’s bumpy looking course in Kent on the coast, not far
from London. Irish hopes are as always recently with McIlroy and Lowry. Lowry
had a great win two years ago at Portrush in the rain and has been the
custodian of the ‘Claret Jug’ trophy since then as there was no ‘Open’ in
2020.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The British and Irish Lions are in South Africa but
lost a secondary game on Wednesday night. The three tests are the real
challenges with those tournaments. The Springboks are world champions and
showed that on Wednesday. Despite Covid restrictions and lack of meaningful
games, they are still a huge and intimidating test. So the battles are coming
down the road. All this is taking place to the background of a country in
turmoil with riots and social unrest topped by the pandemic of Covid.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Olympics too begin on Friday July 23rd to a
background of Covid and zero crowds which will of course create a surreal
atmosphere and be a benchmark in the history of this great international
gathering of all brands of sports. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Books and More Books</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I was pleased but not surprised to see that a former
student of mine, Harry Keaney, put a section of his life down on paper. As has
been heralded on the Home Page of Realboyle the title of the book is
‘Carrowreagh’ where Harry lived as a boy. It lies between Ballyrush and
Riverstown. I know the area pretty well. He deals with those youthful times
vividly. He treats of the next stage in his life when he attended St. Mary’s
College in Boyle with kindness and regard. The founder of St. Mary’s, Father
Kevin Dodd, was from the neighbouring townland of Ballyrush and so boys from
that area gravitated towards Boyle. The next part of his life was a reporter
mentored by the Michéal O’ Callaghan, Editor of The Roscommon Herald. His
biographical journey ends there in this book.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps he plans to add a second part to it, as, after
a ten-year stint there, Harry went to New York and continued in the newspaper
business with the Irish paper there the ‘Irish Echo’. During that time he
was nominated as Sligo ‘Person of the Year’. He had a 3-year stint with the
Sligo Champion before going to N.Y. and returned to it again for around 13
years on coming back to Ireland. At present he is involved with Ocean FM
Sligo local radio station. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>1966 U 21 All-Ireland</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt;">I heard of a gentleman enquiring regarding a book in
production on this great team. The person who is doing this was a member of
that team Paul Mockler from Ballinlough who now lives in retirement in Ennis.
The book is now with the printers and I will advise those interested when it is
available. Boyle had a number of players on that team such as Pat Clarke, Pat
and John Nicholson, John Kelly (Elphin) and Ray Sheeran from Knockvicar. They
defeated a star-studded Kildare in the final. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>There are some other books I have come across lately
which I will mention anon.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>I will adjourn at that so take care and enjoy the
sunshine. </b> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-23416122862509821502021-04-07T00:42:00.005-07:002021-04-07T00:45:04.958-07:00Update 7th April<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Leitrim Mourns its Sporting Hero…Packie McGarty</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJD4CmyVth5LTGZ5AbU91Zu95Sg2mMu6732CMMo39Met1AlDPBPrOeGgqiV5HSq8Bf35mSpvtkjXapp3X7W0VFI-Hi_PP8KwA1-WZg3G2BPBTrSfF7N4KCRRdTlAa2-CAae-6jz51jzOK/s695/Railway+Cup+McGarty.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="695" height="637" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJD4CmyVth5LTGZ5AbU91Zu95Sg2mMu6732CMMo39Met1AlDPBPrOeGgqiV5HSq8Bf35mSpvtkjXapp3X7W0VFI-Hi_PP8KwA1-WZg3G2BPBTrSfF7N4KCRRdTlAa2-CAae-6jz51jzOK/w640-h637/Railway+Cup+McGarty.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">It was with sadness that I, a Roscommon man, heard of the passing of
Leitrim’s greatest Gaelic footballer, Packie McGarty at the age of 88. I feel
that it would be very difficult for young people today to understand what icons
like Packie meant to a county then. His decade, in the main, was the fifties
when each of the five Connacht counties had their most distinctive and arguably
greatest football heroes. Galway had Purcell and Stockwell, Sligo had Naas O
Dowd, eclipsed later by Mickey Kearins; Mayo had any number of great players
such as Paraic Carney, ‘Big’ Tom Langan and so on; Roscommon had Gerry O’Malley
and Leitrim had McGarty and Flynn.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">From Mohill, McGarty showed his potential early and began to represent
the county at the age of sixteen playing senior before he played minor, legend
has it. Due to the circumstances of birth, his was not a career endowed
with success and medals but one of relentless striving to get to the upper
levels of the hill. It required a deep well of optimism that the next game, the
next challenge, might be the one that succeeds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">(We did see it in 1995 when with a dam-burst of emotion Leitrim finally
won a Connacht title again and played in an All-Ireland Semi-Final at Croke
Park.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Leitrim in the fifties had a fine team led by McGarty and Flynn when
they lost three Connacht finals in a row to Connacht kingpins Galway and in
1958 in St. Coman’s Park, Roscommon, they came within a whisker of making the
breakthrough with McGarty having the game of a hero. Leitrim and especially
McGarty’s failure to get Leitrim over the line that day, which I as a boy
witnessed, gave little joy to his opponents Purcell and Stockwell. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">McGarty and teammates continued to toil in the Leitrim colours through
the sixties, always with hope in their hearts and McGarty their model and
inspiration. It is a benchmark of that era that a county’s finest sporting idol
had to immigrate to labour in England being unable to acquire any meaningful
work at home. Galway top brass tried to get him to play with Galway and
guaranteed a decent job for him, it is said, in the sugar factory in Tuam.
However his loyalty to his home county in that respect trumped all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">There was one stage though where all of us Connacht people could unite
and shout for Purcell, Mayo’s Edward Moriarty from Boyle; O’Dowd from Sligo;
O’Malley from Roscommon and of course McGarty. That was in the Railway Cup
competition between the provinces. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Connacht could hold its own and sometimes better on St. Patrick’s Day
and crowds would be there from the west to support in unison. I imagine Packie
must have revelled in the company of the other Connacht giants like Purcell and
O’Malley as the province won in ’57 and ’58. He came to the team in ’54 and
continued until ’67. He was a notable absentee in ’59, ’60, and 1961 probably
in England then. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">So I feel that there will be much reflection in Leitrim and with the
Leitrim diaspora in far flung cities like New York especially where he also
played. Reflection and some tears too, especially amongst senior people who saw
him strive against all the odds with skill, tenacity, style and enduring
courage realising that fate was not at his back. His memory will live long
throughout the proud county of Leitrim. Packie McGarty was a special sportsman
whose reward will be in a fairer place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5TWL9i46VKdpMzFxdoC-mle_wgYkov68uK60HHW8Tzj8IF3FhA9mBzikQggNEijQ3fElcTx6XDHQQ2jFh14_gPHcEGEhgKQq4w3OUwvkEqVtc_QQHZ5xl6sj_BnAiWkTntTZbuGVtzhn/s1170/Scan_20210406+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="850" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5TWL9i46VKdpMzFxdoC-mle_wgYkov68uK60HHW8Tzj8IF3FhA9mBzikQggNEijQ3fElcTx6XDHQQ2jFh14_gPHcEGEhgKQq4w3OUwvkEqVtc_QQHZ5xl6sj_BnAiWkTntTZbuGVtzhn/w464-h640/Scan_20210406+%25282%2529.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-23942620499218431542021-01-26T15:56:00.002-08:002021-01-26T15:58:04.564-08:00Update 26th January<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Two Very Different Historic Topics of
Now ...<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Covid War Continues <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It
would have been very difficult to imagine, in early March of last year, that we
would still be battling THE virus. One really has to feel for the legion of
frontline workers who have been struggling at those front lines trying, with
great courage, to contain the pandemic. They had nearly succeeded and then seen
a resurgence; nearly succeeded again and then came this current attack which
seems like the most virulent resurgence of all. How those frontline workers
have the resilience to continue is heroic? We will be forever in their debt. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I
presume one could say that most people have done their best but of course there
are exceptions. The questions are not new about airports, cross-border travel, tracing,
- which seems to be abandoned- and all those topics which seem to be on a loop
on communication outlets. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">One
hears, from time to time, people who get infected expressing their puzzlement
as to where they could have picked it up. The virus is so insidious with
nightmarish tentacles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
great hope is with the vaccines. So if we can continue with our adherence to
guideline contribution, to our country and ourselves, as we enter the spring
time of the year, we can once again renew our hope that the broad War may be
receding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“This
is not the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Presidential Inauguration in the
United (!) States;<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
swearing-in of President Biden was a very interesting and relaxing event. In a
sense millions of people exhaled a sigh of relief at a return of a kind of
normality. There was also the end of a turbulent four years when an
extraordinary President inflamed passions and was seen by so many to be so
extreme in so many ways. (Now one always has to be conscious of the fact that
Donald Trump got over 74 million votes). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Trump
crashed in a number of the avenues he chose to go down especially in the
post-election months. His insistence on the idea that the election was a fraud
when so many pointers showed otherwise was one. It is referred to as ‘The Great
Lie’, apparently having a historical precedent. The real crash came with the
Rally of January 6<sup>th</sup> when President Trump encouraged his supporters
to challenge the political establishment in the Capitol. This they did in a
very unforgiving way and Trump’s response was neither reasonable or politically
smart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">When
someone makes a mistake he might ask himself ‘What was I thinking about’. More
often that question is asked ‘What were you thinking about?’ So Trump, Giuliana
and Donald Jnr. all lost it in that they could hardly have envisaged the
carnage they were encouraging. Or could they?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This
led to the second Impeachment which is proceeding now even if Trump is no
longer a President. It is pretty obvious that President Biden is struggling
with this action. On the one hand, there is a feeling of necessity to punish
Tump’s behaviour and responsibility for the March on the Capitol and the
deaths, destruction and Insurrection style symbolism of it all. Also, there is
the idea that it is the only real opportunity to clear Trump from getting back on
the political stage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For
Biden on the other hand it is going to be a big distraction from that precious
first 100 days and keeps Trump in the limelight and indulge his huge support.
Then, of course, there is the danger of making Trump some kind of martyr and we
in Irish history know a bit about that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
U.S. is said to be nearly as divided now as in the period after the Civil War
of the 1860s’. The period after their Civil War was known the period of ‘Reconstruction’
but others also see it as a continuance of the Civil War with the Suppression
of the rights of coloured people in the South and so on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps
some winter hence the Night Class scene could include a course on United States
History. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Returning
to the Inauguration, there was a great feel to it, of peace, hope and
celebration. The theme was one of bipartisanship and coming together. While
Biden is in in a strong position in the political houses it seems as if the
ongoing policy of the Republicans in the Senate will be one of obstruction and
delay. A lot of the sentiment expressed immediately after January 6<sup>th</sup>
will be cast aside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
big chess piece here is Mitch McConnell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Getting
back again to Jan. 20<sup>th,</sup> there was a big inclusion of faith and
practitioners of faith with the huge Bible, priest friend and Reverend friend.
The entertainment was loud and colourful with Lady Gaga punching it out with J
Lo and Garth Brooks with Amazing Grace. Keep in mind the M.C. Amy Klobuchar
whose joy was so evident. Last summer she was seen as a Vice President candidate
but stepped back from it. The really happy face in it all was Vice-President Kamala
Harris. She is the first woman to be such and a real contender. She is bound to
attempt goin the extra step up when the opportunity arises. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For
me though the lady who stole the show was the 22-year-old Poet Laureate, Amanda
Gorman with a ‘poem’ titled ‘The Hill We Climb’. It was not just a reading or
recital of a poem but a performance of art as the clear voice, the gesticulating
hands and all her body and soul exclaimed her message.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I
encourage you to Google her performance on U Tube. It could join <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">some of the great speech passages such
as President J.F Kennedy’s <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Ask not
what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country’</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or the great <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">‘I Have a Dream’</span></i></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> speech of Martin Luther
King, who, in a sense, enabled Amanda and Kamala to be on the Capitol podium on
Jan. 20<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For
me to go onto some more mundane topics, after listening to Amanda again there
now, does not seem appropriate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’ll take a good break and end here
with two favourite conclusion extracts, the first from Thomas Kinsella’s poem; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Mirror in February’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I fold my towel with what grace I
can, <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Not young, and not renewable, but
man”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">---------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This
vies with some closing lines from Robert Frost’s; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">But I have promises to keep,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And miles to go before I sleep,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And miles to go before I sleep’.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">(Frost
recited a poem at J.F. K’s inauguration)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Take
Care <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">and
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">‘May your Gods go with you’</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> (Dave Allen). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Sin
é.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-85543648877824692602021-01-10T23:38:00.003-08:002021-01-10T23:38:44.816-08:00Update 11th January<p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE">Prologue</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I’d like to wish a good 2021 to some more
Boyle people abroad who I missed in my pre-Christmas list; Damien Battles in
the U.S.; Colm McQuaid in Melbourne; Killian with a K Egan in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">Covid
Pandemic Over 6,000 Cases Today<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">It seems incredible that the Covid Pandemic
has reached such heights and such virulence again. There are quite a number of
times when we believed that we had it nearly under control. But like a forest
fire which we thought under control, the embers explode again and the numbers
follow suit. While it is ‘challenging’ for us all we can only try and imagine
what it is like for those on the front lines. Those especially in the hospitals
who had felt, surely, last July and again in late Autumn that they had it under
control and that they would get some hard-earned relief only to be confronted
by the flames of the virus confronting them again. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I am not competent to suggest why all the above
happens and can only theorise on that aspect of it. The rumour mill of Shebeens
and house parties and obvious hot spots and so on. Some activities that might
qualify the orchestrators to fringe membership of a Trump rally.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Our hope is with the vaccines down the
track and that reasoning people will remain reasonable and make their
contribution as always. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">The
Broad Challenge of Trumpism<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I too am concerned about the immediate
future with regard to President Trump. My take may surprise you. It is in train
that tomorrow Nancy Pelosi Speaker in The House of Representatives i.e.
Congress will promote a motion for the Impeachment of President Trump. He is
the only President to have had two runs of Impeachment against him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The House of Representatives is made up of
435 members. The Democrats are in the majority with 222 Reps. And the majority
leader is actually a congressman Steny Hoyer. I have little of him as he seems
to be subservient to The Speaker (I presume Chairperson) of the House. The
republicans are in the minority with 211 members and their leader is Kevin
McCarthy who is vocal. Nancy Pelosi who is easy to dislike dominates and has
the position of Speaker since 2003 the first lady in the position.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The Senate is a very different kettle of
fish. It is made up of 100 senators from 50 states i.e. that is, obviously 2
senators per state. The Republicans were in the majority in the Senate until
Jan. the 6<sup>th</sup> when 2 Democratic senators were elected for the state
of Georgia. It is now 50 v 50 BUT in that situation the Vice President i.e.
Kamela Harris has the casting vote thus tilting the balance in favour of the
Democrats which is huge tin terms of getting the policies of the Democratic
President, Joe Biden, through. The Republican majority leader until Jan. 6<sup>th</sup>
was Mitch McConnell. The incoming Democratic leader in the Senate will be Chuck
Schumer with Mitch McConnell moving down to become Republican Minority leader. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">So tomorrow Nancy Pelosi will probably get
a majority from the House of Reps. But then the motion moves to the senate.
