Unless there has been a personal disaster of massive proportions our favoured and sole tipster has done a runner and gone to ground.Not a word in 9 days.Interpol will soon be alerted.I know that his last tip is still running the same race 8 days after but going to ground was a little extreme.I lost a fiver.Not the end of the world.
Any reports of sightings will be followed up.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
1973 I. F. C. Final Replay Blanch Brigids V Rush.St.Maurs.
At a Mass today in Blanchardstown to mark the death of the late Kevin Russell ,about whom more anon.as well as meeting Chew,Binks,Bawler and Leosho ,but not Foxy (guess who the family is ) and a host of other friends I had a good chinwag with Herbie Hughes,Mattie Keane and George Brennan,gentlemen all.Was well looked after by Ben Dempsey's son, in Blanch House,where soup and sandwiches were served after Mass.He is the spit of his father and nearly as witty.Nearly I said.
I have many GAA regrets but none more so than being on the wrong side of a one point defeat to Maurs in the 1973 (I am not sure about the year but think I am right.) Inter football Final replay. As far as I am concerned we were rode out of it.Myself and the boys talked about it at length today.As they are drawing the lambs from our pen now,I think it time to write about it.Here goes.
We had a fair team those years.A clatter of Goldens from Ballycastle ,Mayo.whose brother in law Kevin Leonard was a selector, had signed with us that time and given fresh impetus to us in pursuit of the Holy Grail of the Inter Championship.We had recently been demoted from Senior in the boardroom not the pitch and had a grievance as a result .
The drawn final that year had been played in Parnell Park.where what appeared a perfectly good goal by Gerry Nolan had been disallowed on the word of an unmpire,Even at that we were a point up on the cusp of full time but conceded a line ball when it was not necessary and compounded it by following the ball, and handing it to them,forgetting to mark up for the quick line ball..Dennis Guerin of Na Fianna refereed I think.
Despite assurances from the County Board to our delegate Sean Spratt that Fingallians grounds in Swords would be invasion proof for the replay,our objections to playing it there were over ruled.
A huge crowd gathered and the referee was a Banba man,whose name escapes me .My memory of the team is :-
Martin Butterly
Jem Powell Padraigh Golden Jim Murphy
Daithi Stephens Mattie Keane Willie Gallagher
Eddie Melvin Rory Brennan
Mick Greally Johnny Keane Robert Stephens
Noel Golden Gerry Nolan Teddy Golden.
Johnny Keane had scored 1-13 in the drawn game and was our form player.We played fierce well the first half and were coasting at half time,a trend that continued into the second half.Then,and modern day players would get hard to get this,as the said Johnnie Keane was bearing down on goals with a goal at his mercy ,a spectator ran through a hole in the wire and gave Johnny a kick in the front of the body on the pitch.He was followed onto the pitch by more spectators who threw further shapes as the original assailant ran back through the hole with Johnny in indignant pursuit.Despite the invasion the referee waved play on and allowed a goal scored by Maurs from the ball dropped by Johnny to stand.
My mother Peggy,my newish wife Agnes and Mary Brennan (Mother of Rory and grandmother of Trevor of rugby fame) took up position at the break in the wire with their umbrellas to stop a full pitch invasion by the so called Maurs supporters.They stopped a lot,got called many uncomplimentary names and only for them I am sure a full scale riot would have evolved.In the midst of all this mayhem ,play,if you could call it this ,continued.I was in total disbelief that this could happen,as were all our players.Maurs adapted better to the situation than we did and won by a point ,I think.
Even by the tougher standards that prevailed then what happened that day was totally unacceptable and was the worst instance of unfair play I have ever encountered.
More luck to Maurs.We didn't object ,as far as I know.It wasn't the done thing.In any event there were plenty of County Board officials present 'had thee been a desire to right this blatant wrong.
We heard that there were wilde celebrations in Rush that night and more luck to them.
However a certain sour taste remains to this day.
Putting it in perspective the death of Kevin Russell and the former Dublin great Yank Murray of Skerries,whose funeral some of the attendees at today's Mass rushed to attend, registers far higher on the Richter scale.
I am uneasy about the players I have named on the team and would stand corrected if contacted.Did Aidan O Regan play that day.I'm not sure.
I have many GAA regrets but none more so than being on the wrong side of a one point defeat to Maurs in the 1973 (I am not sure about the year but think I am right.) Inter football Final replay. As far as I am concerned we were rode out of it.Myself and the boys talked about it at length today.As they are drawing the lambs from our pen now,I think it time to write about it.Here goes.
We had a fair team those years.A clatter of Goldens from Ballycastle ,Mayo.whose brother in law Kevin Leonard was a selector, had signed with us that time and given fresh impetus to us in pursuit of the Holy Grail of the Inter Championship.We had recently been demoted from Senior in the boardroom not the pitch and had a grievance as a result .
The drawn final that year had been played in Parnell Park.where what appeared a perfectly good goal by Gerry Nolan had been disallowed on the word of an unmpire,Even at that we were a point up on the cusp of full time but conceded a line ball when it was not necessary and compounded it by following the ball, and handing it to them,forgetting to mark up for the quick line ball..Dennis Guerin of Na Fianna refereed I think.
Despite assurances from the County Board to our delegate Sean Spratt that Fingallians grounds in Swords would be invasion proof for the replay,our objections to playing it there were over ruled.
A huge crowd gathered and the referee was a Banba man,whose name escapes me .My memory of the team is :-
Martin Butterly
Jem Powell Padraigh Golden Jim Murphy
Daithi Stephens Mattie Keane Willie Gallagher
Eddie Melvin Rory Brennan
Mick Greally Johnny Keane Robert Stephens
Noel Golden Gerry Nolan Teddy Golden.
Johnny Keane had scored 1-13 in the drawn game and was our form player.We played fierce well the first half and were coasting at half time,a trend that continued into the second half.Then,and modern day players would get hard to get this,as the said Johnnie Keane was bearing down on goals with a goal at his mercy ,a spectator ran through a hole in the wire and gave Johnny a kick in the front of the body on the pitch.He was followed onto the pitch by more spectators who threw further shapes as the original assailant ran back through the hole with Johnny in indignant pursuit.Despite the invasion the referee waved play on and allowed a goal scored by Maurs from the ball dropped by Johnny to stand.
My mother Peggy,my newish wife Agnes and Mary Brennan (Mother of Rory and grandmother of Trevor of rugby fame) took up position at the break in the wire with their umbrellas to stop a full pitch invasion by the so called Maurs supporters.They stopped a lot,got called many uncomplimentary names and only for them I am sure a full scale riot would have evolved.In the midst of all this mayhem ,play,if you could call it this ,continued.I was in total disbelief that this could happen,as were all our players.Maurs adapted better to the situation than we did and won by a point ,I think.
Even by the tougher standards that prevailed then what happened that day was totally unacceptable and was the worst instance of unfair play I have ever encountered.
More luck to Maurs.We didn't object ,as far as I know.It wasn't the done thing.In any event there were plenty of County Board officials present 'had thee been a desire to right this blatant wrong.
We heard that there were wilde celebrations in Rush that night and more luck to them.
However a certain sour taste remains to this day.
Putting it in perspective the death of Kevin Russell and the former Dublin great Yank Murray of Skerries,whose funeral some of the attendees at today's Mass rushed to attend, registers far higher on the Richter scale.
I am uneasy about the players I have named on the team and would stand corrected if contacted.Did Aidan O Regan play that day.I'm not sure.
Dunderry results week ended 29/07/2012.
The under 14 footballers were fixed to play Round Towers ,Kells last Tuesday in Dunganny.A sizable crowd turned up but no game was played.The rain came down in sheets and the whole place was flooded.Summer League is right.
On Thursday we player Trim in the A league in football in the pitch.Things had dried out well since Tuesday and the pitch wasn't bad.
Dunderry Team.
Thomas Doherty
Darren Callaghan John Kelleher Davy Mc cormack
Damian Clarke Evan Stephens Alan Garry
Peadar Callaghan Bob Doherty
Gary Newman Ivan Mc Cormack Seamus Harte
Simon Carty Keith Callaghan Stephen Coogan.
I missed the first fifteen minutes during which Trim scored two goals and a few points,Seemingly they attacked in numbers from the half back line and caught us on the hop.For he last 15 minutes of the first half we were outscored but not outplayed as both sides played an attractive style of open football,with good periods of inter passing.I didn't take the score but would say we went in seven pints down.
Some fine football was played in the second half by both sides ,with our backs,particularly the half back line spraying passes allover the shop to advantage.Both sides excelled at closing down the man in possession,that is surrounding him if he delayed.While the Clonard referee was generally good,it seemed to both sets of supporters and indeed to me,that he was inconsistent at times,sometimes penalising the man in possession and other times penalising the tacklers.There is no suggestion that he favoured one side over another but at times you had to scratch your head to figure why a free had or had not been given.
Assisted by a deserved penalty put away with aplomb by Stephen Coogan ,we fought back to lead by two points with three minutes to go.We ended up bet by one point.Go figure.Only ourselves to blame.A draw might have been a fairer reflection of what I saw.Trim won't complain.
