Dunderry v Drumc./Meathill u 14 Div 4 Final 03/05/2014

Last Saturday was a busy day around Dunderry.First of all the village was packed in the morning with the attendees at the Church for First Holy Communion for the pupils of Dunderry School.Great occasion all round I heard.I think that  there were 15 Communicants, the girls vastly outnumbering the boys.Phil's daughter had the choir in great voice and Finn's woman tickled the ivory with erudition and an impressive induction to the Body of Christ was experienced by the participating children on their big day out.
Take a bow the teachers of Dunderry and the parents involved.
And I am sure all had a day to remember.
I had a clash of fixtures at 1.00 p.m.
My granddaughter Kate Kelly (Claire's daughter ) was a year old and a party was kicking off at 1.00,the same time as the game.
I am a brave man but not brave enough to miss a party of this kind.Henpecked,chicken pecked and egg pecked you could say.
Party it was so.
I have a particular reason to be interested in the under 14 football team.It stems for profound concern at the inexorable slide of our juvenile footballer down the Divisions this last decade and the need for urgent redeemable action to reverse it.
A decade ago we were Div.1/2 minor football .This year we are Div.5.At under 16 level we are Div.5 also and so it goes.
I was appalled last year at the lax attitude towards sliding standards and the galling lack of respect amongst certain mid teens towards  the Club and had courted unpopularity by repeatedly saying so.
There is no genetic  reason why standards should have slipped so drastically  and efforts and personnel are now   in place to arrest the decline.
A win in this Final would go a long way to starting the climb back to respectability and ensure that we don't take our eyes off the sporting ball again ,as it were.
I had a reporter there to fill me in.
Firstly the pedigree of the team management are impeccable.Sean Kelly has more coaching qualifications than would sink a battleship.He also happens to be a Meath selector.John Brady ,like Sean played at all levels for Meath and is a fanatic Club man.Eoin O Leary,from the Lambay corner of the Parish is a fanatic Gael and is married to one also as are the others.
And they all have skin in the game.
All the players are with the team since they were 8 years old,all are from solid GAA families and barring there are profound sporting genetic deficiencies in some of them and given the pedigree of the management the sky ought be the limit.
And thanks be to God it was.
They won a hard sporting and fiercely contested   match by 5-10 to 4-10.The result was in doubt right up to the final whistle.

Warriors were.
                                            James Smyth

Jack Feeney                                                                      Ronan Brady

Diarmuid O Corrain          Donagh O laoire                  Michael Garry

                        Cian Eglington              Shane Heffernan
Conor Leavy                     Dermot Kelly                       Cormack Brady
                   
                         Alex Smyth                 Adam Kelly

Subs used.Paul Maxwell and Luke Hill.
I am told it was more an overall team effort than a display by just a few talented individuals and this is as it should be.
In the opinion of one man ,and remember everyone has a personal opinion,Ronan Brady,Donagh  O Laoire,Shane Heffernan,Dermot Kelly,Adam Kelly and Diarmuid O Corrain made the more significant contributions ,just about,towards the lifting of the laurel,but in reality it was a super all round team effort.
I pray that this is the start of the fightback towards football respectability at this level .It is certainly a start.
Let us face it,the management team would not be out of place at senior Inter County evel and if the players didn't take encouragement from such a set up it's all a matter.
The good ship Dunderry Juvenile football has successfully cleared the harbour mouth but is now sailing into more testing waters.
We will be keeping an eye on its progress.

Rude flower

Neath yonder bower there sits a flower,
That flower has won my heart,
And from that flower there came a shower ,
And after it a .... .

Dunderry V Donaghmore Ashbourne .Under 14 Camogie.April 2014

Last week on a grand Summer's evening I found time to see our under 14 Camogie team in action in Dunderry.
As a very proud President of the Club I like to get to as many matches as possible.Truth is that there is so much going on on the sporting fields of Dunderry between football,hurling and camogie that it is impossible entirely to keep up with everything.
Anyhow Donaghmore are ancient rivals and are always good.We have had many's a battle over the years.
When I parked on the upper pitch to watch the match my heart lifted when I saw that Suzanne Kelly (Finnegan ),Caroline Duffy and Donie Mooney were the mentors.The women at least know their onions ,both having yielded the Caman with distinction in the recent past.And Donie is a good motivator.
All three had skin in the game,with Donie and Suzanne having a daughter each on the field and Caroline having two.
And beside them were Lettie Rowan and Tereas Rattigan.Two queens of the game.Between these women are more medals than would sink a battleship,.And loads of cop as well.
Team.

                                             Rachel Duffy

Katie Duffy                      Hannah Morgan                          Helena Garry

Lauren Finnegan             Deirdre Mic Hale                          Emily Lynch

                        Orla Daly                     Kate Buchanan

Niamh Keaveney            Ellie Keenan                              Kaylinn Mooney

Grace Stenson                  Laura Casserley                        Katie Callaghan,

This team has been together for six years.They train hard.There is fierce unity in the camp.They are well trained.They excel at blocking,hooking and are unselfish ,passing the ball to each other to advantage.They come from good GAA families and are proud to play with Dunderry.They have oodles of skill and are fearless.
They play a nice brand of hurling and are well able to take their scores.
They outplayed Donaghmore decisively and ran out relatively winners on a scoreline of 7-2 to 2-1 as far as I could see.
The win was achieved with solid teamwork from 1 to 15 and all were stars,
A nice team to watch and a job well done.
These girls are on a roll,having beaten Trim and Drumree before this latest victory.
I look forward to the next match.

Styler Mac Donagh .A legend.

Monday evening I was passing by the pitch in Dunderry when I saw the  unmistakable image of the Styler going in the gate with his gear under his oxter.It was an overcast evening and I did my task quam cellerime and returned to the pitch to see what match he was referring.
And boy was I glad I did. Dunderry were playing Drumree in an under 12 hurling semi final.
I was totally entranced.The level of skill on display from both teams was incredible .An absolutely enthralling match played out in a hateful drizzle which didn't effect the standard of play at all.
Believe you me we have at least three Christy Rings in the making on this team.Incredible skills and bravery.
Pat Mulligan ,a former Chairman must be bursting with Heavenly  pride at his great grand children and the Lambay corner continues to amaze.
We won.Roll on the final.
And overseeing the whole thing was the Styler.When I was Secretary of the Juveniles he was our ref of choice.Never let us down.And that is a long time ago.And he is still a knight of the whistle.Still refereeing under 12 matches.And doing it well.
More than most he knows that you must be scurrilously fair with children.They will see through you like a light.
Styler is fair.Men like him ,who week in week out referee unglamorous games at the youngest age groups perform an invaluable and vital service for our Association.
We take this for granted .. We shouldn't.
I guess that the Styler is referring for 40 years or more and he is still going strong.
He should be rewarded by the Meath GAA for services rendered.
I hope somebody there reads this article and sets the wheels in motion.

Dunderry V Drumbarragh Div.4 F.C.20/04/2014

Easter Sunday was a grand day.My car failed the test in Kells that morning and I mosied to Martry on the way home  to see our third football team take on Drumbarragh at noon.The people of Bohermeen are great Gaels and the pitch was immaculate.
Dunderry Team.
                                                     Brendan Farrell

Russell Kellaghan                        Davy Stephens                       Stephen O Donnell

Kenny Patterson                        Eric Murray                            Owen Fagan

                                Eddie Maguire             Joey Farrell
Damian Bruton                         Shane  Mooney                        Conor Daly   

