How stroke snuck up on me.

July 1st.2009 was a grand summer's day.I woke early enough .At about 8.00 a.m. I would say.I had a busy schedule.I act as tax agent for a number of clients with Revenue and some of them were under severe pressure to meet  demands for money they just did not have.In addition another few were under severe pressure fending off claims from ex employees  relating to employment no longer available.Mostly foreigners who were begging for work during the years of the Celtic Tiger.They showed no compassion to newly destitute Irish employers impoverished by the bursting of the bubble and had no bother getting the services of the legal profession to advance their cases.
Some of my clients could not afford such luxuries as legal fees and I helped them as best I could.
The slavish response of the Irish Government to the bubble bursting and the absolute failure to stand up for its own citizens is unforgivable and ,in my view ,has caused many deaths, illnesses and pure misery and still is causing untold misery.
I would have been tossing over the practicalities of such things in my mind and also had to do a bit of fencing to keep in three over amorous bulls who were breaking out and trying to tip the valuable heifers of a good neighbour.
In addition herself wanted a lift to Trim to do the shopping.Lidl I think.For the record I enjoyed a smoke and a drink and was chairman of Dunderry Gaa Club and Camogie Clubs at the time and had been involved very actively with both for many many years.
I was as physically strong as a bull myself and for a man of my age ( 58)  had had no physical illnesses in a good few  years.I had got regular check ups over the years and had no problems with blood pressure nor any other physical problems.
Anyhow I brought herself into Trim and dropped her at the shop and went around to Mc Geogh's Hardware to get something or other.Felt the finest.Was talking to the late Hugh and felt of a sudden the strangest sensation.For love or money my feet would just not lift off the ground.No pain at all but if you can imagine that I was wearing lead boots weighing about  a ton apiece that is the way I  felt.Lucky enough I was leaning back to a wall and didn't fall and said nothing.And it passed away in a split second.But the alarm bells rang.
Collected  herself and headed home ,no problem.Said nothing and decided to leave the fencing to the afternoon.Had a look at a few tax cases at the table and about noon the precise same  thing struck again for another split second.The alarm bells rung louder.I figured that it wasn't a heart attack as I understood that it normally involved pain in the arm or chest .I had no pain at all.I more or less figured that it could be the start of a stroke as I knew that a stroke killed brain cells and figured that some of my brain cells were not working properly ,hence the inability to lift my legs.
I phoned my Doctor ,who I trust completely. to see what the next move would be and for advice ,suggesting that it might be the onset of a stroke.He was not immediately available so I left a message on his mobile to get back to me.
But I felt great and decided to plough ahead with the fencing.Lucky for me I took the precaution of bringing two young lads who had been helping me for years to give me a hand,Killian Minogue and Christopher Harrington.
And off we went.The land we  had to get to is at the end of a boreen off another boreen and across a field that you could not drive over and had to walk over for about a half mile. We travelled there and
 lugged the posts ,wire ,crow bar and tools by hand and started the work.
Firstly I made a deep hole with the crow bar,used a aluminium mallet to drive the posts home and then let the lads give the post ten shots each of the mallet to complete the driving operation.No bullin just steady progress.We worked well together.None of us are slaves.I said I was strong and I wasn't joking.I was splitting the posts when I hit them and remarked more than once that a slightly less powerful left arm would not go amiss.You should be careful what you wish for as  you may get your wish fulfilled.
Anyway we were getting on grand when my phone rang and the Doc,told me to get to hell to the nearest Hospital immediately.But I felt the finest and kept at it for about another hour I would say,before packing up.
Then just as we were leaving the spot we were standing in ,with a half mile to go across the field .my legs gave way entirely.The lads dragged me the whole way to the van and I guess saved my life.It was no easy task to drag me that far as I'd say I weighed 19 stone at least.But between grunting and bawling and adrenalin pumping all over the shop we managed.
They were about 16 at the time and none were officially driving.I was afraid to let them do so as I thought they would crash and hurt themselves.I managed to get the van into gear and drove it to the top of the boreen at which I felt my arms going and managed to pull in ,stop it and turn the ignition off.
Now I had no use of my arms nor legs and my mouth was drooping.I knew I was getting a stroke and told the lads to get an ambulance pronto.They were on their mobiles before I could get it out..Killian phoned  his Dad and he organised one immediately.
Then two neighbours appeared almost simultaneously ,Alan Healy and his aunt Marion Fagin.I got out what I needed and Marion's daughter Sinead happened to be at home from England and they went the short distance for her,Luckily she is a nurse.
I figured I might be going to meet my Maker and started a perfect act of contrition and meant every word of it .And the strangest thing.God spoke to me with the message "You will get through this Dots.it's not your time yet".
I believe in God the Father Almighty and believed the message totally and it gave me fierce  strength subsequently and to this day.
I was fully confident that I would not die in the immediate future no matter what came.
They loaded me into the front seat of Marion's  car and Sinead sat in the back holding my hand and attending to me and they drove  me to Navan Hospital where I was admitted immediately.We passed the ambulance on its way out while we were on the way in.
We landed there about 6.30 I would guess.
To be continued.