The backs played well,the half back particularly so.Finn and Swiss are on their game.Midfield had its moments and the forwards scored enough to win had we kept ahead.Ivan is on his game too and Carty is fast and brave.About 10 minutes after the break Lar Callaqghan replaced Gary Newman.
Final score Trim 2-11.Dunderry 1-12.Tight.
On the Camogie front the Junior Team beat Donaghmore Ashbourne by two goals I think.The under 18's were well beaten by Rathoath in a match where we had to forfeit home advantage because the pitch was warerlogged.
I swear that the children born this year have no notion of what summer looks like.
On Thursday we player Trim in the A league in football in the pitch.Things had dried out well since Tuesday and the pitch wasn't bad.
Dunderry Team.
Thomas Doherty
Darren Callaghan John Kelleher Davy Mc cormack
Damian Clarke Evan Stephens Alan Garry
Peadar Callaghan Bob Doherty
Gary Newman Ivan Mc Cormack Seamus Harte
Simon Carty Keith Callaghan Stephen Coogan.
I missed the first fifteen minutes during which Trim scored two goals and a few points,Seemingly they attacked in numbers from the half back line and caught us on the hop.For he last 15 minutes of the first half we were outscored but not outplayed as both sides played an attractive style of open football,with good periods of inter passing.I didn't take the score but would say we went in seven pints down.
Some fine football was played in the second half by both sides ,with our backs,particularly the half back line spraying passes allover the shop to advantage.Both sides excelled at closing down the man in possession,that is surrounding him if he delayed.While the Clonard referee was generally good,it seemed to both sets of supporters and indeed to me,that he was inconsistent at times,sometimes penalising the man in possession and other times penalising the tacklers.There is no suggestion that he favoured one side over another but at times you had to scratch your head to figure why a free had or had not been given.
Assisted by a deserved penalty put away with aplomb by Stephen Coogan ,we fought back to lead by two points with three minutes to go.We ended up bet by one point.Go figure.Only ourselves to blame.A draw might have been a fairer reflection of what I saw.Trim won't complain.
The backs played well,the half back particularly so.Finn and Swiss are on their game.Midfield had its moments and the forwards scored enough to win had we kept ahead.Ivan is on his game too and Carty is fast and brave.About 10 minutes after the break Lar Callaqghan replaced Gary Newman.
Final score Trim 2-11.Dunderry 1-12.Tight.
On the Camogie front the Junior Team beat Donaghmore Ashbourne by two goals I think.The under 18's were well beaten by Rathoath in a match where we had to forfeit home advantage because the pitch was warerlogged.
I swear that the children born this year have no notion of what summer looks like.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The siege of Blanchardstown
This may be a figment of my imagination but I doubt it.The events outlined here took place in ,I would guess, 1968 or thereabouts.I say this because I was still going to Brunner at the time and had to vary my time of arrival as a consequence of what happened.
First let me set the scene.As with most of my social life it was GAA related.
Those times Brigids played their matches in the Priests Field opposite Davy's Pub (now the Bell).The Priest hadn't built the Parish House now in the field,Verona hadn't acquired the soccer pitch now there,the School extension was not there,and Blanchardstown was still a rural village,a fact I was reminded of every day in Brunner ,where I was called a culchie.
We played senior football at the time,had no hurling teams at all and Tommy Phelan was Chairman.Around that time I won an under 16 and a half hurling championship with Eoghan Ruaidh as there was no Brigids team.Joey Towell ,who became a Dublin legend was a team mate.He was magic even then .I think Clontarf had no hurling team either and my memory is that a Jerry O Connor from there was also involved with the team.
Juvenile football was sporadic and I firmly remember being bitterly disappointed at giving a walkover in an under 16 final because we had no transport.Freddie Reilly and John Hynes,who used live opposite the Bank of Ireland on the Main Street, were over the team and work commitments decreed they couldn't make it.They had stepped into the breach as a result of a death bed plea from Tom Russell,as had Tommy Tonge and his neighbour Tommy Halpin.
Around that time also we had embarked on a waste paper recycling enterprise.Basically we scoured the Parish for waste paper,bailed it and sold it to a recycling company.We had canvassed the Parish and left plastic sacks to those willing to participate.In canvassing Castleknock I had got thick when asked to go to the servant's entrance and left a suitable note and a plastic bag.Nearly arrested for trespass.Lar Wade was the operator of the bailing press and we lost Pollock Hill,a good footballer from the ranks as he reasoned that we should devote more time to football training than collecting used papers.
Well the Club organised a massive Carnival in the Priest's Field to raise funds,There was a huge marquee and top class show bands hired each night for a week.They were good bands and huge crowds of dancers used attend,mostly from Cabra and Finglas.As the week progressed the tensions between these tribes became palpable,seemingly because a number of guys from one area were trying to get off with a the girlfriends of the other side.Now there would be several hundred dancers there every night,as there were when all hell broke loose.As it eventually did when a fight broke out between two guys over a girl,
There were about twenty of us acting as Maors and Lar intervened to stop the fight .Big mistake .Both sides joined up and turned on Lar.We backed Lar and so it began.A little like the three hundred spartans against the African Hordes.There were about twenty of us against say four hundred of them,.I am not exagerating.The women dancers jumped up on the benches at the periphery of the tent and the band did a runner.
Charlie Collins was the main man and we tried to get all our lads into the one spot.My brother Robert became isolated and I heard him roar for help.He had his back to one of the main poles holding up the tent and was totally surrounded getting punched to pieces.
Let me say that it was all fist and an odd boot fight ,No knives nor bottles.Manly enough I suppose.Anyhow I fought my way in to Robert's rescue and we beat our way back to the rest of the boys.
We formed a line across the hall and they came at us in battallions,very well organised.As soon as you beat back a line of them another came up in support.I knocked out my first man that day totally by accident.I swung a punch at the jaw of an assailant,he ducked and another lad coming behind him ran on to the end of the swing.Down he went.Having said that I was fairly peeled myself as were all of us .Charlie Collins ,Tom Smith,Tommy Downey,Colm Brennan ,Willie Farrell .Mattie Keane I think ,Jigser Powell (then courting Patsi Wade)and I know there were more but cannot remember tham ,fought like our lives depended on it.,Which I suppose they did.Now this happened late at night and the Garda presence was minimal;.There were few Gardai in Blanch at the time,so no great assistance from that quarter,
Just when we were looking into the face of Armageddon a siren wailed and into the tent came a dozen or more of the finest uniformed gardai you ever saw.Their leader was a grizzled auld fella as ram rod straight as you could imagine.He stood at the door surveying all before him and pointed out the ring leaders to his apostles.They waded in and plucked out at least a dozen of the main protagonists.These boys could handle themselves and marched their defeated foes into a paddy wagon.Id say they got a right thumping on the way in .The mob dispersed and we brushed ourselves down.Lugs Brannigan and his crew had come ,saw and conquered.
Well not quite as it turned out.Meself and Robert headed down the main street for home.Not a chance as there were hundreds of fellas outside the garda station and they had the road blocked.We had to run back to the field and reassemble there.Over time the mob reassembled coming back from River Road to join up with the remnants on the main street and they were out for blood.
The stand odff took place in Davy Phelans car park.We again stood shoulder to shoulder.I was beside Tommy Downey ,RIP.Tommy wore glasses and he had a body coat shirt and tie on underneath.Just before they charged he took off the glasses ,put them in the breast pocket of the body coat and said here goes.As I said fists and boots.We fought for dear life and beat them off.I turned to Tommy Downey to see how he was.The body coat and the glasses were still intact.Nothing was left of his shiort and vest and he weas naked from the waist up underneath.It was some scrap.
Tom Smith the spud man had the misfortune to have put on his best suit and it was in shreds.I was in bits but still standing and again tried to get home.No luck again,as they controlled the main street.
Tom Smith said feck this and as we were going the same direction as himself placed us in his Merc and headed off towards the Greyhound.They saw us coming and tried to block the road again,Tom's response was to put the boot down.They soon shifted.And home we got.Not a word to the parents.We missed the school bus the next day.Just as well as we were told that a few lads from Cabra had got on looking for us.For about a month afterwards we had to vary the times we got the bus to school.Things soon petered out.
As far as I know no other account of this event,which may or may not have happened ,exists.No doubt the names of the people mentioned above are fictional or are they.Check it out.
Charlie Collins died during the week and was cremated.He was the toughest defender we had that day and after awhile a heap of inert bodies piled up around him.He was one tough dude as the Kilbride team of the seventies,who we often met in Russsell Cup Tournaments in the Priests Field ,would attest.He feared no one.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam.
First let me set the scene.As with most of my social life it was GAA related.
Those times Brigids played their matches in the Priests Field opposite Davy's Pub (now the Bell).The Priest hadn't built the Parish House now in the field,Verona hadn't acquired the soccer pitch now there,the School extension was not there,and Blanchardstown was still a rural village,a fact I was reminded of every day in Brunner ,where I was called a culchie.
We played senior football at the time,had no hurling teams at all and Tommy Phelan was Chairman.Around that time I won an under 16 and a half hurling championship with Eoghan Ruaidh as there was no Brigids team.Joey Towell ,who became a Dublin legend was a team mate.He was magic even then .I think Clontarf had no hurling team either and my memory is that a Jerry O Connor from there was also involved with the team.