Darragh Scannell                    Christopher Harrington              Bugle

In a way the GAA is like the Catholic Church in that while you might stray away for a while you will eventually return to your true home.I had the pleasure to mentor as children and young men the two Farrells,Russell,Ownie, Bruts and Harrow .Even Bugle had tried to pass himself as a Camogie player at 16 years of age when I found him hiding amongst the other girls at the  back of a bus when we were leaving Dunderry for an away game many moons ago. When rumbled he got off no problem.I have since figured that he was smuggled aboard by a certain player,who shall be nameless, he was trying to get off with .He has definitely proved since that he had no desire to be a closet female Camogie player .
Anyhow the aforementioned players,Bruts and Harrow excepted have tried their feet at the garrison game and it was great to see them back in the bosom of the Gaels.
I had skin in the game with Sprog at full back and Eddie at centre field.
Eddie and Bugle are similar physically and are the senior members of the team .Rumour has it that they the only place they will see 40 again is on a door.
Seriously they are great credit to themselves and are a bit like good wine ,improving with age.And a shining example to other players of the benefit of regular training.And abstemious habits.
We were playing their second team and were hoping to acquit ourselves well and not make a show of ourselves.And we are training as a team and under serious management and here for the long haul.
From the start we were under severe pressure.
Most of us don't do coward but it was clear that Sprog was a tad rusty,Russell and Ownie although brave needed more football,Eric definitely was off the pace,Darragh ,who has great potential ,needs an amount of football to get his eye in and Bugle hadn't yet brushed off the cobwebs.Farrell senior and Junior .Patterson ,Bruton ,Daly , Mooney and  Harrow kept us ticking over while the excellent Maguire aided well by Joey put their fingers in the dyke to avoid an early whitewash.
But we settled somewhat after a while as Sprog ,Bugle and Bruts got more into their stride.My father used say in a different context that you can,t win.And I thought of this when Bruton was blown for a textbook perfect shoulder charge to the utter amazement of all the attendance and of myself in particular who had a bird's view of it as had the ref.
I am beginning to wonder whether there is a conspiracy to take the physicality out of football entirely and re brand it as a kind of basketball with foot passes allowed.
This sort of nonsense does have an adverse effect on the player wrongly penalised and is just not good enough.Will the player shoulder charge again  and such bad decisions do no service to the game and its promotion.In fairness to the ref,he improved as the game progressed.
Any how ,by half time they led by 0-7 to 0-2,ours coming from Harrow from play and Bugle from a free.To be fair the score reflected their superiority.
We made a much better fist of it in the second half with Bomber in goals having a blinder,Sprog attacking to advantage ,Eddie playing like a man half his age,Joey winning impossible ball,Bruts ,Daly ,Scanno and a web free Bugle taking the game to the opposition.
We gave it diddy ,Bugle tacking on 4 points,Scanno 2 points and Bruts a single point.
Daly sprayed the ball around to advantage while all the backs did their damnest to stem the Dumbarragh flow and contained it to 1-4..
I would love to see Daly giving it a serious lash in training to see where it would lead.
Mooney had his moments too.
Mitchell,Casey,Cooke,Dowdall and Brennan made somewhat brief appearance's in the second half and made wholehearted and valuable contributions.
Were I in charge of the Intermediate team I would be inviting both Farrells,Sprog and Bruts to join the panel.
Eddie and Bugle too were father time on their side.
This team has a good spirit
I will watch them again.
            

Double murder in Dunderry

Miss Hogett's pregnancy came to a sad end last week in one of the most sylvan settings in Meath.Church town to be exact.
Since being tipped by the horny ram a number of months ago she indulged in only the very best of grass ,tender shoots of hay and nuts to die for.
At 5.00 a.m.last Wednesday morning the labour pains started and she firstly delivered a hell of a fine lamb.She licked it clean but before she could organise a feed from her bursting elder for her first born the labour pains started again and she had to stand and deliver all over again.And after a half hour a twin no bigger than a man's fist was born.
As she licked the covering from her second born she remembered her first born and cast her eyes anxiously about for him.He has stumbled about twenty yards away from her and she could see in the dawn sunshine that a toxic combination of three magpies .two grey crows and a single half black /half grey crow were attacking the defenceless mite and she rushed to his defence.In the process leaving her second born defenceless.Whereupon the murderous amalgam turned their attentions back to the first born.And she rushed back again and again and again.
Eventually she ran out of breath by the side of "the fist "and stood  exhausted at his side.
In her brain stirred the memory of the arrival of the hated magpie in Ireland .The ba ba bastards were blown here for the first time by a tempest shortly after Cromwell murdered and lay waste the owners of the three green fields.They picked eyeballs till they busted .She trembled at the memory.And the grey crows ,rejected mutants of their own flocks ,soon allied forces with them in their taste for soft targets.
And true to form they picked first the eyes from her first born,followed by the flesh around his anus and then they burrowed into the remains of his umbilical cord and followed it into his belly.Lucky for him he died from shock as his second eye was plucked from the socket and his pain ended then.
Just as they finished THE MAN attired and drove them away.Too late.
The fist could not reach its ma's teats it was so small so the Man stuck 60 mills of colostrum into its stomach and boy did he enjoy it.For two days he was flying around and Miss Hogger minded him like her life depended on it.Certainly his life depended on her care.
On the third night he strayed from her side and made his way through the sheep wire fence around the field.He strayed into a steep hollow in the ground and could not get out  or back to  his ma despite his bleating and her agitated bellowing.
But a vixen did hear the commotion and mused around.
She couldn't believe her luck and with one shake of her powerful mouth she broke the neck of the fist and off with her to her own hungry brood.
I'm on the side of Miss Hogget and share her sorrow.
I despise Cromwell,Magpies,grey crows and foxes and their human counterparts.
Bad cess to them.

Quinn/Labour are elitist anti Catholic snobs.

A decent old lady I knew well described Conor Cruise O Brien as a "hateful man"as they both approached the end of their lives.I concur with this description of a man who changed so many horses midstream that he forgot which horse he rode last and ended up standing on a Unionist platform against the interests of Nationalist Irishmen,who he clearly despised.
He despised Catholicism,was of the view that educated people also despised it,hated Nationalism,had a poisonous vehemence for Republicanism,was a keen advocate of censorship and vigorously applied it,tried to stop the teaching of Irish history in our schools,intended to shut down the Irish Press which annoyed him in its publications,opposed the Good Friday Agreement,condoned the brutalising by  certain Gardai of suspects in their custody and slyly withheld the fact of these beatings from his political colleagues.
He was a card carrying member of the Labour Party for much of his political career.
He was a direct contrast to James Connolly who put the the Labour Party on the map ,who  died while tied disabled to a chair by the spite of  a firing squad of British Army soldiers (my my weren't they brave men indeed ) and to whom many of the present leadership pay lip service only .
The present leadership of Labour are more Cruise O Brien than Connolly.
The old Stickies own it body and soul at this stage and I predict will leave a  husk of a party when they have sucked it dry ,as they did to Sinn Fein the Workers Party,The Workers Party ,Democratic Left etc.
It is reliably reported that before the Provos were formed in the North and while Jack Lynch did stand idly by and while pogroms were being implemented against the Nationalist Catholic population that the stickies ran away.
Anyhow Rory Quinn  seemingly shares some of the Cruiser's traits and ideas.
He never misses a chance to belittle Catholicism having embarked on a Labour approved campaign to abolish the teaching of religion  in religious schools.I'll rephrase that, its Catholicism only he hates reserving his hatred for it exclusively.He continuously spouts nonsense about the pluralist society this country has become and it must be conceded that he and his Blue shirt colleagues have done and are doing their best to achieve this by evacuating rural Ireland of the indigenous people and packing them off to countries where thay are afforded the  honour of work. Will they reach an emigration figure of 750,000 before they are run out of office ?What FIanna Fail  et al started they will finish.
Like Hitler he wants  total State control of the schools to propagate his communist and atheist views of society.
In a country where 86% of the population declares themselves to be Catholic /Christian this insulting approach to politics ought be stopped.He wants Caesar to have it all and God to have nothing.Maybe its time that God's people considered ceasing to pay their taxes until this hatefulness is stopped.Why would you pay the wages of someone out to destroy your religion ?
What we have from him is the hair on the tail of the dog trying to wag the dog.A right wagger.
He wants to demean the teaching of history too,afraid perhaps a la the Cruiser that history would not justify his politics and that the people might suss out his take on life.
The hatred he has generated amongst his employee teachers as evidenced in the vocal disapproval he has unreceived at the various conferences  is palpable ,some record for a Labour politician who is supposed to protects the livelihood of workers.
He rules by diktat not consultation.His way or the byway.
And that teacher leader who complained about death threats on the Internet must be a right gob shite.I lead no union nor anything else and have had countless abusive threats from people of malice .It goes with the inter net territory and to allow Rory to hide behind his concern at the threats and avoid the flood of dissatisfaction at his antics was a monumental blunder and an opportunity lost.
He wants to fuck around with the Inter Cert,which he regards as a low status exam.  For many many people the Inter Cert is the height of their academic achievement and they are hugely proud of it.Many hundreds of  thousands of tradesmen,apprentices .labourers,shop assistants and so on n burst themselves to get it .And there are hundreds of thousands of people who have the Primary Cert,as their highest academic achievement and are fierce proud of it.All these people are as good ,if not better than Rory and  his Labour ex student leaders who never broke sweat nor will.
The holders of mere low status examinations ,now have full knowledge of how the members of a party that was set up to represent them ,views them and what they think of them.
Now the Party of the Gays and Lesbians and the educated classes Labour has abandoned its natural support base entirely and fully deserves to languish at 6% in the polls,
It's a wonder its that high.

IFC.Dunderry o-11.Kilmainham 0-9.

Dressed on top with  only a vest,undershirt and hoodie under a beaming sun I nearly perished with the cold in Navan's Pairc Tailteann  tonight. Whatever about the weather being bitter the pitch was in fine fettle and a strong wind blew towards the hospital end.
In the pre match banter two predictions were made by avid Dunderry supporters.
One Kane supporter opined   that we were 5 points the better team and the winning margin should reflect this.A second die hard opined that Donal Smyth the referee would definitely not favour Dunderry.There is a belief in Dunderry this while back that Donal has not favoured  us in  either code and that today would be no different.
Dunderry Team.

