Dunderry and the Virus.

A grandson of mine who is about 4 had explained to him that when you blow away the propellers on a Dandellion you can make a wish.
The very next moment as he blew away the propellers he was heard to wish"I wish that the virus would go away".
Recently I  congratulated Tom Feeney on returning home after beating the virus at 86 years of age,long before the other  media organs made a song and dance about it.
Fair play to them,written and radio, for their lazy journalism.
It is now a fact that others of similar vintage in the Parish have tested positive for the virus.
This has happened to people who live in as remote an area as exists in rural Ireland and to people who go literally no where outside their immediate environs.
One thing they seem to have in common is that they have visited  hospital for other conditions.
This leads me to the suspicion that like MRSA ,they may have picked up the virus in their visits there.
This may explain why ordinary people are loath to go to hospitals for non virus complaints.
It is time the authorities came clean on this issue.
By the way I  don't believe a word that comes out of the mouths of the Chinese on this issue.It is strange that SARS too eminated there.
What is going on there and is every Government save the Yanks afraid to speak out .
Trump of course is derided by the useless pinkos who dominate oir written,oral and medical fields.
It is high time that these medical experts ,many of whom delight in the continuing murder of the living unborn,stopped spoofing and addressed the core issue by producing a cure.
This blog will make as big a fuss of each and every Parishioner who beats the virus as it did of Tom Feeney  and we hope that all have as good an outcome.
That a four year old should be so distressed is in itself distressing and the continuing bad news being broadcast each minute and  hour should be more balanced.

Herbie Hughes meets his Maker.

One of Nature's gentlemen and as decent a man as ever lived was today united with his God
.Good bye old friend and fellow Gael.
To Mona,Sheila,Catherine and Patrick our deepest sympathies.
A more apt tribute will be issued later when I  have had time to reflect.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a Hanam dilis.

Dunderry 0-1 Corona Virus 0-0

In these days when the welcome message to Hell is all pervasive viz"Abandon Hope alll ye who enter here"and the long jaws of the all knowing medics and even more knowing longer jaws of depressive politicans and servile commentators dominate the airwaves ,it is delightful to be able to report a good news story from Dunderry.
The news is that Tom Feeney ,who is 86 years old and has been ill for some time ,has taken on and beaten the virus and has been lert out of hospital today.
The Drumbeat has known for some time that Tom had the virus but at the request of his family had decided not to publish it.
Now that he has beaten the virus I  am delighted to publish this good news story regarding the scion of a family who have not had much good luck prior to the present.
Good man Tom.

A cat's nature breaks through its eyes.

I think that the above is the literal translation of "Briseann an naidur thi suil an cait."In other words you can't but act in accordance with your nature.
This phrase struck me as being the most appropriate one to use in connection with the obnoxious reaction of the man in charge of the Gardai ,I think his name is Harris,in connection with the enactment of the most draconian legislation ever imposed on any population in any democracy everywhere to stymie the corona virus from spreading in this country.
To put things in perspective ,the successful fight against the spread of the virus is entirely dependant on social cohension and social solidarity ,which in my experience is there in spades.
Now this gobshite advises that neighbour should inform on neighbour and turn informer on suspected cases of breach of the rules we all abide by.
We already hear on Liveline and other media outlines that people are forming queues to inform on their neighbours greatly encouraged by "Joe WASH YOUR MOUTH "DUFFY  and  that gobshite from Cork who works in the Independent and has a Radio presence to belittle those with holiday homes and evcourage the natives to turn against the "runner ins".
How long before someone of the "runner ins"is attacked by the natives and harmed.
This narrative is encouraged by Harris ,who has decreed that if you are in a Holiday home that this is your household.The way passions are being enflamed it is not difficult to see native shopkeepers refusing to serve the "runner ins".
Does he aim to starve them out,just 150 years after the Famine?
There again he MIGHT  not have any empathy for Catholic Ireland coming as he does from the PSNI ,so renamed  because its predeccessor The Royal Ulster Constabulatory was so hated by Nationalists because of  their discriminatoty treatment of Catholics vis a vis Protestants.
The bane of Irish Nationalism over the centuties were informers and it is certain that Harris has experience of this.
That he should use the fight against the CORONA threatens the social solidarity needed to stave it off and the fact that he should use such a move to recruit informers is disgusting in my view.
I  say this as the father of a working mid wife the brother of a District nurse working in the community in Dublin,the uncle of  NURSING SISTERS ,some in ICU  departments and nurses in Dublin and the cousin of care workers in England who put their health on the line daily .
I know that Flanagan the former Justice Minster wanted to honour the R.I.C.,as bitter an enemy as the indigenous Irish ever head ,who for example evicted Starving tenants from their homes in Famine times but to use this Pandemic to recruit informers is a step too far and is indecent.
I could never understand why not even one of our own Policemen or women were not deened worthy to get the job of Police Commissioner ,nor indeed why it was necessary to give the top job in RTE to an Englishwoman.
Maybe our Politcos do not trust their own people.Go figure.