Juvenile football was sporadic and I firmly remember being bitterly disappointed at giving a walkover in an under 16 final because we had no transport.Freddie Reilly and John Hynes,who used live opposite the Bank of Ireland on the Main Street, were over the team and work commitments decreed they couldn't make it.They had stepped into the breach as a result of a death bed plea from Tom Russell,as had Tommy Tonge and his neighbour Tommy Halpin.
Around that time also we had embarked on a waste paper recycling enterprise.Basically we scoured the Parish for waste paper,bailed it and sold it to a recycling company.We had canvassed the Parish and left plastic sacks to those willing to participate.In canvassing Castleknock I had got thick when asked to go to the servant's entrance and left a suitable note and a plastic bag.Nearly arrested for trespass.Lar Wade was the operator of the bailing press and we lost Pollock Hill,a good footballer from the ranks as he reasoned that we should devote more time to football training than collecting used papers.
Well the Club organised a massive Carnival in the Priest's Field to raise funds,There was a huge marquee and top class show bands hired each night for a week.They were good bands and huge crowds of dancers used attend,mostly from Cabra and Finglas.As the week progressed the tensions between these tribes became palpable,seemingly because a number of guys from one area were trying to get off with a the girlfriends of the other side.Now there would be several hundred dancers there every night,as there were when all hell broke loose.As it eventually did when a fight broke out between two guys over a girl,
There were about twenty of us acting as Maors and Lar intervened to stop the fight .Big mistake .Both sides joined up and turned on Lar.We backed Lar and so it began.A little like the three hundred spartans against the African Hordes.There were about twenty of us against say four hundred of them,.I am not exagerating.The women dancers jumped up on the benches at the periphery of the tent and the band did a runner.
Charlie Collins was the main man and we tried to get all our lads into the one spot.My brother Robert became isolated and I heard him roar for help.He had his back to one of the main poles holding up the tent and was totally surrounded getting punched to pieces.
Let me say that it was all fist and an odd boot fight ,No knives nor bottles.Manly enough I suppose.Anyhow I fought my way in to Robert's rescue and we beat our way back to the rest of the boys.
We formed a line across the hall and they came at us in battallions,very well organised.As soon as you beat back a line of them another came up in support.I knocked out my first man that day totally by accident.I swung a punch at the jaw of an assailant,he ducked and another lad coming behind him ran on to the end of the swing.Down he went.Having said that I was fairly peeled myself as were all of us .Charlie Collins ,Tom Smith,Tommy Downey,Colm Brennan ,Willie Farrell .Mattie Keane I think ,Jigser Powell (then courting Patsi Wade)and I know there were more but cannot remember tham ,fought like our lives depended on it.,Which I suppose they did.Now this happened late at night and the Garda presence was minimal;.There were few Gardai in Blanch at the time,so no great assistance from that quarter,
Just when we were looking into the face of Armageddon a siren wailed and into the tent came a dozen or more of the finest uniformed gardai you ever saw.Their leader was a grizzled auld fella as ram rod straight as you could imagine.He stood at the door surveying all before him and pointed out the ring leaders to his apostles.They waded in and plucked out at least a dozen of the main protagonists.These boys could handle themselves and marched their defeated foes into a paddy wagon.Id say they got a right thumping on the way in .The mob dispersed and we brushed ourselves down.Lugs Brannigan and his crew had come ,saw and conquered.
Well not quite as it turned out.Meself and Robert headed down the main street for home.Not a chance as there were hundreds of fellas outside the garda station and they had the road blocked.We had to run back to the field and reassemble there.Over time the mob reassembled coming back from River Road to join up with the remnants on the main street and they were out for blood.
The stand odff took place in Davy Phelans car park.We again stood shoulder to shoulder.I was beside Tommy Downey ,RIP.Tommy wore glasses and he had a body coat shirt and tie on underneath.Just before they charged he took off the glasses ,put them in the breast pocket of the body coat and said here goes.As I said fists and boots.We fought for dear life and beat them off.I turned to Tommy Downey to see how he was.The body coat and the glasses were still intact.Nothing was left of his shiort and vest and he weas naked from the waist up underneath.It was some scrap.
Tom Smith the spud man had the misfortune to have put on his best suit and it was in shreds.I was in bits but still standing and again tried to get home.No luck again,as they controlled the main street.
Tom Smith said feck this and as we were going the same direction as himself placed us in his Merc and headed off towards the Greyhound.They saw us coming and tried to block the road again,Tom's response was to put the boot down.They soon shifted.And home we got.Not a word to the parents.We missed the school bus the next day.Just as well as we were told that a few lads from Cabra had got on looking for us.For about a month afterwards we had to vary the times we got the bus to school.Things soon petered out.
As far as I know no other account of this event,which may or may not have happened ,exists.No doubt the names of the people mentioned above are fictional or are they.Check it out.
Charlie Collins died during the week and was cremated.He was the toughest defender we had that day and after awhile a heap of inert bodies piled up around him.He was one tough dude as the Kilbride team of the seventies,who we often met in Russsell Cup Tournaments in the Priests Field ,would attest.He feared no one.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam.
Croppie lie down.
The guerrilla tactics of Michael Collins,the Fine Gael icon ,are reputed to have been imitated by countless generations of freedom fighters world wide since the 1920's.He figured out the tactics necessary to put a world dominant empire on the defensive and how to break its resolve.
It seems to me that his modern day political descendants have learned well these lessons insofar as they relate to breaking an adversary who incurs their wrath.
The bank which refuses to say its name is headed by Alan Dukes a former leader of Fine Gael.The Australian CEO was appointed with the consent of a Fine Gael Government ,headed by Enda Kenny and the head of the office of Public Works,Brian Hayes is using all the authority of his office in the international arena to pursue an agenda against a good Irish family .I cannot remember any other instance when a Bank ,the Courts and a Government Minister and a Government were so united in their determination to do any family down.
Particularly a family that created so many jobs in such neglected backwaters of the hidden Ireland without any Government support.The treatment being meted out to this family is in direct contrast to that accorded Larry Goodman in years gone by,when the Examiner legislation was rushed through the Dail to maintain employment and afford an organisation under pressure a chance to regain financial control of its affairs.
What I find particularly objectionable is the use of the natural love and affection that any decent father bears for his children and their incarceration as a weapon to force him to do the bidding of any other party and I am disgusted that any Court in this country would accede to such a request.
On the one hand we have report after report decrying situations where parents and indeed the State in their absence have neglected children to the extent of causing premature death and on the other hand the State and the Courts misusing the natural love expected from a parent to attempt to blackmail that parent to do the State's will.
In my view not only is the practice medieval but also barbaric.It is the sort of punishment one would expect from a colonial power to keep down a rebellious colony but not one I would expect a modern Republic to use against one of its own citizens and its practicality affords no moral justification for its use.To carry the thing to its logical conclusion why not incarcerate his wife and his infant grandchildren and all his other children and in laws also. And his parents as well,if they are alive..
These tactics are worthy of the mafia and are not hugely dissimilar from the tiger kidnappings where children and wives are held hostage until the ransom is paid.
These archaic powers ought to be fully ventilated in the forthcoming constitutional forum and the populace given a chance to debate them and decide whether they wish them to be part of the State's and Courts armoury.
The problem that Official Ireland ,North and South has with Sean Quinn and his family is that he sprang from nowhere and is not of the professional classes who ruled the roost here for generations and really fucked this country up.
They will not rest until they have stamped him back to the dust he came from ,whatever it takes .
Yes another croppy to be put in his place.
These guys don't get it.Sean is one of ours.
It seems to me that his modern day political descendants have learned well these lessons insofar as they relate to breaking an adversary who incurs their wrath.
The bank which refuses to say its name is headed by Alan Dukes a former leader of Fine Gael.The Australian CEO was appointed with the consent of a Fine Gael Government ,headed by Enda Kenny and the head of the office of Public Works,Brian Hayes is using all the authority of his office in the international arena to pursue an agenda against a good Irish family .I cannot remember any other instance when a Bank ,the Courts and a Government Minister and a Government were so united in their determination to do any family down.
Particularly a family that created so many jobs in such neglected backwaters of the hidden Ireland without any Government support.The treatment being meted out to this family is in direct contrast to that accorded Larry Goodman in years gone by,when the Examiner legislation was rushed through the Dail to maintain employment and afford an organisation under pressure a chance to regain financial control of its affairs.
What I find particularly objectionable is the use of the natural love and affection that any decent father bears for his children and their incarceration as a weapon to force him to do the bidding of any other party and I am disgusted that any Court in this country would accede to such a request.
On the one hand we have report after report decrying situations where parents and indeed the State in their absence have neglected children to the extent of causing premature death and on the other hand the State and the Courts misusing the natural love expected from a parent to attempt to blackmail that parent to do the State's will.
In my view not only is the practice medieval but also barbaric.It is the sort of punishment one would expect from a colonial power to keep down a rebellious colony but not one I would expect a modern Republic to use against one of its own citizens and its practicality affords no moral justification for its use.To carry the thing to its logical conclusion why not incarcerate his wife and his infant grandchildren and all his other children and in laws also. And his parents as well,if they are alive..
These tactics are worthy of the mafia and are not hugely dissimilar from the tiger kidnappings where children and wives are held hostage until the ransom is paid.
