It rained a lot last Friday the day of the match.I thought that it might not go ahead.But the Athboy pitch held up well and the match did take place.I thought it unfair that we were expected to play such a vital match the day after three of our starting fifteen had played minor for Meath against Kildare (and won).And Davy Mac has still not recovered from the knavish and sly punch suffered against Kilmainham in the recent A League Football match and was a big loss from our full back line.As it transpired Bruts did the business in his place.A good substitute.
We lined out thus.
Doc
Sprog Finn (C) Bruts
Demps Minor O Shea Minogue
Bomber Lukie
Demps Major Wright Gilkie
Alex Ted Johnnie (Moran)
A fair team on paper and well placed I thought.And we had good subs too,a throw back to the years of yore.And three players who are good were beside me in support in the crowd Ivo,Ownie and Red.
And we would need to be good to best Kilskyre.They are tough ,skilfull ,boisterous and fiercely competitive.But we are no daws either and NEVER shite on the traces in hurling.
Game on so.
We regisrtered a point in the first minute and the body language was good.Then Bruts hit the perfect shoulder and gained possession but was totally in the wrong blown up by the referee.Really these guys would want to up their referring game and apply the rules properly.Kilskyre scored the handy point presented to them.All told I counted4 points scored by Kilskyre from frees that were not frees at all in the first half and the usually placid Dunderry support were incensed by some of the decisions.
Maybe he umpires and linesmen spoke frankly with the referee at half time because he definitely upped his game in the second half and consistently applied the same criteria to both sides.
Then Johnnie Moran persisted in following a hopeless looking ball all the way to the net as it was fumbled by Kilskyre.A nice bonus.
Kilskyre reeled off 4 points on the trot to cancel out the goal and we replied with the next three to regain our lead.They went into the ascendancy again and scored 4 minors to our trow to leave the half time score 1-6 to us against 0-9 to the men from North Meath.
Doc is growing nicely into the goalkeeper role and was having a blinder.The full back line is that mean that they owe money to themselves and they repelled with relish the physical challenges thrown at them by a game Kilskyre unit.
They tried Finn in the shoulder department but he repelled all attempted boarders to the great delight of the Dundery support and rallied his team time and time again.Bruts and Sprog likewise.
Demps minor was showing no aftereffects from the Minor match and was the pick of the half backs in the first half/
Bomber and Lukie are fine athlete's but had their hands full with a kilskyre who had Peadar Byrne prowling with intent.
Gilkie missed one handy and maybe another but regained his focus and was in the main impeccable from placed balls.He will know that at this level EVE Ry free is vital and will work on this .Demps major and Brendan were under pressure,made more acute by persistent instructions from the sideline.
Ted was in his element and roaming far afield but Alex and Johnnie were not getting enough ball to make an impression
This was a tough ,hard and uncompromising game and extremely physical.Oer all they were more accurate than us in the first half and If eared for our guys in the second half.
O me of little faith.Johnny awoke from his temporary slumber and notched the first two points of the second half.Scores were hard to come by and the inaccuracy we were guilty of in the first half now afflicted kilskyre.
Liam Dempsey had switched to advantage to midfield and Lukie went into the half forward line.Liamie won all the puck outs directed to him.Lukie has skill aplenty but played sporadically,maybe a little tired from the previous days match.
Gilkie continued where he left off in the first half and Jordan Martin replaced Alex .who was unlucky to be hauled ashore.
With ten minutes to go we were three points up and,as I suspected it would,the Kilskyre onslaught did materialise.The last ten minutes was sailboarding stuff as they clawed back two points (one of which should have been a goal),but our duck's arse of a full line and goalkeeper manned the dyke to perfection.
We held out to win by 1-11 to 0-13.Johnnie scored 1-2,Gilky 0-7 I think,Demps minor 0-1 I think.and Lukie 0-1 .But I could be wrong.
Great manly display by two fine teams.No place for ladies.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Meath 0-14.Kildare 2-7.MHC.
I mosied along to this game at Trim this evening to see how our guys would perform at this level.Having seen them in action all year with the Club and also once with the County earlier against Wicklow I had no real fears in this regard,but you never know.At this age some guys do freeze and do themselves an injustice.I had no reason to fear at all as it turned out.
I didn't hit Trim until just after half time due to unavoidable delays.At this stage Meath led by 0-9 to 0-4.and were comfortably in control.
Conor Dempsey was at centre half back with number 6 on his back.Lukie Martyn was midfield sporting number 25 and Alex Walsh was at corner forward sporting number 18.On enquiry both had started so I cannot explain the odd numbers fielded by our men.
Mickey Dowdall was a sub.
Just after I landed a Meath player saw red so the remainder of the half was played by Meath with a man down ,14 against 15.
Unlike a bad horse they didn't shit on the traces and battled valiantly to secure a point win.Our boys were mightily impressive,all playing valiantly against the short grass county team who became more dominant as the game progressed.
The tackling was tough and uncompromising and this suited our boys as we do not rear lads with pull back in Dunderry.
And it must be said that both teams put on a top class display on the skills of hurling and the bravery needed to properly display these skills.
Kildare can feel hard done by to lose by a point but it is their own fault as they missed enough scorable chances to win the game.
Meath can feel well pleased with weathering the storm and their selectors never panicked.
Good day for Meath.Great day for Dunderry Hurling.
The large crowd was choc a bloc with the fanatic hurling heads that populate the county ,a breed unto themselves.
I know that my focus is limited soley to how r the Dunderry lads played but there you are.
I didn't hit Trim until just after half time due to unavoidable delays.At this stage Meath led by 0-9 to 0-4.and were comfortably in control.
Conor Dempsey was at centre half back with number 6 on his back.Lukie Martyn was midfield sporting number 25 and Alex Walsh was at corner forward sporting number 18.On enquiry both had started so I cannot explain the odd numbers fielded by our men.
Mickey Dowdall was a sub.
Just after I landed a Meath player saw red so the remainder of the half was played by Meath with a man down ,14 against 15.
Unlike a bad horse they didn't shit on the traces and battled valiantly to secure a point win.Our boys were mightily impressive,all playing valiantly against the short grass county team who became more dominant as the game progressed.
The tackling was tough and uncompromising and this suited our boys as we do not rear lads with pull back in Dunderry.
And it must be said that both teams put on a top class display on the skills of hurling and the bravery needed to properly display these skills.
Kildare can feel hard done by to lose by a point but it is their own fault as they missed enough scorable chances to win the game.
Meath can feel well pleased with weathering the storm and their selectors never panicked.
Good day for Meath.Great day for Dunderry Hurling.
The large crowd was choc a bloc with the fanatic hurling heads that populate the county ,a breed unto themselves.
I know that my focus is limited soley to how r the Dunderry lads played but there you are.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Shooting fish in a barrell.
Gaza strip is the most densely populated state in the world.It is held in a vice like grip on all sides by the States of Israel and Egypt,which totally controls the ingress and egress of all goods,services and people and has overwhelmimgly superior forces in military ,economic and naval resources.Nearly every nation in the world colluded in snatching the lands of the Palestinians from them after the self same nations mostly stood idly by and let Hitler and his Nazi machine terrorise the world's Jews and murder over six million of them and uproot many millions more from their homelands and let them resettle in the lands of the Palestinians.
Now the State of Israel is murdering daily the descendants of those Palestinians whose lands they stole.Tens of thousands of bombs are being dropped in the most densely populated area of the world.Men,women and children are legitimate fish for shooting in this packed barrel of humanity. The Jews are perpetrating on the Palestinians the same inhumanities that the Germans perpetrates on the Jews 75 years ago.
IN this they are totally unrestrained and have carte blanche from the most useless American President ever, Barrack Obama and his sidekick Hillary Clinton,the ultimate cowards,who operate drones from the full safety of distant enforced bunkers and who have the deaths of millions of innocent Afgans,Iraqies,Palestinians,Pakistanies and others too numerous to count on their stained souls.
The United Nations .more interested in persecuting octogenarian nuns at the behest of spoiled elitist girleens privately educated in luxury by nuns actually and trying to enforce the genocide of the most defenceless part of humanity,the unborrn,are like tits on a bull ,totally useless also and are the emptiest of empty barrels ,fit only for making hollow noises.
They should embark in block to Gaza and live there for the duration of the organised murders and show some modicum of bravery.Not bleeding Leakey.Their most active organ is their tongues.
Obam and Clinton ,having fucked up permanently those spots of the world where they did intervene clearly value certain races over others.
Lives lost over Ukraine are clearly more valuable than those lost o in Gaza.They are greatly exercised in goading European to get tough with Russia.That is they want Europe to go to war with Russia and fuck up Europe like thy fucked up the rest of the world.They can then twiddle with the controls of the distant drones they own ,safe in the knowledge that ,as in all things they interfere in ,they are far enough away to assure safety for their own citizens.
Of course the persecution and murder of the Christians in the quagmire they left in Iraq around Mosul is of no concern to them compared to the optics of squaring up to a bully of equal status in Russia and undoubtedly many Christians will be murdered and they6 will shrug indifference.
And the Times and Irish Independent and the electronic media will continue to spew it feminist anti Catholic bias at very opportunity in order to further undermine Catholicism thereby making more acceptable the murder of their Christian brethern in the mid and far East and worldwide.
The Devil is on the march and he has many disciples.Lest we forget.
Now the State of Israel is murdering daily the descendants of those Palestinians whose lands they stole.Tens of thousands of bombs are being dropped in the most densely populated area of the world.Men,women and children are legitimate fish for shooting in this packed barrel of humanity. The Jews are perpetrating on the Palestinians the same inhumanities that the Germans perpetrates on the Jews 75 years ago.
IN this they are totally unrestrained and have carte blanche from the most useless American President ever, Barrack Obama and his sidekick Hillary Clinton,the ultimate cowards,who operate drones from the full safety of distant enforced bunkers and who have the deaths of millions of innocent Afgans,Iraqies,Palestinians,Pakistanies and others too numerous to count on their stained souls.
The United Nations .more interested in persecuting octogenarian nuns at the behest of spoiled elitist girleens privately educated in luxury by nuns actually and trying to enforce the genocide of the most defenceless part of humanity,the unborrn,are like tits on a bull ,totally useless also and are the emptiest of empty barrels ,fit only for making hollow noises.
They should embark in block to Gaza and live there for the duration of the organised murders and show some modicum of bravery.Not bleeding Leakey.Their most active organ is their tongues.
Obam and Clinton ,having fucked up permanently those spots of the world where they did intervene clearly value certain races over others.
Lives lost over Ukraine are clearly more valuable than those lost o in Gaza.They are greatly exercised in goading European to get tough with Russia.That is they want Europe to go to war with Russia and fuck up Europe like thy fucked up the rest of the world.They can then twiddle with the controls of the distant drones they own ,safe in the knowledge that ,as in all things they interfere in ,they are far enough away to assure safety for their own citizens.
