Tuesday, October 30, 2018

The Bushy Killer prowls Dunderry again.

Last May I bought two baby ducks at the Fair.Myself and all here minded them well.They thrived and were grand innocent creatures,totally inoffensive and quacked with joy daily.
They laid the nicest of eggs which we all ate,either boiled,fried in an omellete or in the cup.
Last Thursday herself told me that there had been a kidnapping,that the two ducks were missing.I am friggin' raging.
All that remains is  a heap of feathers.
I  have compared notes with a neighbour ,all of whose hens and chickens have likewise been lifted.
I m quacked enough to start  society for the protection of ducks and for the elimination of the ginger assassins the bushy tailed Reynards.
Any takers.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Death of Eileen Fulham

Eileen from Meadstown ,just the far side of Garry's Cross on the road from Dunderry to Athboy as you turn right for Tullaghanstown has died on 21st October in Care Choice nursing in Trim aged 88 years
She was predeceased by her husband Thomas 14 years ago and is survived by her children Brendan,Bernadette,Geraldine and Eileen and numerous grandchildren ,sons in law ,daughter in law ,nephews,nieces and many true friends.She was  a Ward from Tullaghanstown ,exemplary people also before and after marriage.
She was matriarch of an exemplary family of the highest moral code and a true supporter of Dunderry GAA Club both financially and in the spread of the games it nourishes.
I  had the pleasure of playing football and hurling with her son Brendan ,who despite his lack of inches was as tough as nails and feared no one on the field of play.Now that his playing days are over he is ,as you would expect , involved in the management side of a juvenile team with which his sons play and is a former long serving Secretary of the GAA Club.
One of  her  sons in law Pat Geogh  is caretaker in Dunderry and Kilbride Schools and as you would expect is helping to promote the GAA at schools level there also.
Eileen her daughter was and is a friend of mine and like the entire family is  a person of the highest integrity,which is no more than you woud expect, as the apple never falld far from the tree.
The entire Fulham clan are simply the best and pillars of the local community.
Padre Pio's relics were and are no strangers to the Fulham's homesteads and are a great source of comfort and more to the family.
Reposing at her home today Monday from 4 pm to 8 p.m.with funeral Mass on Tuesday in Kilbride Church at 11.00 a.m.,followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hAnam Dilis.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Tommy Pop Lawless is dead

I  am 68 years coming .From a very young age I came on holidays to the Mc Cormack's on the Curragh Boreen .They were happy days and there were Healys,Conways ,Newmans and Lawleses living nearby to play with and have the craic with.
I  thought then and still think that it was unique to have a crossroads named after your family name.I  well remember Tom Lawless who had a shop on the actual crossroads ans I  think Lizzie who lived the Bohermeen side of it.
And then there was another family of Lawlesses who lived the Dunderry side of Tom Lawlesses shop.There was Tommy ,Matty and Catty --Catherine--and I can barely remember their parents,but the three kids I well remember.
Mattie died young a few years ago,much too soon and now Pop has shook off this mortal coil,at too young an age also.
I didn't know Pop as well as the others ,because after his n marriage he went to live in Donore but did know him and he knew me.
My memory of him is that he was a jovial and quiet and considerate guy ,always being particular in his dress sense and taking great pride in the way he conducted himself and cared for his car ,for example ,which was always kept in the best of form and had the most up to date gadgetry.
He was a big guy and handsome to boot  and would avoid confrontation if at all possible.The King of jobs at the time he finished school was to get a position in Navan Carpets and he had no bother getting one.I  was so impressed with this that one year after I  went home to Blanchardstown after my summer holidays that I  tried to talk my parents into letting me apply for a job there too.They decided otherwise.
Any how Pop stayed there for decades until the Carpet Factory closed down and advanced well upwards in responsibility.
The Lawlesses were never afraid of work and I  understand that his work ethic was such that work always found him ,recessions or no recessions.
I  understand that he kept extremely busy right up to the time of his extremely short illness,which took him and all belonged to him by total surprise.
Right up to his death he was a fierce supporter of Dunderry Football and always supported them in all games of importance as he did the County Team in good times and bad.
He died in the Lourdes Hospital after the shortest of illnesses and is survived by his Wife Pauline,children Sharon,Ronan,Emma and Brian and grandchildren and a great grandchild and devoted in laws and a large coterie of friends.
Cathy is the sole surviving sibling.
On my own behalf and that of my family and on behalf on the deceased members of the Mc Cormack family who thought so much of Pop and indeed all the Lawlesses I offer my sincerest condolences.
The Funeral Mss is on Monday 15th.October at 11.00 A.M in Donore.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a HAnam Dilis.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Getting it right at last.

At adult level we went out with a wimper.The Intermediate Football Team were beat 0-7 to 0-4 by a super defensive Ballinabrackey .The Senior Hurlers failed to win a Championship  match all season and reverted to Intermediate.The sting was taken out of it by securing the League title in Div 3 by beating KILDALKEY'S  2nd.team in extra time.
The Junior Football  Team at least scored a decent score before being turfed out of the Championship.
We have had no second hurling team for many years now and this is not good enough and must be rectified immediately.Adult hurling is a Cinderella sport in our Club and I don't know how our Mentors and players endured it.
The Camogie Club retained Senior status and will but they too were beaten by I  think 3-14 to 0-3.by Na Fianna in the semi final of the Chachampionship.They are better than this .
I  know that the Camogie has a brilliant set up at Juvenile Level and that there is a seamless flow the whole way through to Adult ,where they also field a second adult team.
For many years the Juvenile GAA Club has failed miserably to bring enough players through to adult level.Last year for example we only had two minor hurlers who fielded with Trim and for years we populated the lowest Divisions in the sports we promote .
Now at last there are green shoots of growth.At both hurling and football we have clawed our way up the Divisions and decent teams are getting that winning feeling.We are starting to produce winners,in my view because the Mentors know what they are about.
Next year we must  aim to produce field 2 Adult Hurling Teams and three Adult Football Teams and give games to the talent coming through and believe you me there is talent coming through.
Now is the time to drive our players forward.If we don't there are plenty of other sports waiting to poach those of our youth they haven't yet poached.
One of my grandsons Padraig plays under 11,and 12 hurling and football.They have good mentors and always give a good account of themselves and are well able for the big town teams.This is encouraging .
I am as proud as punch that Padraig and 46 other boys and girls under 12 from Dunderry were part of the crew who partook in a  Guinness World Record training session of 1772 kids who trained concurrently at hurling in  Croker last Sunday.
Well done.
a