These archaic powers ought to be fully ventilated in the forthcoming constitutional forum and the populace given a chance to debate them and decide whether they wish them to be part of the State's and Courts armoury.
The problem that Official Ireland ,North and South has with Sean Quinn and his family is that he sprang from nowhere and is not of the professional classes who ruled the roost here for generations and really fucked this country up.
They will not rest until they have stamped him back to the dust he came from ,whatever it takes .
Yes another croppy to be put in his place.
These guys don't get it.Sean is one of ours.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
T.D.to finish the job.
Today in Kilbride my daughter Margarita and her husband Phil Kilcooley christened their second child Thomas Daithi Kilcooley.The Christening,by father Hornick,is the latest and most pleasant of a roller coaster of events and emotions experienced by the wider Kilcooley family in the recent past.
A number of months ago Phil's father Tom was diagnosed with cancer,a form that turned out to be particularly virulent.It resisted all treatment and while the pain was well controlled and he made his peace with his god and his family,there was a considerable emotional toll on his family who minded him at home right to the end.His wife and children were exemplary but ,as I know only too well,this is a most unmerciful disease at times and extracts a huge emotional toll .
Concurrently Mags became pregnant and being Mags embarked on the most recommended of conditioning regimes for those with child.despite scan confirmation that she was carrying only one child she was huge and went into labour 8 weeks before the due date.Thomas Daithi was born to great jubilation,short lived as it transpired as that a gap existed in his digestive facilities.He had to go into Temple Street Hospital for an urgent operation and spent some time there.He is fine now.
If there is an upside to these events it is that the premature birth enabled Tom Senior to cuddle Tom junior,his first grandson, when he was able to appreciate it.
On Wednesday we buried Tom Senior.Today we Christened our grandson.There must be a parable here somewhere,
Tom Senior was over six foot six,as is Phil ,Mag's husband.
Us Stephenses are built close to the ground.T,D, is nearly as long now as I am myself.Bligh has already registered him as a Dunderry GAA member.Midfield I'd say.He has a rake of cousins of similar age ,male and female.I hope I live to see them on the field of play and support them as I already do with Aisling ,my oldest and first grandchild.
She is Godmother.
With his initials he is a natural for the Dail.Maybe,just maybe he will finish the job I started.,
Le cuineamh De.
A number of months ago Phil's father Tom was diagnosed with cancer,a form that turned out to be particularly virulent.It resisted all treatment and while the pain was well controlled and he made his peace with his god and his family,there was a considerable emotional toll on his family who minded him at home right to the end.His wife and children were exemplary but ,as I know only too well,this is a most unmerciful disease at times and extracts a huge emotional toll .
Concurrently Mags became pregnant and being Mags embarked on the most recommended of conditioning regimes for those with child.despite scan confirmation that she was carrying only one child she was huge and went into labour 8 weeks before the due date.Thomas Daithi was born to great jubilation,short lived as it transpired as that a gap existed in his digestive facilities.He had to go into Temple Street Hospital for an urgent operation and spent some time there.He is fine now.
If there is an upside to these events it is that the premature birth enabled Tom Senior to cuddle Tom junior,his first grandson, when he was able to appreciate it.
On Wednesday we buried Tom Senior.Today we Christened our grandson.There must be a parable here somewhere,
Tom Senior was over six foot six,as is Phil ,Mag's husband.
Us Stephenses are built close to the ground.T,D, is nearly as long now as I am myself.Bligh has already registered him as a Dunderry GAA member.Midfield I'd say.He has a rake of cousins of similar age ,male and female.I hope I live to see them on the field of play and support them as I already do with Aisling ,my oldest and first grandchild.
She is Godmother.
With his initials he is a natural for the Dail.Maybe,just maybe he will finish the job I started.,
Le cuineamh De.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Hon the Meath Minors.
This coming Sunday Meath face Dublin in a double football feast,minor and Senior Leinster finals.We have four members on the minor panel.three who play with Dunderry and one who is directly descended from the best of Dunderry stock,a daughter of Tony Newman,judged by the experts to have been one of the best players ever to grace the Dunderry jersey.He currently plies his trade with Scryne.
Natives will recognise the names of Coogan and Garry,and Stephen,Christy's son and Alan ,a son of the "Bear"who are involved.Are they the first of their Clans to play for the County??Which or whether they deserve what comes their way and their families fully deserve the honour bestowed on them.They have been bedrocks of the Gaelic Game in this Parish for generations.
Emigrants might find it harder to recognise the name of Paddy Kenneally,a devout Dundrry man ,who is fielding at a wing back position.This is because he is of Kerry stock and a son of Stan,a great Clubman and a relative of the famed Kerry Kenneallys.In a few years perhaps Kerry people will refer to that branch as related to the Dundery clan.
All in Dunderry are very proud of our lads and wish them the very best on Sunday.
Being a Dub.I am in somewhat of a dilemma.As I know the young lads so well and as I don't know any of the Dubs.I have no option but to support Meath in the game and gladly do so.
To retain some vestige of dignity I am supporting Dublin in the Senior ,even though a grandson and son of proud Dunderry men,Stephen Bray ,fields with the Royals.
Apologies to the mothers involved who I didn't name .You would swear that these lads were motherless which they certainly aren't. Another article on another day.
The members of the 1991 epic Dublin/Meath clash are being n honoured at the game.Watch for the Dunderry men involved.
On a totally different tack it really is a very small country.It transpires that Kevin Colgan,a former Dunderry great was a workmate and close friend of Tom Kilcooley.father in law of my daughter Mags,and at his funeral I met Don O Mahony who I hurled with in Brigids for years,who told me that he was a flat mate of Tom's when they first came to Dublin.You couldn't,t make it up.
Natives will recognise the names of Coogan and Garry,and Stephen,Christy's son and Alan ,a son of the "Bear"who are involved.Are they the first of their Clans to play for the County??Which or whether they deserve what comes their way and their families fully deserve the honour bestowed on them.They have been bedrocks of the Gaelic Game in this Parish for generations.
Emigrants might find it harder to recognise the name of Paddy Kenneally,a devout Dundrry man ,who is fielding at a wing back position.This is because he is of Kerry stock and a son of Stan,a great Clubman and a relative of the famed Kerry Kenneallys.In a few years perhaps Kerry people will refer to that branch as related to the Dundery clan.
All in Dunderry are very proud of our lads and wish them the very best on Sunday.
Being a Dub.I am in somewhat of a dilemma.As I know the young lads so well and as I don't know any of the Dubs.I have no option but to support Meath in the game and gladly do so.
To retain some vestige of dignity I am supporting Dublin in the Senior ,even though a grandson and son of proud Dunderry men,Stephen Bray ,fields with the Royals.
Apologies to the mothers involved who I didn't name .You would swear that these lads were motherless which they certainly aren't. Another article on another day.
The members of the 1991 epic Dublin/Meath clash are being n honoured at the game.Watch for the Dunderry men involved.
On a totally different tack it really is a very small country.It transpires that Kevin Colgan,a former Dunderry great was a workmate and close friend of Tom Kilcooley.father in law of my daughter Mags,and at his funeral I met Don O Mahony who I hurled with in Brigids for years,who told me that he was a flat mate of Tom's when they first came to Dublin.You couldn't,t make it up.
Dunderry under 14 footballers live on edge.
The resurrection of the under 14 footballers continues apace.We continue to win by the skin of our teeth.Last Saturday we advanced in the seven a side competition after drawing a controversial match with our near neighbours Clanna Gael.The match was decided on 21 yard frees ,5 for each side.We won 5 to 4.
On Tuesday we played St.Pats who had beaten us the previous week.Down one of the players with most potential in the county since shortly after half time ,we scored a goal with the last kick of the ball to win by two points,no more than we deserved I thought.Styler refereed it fairly I thought.
The players are coming along nicely since exiting the championship on a walkover and are beginning to appreciate the value of hard work, team ethic,back up of team mates under pressure and that winning feeling.
There is better to come I hope.Division 5 is not the place to be for any Club with ambition.
On Tuesday we played St.Pats who had beaten us the previous week.Down one of the players with most potential in the county since shortly after half time ,we scored a goal with the last kick of the ball to win by two points,no more than we deserved I thought.Styler refereed it fairly I thought.
The players are coming along nicely since exiting the championship on a walkover and are beginning to appreciate the value of hard work, team ethic,back up of team mates under pressure and that winning feeling.
There is better to come I hope.Division 5 is not the place to be for any Club with ambition.
Dunderry V KIlmessan I.H.C.20/07/2012.
We won pulling up in a fabulous Athboy pitch on a lovely sunny summer's evening.Anthony Kirby refereed as he played,hard but fair.A Kilmessan man got gate at the end of the first half and we cruised to a victory in the order of 1-23 to 0-9.
We were short a number of regulars between suspension and injuries.
Team that started.
Tommy Doc
Sprog Finn Red
Swiss Wright Ivo
Ted O Shea
Keenan Keith Jordan
Geraghty Bob Gorey
Subs,Bobmer,Gilky,Fitzie,Harrow ,Eddie and Liam Dempsey
We were short a number of regulars between suspension and injuries.
Team that started.