Of course the persecution and murder of the Christians in the quagmire they left in Iraq around Mosul is of no concern to them compared to the optics of squaring up to a bully of equal status in Russia and undoubtedly many Christians will be murdered and they6 will shrug indifference.
And the Times and Irish Independent and the electronic media will continue to spew it feminist anti Catholic bias at very opportunity in order to further undermine Catholicism thereby making more acceptable the murder of their Christian brethern in the mid and far East and worldwide.
The Devil is on the march and he has many disciples.Lest we forget.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Paddy Reilly from Kingscourt and Birmingham
Mrs Paddy Conway from this parish is a longtime friend of ours.She is also Phyllis Reilly from Kingscourt.We were talking yesterday evening at the Blessing of the graves in Churchtown when she mentioned that her brother Paddy who lives in Birmingham is a regular reader of this Blog.
Well Paddy I offer you a big Hello and am delighted to know that such a discerning person as yourself is a reader of my musings and am also delighted to know that you are familiar with the names of all the cemeteries in the parish.
Fair dues and long life mo Chara.
Well Paddy I offer you a big Hello and am delighted to know that such a discerning person as yourself is a reader of my musings and am also delighted to know that you are familiar with the names of all the cemeteries in the parish.
Fair dues and long life mo Chara.
Respectful Silence.Dunderry V Balllinlough .A League .15/07/2014.
In the run up to and the aftermath of Robert's death I've been hugely distracted and remiss in writing my blog and in other areas of activity.I have much to address in the foreseeable future if God spares me and a few articles are cooking and a few matches remain to be reported on including the football match against Kilmainham where Davy Mac had his jaw broken by a sleeven punch and is out of work since as a consequence.
But yesterday evening we played Ballonlough in the A League in Dunderry.They are at the top of the division and we linger near the bottom.We can do without being demoted as that most definitely would not be progress.
Over the years we have developed a fierce football rivalry with Bllinlough.We are both rural parishes fighting as best we can the twin plights of emigration and unemployment.We both have GAA Clubs to the fore in these fights and in developing facilities for the benefit of members.We both are punching above our weight in football terms are are minnows trying to earn the right to compete with the mostly townie sharks of senior football and hurling (Kilskyre in the case f Ballinlough Parish ).We both have fanatical supporters.And despite the fierce games rivalry we respect each other and value all that is best in the tradition of the Gaels.
It came as no a shock therefor that my Club Dunderry and Robert's Club Ballinlough ,should have held a minutes silence before the throw in to honour Robert's passing.This respectful gesture was planned without any input from me and is a mark of the type of great Gaels that still flourish in both Parishes.I am very grateful and somewhat gobsmacked by the gesture.Thanks all round.
We lined out as follows.
Jennings
A.Newman S.Harte Stefan Clarke
C.Dempsey E.Stephens M.Garry
Bomber Farrell O.Shea
A.Watters Luke Martyn M.Kane
Bob Doherty P.Kenneally D.Clarke(Swiss )
From the start the game was played at a fast pace with both teams employing a short running game involving a lot of short fisted passes with the very occasional long delivery into the full forwarsd line.Swiss operated as a third midfielder bringing the number 2 from Ballinlough with him out the field and leaving Bob and Paddy in the full forward line.We had the advantage of a strong wind behind us and knocked off seven points to their 1-4 in an entertaining first half .Their goal was a direct result of a bad pass from one of our players and we were lucky to get away with only the one goal against as a few intended passes went astray.Our scorer in chief ,as he has been these last few matches was Paddy Kenneally who is deadly both from play and frees at the moment.It is noticeable that some of our forwards lack the belief in themselves to have a go for points when well positioned to do so as they pass the responsibility on to someone else when more favourably positioned.We could possibly have gone in three up and this would have better reflected the half hours play.
Swiss and O'Shea were withdrawn through injury and concussion respectively during the interval and Teddie and Liam Dempsey introduced.
I was kind of expecting an onslaught from the now wind backed Ballinlough team in the second half but for the first 20 minutes we held our own and more ,taking the game to them and actually leading for the first fifteen.Paddy remained our main scoring threat and continued to deliver ,but Ballinlough kept in touch all the time and it became glaringly obvious that we have some weaknesses at present that are not sustainable if we are to make progress.Thea selectors are astute judges and I am full certain that they have well noted them and are hatching plans to rectify them.And will succeed.
Howecer goals win matches and they inevitably did goal and immediate tacked on a few points to effectively put the match out of reach with about five minutes left.
In fairness's to our guys they kept ploughing away and had a number of goal chances but we just could not pull the trigger to the desired effect.Both teams were awarded scored penalties which took the mean look out of our score,which was 1-11 tBallinlough's 3-9,a defeat by 5 points,a point short of the two goals from play scored by Balinlough.
We miss Coogan,we miss Davy Mac,e miss Simon.
Some lads are bursting themselves but others need to tighten up and play with more urgency.
I was in Churchtown for the Blessing of the graves beforehand and didn't have time to gather up the tools of this trade and record the scorers in more detail l.
Mea Culpa.
But yesterday evening we played Ballonlough in the A League in Dunderry.They are at the top of the division and we linger near the bottom.We can do without being demoted as that most definitely would not be progress.
Over the years we have developed a fierce football rivalry with Bllinlough.We are both rural parishes fighting as best we can the twin plights of emigration and unemployment.We both have GAA Clubs to the fore in these fights and in developing facilities for the benefit of members.We both are punching above our weight in football terms are are minnows trying to earn the right to compete with the mostly townie sharks of senior football and hurling (Kilskyre in the case f Ballinlough Parish ).We both have fanatical supporters.And despite the fierce games rivalry we respect each other and value all that is best in the tradition of the Gaels.
It came as no a shock therefor that my Club Dunderry and Robert's Club Ballinlough ,should have held a minutes silence before the throw in to honour Robert's passing.This respectful gesture was planned without any input from me and is a mark of the type of great Gaels that still flourish in both Parishes.I am very grateful and somewhat gobsmacked by the gesture.Thanks all round.
We lined out as follows.
Jennings
A.Newman S.Harte Stefan Clarke
C.Dempsey E.Stephens M.Garry
Bomber Farrell O.Shea
A.Watters Luke Martyn M.Kane
Bob Doherty P.Kenneally D.Clarke(Swiss )
From the start the game was played at a fast pace with both teams employing a short running game involving a lot of short fisted passes with the very occasional long delivery into the full forwarsd line.Swiss operated as a third midfielder bringing the number 2 from Ballinlough with him out the field and leaving Bob and Paddy in the full forward line.We had the advantage of a strong wind behind us and knocked off seven points to their 1-4 in an entertaining first half .Their goal was a direct result of a bad pass from one of our players and we were lucky to get away with only the one goal against as a few intended passes went astray.Our scorer in chief ,as he has been these last few matches was Paddy Kenneally who is deadly both from play and frees at the moment.It is noticeable that some of our forwards lack the belief in themselves to have a go for points when well positioned to do so as they pass the responsibility on to someone else when more favourably positioned.We could possibly have gone in three up and this would have better reflected the half hours play.
Swiss and O'Shea were withdrawn through injury and concussion respectively during the interval and Teddie and Liam Dempsey introduced.
I was kind of expecting an onslaught from the now wind backed Ballinlough team in the second half but for the first 20 minutes we held our own and more ,taking the game to them and actually leading for the first fifteen.Paddy remained our main scoring threat and continued to deliver ,but Ballinlough kept in touch all the time and it became glaringly obvious that we have some weaknesses at present that are not sustainable if we are to make progress.Thea selectors are astute judges and I am full certain that they have well noted them and are hatching plans to rectify them.And will succeed.
Howecer goals win matches and they inevitably did goal and immediate tacked on a few points to effectively put the match out of reach with about five minutes left.
In fairness's to our guys they kept ploughing away and had a number of goal chances but we just could not pull the trigger to the desired effect.Both teams were awarded scored penalties which took the mean look out of our score,which was 1-11 tBallinlough's 3-9,a defeat by 5 points,a point short of the two goals from play scored by Balinlough.
We miss Coogan,we miss Davy Mac,e miss Simon.
Some lads are bursting themselves but others need to tighten up and play with more urgency.
I was in Churchtown for the Blessing of the graves beforehand and didn't have time to gather up the tools of this trade and record the scorers in more detail l.
Mea Culpa.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Dunderry Grave Blessings 2014 Dunderrry
12/07/2014:After 7.30 a.m.Vigil Mass Dunderry.
13/07/2014:After 11.00 a.m.Mass Dunderry.
15/07/2014:7.30 p.m.Churchtown.
16/07/2014: 7.30. p.m.Retaine.
17/07/2014:7.30 p.m.Claddy.
17/07/2014:8.00 p.m. Kilcooley.
20/07/2014. Following 7.00 p.m.Mass Moymet.
22/07/2014:7.30 p.m.Tullaghanogue.
23/07/2014.:7.30 p.m. Blackchurch..
13/07/2014:After 11.00 a.m.Mass Dunderry.
15/07/2014:7.30 p.m.Churchtown.
16/07/2014: 7.30. p.m.Retaine.
17/07/2014:7.30 p.m.Claddy.
17/07/2014:8.00 p.m. Kilcooley.
20/07/2014. Following 7.00 p.m.Mass Moymet.
22/07/2014:7.30 p.m.Tullaghanogue.
23/07/2014.:7.30 p.m. Blackchurch..
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Tribute to Robert Stephens.ob.23/06/2014
There were nine of us.Now there are eight.There were seven boys and two girls.Now thee are six boys and two girls.I was the eldest.Robert was next.He was sixty in February gone by.I will be sixty three in August.I never thought he would pass over before me,but he did.Strange indeed are the ways of the Lord.I am devastated.I am not alone in this..Barring a period of six months in the latter end of his life we were lifelong friends and sounding boards and confidantes for each other.We always kept in touch.
And the lapse in friendship for that six months was caused by my concern for his well being,although he didn't see it that way.We reconciled a month before God took him and well and truly buried the hatchet.
In the end his death was a welcome relief as the physical and mental suffering he endured for far too long came to a conclusion,for which I for one fervently prayed.
Robert was the only true Meath man of our siblings.My mother Peggy Mac Cormack was living in the Curragh boreen with her people when she went into Labour and was rushed beside a Parish Priest's Hat by Mattie (The Buller) Rodgers to Holles Street hospital to give birth.(Every car Mattie owned had a Parish Priest's hat in the back seat to emphasise the care lavished on the car and enhance the resale value).
He was Christened in Saint Andrew's Church on the way home from Hospital to the Curragh Boreen.Soon afterwards we all moved to a house in 4 Tolka View,Blanchardstown where we were reared and from which we were all born,save myself who was born in Wales before my parents returned here with me as a baby and Robert.