There are impossible hurdles there for Pelosi. One is that the Senate is not due
to sit again until Jan. 19<sup>th</sup> the day of the President’s
Inauguration. Also with the Senate being 50:50 it needs such a majority that
there needs to be a large number of Republicans coming on board against Trump.
That will not happen in the numbers required. So it will fail. I presume
knowing that it will fail Pelosi and Co. see it as a necessary motion of
censure on the sins of President Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">THE GREAT DANGER IN ALL THIS is in
victimising Trump you are the making a God out of Trump. It is little mentioned
that Trump got over 74 million votes in the November election. Not all of his
supporters can be of the same strain as the portion of people, from the total
attendees at the Washington Rally, who attacked the Capitol last Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I believe that political commentary should
allow for a percentage of an audience being reasonable using words like
‘majority’ or ‘minority’. It may be hard to do that for Wednesday but remember
the 74 million plus voters for Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">On Thursday President elect Biden stumbled (I’d
say improvising) into a comparison with the German Propagandist Goebbels saying
that there 250, 000 people killed in the Allied bombing of Dresden when it was
contended that it was much less. (The bombing of the beautiful city of Dresden
is a matter for debate to this day). Biden referred to it as ‘The Big
Lie’,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>transferring this to the lie of a
rigged election as repeated by Trump. Now dipping into Nazi comparisons is
fraught with danger and a mistake. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">What do Trump’s supporters see in Trump
that attracts such unswerving support; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">They see an economy which they feel is
‘booming’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">He has kept his ‘America First’ promises as
in withdrawing from the Paris climate Accord. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">His pro-religious, pro-life policies have
pleased conservatives who have contributed to his election.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">He has confronted and ‘called out’ the
danger of an quickly emerging and dangerous super-power in China. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">He was seen as very different politician to
the embedded formula of traditional politicians in all areas of Washington.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">They fear THE LEFT as they see personified
in Bernie Saunders and the LEFT also represented by Biden. The United States
have for a century been paranoid by the threat of communism from the 30s’ to
Joe McCathy’s witch-hunts in the 50s’, the Cuba crisis in the 60s’; Vietnam
which was a ‘push back of communist expansion in south East Asia and Latin
America and so. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The idea of ‘fake’ news; the role of Fox
News and other channels. The convenience of Twitter which Trump has mastered to
stunning extent. All these coalese to paint the opposition as figures of hate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">There is a word called mesmeric I think and
people become so fascinated, so influenced by someone that they lose all
personal responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Once I pasted a photograph from a Fianna
Fáil Ard Fheis burst of applause into my history book to illustrate the Irish
too could lose their grip as they rose to applaud I think it was Charlie
Haughey. It is regularly seen when young people attend concerts of artists they
‘adore’ the Beatles, Elvis Presley. Trump could anything with gestures, lies,
contradictions and so on and the following would be mesmerised. Those rioters
who crashed and then strolled into The Capitol Buildings last Wednesday were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">intoxicated </b>by the event and had no
conception that in the following days the F.B.I. and such would be calling on
them for defiling ‘The People’s House’. This was made somewhat easy by the
incredible lapse in security with regard to the Capitol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course it will be very interesting to see what penalties the main figures who
were at the head of that riot will incur. To millions they will be of course be
heroes! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The United States is as divided now it
seems as it was after the conclusion of The Civil War. The period following the
Civil War was called ‘RECONSTRUCTION’. They have to embark on another period of
‘Reconstruction’ now. Has Joe Biden the ability to turn it around? I’m
sceptical. A lot of people voted for him because they couldn’t vote for Trump
not because they were confident with Mister Biden. He has experience. He is a
moderate. His major challenge is clipping the wings of that 74 million voters
who sought a different path. He needs to tread very carefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
words of a President matter. At their best, the words of a president can
inspire. At their worst, they can incite”.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roscommon
Minors (U 17s’) in All-Ireland Semi-Final. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Roscommon Minors defeated surprise packets
Sligo in the Connacht Final at Bekan, Ballyhauins on St. Stephen’s Day. It was
played in appalling conditions but Roscommon who played a text-book winning
game against Galway in the semi-final proved themselves too good for Sligo for
most of the game. However, in a low scoring game Sligo came back towards the
end but it was too late and so Roscommon progressed. When the game will depend
on the status of the virus pandemic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Oisin Cregg (team Vice-Captain) was selected
as ‘Man of the Match’ in the game and well deserved it. Also I commend the
other Boyle panellists Conor McPherson and Luke McGrath, the manager and all
associated with the team. While this was a final win in terrible conditions the
win against Galway was a real treat to watch with all the coaching principles
in full view. The best of luck in the Sem-final v Kerry whenever that
happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">(The last time these same counties met in a
Connacht minor final was in 1949. The first game was then played in Boyle,
which ended in a draw, and the replay went to extra time at C’Bar which
Roscommon won. Sligo however objected to a Roscommon player being over- age. He
was but due to a mix up with his age certification he played.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After acrimonious appeal meetings the objection
stood. As per rule the Chair. Doctor Hugh Gibbons and the Secretary Michéal O
‘Callaghan were both suspended with the team captain and the player himself. The
sanctions to al were lifted some time later. One could do a short thesis on the
whole affair. Sligo’s run ended against Armagh in Lurgan.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">‘A
Dictionary of Roscommon Biography’ by Mike Lennon Strokestown and Dublin.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I recommend highly here a major book titled
‘A Dictionary of Roscommon Biography’ by Mike Lennon of Strokestown. There are
some 5000 people listed with biographical notes. This covers Roscommon born
people or people who had a strong connection to Roscommon or spent their time
in the county. It costs €30 and is available from Una Bhán at King House. I
would put it amongst the top three books of relevance to Roscommon County. It
is the product of ten years work by Mike and his work and passion for the subject
matter shines through in the finished product. It would be a great gift for any
time of the year as it was for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">The
Passing of John McPherson<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I heard with sadness at Christmas of the
death of my ‘comrade’ John Mac Pherson. The ‘comrade’ tag goes back a long way
as if we were the remainders of some long ago imaginary revolution. Like so
many I was very fond of John. He was great fun to talk to and often had a
trademark twist to his yarns. In thinking of him now I seem to remember that he
was a regular user of the term ‘you know yourself’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a faithful follower of Boyle Celtic,
Sligo Rovers and Tottenham Hotspurs from which he contacted me not very long
ago. He was a member of Boyle town Commissioners and one of the last serving
Mayors of Boyle. With his wife Jean they formed a really grand couple. His son
Shane representing the family paid his dad a broad tribute of which he would be
very proud. May you rest in peace ‘comrade’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-74616551629330189932020-12-22T03:21:00.004-08:002020-12-22T03:27:00.794-08:00Update 22nd December<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeiCKAC5ND_TQG-rp1MO0JYKGPwnbICqnfEmEmhe-f505u0HUxkvZph2vzyhcfuzgtwXZ_QcMH8CeIGgU0tgtdhB0xFPkxUDnhXFi8xVlZOgrrOuVr3Z6If1Ti0Ot6ERP-4TYs8rmt-54A/s564/db90f0826fbffebb3b3a9e8c75cc965f.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeiCKAC5ND_TQG-rp1MO0JYKGPwnbICqnfEmEmhe-f505u0HUxkvZph2vzyhcfuzgtwXZ_QcMH8CeIGgU0tgtdhB0xFPkxUDnhXFi8xVlZOgrrOuVr3Z6If1Ti0Ot6ERP-4TYs8rmt-54A/s320/db90f0826fbffebb3b3a9e8c75cc965f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Christmas and New Year Greetings to all former Boyle residents. We will be thinking of you and wishing you well especially at this time of year (with apologies for errors and omissions)</p><p><b>Australia </b></p><p>Ciaran Conlon and family/ Paraic Sweeney & Sarah/ Conor Nangle/ Enda, Jacquie and Emer & Glenn O’Callaghan/ Seamie Gallagher/ Damien Keenehan/ Ciaran Keenehan/Clodagh Egan from Green St. in Sydney/Ger. O’Gara and clan including Joan and honorary Boyle man, Sean Casey/ Joseph Moran in Sydney/ Jenny Jessop (O'Dowd) from Abbeytown/ Dr. Timothy O'Dowd/ Benny Sheerin, Sydney, Maggie Carty. Melbourne; Sinéad (O’Donnell) Oon and family, Melbourne; Brian Tiernan. </p><p><b>The U.S</b>.</p><p>Damien Dooley/ Frankie Flaherty/ Marcus Kennedy/ Joseph Mahon/ Brendan O’Callaghan/ Chris O’Dowd & family/ Doirbhle O'Dowd/ Austin and Paraic Biesty & family/ The Spellman family x Forest View/ Pat and Margaret Lavin also x Forest View now/ Niall Mc Crann /Pat and Peter Nicholson/ Arnold Gaffney, Boston/ Hillary and Kenneth Beirne. (I’m sure there are many more but….)</p><p><b>Canada</b></p><p>Tadgh Egan/ Sean Mullaney/ Miss Compton/ Dearbhaile Mac Namara in Toronto/ Dr.Patrick Nicholson, formerly Sheegora now in Toronto.</p><p><b>England</b></p><p>John Harrington/ Gary Tiernan/ Nicky Emmett/Sarah Mullaney/ Nessa Young? John O'Dowd from Abbeytown/ Niall Greenan/ Christy and Jim Toolan, London/ Paddy Conlon & family</p><p><b>Scotland</b></p><p>Rory Nangle/ Lorraine & Oran and family. </p><p><b>Belgium</b></p><p>James Candon in Brussels</p><p><b>Germany and Belgrade</b></p><p>The Gannon family Belgrade/ Michael and Maria Kelly and family in Munich.</p><p><b>Spain</b></p><p>Sean Young & family/ John & Joan Gallagher and family/ Gavin, Declan and Anthony in various places.</p><p><b>Portugal</b></p><p>Mattie Scott in sunny Portugal / Frankie Shanley</p><p><b>Dubai</b></p><p>Darren Dockery, the Gulf!</p><p><b>South Africa</b></p><p>Carmel Finneran.</p><p><b>Brazil</b></p><p>Fr. Tony Conry….contributor to Roscommon Herald.</p><p><b>Singapore</b></p><p>Catriona Moran and family.</p><p><b>New Zealand</b></p><p>Elisabeth Hemi Taute (Sweeney) husband and son Cian in N.Z.</p><p>Christina Marnell daughter of Marie Paul also in New Zealand.</p><p><b>(Above is just a guesstimate as to Boyle people in far-flung places.)</b></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-36824440511987861612020-12-16T00:04:00.001-08:002020-12-16T00:04:09.894-08:00update 16th December<p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Limerick Supreme</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From
the early minutes of the All-Ireland Final the outcome could be foreseen. The
hot favourites Limerick dominated the game with a performance of power, skill,
authority and confidence. Many times the final winners are posted as a great
side, which will be around for a number of years, this does not always happen.
But this Limerick side has the quality of being one of the truly great sides.
With the power and physique distributed across a large panel comes all the
skills as they regularly rack up magic numbers in terms of points scored quite
a few being 30 or more which is classic scoring. They won the 2018 final after
a long hiatus and came back this year to take a second championship and look
like they will be around for some time to come. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Relentless</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One
feels for Waterford which most neutral followers would have wished to win. They
can have few regrets about losing on Sunday in terms of being beaten by a
better side. While they kept in touch for a significant period of time they
were doing so in the shadows of a superior team who in the final segment moved
comfortably towards their victory. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">It
was a historic final because of its timeline and the prevailing health dilemma
globally. </span></div><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">In GAA history a small number of finals have been tagged with special titles.
The most famous to date has been the 1947 football final played in New York and
referred to after the name of the stadium it was played in there. It is
recalled as the Polo Grounds final. In 1939</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">there was ‘the thunder and lightning final’ and today’s final will
forever be tagged as the Corona Pandemic or a variant of that name.</span></div><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
summer when it was proposed that the two finals would played on Sunday December
13 and Saturday December 19 there was a lot of scepticism and we could hardly
picture it happening. But it did come to pass and hopefully the Limerick
celebrations will be mooted and dignified and do not come at a high price.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hopefully,
sometime next year, many of the victories, anniversaries and postponed
celebrations will be possible and what a crowded diary of events that could
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So
next Saturday we move to the All-Ireland Football Final Dublin v Mayo. The odds
are stacked against Mayo as they face the greatest collective team in history
in terms of winning now going for their sixth All-Ireland in a row. I do not
know if young GAA followers of today will be able to rhyme off the members of
that Dublin team as many youngsters of past decades could run off the names of
the great teams such as Mayo in the early fifties, the Down team of 60/61, the
Galway 3 –in-a-row of the sixties, Kerry and Dublin in the seventies Tyrone and
the breakthrough teams and of course Roscommon in the 40s’! This Dublin is
always adopting a small number of new players. Still it has three maybe four
players who would stand out in the history of the game. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For
me they are; Brian Fenton, my favourite player; Ciarán Kilkenny with massive
contributions on a number of levels; the goalkeeper, Stephen Cluxton who has redefined
the role of the keeper; and the ever-improving Dean Rock.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
best of luck to Mayo. Their resilience and heart is of a noble nature and it
would be the ironies of ironies were they win next Saturday. A few Mayo flags
would not go amiss in this season of goodwill and community spirit! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">BREXIT ‘The End is Nigh’<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So
it goes on and on. I could go on. The poker game of negotiations with deadlines
falling by the wayside but…I assume December 31<sup>st</sup> is the final,
final day of reckoning. It seems as if there is this nightmare beneath the Coved
nightmare and the future of Global warming suggested as more dangerous than all
that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lord
Frost <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
we refer to the Brexiteers as British they are for the most part English with
some misguided constituency from Northern Ireland. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
personage in the British establishment played one of its favourite historic
cards with the news this week that the Royal Navy was gearing up a number of
its navy ships to be ready for immediate action to protect its fishing rights
as they saw it. This was an echo of Maggie Thatcher launching her ‘Task Force’
to go thousands of miles to put manners on a minor power in the South Atlantic.
The Belgrano and all that. It won her an election which was its role!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
week’s announcement re its ships getting ready for action was classic timing…mistiming.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Sabre
rattling’ or ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’ is a thing in dusty history books. I wonder what
the Germans thought of it? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
is a huge economic issue and the consequences for all involved are seismic.
Again for us the ‘dammed border’ raises its ugly head in terms of entanglement.