Tommy Doc
Sprog Finn Red
Swiss Wright Ivo
Ted O Shea
Keenan Keith Jordan
Geraghty Bob Gorey
Subs,Bobmer,Gilky,Fitzie,Harrow ,Eddie and Liam Dempsey
Drumbeat Dividend 21/07/2012.
Following last weeks winner we are plumping for Sea Moon in the King George at Ascot.This rapidly improving horse won for us before and will win again.Tomorrow we judge.Three up.We will see.
Molly Newman meets her maker.
In her 103rd .year on this earth,the greatly loved Molly Newman shuffled off this mortal coil to the great consternation of her loving family,both immediate and extended,her neighbours and at least two parishes in this Diocese ,Dunderry and Boyerstown,a number of locations in the USA and England and a part of Holland ,in all of which locations reside members of her extended family.And these are only the locations I know about.
This lady was a Hanly from Rathmoylan,a description I use advisedly as all who knew her would attest to and which could be evidenced in many ways ,not least in the way herself and her husband took in the infant child of her first cousin on the premature death of his mother,in times that were tough for all .Francis Bruton very properly regarded her as his mother and no natural son could do more for a woman than he,his wife Eileen and their children ,Kevin,Shane and Damian did for this lady in her ailing years.
Not only they.but everyone in this family were there when she was in need..Her son Eugene ,his wife Anne and their children ,Owen,Jenny ,Pamela and Hazel were in constant attendance as were those of Olivers children not forced to the emigrant boat.
Her daughters Carmel and Patsi were both nurses and they spent much time in her care in latter years. Both of them and Carmel's husband Frank were regular attendees at the Vigil Mass in Dunderry in recent years and I am absolutely certain that their strong Catholic faith not only sustained them in difficult times but underlined and underscored the practical love they lavished on her .
As I write this I hear an advertisement for liveline on the Radio concerning the latest condemnation of Christian Prayer from a Labour Councillor in Tipperary. Like some of her family who I spoke to last night I am sick to the stomach of these people.Needless to say no Labour Councillor nor any of that anti Catholic ilk turned up to help care for her in her hours of need.Actions speak louder than words and her friends and neighbours went quietly about their works of love without spouting it on national radio.They are made of the right stuff.
Her husband Owen predeceased her by many years,38 I think and was a great friend of my mother's people the Mc Cormacks of Churchtown.I well remember them talking of Butty Thomas,who was Owen Newman's father and who I think was a relation to John Newman .GAA scion of the early 1900,s and who Newman Park in Bohernmeen is named after.
Our house in Blanchardstown was a house well known to Dunderry people and All the Newman men and Francis often called there when passing through from visiting Dublin.Francis has strong childhood memories of calling there with Molly and Owen while a young child.But then my mother and the Dundery people were like that.The best of neighbours always and no matter where.
Like their namesakes the Newmans of Tullaghanstown ,where father and sons concurrently drew the old age pension,both Molly and at least one child Thomas ,who is the most youthful 70 I ever saw,are in that category.Even I am not brave enough to suggest that any of the incredibly youthful looking daughters would also qualify.
Thomas emigrated many years ago and worked his way up from being a rigger in the oil business to the very top of the tree,to the extent of sponsoring research in an Irish University into the industry. He played football with Dundery ,never lost his accent and was a frequent visitor home.Only a few weeks ago I met him after Mass and he knew that his mothers time was limited.
Oliver and Eugene were great friends of my uncle Tommy Mc Cormack .Oliver or "Golly " being somewhat of a boozing buddy and a partner in craic.
Many's the time my aunt Molly ate Tommy over a cache of empty booze bottles found in his car after some "outing" involving himself,Golly, probably Tommy Dowd,maybe Oliver Travers,possibly Patsi Coogan,definitively Mattie Lawless and maybe myself or Robert on the tails of the company.Great times.
Both Oliver and Eugene were on the winning Dunderry Inter Team in 1970.Golly played minor with Meath a feat replicated by his son Brian ,who captained the team .Brian played under 21 with Meath as well and I am sure that David his brother also manned the green jersey He was an intricate part of the team who developed the Dunderry Clubhouse..Father and sons were unstinting players for Dunderry and servants par excellence at under 21 and adult level and in Hurling also.Brother Paul was also in that tradition but his love of all things equine overcame his love of the Gaelic Game in his twenties and he devoted his spare time in that direction.
Their sisters were part of an Ultans lady's football team that swept all before them.
Myself and Eugene made our Dunderry Junior Football debuts in the Showgrounds in Navan many years ago at 16 years of age ,against Martry Harps ,I think..Eugene was a tasty footballer and his son Owen and daughters,Jenny,Pamela and Hazel graced the football,hurling and camogie fields of Meath for Dunderry in their youth.
When Eugene lived in the village himself and Tommy Dowd for a period ran the juvenile footballers .The sole transport was Eugene's car.
Eileen Bruton is a long time member of the Dunderry Club and Kevin,Shane and Damian prominent hurlers and footballers with us.
Like all the Newmans they don't do fear,are built to the ground and when they hit you (legitimately of course) you stay hit.
Fifty years ago I used come here on the summer holidays.Hay was cocked at the time.It was drawn home by horse and bogey.A bogey was a flat bottomed dray which was tipped up and the entire cock of hay was drawn on to it by ratcheting up the cock with chains .The Mc Cormacks used make hay in Stauntons where Michael Mc Cormack now lives.Joe used drive down to Stauntons to draw the hay home and we would pass Newmans on the way.Even though we didn't know why we were drawn to the girls we passed,Assumpta Newman,Catty Lawless and the Conway sisters springing to mind.We fancied them desperately and did all sort of antics to draw their attention.Feck all good it did us.
Well I met Assumpta ,Cathy and Teresa these last few days,Assumpta for the first time in fifty years.They are grannies now and they wintered fierce well.
A massive crowd turned up for the funeral in Boyerstown Church yesterday ,with far more people outside the Church than inside and Father Brendan,a Dunderry admirer,was way off the mark when he said the burial would take place "in a few minutes,"after the attendance had a chance to sympathise with the family.Clearly he is unused to Dunderry funerals as the "few minutes " lengthened to a good hour.I.d say.
But that was the mark of the woman.
This lady has left a massive legacy of love in her wake and I'd say St .Peter met her half way up to usher her inside the pearly gates.
Ar Dheis De go Raibh a hAnam dilis.
This lady was a Hanly from Rathmoylan,a description I use advisedly as all who knew her would attest to and which could be evidenced in many ways ,not least in the way herself and her husband took in the infant child of her first cousin on the premature death of his mother,in times that were tough for all .Francis Bruton very properly regarded her as his mother and no natural son could do more for a woman than he,his wife Eileen and their children ,Kevin,Shane and Damian did for this lady in her ailing years.
Not only they.but everyone in this family were there when she was in need..Her son Eugene ,his wife Anne and their children ,Owen,Jenny ,Pamela and Hazel were in constant attendance as were those of Olivers children not forced to the emigrant boat.
Her daughters Carmel and Patsi were both nurses and they spent much time in her care in latter years. Both of them and Carmel's husband Frank were regular attendees at the Vigil Mass in Dunderry in recent years and I am absolutely certain that their strong Catholic faith not only sustained them in difficult times but underlined and underscored the practical love they lavished on her .
As I write this I hear an advertisement for liveline on the Radio concerning the latest condemnation of Christian Prayer from a Labour Councillor in Tipperary. Like some of her family who I spoke to last night I am sick to the stomach of these people.Needless to say no Labour Councillor nor any of that anti Catholic ilk turned up to help care for her in her hours of need.Actions speak louder than words and her friends and neighbours went quietly about their works of love without spouting it on national radio.They are made of the right stuff.
Her husband Owen predeceased her by many years,38 I think and was a great friend of my mother's people the Mc Cormacks of Churchtown.I well remember them talking of Butty Thomas,who was Owen Newman's father and who I think was a relation to John Newman .GAA scion of the early 1900,s and who Newman Park in Bohernmeen is named after.
Our house in Blanchardstown was a house well known to Dunderry people and All the Newman men and Francis often called there when passing through from visiting Dublin.Francis has strong childhood memories of calling there with Molly and Owen while a young child.But then my mother and the Dundery people were like that.The best of neighbours always and no matter where.
Like their namesakes the Newmans of Tullaghanstown ,where father and sons concurrently drew the old age pension,both Molly and at least one child Thomas ,who is the most youthful 70 I ever saw,are in that category.Even I am not brave enough to suggest that any of the incredibly youthful looking daughters would also qualify.
Thomas emigrated many years ago and worked his way up from being a rigger in the oil business to the very top of the tree,to the extent of sponsoring research in an Irish University into the industry. He played football with Dundery ,never lost his accent and was a frequent visitor home.Only a few weeks ago I met him after Mass and he knew that his mothers time was limited.
Oliver and Eugene were great friends of my uncle Tommy Mc Cormack .Oliver or "Golly " being somewhat of a boozing buddy and a partner in craic.
Many's the time my aunt Molly ate Tommy over a cache of empty booze bottles found in his car after some "outing" involving himself,Golly, probably Tommy Dowd,maybe Oliver Travers,possibly Patsi Coogan,definitively Mattie Lawless and maybe myself or Robert on the tails of the company.Great times.