Nine of us were reared in that house,which until I was sixteen years old had only two bed rooms,.one occupied by our parents and current infant and another by all the other kids,the girls having one bed and the lads having the others.I well remember sleeping four to the bed ,two at the head of the bed and two at the foot of the bed and reducing to a mere two ,myself and Robert,when Tommy Mac Cormack ,Pat Rattigan and Paddy O Gorman extended the house by two half bedrooms at the time when Mammy went to give birth to Barbara our youngest sister.( I had at sixteen years of age no idea that she was even pregnant at the time,a contrast with later times when sixteen year olds were miser by far.)
We got a fierce shock but were delighted when Mammy landed home with a new sister.
All the while at twelve years of age my sister Kathleen cooked and catered for the full family and the builders.Some lassie.
The Mac Cormacks of Dunderry were GAA fanatics ,My grandfather Paddy (auld Mac) and his brothers having played with the club and when we were holidaying here every summer as youngsters our uncle Tommy, who was Club Chairman for decades, immersed us fully in the ethos of the GAA.Joe an uncle was still playing at the time ,cap and all .and I remember many , many matches in Geraghty's field where we went to see Joe playing.Harry Lee,who worked with Horans,was a great man to hold his own in a row,I well remember.Paddy Mac Cormack another uncle who had retired from football at the time having given a lifetimes service as a player and mentor. .
In those pre electric and pre T.V. days in their house ( I think that it was only in the early sixties that electricity arrived here,my father wiring the house ),evenings were spent discussing the politics of the day,the prices of cattle and sheep and hurling and football by the light of the oil lamp.The discussions were animated and all joined in and indeed many's the person called to the door and hearing the loud voices took off again for fear that murder would result.Of course it didn't but discussion was fierce and no holds were barred.
All the time we had a football and were playing at every opportunity.And Joe and Tommy joined in.And in those pre tractor days the paddocks in front of the house were pristine and every evening we had matches ,joined by cousins Noel and Michael and Tommy Dowd and Pete Conaty and the Garrys and the Healys ,fierce and furious as we imagined playing in the showgrounds in Navan and Croke Park.And many did subsequently
Robert wsa big for his age and owned the ball.If he was bet too often he would appropriate it and make off with it , a habit he soon dropped under threat of a fierce beating.He was good even at that tender age.And our sporting education gathered pace,Robert developing into that scarce creature ,a player who could kick left and right and punch over the bar.And because of his size unbulliable by his peers.
Tommy fashioned our first hurleys with a spokes shave and broken bottles and introduced us to the game of hurling.He had a prodigious memory and he bought us our first bicycles.
In Blanchardstown too our sporting education developed under the tutelage of Paddy Murray in the National School who equally promoted Hurling and Football.Robert was outstanding in Schools football and hurling and as an aside developed a fierce interest in athletics .He used clean up in the annual sports held in the Priest's Field in Blanch winning medals for races of all distance,.He won them by the bucket full,a feat repeated in Croke Park in the Cumann na Bunschoil sports days.
I wasn't great to run myself having butty legs( my grandfather Christened me the "Butt of Oak") but ironically given his huge height advantage could best him at the hurdles and high jump where I had some limited success in the sports in Blanch and Croker ,but nothing compared to him.
WE joined St. Brigids GAA Club at the behest of Frank Russell when I was ten and all our siblings joined up in due course.
Robert was better than most at the athletics and even thiough he ran bare footed was rarely beaten.Larry Ginnell,God rest him ,kept at him to keep it up and he did with good success ,but as we had no car at home and were depending on other car owning parents for lifts didn't get to as many races as we wished.I well remember passing Fairyhiouse race course with him and another group of pals on a Sunday bicycle spin and gazing at a local competitor ,who Robert always had the measure of and who had said he was not driving to those races, passing the winning tape.That ended his athletics career and his sporting focus was totally on the hurling and football.
We both kicked senior football at sixteen years of age with Brigids.We instinctively knew where each other was lurking with intent..Robert was a good man to score even at that age and came in for special attention from certain opponents.while still a youngster.He had his jaw broken and eye socket fractured in a Senior League match against Saint Marys of Saggart .He spent a fair while in Hospital drinking through a straw but remounted the horse as it were as soon as possible and was back kicking football fairly soon as brave as ever.
Himself and myself were youngsters coming onto a mature team which included a number of inter county football players ,including Dublin players Paddy Downey,Mattie Keane,Westmeath players Davy Nolan,John Galvin and the emerging Pat and Joe O Neill ,who transferred at an early age to UCD and Civil Service, unfortunately for the Club..
I was told by Davy at Roberts funeral that the team never reached its potential because it didn't realise how good it was and didn't apply itself properly,
We stayed loyal and kept kicking football and all my siblings joined up as their time came.
I saw Robert kicking 1-8 in a final minor Dublin trial and failing to make the cut.Brigids had absolutely no pull whatsoever at County level in those days.You had to be twice as good as the big club men to get even a look in.
Robert and the rest of us soldiered along together until the late 1980s with Brigids at Senior and latterly Intermediate level until c.1988 when there was a falling out with my siblings and the Club which resulted in their acrimonious departure.
I had the honour of captaining an intermediate football team to a championships win in 1980 and Robert starred at full forward.Martin ,Cecil and Benji our brothers also figured. I was inclined to be more a committee man than Robert ,serving in every position except Treasurer and having emigrated to Dunderry in 1986 was not involved in the dispute.As a family we had over a combined century of service to the Club under our belts and it was a sad way to end the connection.Our mother and indeed myself ,who had encouraged partticipation in the Club were particularly heartbroken.
Robert too was disappointed ,particularly as he had declined to transfer to Plunketts in the early 1970.s when approached and told that his Dublin chances would be greatly enhanced were he to transfer there.I was approached myself by Scoil O Conaill to transfer and declined also.
Life goes on however and my brothers and Robert resurrected Erin go Brath ,an extinct club from Clonsilla /Westmanstown ,initially in the Drumheath area and via Porterstown to Littlepace where it now thrives at all levels ,providing sporting outlet for both males and females,adults and children.
Robert was instrumental in securing a grant for a concrete base for a forty foot adapted container for a pitch they used have adjacent to Mulhuddart graveyard in order for the kids to tog out.But there were some local elements who did not want them there at all,who I don't know.I saw with my own eyes youngsters deliberately ride their horses across the pitch when matches were in progress and some person or persons went to the trouble of using an angle grinder to hole the container and pour petrol into it and torch it.That was the final straw in the efforts to promote the game in that location and they moved to Porterstown and then Littlepace as outlined above.I am aware that he and the other volunteers bought basis gear for many children who could not afford it,more often than not from their own pockets.
Robert also plied his football trade with Dunderry transferring here in 1970 and winning an Intermediate Championship medal in 1970.In 1969 he starred at midfield alongside John Lynch in an under 16 football final against Kilcloon.I think that Tommy Garry,Michael Mc Cormack,Pat Cregan (RIP),Mc Ging from EAskaroon (RIP) were also on that team but stand to be corrected.
On the sad break up of his marriage a quarter century ago,which weighed very heavy on him Robert moved with his son Robert junior to Ballinlough .Kells,Co.Meath ,where he threw his lot in with the local GAA Club,graduating to the post of Chairman for a period of years.As I well know ,because he often discussed it with me ,he got involved in team management at juvenile and adult level and wrestled,as all good Chairmen do ,with fund raising and completing the deal on the shortage or excess of inter county tickets secured for Inter county matches.Many's the time we in Dunderry came to his aid in the latter comparttment.
IT was hard to rise Robert on the football field but even he at times reached his limit ..As he reached the end of his career at football he slowed down and put some weight on.Another younger brother was a coming star and played further out the field.He had the habit of beating several opponents before parting with the ball..by which stage the intended beneficiary of his passingly would be well marked and the pass,delivered under pressure ,far from accurate.
He was told to part with the ball immediately and deliver it accurately to Robert ,our scorer in chief,in a particular match,an instruction that went unheeded,as he persisted in beating the same men twice or three times before letting the ball go,usually out of reach of the overweight Robert.Unsavoury banter ensued with Robert being at the butt of it,being called a fat /slow/unfit ..... or words to that effect.
This went on for about twenty minutes when miracously the younger brother won the ball well out the field and a corridor opened up between him and Robert at the edge of the square.The younger made a direct beeline towards the elder who ran out to meet him.As they came closer the younger passed the ball to Rob,who let it over his shoulder and kept on running until he drew level with the younger.Rob levelled him with a hay maker on the chin and said over a prostrate brother "Now who is a fat ..... ? The ref had some laugh and said words to the effect that although he had never seen the likes that it was fully merited.
On a more serious note we were only ever sent off once in either football or hurling in our sporting lives.It happened in a football match against Innisfails in Balgriffin.Eddie Melvin was midfield and I was centre back.Rob was in the forwards.Melvin got a sneaky punch on the head from behind and squared up.My immediate opponent took off and landed another from behind on an occupied Eddie.I was on his shoulder ,tapped it,planted him and the row and the ruction soon began.Myself and Robert ended up back to back at the foot of a goalpost surrounded by a horde of Innisfails players defending ourselves for dear life.When sanity returned we got line.Two weeks each I remember.Melvin walked free.
In all our years playing with the national school,with Brunner where we received our scholarshup funded secondary education and with Brigids and Ballinlough for him and Dunderry for me and in all the Civil Service competitions organised by Tom Woulfe were we were never ever sent off.And we played plenty and were well able to mix it if mixing was the order of the day.
HE didn't take to hurling as much as I did.I played with Eoghan Ruadh and New Irelands when Brigids had no team ,but when we resurrected Hurling in Brigids in the early seventies entering a junior hurling team he did line out in the first match against Lucan Sarsfields in Lucan.I was full forward and he forty yards.We were the babies of a seasoned team .
When I went into the square the full back,a seasoned and huge Garda Seargant grabbed me by the arm,escorted me to the twenty yard line,drew an imaginary line in it with the hurl and threatened to skin me if I crossed it at any stage during the match.Out I went to Rob,had a quiet word and asked him to let in any ball he could along the ground.In due course he did,I got out in front of the full back first to the ball and he came from behind threatening hell and damnation.I let the ball pass me and as it did turned and pulled ,making a perfect connection with it and an in rushing full bully.After that he played hurling.Well done Rob.
Rob did play junior footballs for the Dubs and both he and I were selected for a Divisional team picked from all the junior and intermediate clubs in Dublin to compete in the Senior Championship.I was fortunate enough to be captain and I remember that Paddy Cullen was in goal.We were beat in the first round.
His other sporting interests were greyhound raving and horse racing.One dog he owned called Rodeen Tiger was trained by his great friend Tom Lynch and won a straight eight consecutive races before being promoted to his level of incompetence ( as everyone is eventually ) and entering a losing run .I travelled with him all over Leinster those times and gin and tonics on the run and cigars were the order of the day for the good times.Of course as s conscientious citizens we often stayed away over night to avoid the temptation of drink driving.Model citizens.