Commissioner Callinan's stance needs clarifaction.

The standoff between the Gardai top brass and the Public Accounts Committee over the discretion of the Gardai to forgive penalty points made riveting viewing,Certainly the Commissioner put it up to Parliament,effectively telling them to butt out of his area of responsibility.My guess is that Fine Gael,as the party of law and order will see to it that the matter is buried .Enda would know that while he might get away with demonising Catholicism ,taking on the Gardai is a kettle of a different colour.
However what really perplexed me is the distaste the Commissioner forcibly expressed for the actions of those bringing the information to public attention.He expressed the view that their actions was "disgusting."
Now to my mind the borderlines between whistle blowers,informers and the action of good citizens in supplying information to the relevant authorities is extremely blurred.
Social Welfare,Customs,Revenue generally and the Gardai amongst a host of others are continuously advertising for citizens to report any suspicious activities to the authorities.And count it as a success if the numbers of such reports increase year on year.
I would say that in none of these instances would the  crime be already proven in Court.Rather what would be reported would be the informer's belief that the behaviour complained of could constitute criminal or wrong behaviour.
Many Irish people have an inbuilt revulsion of informers ,mainly I suspect because of the propensity of so many informers in the past to report on their neighbours and colleagues to the Brits when they ruled the roost here.(Which may be a reason in why Ruairi Quinn wants to decommission the study of history in our schools)
I figure myself that the act of informing runs in families and is passed from generation to generation but have no scientific proof of this.It sure would make an interesting study for some academic.
Anyhow the point is that the Commissioner may have been talking from his  genetic Irish gut when he described the behaviour of the whistle blowers as disgusting.
Today the memorial service of Detective O Donoghue of Lordship  was widely publicised and that of his horrific murder .The Gardai are pleading for information on his killers.They want informers to blow the whistle on the perpetrators.
I would guess that the Gardai,Revenue and Social Welfare are hugely grateful to the Good Citizen Reports they receive and that it forms a considerable part of its investigative armour.
The Commissioner would want to clarify his position on these matters and be consistent,in my humble view.

Official Ireland self contradictory.

Last night I watched a programme on the merits of E cigarettes.These contain nicotine and involve the inhalation of steam effectively.
The health Taliban have their eyes out on stalks trying either to have them banned,regulated or priced beyond the reach of ordinary people by limiting their availability to Chemists shops.
Not on the basis of any current of any health drawback but because,they say,there may or may not emerge in the future at some unspecified time such a health drawback.
My own belief is that they relish the way have routed and bullied the smokers of Irealand and want to continue to harass them as much as possible.
Now I contrast this approach  with the simultaneous bullying of the population of rural Ireland where the State is trying to force through the confiscation of farm land to erect electric pylons the height of Liberty Hall over the wishes of the owners.
Aside altogether from the promise of a fighting fund from the Government to those opposing the project,which I heard Damian English promise in a pre election meeting and which as far as I know hasn't been delivered ,when the health issue is raised,the standard answer from the proponents of the project is that there is no current evidence of health detrimental side effects from the current pulsating through the wires.
Not a word about possible  bad effects which may or may not arise at some unspecified time in the future.
No wonder we live in a State where one organ of Government,NAMA ,closes down another badly  needed hospital , throws  300 medics on the dole and further frustrates patients ,when the general public are fearful of going into hospitals for treatment in the first place.

Dunderry GAA CLubhouse violated.