Both Oliver and Eugene were on the winning Dunderry Inter Team in 1970.Golly played minor with Meath a feat replicated by his son Brian ,who captained the team .Brian played under 21 with Meath as well and I am sure that David his brother also manned the green jersey He was an intricate part of the team who developed the Dunderry Clubhouse..Father and sons were unstinting players for Dunderry and servants par excellence at under 21 and adult level and in Hurling also.Brother Paul was also in that tradition but his love of all things equine overcame his love of the Gaelic Game in his twenties and he devoted his spare time in that direction.
Their sisters were part of an Ultans lady's football team that swept all before them.
Myself and Eugene made our Dunderry Junior Football debuts in the Showgrounds in Navan many years ago at 16 years of age ,against Martry Harps ,I think..Eugene was a tasty footballer and his son Owen and daughters,Jenny,Pamela and Hazel graced the football,hurling and camogie fields of Meath for Dunderry in their youth.
When Eugene lived in the village himself and Tommy Dowd for a period ran the juvenile footballers .The sole transport was Eugene's car.
Eileen Bruton is a long time member of the Dunderry Club and Kevin,Shane and Damian prominent hurlers and footballers with us.
Like all the Newmans they don't do fear,are built to the ground and when they hit you (legitimately of course) you stay hit.
Fifty years ago I used come here on the summer holidays.Hay was cocked at the time.It was drawn home by horse and bogey.A bogey was a flat bottomed dray which was tipped up and the entire cock of hay was drawn on to it by ratcheting up the cock with chains .The Mc Cormacks used make hay in Stauntons where Michael Mc Cormack now lives.Joe used drive down to Stauntons to draw the hay home and we would pass Newmans on the way.Even though we didn't know why we were drawn to the girls we passed,Assumpta Newman,Catty Lawless and the Conway sisters springing to mind.We fancied them desperately and did all sort of antics to draw their attention.Feck all good it did us.
Well I met Assumpta ,Cathy and Teresa these last few days,Assumpta for the first time in fifty years.They are grannies now and they wintered fierce well.
A massive crowd turned up for the funeral in Boyerstown Church yesterday ,with far more people outside the Church than inside and Father Brendan,a Dunderry admirer,was way off the mark when he said the burial would take place "in a few minutes,"after the attendance had a chance to sympathise with the family.Clearly he is unused to Dunderry funerals as the "few minutes " lengthened to a good hour.I.d say.
But that was the mark of the woman.
This lady has left a massive legacy of love in her wake and I'd say St .Peter met her half way up to usher her inside the pearly gates.
Ar Dheis De go Raibh a hAnam dilis.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Circle of Hate reaps reward.
The haters of all things Catholic, and we all know who they are,must be ecstatic at the news that a Church in Connemara has been desecrated by the larceny of copper from its roof.Combined with the theft of religious artifacts from many Churches in recent times,but mainly from the time of a concerted campaign of sustained bigotry from some hateful political and journalistic sources ,this latest outrage must really give these hatemongers their jollies. and must afford the perpetrators the comfort of knowing that they are only wreaking revenge on the target of the haters spleen.
Not a word now about the 120 youths dead because of State neglect in the past decade.The silence is deafening.
Not a word now about the 120 youths dead because of State neglect in the past decade.The silence is deafening.
Making Hay and Making HIstory.
A lifetime ago my uncle Joe Mc Cormack made his way across the fields to Meadstown to visit his mate Fred Stanley (did you know that a photograph of himself ,the Padna Kelly and a few more neighbours is on display in Mc Geogh's hardware) and in the process met Fred's brother the Cat turning hay with a pitchfork .This was unusual in the month of November,which it was."What you at Cat"said Joe.Without braking stride "Making hay and making history " said the Cat.
Withy the weather the way it is,will we have a repeat of that dose this year ?
Withy the weather the way it is,will we have a repeat of that dose this year ?
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Winner all right.Pay out.
Boom ,Boom two up in a row.6/4 is all right.Well done tipster.Can you make it three up.We hold our breath.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Drumbeat Dividend 14/07/2012,
Olympic Glory in the 2.10 in Newmarket was second in Royal Ascot and with the in form team of Richard Hughes and Richard Hannon at the helm should manage a first this time around.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Some Dunderry GAA results and Clare 1970 All Irelands.
As already reported the Inter Hurlers were beaten by Tones last Sunday.
The Junior D.s winning run came to an end against Ballinlough at Moynalty on Monday ,when the management skills of Donie Mooney and the considerable football nous of Mick Newman and Liam Og Farrell fell short of the job on hands.No shame lads .I think ye are still in the hunt.
The team the focus of my current attention ,the under 14 footballers,met their first defeat on Tuesday night against a very mature Stamullen team,going down by three points I think.I missed that game as it coincided with the blessing of the graves in Churchtown ,where my great grandfather and grandmother(a native of Headford by name Naughton ) are buried next to the Conways.
I noted a Conway death in 1845 ,the time of the famine.So these grounds are indeed old.
I am told that Cromwell knocked this church and all the Churches hereabouts.A tyrant if ever there was one.How sad that his sentiments towards Catholicism are shared by the current well known members of the circle of hate,who decry our religion at every opportunity.
I think our under 13 Camogie Team beat Brownstown in a challenge on Tuesday .A bit of light at the end of the tunnell.
Reminds me of the late Tommy Moloney ,a fanatical Clareman and great boozing buddy and a a lover of the Gaelic game.When Clare were going bad in the early seventies at football and hurling and a group of us were discussing this sad state of affairs he took full advantage by laying a fiver each with us that Clare had won four All Irelands that year.
He won his bet.
As memory recalls it they were:
Kilfenora won Ceili Band.
Kirby won Handball
Junior Camogie won All Irteland
and a Clareman won the frog swallowing.
And he didn't bat an eyelid.
The Junior D.s winning run came to an end against Ballinlough at Moynalty on Monday ,when the management skills of Donie Mooney and the considerable football nous of Mick Newman and Liam Og Farrell fell short of the job on hands.No shame lads .I think ye are still in the hunt.
The team the focus of my current attention ,the under 14 footballers,met their first defeat on Tuesday night against a very mature Stamullen team,going down by three points I think.I missed that game as it coincided with the blessing of the graves in Churchtown ,where my great grandfather and grandmother(a native of Headford by name Naughton ) are buried next to the Conways.
I noted a Conway death in 1845 ,the time of the famine.So these grounds are indeed old.
I am told that Cromwell knocked this church and all the Churches hereabouts.A tyrant if ever there was one.How sad that his sentiments towards Catholicism are shared by the current well known members of the circle of hate,who decry our religion at every opportunity.
I think our under 13 Camogie Team beat Brownstown in a challenge on Tuesday .A bit of light at the end of the tunnell.
Reminds me of the late Tommy Moloney ,a fanatical Clareman and great boozing buddy and a a lover of the Gaelic game.When Clare were going bad in the early seventies at football and hurling and a group of us were discussing this sad state of affairs he took full advantage by laying a fiver each with us that Clare had won four All Irelands that year.
He won his bet.
As memory recalls it they were:
Kilfenora won Ceili Band.
Kirby won Handball
Junior Camogie won All Irteland
and a Clareman won the frog swallowing.
And he didn't bat an eyelid.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Traffic Gridlock marks Dunderry Graves Blessings
Love always triumphs over hate.So it transpired in Dunderry today and yesterday ,when the blessings of the graves in the graveyard was split over the Vigil Mass last evening and again at 11.00 a.m.this morning.This was in response to the huge crowd that turned up last year,when many couldn't gain admission to the Church.The Church was full to capacity on both occasions and the gridlock I refer arose when the huge crowds attempted to leave the cemetery at the same time on both occasions.With everybody displaying extreme politeness the traffic took some time to disperse.And no body was complaining.
This gridlock makes a complete change from the eerie silence that pertains most evenings in the main and only street in Dunderry ,which is a direct result of the scandalous policies of the fir breaga and circle of hate clients that are doing their damnest to suck the will to live from rural and small town Ireland. Between attacking our religion at every hands turn and driving us into economic meltdown they hope to break us.No surprise therefor to see some Government Ministers cosying up to their communist brethren abroad. They hope to realise their desire of leaving us all destitute ,financially and spiritually and qualify us for the classic definition of a communist,that is a "fella who has s.f .a and wishes to share it with everyone."
Such a good natured crowd on such a catholic and spiritual occasion lends the lie to our supposed secularism and shows that when all is said and done we respect our ancestors and our deceased friends and neighbours and firmly believe in the afterlife.
Everybody was turned out in their Sunday clothes and friends and neighbours who hadn't met for a while newed friendships.Those raw from recent family bereavements shed a few well deserved tears and those with more distant memories thought their thoughts and relived their memories .And prayed for God's mercy.
My mind was in "reprise mode "the whole weekend and I dredged up the most nostalgic of memories.All in all I wouldn't have missed a single moment of what I went through with those in the village of the dead.And I resolved to make the most of what has yet to come.My mother used say"Live your dreams ,while you can ".She was on the button there.
My uncle Tommy is twenty years dead and the realisation led me to realise the accuracy of the phrase "Tempus Fugit".It really does.We should all make the best of the time we have left.