He also enquired a share in a horse at one stage.It was useless.He did get a chance to savour the thrill of the owners enclosure when Dundoire won an exciting race in Cheltenham and he gained entrance to the owners bar,He often told me that he thoroughly enjoyed that experience,Tom Lynch and his wife,his sister Mary and Willie Hyland,all doggie people were at his funeral Mass.He thought a lot of them.In fact he often reminisced about the days of his early twenties ,when the height of sophistication was to go to Phibsboro for a basket of Kentucky Fried chicken with Tom Lynch ,drive out to meet Dick Barron with his mobile chipper outside the old Morgan Schools to stock up further on the essentials and eat up in the car to the sounds of the then pop hits,.
We played a bit of soccer too in the soccer pitch art the back of the Greyhound bar which the Cleary's had leased to Beggsboro.Nothing formal mind you but fierce competitive never the less.We used also have fierce competitive against Brigids and Patricks Park on the green in front of Duckie O Briens on Mill Lane.Our team would be Tolka View,Herbert Road and Main Street.No prisoners taken.
I worked in the Estate Duty Office for many years and used enter a team in the Civil Service Soccer Cup and Leagues.Mostly bangers from Brigids and Blanchardstrown and few fellow civil servants.We often beat teams heavy with League of Ireland soccer players.Robert ,Johnny Carr,Ray Carty,the Brennans ,Mattie Keane,Paul Bitzell sprin.g to a fading mind,These guys all showed up at the funeral.
And the families we were reared beside,the 10 Byrne kids and the 5 Mac Donnell kids and the 6 Carrs from Mulhuddart ,who spent most of their time in "Uncle Sean's and "Auntie Carmels "on the Main Street and their cousins the Fagans next door,Foxy ,Chew (Tony) and Pauler were there in numbers.
And uncle Sean Byrne at 93 years young was in attendance too.
And nearly all the members of the football team of 1980 showed their respects.I hadn't seen John Byrne since then but he showed and Aidan English and Dec Egan and Doyler from Doonbeg and all the Wades and Brennans and the three Hegarty brothers and Ben Dempsey and Liam Keating and Pat Roche .Mattie Keane and Ownie Carroll and Georgie Kelly and Frank and Tricia and Davy Nolan and namesake Gerry and George Maybury,and Willie and Patsi and Tommy Phelan And Jem Mansfield and Ellis and Red Ponyton and Norbert and Gerry Fitzpatrick and young Power and his spouse Devanney. Sheila Hughes,Gerry Franey,Gilbert Messerman,Ciaran Williamson and Mattie Keane and Walter Corcoran.And Kilmesssan People and Ballinlough people and KIlmainham people and Erin go Brath people and Eoghan Ruadh people and a huge crowd from Dunderry GAA and all the neigbours from Dunderry and all the Mac Cormacks and the Mallons and Hartes.The two Patricks CArroll and O Reilly.And I know I have left out a host of others .And Declan sang Tim Finnegans Wake in his honour in the Vineyard afterwards.His favourite Irish song.And with these guys the years just melted away in the Vineyard.Still formidable men with an appreciative eye,God bless them.
Robert went to school at three years of age.He wasn't over keen and had to be frogmarched there at the start but soon came to tolerate it as most of us did in those corporal punishment days.The bane of all our lives was a teacher called Gallagher who was a pure bollix and who hammered the hands from generations of pupils under his charge. He eventually got his just desserts Thank God and few would have anything good to say about him '
But we had one gem in our day in Paddy Murray who taught 5th and 6th class in our time in School and used to come in and teach us free gratis and on his own time each Saturday for 4 hours inter to help us pass the County Council Scholarship and enable us to get to Seconds School which were all fee paying then and way beyond the reach of nearly every pupil in Blanch.
When I hear various educationalists nowadays belittling the Primary Cert as a low status exam my blood boils.Millions of pupils in my day and before were proud as punch to have it and made better citizens than these condescending snobs can ever aspire to.
Robert got the Scholarship and joined me in Brunner.He was in a heap sitting his Inter Cert and went down narrowly in one subject and was deemed to have failed the lot,which meant he lost the Scholarship,a serious turn in events.He went to the docks to consider his options but thankfully came home to face the music.Mammy and Daddy made light of his results and paid for him to go on to the Leaving Cert which he flew through no problem.My mother was a feisty woman and was called by Buller Brennan to the school to discuss his post Inter Cert results.He cut to the chase and made the mistake of suggesting to her that he should apply to be a bus conductor.Not that there was anything wrong with being a bus conductor,but the ma had loftier ambitions and gave Buller a fierce dressing down.
Afterwards Robert ,when in the throes of legal confusion with an apparently insoluble problem,often remarked to me half in jest that it was a pity he didn't take Bullers advice.
He sat his Leaving Cert in due course and passed but without enough honours to gain entrance to UCD to sit his BCL where he wanted to study law.mainly because I was dabbling in studying it and had the Books and he could save on the price of them.He didn't get enough honours and enrolled in Mount Street Tech to repeat certain subjects and get enough honours.Which he did.
But first he had to earn the fees and enough to keep himself for the following year.So off the England with himself and Pat Sheehan a good school friend to garner the mullah.They worked at the buildings and he got a job as a bank clerk. And something I have never disclosed before, they landed home to me for a weeks holiday without anyone else knowing.Frank O Driscoll ,a work mate and brother of the late poet Dennis O Driscoll put them up for a few days in his flat and they spent a week thimbling around Leinster having a good time.
I remember Robert telling me that the Bank sent him on courses to advance himself and he was tempted to stay there and rang the DA to see what he thought.The DA was straight to the point and said "There is not a sniff of a job here.Stay the f...where you are and have a decent life .
But home he came and studied hard and got his BCL.
Those times many Solicitors charged would be apprentices a substantial fee to become apprenticed.Neither Robert nor anyone in our family had the money for such a thing.Through a contact of Kathleen our sister a meeting was arranged with a Meath legal legend in Teach Scurlog in Trim to see what could be done.I drove Robert to that meeting on a Honda ninety motor bike and sat in on the meeting.It went well and the luminary put him in touch with Seamus Maguire in Blanchardstown who apprenticed him no bother.Seamus was good to Robert and Robert to Seamus.In due course he qualified and shortly after qualifying himself and Padaig Power set up in partnership in Dunboyne and afterwards in Blanchardstown where they soldered together for many years until about five years ago when Padraig retired and Robert continued in practise on his own.My wife#s sister Lucy was with him as Secretary to the very last.Padraig and Seamus remained firm and supportive friends to Robert the very end and he and Padraig were often the very best of social buddies as well.
A man's social life is a dangerous place to dwell on..He married Marion Levin's in 1982 I thinkThey were married within a few days of the unexpected death of our father Dewi at the early age of 52 years.Our dad's mother was alive at the time and was unable to attend the funeral of her son,so unselfishilyy totally they went to her for the honeymoon and to try and console her,I had the pleasure of going down to Rosslare with thm to get the boat to Fishguard ,minding the car during their holiday and driving to meet them from the boat in the same car.To say the least he was not pleased with the vehicle on his return.
They settled first in Huntstown,Mulhuddart and afterwards in Roselawn View ,Castleknock where he evevtually died'.Robert Junior was born to great jubilation in due course and was the joy of his parents .When Rob was about seven unhappy differences arose between husband and wife and they separated,Rob moving to Ballinlough where he spent the last quarter century of his life and where Junior was reared thereafter.
For the last sixteen years of his life Margaret Mac Donald,was his life partner and she nursed him through the most sickening effects of the various treatments he recieved to alleviate the twin cancers he suffered.
About seven years ago cancer of his tongue and neck was diagnosed.He received surgery of his neck and nodes followed by chemo and radiation treatment.He was in the clear thankfully for a few years until it re emerged in his lung.Despite more chemotherapy again and the bravest and most wilful of battles of battles he succumbed eventually last week in Roselawn View .
The cancers destroyed him physically and mentally in the end.They pitted him in the depths of despair,the elation of false hope the dungeons of lost hope and the treatments he endured along the way destroyed his health.
He was a brave and stubborn man who tried mightily till the very end to keep going job wise and socially .
He did inform me in one of the few moments we had alone a few weeks before his death that the doctors had told him that there was no hope for him.This totally floored him.and hope flew out the window.
He kept information very much to himself and certainly never told me the imminence of his demise.The rapid deteriotaion of his body the last few weeks of his life told its own story however and one didn't need a medical report to know his time was short.
He died of a Monday.I last saw him on the previous Sunday morning and he was struggling with a renewed infection of his lungs.My last words to him were was he comfortable and if not where hurt.He pointed to his chest and remedial action was immediately taken to relieve his discomfort.
Although separated from his wife fora quarter century he never divorced .He was a traditional Catholic in this regard and I had the sad chance to say an Act of Contrition in his ear when alone with him and at his request.He had Communion and the Last Rites before he died .I am glad.
I am satisfied he could not have been better minded in his run up to death .The twice daily visits of nursing staff and the continuous presence of pallative staff was of the highest order and nothing was left to chance.
Robert had many highs in his life with a variety of people and equally suffered a series of lows.He was lucky some of the time and unlucky other times.
At all times and through thick and thine loved his son Robert Junior totally and unconditionally.
He was actuially adored by a number of people and liked totally by a huge number of people a fact attested to by the huge turnout at his funeral.
Due to a mix up with dates the singers originally hired to perform at his funeral Mass could not attend.An organist and famous tenor called Damian Mac Gorian was hijacked by our Aoife on the way to perform in the Aras .
I can see Robert in my mind's eye saying of the falling through of the original singer "breurtal " and of the appearance of the replacement "only the best for the best "with a tweinkle in his eye.
Robert stole the hearts of many and is deeply mourned by them.I loved him and iI am not alone.There is a void in my soul I cannot fill and I am only his brother.There are others more deeply inflicted.
Father Cyril who officiated at his funeral hit the nail on the emotional rollercoaster he rode for the latter years of his life and is the sort of man that makes you proud to be a Catholic.
Those close to him did all thay could and all he allowed them to do for him in his suffering but you always feel you could have done more.
I certainly feel like that and totally regret that we never had the one chance to what that we long ago agreed to do and that was to ,just once,book into a rural hotel ,sample a smoke from each cigarette made and have a tipple feom each drink stocked.Just the once for the hell of it and for old time#s sake.
Slan go Foill mo Chara dilis.
And the lapse in friendship for that six months was caused by my concern for his well being,although he didn't see it that way.We reconciled a month before God took him and well and truly buried the hatchet.
In the end his death was a welcome relief as the physical and mental suffering he endured for far too long came to a conclusion,for which I for one fervently prayed.
Robert was the only true Meath man of our siblings.My mother Peggy Mac Cormack was living in the Curragh boreen with her people when she went into Labour and was rushed beside a Parish Priest's Hat by Mattie (The Buller) Rodgers to Holles Street hospital to give birth.(Every car Mattie owned had a Parish Priest's hat in the back seat to emphasise the care lavished on the car and enhance the resale value).