Recently in a conversation with someone, we shared opinions on how long the
‘dammed border’ can survive/continue in being an anchor on our dreams. While he
optimistically felt 5 to 10 years my own view was circa 40/50 years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
vast economic consequences are hobbled by the narrow political dictates of
Westminster backbenches. As I see it, the front line of British political
decision-making is bereft of people of quality and imagination with the Labour
Party, though now having a reasonable leader, having been unable to rise from
the bogland of paralysis.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
that cast of British politics are anathema to many in this country there is
another side to it all. When this country was on its knees especially in the
decade, which I witnessed, the 1950s’ England provided a safety valve for the
Irish ‘Free’ State as hundreds of thousands emigrated. So England is twisted
flax. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mister Brian Stanley Sinn Féin T.D. Apologises.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
a message posted in late November, on the centenary of the Kilmichael ambush in
1920, Mister Stanley wrote: “Kilmicheal (sic) (1920) and Narrow Water (1979)
the 2 IRA operations that taught the elective of (the) British army and the
establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Pity for everyone they were such
slow learners.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
second tweet which remerged in the discussion was from 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tweet was sent by Mr Stanley following Mr
Varadkar's election as leader of Fine Gael read "Yippee 4 d tory. it's
Leo. U can do what u like in bed but don't look 4 a pay rise the next
morning".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
variation there. Mister Stanley is Chairman of the very important Dáil ‘Public
Accounts Committee’. He has decided to step down from tweeting.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Power of Streaming<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
was a stream which ran down a hill to form a pool beside the road we walked going
to Castlecoote national school decades ago now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our 1950s’ dialect of we used a wee
addition at the end of some nouns (grammatically called ‘suffix’ as opposed to
‘prefix’). We referred to it as the ‘streameen’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On
Saturday I was propelled into modern-day streaming. A much-loved cousin, Nancy
Heavey, had died in Des Plains an outlier of Chicago. I tuned into her mass, which
was the first time I had done that for the U.S. The officiating priest had an
Irish name and the Irish connection was much in evidence. Nancy’s nephew Tim
Horn paid Nancy a glowing tribute. The essence of it was her commitment to her
extended family and how loyal they were to each other which was mentored by
Nancy. She was the glue in the Heavey clann’s togetherness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nancy’s
dad, Matt Heavey, was my connection to the family. While he was born near
Ballygar the family moved to near Athleague when he was very young. That was as
part of land re-distribution. He worked for a short while in a shop in
Roscommon town but decided to ‘escape’ to England. He had no money for the boat
to Liverpool and cajoled the gatekeeper to get allow him on board the cattle
boat. He did not remain long in Liverpool which was more impoverished than
whence he came. His brother Paddy, a Chicago policeman, sent him the fare to
the United States to which he went in 1927.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His
is akin to the stories of maybe millions of Irish people and I’ll return to it
anon. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyway
Nancy you were an exemplary lady amongst whose joys were ‘square dancing’ and
the Chicago Cubs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Watching the Drama of the U.S.
Election<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Like
so many in this country I tuned in with commitment to the drama of the
Presidential election in the United States. It seems a good while ago now! I
channel hopped between RTE and BBC and then CNN and for my sins Fox News. I
quickly got to know the ‘Anchor’ of ‘The Situation Room’ Wolf Blitzer, a
regular presenter Erin Burnett and a political specialist whose main prop was a
technology Wall which relayed the votes and counts as they emerged. He really
caught a lot of people’s attention and was quickly lined up for interview on
RTE as he too had Irish connections. His name was John King. The vote
projections on the night of the election held me for some time but were so
drawn out that I opted out for dreamland. Just as well as the counts went on
for weeks. I do not know if there are not counts still going on in some pockets
of P. A./ Arizona and especially Georgia where there were three counts. There
was of course the much heralded hue and cry about ‘a rigged election’ and
fraudulent votes and a litany of other sins to ensure that the sitting
President Donald Trump would be outed. There was a remarkable turn-out in which
Joe Biden got nearly 80 million votes and Trump got something around 75 million
votes. Those are staggering numbers. Each state has a certain number of votes
allocated to them I presume weighed on population. Yesterday Monday the 14<sup>th</sup>,
what is called and ‘Electoral College’, in each state endorses the electoral
votes. Why this is necessary I have not studied properly… yet. It has to join
the queue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Apparently
results can be contested and have been by Trump supporters led by lawyer Rudy Giuliani,
on a multitude of issues. Nearly all of these have been denied by various
courts. The top U.S. court is The Supreme Court and last week it denied two
such appeals. One was rebuffed in a one sentence rebuttal that the appeal ‘had
no standing’ and a second major appeal got dismissed on Friday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
it still goes on and can go on until Congressional approval in January. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Supreme Court of the United States is occasionally referred to by its acronym…
SCOTUS <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">President
Trump has spent most of his time either on the golf course or crying about the
election being rigged. This is as Covid numbers in terms of deaths (300,000 as
of now) and people contracting the virus reaching incredible highs. Another
thing that is obviously very important to him is that he gets credit to the
development of the Covid Vaccines that have emerged. This programme has the
title ‘Warp Speed’ (incredible speed) which apparently comes from the T.V.
programme of the 60s’ ‘Star Trek’. (I Googled it!) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
may have referred to this last time but the question now is; will Trump attend ‘The
Inauguration of President-Elect Biden in January. It will make intriguing
viewing whichever way that pans out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Returning
to CNN I find those channels so dominated by advertisements many for health
care of one kind or another…one of which renewed my acquaintance with a
football hero of the late sixties in New York i.e. Broadway Joe Namath of the
New York Jets’ The ratio of ads to actual news segments seems to be near 50:50.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
find that amount of advertising hard to take so the BEEB is the port of
retreat. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
see that Mitch McConnell who is the ‘Majority’ Republican ‘Leader’ in the
Senate has eventually seen the way to acknowledging the result of the November
3<sup>rd</sup> U.S. Presidential election. It is some 40 days since the
election of President-Elect Biden. It might be suggested that McConnell is more
intent on ‘leading’ from the rear, with the battle long over, which is hardly
leadership. There is a phrase somewhere which suggests that; ‘Something given
at first asking is twice given’. Mitch wouldn’t want to be playing a game with
the clock ticking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Retreat of Book Reading</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
do not read nearly as many books as I would like to do or indeed should do.
When I start a book I can stay and finish pretty quickly. That is if it appeals
to me of course. There is no need to torture oneself by staying with a book. When
I am offered a book by a friend I might politely decline saying that I have so
many books left to read that I’ll be in heaven a few decades before I have them
all read. Some assumptions there of course! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last
week, on RTE, there was the annual ‘An Post’ sponsored virtual Annual Book
Awards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll
list, in truncated fashion, most of the winners, in various categories, as
follows;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">RTÉ Radio 1 Listeners’
Choice Award…A Light That Never Goes Out – Keelin Shanley (Gill Books)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2.Bord
Gáis Energy Sports Book of the Year…Champagne Football – Mark Tighe & Paul
Rowan (Sandycove)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3.Bookselling
Ireland Cookbook of the Year…Neven Maguire’s Midweek Meals in Minutes – Neven
Maguire (Gill Books)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">4.
A Ghost in the Throat – Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Tramp Press)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5.
TheJournal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year… Old Ireland in Colour –
John Breslin & Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley (Merrion Press)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">6.
Love Leabhar Gaeilge Irish Language Book of the Year…Cnámh – Eoghan Mac Giolla
Bhríde (Éabhlóid)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Specsavers
Children’s Book of the Year – Senior<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">7.
Break the Mould – Sinéad Burke, illustrated by Natalie Byrne (Hachette
Children's Books – Imprint: Wren & Rook)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">8.
Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year – Junior..The Great Irish Farm Book –
Darragh McCullough, illustrated by Sally Caulwell (Gill Books)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">9.
Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year…Diary of a Young Naturalist – Dara
McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls (Little Toller Books)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">10.
National Book Tokens Popular Fiction Book of the Year.. Home Stretch – Graham
Norton (Coronet, Hodder & Stoughton)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">11.
Ireland AM Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year…Never Mind the Boll***s, Here’s
the Science – Luke O’Neill (Gill Books)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">12.
Eason Novel of the Year…Strange Flowers – Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
overall winner of the An Post Irish Book of the Year was number 4 above.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Keelin
Shanley was a highly regarded and loved broadcaster who passed away from cancer
in February of this year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Champagne
Football has as its central character John Delaney of the FAI and this books
tells of his lifestyle and how ran the FAI as his fiefdom until his fall from
grace. I have not read it yet but I’m told that it is riveting reading. My
usual word ‘unbelievable’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Number
4 above won the overall book prize so it must be special. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Number
7 was written by ‘a small lady’ who was very impressive in her promo which was
screened as part of the scene setting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Number
9 too had a very impressive c.v. A young man (aged 16) Dara McNulty from County
Down whose standing in nature studies and writing is wowing many towards his
outstanding nature book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Graham
Norton, from county Cork…number 10… shows that he is not a one hit (or show)
wonder and this is book number four. He already has 5 BAFTAS but now this is
another major string to his bow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No
11 Luke O’Neill is one of the medical professionals who grace our screens and radio
regularly with advice on Covid 19. Some are more serious than others and Mister
O’Neill comes across as a very personable person. Underneath he is obviously a
very bright man<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Number
12 Donal Ryan from Tipperary has a number of telling novels to date starting
with ‘The Spinning Heart’. Boyle’s Jarlath Tivnan adapted his book ‘The Thing
About December’ very tellingly for the stage a couple of years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Edna O’Brien at 90<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">P.S.
Yesterday was the 90<sup>th</sup> Birthday of one of Ireland’s most loved and
notable writers, Edna O’Brien. Edna comes from Clare but has lived in London
for a very long time. Her first and breakthrough novel was titled ‘The Country
Girls’. The novel tells of the ‘adventures’ of some country girls who have
arrived for employment in the big city Dublin in the late fifties. It was of
course banned under the strict moral censorship laws of the time. This
guaranteed significant interest in the book and sales and reputation despite
the legal restrictions. It was not on its own in this respect. It is many
decades since I read the book but it certainly was a benchmark publication. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boyle GAA A.G.M. on Zoom December 5th<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
made a point of ‘attending’ Boyle GAA’s A.G.M. It may happen again in the
future but this was a historic in our local context. The meeting was moderated
most efficiently and effectively by the Club’s Chairman, David Kelly. GAA
club’s today have a huge workload and the Covid Pandemic has made this work
very difficult. The most encouraging thing I took from the meeting was the
large number of young people who are now at the helm. People like myself can
sit on the back, backbenches and feel very comfortable that the club is in
good, energetic and innovative hands. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
primary officers are; <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Chairman
David Kelly: Secretary Jan Flanagan; Treasurer, Ray Hannon; Senior Team
Manager, Cian Smith; Junior Team Manager, Mark O’Connor; Team Rep. Marc
O’Connor; P.R.O. Roch Hanmore; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Registrar
and Irish Officer Steve Tonry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mary
Clifford finally got to retreat from the front line and was commended for her
huge contribution for around two decades now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
I am delighted to see a Boyle person at the helm of the senior team once again
I must commend outgoing team manager. Basil Mannion, for his imaginative contribution
and particularly he always being a gentleman in the post over the last three
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish to sympathise with Ray (Hannon) on the death of his dad Michael. Michael
was one of the pillars in the emergence and progression of Eastern Harps Club
for the fifty years of its existence. How much he contributed and how he was
respected was evident in the many tributes which were paid to Michael, by so
many, on his passing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A Season of Passing and Anniversaries
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
I write I read of the passing of the Country and Western singer Charley Pride. He
was highly regarded and was in their Country Hall of Fame. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
captain of the fine Roscommon U 21 All-Ireland winning team of 1966, Colm
Shine. He was a brother of Brendan Shine. On that team were Pat Clarke, Pat
Nicholson, Ray Sheeran, John Kelly and Dermot Earley. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On
December 8<sup>th</sup> 1980 Beatle genius, John Lennon, was killed in New York.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
past week was the Centenary of the ‘Burning of the centre of Cork City’ by
British irregular forces.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sunday
morning Dec. 7<sup>th</sup> 1941 saw the attack by the Japanese on Pearl
Harbour as President Roosevelt tagged it ‘a day of infamy’ which brought the
U.S. into WW2 alongside Britain and her allies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Epilogue</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve
gone on too long I imagine but there is so much swirling around to ‘scribble’
about that when I finally get to putting this together I push on. I must do
better…shorter may be a New Year’s resolution. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Early…ish
next week I’d like to send our best wishes to Boyle connections far and wide at
this particularly hazardous time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>May
your Gods go with you.</b><b> </b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-68186103360762240252020-11-24T23:54:00.001-08:002020-11-24T23:57:45.975-08:00<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sports Carnival</b> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The last two weekends of sport have been a lift for the soul. In reverse order. I was very impressed with the tenacity of Cavan in the Ulster Final. It really was a win hewn from doggedness, true grit and a Breffni pride. That pride in the royal blue goes back a century to when Cavan were kings of Ulster and won something like 30 Ulster titles in the forty years between the 1920s to the 1960s’. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In discussion with a friend P. D. after the game, he impressed on me the mentality that Cavan would have no fear of Donegal. That would not be in their d.n.a. Cavan were something like 14 to 1 which was extravagant in a two-horse race. But Donegal had shown in earlier games a pedigree and were total favourites including with myself in that. They were seen as the last remaining challenge to Dublin. Now Dublin faces Cavan. I fear for Cavan repeating my opinion from the Donegal game. Still they have won their first Ulster title since 1997 and that has made it a good year for them and rekindled the spirit of a Cavan GAA which we thought was at a low ebb. Dublin beware! (Typical of Cavan to win an Ulster title the year the pubs were closed!)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The result of not just the weekend but for many a day was the victory of Tipperary in the Munster championship their first win since 1937. I have a couple of friends who have spent decades keeping football alive in Tipp. And last Sunday was the result that they got pay-back for all their efforts and faith that they would have a day like that. Of course, when Cork defeated a complacent Kerry it really opened up that side of the draw. Cork has produced great football teams down the decades and are fifth in the ranking of most All-Ireland’s with 6 including two in a row in ’89 and ’90. Still, for a county of its size, it has not achieved what it might have. Kerry has had a real influence in that of course. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is suggested that in Tipp. There is little heed on ‘the football’ and they are looked down on by the hurling fraternity. Last Sunday happened as a result of a lot of effort, from a small group of people, who helped bring minor and under-21 successes to their county teams. They have, as we saw on Sunday, many fine players with Sweeney and Quinlivan and Ozzie Rules player being as good as are in any county. They can give Mayo a real challenge in a couple of weeks’ time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Still, their win was all about history, the rise of the underdog, historical coincidence alignment and joy. It took place a calendar day later than the Bloody Sunday shootings by British forces of 14 people in Croke Park in 1920. This included a man named Michael Hogan who is commemorated with the name of the iconic Hogan Stand in the grounds now. That game on bloody Sunday was not an All-Ireland or anything like it but a challenge game between Dublin and Tipp. Also, Mick Hogan was not the captain of the Tipp. team. In the film ‘The Big Fellow’ with Michael Collins the central character played by Liam Neeson a few of these errors has perpetuated a number of ‘small’ errors.