                                                       Jennings

A.Newman                             Davy Mc Cormack                       C.O.Shea

C.Dempsey                             Finn Stephens                              S.Carty

                          A.Coogan                             C.Farrell
A.Waters                               S,Coogan                                      D.Clarke

M.Garry                                 L.Martyn                                      B.Doherty

Seamus Harte and Paddy Kenneally, starters the last outing, were not available because of injury and as a consequence Sponge went back to full back from centre half  and Finn from the edge of the square to centre back,positions many  feel is the most beneficial for the team.
KIlmainham's huge player is Michael Newman who is an automatic on the Meath team and we figured he would be placed on Finn with the expectation he would take him to the cleaners.And Rose Mulligans nephews are no daws either,
The teams lined with Newman at 11 and Finn at 6 and  We played into the face of a strong wind.We conceded a point to a 45 from the deadly accurate Newman in the first minute and then two more to frees from the same scorer.Already the Dunderry supporters were howling with frustration at the referee who seemed to award frees to KIlmainham for incidents which when they happened to Dunderry were not similarly awarded. But were settling reasonably well and making the odd foray into the teeth of the gale towards the pavilion end and possibly missed two scorable minors in the first quarter.Then Kilmainham scored a minor from play and with 4 on the register against us it was shit or get off the pot time.And off both the pot and our mark we got a minor,followed by another to leave it  0-4 to 0-2 against us,entering the last 10 minutes of the half.They scored two more minors from a free and a forty five to leave us in nail biting territory before we pulled one back .But they scored another minor from a free to leave the half time score 0-7 to 0-3 in their favour.The free count in the first half was 7 against Dunderry  to 3 against Kilmainham.Of Kilmainmham's 7 points  1 came from play,2 came from 45's and four came from frees .Truth to tell  some of the decisions against us were hard to decipher and to take and the Dunderry supporters were not happy campers.Of our three points, Lukie scored one from play and Denise's gasun score one from play and one from a free.
I felt the wind was worth 6 points and this combined with the fact that Finn had kept Newman scoreless from play and that Spongee and Swiss were playing with panache  put us in with a great chance if we got a level battlefield in the second half.We were playing well in all positions and well able to compete in open play after a tentative opening  ten minutes when some well intended passes went astray .Marty Garry foraged well back in this half to definite advantage  it must be said and made an excellent  contribution
Half time 0-7 to 0-3 against us.
The selectors  made several positional switches at half time.Marty Garry and Simon switched positions .Swiss went midfield ,Andy to full forward and Lukie to wing forward.The switches worked.With the wind we rattled odd the first 7 scores of the half ,5 from play and two from frees from the laser acculturate Stephen Coogan who was as good as  Newman on the fee taking department and and his master from open play.
It has to be said again that what were at least two blatant frees to Dunderry were not given  in this half and the light was not that bad.And it now seems a kosher to surround  a man in possession and drag him down and not get penalised for so doing.The Dunderry supporters were outraged ,to put it mildly and with only two points separating  the teams in the last ten minutes the tension was unbearable
.Dunderry introduced  John Paul, Liam Dempsey ( I am informed that it is from the Dempsey's he gets his moxy),Colm Harte and Shane Maguire for Lukie ,Andy ,Alan and Bob and all made their mark especially J.P.,whose first touch split the uprights for a great point.
Anyhow we lived dangerously scoring a further point from play to theirs from a free.to hold out victors by two points.
Scorned  half scorers were  Stephen Coogan  0-5(0-2 F.)
                                          Andy                   0-1
                                           Baby Doc           0-1
                                           J.P/                     0-1
and the free count was 11 against Dunderry to 8 against KIlmainham.
In case anybody would get the idea that Dunderry are a dirty team then they are totally wrong.This was a clean well contested game played out by two honest teams in a fully sporting manner as you would expect from two proud and decent Clubs and from decent and manly players.
Frees aside we were probably five points the better team and it a great source of pride that Finn kept Newman scoreless from play ,a feat that many inter county players have failed to do..He was well aided in this by the rest of the backs.led by the ballsy Davy Mac , who gave it their all.
The extra week has stood O Shea in good stead in his ball handling and Aaron is getting better and better.Simon and Conor .D.are oozing confidence and Kenning's kept us in the game at least twice with magnificent saves.His kick outs aren#t bad either.
Bomber had a good game in the middle and Andy and Swiss gave it their all ,Swiss in particular belying the advancing years.
Waters had a good first half but his marker (No.5 ) was probably the best KiIlmainham man on the pitch in the second half. Stephen Coogan does not miss a scorable chance either from a free or from play.Potentially a county man.Bob is using his bulk to advantage totally and had a good game even garnering some dubious frees from the referee and Lukie is a competitive and strong garsun learning his trade.He wins all the fifty balls and some of the forty sixty even,A good sign.
This was a good win for us in a match that I would guess that KIlmainham had targeted as a certain win for them.
Man of the match for me is Stephen Coogan by a whisker ,from  Finn,Swiss ,Davy Mac and Jennings with the rest of the field closing rapidly,
This is a good management team by the way and are doing a fine job.Fair dues to the Legend who grasped the poisoned chalice when many others jibbed.
Let us not get carried away but the beat lives on.







                                    



             

I thought that Ireland had a neutrality policy

It must have passed me by,but I thought that Ireland had a policy of neutrality and I thought that this is what makes us acceptable peacekeepers in areas of turmoil worldwide.
I now hear the Tanaiste making sounds in relation to the East Ukraine that are anything but neutral and decidedly anti Russian.One presumes that he personally will lead the charge against the might of Russia when the time comes and that the Labour Party will compensate the State for exports foregone when Russia pulls the plug on our exports to Russia.
Seriously  can anyone tell me when we as a nation abandoned our long standing policy of neutrality ?
For what its worth it seems to me that all the reportage we get is decidedly anti Russian and it also seems to me that the West and the USA are concentrating on the man and not on the game.A  bit like the character played by Mel Gibson in the film The Patriot,when he abandoned the then convention of letting soldiers  fight soldiers and instead concentrated on killing the Officers.

The West and the USA are applying various sanctions against named officials in Russia and the Ukraine,a bit like they did in Iraq when they placed bounties on the heads of various identified enemies who they wanted dead or alive.
Russia is not as weak as Iraq and the West and USA officials driving the westernisation of Ukraine would want to be careful that Russia and the Ukrainian Russians do not target them in the way that they are targeting their opponents.
IT is difficult for the West and the USA to convincingly argue that it is wrong for sectors of the Ukraine to vote to secede and opt for Russian control of their affairs.
Scotland is being allowed to decide its own fate.Gibraltar is a long way from England as are the Maldives and the inhabitants are allowed to decide their own sovereignty.
The British presence in Ireland was ruthlessly enforced by a cruel military presence and they still occupied the North by virtue of a planted inbuilt core of settlers who dispossessed the natives centuries ago.
The Presidential visit to the Queen recently has resulted in the coming out ,so to speak ,of those closeted Royalists in droves and now we can see why they were so anti republican in outlook and why the State broadcaster was so compliant in censorship over the years.
IT may be that our new found cosiness with the Brits is the reason Eamonn echoes the British policy towards Ukraine
This posturing by the E.U. egged on by the U.S. is a highly dangerous game.
Putin might say "fuck you baby "and let off a few bombs in Europe .I doubt that NATO will so readily bomb Russia as it did an undefended Libya,which is still in a total mess and I would say that there are those there who yearn for the return of Qaddafi.as there must be many who yearn for the peace in Iraq before the blanket bombing began .
THE USA is far away and now fights by unmanned drones from the safety of comfortable bunkers.It has no skin in the game so to speak and I imagine is not brave enough to take on a bully of equal strength..
The kinda innocent EU boys and girls wold want to pull in their horns unless they want a terrible whipping and do what has to be done,which is the carve up of Urkaine on ethnic lines by plebiscite.
Its gonna happen any way.

Easter Week Ceremonies Dunderry Parish

D.--Dunderry. K---KIlbride.  R---Robinstown.

Tues.15/04/2014.   R.9.00 A.M. Mass
                               D.7.45 P.M. Stations.
                               D.8.00 P.M. Mass.Confessions after.

Wednesday 16/04/2014.  D. 7.00 A.M. Mass
                                         R. 10.00 A.M. Mass

Thursday 17/04/2014. R.7.30 P.M.>Lords Supper
                                     D.9.00 P.M. Lords Supper.

Good Friday 18/04/2014 .R. 3.00 P.M. Passion with Confessions after
                                          K.6.00 P.M.Passion
                                          D.8.00 P.M. Passion

Easter Saturday 19/04/2014.K.6.00 P.M. Vigil
                                             D.7.30.P.M. Vigil

Easter Sunday.21/04/2014  R.9.30.A.M.
                                            D.11.00 A.M. 