Death of Teresa Brady nee Larkin.

On the Dunderry road towards Robinstown there are a few houses on the right hand side.In one of these live Paddy Cahill ,his wife and their two children.Her maiden name is Delourdes Brady and her motheR was Teresa Brady.Her maiden name in turn  was Teresa Larkin.She was one of a large family reared on the Shellerin Road ,which joins Mulhuddart with Clonsilla.
She was reared there in a time when pheasants were more common there than people and I lived there for a while  too.A time when a bus ran from Mulhuddart to Blanchardstown each Sunday at 9.00 a.m for weekly Mass.
I often got it and I am sure that the Larkins did too.
One of her brothers is Anthony Larkin who played football with me with St.Brigids when he was a juvenile. He and I  often fished for trout in the Tolka as kids and caught our share.
Teresa married John Brady from Dunboyne and they in turn had a large family.I  remember John too.
In recent years Teresa bought a a home Kilmainham Wood and began spending the odd weekend with the Cahills in Dunderryand when staying over would attend Dunderry Mass.
It was here that I  first met her some years ago and we would exchange greetings and reminisce about the time of yore on the Shillerin Road .I  Christened her "Shillerin ",a much more descriptive name than the Blakestown Road..
She was a lovely and friendly woman and droopped dead suddenly.
The Dunderry family ,father,mother and kids are lovely and private people .
I  offer them the full sympathy of the Stephens family.
In these strained times the funeral is confined to immediate family.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a Hanam Dilis.
There is a fuller description of her relatives at RIP Meath.

Death of Jimmy Trainor.

Nearly everybody in Dunderry knew the above neighbour as Jimmy Cricket.How this came to be I don't know.
What I know about him is stuff I  gathered over the years and may be or may not be accurate.
He was born in Lismullen I  think and spent some time in the Irish Army.
He worked for years at the shed eraction business with Conatys and latterly as a taxi driver for a short period as far as I  could see.
He gave me a hand now and again on the farm decades ago and was a hard worker.
In latter years he worked voluntarily in beautifying the Village and its environs as a vital cog in the Tidy Tomns committee, a job he excelled at and which he devoted much time.
He lived in Father Flood Park with his partner Sandra and children Wayne and Lisa,all of whom I  know well.
Wayne is the same age as my youngest son David and Wayne spent many Saturdays and Holidays helping me in the farm .
He was lucky enough to ate at the table of Molly Mc Cormack ,my aunt and experience her sirlion with gravy and spuds ,which were to die for.
I  actually believe that he ,as well as others came with me to the farm in the hope of experiencing this culinary treat,
Certainly I  too loved it entirely.
Like Cricket he was a hard worker and mannerly to boot.
Lisa played comogie from a young age and when she moved to Baconstown teritory transferred there .
She is a girl of the highest character and a well respected worker in Aldi I  believe.
Wayne is the father of Dillon and he tooo resides in the family home in Dunderry.He is a decent kid and respectful to me any time I  meet him.
For a time the mother of Dillon lived in the Dunderry house.
While she lived there she played Camogie and I  had the honour of coaching her .She is sound .
Cricket was a quiet and respectful man and I  met him a few days before he died.
He looked fine and we exchanged greetings.
I  know that he had a previous relationship in Drogheda ,I  believe and that a son of his from that relationship died in recent years as a young adult.
He too lived in Dunderry for a time..
I  can confirm that Jimmy fell down the stairs and died as a result.
In these strained times only his immediate family is allowed attend his funeral.
To all his kin I  offer the sympathy of the Stephens family.
Ar dheis De go raibh a h anam dilis.