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I wonder will Tipp. retain the green and white jerseys for the semi-final. I suggest they should. Tipp. have won All-Ireland senior championships in 1889/1895/1900/and the 1920 All-Ireland played in 1922. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is something that a hundred years on from 1920 that the four provincial winners are the same this year as then. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That was Sunday.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">On Saturday I was pleased to see Galway win v Tipp. in the hurling semi-final. They had let slip the Leinster final v Kilkenny a week earlier but got over the line here. While there are many very good players on the Galway team it is always a special joy to see Joe Canning play, score frees and especially the side-line cuts over the bar which he has made his trademark shot. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was great to see another nearly county continue to emerge as a force that being Waterford who defeated Clare comfortably enough. So the hurling semi-finals are Galway v Limerick and Kilkenny v Waterford.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Limerick look like a crack team so this from this remove should be a really great game. Waterford take on Kilkenny. Waterford has been impressive this season but they have a sad history against Kilkenny. However, this Kilkenny side is not nearly on a par with those of the recent past. It took some moments of magic from Richie Hogan to turn the tide against Galway. His intervention tells as the saying goes; ‘form is temporary class is permanent’. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The following weekend (Sat/Sun the 5th/6th) the football semi-finals Cavan v Dublin and Tipp. v Mayo. Then on Sunday 13th the All-Ireland Hurling final and the football final on the 20th. The GAA schedule keeps giving. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>John Clarke R.I.P.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I was saddened to hear of the death of John Clarke recently. He died in England. He was husband of Marie Grehan of the Grehan Sisters who were part of the folk scene starting in the late sixties. John and Marie and family lived in the North West of England for a good part of their lives with John and Marie returning to Ireland around twenty years ago. They then went to live in Leitrim. I met John a good few times over the years, usually at music sessions in recent times in Dodd’s Bar. I extend my condolences to the Grehan family. He was a really interesting and kind soul. May he rest in peace. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Imelda Marcos Disturbing Sky Documentary:</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This was, for me, a disturbing programme and I am only referring to it to suggest that you watch it if you ever get the chance. Imelda Marcos was the wife of Ferdinand Emmanuel Marcos who was dictator of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Imelda had a major influence on her husband and the regime as it developed in the Philippines. After 30 years the Marcos dynasty was eventually deposed and they were exiled to Hawaii. While Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989 his wife never abandoned the possibility of returning to the country and having a member of the family, their one son Bongbong becoming leader again. While these are the machinations of many such dictator families the persona of Imelda Marcos was a much more exaggerated and disturbing one. She had the self -confidence, sense of entitlement and twisted vision that made her feel that she had an almost divine right to be ‘mother of her nation’. A number of people may remember her fetish for collecting exotic shoes and we saw a very large room with a huge range of such shoes. Also the family engaged in the acquisition of great wealth from various state streams. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The family were collectors of the best in art and such and gold leaf decorated much of the palatial residences. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Foreign property in such cities as New York was also a target of her greed.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">From time to time while travelling by car she brought with her large amounts of paper money to give to the impoverished at traffic light stops so as to endow her reputation.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The family, after a Safari in Africa, decided to establish its own African animal free-ranging park and cleared an island of its inhabitants to facilitate this. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">She met all the dignitaries and top echelons of their day from U.S. Presidents to the Queen of England. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">After the death of Ferdinand Marcos in ’89 his body was embalmed and kept in a glass coffin on exhibition. She was waiting until her husband got to be buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery of the Philippines which it did in 2016. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The present President of the Philippines is Rodrigo Duterte. He rules with cruelty and ruthlessness. His edict to police in how to treat people with Corona virus is to shoot them as they have been doing to drug addicts and drug pushers for some time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Imelda Marcos was 91 last July. The documentary was titled, I think, as ‘The Kingmaker’. If she thought, it was going to be a flattering depiction of the ‘Mother of a Nation’ then she should reassess that. She came across as an evil montage of all that personifies these deluded and ruthless personalities. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Thanksgiving Holiday in U.S. </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is one of the biggest holidays in the U.S.A. and its tradition goes back two centuries and more. After some flexibility as to the date it was finally fixed as the last Thursday of November this year being the 26th. Apparently it is a time where many people take to the air and go visiting extended family in other parts of the country. This year with Covid it presents a real dilemma in terms of Covid 19 spread. Despite the threat some millions of people are still on the move. This will have its consequences of course with a possible surge superimposing itself on the present surge. So we will see what transpires.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The U.S. is a pretty divided country right now where the election results have been contested and claims of irregularities and fraud have been, as a teaching colleague of mine (F.T.) used say; “Thrown around like snuff at a wake”.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The rule by tweet and the behaviour of the present White House incumbent Donald Trump is pretty depressing. After the initial results showed Joe Biden as winning Trump made a brief and pretty pathetic address to the press. Since then he has only been seen on the golf course. As Rome burned back in Roman times the emperor Nero is said to have ‘fiddled’. As the Covid 19 pandemic surges the U.S. emperor plays golf. Unbelievable. Then there are the ongoing legal challenges against accepting the results as they exist. This is a course that is open to the defeated candidate but demanding a third count in Georgia seems to pushing the boundaries. But these challenges have been tossed out of numerous courts of appeal. This legal team is led by President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Now, if my memory serves me right, he was a highly regarded Mayor of New York and thought of as someone who could have had a big political future. But the sheen is gone. Two bizarre press appearances have cemented that. The first one was “slated” (!) to have taken place in a major hotel ‘The Four Seasons” but it ended up in the car park of ‘The Four Seasons’ Garden Centre’ and for more seasoning it was in front of a premises which had some sexual connotations. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Press Conference two of this crack legal team fronted in what must have been a high temperature zone. During his presentation people began to focus not on what Rudy was saying but on the sweat running down his face. Sweat running down a person’s face can in some instances be seen as a positive thing but when it colours brown it is a real distraction. The color change, it is suggested, was caused by some make-up dye not holding its ground. Slippage, wind farm constructors might call it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Now while that was unfortunate (for Rudy!) the press conference was further compromised by a Lawyer embedding her presence into the ‘crack’ legal team. Her name is/was Sidney Powell. She must have strayed onto the stage from a remake of the classic film ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. It was only revealed some time after the press conference that she was not part of the ‘crack’ team. It was as if some Twink decided to crash the Tony Holohan nightly briefing on television here. I imagine that Tony, being Tony, would not put her out front!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The big question is Quo Vadis Trump? Will he continue in denial, sulking? Possibly. Will he turn up at the Joe Biden inauguration in January? Maybe he’ll turn up, in a golf buggy. Will he begin a 2024 election campaign almost immediately? He could certainly be a distracting presence in the long grass of the side-lines. One has to keep in mind that he did get an incredible vote of over 70 million people in an amazing national poll of near 150 million. This suggests that Joe Biden has a really challenging mandate to try and reach out to that constituency. No easy task. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There is a Buddhist proverb that goes “Something given at first asking is twice given”. So the longer Trump stays removed from concession the more damage he does to himself. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">While I jest and exaggerate a little (as Rudy said about voting irregularities) it is really, really, serious and Georgia is set to become a real battleground state for the two outstanding Senate seats in the upcoming January election. How that happened I do not know as of now. At present, the Republican party have 50 seats and the Democrats 48 with just the two to be decided. Each of the 50 states have 2 Senators irrespective of population. In the unlikely event that the Democrats do win the TWO seats then with the vote of the Vice-President (I may be wrong there) can give the Senate majority to the Democrats. That for the Republicans would be a nightmare. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the much lesser question; what about Rudy who is so much part of my present dialogue. Perhaps he is destined to depart to the circuit of television shows like ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ or ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here”. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As a slight postscript is it not amazing to see the queues of cars forming in car parks as they pick up charity food boxes? This in such a wealthy country! </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Have a happy Thanksgiving.</b> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-39043561052544922142020-10-30T00:49:00.002-07:002020-11-02T00:07:01.933-08:00<p style="text-align: justify;"> Blog Thursday, October the 29th.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Covid Marathon</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Last spring, we battened down the hatches in a gesture of solidarity and defiance and by June or so we thought we were ‘round the corner’ as Trump says. But like the Marathon, we are now challenged by that twenty-kilometre barrier. The winter winds blow chilly and cold and the long dark nights envelop our existence. But we will survive and come next February, 3/4 months away, having survived, we will face a different brightening future. We will be tired, some even exhausted, but that famous ‘light in the tunnel’ will not be the proverbial train of the past year. The commentary on a vaccine is pretty positive endorsed his morning by a respected Dr Fauci. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As the ongoing notifications from our guiding medical fraternity is that the next few weeks are critical. This reminds me of a jockey being asked the question; “Which fence in the Aintree Grand National do you fear the most?” to which he replied, “Always the next one”.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am not competent to comment much on the Covid news like the difficulties with ‘track and trace’, the post-match, house party, travel breaches of guidelines, confusion around ‘pods’, some places being open and others not, some sports allowed and others not, the huge challenges in schools and the many more. There is an abundance of commentary on those ‘out there’. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> Take care and if you feel uncomfortable in a situation to get out of there. And I would request people who meet others in a social distancing way ‘mind the gap’. Months ago now, in the early days, I was at a small game and very much socially distancing and masked when someone came towards me and as I retreated he advanced until I was nearly going over the embankment. I left posing the question; How could it be that he could not interpret my situation?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I quote from Thomas Kinsella’s poem ‘Mirror in February’ which represents my attitude at this time;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">“I fold my towel with what grace I can </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not young and not renewable, but man.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>T.V. Films</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Films and television programmes I have watched recently include a disproportionate number on United States issues. Issues with police treatment of Black people were front and centre in ‘Detroit’ and ‘16 Shots’. Both were shocking and Detroit was not for the squeamish. One film I enjoyed (!), ‘The Chicago Seven’ related to the protests of 1968 in Chicago (again) near the Democratic Convention. It is not a classic or anything and perhaps it was more a black comedy than a seriously themed picture. Still, the court scenes and the performances of a number of the principals are very good. I could be ‘overruled’ on that selection of course but give it a chance. Again the behaviour of the Chicago police at the behest of the city’s Mayor Daly was o.t.t. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">At that Convention, the Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey as their candidate against Richard Nixon. Nixon won of course. While I am very interested in U.S. History it would take a lifetime to get a decent knowledge of it. I would like to read a book with the losing presidential candidates as a theme. It seems to me that while there have been few outstanding American Presidents hardly ever has one emerged from the ‘also-rans’ of which the label ‘the greatest President the U.S. could have had but missed out on’. The great Presidents would include Washington, Lincoln, Wilson perhaps, F.D. Roosevelt with a run of decent presidents including Eisenhower, Kennedy who could have been a first division contender as could Johnson. After that come, Nixon, Ford (accidentally), Carter, Regan (who many Americans see as a ‘great’ President but not me). H.G. Bush, Clinton I thought of as a good president; G.W. Bush; Obama hobbled by Congress, and now Trump.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What future event will probably have the greatest television audience of modern times? I’ll give my guess on that somewhere down the way. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am confused at the fact that in such an advanced society that there are queues to vote in the U.S. it is something one associates with say South Africa or some such. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Book of Now</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The runaway sports bestseller of the moment is ‘Champagne Football’ by Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan. It is an account of the Football Association of Ireland in John Delaney’s ‘care’. I have not read it yet but I got a text from a friend as follows; “Wait until you read Champagne Football. The GAA should send a copy to houses through the country and complaints about the GAA would wither’! I saw a television interview with Mark Tighe and in a condensed way, it showed the style of Delaney. Delaney’s pathetic performance at the Dail Committee hearings was mind-boggling. A succession of; ‘On legal advice, I do not answer that question’ or some such. The high point of his tenure and a picture of his self-importance and power was the birthday party at Mount Juliet. So I look forward to reading ‘Champagne Football’. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In stark contrast to the above one’s heart has to go out the Irish Ladies soccer team who lost out to Ukraine in such incredible circumstances late last week. If you want to see what I am talking of I’m sure you can source it on U Tube or such platforms. This defeat has denied the team to take part in the Ladies World Cup next year in England with the opening match featuring England at Old Trafford and the Final being in Wembley. The Irish goalkeeper will need a lot of t.l.c. for some time after this. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is the third Irish team which has missed out in going to world stages of their sport. The men’s soccer team lost out Slovakia on penalties (If Ireland won there they would have to meet Northern Ireland to go to the European Football Championships finals). A number of the games of the competition will be staged in the Aviva in Dublin. I know of someone who has tickets for their first game v Sweden in the Aviva in June. The games are dispersed around 12 cities including Dublin.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Irish Men’s Hockey team lost out in very controversial circumstances to Canada in October 2019 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. This hinged on a very dubious video refereeing decision. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">One glimmer is that the Irish Ladies Hockey team have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. The game that got them over the line was also against Canada. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Staying with Sport</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">While I only watch Formula One car racing accidentally I must mention the achievement of Lewis Hamilton who has won his 92nd Formula One Race at the Portuguese Grand Prix and so eclipses the record of Michael Schumacher a record that a short number of years ago was thought to be unbreakable. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Roscommon Go Up</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Roscommon team achieved a real goal with their promotion to Division One of the National League with their victory over a poor Cavan team last weekend. They seem to have a real strength-in-depth now as that victory showed. While it is always great for us GAA people to follow successful Roscommon teams a real bonus is when your own club members are part of the team. This is so now and is heightened by the fact that their contribution is of such quality with Donie getting ‘Man of the Match’ there. Enda would be regarded in the top echelons now by national commentators and more especially opposition managers while the emergence and progress of Cian is the real icing on the cake. So hats off to you ‘guys’ as they say in the states. Another very positive part of their contributions is in their after match contributions when interviewed. There was a deal of commentary on the interview with Enda after the Armagh game and the same could be said for Donie after the Cavan game. So Cian you have to, as the Scouts Motto goes ‘Be Prepared’ when your turn comes as it will! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So now we look forward to a Connacht Championship Semi-final v Mayo which will be very, very, interesting in Hyde Park. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Limerick looked very good in their Munster Championship dismissal of Clare on Sunday. A new feature to me was the yellowish sliothar. I presume it was because it was more visible to the television cameras. I’ve seen this before in cricket and tennis maybe? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">‘The West’s Awake’ …Revolution in Roscommon 1916 -1922.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I tuned into this ‘New History Ireland Podcast’ as part of the ‘Decades of Centenaries’ on Tuesday afternoon. This ‘Hedge School’ Podcast was facilitated by Roscommon County Council Arts Office whose Arts officer is Rhona McGrath.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The contributors were Tommy Grehan, Brian Hanley, John Burke and May Moran from Crossna a grand-niece of Paddy Moran who was executed by the British in 1920. One never ceases to learn and see facets of history that lie just beneath the surface and collectively contribute to major upheavals of historic importance. In Roscommon LAND was a major issue </p><p style="text-align: justify;">While Roscommon has regularly been seen as one of the quieter counties in the War of Independence this is not valid when one puts its cards on the table. The 1917 Election success of Count Plunket was a hugely influential event in the whole drama. It is good that Paddy Moran’s grand-niece May is to the fore in the playing a big role in this and her book on Paddy titled ‘Executed for Ireland’ is a big contribution. The book may still be available in the Una Bhán book shop at King House entrance. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There certainly is material for a PhD student in addressing the acquisition and disbursement of land from the great landed estates in County Roscommon to the farming classes. While I mention Scholarly projects it surprises me that Jasper Tully has never been (to my knowledge) the subject of a biography. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Television History Documentaries </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There have been a number of telling and sad television documentaries of late. The RTE programmes schedule presented a number. The first one dealt with the death of Terence Mac Sweeney Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike in Brixton prison in 1920. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Mac Sweeney had succeeded another Mayor Tomas McCurtain who was murdered by a group of men who were regarded as members of the R.I.C.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This week we saw the Nationwide programme in which the first half concentrated on the capture, trial and execution of Kevin Barry in Dublin. Part two dealt with the removal of the remains of 10 I.R.A. members who had been executed in a short period including Barry and buried in Mountjoy. Their remains were removed for reburial with full military honours and state honours in a Republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery. The members of this group were often referred to as ‘The Forgotten Ten’. Their names were; Kevin Barry, Paddy Moran, Frank Flood, Thomas Whelan, Thomas Traynor, Patrick Doyle, Edmond Foley, Thomas Bryan, Bernard Ryan and Patrick Maher. This funeral through the crowded streets of Dublin, which was televised live, took place on the 14th of October 2001. It was a proud day for the many members of the Moran family who were in attendance. It is amongst my list of regrets that I did not go to Dublin for this event as I should have.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">By the time my next Blog here it will be in the anniversary of Bloody Sunday November 21st 1920 and I’ll have a few words on that then. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">P. S. In 1937 when Kevin Barry’s mother was in dire straits and applied to the state pensions board for some monetary support for her and her family. Her request was denied. I know a little about the terms, conditions and layers of bureaucracy in the ‘Free State’ that was at play in this type of result.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"> In a phrase I came across a long time ago they were like inverted Micawbers; ‘Waiting for something to turn down’. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Death of Patricia Mac Namara</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The news of the death of Patricia Mac Namara was greeted with sadness by the community of the town of Boyle last week. She was an iconic figure in the town. I am aware of the various tributes to her spoken at her funeral mass and included in this week’s Roscommon Herald and the regard she was held in so I can only endorse them. I may even be borrowing some apt references used in those forums. I first met Patricia when she was helping her mother in their restaurant at Main Street in the middle seventies. I was living a few doors down the street and lunched there from time to time. I was usually there with Stanley Cox Secretary of the Leitrim Count Board.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As Canon Gerry said at her Mass “She had her own mind and was very direct in expressing her opinion and was linguistically colourful”. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Her 60th birthday was announced in the church at a regular Sunday mass and this was greeted by Patricia in theatrical style with a wave to the crowd and a slight bow as the Choir led the congregation in her Happy Birthday salute. She enjoyed that. A regular African phrase of recent times ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ comes into play with her. While her family were, of course, her immediate diligent carers the village of Boyle helped out in watching out for her.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I met her regularly at the traditional music sessions which in recent years took place in Dodd’s bar. She took her premier seat and held onto it with the tenacity of a politician. She was part of the scene there and was treated well by the hosts and participants. Patricia was not one to drift home early and Liam’s appearance on occasions was not heartily welcome. Her 60th birthday party took place in St. Joseph’s Hall and was followed by a similar celebration for a close contact. Patricia starred on both those occasions. So when we return to Dodd’s, after this current trial, there will be a very visible gap in the traditional circle and perhaps a rendition of ‘The Parting Glass’ in Patricia’s honour. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The World Holds its Breath</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am off now to the Trump Channel …no not Fox News but tonight Thursday, Oct. 29 he is on RTE 1 with ‘United States of Conspiracy’; Virgin One with ‘Trump’s America’; BBC 2 ‘The Trump Show’. I heard an accolade to Trump by whoever, as follows; “Trump is like a wealthy drunk uncle at a wedding”. I have no experience of that but maybe it fits. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The BBC 2 ‘The Trump Show’ I’ve watched just now. It was a record of the past year which has been a dramatic, hard to believe, rollercoaster and despite the ‘Dettol’ and ‘light’ to the insides and all those other signals he has survived leaving a trail of chaos in his wake. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">What if Trump wins? Then there is the other side; what if Trump loses? Just take time out to imagine those options… one.. at… a… time! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So, next <span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IE; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tuesday/ Wednesday </span>, the whole world will (probably) be watching as Blue V Red and states begin to rock, roll, swing and lawyers begin to rub their hands (not in sanitiser mind). That will be the Super Bowl of television watching numbers. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Can American voters do that-elect Donald Trump- to the world and especially to their own country? ‘Yes we can’ I hear them echo. "It’s a crazy world." </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>May your Gods go with you </b> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-9933590698778105152020-10-21T07:24:00.002-07:002020-10-21T07:24:43.438-07:00Update 21st October<p style="text-align: justify;"> Harry O’Connor of Ballinameen. All-Ireland Senior Football Winner 1943.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHl08gpaWrES-7Xe8DVTz7nmdRWyfyDD0hVX9NHpSi6gXEVKLoUDuWNAmV5_HNSr3_-6qrvXmrYX7rhUmenOZZENlB6SD92U3kg567Jpzu3kHa_F2oH12d_D1Sw3OBYhVn_aMNWYVit38u/s372/pic-Harry-O%2527-connor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHl08gpaWrES-7Xe8DVTz7nmdRWyfyDD0hVX9NHpSi6gXEVKLoUDuWNAmV5_HNSr3_-6qrvXmrYX7rhUmenOZZENlB6SD92U3kg567Jpzu3kHa_F2oH12d_D1Sw3OBYhVn_aMNWYVit38u/s320/pic-Harry-O%2527-connor.png" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">I very recently re-read the Ballinameen GAA History and re-visited the reputation of some former great footballers from that club back in the thirties and forties. The three stand-out players then were Harry Beirne, Paddy Kenny, and Harry O’Connor. Harry O’Connor is usually spelled without the ‘O’ but his sister insisted to her son Pat Cooney, decades ago, that the ‘O’ was also very much part of his name. Those three nominated players were part of the good Roscommon junior team which got to the Junior All-Ireland final of 1932 having beaten Cork in the Semi-Final. They lost the final to Louth. The Ballinameen trio would have come to the attention of selectors after winning the 1931 junior championship defeating Athlone (!) in Murray’s field Roscommon town. (Another member of the 1932 team who I got to know well in Castlecoote was Father Tomás O Láimhin brother of John Joe Lavin. A name that always rings a bell with me is Carlos and there was a Ned Carlos prominent with Ballinameen at this time). Ballinameen won the Junior again in ’34 the Golden Jubilee year of the GAA. Both Kenny and O’Connor are welcomed back to the Ballnameen team in early ’35 so they must have missed the ’34 win. Keep in mind the fact that there were only Senior and Junior championships until the late sixties and the junior championship was a really tough contest. Also, top players in Junior clubs were often head-hunted to reinforce good senior teams and this explains the reason why Kenny and O’ Connor might have tried their senior luck with neighbouring senior teams. It was also a better show-case for Senior county team selection. It crops up again in the forties when the Ballinameen team is absent and Paddy Paddy Kenny played with Mantua and Harry played with Boyle in the championship. If I was ever aware of this, I had forgotten about it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Both Harry and Paddy were members of the emerging Roscommon team which won their first Junior All-Ireland in 1940 defeating Westmeath with Harry in his favourite position of centre-back and Paddy Kenny at wing forward. Paddy retired from inter-county football after the defeat by one point to Galway in the senior Connacht Final of ’41. Harry was there with the panel in ’42 and ’43 when Roscommon finally won the Senior All-Ireland Final defeating Cavan in a replay. That Harry was not playing at centre-back is understandable as Roscommon had one of its greatest ever players in that position i.e. Bill Carlos of Ballintubber and Tarmon.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Roscommon had defeated Galway in the Connacht senior league of ’42 after which Harry, a veteran by now, is credited with the remark that; “We have won something senior at last”. Harry was still there with the Breedogue team towards the late forties. Harry was said to be “one of the most fearless defenders in the game and he always put his whole heart into it”. He continued to follow the game through the fifties. In family folklore, he was referred to as being a friend of a connection of mine Willie (Bill) Heavey from Fuerty a member also of the ’43 Roscommon team. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">He was employed as a ‘ganger’ with Roscommon County Council. I was told that he was engaged to be married to a lady from west Roscommon but on Christmas Eve 1957 he was involved in a car accident and though he recovered for a time he declined again and died in June (?) 1958. His death at the age of 44 was an occasion of great grief for his family the Ballinameen community and Roscommon GAA. At the Connacht championship match on the Sunday of his removal to St. Attractra’s Church the two teams and the estimated 10, 000 supporters stood in silence for two minutes as a mark of respect for this fine and popular Roscommon footballer. He is buried close to the gate in Caldra cemetery and his burial place is marked by a fine Celtic cross. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">His sister Mary was married a Garda Cooney who was stationed in Ballinameen. Then and they transferred to Granard. Harry had two brothers Pat and Jimmy who also played with Ballinameen. Harry was represented at various Roscommon events in later years, commemorating that great team of the forties, by his nephew Pat Cooney, a gentleman, from Granard and latterly Shankhill, Co. Dublin. I got to know Pat a little over the years and was very saddened to hear of his death late last year. I only heard about that a week or so ago. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So Harry with the Royal appendage of O’ to his Connor will not be forgotten in his native Ballinameen or for his contribution to the great Roscommon team of the 40s’. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">[Hopefully, I can explore the life and times of Paddy Kenny at some future date. I have a faint memory of seeing him and hearing him play the fiddle/violin in the then Kelly’s Bar in Ballinameen in the early seventies not long after me coming to North Roscommon in ’72.] </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-80796104005912653282020-10-12T00:06:00.002-07:002020-10-12T00:06:49.143-07:00Update 12th October<p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">COVID Alarm</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Back
a couple of months ago we thought we had it beat but it came back with a
vengeance. Now the challenge is there again and it is on our doorstep. So
hopefully we as a community will stay the course and do the necessary to stem
the tide. And it is certainly a tide in places like the Donegal border areas and
Northern Ireland. The third level institutions are really a major issue right
now and when the guard is let down it can jump in and create mayhem. The Elphin
example is a lesson to us locally. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>GAA Response… ‘Disappointing’.<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">‘Disappointing’
in the GAA context of today introduces me to one (of a series) of words I used
in a different life like alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile with the classic being
metaphor. ‘Disappointing’ in this line-up might be regarded as a ‘euphemism’
which is really a very mild understatement for something much more serious. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Covid 19 directions meant little or no
personal contacting or hugging and the classic social distancing, then there
were many and obvious GAA examples of this being ignored. The front runner of
an example of this was following the Dungannon victory in the Tyrone
Championship. It was joy unconfined that evening. Rarely have I seen such a celebratory
expression of joy at a victory. (Perhaps after Clare won their All-Ireland in
’95.) That was on the pitch. One can only try and imagine what it was like when
the ritual celebrations followed in the H.Q. bar of the Club. Apparently Blackrock
the winners of a classic Cork county hurling final v Glenn Rovers Sunday had
extravagant celebrations which flowed from social media. I have been told also
that when Mountbellew-Moylough dethroned Corofin in the Galway Semi-final it
was similar.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not always so this summer season. The
first final I watched was that of Wexford hurling and at the conclusion of the
game it was a pretty muted if satisfying response. I think that may have been
in the total lockdown period with no supporters present. Also a real template
as to how it might be done was at a top Galway double header in Pearse Stadium.
After the first game was over stewards tried to get the spectators for the
first game to exit while the quota for the second game entered. How that worked
is hard to know but the spirit of compliance was in place. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have not seen much o.t.t. celebration in Roscommon. St. Brigid’s responded with
a body language that suggested that they were confident of victory and were
looking to the future. Their Intermediate ladies did however show an unhealthy exuberance
in their celebrations after they defeated Boyle in Ballyforan. Recently in
passing the Abbey Park where a junior game was in progress the number of cars
in the neighbourhood suggested a ‘crowd’ exceeding the acceptable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So
it seems as if you just cannot play team games like these and pretend that
‘social-distancing’ exists and that the mantra of health guidelines is adhered
to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An
odd contradiction emerged for me when watching a rugby match on television
Leinster v Saracens. A couple of medics attended to an injured player all
masked up and covered in protocol. Then, after the stoppage, the thirty players
ripped into each other as if it was an experiment in Covid 19 distribution. As
Doctor Spock used say ‘Not logical’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Shane
Curran struck a blow for the concerned when he, the manager, absented himself
from the Offaly County ‘B’ Final in which his team Durrow was involved and
there were some Covid issue connections to his team. This was a small personal
strike for individual care. An early rule was if you find yourself
uncomfortable in a particular environment then get out of there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It
is a big pity as the streaming and Television coverage of games this summer was
a great success for the cocooned and there many examples of great games with
plenty of drama. It is all a learning process I guess.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
recent highlights came from Galway and Queens University in Belfast. The
numbers in the 26 counties is very unnerving but those in Northern Ireland they
are alarming. That cursed border, in so many ways, seems to be a penance from
history for this small island. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So
follow the rule if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck it is a ……. Get
out of there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">President Trump and that circus</span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<br /></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I’m
back with my oft used exclamation of Victor Meldrew “I dooon’t believe it!”.
The cliché with this is; ‘It would be mad funny if it wasn’t so serious’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well
the past couple of weeks in Washington have been pure theatre. It is hard to
have an appropriate title for the kind of ‘theatre’ it was, Macabre perhaps!
Trump strode through as the cameras clicked and spectators watched open
mouthed. Many applauding the ringmaster and many more just open-mouthed in
disbelief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
stayed up for a time for the debate but just couldn’t take any more. You may
recall times when you are watching someone to whom you have no earthly
connection but you get embarrassed for them. That whole debate as a unit was an
embarrassment to the level of discourse in the United States and many of its
citizens must have sensed that. As I have said before; how a great country,
which has achieved so much and produced so many branches of arts and culture,
cannot consistently have top grade candidates for the primary position in the
country i.e. President, just depresses me. This, in fairness, isn’t that hard
to do right now! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Trump,
for reasonable people, by my code, is just their worst nightmare. Joe Biden looks
like a weak opponent and a percentage of the U.S. electorate will reluctantly
vote for him because they just cannot vote for Trump. I watched Mister Biden
giving an address at Gettysburg (location of one of the great battles of the
American Civil War and a famous speech by President Lincoln) yesterday (earlier
this week) and he gave a good speech calling for unity of purpose and healing.