I.F.C.Dunderry 1-9.Longwood 1-8.

In a windy Trim today this eagerly awaited first round championship match was dramatically played out before an appreciative crowd that stayed on to the bitter end,
No doubt about it the pitch in Trim is immaculate and the Trim stewards are top rate securing for yours truly a chair to plonk my arse on and enjoy,or rather suffer ,an enthralling game on this the Sunday when Blaithin Roisin Mac Donagh.fourth child of Terry and our Jacinta was Christened in Kilbride by Father Hornick.
Dunderry Team.

                                              Davy Jennings
A.Newman                             S,Harte                             C.O.Shea

C,Dempsey                           D.Mac Cormack                  S.Carty

                          C.Farrell                             A.Coogan

L.Martyn                                S.Coogan                             Swiss Clarke

Bob Doherty                        Finn Stephens                   Paddy Kenneally
While not wishing to belittle the selectors ,having been one myself so often in the past,and made my share of mistakes I was baffled how Liam Dempsey didn't make the first fifteen .He is big,hardy and honest and even under the playing rules of the Longford roadshow er there is a place for men of his calibre in our game of showboats.
Playing against a strong wind blowing into the graveyard end our boys were first to show with Swiss burying a ball recycled from a Stephens catch via a few astute hands into the back of the net.Our lead was short lived however as Longwood ,orchestrated by Mickey Bourke ,repeated the dose at the other end.You would fear for us with that wind against us.But Jennings was getting good distance and direction into his kick outs.And Finn was the Lord of the Square winning any decently played ball coming his direction.Bob too was up for it.bawling for ball and winning it.Davy Mac was sticking it in as allowed by rule.And Swiss too was on song.The old dogs for the high road.
Paddy was in difficulty in the corner,conditions not suiting his individualist game and the ball did not flow for Lukie either.Bomber was hanging in there at midfield ,Andy was under pressure ,finding it difficult to get going in a tight and tough game where time is of the essence and Simon was not showing.Harte was under erasure at full back.But we held in there fairly well.
Oh I forgot about the referee.Probably he was applying the rules .I have no idea.Seemingly putting a hand on a man now is a mortal sin in the gelded arenas of the Gael where manliness is verboten .In twenty minutes Bomber got two yellows and a red,The first yellow ,maybe.The second  no way.At worst it was pure awkwardness of a bigger man on a smaller one .Bad call by the ref.
Then Paddy went down not to recover,Knee trouble.Gone.Then Seamus.Down and gone .Ted and Alan Waters on in their place.Ted didn't last 5 minutes .Black carded.Not sure for what,Certainly no one died.Someone probably Sky ed out of it.( We legislate to suit Sky now,not the players.)
Down a quarter of our first choices we looked in fierce trouble.
But we got thick and dug in ,Spongee went full back and Finn centre half and the resistance started in earnest.There was no handy  way down the centre now.Finn and Swiss were like colts (or should I say stallions ) out for their first Spring run.Inspired by their example the rest rose their game.Game  on.
We tacked on three hard earned points to their six to go in at half  time down only three points on a scoreline 1-6 to 1-3.,Stephen Coogans point scoring from frees being uncanny and Baby Doc finding the target despite the attention of four markers.
Hope springs eternal we reasoned .With the wind even fourteen men could do it.I prayed.
Bourke scored a minor within a minute of the throw in .4 down now and they were owning the ball.But we harassed and harried and counterattacked.And Bob was still dangerous.Younger Dempsey put it up to Bourke.Must be the Henry in him.Finn and Swiss were collosal and the two Davies relived their glory days.O Shea was short of match practise and it showed at times,but he would tackle a Rotarian in the cause and did repeatedly.Aaron  is playing the best he ever did in his new position and it suits him (His dad is well entitled to name him in the  Chronicle on this occasion.)
And the counterattacking suited under 21 county man Carty who showed his speed to advantage making several furtive forays up field ,running unfortunately betimes into cul de sacs.Experience will fix this.Stephen kept striking the frees over and is cute at making himself available.Marty Garry replaced an out of sorts Lukie and John Paul likewise replaced Andy.There may have n been more.I don't know.Marty came good and made several important intercepts.At least one Longwood man got a black.again I don#t know why.
The Longford Roadster would surely approve of this stop start foul feast which is destroying our game (If you don't believe me look at the last twenty  minutes of the Dublin /Cork league semi today and see a really happy whistleblower in action.Disgraceful ).
Anyhow we somehow went two ahead with  10 minutes to go,mainly due to the impeccable free taking of Coogan the younger  and the physical presence of Liam Dempsey also introduced ,for whom I am unsure.
The last ten were tension spring ed as they  drew back one and tried all out to get the other.
But we held on .Just .Hallelujah.
The auld dogs for the high road.Man of the match,Finn by a whiskey from Swiss and the two Davy,s with Baby Doc a contender.Stephen Coogan the king of the kids with Aaron pushing him to the finishing line.And the Dempsey's brothers take a bow too.
The rest did brilliant but can improve and will.
I didn't take the scorers names but will publish when available.

Dunderry lads playwell in Meath V Wicklow game.

In Pairc Tailteann today Meath beat Wicklow by 6 points in the Minor Hurling Championship and three Dunderry lads played,Conor Dempsey at corner back,Luke Martyn at midfield and Alex Walsh at corner forward.
I cannot remember ever having three Dunderry lads playing for the County on the one team,so history was made.
I was a tad late for the throw in and cannot thank enough two Maors who were kindness itself to yours truly on the way in to the game. This female and male Maors are a credit to the GAA.
Meath were leading by 1-1 to 0-0 when I got seated against a very stiff wind.
I thought there was little between the teams skill wise and commitment wise but Meath had the edge on the accuracy of their passing and finding their man,some Meath scores coming from Wicklow mistakes.
It must have been the dirtiest game in GAA history were you to judge it by the number of times the referee blew his whistle.It was incessant from start to finish ans destroyed the game for me.And the game was as clean a game as I have seen.HE destroyed it as a spectacle and were I a Wicklow man I would demand a replay.And one of his his officials responded in similar fashion as he on a number of occassions overly fussily made the Wicklow free taker move the sliotar back by minute distances thereby distracting him unfairly I thought.
Young hurlers giving of their best ought not be put through this sort of thing.Certainly the attendance was utterly confused at the refereeing so the players must have been bewildered also.
Aside from that Wicklow clawed their way back into the game and led by 2-5 to 1-5 by half time.I was not unduly concerned as we had a strong wind in our backs in the second half.And bit by bit our lads clawed their way back to parity against a game Wicklow side.
You often read in reports about Wicklow men being sent off at vital moments in matches and might assume that they are dirty savages that deserve what they get.Well you should disabuse yourself of that notion.A competitive Wicklow player saw red for a tackle on our own Lukie Martyn.Lukie fair play to him didn't even go down and went on to play a vital roll in our eventual victory displaying his full range of athletic abilities and hurling skills ,so whatever  happened didn't effect him at all.
But it tilted the contest entirely in Meath's way as Wicklow eventually wilted and Meath ran out deserving winners .Most unfair on Wicklow I thought but having said that I didn#t see why the Ref blew the player up and sent him off.
Certainly he and his umpires took no action when A Wicklow  player subsequently and in full view of the attendance had his body nearly bent in two by a high tackle on the middle of his back while off the ground.But there you go.
Anyhow Meath took full advantage of the situation and hurled well enough to deserve their victory.That their free taking was impressive was most important in this free riddled match as they availed of the  many opportunities presented with aplomb.
Our three boys did well.Dempsey was solid if unspectacular and did all that was demanded of him.Lukie outplayed  his man and made some vital contributions that swung the match the Royals way,particularly in the second half and Alex too had a good second half securing a goal in the process.
There will be stiffer challenges along the road,

Dennis the Menace has it right.