Sunday night the door of the clubhouse was smashed and the Clubhouse rifled.As in most of rural Ireland the GAA Club is one of the few  surviving centers of social activity and thank God is widely used by all  sectors of the community.This was an attack on the wider community.
I have no knowledge of who did this but suspect that they did not travel for hundreds of miles to get here.
The insidious and creeping lack of respect for others,particularly their elders, is a growing problem in all communities and notwithstanding the apologists , must be tackled countrywide and rooted out at source if we are to have any standard of life in the future.
As a result of this break in and another attempted one at the weekend several households are living in fear.

Reopening of Vatican Embassy

Eamon Gilmore hasn't even the dignity to be graceful about the reopening of the Irish Embassy in Rome.He called it a "reopening of a scaled back Embassy to deal with development aid ".What a bitter spiteful small minded little atheist.
Presumably his boss Edna fully approves of this description also.
Next weekend when you see your local Labour or Fine Gael activist actively participating in the Mass you will realise what they really think of Catholicism.

VInnie the scab#s show at it again

Fionnan Sheehan,the pol.corr.for the Independent I can take or leave.The one thing I will say in his favour is that he challenged Vinny on the attitude of TV3 to Trade Unions.That is they do not allow trade Unions to operate in TV3.
Fionnan has not featured on TV3 since.So when I relapse and watch Vinnie's Show on TV3 I say to myself "there is the scab Vincent Brown." .And I say the same about his guests who are handpicked to reflect his own prejudices in the main.
One prejudice he has is that he is virulently anti Catholic,never missing a chance to denigrate and sneer at Catholicism.I will never forget the occasion when he spat out the word "sheep " to describe the faithful Catholic Laity as part of his bigotry.
Tonight I had a relapse.His show was the best of a bad lot.So I tuned in.
And true to form ,in the review of tomorrows newspapers a brunette thin lipped female couldn't resist the birth of a child to a nun to denigrate Catholicism and its basic tenets,by sneering at Catholics Church response to the event,which is to ask her to leave as far as thin lips said.
This theological genius spat out thinly veiled sneers about the miracle of the birth of Jesus to his Holy Mother Mary.
What an insulting mouthpiece and bigot.
Just what you would expect on the Scab#s Show and the reason why I long since stopped looking at the show.
Considering the content of some of the other "entertaimnment " shown on the Channell.which let us be clear Young children can view at the push of a switch I wonder why any Christian would advertise with that Station.

Jimmy the "Red Bomber "Dowd in recovery mode.

I would never have known it but  his contemporaries inform me that Jimmy Dowd A.K.A.the "Red Bomber "was a scoring forward of distinction in his football heyday.
Not only this but he was  probably the first (and only ) professional footballer in Dunderry in that he had a fan base who would cobble together as much as they could (in his  day a few shillings,say the price of ten fags  )and promise it to him should he reach a preset scoring target.He would bargain it down as far as he dared, but I am told ,NEVER  failed to deliver.
Often this target would be as much as 1-2.
Jimmy only had one drawback and it was this.He would reach his target in say the first ten minutes and then rest on his laurels,fully satisfied with his days work.
Pity we hadn't an Ambronovich (If that's his name ) in Dunderry then.
Anyhow Jimmy has had surgery and is home in recovery in their house in Dunderry being cared for by his most decent and caring of sisters,Marie..
We wish him a speedy and full recovery.

Death of Paddy Shaffrey,Ongenstown

Paddy Shaffrey ,Ongenstown,has died.I hear that he reached the great age of 91 years.
His mortal remains will be removed to St,Ultan,s Church,Bohermeen this Monday  (20th .January 2013 ) to arrive at 7.30 p.m.
Funeral Mass tomorrow at 12 Noon  and burial afterwards in Boyerstown Cemetery.
To his wife Betty and daughter Mary and son in law Paddy Dunne we offer our condolences.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis.

Dunderry Adult Hurling Management Team 2014.

Manager Kevin (Ted) Dowd will have Gerry Mc Loughlin and Dermot Dempsey as his sidekicks this year.I played with all three.
These man gave their all when I played with them.No shortage of balls and no pullback.
In their own quiet ways these boys could pull the rabbit out of the hat this year.
I hope so.
Go n-eiri an bothar libh.

Dunderry Adult Football Team Mentors 2014

Stephen O Rourke is the manager and his sidekicks are Neddie Howley and Pat Gough.
I will say this.All these guys were fine footballers in their prime and would have got a place on any Dunderry team I can remember.
If they can bring the passion and determination they possessed when playing to the present crew and if the present crew are  good enough, we should go far.
Go n eiri an bothar libh.