There were many quotes from the classic original Abraham Lincoln speech so that
had to be a big help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For
my education I have tuned into the competing news channel the pro Trump Fox
News and the opposing CNN. They show the polarised state of play there. The
drama of Trump being hospitalised, giving his video messages, the outrageous
motorcade to salute his supporters, his theatrical exit from the hospital …just
incredible stuff. Then the comments about Coved and downplaying it with
utterances not to be afraid of it (after 200,000 plus U.S. deaths) and so on.
‘Unbelievable’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
presume that Rd. Sean Conley cannot be as dumb as the utterances at the ‘press
briefings’. He sounds more like a ‘spin doctor’ than a top specialist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
question; why does it take up to nine other doctors to accompany the one
spokesperson at those briefings? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While
supporters of Biden wear furrowed brows all of Trump’s spokespeople, many of
them quite young, carry a visage of smugness and overbearing confidence with a
‘bring it on’ attitude. Many of them have brought it –Coved illness- on
themselves and their boss has to take a lot of the blame for that. While all
this was unbelievable drama, the probability is that it will continue for the
next month and maybe more. The test will be November 3<sup>rd</sup>. But
whatever way it goes it is not guaranteed to be written in stone either. So
take an ‘abundance of caution’ in how you anticipate the great U.S.A.
negotiating this strange time for their country. A country that impinges on us
all which is why I am so engrossed with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Television
Watch and ‘University Challenge’<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I
presume I am not alone in watching more television than normal. What do I
watch? You may not have asked but I’ll mention a few programmes. The one show I
consistently make time for is ‘University Challenge’. It is not that I can
answer many of the questions but it has a structure and lightness that appeals
to me. It is also a team challenge which distributes the responsibility. The
original quizmaster was named Bomber Gascoigne while today it is Jeremy Paxman.
From early days it achieved cult status. From time to time an Irish student
turns up on teams as with a Wicklow girl, Miss Clarke, last Monday night (Oct.
5</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 14pt;">) for Edinburgh and one’s curiosity and support anchors there.
Last April a Conor Mc Mel from Dublin was on the winning team, Imperial College
London, which defeated a Cambridge College. The classic intro of ‘Starter for
Ten’ was the title of a film which illustrated the prestige and background to
the quiz-with a twist- and its participants. For students it is a real prestige
C.V. reference.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Chase is now hugely popular as is ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’, 15 to 1 with
Anne Robinson and finally the General Knowledge section of Mastermind is worth
a shot if you are ‘into’ quizzes to a decent degree. A few days ago Ray D’Arcy
had Shaun Williamson as a guest and he is a quiz anorak with his book ‘A matter
of Facts’. While they can be addictive they are a great source of general
knowledge. I always remember my great friend John Mac Nama when I reference
quizzes. He was a master. It is odd that RTE does not have a regular quiz show.
Years ago it had ones like ‘Rapid Roulette’, ‘Where in the World’ and for
schools a very popular one called ‘Blackboard Jungle’ which a very good team
from St. Mary’s College gave good shots at in the 80s’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Ray D’Arcy Show and Recording
Grandparents<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Whilst
I do not listen to Ray much I did yesterday for a time while walking and he
popped in a decent idea which came his way. It came from a listener who
regretted not being able to hear his grandfather’s voice and stories. The
listener suggested that people might record their grandparents (even their
parents!) for posterity. Everyone has a unique voice and when that is stilled
it cannot be replicated like photographs and such. I have experience of this in
that I ‘taped’ my own mother in the early 80s’ (she died in 1984). The reason I
taped her was to send the tape to my brother in Perth, Western Australia. I
prepared for the task by writing a ‘script’ for her to speak into my microphone
and this she did clearly. Following this I talked to her for a good length of
time about whatever with her not knowing that I was still taping. I sent the
tape top my brother in Oz and he was delighted with it. But …I made a mistake…I
did not keep a copy of it! I regret that of course and when I asked my brother
about it subsequently the regret was enhanced it was lost with him.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Documentaries …Notorious RBG.<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One
could watch any strain of television programming all day if one wished but I am
not an addict and I am a night owl in watching respect. Netflix is a pretty
recent outlet for me. The early days of Covid cocooning was signposted in T.V. terms
for me by a classic sports series involving the great American basketball
player Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. I seem to remember that I mentioned
and recommended ‘The Last Dance’ documentary at the time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">About
a week ago, on Netflex, I happened on another very different icon the Notorious
RBJ (Ruth Bader Ginsburg). You may remember her death a few weeks ago on Sept.
18<sup>th</sup> in Washington and of her being the first lady to lie in state
in the Capitol. She was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court and was only the
second lady to achieve this accolade. She was a brilliant law student and a
liberal member in a generally conservative and hugely influential branch the
U.S. Government. The three branches of which are The Legislature comprising the
Congress and Senate; second is the Executive comprising the President and his ‘ministers’
and the Courts, especially The Supreme Court. These branches are meant to act
as a balance on each other but often they hobble the work of each other. Two
years ago a Brett Kavanagh was nominated (after a struggle) to the Supreme
Court and Trump hopes to have a second nominee Amy Coney Barrett –a Catholic-
nominated before the election. This will reinforce the conservative numbers in
the Supreme Court. It was in the Rose Garden of the White House for an
introduction of Coney Barrett by Trump to his foremost supporters that the Covid
allegedly took off. You may have seen (especially from U.S. news shows) a
picture and nomination of up to a dozen who got the Coved then.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
you are a Netflix person you could do worse than tuning into the documentary on
RBG as I can in no way do justice to her here.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Censorship in the Free (!) State<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">RTE
1 Tuesday Nights at 7 ‘Cosc’ which translates along the lines of ‘BAN’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well
‘Cosc’ focuses on morality in Ireland and the strident efforts to enforce a
Catholic ethos in how people lived their lives. A big plank in all this were
laws which introduced a broad raft of censorship on various forms of public
diversion. These covered Books, Newspapers, Music and Cinema. It also extended
into the ‘Ban’ on material of a very personal nature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first programme in the series dealt with
the extraordinary effort of a priest in Mohill, County Leitrim to Ban… Jazz.
Now it was Jazz in a broad sense which would have included other music and
dance. On Tuesday last the show dealt with censorship which had been introduced
in the Free (!) State circa 1927. Many of Irelands greatest books were ‘banned’
as a result. Most people will be familiar with the notification of films being
for various age groups ‘A’ etc. and the film censor’s names being scribbled at
the bottom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film censorship Act came
into being at the beginning of the State in 1922. The idea behind all this
censorship is that Irish people would not be contaminated by film or written
material especially if it were of a sexual nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great promoter of this was Archbishop
McQuaid of Dublin from 1940 until 1972. Mc Quaid had enormous political
influence in his time and sexual material was a special taboo with the Cavan
born cleric. Was it Gay Byrne himself who suggested that there was no sex in
Ireland before ‘The Late Late Show’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>One of my favourite songs;<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">These
can change from time to time. A while ago it was Linda Ronstadt and ‘Across the
Border’ but recently it has been ‘Forever Young’ written by the great Bob
Dylan. There are many fine interpretations of the song including Bob himself.
My favourite interpretation is by another of my favourite singers Joan Baez. One
of my regrets is that I did not go to Dublin to hear Joanie (as Dylan used to
call her) about four years ago. Anyway I regularly have her singing this song
from my laptop You Tube. I have some very good reasons to link into the lyrics
also. So I recommend you listen to it a few times to absorb the sentiments.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever Young </span></b><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">written by Bob Dylan sung
by Joan Baez<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
God's blessing keep you always<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
your wishes all come true<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you always do for others<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
let others do for you<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you build a ladder to the stars<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
climb on every rung<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you stay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you grow up to be righteous<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you grow up to be true<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you always know the truth<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
see the lights surrounding you<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you always be courageous<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Stand
upright and be strong<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
may you stay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you stay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
your hands always be busy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
your feet always be swift<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you have a strong foundation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
the winds of changes shift<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
your heart always be joyful<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
your song always be sung<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
may you stay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May
you stay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forever
young<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One
should not leave a reference to great songs this week-end without mentioning
that if John Lennon was alive now he would be aged 80 as he born on October 9
1940. He was shot on December 8<sup>th</sup> 1980 nearly forty years ago by a
Mark David Chapman. It was one of those great artistic tragedies and with it
surfaces the eternal question, ‘What if?’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">John
was responsible for the song which was voted at some stage as ‘the greatest of
all (popular) songs’ i.e. ‘Imagine’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>End Note<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It
has been a number of weeks since I posted to the blog. A good deal has happened
since then and there were a number of items that I meant to mention here but
looking at the word count in the bottom corner I better adjourn for now. You
are taxed enough especially if you have reached HERE.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take
extra care at this dangerous time and if you are not comfortable in an
environment …walk away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Slán.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">t.
c. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-45236008250076845732020-08-20T09:13:00.006-07:002020-08-20T09:19:13.888-07:00Update 20th August<p><b>‘A Nation Holds Its Breath’</b></p><p>A few weeks ago I felt that I had heard this sentence much too many times as the television gurus rehashed for the umpteenth time the Italia 90 soccer story. </p><p>These last few days we can issue the phrase in a very different context. That is in relation to the upsurge of the Covid 19 virus again. Another phrase comes to mind that of… 'I haven’t gone away you know'. We were getting kinda smug with ourselves when looking at the numbers as some people do and Roscommon was doing pretty well after the debacle at the Kepak meat plant was apparently controlled. Now though we see major outbreaks again at meat plants in Kildare et al but also the disconcerting sprinkling of cases throughout the country.</p><p>I really feel that an air of complacency had set in. I believe too that the loss of Dr. Holohan has been significant. He had the tone and presence of a headmaster about him and he was highly regarded and influential. His successor Dr. Glynn seems much too polite when assertiveness is needed. </p><p>Another key element was the political changes. Varadkar and Harris were a very effective duo. Varadkar always seemed to ensure that a clear -all in block capitals- messages were expounded. Michéal Martin has dithered and not been decisive. While a coalition of three parties is certainly a very difficult team to manage, the Taoiseach has contributed to his own lack of authority with a number of mistakes from the off. </p><p>Also, the messages on certain elements have been muddled. These include a policy regarding holidaying abroad. The infamous ‘Green List’ did not help in this. One day when listening to a radio discussion on this topic (in the background) I got really cheesed off with people wondering could they go abroad or not. In all this, the Government/HSE policy was enunciated as advising people pretty strongly not to go abroad but to staycation at home. Callers found this simple yet profound message hard to take on board and a certain number travelled etc.</p><p>Now if I advised someone clearly not to do something and they asked me to clarify it again and again I might get annoyed! </p><p>THEN I read of a Glasgow Celtic player taking a night trip (it seemed like) to Spain in contravention of all the guidelines set out by his club and HSE Scotland and Prime Minister Sturgeon. I put this down to a good overpaid footballer who just lacked a good deal of brain matter for delicate off-field decisions. And then, lo and behold, as they say, this weekend, I read of the Chairman of Fáilte Ireland no less, Michael Cawley had returned from a trip to Italy. I sent a tweet apology to the Celtic player. Then in the last day or so Mister Cawley gets a vocal ally saying; </p><p>“The reputation of former Fáilte Ireland chair Michael Cawley has been “traversed” and Ireland is entering a “period of hysteria”, the chair of the Oireachtas Covid-19 committee has said. Independent TD Michael McNamara said it appeared to him that Mr. Cawley did not breach travel advice. (?)</p><p>Mr. Cawley resigned his position on Saturday after he admitted to holidaying in Italy at a time when Fáilte Ireland is strongly encouraging Irish people to stay in Ireland for their holidays.</p><p>“I read the travel advice three times yesterday and it’s very unclear to me whether he breached the travel advice or whether he didn’t,” Mr. McNamara said.</p><p>***However, the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to advise against non-essential travel overseas.</p><p>Regarding the word “traversed” the deputy seems to have found a new role for it. My Google dictionary has the usual suggestion of; moving in a particular direction </p><p>My attention has also been distracted by the goings-on at a Bar called Berlin D2 where a video has gone viral, as they say. Apparently, it is not licensed as a bar perhaps a restaurant. All the relevant organisations have responded, as they say again, ‘appropriately’. Their vintner business took a hit there. It was pretty crazy and how a venue, even if for self-preservation, did not see the dangers of it is mind-boggling. </p><p>Simple lesson; alcohol and social-distancing are not compatible. </p><p>There is now a suggestion that stiffer restrictions will be introduced maybe more so on the elderly. As far as I can see the elderly seem to be playing by the rules as the stats are beginning to show. It is now down to a much younger age cohort. They will be much more difficult to keep housebound unless they are going to a ‘house party’. </p><p>It seems as if the senior people are now made pay for the sins of others. I’ll leave it at that. I could go on, and on and… </p><p> <b>SPORT</b></p><p>Boyle through to Quarter Finals with Sparkling Display </p><p>Boyle has had three games to date in the Senior championship. In the first game, they were both lucky and unlucky in their game against Padraig Pearse’s. There they let a 12 (?) point lead be eroded and the game ended in a draw. There were many fine performances in that game and getting a draw there was still a good result. </p><p>The less said the better of a ragged performance versus Tulsk in their second game. It prompted Ian Cooney Sports Editor of the Roscommon Herald to ask, prior to the third game; ‘Will the real Boyle stand up?’. And boy did they do that on Saturday last with a scintillating display against Michael Glavey’s. It was a beautiful evening and conditions were perfect and Boyle played champagne football for most of the game. It was the most relaxing I have been watching Boyle for some time. The last time I was that comfortable was when Boyle defeated Clann na nGael in St. Faile’s ground by a big margin last year.</p><p>On Saturday the team played with great pace, great variety in their passing. The passes were crisp and fast. The All Blacks backline couldn’t have passed better. They looked really fit and Glavey’s were mesmerised by the speed and supporting play of the Boyle team. </p><p>In terms of suggesting who played well that is difficult as no one played in any way poorly. Man of the Match for me was Donie Smith with a magical display of all the skills which was a joy to watch. The opposition could not cope with him. The backs as a unit were excellent and drove forward with determination, ball control, cohesion, and speed. Roch Hanmore turned back the clock somewhat with a fine display of top-class fielding. Sean Purcell was his usual self, hoovering up so much ball. It was great to see the spread of scorers with nice points, two from Mark O’Donohoe, -including a fisted point which I always like to see- and Tadgh Lowe. There was the starting introduction of a young player who will, I believe, be a real asset to Boyle for many years to come. Cathal Feely looked like a veteran with a fine mobile and assured contribution. </p><p>I am not certain who Boyle will now play in the quarter-finals but it looks like a team from one of; Clann na nGael, St. Croan’s, or Elphin if they defeat Ml. Glavey’s. That game I hear is listed for Boyle this weekend and it is also to be streamed. Streaming is a real positive innovation and the quality is top-notch so if you have not tuned into this you are really missing out. Set it up also for senior family members who might not be masters of modern technology. Tune into Roscommon GAA on the laptop and take it from there. I presume former Boyle players abroad like Seamie Gallagher and Ciaran Conlon in Oz, Tadgh Egan in Canada and Darren Dockery in The Gulf area are tuning in. Let me know what you think lads! </p><p> Boyle will now be touted as one of a very narrow number of favourites. While Pearse’s might improve to something like last year’s form the side that is making the real waves is Western Gaels. </p><p>Anyway for now the Boyle performance of last Saturday is one to dwell on and savour in the memory bank.