I loved the Beano comic when I was a kid.I came across it again last Sunday when it fell from The Irish Mail newspaper.
In Dennis the Menace Fan Club page the question is posed "How can I tell if a politician is lying "?The reply is "Body language is your friend--if they're lying their lips will be moving."
I thougt of this when I read the comments of certain bankers regarding people with mortgage arrears which they cannot pay,one of which was to the effect that one bank alone would be evicting between 3.000 to 5,000 owners.And this is only one Bank.
I also thought of it when I heard another Banker say that the only circumstances in which they write off secured debt is where there has either been a bankruptcy or liquidation of the owner and no or less than full funds are available to meet the debt.
This of course is a total nonsense as the law governing insolvency discounts the debt and there is absolutely nothing the Bank can do about it.
And if memory serves me right both Charlie Haughey and Garrett Fitzgerald had debt written off in their day'
I also thought of all the praise his political colleagues heaped on Alan Shatter for the utter brilliance and cleverness of his breathtaking foresight in the area  of  law reform and important legislation enacted.
All this bullshit about pips and peps and all the insolvency legislation makes no difference to those driven to despair by impossible demands from not only State owned banks but also a myriad of other Government Departments trying to squeeze the last drop of blood from stones long since parched by arid policies.Shatter for all his alleged brilliance has done not one iota for these people.
This Government is positively Cromwellian in practise,
It has presided over mass unemployment ,mass emigration,mass sale of huge chunks of the country to outsiders,mass loss of hope ,mass suicide ,and mass breakdown of the rural hinterland where seventy year olds have to cycle over 30 miles at night to gain shelter and where hundreds of thousands of rural isolated are hunkering in fear behind barricaded doors hoping it won#t be their turn tonight.
And now Mass eviction is imminent.The Government is cracking  the whip over the Central bank who is passing the pressure onto the commercial Banks to do this.
When you consider that the very same taxpayers whose money was used to bail out the very same banks who are now about to evict them you must realise the outrageous nature of the betrayal.
In the Pat Kenny debate before the General Election ,when questioned on their attitude to eviction the current Taoiseach said "Guarantee you won't lose your home "and the current Tanaiste said "Head off the Bailiffs "
I'd have to say that Dennis has it right.

Desecration of Dunderry Church and Theft of lead from Community Hall.

Various sections of the media and the lowest sections of the political classes have repeatedly launched attacks on the Catholic Church,Catholicism and the clergy over the last 3 years in particular.
From the Vitriolic attack on the Roman Church by the Taoiseach,to the withdrawal of the Irish ambassadorship from the Vatican State, to the clear desire of the Minister of Education to abolish the religious from religious schools, to the name calling by Ivana the womb raider of the Catholic Bishop who appeared before the Dail Committee,the promulgations of a Labour Party which has been taken over lock,stock and barrel by the atheists and homosexuals it was only a matter  of time until it became socially acceptable to desecrate Catholic property and attack and assault Catholic clergy .
Just consider the number of Churches torched,the number of priceless statutes and works of art stolen and the number of clergy spat at in the streets and attacked in their Churches these past three years and you will get the picture,
I never thought that it would happen In a  street where I live,as it were but it has.
I should not be surprised but I am ,not only surprised but shocked and appalled.
And I feel a little guilty as well.I will tell you why.
I have cows calving and sheep yeaning this weather.I arise from my warm bed each night at about 2,00 a,m.,and go to the farm to check on them,Last Thursday night I got out of my bed at about 2.00 a.m.and went outside my house which is opposite Dunderry Church to get into my jeep to go down to the farm.The village was abandoned and not a sound to be heard .Then I thought I heard a scraping sound coming from the side of the church nearest Trim.I shone my fairly powerful torch in that general direction and the noise ceased.I reasoned that if anybody was up to mischief that it is the School they would be at and as I could see that the school alarm was working  O.K.I wasn't too worried.Then a ginger cat came around the corner of the Church from the direction of the noise and I figured "That's it ,the cat was tearing at a plastic bag".No panic.And I went off on my business.
About two hours later I returned home and went to bed.I sleep with my head pointed at Dunderry Hall and am nearest to it.Just on the verge of sleep I thought I heard a tapping noise coming from the direction og f the hall.Herself was sound asleep and I roared at her "Did you hear that "?She just turned over and grunted.The tapping stopped.Whoever was there heard me even though the missus did not.
Very often in the past I have heard tapping on the window of the house as birds try to tap off the putty surrounding the window panes and a good roar moves them on.After a while I fell asleep.No harm done.
Next day I woke up to the information that the copper from the lightening rod on the Church and the lead flashing from the Halli had been stolen during the night and that I had missed two opportunities to interrupt the thief or thieves,
Saved by a ginger cat and a bird.
God only knows what would have happened if I had interrupted them and knew them.Would I be alive to tell the tale ?
I know full well that some people have more concrete evidence to pin down the identity of the perpetrators but are too afraid of retraction to come forward.I strongly suspect that the families of the perpetrators must know their identity and are protecting them.
I want it known that I am not afraid of them and consider these low lives as below contempt and if there is anything I can do to bring them to Justice I will do so.
And I would urge all other persons to do the same.

Rock me mammy

She sings "Rock me Mammy like a wagon wheel ,Rock me mammy any way you feel ,etc...." and she wonders at the baby lambs playing "Tag " as they play in the fields.
Guess where this lovable three year old lives ?

Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-4.Dunderry 2-13.Adult Hurling,

This Davis Cup Adult Hurling match played this evening in Ashbourne was a one sided affair.They had a few good players ,including an excellent goalkeeper ,while we had a good few players on a different level.
We won no sweat and advance to the next round.
Team.
                                                    Bomber

Joey                                        O Shea                                  Feeney

Clarke                                     Ted                                        Demps.C,
                         Liamie                          Johnny Moran

Gilky                                      Lukie                                       Casey

Harrow                                    Bernardo                            Alex

Introduced. Finn,Leonard.Mickey Dowdall.

Some nice hurling played but we were never in danger.Their goalie saved them further embarrassment,
We will have stiffer challenges.

Men in suits betray the GAA.

I have spent 40 years in two counties promoting the ethos of the GAA for free.No it was not for free.It cost me a small fortune in monies spent ,cars prematurely consigned to the scrap heap ,not to mention opportunities forgone because I neglected aspects of my life that could more profitably be exploited had I not been so committed to spreading the voluntary,all inclusive and inherently Irish message of the GAA.
It was not from the ground I licked it.My mother's people the MC Cormacks from Dunderry have been involved since the foundation of the Association ,my uncle Tommy Mac Cormack in particular ran the Club practically from his own pocket as did a lot of those involved in his time.All my brothers have likewise been totally immersed in the Association and so are THC next generation
Neither them nor I are wealthy men and we all know people like them whose love of the association bordered on the fanatical because of the fact that it was the ordinary people's Association and it mattered not a whit whether you were a farm labourer nor a schoolteacher nor a highly paid professionally in the GAA ,your voice was as good as anyone else sand your contribution judged solely on its merits.
The Bank Manager,the Judge,the Solicitor and the Doctor were more sat home in the rarified  confines of the local Rugby,Tennis  or Cricket Club but the ordinary Joe Soap and Josephine ,his wife had their own GAA Club where class didn't matter and where everybody was equal and unified and one was not looked down because he had less money  than his neighbour.
The glue holding this whole hotchpot of people together was its totally voluntary ethos ,its embedded ness in the local community and the total acceptance that it was different from all other sporting bodies in that every penny generated locally was spent locally and an unwritten but well understood quid pro quo that it looked after its own at all times.
It was never part of the deal that they they would turn their backs on their faithful apostles for monetary gain as they have indisputably done in confining 14 of 42 championship matches to SKY television for the next three years ,without consulting e with their members  at all.
Are  the well paid ex schoolteachers whose paymasters are the voluntary unpaid members of the Association so out of touch with ordinary people that they have failed to recognise that there is huge suffering being experienced amongst the ordinary members because of the deliberately imposed austerity measures of the politicians and do they not know that many many people are so financially distressed that they cannot feed their children ,much less pay for Sky television to see their county or club men  playing.
Maybe they are too used to hob nobbing with the Politicos who misuses the GAA to promote their own political careers to remember how ordinary people are faring and it may have escaped their attention that rural parishes are being decimated by the scourge of emigration.
Surely they have noticed that the tumbleweeds are racing through the towns and villages of rural Ireland  and that the pubs of Ireland have been decimated by the flight from the countryside and that most of those surviving  are hanging on by their fingertips.
It may have escaped their attention that that many GAA clubs are getting it hard to pay their way already and that it is getting increasingly more difficult to get volunteers to fill positions  at the AGM.s.
And truth to tell Rugby is making huge inroads into GAA territory due in the main to the treachery of another former President whose proudest moment was in his own words "The rugby match in Croke Park between Ireland and England"and the way he had manoeuvred this stroke.Not a word about his own county winning an All Ireland.
And believe you me Rugby is actively targeting strong GAA territory in order to harvest the innate sporting prowess of the gene pool.
And now this kick in the face  to its very own apostles.No matter what they have done to advance us and no matter what personal sacrifices they have made in our name ,if they can't afford to pay for viewing the 14 matches and if they can't afford to go to the games ,fuck them ,its not our problem.
These arrogant employees have crossed the Rubicon and caused untold damage to those idealists on whom the Association is built.
Having survived the money grab of the Government by grabbing the Lotto as another form of taxation and seetting up local lottos to pay for local clubs this retrograde step will I predict cause huge local problems in fund raising and totally disillusion many thousands of volunters who will look on aghast to what has been done to them.
And all this nonsense about catering for the diaspora.Yep screw the locals to pay for the diaspora.Now if those in charge of the Association,being as obviously educated as they are ,cannot come up with a better solution they simply don't deserve to be in their jobs.
And dare I say it,the same arrogance displayed by fine Gael is percolating through to the GAA spokesmen I personally saw on TV ,Nicky Brennan and Padraig Duffy whose attitude to opponents of the deal was arrogantly and belittling dismissive to say the least.
These two buckos would be better off figuring out why two proud parishes like Dunderry and KIlmessan have to combine to field an under 16 hurling team.And why we have fallen from Div 1/2  status to   Div 5/6 status in under age football over the last 10 years.And how so many clubs are similarly afflicted.
And maybe they should address why it is that so many people of my generation feel excluded from taking office with clubs because thet feel so unprepared to tackle the technological challenges so rigoursly applied in all inter GAA communications these days.