He was Christened in Saint Andrew's Church on the way home from Hospital to the Curragh Boreen.Soon afterwards we all moved to a house in 4 Tolka View,Blanchardstown where we were reared and from which we were all born,save myself who was born in Wales before my parents returned here with me as a baby and Robert.
Nine of us were reared in that house,which until I was sixteen years old had only two bed rooms,.one occupied by our parents and current infant and another by all the other kids,the girls having one bed and the lads having the others.I well remember sleeping four to the bed ,two at the head of the bed and two at the foot of the bed and reducing to a mere two ,myself and Robert,when Tommy Mac Cormack ,Pat Rattigan and Paddy O Gorman extended the house by two half bedrooms at the time when Mammy went to give birth to Barbara our youngest sister.( I had at sixteen years of age no idea that she was even pregnant at the time,a contrast with later times when sixteen year olds were miser by far.)
We got a fierce shock but were delighted when Mammy landed home with a new sister.
All the while at twelve years of age my sister Kathleen cooked and catered for the full family and the builders.Some lassie.
The Mac Cormacks of Dunderry were GAA fanatics ,My grandfather Paddy (auld Mac) and his brothers having played with the club and when we were holidaying here every summer as youngsters our uncle Tommy, who was Club Chairman for decades, immersed us fully in the ethos of the GAA.Joe an uncle was still playing at the time ,cap and all .and I remember many , many matches in Geraghty's field where we went to see Joe playing.Harry Lee,who worked with Horans,was a great man to hold his own in a row,I well remember.Paddy Mac Cormack another uncle who had retired from football at the time having given a lifetimes service as a player and mentor. .
In those pre electric and pre T.V. days in their house ( I think that it was only in the early sixties that electricity arrived here,my father wiring the house ),evenings were spent discussing the politics of the day,the prices of cattle and sheep and hurling and football by the light of the oil lamp.The discussions were animated and all joined in and indeed many's the person called to the door and hearing the loud voices took off again for fear that murder would result.Of course it didn't but discussion was fierce and no holds were barred.
All the time we had a football and were playing at every opportunity.And Joe and Tommy joined in.And in those pre tractor days the paddocks in front of the house were pristine and every evening we had matches ,joined by cousins Noel and Michael and Tommy Dowd and Pete Conaty and the Garrys and the Healys ,fierce and furious as we imagined playing in the showgrounds in Navan and Croke Park.And many did subsequently
Robert wsa big for his age and owned the ball.If he was bet too often he would appropriate it and make off with it , a habit he soon dropped under threat of a fierce beating.He was good even at that tender age.And our sporting education gathered pace,Robert developing into that scarce creature ,a player who could kick left and right and punch over the bar.And because of his size unbulliable by his peers.
Tommy fashioned our first hurleys with a spokes shave and broken bottles and introduced us to the game of hurling.He had a prodigious memory and he bought us our first bicycles.
In Blanchardstown too our sporting education developed under the tutelage of Paddy Murray in the National School who equally promoted Hurling and Football.Robert was outstanding in Schools football and hurling and as an aside developed a fierce interest in athletics .He used clean up in the annual sports held in the Priest's Field in Blanch winning medals for races of all distance,.He won them by the bucket full,a feat repeated in Croke Park in the Cumann na Bunschoil sports days.
I wasn't great to run myself having butty legs( my grandfather Christened me the "Butt of Oak") but ironically given his huge height advantage could best him at the hurdles and high jump where I had some limited success in the sports in Blanch and Croker ,but nothing compared to him.
WE joined St. Brigids GAA Club at the behest of Frank Russell when I was ten and all our siblings joined up in due course.
Robert was better than most at the athletics and even thiough he ran bare footed was rarely beaten.Larry Ginnell,God rest him ,kept at him to keep it up and he did with good success ,but as we had no car at home and were depending on other car owning parents for lifts didn't get to as many races as we wished.I well remember passing Fairyhiouse race course with him and another group of pals on a Sunday bicycle spin and gazing at a local competitor ,who Robert always had the measure of and who had said he was not driving to those races, passing the winning tape.That ended his athletics career and his sporting focus was totally on the hurling and football.
We both kicked senior football at sixteen years of age with Brigids.We instinctively knew where each other was lurking with intent..Robert was a good man to score even at that age and came in for special attention from certain opponents.while still a youngster.He had his jaw broken and eye socket fractured in a Senior League match against Saint Marys of Saggart .He spent a fair while in Hospital drinking through a straw but remounted the horse as it were as soon as possible and was back kicking football fairly soon as brave as ever.
Himself and myself were youngsters coming onto a mature team which included a number of inter county football players ,including Dublin players Paddy Downey,Mattie Keane,Westmeath players Davy Nolan,John Galvin and the emerging Pat and Joe O Neill ,who transferred at an early age to UCD and Civil Service, unfortunately for the Club..
I was told by Davy at Roberts funeral that the team never reached its potential because it didn't realise how good it was and didn't apply itself properly,
We stayed loyal and kept kicking football and all my siblings joined up as their time came.
I saw Robert kicking 1-8 in a final minor Dublin trial and failing to make the cut.Brigids had absolutely no pull whatsoever at County level in those days.You had to be twice as good as the big club men to get even a look in.
Robert and the rest of us soldiered along together until the late 1980s with Brigids at Senior and latterly Intermediate level until c.1988 when there was a falling out with my siblings and the Club which resulted in their acrimonious departure.
I had the honour of captaining an intermediate football team to a championships win in 1980 and Robert starred at full forward.Martin ,Cecil and Benji our brothers also figured. I was inclined to be more a committee man than Robert ,serving in every position except Treasurer and having emigrated to Dunderry in 1986 was not involved in the dispute.As a family we had over a combined century of service to the Club under our belts and it was a sad way to end the connection.Our mother and indeed myself ,who had encouraged partticipation in the Club were particularly heartbroken.
Robert too was disappointed ,particularly as he had declined to transfer to Plunketts in the early 1970.s when approached and told that his Dublin chances would be greatly enhanced were he to transfer there.I was approached myself by Scoil O Conaill to transfer and declined also.
Life goes on however and my brothers and Robert resurrected Erin go Brath ,an extinct club from Clonsilla /Westmanstown ,initially in the Drumheath area and via Porterstown to Littlepace where it now thrives at all levels ,providing sporting outlet for both males and females,adults and children.
Robert was instrumental in securing a grant for a concrete base for a forty foot adapted container for a pitch they used have adjacent to Mulhuddart graveyard in order for the kids to tog out.But there were some local elements who did not want them there at all,who I don't know.I saw with my own eyes youngsters deliberately ride their horses across the pitch when matches were in progress and some person or persons went to the trouble of using an angle grinder to hole the container and pour petrol into it and torch it.That was the final straw in the efforts to promote the game in that location and they moved to Porterstown and then Littlepace as outlined above.I am aware that he and the other volunteers bought basis gear for many children who could not afford it,more often than not from their own pockets.
Robert also plied his football trade with Dunderry transferring here in 1970 and winning an Intermediate Championship medal in 1970.In 1969 he starred at midfield alongside John Lynch in an under 16 football final against Kilcloon.I think that Tommy Garry,Michael Mc Cormack,Pat Cregan (RIP),Mc Ging from EAskaroon (RIP) were also on that team but stand to be corrected.
On the sad break up of his marriage a quarter century ago,which weighed very heavy on him Robert moved with his son Robert junior to Ballinlough .Kells,Co.Meath ,where he threw his lot in with the local GAA Club,graduating to the post of Chairman for a period of years.As I well know ,because he often discussed it with me ,he got involved in team management at juvenile and adult level and wrestled,as all good Chairmen do ,with fund raising and completing the deal on the shortage or excess of inter county tickets secured for Inter county matches.Many's the time we in Dunderry came to his aid in the latter comparttment.
IT was hard to rise Robert on the football field but even he at times reached his limit ..As he reached the end of his career at football he slowed down and put some weight on.Another younger brother was a coming star and played further out the field.He had the habit of beating several opponents before parting with the ball..by which stage the intended beneficiary of his passingly would be well marked and the pass,delivered under pressure ,far from accurate.
He was told to part with the ball immediately and deliver it accurately to Robert ,our scorer in chief,in a particular match,an instruction that went unheeded,as he persisted in beating the same men twice or three times before letting the ball go,usually out of reach of the overweight Robert.Unsavoury banter ensued with Robert being at the butt of it,being called a fat /slow/unfit ..... or words to that effect.
This went on for about twenty minutes when miracously the younger brother won the ball well out the field and a corridor opened up between him and Robert at the edge of the square.The younger made a direct beeline towards the elder who ran out to meet him.As they came closer the younger passed the ball to Rob,who let it over his shoulder and kept on running until he drew level with the younger.Rob levelled him with a hay maker on the chin and said over a prostrate brother "Now who is a fat ..... ? The ref had some laugh and said words to the effect that although he had never seen the likes that it was fully merited.
On a more serious note we were only ever sent off once in either football or hurling in our sporting lives.It happened in a football match against Innisfails in Balgriffin.Eddie Melvin was midfield and I was centre back.Rob was in the forwards.Melvin got a sneaky punch on the head from behind and squared up.My immediate opponent took off and landed another from behind on an occupied Eddie.I was on his shoulder ,tapped it,planted him and the row and the ruction soon began.Myself and Robert ended up back to back at the foot of a goalpost surrounded by a horde of Innisfails players defending ourselves for dear life.When sanity returned we got line.Two weeks each I remember.Melvin walked free.
In all our years playing with the national school,with Brunner where we received our scholarshup funded secondary education and with Brigids and Ballinlough for him and Dunderry for me and in all the Civil Service competitions organised by Tom Woulfe were we were never ever sent off.And we played plenty and were well able to mix it if mixing was the order of the day.
HE didn't take to hurling as much as I did.I played with Eoghan Ruadh and New Irelands when Brigids had no team ,but when we resurrected Hurling in Brigids in the early seventies entering a junior hurling team he did line out in the first match against Lucan Sarsfields in Lucan.I was full forward and he forty yards.We were the babies of a seasoned team .
When I went into the square the full back,a seasoned and huge Garda Seargant grabbed me by the arm,escorted me to the twenty yard line,drew an imaginary line in it with the hurl and threatened to skin me if I crossed it at any stage during the match.Out I went to Rob,had a quiet word and asked him to let in any ball he could along the ground.In due course he did,I got out in front of the full back first to the ball and he came from behind threatening hell and damnation.I let the ball pass me and as it did turned and pulled ,making a perfect connection with it and an in rushing full bully.After that he played hurling.Well done Rob.
Rob did play junior footballs for the Dubs and both he and I were selected for a Divisional team picked from all the junior and intermediate clubs in Dublin to compete in the Senior Championship.I was fortunate enough to be captain and I remember that Paddy Cullen was in goal.We were beat in the first round.