There are great people around here.The grave of Mc Keown the Tramp was well tended ,although the writing on the headstone is fading.Much like the grave of my own people.To be rectified before too long. A thought .,Maybe a fitting tribute to him might be "where's his companion Mam?"
To the recently bereaved Daltons (Paul ),Coffeys (Nora) and Goughs (Nell ),who are still very raw the grace of God .
This gridlock makes a complete change from the eerie silence that pertains most evenings in the main and only street in Dunderry ,which is a direct result of the scandalous policies of the fir breaga and circle of hate clients that are doing their damnest to suck the will to live from rural and small town Ireland. Between attacking our religion at every hands turn and driving us into economic meltdown they hope to break us.No surprise therefor to see some Government Ministers cosying up to their communist brethren abroad. They hope to realise their desire of leaving us all destitute ,financially and spiritually and qualify us for the classic definition of a communist,that is a "fella who has s.f .a and wishes to share it with everyone."
Such a good natured crowd on such a catholic and spiritual occasion lends the lie to our supposed secularism and shows that when all is said and done we respect our ancestors and our deceased friends and neighbours and firmly believe in the afterlife.
Everybody was turned out in their Sunday clothes and friends and neighbours who hadn't met for a while newed friendships.Those raw from recent family bereavements shed a few well deserved tears and those with more distant memories thought their thoughts and relived their memories .And prayed for God's mercy.
My mind was in "reprise mode "the whole weekend and I dredged up the most nostalgic of memories.All in all I wouldn't have missed a single moment of what I went through with those in the village of the dead.And I resolved to make the most of what has yet to come.My mother used say"Live your dreams ,while you can ".She was on the button there.
My uncle Tommy is twenty years dead and the realisation led me to realise the accuracy of the phrase "Tempus Fugit".It really does.We should all make the best of the time we have left.
There are great people around here.The grave of Mc Keown the Tramp was well tended ,although the writing on the headstone is fading.Much like the grave of my own people.To be rectified before too long. A thought .,Maybe a fitting tribute to him might be "where's his companion Mam?"
To the recently bereaved Daltons (Paul ),Coffeys (Nora) and Goughs (Nell ),who are still very raw the grace of God .
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Ya Boy Ya .
10 to 3.Not so bad.Great winner.Great tipster.All is swell.Some jockey.Got head in front at right time and held it there.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Drumbeat Dividend for 07/07/2012.
We have a Nathan here.We have plenty of young bucks and a godsend wouldn't go astray.
So a fiver win on Nathaniel in the 3.45 in Sandown tomorrow wouldn't be out of order.So you think I'm wrong.Don't think so.
So a fiver win on Nathaniel in the 3.45 in Sandown tomorrow wouldn't be out of order.So you think I'm wrong.Don't think so.
Nell Gough.A life well lived.
In mid May 2012 I had to attend Our Lady's Hospital ,Navan,for personal reasons.I encountered there Breda Gough and a number of her sisters ,who were present to keep vigil on their beloved mother Nell,who was poorly at the time,despite having staged a miraculous recovery previously as a result of the intercession of Padre Pio,whose glove they had sourced for her benefit.
She was one lucky woman.She was never without family present there,a reflection of the love she had lavished on her family during a long and and proper life ,lived for the benefit of her husband and children.
She shuffled off this mortal coil in the early hours of May 28th surrounded by all her family,whose grief was bottomless.
Nell was from the well respected Conway family from Hallltown,one of a dozen children of Pat Conway and Mary (Garry) and was the second eldest,having been predeceased by her eldest sister Molly (Coogan) and last August by her brother John.Her first cousin Richie (Dickeen) from Faughan Hill sadly passed away a few short weeks ago .
The Conways were reared beside my own Mother's people the Mc Cormacks and I know that in the times they were young both families got nothing easy.They were tempered in hardship and the moral fibre implanted in them by their parents has stood them in good stead in tackling life's vissitudes and has been transmitted by them to their many offspring.There is no such thing as a bad Conway ,only good ones and better ones.Take this from one who knows.
Nell was one of the best and married the love of her life Johnny Gough from Navan.Her sister Lily married his brother "the Hare "and many many double first cousins were created since.
Nell and Johnny reared a large family together ,as you would expect from a married couple of their conviction and spiritual belief , a family that have immersed themselves to the advantage of the wider community in which they have settled,both here and abroad.
She was waked in the house in Meadstown,a wake I attended.It is no exaggeration to say that next to the Fair Day,there was not a bigger crowd in the Parish this year.Car parking stewards
were present to keep the traffic flowing and the road clear and a huge queue worked its way slowly into the house to pay respects to the deceased.
Of sustenance there was plenty ,bit like the loaves and the fishes and both myself and all who attended were overwhelmed by the hospitality all the family and indeed their families extended to all and sundry.
The Church was packed on Wednesday for the Funeral Mass and the majority could not gain admission.All were grief stricken and the sight of all the children ,Rosie (Allen ) and children Robbie and Duane who live in Wicklow,Patricia (Finnegan ),Hayestown,Navan and children Amanda and Ronan,son Raymond ,Kildare,and children Siobhan,Eamonn and Martin,Helen (Smith) and children Wayne and Caoimhe,Frances (Egan),Galway and children John,Helen,Liam and Naoimh,Pauline (Maguire ),Kilmessan,son Sean and children Charles,Tiffany and Michaela,son Patrick (England ) and children John and Conor, Breda (Keenan) and children Dylan,Holly ,Adam and Ellie,Noleen (O Neill) ,Ballivor and children Shaun,KIllian ,Harry and Ava and daughter Sinead, and their respective spouses would bring tears to the stoniest heart.
The huge extended family,her good neighbours,the entire community ,Dundery GAA and Camogie Clubs ,which have had and continue to have the playing,mentoring and financial support of the wider clan ,will greatly miss this outstanding matriarch,but none more than her lifetime spouse Johnny.
I often pass the house and am not surprised to see the cars of several of their children parked outside at all times.
As she and Johnny reaped so is he sowing.No more than you would expect.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis.
She was one lucky woman.She was never without family present there,a reflection of the love she had lavished on her family during a long and and proper life ,lived for the benefit of her husband and children.
She shuffled off this mortal coil in the early hours of May 28th surrounded by all her family,whose grief was bottomless.
Nell was from the well respected Conway family from Hallltown,one of a dozen children of Pat Conway and Mary (Garry) and was the second eldest,having been predeceased by her eldest sister Molly (Coogan) and last August by her brother John.Her first cousin Richie (Dickeen) from Faughan Hill sadly passed away a few short weeks ago .
The Conways were reared beside my own Mother's people the Mc Cormacks and I know that in the times they were young both families got nothing easy.They were tempered in hardship and the moral fibre implanted in them by their parents has stood them in good stead in tackling life's vissitudes and has been transmitted by them to their many offspring.There is no such thing as a bad Conway ,only good ones and better ones.Take this from one who knows.
Nell was one of the best and married the love of her life Johnny Gough from Navan.Her sister Lily married his brother "the Hare "and many many double first cousins were created since.
Nell and Johnny reared a large family together ,as you would expect from a married couple of their conviction and spiritual belief , a family that have immersed themselves to the advantage of the wider community in which they have settled,both here and abroad.
She was waked in the house in Meadstown,a wake I attended.It is no exaggeration to say that next to the Fair Day,there was not a bigger crowd in the Parish this year.Car parking stewards
were present to keep the traffic flowing and the road clear and a huge queue worked its way slowly into the house to pay respects to the deceased.
Of sustenance there was plenty ,bit like the loaves and the fishes and both myself and all who attended were overwhelmed by the hospitality all the family and indeed their families extended to all and sundry.
The Church was packed on Wednesday for the Funeral Mass and the majority could not gain admission.All were grief stricken and the sight of all the children ,Rosie (Allen ) and children Robbie and Duane who live in Wicklow,Patricia (Finnegan ),Hayestown,Navan and children Amanda and Ronan,son Raymond ,Kildare,and children Siobhan,Eamonn and Martin,Helen (Smith) and children Wayne and Caoimhe,Frances (Egan),Galway and children John,Helen,Liam and Naoimh,Pauline (Maguire ),Kilmessan,son Sean and children Charles,Tiffany and Michaela,son Patrick (England ) and children John and Conor, Breda (Keenan) and children Dylan,Holly ,Adam and Ellie,Noleen (O Neill) ,Ballivor and children Shaun,KIllian ,Harry and Ava and daughter Sinead, and their respective spouses would bring tears to the stoniest heart.
The huge extended family,her good neighbours,the entire community ,Dundery GAA and Camogie Clubs ,which have had and continue to have the playing,mentoring and financial support of the wider clan ,will greatly miss this outstanding matriarch,but none more than her lifetime spouse Johnny.
I often pass the house and am not surprised to see the cars of several of their children parked outside at all times.
As she and Johnny reaped so is he sowing.No more than you would expect.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Brolly and Hayes out of order.
Normally I give great credence to the views of Joe Brolly.He was good footballer ,won an All Ireland and is fierce well educated,earning his living as a barrister,as far as I know.Normally his views appear balanced to me.
However his dismissal of Seanie Johnson,the former Cavan player ,as a mere "tournament player"is mean spirited,vicious and below the belt.It is the sort of comment a true Gael might make about somebody amongst close friends over a few pints of stout,in animated discussion but is most definitely not the sort of comment one ought make on the national airwaves. He should do the decent thing and withdraw it a.s.a.p.