It may strike them that betraying their own voluntary mentors isn't the answer.
While I am the Community Officer for Dunderry GAA Club these views are strictly my own.

A week of emotional extremes in Dunderry

What a week.
I was at the joyful wedding of our own Garret Dooley to Elaine Murphy from Blanchardstown .The marriage took place in St.Brigid's Church in Blanch where I served Mass for many years and of which I have such happy memories ,having been treated like a king by the then clergy involved .
I know Elaine's father this while back but not that well I wrongly thought.Because at the reception in Cabra Castle afterwards a man presented himself to me and shook the hand off me."Bet you don't know who I am " said he in the best of Blanch accents."I don't " said I ."well I am Mick Mulvaney from Godamendy " said he "and you used look after me playing juvenile many years ago "."Jasus  I have ya now,its many many moons since I met you "."It is " said he "35 years.".
He had emigrated to New York then and has lived there since.And we chewed the cud.He is the bride's uncle on the mother's side and was home for the wedding.His accent was pure Blanch .Unlike the gob shites from my youth who used go to Butlins for a fortnight and come home with a Northern accent because there used be a big North of Ireland clientele there on holidays too.
A pure gentleman.
And Derek Williamson is married to the sister of the bride's mother. .Derek too is a gentleman and I still have the photograph of me being carried from  O Toole Park in 1980 when I captained St.Brigids to their second ever I.F.C.Final victory and  Derek was one of those hoisting me from the pitch.( I was a lot lighter then .)He was there too with his wife and we spoke of old times too.
Now I have the breed of Elaine .Sound as a pound.
She is a physio and has that lean and hungry look the mark of  that profession.She and all her family are true Blues and adore the Dubs.She played with distinction with Brigids and Dublin for many years at ladies football and is one nice woman.Garret adores her and said so repeatedly at the wedding.I wouldn't blame him.She is a dinger.
Garrets brother Niall was home from England for the wedding as were his sisters Lisa and Evonne home from Australia.Garret was educated at third level in England and Scotland and won an All Ireland Club with James Mitchells while living in Liverpool where he also met his wife.A fair double.
Three of the Dooley siblings are living abroad and three at home ( Garret ,Emma and Tommy )which says it all for the  masters of the universe who have destroyed this country and brought it to its knees.
The Dooleys are bursting with  brains and have pushed themselves by the dint of hard work and sweat  to where they are today.Garret is a chemist and Niall they say is actually a rocket scientist.
A rumour circulated at the wedding that he was involved in the search for the missing plane in the Indian Ocean.
Niall I remember well from his limited hurling career when his gigantic glasses and frail physique didn't prevent from feats of the utmost bravery and fearless tackling of much bigger opposition ,This was when I was able to snatch him from his part time job of gathering glasses and pulling pints in Geraghty's for a few bob.
All the Dooleys are decent people and the progeny of the latest union will be well bred at  least.Dubs or Meath .This is the question.
Dunderry and Brigids were well represented at the reception and the meal was out of this world.I kid you not.The band was brilliant,the speeches grand ,the company brilliant and the craic mighty.
Herbie and Mona Hughes joined up with us and I thoroughly enjoyed their company as always.Herbie is 80 years young .a real native of Blanch for generations back,having been reared in Ballycoolin where his father and mother  reared 7 kids on a 5 acre market garden allotment.He is President of Brigids and one of nature's gentlemen.
We discussed a whole range of topics including his football career.
He may have a unique record.He played with Dublin in the 1950.s but got only limited playing opportunities as Vincents lorded the county scene at one stage filling the fourteen outfield positions on the Dublin team.
Modestly enough he reckons that Johnny Brophy ,another Brigids man was one of the best forwards in Ireland but never got a chance because of Vincent's dominance and that a Margaret's man called Scally was the best half back he ever saw but got no chance either.
Mick and Tom Kennedy's mother was a sister of this man.The apple never falls far from the tree.Mick won all Ireland's with Dublin much later on,
Now to Herbie's record,Despite the ban on playing foreign games he played in the  one year in Croke Park (Brigids won IFC). Dalymount Park (Tolka Rovers won championship Cup ) and Landstown Road (Won league with Railway Union ).
Anyone equal this ?
Paddy Duffy is a Mayo man loving in Blanch for years,A Brigids man to his fingertips.He is not well.He is a total gentleman and I know him well.He used work in the Dept of Agriculture.He worked in Abbotstown in the 1950 as as did a lot of the locals,
From time  to time in those hungry fifties an odd bag of oats or barley used go walkies,Paddy's job was to stamp this out.
On a non working Saturday he was cycling in the gate to do a surprise check when he met a worker,a father of thirteen ,cycling out with a bag of oats on the carrier of his bike."Where are you going with that " said he,"I have a fierce sick beast "said the other .The  man was so stretched he couldn't afford even a cat but he had to say something."Well said Paddy "If he's that sick he won't be able to ate it,Better lave it back."
And that was that.
The day after the wedding I was invited to and attended the 21 st ,Birthday Party of the Keaveney triplets ,Elaine,Catherine and Michael in their father#s farmyard in the Black Road.
Kevin and Margaret and his mother and the triplet's two sisters are smashing people as are the triplets.One is nicer than the other and I think much of the entire family.They all occupy a large space in my affections, particularly Kevin ,who was treasure of the GAA Club when I was Chairman in 2009 and who along with Secretary Billy Bligh visited  me nearly daily in Navan Hospital when I suffered a stroke and made me feel I was still in the Chairman's saddle so to speak.We did run the Club from my hospital bed but the two boys were in reality the movers and shakers.
The place was buzzing and the Camogie training I inflicted on  many of the young wans there,including Catherine and Elaine  stood them in good stead as they boogied the night away.
An occassion of joy and happiness all round and I guess a large sigh of relief from the parents as they have brought the triplets this far without faltering.It can't have been easy.
And then the news that the house where Timmy Kennedy and family used live in Oak Court was burned to the ground.Timmy sold out some years ago and people called Rispin bought it.I don't think I know them but am informed that it has been vacant for some time and is for sale.
I have no idea of the cause of the fire but it is a desperate thing to have happened.;
Everybody around here is in a state of shock..

Death of Eileen Larkin( nee King.) and Tribute to her.

I nearly dropped today when I was informed that Eileen King of Lambay was dead.Surely a mistake  I said.She is far too young.It must be someone by the same name but not the pleasant young woman with the unmistakable rouge lipstick and and tastefully applied makeup who is as pleasant a person as you would meet in a long day's walk.But I was wrong .It is her.
I hear now she was sick for a while .I don't know the details.
She was a stunner and was inseparable from her son Tom Larkin junior.
He was always by her side.And her husband Tom Larkin is devastated as are her her own siblings ,Maureen,Peter and P.J.and all her neighbours and all that knew her.
They are great friends with and close neighbours of the Mac Donaghs of Lambay and despite the age difference she was great with Mary Mac Donagh the mother of Terry ,my son in law.
I know that the Mac Donagh clan and all who knew her think the world of her and her family.
And I do too.
I have an abiding memory of her stopping to give a rather damp Jim Newman a lift in her car from Trim to Dunderry many moons ago after he had visited an abandoned cattle market in Trim after a night on the tear.She didn't bat an eyelid at his dampness.
That was her ,a great one and one of ours.
Snatched far too early from this life.
Her remains will be reposing in Heffernans on Wednesday 2 April from 3.00  p.m until 7.15 ,whence she will be removed to Kilbride Church arriving at 8.00 p.m.
Her Funeral Mass is on Thursday at 12.30 with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Ar Dheis DE go raibh a hAnam Dilis.

P.S.I was at the funeral Mass today.There was a massive crowd in Kilbride,the biggest I have ever seen there..Young and old, men and women.The ceremony was beautiful,both in Irish and English.People tend to forget that there is a corner of our Parish in Lambay where Irish is still the spoken language and where the people are proud of it.I am proud of it too.
Many of her friends were in tears and her husband,son and family in particular were inconsolable.She was indeed every body's friend.
As Terry Mac said"If she knew you you had no choice but to like her"
As good a tribute as you could  get.
Father Hornick ,a reserved man if there ever was one, unusually paid her the highest tribute that she was a "nice  person " and that she indeed was.And some of her female friends and neighbours paid her the ultimate compliment of wearing the chrimson lipstick and mascara she was wont to display and putting red roses into her grave.
Brought tears to a stone,God  love her.