</p><p>P.S. The current Covid trajectory might have a say yet though if the GAA does not play by the rules. I am told that the ‘crowds’ at some games look well in excess of the mandatory quotas. This kind of creep could be the undoing of the process. Also at games, the social-distancing rule is not getting the respect it deserves. Face masks at games….hello! </p><p><br /></p><p><b>World Championship Snooker</b></p><p>It must be more than twenty years ago since I last really watched snooker on television. Late last week I began to watch snippets and I was hooked. There were two really edge of the seat semi-finals.</p><p>The first one was between Kyren Wilson and the Scot, Anthony McGill. Both were on level terms with 16 frames each going into a deciding frame. I’ve copied and pasted a sports account of that final frame here; </p><p> “The frame lasted 62 minutes and set a new record for the most combined points in a single frame at the Crucible, 103–83. After fluking the match-winning ball, Wilson became emotional, and apologised to McGill. He later commented, "I didn't want it to end that way, I have dreamed of this situation and I didn't want to win the match on a fluke." McGill commented, "I feel as if the match was stolen from me – not by Kyren [Wilson] but by the snooker gods". The 1991 champion John Parrott commented on the deciding frame, saying "I have never, in 44 years of playing this wonderful game, seen a frame of snooker like that. It was unbelievable”.</p><p>The second semi-final between Ronnie O’Sullivan v Mark Selby was not quite so dramatic but had a brilliant ending. Selby led by 16 frames to 14 with O’Sullivan cracking the ball around the table with his last shot of that session as if to say that he just had enough of it all. He came back and ran off the 3 great frames necessary to win with magical snooker.</p><p>So the 5 times world champion O’Sullivan (the ‘pocket rocket’) faced Wilson in the final. It started with O’Sullivan looking like he was going to win easily but Wilson came back to leave the half time just 10 to 7 for O’Sullivan. Wilson came back on Sunday afternoon taking the first frame so 10 to 8. But a re-energised O’Sullivan then ran off the following 8 frames to win convincingly by 18 to 8. He thus joined Steve Davis and Ray Reardon on 6 World Final wins with only Stephen Hendry on 7 on his own. The commentators could not enthuse more about the quality of O’ Sullivan’s win and put him out as the greatest snooker player ever.</p><p>Interestingly two Irish men were doing the commentary of the final, Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty. Tyrone’s Taylor won his title in a memorable black ball finale, 18 v 17 match over Steve Davis in 1985. I still remember watching that in the Ceili House Bar a good deal after closing time! Ken Doherty defeated the great Stephen Hendry 18 v 12 in ’97. Hendry was going for his 7th final win and six on the trot but Ken scored a convincing victory. Hendry did get his record 7th win a few years later. </p><p><b>Television Documentaries</b></p><p>Shoulder to Shoulder with Brian O Driscoll</p><p>I watched this last night - Monday. It was a repeat showing and while I imagined that it might be a bit saccharine it dealt with a complex interesting topic which was an All-Ireland team and its survival. The team in question is the Irish rugby team. The team down the decades has been inclusive of players from the whole island of Ireland. It has included all religions and none. It has encapsulated all political persuasions from nationalists to died-in-the-wool unionists. Through the programme Brian interviewed quite a number of former internationals and household names from down the years. He particularly honed in on the dual, almost triple, nationality of many Ulster players and examined how they felt playing for Ireland. This entailed standing regularly for the Irish National Anthem in Lansdowne Road now the Aviva stadium. A number of the Ulster players were members of the R.U.C. and one an officer in the British army. The general sentiment with them was that their love for rugby trumped all else on the days of international games. Politics was hardly ever touched on. The great rugby captain Willie John McBride gave considerable time to Brian and brought him into the centre of Belfast and showed him his banking place of work. He spoke of the many bombings and of having to escape his work building as the bombs went off in the immediate vicinity.</p><p>O’Driscoll then visited the north around the 12th of July and went to the village of Loughgall. There he met many rugby supporters all dressed up in their Unionist marching attire and quizzed them on their allegiances and the seemingly contradictory support of a 32 county All-Ireland team. They were very hospitable and seemed to have no problem with putting the square peg in the round hole. They had no problem supporting trenchantly the Irish rugby even if they were playing England. They saw themselves as British/Northern Irish and also Irish on occasion. Then a test for Brian when he was invited to don a Lambeg Drum and give it a few lashes. He knew he was walking on ice with this. </p><p>Another testing incident was when a number of Ulster players on their way to Dublin for training got caught up in a bomb ‘incident’ on the way down. The bomb killed a judge (the real target) and his wife but the three rugby players were injured and just lucky to be alive. </p><p>Amongst the very positive elements to this documentary was the access to the Ulster players. </p><p>It was also helped by the understandable confusion of O’Driscoll himself to the Ulster Protestant Unionist contradictory affiliation to an All-Ireland team of any sort. </p><p>I presume you can stream it as it may not be aired again soon. It was top class, provocative and thought stimulating. One little glitch; how is it that the great Mike Gibson is never seen being interviewed. He was the gold standard for me in the sixties and early seventies when I played some rugby myself and was amongst those who founded East Connacht later the Carrick –on-Shannon rugby club. </p><p>See O’Driscoll’s documentary if you can at all. </p><p>P.S. On Tuesday night there was another good documentary on the soccer football life of John Giles who played for Manchester United and Leeds from the late sixties to the mid-seventies. The physicality of the time was something else especially with Leeds v Chelsea. </p><p><b>The Great John Hume.</b></p><p>‘Some men are born great and others have greatness thrust upon them’. I feel that John Hume incorporates both sides of this equation. After his death, there was a considerable and understandable amount of material written about Mister Hume. I don’t feel competent to add anything of value to the discourse other than to say that he was one of my heroes. It is something that if I was to note down six of my ‘heroes’ that the majority of them would come from Northern Ireland. John Hume would probably be number one with the under-rated Seamus Mallon and Seamus Heaney also present. It is something that two of those won the Nobel Prize, one for peace and one for literature with both going to the same secondary school St. Columb’s. I regret that I did not take or make the opportunity to meet John Hume. I could have gone out to Keadue in 2001 when he opened the O’Carolan festival there, but didn’t. There is a phrase that one should not meet their heroes. I disagree with that very much. When in Derry once around 2007 I called to his house but he was away in Donegal at that time. </p><p>He went to Maynooth for a time. On his return to Derry, he got involved in bringing the Credit Union to Derry which began his community involvement. </p><p>Derry was dominated politically by the minority Unionist political machine enabled by political gerrymandering of the most insidious kind. They regarded the Catholic nationalist community as not just a second class citizenry but much lower than that. Its parallels were South Africa and the southern states of the United States. If one wants to get a sense of the post-war Derry there is a Seamus Deane book called ‘Reading in the Dark’ which describes the appalling conditions large families had to live in through in those decades. This book was on the English leaving Cert. syllabus circa 2000 and I have my well-worn copy beside me as I write. I wonder does anyone remember that book? The reality is that people here in the south, whilst many were poor and there was institutional dominance, the people had no idea whatsoever as to what the nationalist people of the North of Ireland had to cope with under the apartheid regime there. The farther south from the border the fewer people knew of it. </p><p>The old nationalist party of Eddie McAteer and such had to grovel for every concession doled out. Education transformed this. </p><p>I’ve strayed from my subject John Hume but he emerged to the forefront of political activity and was a powerhouse. </p><p>Was a founding member of the SDLP in 1970. </p><p>He had written a far-seeing article for The Irish Times in 1964 about resolving the huge injustices between the two contending societies. This involved putting in place equality, justice, and all the necessary elements that are the bedrock of a just society. He never really deviated from that guiding treatise. And when the Good Friday Agreement emerged in 1998 they were still there also. Through the terrible decades of mayhem and violence, he was the towering pillar of hope that there might be another way. His way was of peace and reconciliation. In this, he was totally supported by his wife Pat. It was never easy and took a huge toll on his health. He was the man that the influential American politicians from Presidents down listened to. A tribute after his death suggested that there many people alive today that would have perished in ongoing violence. </p><p>In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with David Trimble </p><p>He was voted the Greatest Irishman in an RTE poll search in 2010. </p><p>John Hume sits comfortably with O’Connell and Parnell as the great Irish political figures. As you can see they were all constitutional advocates as opposed to the advocates of violence. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Epilogue:</b></p><p>1. In the last blog, I wrote of an orphan, Shane Healy, with Tulsk, Roscommon connections, who was pursuing his dream to participate as an athlete in the Olympics and also seeking his mother and his sister who abandoned him as a child. Well, he did qualify for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 with the last qualifying race in Madrid but at the time of the airing of Shane Healy’s podcast early this year, he had not made contact with his mother or sister.</p><p>2. I am currently trying to get to grips with a large and varied collection of books, magazines, and ephemera (odds and ends). I must have some of the strains of a hoarder! The following is an experiment. From time to time I will mention items here that I wish to dispose of and if anyone wishes to take them (free gratis of course) just give me a call. (A) A substantial box of QUIZ books. Some are relics and some are not.</p><p>(B) On a different level, I have about 10 volumes of a history publication called ‘Irish Historical Studies’, from some time ago. These are bi-annual publications with essays from the premier historians of the day on a wide range of topics. Tony 086 8163399. </p><p><b>Slán. Take care. It is a testing time. </b></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-76413113225350229692020-08-03T00:27:00.000-07:002020-08-03T00:27:06.638-07:00Oblique View Sunday August 2nd 2020.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE">Innovative
Streaming of Championship Games</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">One of the real local innovations in GAA
sport is the ‘streaming’ of the senior championship games that are taking place
these week-ends. Last weekend it was St. Brigid’s v Clann na nGael and Boyle v
Padraig Pearses. There was plenty of drama in both games to enthuse the viewers
with both games ending in draws.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last Friday night the game streamed was
Strokestown v St. Brigid’s again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Tomorrow-Sunday- the games
being streamed are Fuerty v Western Gaels and Ml. Glavey’s v Pearses I think.
The quality of the feeds is good and Seamus Duke is knowledgeable if a little
rusty as yet commentator. All this is great for those still reticent regarding
being out and about in terms of going to the games or those who cannot get
tickets and it most certainly is good for those away from home especially
abroad. So hats off to those who have enabled this to happen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">One has to recognise also
the club streaming of games. Colin Kearney is the videographer for Boyle games.
The quality here is good also but the lack of commentary and detail in terms of
who scores etc. reduces its overall appeal. There is an opportunity there for
an upcoming club commentator to assist Colin and thereby enhance the
presentation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">A
kind of correction <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">In my essay on haymaking, after a conversation with a family connection, I seem to have mixed up the ‘buckrake’
name with another device. Maybe the device for bringing in the rows to the cock
base was called a ‘tumbler’ which does not really resonate with me. So if
anyone can clear that up I’d have a listening ear. Oddly in watching a Netflix film
called ‘Searching’ which had a lot of online ‘stuff’ on it, last night, a
‘Tumbler’ also emerged. So we were well ahead with our hayfield ‘Tumbler’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b><span lang="EN-IE">Actor Brendan Gleeson as Trump</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I see that
Brendan Gleeson has taken on another beefy role portraying Donald Trump in a
series dealing with the former FBI Director James Comey. It is based on Comey’s
memoir ‘A Higher Loyalty’. So Brendan has ranged from his great run as Michael
Collins maybe 25 years ago, via Winston Churchill in ‘Into the Storm’ for which
he won an Emmy award and now the Donald himself. The series will begin airing
in the U.S. in late September. So it is guaranteed a top audience in the run-up
to the presidential election in November. Just to keep in mind while the
character of Trump is writ large the film is more focussed on Comey and his
interaction with Trump which got him ‘fired’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">A truly amazing athletic story with a Roscommon
connection<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I was just ‘in
vacant or pensive mood’ in the kitchen at one o clock plus on Saturday when I
heard a reference to a Roscommon athlete that I had never really heard of (I
should have of course). His name was/is Shane Healy. I tuned into it as it was
a programme in ‘The Doc on One’ Podcast. Shane Healy’s father apparently came
from around Tulsk and while in England met Shanes’s mother. They returned to
Ireland circa the early seventies. The marriage dissolved with his mother and a
sister returning to England. Shane went through a difficult number of years
going from care home to care home. Jumping forward with the story he eventually went to the U.S. After adventures there he got into athletics which came
naturally to him. Coincidentally at a top Athletic College, he met another
Roscommon man, Daniel Caulfield, brother of soccer player and manager John from
Knockcroghery. Daniel was on an athletic scholarship there at the time. It was
only two weeks ago when Daniel was referenced on the ‘Off the Ball’ series
where John featured on their ‘Mount Rushmore’ segment and mentioned his brother
Daniel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot relay the complete
twists and turns of his life but his two dreams were of finding and meeting up
with his mother again and going to the Olympics. This series has some
marvellous o.t.t. stories and can be tuned into through the various devices.
I’ll give you a chance to find out about how his dreams turned out. I will
reveal same here in the next View. So that gives you plenty of time to search for
yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 39.3pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">Another tale from
‘The Doc at One’ Podcast<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 39.3pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Last Saturday-July 25<sup>th</sup>- I listened to
another incredible story which was an account of the attempts by an
unauthorised Irish cycling body to have their cyclists inserted into the Olympics
in Munich. This was NOT the first time as it had been attempted also at
Melbourne in 1956. For decades after Irish Independence, there were three bodies
governing Irish cycling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">(A)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE">These were National Cycling
Union representing Northern Ireland and linked to U.K. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">(B)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The National Cycling Association (NCA) which
was an all-island organisation and was by far the largest, but whose members
were barred from UCI (international) events because of their adherence to the
32-county (Republican) ideology.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">(C)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cumann Rothaíochta na hÉireann (CRE) which was
a 26-county organisation, strongest in the Leinster area, which was recognized
by the UCI as the governing body for the Republic of Ireland and whose members
could compete internationally in UCI events and in NCU-NI events in Northern
Ireland.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">This was very much in line with Brendan
Behan’s call at the establishment of some organisation with ‘Let’s start with
the split!’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">It was group 2 which tried to get into the
Olympics by inserting their team at the starting lines and have other members
join some way from the starting line! A tragic event at Munich, the killing of
the Israeli athletes nearly but not fully scuppered their attempt. Strange but
true. It too, like the Shane Healy story, was a fascinating documentary from
the same series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE">Sunday
Miscellany Programme dedicated to Arigna mining</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I may be wrong but the Sunday Miscellany
programme of Sunday July 25<sup>th</sup> was totally engaged with the mining
tradition of Arigna. It was a very interesting programme for those of us in
this region. I did not take notes as I listened to it but I heard some lady
from ‘The Plains of Boyle’ describing her father’s work in the mines. Brian Leyden
had another very appealing contribution there. Brian certainly has a voice for
radio and is a significant recorder in his writings of North Roscommon and
Leitrim where I believe he lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
remember especially a radio programme of his called ‘No Meadows in Manhattan’.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">If you have not visited the Arigna Mining
Experience, then I recommend it highly. I have brought a number of visitors
there over the years. On one occasion I took my London nephew who worked in
some aspect of engineering. After the tour which outlined the really terrible,
unhealthy and dangerous working conditions in those narrow seams he emerged
exclaiming that “I will never complain about my job after seeing what went on
there”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Carrowkeel Needs Respect and
Understanding.</b> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I was saddened by Marese McDonagh’s piece in
‘The Times’ recently on the damage to monuments in the Carrowkeel cemetery of passage
graves. These go back millennia and are huge national treasures. To walk all
over them and damage them is so thoughtless. The statistic regarding Sligo
having such a majority of these Megalithic (huge stone) tombs is telling.