His other sporting interests were greyhound raving and horse racing.One dog he owned called Rodeen Tiger was trained by his great friend Tom Lynch and won a straight eight consecutive races before being promoted to his level of incompetence ( as everyone is eventually ) and entering a losing run .I travelled with him all over Leinster those times and gin and tonics on the run and cigars were the order of the day for the good times.Of course as s conscientious citizens we often stayed away over night to avoid the temptation of drink driving.Model citizens.
He also enquired a share in a horse at one stage.It was useless.He did get a chance to savour the thrill of the owners enclosure when Dundoire won an exciting race in Cheltenham and he gained entrance to the owners bar,He often told me that he thoroughly enjoyed that experience,Tom Lynch and his wife,his sister Mary and Willie Hyland,all doggie people were at his funeral Mass.He thought a lot of them.In fact he often reminisced about the days of his early twenties ,when the height of sophistication was to go to Phibsboro for a basket of Kentucky Fried chicken with Tom Lynch ,drive out to meet Dick Barron with his mobile chipper outside the old Morgan Schools to stock up further on the essentials and eat up in the car to the sounds of the then pop hits,.
We played a bit of soccer too in the soccer pitch art the back of the Greyhound bar which the Cleary's had leased to Beggsboro.Nothing formal mind you but fierce competitive never the less.We used also have fierce competitive against Brigids and Patricks Park on the green in front of Duckie O Briens on Mill Lane.Our team would be Tolka View,Herbert Road and Main Street.No prisoners taken.
I worked in the Estate Duty Office for many years and used enter a team in the Civil Service Soccer Cup and Leagues.Mostly bangers from Brigids and Blanchardstrown and few fellow civil servants.We often beat teams heavy with League of Ireland soccer players.Robert ,Johnny Carr,Ray Carty,the Brennans ,Mattie Keane,Paul Bitzell sprin.g to a fading mind,These guys all showed up at the funeral.
And the families we were reared beside,the 10 Byrne kids and the 5 Mac Donnell kids and the 6 Carrs from Mulhuddart ,who spent most of their time in "Uncle Sean's and "Auntie Carmels "on the Main Street and their cousins the Fagans next door,Foxy ,Chew (Tony) and Pauler were there in numbers.
And uncle Sean Byrne at 93 years young was in attendance too.
And nearly all the members of the football team of 1980 showed their respects.I hadn't seen John Byrne since then but he showed and Aidan English and Dec Egan and Doyler from Doonbeg and all the Wades and Brennans and the three Hegarty brothers and Ben Dempsey and Liam Keating and Pat Roche .Mattie Keane and Ownie Carroll and Georgie Kelly and Frank and Tricia and Davy Nolan and namesake Gerry and George Maybury,and Willie and Patsi and Tommy Phelan And Jem Mansfield and Ellis and Red Ponyton and Norbert and Gerry Fitzpatrick and young Power and his spouse Devanney. Sheila Hughes,Gerry Franey,Gilbert Messerman,Ciaran Williamson and Mattie Keane and Walter Corcoran.And Kilmesssan People and Ballinlough people and KIlmainham people and Erin go Brath people and Eoghan Ruadh people and a huge crowd from Dunderry GAA and all the neigbours from Dunderry and all the Mac Cormacks and the Mallons and Hartes.The two Patricks CArroll and O Reilly.And I know I have left out a host of others .And Declan sang Tim Finnegans Wake in his honour in the Vineyard afterwards.His favourite Irish song.And with these guys the years just melted away in the Vineyard.Still formidable men with an appreciative eye,God bless them.
Robert went to school at three years of age.He wasn't over keen and had to be frogmarched there at the start but soon came to tolerate it as most of us did in those corporal punishment days.The bane of all our lives was a teacher called Gallagher who was a pure bollix and who hammered the hands from generations of pupils under his charge. He eventually got his just desserts Thank God and few would have anything good to say about him '
But we had one gem in our day in Paddy Murray who taught 5th and 6th class in our time in School and used to come in and teach us free gratis and on his own time each Saturday for 4 hours inter to help us pass the County Council Scholarship and enable us to get to Seconds School which were all fee paying then and way beyond the reach of nearly every pupil in Blanch.
When I hear various educationalists nowadays belittling the Primary Cert as a low status exam my blood boils.Millions of pupils in my day and before were proud as punch to have it and made better citizens than these condescending snobs can ever aspire to.
Robert got the Scholarship and joined me in Brunner.He was in a heap sitting his Inter Cert and went down narrowly in one subject and was deemed to have failed the lot,which meant he lost the Scholarship,a serious turn in events.He went to the docks to consider his options but thankfully came home to face the music.Mammy and Daddy made light of his results and paid for him to go on to the Leaving Cert which he flew through no problem.My mother was a feisty woman and was called by Buller Brennan to the school to discuss his post Inter Cert results.He cut to the chase and made the mistake of suggesting to her that he should apply to be a bus conductor.Not that there was anything wrong with being a bus conductor,but the ma had loftier ambitions and gave Buller a fierce dressing down.
Afterwards Robert ,when in the throes of legal confusion with an apparently insoluble problem,often remarked to me half in jest that it was a pity he didn't take Bullers advice.
He sat his Leaving Cert in due course and passed but without enough honours to gain entrance to UCD to sit his BCL where he wanted to study law.mainly because I was dabbling in studying it and had the Books and he could save on the price of them.He didn't get enough honours and enrolled in Mount Street Tech to repeat certain subjects and get enough honours.Which he did.
But first he had to earn the fees and enough to keep himself for the following year.So off the England with himself and Pat Sheehan a good school friend to garner the mullah.They worked at the buildings and he got a job as a bank clerk. And something I have never disclosed before, they landed home to me for a weeks holiday without anyone else knowing.Frank O Driscoll ,a work mate and brother of the late poet Dennis O Driscoll put them up for a few days in his flat and they spent a week thimbling around Leinster having a good time.
I remember Robert telling me that the Bank sent him on courses to advance himself and he was tempted to stay there and rang the DA to see what he thought.The DA was straight to the point and said "There is not a sniff of a job here.Stay the f...where you are and have a decent life .
But home he came and studied hard and got his BCL.
Those times many Solicitors charged would be apprentices a substantial fee to become apprenticed.Neither Robert nor anyone in our family had the money for such a thing.Through a contact of Kathleen our sister a meeting was arranged with a Meath legal legend in Teach Scurlog in Trim to see what could be done.I drove Robert to that meeting on a Honda ninety motor bike and sat in on the meeting.It went well and the luminary put him in touch with Seamus Maguire in Blanchardstown who apprenticed him no bother.Seamus was good to Robert and Robert to Seamus.In due course he qualified and shortly after qualifying himself and Padaig Power set up in partnership in Dunboyne and afterwards in Blanchardstown where they soldered together for many years until about five years ago when Padraig retired and Robert continued in practise on his own.My wife#s sister Lucy was with him as Secretary to the very last.Padraig and Seamus remained firm and supportive friends to Robert the very end and he and Padraig were often the very best of social buddies as well.
A man's social life is a dangerous place to dwell on..He married Marion Levin's in 1982 I thinkThey were married within a few days of the unexpected death of our father Dewi at the early age of 52 years.Our dad's mother was alive at the time and was unable to attend the funeral of her son,so unselfishilyy totally they went to her for the honeymoon and to try and console her,I had the pleasure of going down to Rosslare with thm to get the boat to Fishguard ,minding the car during their holiday and driving to meet them from the boat in the same car.To say the least he was not pleased with the vehicle on his return.
They settled first in Huntstown,Mulhuddart and afterwards in Roselawn View ,Castleknock where he evevtually died'.Robert Junior was born to great jubilation in due course and was the joy of his parents .When Rob was about seven unhappy differences arose between husband and wife and they separated,Rob moving to Ballinlough where he spent the last quarter century of his life and where Junior was reared thereafter.
For the last sixteen years of his life Margaret Mac Donald,was his life partner and she nursed him through the most sickening effects of the various treatments he recieved to alleviate the twin cancers he suffered.
About seven years ago cancer of his tongue and neck was diagnosed.He received surgery of his neck and nodes followed by chemo and radiation treatment.He was in the clear thankfully for a few years until it re emerged in his lung.Despite more chemotherapy again and the bravest and most wilful of battles of battles he succumbed eventually last week in Roselawn View .
The cancers destroyed him physically and mentally in the end.They pitted him in the depths of despair,the elation of false hope the dungeons of lost hope and the treatments he endured along the way destroyed his health.
He was a brave and stubborn man who tried mightily till the very end to keep going job wise and socially .
He did inform me in one of the few moments we had alone a few weeks before his death that the doctors had told him that there was no hope for him.This totally floored him.and hope flew out the window.
He kept information very much to himself and certainly never told me the imminence of his demise.The rapid deteriotaion of his body the last few weeks of his life told its own story however and one didn't need a medical report to know his time was short.
He died of a Monday.I last saw him on the previous Sunday morning and he was struggling with a renewed infection of his lungs.My last words to him were was he comfortable and if not where hurt.He pointed to his chest and remedial action was immediately taken to relieve his discomfort.
Although separated from his wife fora quarter century he never divorced .He was a traditional Catholic in this regard and I had the sad chance to say an Act of Contrition in his ear when alone with him and at his request.He had Communion and the Last Rites before he died .I am glad.
I am satisfied he could not have been better minded in his run up to death .The twice daily visits of nursing staff and the continuous presence of pallative staff was of the highest order and nothing was left to chance.
Robert had many highs in his life with a variety of people and equally suffered a series of lows.He was lucky some of the time and unlucky other times.
At all times and through thick and thine loved his son Robert Junior totally and unconditionally.
He was actuially adored by a number of people and liked totally by a huge number of people a fact attested to by the huge turnout at his funeral.
Due to a mix up with dates the singers originally hired to perform at his funeral Mass could not attend.An organist and famous tenor called Damian Mac Gorian was hijacked by our Aoife on the way to perform in the Aras .
I can see Robert in my mind's eye saying of the falling through of the original singer "breurtal " and of the appearance of the replacement "only the best for the best "with a tweinkle in his eye.
Robert stole the hearts of many and is deeply mourned by them.I loved him and iI am not alone.There is a void in my soul I cannot fill and I am only his brother.There are others more deeply inflicted.
Father Cyril who officiated at his funeral hit the nail on the emotional rollercoaster he rode for the latter years of his life and is the sort of man that makes you proud to be a Catholic.
Those close to him did all thay could and all he allowed them to do for him in his suffering but you always feel you could have done more.
I certainly feel like that and totally regret that we never had the one chance to what that we long ago agreed to do and that was to ,just once,book into a rural hotel ,sample a smoke from each cigarette made and have a tipple feom each drink stocked.Just the once for the hell of it and for old time#s sake.