Within a half mile.

Within a half mile of where I stand in rural Ireland are thirteen houses.
Two houses are abandoned and falling down.The local authority is anxious to see this happen.
In one house lives a bachelor pensioner.He cannot live on his  pension and so works on for very little despite bad health.
In another house lives a mature married couple.Of their five  children two have emigrated because of lack of employment.They will not be back.
In the next house live a married couple with one child.
In the next house live a married couple with two in family.One has emigrated because of lack of employment.
Two houses are near completion but finalisation is held up because state banks will not lend to enable completion.
One house is set because the owners live in the city where employment is available more readily than here.
In another house live a married couple ,parents of three mature children .Two of the three have long since emigrated and made their homes in their adopted countries.None have any intention of returning.
In another house live a married couple.Of their two mature children one has moved abroad and married there.This child will not return as equivalent work is not available here.
In another house of two parents and three children ,one  parent and the entire three children have emigrated.I would wager that the three children will not return to live here permanently.
In another house live a working married couple  of mature years who are totally bamboozled by the unending stream of bureaucratic regulations foisted on them daily by a multiplicity of state agencies.
In another house live a married couple in their twenties with two children who will have to work into their eighties to repay what they borrowed for their house.
There is no public transport of any kind available in the area,
There is no PostOffice nor Garda station in the area.
Between the smoking ban and excessive drink driving laws the local pub is  on its knees and on the very odd occasion when anyone has money they are afraid to drive for a drink and drive home.
All these households were billed for Local property tax.
Theft and burglary is common in the area.
These people live in fear on a daily basis.
Fine Gael Labour ,Fianna Fall the P.D.s and the Greens implemented policies that are responsible for this situation .
Remember that when you  vote.

Distilled ignorance.

Today I got a lift to Navan to get my hair cut with the best barber I know,Stephen O Rourke.Opposite his shop and beside the old cinema  ( now apartments ) is a public car park.I was dropped off in the car park and proceeded out of it towards his shop.I had to cross a line of cars in a queue to get out of the car park.I checked well and commenced to cross over,
Now let me say that I shuffled over as my left side was destroyed in a stroke I suffered five years ago and walking is an effort,I need a walking stick to move and my left hand is permanently stuck in my hoodie pocket.Fairly obviously and severely disabled.
 Notwithstanding this a youngish woman driving a dark coloured car ,registration ending   KE saw fit to place her hand on the horn and blow it at me.Not accidentally as I looked her in the eye and she blanked me.She was not delayed at all by my crossing as the queue was snaking slowly towards the road and the second or two she lost in allowing me to cross was of no consequence at all.
Yes indeed. low breeding comes in many guises.

Dunderry V Trim League Div 2 Football 16/03/2014

Played in Dunderry on a pitch in good nick on a fresh Sunday morning this match had special significance for me.My daughter Claire is married to Eoin Kelly who fielded at full back for Trim and we would know most of the Trim lads as we frequent the County Town.
Eoin came around here courting Claire as a skinny gossoon over a dozen years ago.I said honestly at their wedding that when I saw him first that my inclination was to buy him a macaroon bar and a fat frog ice pop and and tell him to return when he started shaving.
Well my daughter's influence on him in the interim is clear as he has developed into a hardy strong full back.A fine lump of a man.And he was marking our Finn ,no shrinking violet either.Hard and fair and no pull back was the order of the day.
There is never much between these teams and today was no different.
We lined out as follows.

                                                     Jennings
Shane Maguire                          Seamus Harte                    A.Newman

Conor Dempsey                     Davy Mac Cormack            Marty Garry 

                  Liam Dempsey                        Conor Farrell
A.Waters                                S.Coogan                           Alan Garry

Baby Doc                                E.Stephens                         L.Martyn.

Introduced were Stefan Clarke,J.P.Kenneally,Paddy Kenneally,Tosh Doc.,and Owen Dempsey as the Troika continued with their revolving player system.
The match reminded me of the old under 21 club type of football that used be the norm in Dublin in my youth where there were 13 players a side.Fast furious and open with no sign whatsoever of a hard tackle.And plenty of intricate and well drilled hand passing by both sides.
Refreshingly the ref.went against the grain for a while and properly penalised forwards who didn't get rid of the ball quickly,Arther than penalising the defenders.Good stuff said I ,now we might see some decent football.
And we did for the first  half at leas, at the end of which we led by 0-5 to 0-2.
There was nothing between the teams skill wise and commitment wise and open and knacky play was the norm .No bite worth mentioning.
But we were carved asunder four times by Trim who scored four clear goals wide if you get my drift.It was easier to score than miss as Jennings performed stopping miracles in one to one situations to deny Trim.
The second half was played in the  same vein ,we converting 4 minors to Trim's 5 to run out on a final scoreline of  0-9 to 0-7,Trim again missing an open goal and contriving to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The last fifteen minutes were exciting as Trim tried mightily to draw level and overtake us but our boys never hoisted the white flag and just about kept their snouts ahead at the finishing line.
And that's what matters.Two more points in the bag.
As far as I could see both Alan Watters and Aaron Newmamn were black carded.
There wouldn't be a dirty bone in their combined bodies.
This carda dubh is a nonsense.
The sooner it itself is red carded the better.It is destroying the game and is too easy to flash.
Three Dempsey's were on the field of play.Don't happen too often these days.
Last time it happened here at top level  (for us ) was when the Bear's sons T.J.,Marty and Alan fielded but that was before the Fir Breaga forced the abandonment of the country by the youth to satisfy the hateful Troika .T.J.is now an Aussie of some type.We miss him.
Scorers.Davy Mac  0-1.A.Garry 0-1.S.Coogan 0-2.L.Martyn 0-1.Baby Doc, 0 -2. P.Kenneally 0-2.

P.S. We wish Simon Carty well with the Meath  under 21 footballers in the Leinster Final .
We hear that he is playing well.





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Arrogance of Shatter is astounding

The petulant and sickeningly arrogant display of Alan Shatter tonight on the News at Six when he refused point blank to apologise to the Gardai who brought the many deficiencies in the operation of the penalty points system to public attention,which  the Garda Inspectorate have confirmed in their Report today, while hatefully odious,ought not surprise anybody,as it is par for the course for the entire Government all of whom are totally immune to the widespread suffering ,despair and fear they are deliberately inculcating amongst all sectors of society ,particularly the elderly,the disabled and the isolated.
Their latest targets,the grannies of Ireland ,who are the glue  holding together the very fabric of family life in Ireland ,is nothing short of evil.
More concerned with the rights of Trannies than Grannies,the recent attempt by Joan Burton to pass the blame to the Revenue,is cowardly and devious.
The Government ,of which she is part,call the shots,not the Revenue.
Always blame the organ grinders ,never the monkeys.
Although it is hard to see why Revenue should  bring up the issue of even attempting to tax the grannies of Ireland ,who are forced to man  the breach and mind their grand kids to allow their parents to pay off the State banks.Have they nothing better to do ?
Maybe those at the top in Revenue are getting like their political masters,arrogant and uncaring ,by virtue of the immense powers vested in them by this fascist and authoritarian Government.
This government has managed in a few short years to attract the same level of contempt that it took Fianna Fail decades of misrule to attract and that is saying something.

The gelding of the Judiciary in Ireland.

Retired Supreme Court judge Catherine Mac Guinness and the Judges own advocate body have sent out the warning shots.
In essence these are:-
(1) This Government is demolishing the independence of the judiciary brick by brick.
(2) The fact that the Government can reduce the pay of Judges at their discretion effectively compromises their independence entirely.
It's like this.If you find against your employer he can punish you ,short of dismissal,by reducing your wages and future pension to levels you cannot sustain.
So the Government gets it every way against the citizen,
It can trample all over him and if he brings it to Court the Judges could be afraid to side with him for fear of retribution.History and current events show that retribution is thought to exist at the highest levels,so we shouldn't be surprised at the power of this  emotion ,
No legally qualified ,competent and successful person having the attributes to make a top flight and independent judge is going to buy a  pig in a poke,abandon a successful career and take up a job where his future may be at the whim of a vengeful and vindictive Government and we do face a second hand or lower order of politically motivated and pro Government judges.
The people were right in 1937 when they voted to debar a reduction  in the pay of judges once appointed ,
This position should be constitutionally revisited,( wouldn't be the first time a subject was revisited ) and the gelding of the judiciary reversed so that we can have trust in the Courts and the administration.
Given the fascist and authoritarian bent of the Government don't hold your breath.