The dog that bites its own tail.

As a child I used attend Thomas Duignan's shop at Lawlesses Cross,where my aunt used buy her groceries when Lawlesses shop  closed down.This was in the late 1950's and early 1960's and I am not moaning when I say money was as scarce as hen's teeth.
It didn't close too early and was more of a ceilidhe house than a shop at evenings when the locals would gather to converse and socialise.
The craic was always good and lies told to beat the band.
I specifically remember one conversation about the merits of various dogs.(never house dogs but always working dogs in those times.)
One guy said that the best dog he ever saw was Billy Darcy's collie,which Willie could communicate with in a series of grunts and whistles and such was their mutual understanding that Willie could command the dog to go to fields far out of current sight and bring back to Willie either sheep or cattle unseen and the dog would do so.I saw this myself and it was true.
Other guys tried to best this but in truth no one could until Paul Rhattigan ,the undisputed king of the white lie did best it.
To general consensus he put the proposition that it took a great dog indeed to herd suck calves especially if their mothers were not with them,as when they were being milked apart from their babies.
He claimed to know a man "above and beyond" who had such a dog.Were the cows being milked in the milking parlour for example and assuming the farmer wanted the calves brought there by the dog,he would tell the dog to do so and the dog would dip his bushy tail in a bucket of milk and head carefully down to the relevant pasture,where he would go from calf f to calf alllowing them to have a brief suck from his milk impregnated "tit"and thereby line up after him and follow him back to the parlour,stopping to give a fresh nibble to any straggler.
Some story and some dog.
And then the conversation devolved to what type of dog you would like to be were you reincarnated a dog.
One guy said a Jack Russell as you could be very useful and in demand as a ratter.
Another said a fox terrier as you could save lambs from death by foxes.
Another said that an Irish Retriever was the business to retrieve shot game.
Another said a collie was the best dog type for the reason outlined above.
And so it went,each to his preference.
Paul again had the last word,
He said he would like to come back as a strange dog.Why said the stooge,"Well he said ,when I would make my entrance amongst all of your dogs you would all smell my hole,and that would be grand".
And so it went.
There was common consensus's that the absolute worse type of mutt was "one that bit its own tail ,"no good to man nor beast."
I suppose the human equivalent is a self harmer.
These thoughts came to mind when I consider the actions of certain people hogging the limelight for various reasons,especially the strange dog types and the bite your own tail types,

Neil Smyth's Month's Mind Mass.

The family have asked me to inform all that his Month's Mind Mass is this coming Saturday evening at 7.30 in Dunderry(11/01/2014).
All are welcome both to the Mass and Horan#s afterwards ,where light refreshments will be served free of charge.

Will the real Communist please stand up.

Vladimir Putin of Russia celebrated Christmas in the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow.Openly celebrating the birth of Christ.Our so called President ,who before his election was all for openness and transparency,has declined in his secular Christmas message  to make any reference to the birth of Christ and when asked whether he is an atheist ,makes the reply that it would be inappropriate to answer that question.
I remember him saying that n he was "spiritual " when nursed through his pre election interview by a fawning interviewer prior to the election.Why can he not answer a simple question ?Does his view of openness apply only to people other than himself.
He has  no difficulty enunciating the secular Labour agenda on a multiplicity of subjects.
On the  evidence I see Putin is more suited  to the job here.
Some turn up for the books,

Grim Reaper working overtime.

However it is this time of year is a fierce time for deaths.You just could not keep up, with the funerals.
In the last few week we have lost,Nial Smith,Derry O Brien,Nancy Brady,Rory Connor,Gus Martyn's mother (the night before her grandson's Joey's wedding) and Mrs Joe Rowntree from this Parish ,that I know about.
And a hurler and footballer of the highest calibre was buried in Mulhuddart Graveyard from Dunboyne church last Thursday.Sean MOyles ,a Cabra man,played with Finnbars and Dublin in his heyday.I think he played with and managed Dunboyne and St.Paul's also.
His sons played at both codes with Meath.
He delivered bread to our house in Blanch,for years.And Billy Cullen who soldiered with Brigids,Blanchardstown  for many years also made the journey to God
As men go they were  top notch.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis

Dunderry adult managers 2014.

Stephen O Rourke is the Football Manager.
Kevin Dowd is the Hurling Manager.
We wish them the very best for 2014.