And all this nonsense in the media about public disquiet concerning the participation of the same man in a hurling match to gain eligibility is nothing more than reporters with little to do stirring up the shite.
The man is only following the rules .
Liam Hayses comments on Kevin Mc Menamin's football ability were also off the wall.He was instrumental in winning the All Ireland last year for the Dubs and again pulled the fat out of ther fire yesterday.
If I'm not mistsaken his father was Maxi Mc Menamin ,who played with Synge Street many moons ago and who was a good footballer and against whom I often played with Brigids.
Hayes should also withdraw his uncharitable comments and apologise.
However his dismissal of Seanie Johnson,the former Cavan player ,as a mere "tournament player"is mean spirited,vicious and below the belt.It is the sort of comment a true Gael might make about somebody amongst close friends over a few pints of stout,in animated discussion but is most definitely not the sort of comment one ought make on the national airwaves. He should do the decent thing and withdraw it a.s.a.p.
And all this nonsense in the media about public disquiet concerning the participation of the same man in a hurling match to gain eligibility is nothing more than reporters with little to do stirring up the shite.
The man is only following the rules .
Liam Hayses comments on Kevin Mc Menamin's football ability were also off the wall.He was instrumental in winning the All Ireland last year for the Dubs and again pulled the fat out of ther fire yesterday.
If I'm not mistsaken his father was Maxi Mc Menamin ,who played with Synge Street many moons ago and who was a good footballer and against whom I often played with Brigids.
Hayes should also withdraw his uncharitable comments and apologise.
Mooney's men march on.
The Junior D's played tonight in the Championship in Bective and beat Dunshaughlin by 3=8 to 2=6 on a pitch that was wet but playable.
Bective are a progressive club and have two full lenght pitches in a fine grounds.The pitch entrance is a fine affair and proclaims the name of the Club as "Bective Cannistown".Is this correct ?
In any event there are great Gaels there as a gate was collected to cover the referee,no mean feat on a hateful and wet Monday evening.And the pitch was in fine fettle.Both teams had a plentitude of players and the referee turned up and did the business.He is still learning his trade and fair dues to the players and mentors ,they kept stum all of the of time and only gently protested a very odd time.
I have noted Donie Mooney training this team in the pitch a number of times lately and it is a great credit to him and his co-selectors,Liam O Farrell and Mick (West ) Newman that they produced such an enthuasiastic panel of players on such a bad evening.
Donie is doing the business and the undoubted football nous of Liam and the West,.learned on the playing fields of Meath in their distant youth (I remember them playing) ,and their extensive tactitical knowledge makes this managerial combination amongst the best in the county .
Signs on it as this victory is the second on the trot and well deserved.
There were three generations of Mooneys in the field,Danny and his wife,Donies' parents,Donie and his own son Shane,who played a vital part in the half forwards in securing this victory.
Danny avoids the limelight but supports Dunderry all of the time and is ,I believe a staunch supporter of the Meath Hurling Team,both at home and away.He certainly is a staunch supporter of his own family's GAA endeavours here and rarely misses a match.A Fior Gael.
Dunderry fielded as follows.
Barry Farrell
Joey Martin Martin lipple Fergal Maguire
Stefan Clarke Gary Fitzpatrick Kevin Daly
Martin Mc Keever Eddie Maguire
Joey Farrell Shane Mooney Davy Gilkinson
Stephen Brennan Damian Bruton Paul Curtain.
Nearly all these players are home grown,even Eddie Maguire ,who didn't take up the game with relish until he landed here.One exception is the full back a Cavan man who now resides in Lamby.He is a fair fullback,and no there was no need to play him for a minute in a hurling match to secure his eligibility.
The team is a combination of age and youth ,speed and cunning and they back each other up all the time , encourage each other and do not do moaning.At a wild guess I would say that the combined age of the midfielders would exceed four score .Both men are shining examples as they are as fit as fiddles and not bad footballers either.Both played well and more than broke even.Eddie scored a point to great acclaim and I say this ,not as his father in law,but as an accurate record of the reaction to the score.Clearly he and his older team mates are well respected by the younger members and the supporters.
Barry had a good outing in goals and this does not surprise me as I mentored him as a juvenile and he was always good.He has definite promise and is capable of moving up the ranks with practise and application.If he stays at it this time around good things may happen for him..The full back line was solid and Joey Martin is one fit man.The half back line is tough ,Gary being as strong as an ox and Stefan forged forward to score a sublime goal,top left corner. Kevin was under a bit of pressure fitnesswise but managed admirably until something snapped.Beidh se ar ais.
I have already covered the mid field and in the half forward line Gilky was a cut above buttermilk and is only back from injury.Billy Bligh,Kevin Keaveney and MIckey Casey were present will have designs on him,I have no doubt.Shane did very well and lofted over a few slick points and Joey is hungry for football and is showing glimpses of the form that earned him a place on a Feile under fourteen hurling team 16 years ago ,when we got hard to bring him back from Confey.
Depite missing out on juvenile football in his youth Damian was a fearless full forward and played well.Stephen,whose father Tony walked the walk with Meath,Castleblaney and Dunderry,as player and Manager ,did his bit and is slimming down well and Paul,who I remember from my managerial days at juvenile level is adapting well from thedisciplines of the Garrisson game.
Mick Keaveney,who never misses a training session ,was introduced to goodeffect as was Kevin Clarke,Stephen O Donnell and Alan Caey .
All in all an enertaining outing.Take a bow lads.
Bective are a progressive club and have two full lenght pitches in a fine grounds.The pitch entrance is a fine affair and proclaims the name of the Club as "Bective Cannistown".Is this correct ?
In any event there are great Gaels there as a gate was collected to cover the referee,no mean feat on a hateful and wet Monday evening.And the pitch was in fine fettle.Both teams had a plentitude of players and the referee turned up and did the business.He is still learning his trade and fair dues to the players and mentors ,they kept stum all of the of time and only gently protested a very odd time.
I have noted Donie Mooney training this team in the pitch a number of times lately and it is a great credit to him and his co-selectors,Liam O Farrell and Mick (West ) Newman that they produced such an enthuasiastic panel of players on such a bad evening.
Donie is doing the business and the undoubted football nous of Liam and the West,.learned on the playing fields of Meath in their distant youth (I remember them playing) ,and their extensive tactitical knowledge makes this managerial combination amongst the best in the county .
Signs on it as this victory is the second on the trot and well deserved.
There were three generations of Mooneys in the field,Danny and his wife,Donies' parents,Donie and his own son Shane,who played a vital part in the half forwards in securing this victory.
Danny avoids the limelight but supports Dunderry all of the time and is ,I believe a staunch supporter of the Meath Hurling Team,both at home and away.He certainly is a staunch supporter of his own family's GAA endeavours here and rarely misses a match.A Fior Gael.
Dunderry fielded as follows.
Barry Farrell
Joey Martin Martin lipple Fergal Maguire
Stefan Clarke Gary Fitzpatrick Kevin Daly
Martin Mc Keever Eddie Maguire
Joey Farrell Shane Mooney Davy Gilkinson
Stephen Brennan Damian Bruton Paul Curtain.
Nearly all these players are home grown,even Eddie Maguire ,who didn't take up the game with relish until he landed here.One exception is the full back a Cavan man who now resides in Lamby.He is a fair fullback,and no there was no need to play him for a minute in a hurling match to secure his eligibility.
The team is a combination of age and youth ,speed and cunning and they back each other up all the time , encourage each other and do not do moaning.At a wild guess I would say that the combined age of the midfielders would exceed four score .Both men are shining examples as they are as fit as fiddles and not bad footballers either.Both played well and more than broke even.Eddie scored a point to great acclaim and I say this ,not as his father in law,but as an accurate record of the reaction to the score.Clearly he and his older team mates are well respected by the younger members and the supporters.
Barry had a good outing in goals and this does not surprise me as I mentored him as a juvenile and he was always good.He has definite promise and is capable of moving up the ranks with practise and application.If he stays at it this time around good things may happen for him..The full back line was solid and Joey Martin is one fit man.The half back line is tough ,Gary being as strong as an ox and Stefan forged forward to score a sublime goal,top left corner. Kevin was under a bit of pressure fitnesswise but managed admirably until something snapped.Beidh se ar ais.
I have already covered the mid field and in the half forward line Gilky was a cut above buttermilk and is only back from injury.Billy Bligh,Kevin Keaveney and MIckey Casey were present will have designs on him,I have no doubt.Shane did very well and lofted over a few slick points and Joey is hungry for football and is showing glimpses of the form that earned him a place on a Feile under fourteen hurling team 16 years ago ,when we got hard to bring him back from Confey.
Depite missing out on juvenile football in his youth Damian was a fearless full forward and played well.Stephen,whose father Tony walked the walk with Meath,Castleblaney and Dunderry,as player and Manager ,did his bit and is slimming down well and Paul,who I remember from my managerial days at juvenile level is adapting well from thedisciplines of the Garrisson game.
Mick Keaveney,who never misses a training session ,was introduced to goodeffect as was Kevin Clarke,Stephen O Donnell and Alan Caey .
All in all an enertaining outing.Take a bow lads.
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