Confirmation Day in Dunderry 2014

When my own children were making their Confirmation over the last thirty years the Parish of Dunderry used join up with the Parish of KIldalkey in order to have enough numbers to populate one Church and make it a memorable day for all involved.
Three Sundays ago 47 children from Dunderry Parish alone were confirmed in Dunderry Church by the Bishop of Meath .Such was the demand for places at the Ceremony that each child was limited to 4 guests and even at that many were disappointed at being unable to gain admittance.
Just goes to show two things .One is the increase in population in the Parish and two is the the continuing importance of the Catholic Faith in the lives of the people of the Parish.
I suspect that this is the same throughout the entire country ,
Of course the mainstream media ,staffed overwhelmingly by atheist,secular and anti Catholic personnel paints an altogether different and fallacious picture and our exiles should know this.
On a slightly different vein the organisers of the traditional Saint Patrick's Parades in the USA and worldwide ought know that the boycotting by some politicians of their parades by certain Government Ministers in favour of the homosexual alternatives has no popular support here.
In fact any view expresses contrary to the views of the homosexual movement are shouted down by their advocates and serious threats of harm have been made against members of the Iona Institute who advocate the Catholic position on  these matters,
Of course the mainstream media totally back the anti Catholic position but what would  you expect given the mindset of its practitioners.
Back to the Confirmations.Congratulations to the parents of the children involved and to the teachers who ensure that a Catholic education is given in Catholic Schools.
Long may it last.

Blog hits nearly 100,000

The number of hits on my blog is rapidly approaching 100,000.I have no way of knowing whether the audience is a monkey hitting his finger repeatedly on a button or whether the intelligence services of those countries who have them are hitting separate buttons to check in on what I write.
I assume it is a mixture of all of the above with a few loyal readers thrown in.
In the overall scheme of things it is insignificant but the longest journey begins with the smallest step.
Anyhow if you want keep reading.

Putin's next move in the Ukraine.?

I am somewhat of a history buff and cutter through bullshit.
All this talk of preserving territorial integrity is amusing ,particularly when it comes from any of the present or former superpowers.Not one of them ever did nor now does respect this notion,being governed by the concept of national interest instead and the desire for revenge.
Putin is a patriot.He looks after  his own people.Unlike any of the Irish leaders since the Revolution  here who did ,despite the rhetoric, stand idly by and  let the Nationalist  population of the North stew in its own juices until  they took up arms themselves.
Now  the EU is not a Nation and I don't see any constituent country taking up arms to repel the Russians from the land of their nearest and strategically important neighbours.
Those MPs and EU ministers.particularly the Baroness, who interfered and took sides  when the street protests began should apologise for their gross interference in the matter to the peoples of the EU and the population of the Ukraine among whose Western  oriented peoples they raised unrealistic expectations of practical support.
Put bluntly I don't see the UK government welcoming into the UK the street protesters from Kiev who kick started this chaos.If for no other reason but that they might start the same antics in England.Nor do I see any other EU member doing the same,with the possible exception of Germany,who after all did employ many Ukrainians to do their dirty work during the Second  World War..
The USA is far enough away to do what it likes but NATO ,which has a European leadership and is EU based has the same conundrum as the EU.
Russia cannot be treated as a misbehaving non entity in  the general scheme of things.If the US and Russian bulls square up there can be but one winner.And Europe would be a massive loser no matter who wins.The USA is far enough away to withdraw at any convenient time.Europe ,if it gets involved,cannot pull out until its load is shot.That's the conundrum.
Putin must hugely  curse Krusckev for giving the Crimeae away.I'd say any statutes of him still extant will be soon destroyed.
Having acceded to the request from the Crimea to take it over  Putin must now determine just how far he will go to protect his countrymen in the remainder of the  Ukraine.He will have further requests.
My guess is that having started he must finish .
History indicates that he will take into the Russian ambit maybe two thirds of the rest of the country ,allowing those who wish for the West to emigrate to their third  and those of a Russian bent to emigrate to his sphere of influence.
Thea alternative would seem to be all out war and possibly the modern day version of Armageddon.
Unthinkable.

Conventional wisdom on demise of Celtic Tiger suspect.

Before Christmas I spent a week in Somerset and Wales,the first time I was outside the country in decades.
Two aspects of what I witnessed there gave me pause for thought.
Firstly I blew a headlight in my car on the way to Frome in Somerset and went to get it replaced there in the nearest garage,which happened to be in an industrial estate.To my great surprise each and every unit was buzzing in the estate on a Saturday and I was looked after immediately.Total charge for supplying and fitting the bulb was a fiver.
Frome is about the same size as Navan and is in the  middle of farming country.It still has a seed factory in the middle of the town.It has a Farmer's market and other artisan markets where a wide range of locally grown foodstuffs can be purchased.Many and varied shops are open there and there is a good buzz about the place.
The surprise to me was that all the units in the industrial estate were open and buzzing ,unlike here where the industrial units are largely empty.The other aspect of the place that struck me was that the standard of the buildings are much inferior to what we have here.This is no surprise perhaps as a many date back to Roman times.
£25,000.00 is a very good yearly wage.
The second thing that struck me is the current price of housing.A decent three /four bed family home is £300,00.00 upwards ,which when converted to Euros is similar to the prices obtaining here  for similar homes at the height of the bubble here.
There are clearly purchasers for these even given the prevailing salaries of £25,000.00.How its done I don't know.
The lesson I drew from this is that it was not the price of houses that caused the rise and demise of the Celtic Tiger but the outrageous level of wages and all that went with it.
I have  no doubt but that these astronomical wages and salaries percolated downwards from the professional class whose greed knew no boundaries and a legitimate expectation amongst the population grew that they too could aspire and become entitled parry passu.
What a just and fair Government would do is to help people keep the roofs over their heads,totally ban evictions from family homes,full stop,ensure that everybody has enough to survive ,stimulate employment,eliminate suicide and mass emigration and abolish the dead hand of the excessive bureacrats so that those with the drive to self help are not twarthed at every hand'd turn.
But we have not got that Government
.Quite the opposite.
 

KIlmessan V Dunderry adult Hurtling. 2/3/2014

We played Kilmessan's second team today in Kilmessan.

Team.
                                                        Davy Gilkenson

Davy Stephens                             Brendan Wright                              Aran Feeney

Jordan Martin                               Ted Dowd                                     Conor Dempsey

                                   Liam Dempsey                Conor Farrell

Stefan Clarke                                  Dylan Keenan                              Lukie Martyn

Kit Harrington                                 Johnny Moran                                        Alex Walshe

Introduced,.Stephen Coogan,Joey Martyn,Mikey Dowdall,Christopher Fitzgerald and Alan Casey and  I may have missed a few in the blizzard.
We are a team in transition .Not only are we in transition mode but all the older lads bar Ted were either sick or injured. Ted would be nearly twice the age of most of the guys who made their debut.I know that a lot of our exiles read the blog to stay in touch with home.So I'll put into context some of the names to try and connect to their people.Aaron Feeney and Lukie and Joey Martin are grand sons of Tom Feeney from Meadstown.There is no pull back in either of them.Young Tom Feeney knew no fear either so its not off the ground Aaron licked it and his mother is a Kennedy from Trim..Auld Tom didn't play as far as I know so it may be a Larkin thing or maybe it came from Gus for his sons Joey and Lukie ,but Gus played very little if at all.Any how these guys know no fear and that is a  good starting point.
Dermot Dempsey ,now a selector,was fairly brave.I know as I played alongside him in years gone by.His sons Liam and Conor share this quality and it would be augmented from their mother's side the Henry's and John and to a lesser extent Kit donned the Dunderry jersey with distinction while yielding the caman.
Johnny Moran is a son of Catty Dowd a sister of Tommy and Ted.Dylan Keenan is a son of Tommy and Breda Gough,Kit Harrington's ma Lucy yielded the caman with Kilmessan, Brendan Wright was forged in the plains of Offally ,Davy Gilkenson in the heat of the North,Jordan in the land of full and plenty Dublin,Stefan in Kilcooley of this Parish am Alex is from the Black Road in this Parish .Davy is my son.Conor is the youngest son of the Bomber Farrell of Moymet fame and Josie Sheridan.
Anyhow a razor blade wouldn't need replacing too often with some of our debutaunts .Alex in his first adult match showed well early on and scored two good points.Lukie later scored two good goals,
under the watchful eye of referee Masterson ,who gave his usual impeccable exhibition of the art of the whistler in conditions that bordered on the Baltic.We had cold ,we had driving rain ,we had hailstones.A pitch that was good at the start cut up badly and it is to the credit of both teams that they stuck it to the end .
We started well ,finished better and won all the tussles in between.Every line of the field was won by us and everybody played adequately ,at least,given the oppressive conditions and the lack of hurling practise so far. I lost score but we won by a distance. (Actually 3-11 to 1-4 )
Conditions militated against thickey hurling and the standard was not the highest.But the commitment was excellent and there was nera a coward on the field,on either side.
Full marks for effort all round and it is great to see that the rivalry between ourselves and KIlmessan is as keen as ever.
Two points in the bag.Onwards and upwards.