Slan go Foill mo Chara dilis.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Robert Stephens ob.23/06/2014
Our beloved brother and father of Robert Junior died in the evening of 23/06/2014 and is now at peace ,his ordeal thankfully ended.He remains will be reposing at 14 Roselawn View ,Castleknock,D 15,his former residence ,where his days came to a comfortable end ,from 5.00p.m to 7.00 p.m. this evening,whence they will depart for his home at Ballinlough,Kells for his wake this evening.
His funeral Mass is scheduled for St.Brigids Church ,Blanchardstown at 11.00 am. tomorrow Wednesday,June 25th,following which he will be interred in Mulhuddard Cemetery beside our late Father and Mother.
May he rest in Peace.
His funeral Mass is scheduled for St.Brigids Church ,Blanchardstown at 11.00 am. tomorrow Wednesday,June 25th,following which he will be interred in Mulhuddard Cemetery beside our late Father and Mother.
May he rest in Peace.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Dunderry V Drumree I.H.C.16/06/2014.
On one of those rare evenings ,with the sun splitting the stones,we took on Drumree in the first round at a resplendent Kilmessan this evening at 7.30.There was a decent crowd present to witness the match and I imagine the crowd was boosted by the news that Dunderry would compete against Drumree at half time at under 8 and under 10 level in exhibition matches.
This gave me some pride as I had two sons involved with the adult team and a grandson Padraig,Finn's son involved at under eight level and thanks be to God I was still alive to witness all this.
Any feeling of exultation I had turned to apprehension when I saw how the team lined out and who we were missing.
We lined out as follows:-
Damian Bruton
Brendan Wright Davy Mac Cormack Conor Dempsey
Killian Minogue Ted Dowd Conor O Shea
Liam Dempsey Garrett Dooley
Davy Gilkinson Finn Stephens ( C) Johnny Moran
Luke Martyn Kit Harrington Conor (Bomber Farrell )
Davy (Sprog )Stephens ,our normal and good corner back and Thomas Doherty ,our goalie this long time were sidelined through injury. Two good men ,who I knew full well would be missed badly.And I wasn't gone on the positional changes either.Wright was playing at full forward until this,Conor Dempsey at number 5 and Bomber is clearly not suited to the corner.In addition Damian Bruton had not held a hurley in competition for 18 months.He is not short of courage however but it was expecting far too much to put a man so short of practise in such a vital position .I attach no blame whatsoever to him for what transpired.
Drumree are a ficely competitive outfit and Ted had coached them these last two years.One of their boys is involved at managerial level with us this year ,so you would imagine that no secrets would lie buried.( Our Drumree man had gone on holidays ).There is a fierce rivalry between the teams and no quarter was sought or given.
The warriors squared up for the throw in.In the blink of an eye Finn had registered a minor.But then my worst fears were realized,Not once ,not twice but thrice Drumree registered goals of egg yolk sort.And tagged on five points and a further decent goal before half time,Johnny Moran,having his best game ever for us scored another minor and Gilky scored another two to make the half time score 4-6 y top 0-4 for Drumree.
Everything they touched turned to gold and the little possession we got turned to lead.We were bewildered and out of sorts and the half time whistle couldn't,t come quick enough.The underage entertainment provided a mild distraction and Drumree were back out early to resume battle.Such was the delay with our boys coming out ithat I wondered what in the name of God and the name of the Gaelic Game was going on,Was there a row in the camp ?I don't know but when we did re emerge there was more of a pep in our step and a number of positional changes.Doc was in goals,Bomber and Garrett swapped positions and O Shea was at number 6,with Ted going to the wing.But could we pull back a 14 point deficit and more importantly restore some pride in the jersey.
Well we didn't lie down and with renewed determination started to whittle down the deficit with 5 consecutive poins to their 2.We needed a goal and we delivered ,but they pulled back another 2 points.We kept at it and .After Wright had been moved to the forwards and Bruton, Ryan and Feeney introduced we rattled in a goal from Gilky .And another and another ,both from Wright frees ,as far as I could see.Finn had started to play a Captain's part and run at them and this helped us to start goaling.One of his points clipped the cross bar and went over instead of under.Such is life.
All told we scored 3-6 to their 5 points in the second half ,at one stage coming within four points of them.But the gap was too big and we finished defiantly on a scoreline of 4-11 against our 3-10.A four point defeat but a hell of a lot better than the 14 point gap at half time.
And don't let anyone tell you that Drumree took their foot off the pedal.They did not.
Fair dues to our boys they fought to the bitter end and never gave up.
Our management will have learned much from this display.
We missed enough scorable frees to make a difference and we will have to work on this.Gilky scored a 0-5 from frees and 1-1 from play,Moran 0-1 ,Finn 0-2,Bomber 0-1 and Wright 2-0 from frees..Killian Minogue suffered a head or neck injury.We hope he will be all right.
We will have to resume winning ways quam cellerime.
Afterwards I met Mairead Delaney whose son was playing at number 8 for Drumree.I am unsure what position she holds in the County Board but can assure that she is far from a token woman and earned her position by her qualities as a person and not because of the shape of her gonads.
This gave me some pride as I had two sons involved with the adult team and a grandson Padraig,Finn's son involved at under eight level and thanks be to God I was still alive to witness all this.
Any feeling of exultation I had turned to apprehension when I saw how the team lined out and who we were missing.
We lined out as follows:-
Damian Bruton
Brendan Wright Davy Mac Cormack Conor Dempsey
Killian Minogue Ted Dowd Conor O Shea
Liam Dempsey Garrett Dooley
Davy Gilkinson Finn Stephens ( C) Johnny Moran
Luke Martyn Kit Harrington Conor (Bomber Farrell )
Davy (Sprog )Stephens ,our normal and good corner back and Thomas Doherty ,our goalie this long time were sidelined through injury. Two good men ,who I knew full well would be missed badly.And I wasn't gone on the positional changes either.Wright was playing at full forward until this,Conor Dempsey at number 5 and Bomber is clearly not suited to the corner.In addition Damian Bruton had not held a hurley in competition for 18 months.He is not short of courage however but it was expecting far too much to put a man so short of practise in such a vital position .I attach no blame whatsoever to him for what transpired.
Drumree are a ficely competitive outfit and Ted had coached them these last two years.One of their boys is involved at managerial level with us this year ,so you would imagine that no secrets would lie buried.( Our Drumree man had gone on holidays ).There is a fierce rivalry between the teams and no quarter was sought or given.
The warriors squared up for the throw in.In the blink of an eye Finn had registered a minor.But then my worst fears were realized,Not once ,not twice but thrice Drumree registered goals of egg yolk sort.And tagged on five points and a further decent goal before half time,Johnny Moran,having his best game ever for us scored another minor and Gilky scored another two to make the half time score 4-6 y top 0-4 for Drumree.
Everything they touched turned to gold and the little possession we got turned to lead.We were bewildered and out of sorts and the half time whistle couldn't,t come quick enough.The underage entertainment provided a mild distraction and Drumree were back out early to resume battle.Such was the delay with our boys coming out ithat I wondered what in the name of God and the name of the Gaelic Game was going on,Was there a row in the camp ?I don't know but when we did re emerge there was more of a pep in our step and a number of positional changes.Doc was in goals,Bomber and Garrett swapped positions and O Shea was at number 6,with Ted going to the wing.But could we pull back a 14 point deficit and more importantly restore some pride in the jersey.
Well we didn't lie down and with renewed determination started to whittle down the deficit with 5 consecutive poins to their 2.We needed a goal and we delivered ,but they pulled back another 2 points.We kept at it and .After Wright had been moved to the forwards and Bruton, Ryan and Feeney introduced we rattled in a goal from Gilky .And another and another ,both from Wright frees ,as far as I could see.Finn had started to play a Captain's part and run at them and this helped us to start goaling.One of his points clipped the cross bar and went over instead of under.Such is life.
All told we scored 3-6 to their 5 points in the second half ,at one stage coming within four points of them.But the gap was too big and we finished defiantly on a scoreline of 4-11 against our 3-10.A four point defeat but a hell of a lot better than the 14 point gap at half time.
And don't let anyone tell you that Drumree took their foot off the pedal.They did not.
Fair dues to our boys they fought to the bitter end and never gave up.
Our management will have learned much from this display.
We missed enough scorable frees to make a difference and we will have to work on this.Gilky scored a 0-5 from frees and 1-1 from play,Moran 0-1 ,Finn 0-2,Bomber 0-1 and Wright 2-0 from frees..Killian Minogue suffered a head or neck injury.We hope he will be all right.
We will have to resume winning ways quam cellerime.
Afterwards I met Mairead Delaney whose son was playing at number 8 for Drumree.I am unsure what position she holds in the County Board but can assure that she is far from a token woman and earned her position by her qualities as a person and not because of the shape of her gonads.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Communion Day in Rathcairn.
Today my grandson Cormack Mac Donagh made his First Holy Communion in Rathcairn Church as gaeilge.He goes to school in Rathcairn and lives in Lambay with his parents Terry Mac Donagh and his wife Jacinta ,my daughter.
He is a lovely little fella and well reared.He is a wizard on the computer and regards my hesitancy with it with disdain tinged with amusement.
It was a lovely day weather wise and the Church was resplendent and totally packed out.Even after standing room only a sizable number had to stand outside and listen to the ceremony.Me included.My better half got inside and told me that the way that the children presented the gifts to the Priest brought a tear to her eyes such was the care and pride exhibited by them in this their first public Church duty.
I stood outside at an opn window and heard the whole thing as gaeilge.The school choir,the school orchestra and the organist were outstanding as was the celebrant who spoke a dialect of Irish I could understand.
Cormack looked smashing in a fine suit with shiort and tie and it brought back memories of my own kids Communion day when they were similarly attired.And indeed myself and my brothers,Some things never change thank God.
Afterwards we were treated to light refreshments in the Halla attached to the School and this went down a treat.Then back to Mac Donagh's house where we were again treated to a spread that would do justice to a King.
Alla my children and their spouses and a myriad of others were feated and all fourteen grandchildren were present.Thea bouncy castle and swings were all the rage and a smashing family gathering helped Cormack celebrate his Wonderful day in style.
And he got loads of cards with attachments of the best kind to help celebrate his Communion and his birthday.
Thea anti Catholic vitriol spewed out by the atheist media in this land has not found its way to this Parish nor any others hereabouts Buiochas le Dia.
A huge vote of thnks must go to all concerned especially the teachers ,who helped prepare the children so well.
He is a lovely little fella and well reared.He is a wizard on the computer and regards my hesitancy with it with disdain tinged with amusement.
It was a lovely day weather wise and the Church was resplendent and totally packed out.Even after standing room only a sizable number had to stand outside and listen to the ceremony.Me included.My better half got inside and told me that the way that the children presented the gifts to the Priest brought a tear to her eyes such was the care and pride exhibited by them in this their first public Church duty.
I stood outside at an opn window and heard the whole thing as gaeilge.The school choir,the school orchestra and the organist were outstanding as was the celebrant who spoke a dialect of Irish I could understand.