Actually one of the finest ‘PORTAL DOLMENS’ in the country is just a few
kilometers out of Boyle off the Gurteen road. I am nearly reticent to mention
it; in case it gets the same treatment as Carrowkeel. On a fine day, a trip up
to Carrowkeel is magic. I have been there a number of times, once with Philip
James as part of Boyle Arts Week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
Sligo has the majority of Megaliths, then the area around Tulsk/Rathcroghan has
a huge number of very important Raths. I’ve said this before also that in many
advanced countries this area would be deemed so important as to be preserved as
a national park. The era of the surge of slatted sheds etc. was a poor one for
this area. If you are a passenger in a car sometime travelling from Ballinagare
to Tulsk check out the number of invasive farm buildings in the area of the
Rathcroghan monuments. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Laying the Grounds for an Election Result
Contest</b>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">President Trump appears to be laying the
foundations for contesting the legitimacy of the November Presidential election
if it goes against him. He bases this on the suggestion that extensive voting
by postal vote would be distorted or manipulated. He also suggests that the
election should have be postponed because of the Covid 19 pandemic. Both have
some merit but…It would seem that, accepting that the election takes place, there
will be a long hiatus with count challenges etc. This happened after the election
of 2000 Bush v Gore. Some may remember the checking of perforations and such on
the ballot papers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">“Year 2000 United States
presidential election recount in Florida. ... The Florida vote was ultimately
settled in Bush's favor by a margin <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">of
537</b> votes when the U.S. Supreme Court, in Bush v. Gore, stopped a recount
that had been initiated upon a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">I have an idea for the
U.S. election! Since so many of the states are cast iron red (Republican) or
blue (Democratic) and there are about six states which can go either way why
not just agree to have the election in those ‘SWING’ states as they call them.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The fact that a winning
president can do so with the minority of votes is questionable by me. Even in
England the single non- transferable vote can mean that a candidate can win an
election on any % of votes. I firmly believe the Irish system of Proportional
Representation even if a little drawn out at times, is a really sophisticated
system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">While Joe Biden is the
current favourite and seems like a nice reasonable man ‘he is no Jack Kennedy’.
I have asked before and no one has answered me, how come such a great country
like the U.S. can have such a dearth of really good candidates? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-IE">In Memoriam</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">When I was young the work
of the grim reaper hardly impinged on my life. But as one grows older it becomes
a regular visitor. Within the last month or so I have witnessed the passing of
a number of people who I knew to varying degrees. Joey Mahon was a man I met
shortly after coming to Boyle all those years ago. I met him regularly in their
shop on the Crescent as I bought sporting gear for club and college teams. He
was a gentleman to deal with and always a pleasure to meet. Sometimes, in those
early days, the tab in ‘the book’ for goods got a bit tangled because Joe was
not a man to send regular reminders or anything like that. I had to do the
reminding and of course all would be resolved with good nature. We would also
meet up in the back bar of Dodd’s which had a regular clientele of foresters, farmers’
teachers, and emerging businessmen. Mrs. Dodd kept us all in line. Joey and I
were part of that group. He was great company. He was always interesting and
interested in the best way. He had ‘the word’ for everyone. We were both
involved with Community Games for a time and I have a fragmented memory of us
in a crowded O’Rourke Park with a tent for our group of competitors when
enjoyable chaos reigned. We both had some input into the placing of the
Margaret Cousins Plaque on the Crescent. My brother, after a long sojourn in
East London, adopted a phrase to describe a person of good standing there as ‘a
diamond’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was such. He was highly regarded
in the business of being an undertaker a task he carried out for me when my
sister passed away in Boyle in the early nineties. I have never heard of other
than understanding undertakers but Joe took it to a different level with
compassion, understanding and as a real friend. He was just a friendly, kind
and decent man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Mrs. Hynes ‘Lourdes
Villa’, Rahoon Road, Galway City</b>. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">I attended, from a social
distance regrettably as it had to be, at a funeral at Rahoon in Galway last
Saturday the 25<sup>th</sup>. The funeral was of my former landlady Mrs. Hynes.
I spent about two years as a student-lodger in her home at the top of Rahoon
Road, then on the edge of Galway city. That was in the late sixties. I kept in
contact and called on her from time to time down the decades. We were firm
friends. She was originally from Geesala in west Mayo and never forgot her home
place. In phoning her from time to time I had to be aware that I could not ring
when the top news of the day or some of the top political programmes were being
aired. During her late years she would laughingly ask the question “Tony do you
think that I will make the hundred?” I always reassured her that she would and
that we would make every effort, when that came to pass, that we would get the
President, Ml. D. Higgins - who she supported as a Galway T.D.- to come down and
present her with her Centenary cheque himself. Despite efforts, that did not
happen but in February of 2019 we gathered to celebrate her achieving her goal
and receiving her cheque. She took it all in her stride. In recent times she
spent a good deal of time in her sunny porch saluting the world going by. That
stream of humanity, many who did not know her at all, including children,
returned her salute and it became a very local ritual. She passed away in her
home of seventy-six years. I will remember her, always. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">(Some former Convent of
Mercy students may remember a Mairéad Hynes who was her daughter. She spent
some time teaching in the convent in the early 80s’.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">I would also like to
mention Paddy Beirne from Ardmore, Boyle Parish on the Killaraght road. I used
to meet Paddy first in the Ceili House Bar a little back the years, later in
the Craobhin and then when visiting Sean Young in the Plunkett Home. Everyone
who knew Paddy gave him the same reference that of being an absolute gentleman.
He was a quiet man but loved to talk of times gone by of which he had great
recall. He was very well looked after in The Plunkett Home where he was so highly
regarded.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">It was nice to see the
salute to a great Boyle GAA supporter Tony McGovern with a minute’s silence
before the Boyle v Padraig Pearses senior championship match at Woodmount on
Sunday last July 26<sup>th</sup>. Tony has been a regular consistent supporter of
the club for decades in every way than one could and he would have enjoyed the
cut and thrust of that game no doubt. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-IE">Television Documentaries of Note<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">Since I have watched some
television (!) during this Covid time I have been meaning to ‘treat of’ the
best of them here for some time. But I’ll divert to a bould businessman
receiving an employee thus.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-IE">“Today is not your day and
tomorrow doesn't look good either” </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, I’ll just mention
two of them today and ‘treat of’ anon. Back in the early days of Covid, in
March, I gorged on a series called ‘The Last Dance’. It told the story of the great basketball
sportsperson Michael Jordan. He was a
super sportsman near the pedestal of Muhamad Ali.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">If you can still get the
chance to check in on ‘The Rise of Rupert Murdoch Dynasty’ do so and stay with
it. It is the story of a driven man (Australian) who created a newspaper and t.v.
owned empire. This gave him great power which he uses in political circles in
Australia, the U.K. and now in the U.S. with his ownership of Fox News. The
series is about the Rise and Rise near nosedive and Rise again of Murdoch. No
British P.M could win an election in the last 30 years who did not have his
backing. He was the man, through his newspapers especially The Sun who enabled
Nigel Farage to win the Brexit Vote and he then hitched his wagon to Donald
Trump. He is a loud advocate of denial of human influence in global warming. A
destructive power. It would need a masters course of analysis to see why he has
such a destructive nature. He is married to his fourth wife jerry hall who was
once married to Mick Jagger. It suggests the question to her; “Apart from the
fact that Rupert is a billionaire what other characteristics attracted you to
him, Miss hall?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(jerry hall all </span>lower case it seems.) </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">No Jane Clarke poem
tonight. Sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><b>May your Gods go with you.
t.c</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1472392433718766994.post-50290184428150889122020-07-31T00:40:00.000-07:002020-07-31T00:40:11.454-07:00Hay Making in Decades Past. 29th July<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Hay Making in Decades Past.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4q8YcscaYSXC8YlxL602NV-vzYEHxKg3Bur2zMSL9rYOdeRNMJHeKIH-31V0Bijb1Jg55p6AEYa-eXIJJgaanULQ9P68sdQ8ceGWPL10oTDOO-ESKdfUNQM25u8gyAlU_MnFib8YIwhwP/s748/Scan_20200730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="748" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4q8YcscaYSXC8YlxL602NV-vzYEHxKg3Bur2zMSL9rYOdeRNMJHeKIH-31V0Bijb1Jg55p6AEYa-eXIJJgaanULQ9P68sdQ8ceGWPL10oTDOO-ESKdfUNQM25u8gyAlU_MnFib8YIwhwP/w640-h396/Scan_20200730.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">This was one of the more favourable farming
‘campaigns’ of the yearly cycle of my youth. It was clean, the days were long,
the weather while difficult at times was generally bright and amenable. One
could also achieve a good deal in a day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">In the mid-fifties, the meadow was cut by a
horse-pulled mowing machine. There was little drama in this task. The
corncrakes were often victims of this chore. But nature was not seen in a
studied way then and seemed eternally capable of being replenished. The only
variable in the meadow mowing was the reverse run to ‘take out’ the ‘back
swarth’ adjacent to the ditch or wall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The cut meadow was left for a number of
days and then the teasing started. If the weather was kind this could be a
clear run of defined tasks. In my boyish days, the swarths were shaken out
manually with hand forks but in my memory, this was short as we had a hay turner
which raised and shook the meadow for proper drying. A kind of curing process.
The only grass which caused some difficulty was the one nearest the
ditch/wall/hedge, i.e. the ‘back swarth’. After a couple of days, the real
action began when the process was advanced to a real saving stage. The big
intimidating horse rake was introduced to rake the meadow into rows. This
required authority and guile to execute well. When the rows were made and had
some more sun in them the next instrument in action, having a medieval look
about it and may not have been a general tool, was what we called a ‘buck
rake’. One could hardly call this a machine, more a device, as it collected the
rowed meadow and by tipping it after say thirty yards it formed a heap which,
when done four or five times, provided the material for the advanced stage in
the whole process. The ‘buck rake’ was an intimidating device and on an
occasion, in the tipping of it, a handle nearly caught me under the chin which
would have been a knock-out blow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">If there were enough people for a decent
‘meitheal’ a number of these activities went on in tandem. If the working
number was small and when material for a small number of cocks was gathered
into a ragged heap, putting this into a cock of hay was the priority. On
reflection, I wonder now when the meadow became hay? Perhaps when it was in its
cocks. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">All the above was straight forward while
the gods smiled but when the weather gods saw fit and the rain fell it was a
different game. The bane of hay saving was in having a big field of meadow
‘down’ and being dried out and on the brink of the final press of getting into
cocks and the rain came! It necessitated the second turn of having it in the
right condition to put into cocks again. I had a real dislike of the process of
making little cocks called, with us, ‘hand cocks’. There was a problem with
semi-dried hay being cocked and descending into a process called ‘heating’
which damaged it to varying degrees. Also, the extra work was a psychological
hit. I don’t wish to dwell too much on the negatives as they are water under
the bridge in the memory bank. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Making decent cocks was a reasonable skill.
We never over-indulged in that like some neighbours did. My father used to say
they are not here to stay that long so they got a short lease. In his later
years he did certain jobs such as making the hay ropes with me turning the
twister which made the rope strong enough to tie down the cock which could be a
victim of the wind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">We had meadow in different locations and
they each provide different pictures for me now. One was on an upland hill area
and it was suggested that on a clear day we could see Croagh Patrick. I was
never convinced of that. I used to lie on my back occasionally and feel that
I was on the edge of the globe’s surface to such an extent that I would slip
off it. Odd but true. This was my mother’s old homestead of Aughtygad. We would
have the kettle boiled in her abandoned home. We should have retained that
house with the fuchsia colouring the gable end and some rose bushes creeping up
in a corner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">In another location, we would actually go to
and be welcomed into Delia Leonard’s thatched cottage to have the kettle boiled
giving strong ‘tae’ with hairy bacon sandwiches or whatever for lunch though
that term was hardly used then. Delia lived with her brother the tailor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">As in the bog the small boxes of Galtee or
Calvita cheese were a treat and because it was warm the memorable drink of the
hayfield was the flagon of Cidona. We would give it a shake and open the cork
and let the fizz propel into the nose. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Off the road to Athleague, we had another ‘long
meadow field’ which ended in bottoms as it fringed the Suck river. One late
summer with the hay saved as cocks in that field the weather turned bad for a
long time and ‘the bottoms’ flooded to such an extent that the cocks looked
like the islands in Clew Bay on Reek Sunday.</div><span lang="EN-IE"><div style="text-align: justify;">The final and arduous process in the hay saving was making ‘pikes’ of hay in
the outlying land and bringing home the residue to be stored in the lofts or
made into a ‘pike’ in the haggard. In the early days, this was done by horse and
cart. A well-crafted load might take
five or six cocks of hay. Building this load for public road travel was a real
skill with tramping and rope tying and adjustments to avoid slippage. The item
of horse harness attire called the ‘breeching’ was important in the role of a
brake to control the loaded cart from forcing its speed down a particular hill
on the route to home. There the hay-cart was parked under a loft opening and
forked into the said loft while someone there forking it back to the sides and
back wall. On reflection, the loft work would have required one of those masks
that are so much to the fore in these times. In those long days, there would be
something like four runs or so from source to loft.</div><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The introduction of the blue and red
Fordson Dexta tractor 7249 - on our farm in 1957- changed the pace of all those
elements. The horses and the horse machines were side-lined. They are still to
be seen, as if in a machinery graveyard, in a small field near farm sheds there
today while the Dexta still survives in a hay shed with its age apparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">Speed was now the mantra though it took
decades to arrive at the cut and wrap efficiency of today. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">That transformation saw the Weetabix bale,
followed by the round bale, the intimidating silage heap with its molasses
accelerant, the silage wrapped black bale with ‘Up Roscommon’ emblazoned on it
near Fuerty and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE">The haymaking of yore is now part of
folklore and is illustrated through relics of related machines in museums such
as Turlough Park near Castlebar and Kennedy’s in North Leitrim or in occasional
farmyards reflecting sentimentality for the past. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-IE"><b>For me, it was another segment of my youth
which I remember with the nostalgia of age</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2