Cormack looked smashing in a fine suit with shiort and tie and it brought back memories of my own kids Communion day when they were similarly attired.And indeed myself and my brothers,Some things never change thank God.
Afterwards we were treated to light refreshments in the Halla attached to the School and this went down a treat.Then back to Mac Donagh's house where we were again treated to a spread that would do justice to a King.
Alla my children and their spouses and a myriad of others were feated and all fourteen grandchildren were present.Thea bouncy castle and swings were all the rage and a smashing family gathering helped Cormack celebrate his Wonderful day in style.
And he got loads of cards with attachments of the best kind to help celebrate his Communion and his birthday.
Thea anti Catholic vitriol spewed out by the atheist media in this land has not found its way to this Parish nor any others hereabouts Buiochas le Dia.
A huge vote of thnks must go to all concerned especially the teachers ,who helped prepare the children so well.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Daviin Power in frame for Garda Commissioner job?
The usual suspects are out of the traps in implying that religious sisters dumped over 800 bodies of babies in their care into a septic tank in Tuam in County Galway and in condemning the Order involved of outrageous criminality in so doing.This is based on the recollection of two twelve year old boys and the research of a local historian and is a total lie.
The presumption of innocence afforded to all citizens is as per usual not afforded to Catholic religious and amongst other unfounded allegations I have heard so far on RTE are that many nuns were themselves illegitimate,that they involved the children in illegal drug teasting,that the places involved were on a par with the concentration camps of the Nazis where over six million people were murdered.and that unspecified crimes were committed.The lie that breast feeding was forbidden is also being put about.
This is what is called a witch hunt and all or some of the above allegations have been spread worldwide as undisputed fact.The people responsible for this denigration of our ancestors are guilty of treachery in my view.
AS per usual RTE is leading the charges here,particularly Mary Wilson and David Davin Power who present a completely one sided analysis of the situation and interview nearly solely those who blame the nuns and the Church and frame questions in such a way that nearly the only answer possible is to appropriate blame to the nuns.
Drive time is on radio constantly belittling the action's of the Gardai and paintings them as idiots in relation to the matter.Clearly they knows better than the Gardai how to investigate the matter for criminality and are not slow to say so.Is this investigation by Radio ?
There is nothing stopping him from jacking up in RTE ,applying for admission to the Gardai and qualifying himself in these matters.Clearly he can run for the position of Garda Commissioner he is so knowledgeable.
And the RTE religious affairs correspondence has as per usual slithered in the suggestion that because a nun in a home in Cork was dismissed for allowing children go about with putrid nappies that that incident may offers a clue as to why 800 babies were allegedly buried in the septic tank.
This is akin to saying that the clear anti Catholic bias permanently displayed by RTE may find an explanation in the fact that they had to admit libelling a Catholic priest and paying him compensation.
Although I strongly suspect that the anti Catholic bias may have more to do with the liberal and secular agenda so blatantly promulgated by the station and the fact that many of the staff are either divorced ,have two or more living husbands or wives as the case may be or are blatant promulgators of the homosexual lifestyle ,all of which the Catholic and many other Churches have problems with.
Unlimited air time is given to the Justines,Ferguses,Colms and their ilk by blatantly biased presenters and their ilk to spread their anti Catholic racist agenda and whip up hatred against octogenarian nuns who stepped into the breach when the families of the mothers and their children ran them from their homes.As per usual the State did stand idly by and did sfa except wring its hands.
The biggest failure is that of journalists ,professionals and academics from those days who were if anything more useless than their present day professional descendants who failed to highlight the scandals .IF SCANDALs there were at all by the standards of the time's we are talking about..
Any attempt to dismiss the matter by inferring community guilt is as absurd as blaming the entire populace for the economic mess we are in by saying we all partied.All of us did not party.And all of us most definitely did not run our daughters and children into homes.
There must be hundreds of thousands of families who took it on the chin,didn't give a fig about what the neighbours thought ,kept the child and grandchild at home and reared the latter as an extra child of their own.
And inciting racial hatred against the nuns and the churches is nothing new to the liberal and secular sisterhood and brotherhood.They are at it for years and people are fed up with them.See what happened the Labour Party in the recent elections.This is by far the most secular and anti religion party in Ireland, a member of which thought it hilarious to tell me that the Irish for priest was paedophile.
If we are going to look at the matter in an honest manner let us include in the examination the facts of infanticide and the number of women guilty of this who lived in the homes,the incidence of syphilis in children and mothers and why they were not in hospitals rather than these homes,the numbers of children and mothers who suffered from t.b. starvation, neglect and other diseases before they were sent to or sought admission to these homes.And let us judge the mortality rate by that applicable in fever and comprable hospitals where many children ought have been in receipt of medical care.
And let us not fall into the trap of totally excusing the women themselves and their families from close scrutiny and regarding them as lesser human beings who had no willpower of their own and who lacked the capacity to stand up for themselves .I have known women who would now be over 100 years old.They were as well able to stand up for themselves as any of their gender since born.So to dismiss them as helpless morons who had no control over their destinies and that of their children is a total nonsense.
Of course the fannyista will insist that they be excluded from examination and that their word be taken as Gospel without challenge and that they be compensated without question..A state of affairs they will not afford to their religious sisters.
They say that where there is a will there is a relative .We will see now that where there is a whiff of money there will be a host of victims worldwide in the queue.
I for one am fed up seeing my tax money going out hand over fist to these victims.Let them look to the real sources of their grievances,themselves or their families.
I would exempt from this cases where the State through neglect or the Courts were directly responsible for injustice.
And Iwould put a time limit on it.But I would include the results of the famine and its consequences. in the ambit of the enquiry.
The Brits have never compensated us for the genocjde perpetrated during the eras they misruled the roost.
But seeing that they recently most cetainly did not afford a decent burial to preborn babies disposed of them by incinerating them beside the trash of the abortion mills operated there ,they are unlikely to cough up anything at all.
The presumption of innocence afforded to all citizens is as per usual not afforded to Catholic religious and amongst other unfounded allegations I have heard so far on RTE are that many nuns were themselves illegitimate,that they involved the children in illegal drug teasting,that the places involved were on a par with the concentration camps of the Nazis where over six million people were murdered.and that unspecified crimes were committed.The lie that breast feeding was forbidden is also being put about.
This is what is called a witch hunt and all or some of the above allegations have been spread worldwide as undisputed fact.The people responsible for this denigration of our ancestors are guilty of treachery in my view.
AS per usual RTE is leading the charges here,particularly Mary Wilson and David Davin Power who present a completely one sided analysis of the situation and interview nearly solely those who blame the nuns and the Church and frame questions in such a way that nearly the only answer possible is to appropriate blame to the nuns.
Drive time is on radio constantly belittling the action's of the Gardai and paintings them as idiots in relation to the matter.Clearly they knows better than the Gardai how to investigate the matter for criminality and are not slow to say so.Is this investigation by Radio ?
There is nothing stopping him from jacking up in RTE ,applying for admission to the Gardai and qualifying himself in these matters.Clearly he can run for the position of Garda Commissioner he is so knowledgeable.
And the RTE religious affairs correspondence has as per usual slithered in the suggestion that because a nun in a home in Cork was dismissed for allowing children go about with putrid nappies that that incident may offers a clue as to why 800 babies were allegedly buried in the septic tank.
This is akin to saying that the clear anti Catholic bias permanently displayed by RTE may find an explanation in the fact that they had to admit libelling a Catholic priest and paying him compensation.
Although I strongly suspect that the anti Catholic bias may have more to do with the liberal and secular agenda so blatantly promulgated by the station and the fact that many of the staff are either divorced ,have two or more living husbands or wives as the case may be or are blatant promulgators of the homosexual lifestyle ,all of which the Catholic and many other Churches have problems with.
Unlimited air time is given to the Justines,Ferguses,Colms and their ilk by blatantly biased presenters and their ilk to spread their anti Catholic racist agenda and whip up hatred against octogenarian nuns who stepped into the breach when the families of the mothers and their children ran them from their homes.As per usual the State did stand idly by and did sfa except wring its hands.
The biggest failure is that of journalists ,professionals and academics from those days who were if anything more useless than their present day professional descendants who failed to highlight the scandals .IF SCANDALs there were at all by the standards of the time's we are talking about..
Any attempt to dismiss the matter by inferring community guilt is as absurd as blaming the entire populace for the economic mess we are in by saying we all partied.All of us did not party.And all of us most definitely did not run our daughters and children into homes.
There must be hundreds of thousands of families who took it on the chin,didn't give a fig about what the neighbours thought ,kept the child and grandchild at home and reared the latter as an extra child of their own.
And inciting racial hatred against the nuns and the churches is nothing new to the liberal and secular sisterhood and brotherhood.They are at it for years and people are fed up with them.See what happened the Labour Party in the recent elections.This is by far the most secular and anti religion party in Ireland, a member of which thought it hilarious to tell me that the Irish for priest was paedophile.
If we are going to look at the matter in an honest manner let us include in the examination the facts of infanticide and the number of women guilty of this who lived in the homes,the incidence of syphilis in children and mothers and why they were not in hospitals rather than these homes,the numbers of children and mothers who suffered from t.b. starvation, neglect and other diseases before they were sent to or sought admission to these homes.And let us judge the mortality rate by that applicable in fever and comprable hospitals where many children ought have been in receipt of medical care.
And let us not fall into the trap of totally excusing the women themselves and their families from close scrutiny and regarding them as lesser human beings who had no willpower of their own and who lacked the capacity to stand up for themselves .I have known women who would now be over 100 years old.They were as well able to stand up for themselves as any of their gender since born.So to dismiss them as helpless morons who had no control over their destinies and that of their children is a total nonsense.
Of course the fannyista will insist that they be excluded from examination and that their word be taken as Gospel without challenge and that they be compensated without question..A state of affairs they will not afford to their religious sisters.
They say that where there is a will there is a relative .We will see now that where there is a whiff of money there will be a host of victims worldwide in the queue.
I for one am fed up seeing my tax money going out hand over fist to these victims.Let them look to the real sources of their grievances,themselves or their families.
I would exempt from this cases where the State through neglect or the Courts were directly responsible for injustice.
And Iwould put a time limit on it.But I would include the results of the famine and its consequences. in the ambit of the enquiry.
The Brits have never compensated us for the genocjde perpetrated during the eras they misruled the roost.
But seeing that they recently most cetainly did not afford a decent burial to preborn babies disposed of them by incinerating them beside the trash of the abortion mills operated there ,they are unlikely to cough up anything at all.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Dunderry V Kildalkey u 14 Camogie Final 01/06/2014
The adventure continued on a smashing Sunday morning in a resplendent and well attended Athboy on a morning that would warm the cockles of your heart.
Suzanne Kelly and her astute selectors,Donie Mooney and Caroline Duffy lined out the team as follows:-
Kaylinn Mooney
Katie Duffy Hannah Morgan Emily Lynch
Lauren Finnegan Helana Garry Deirdre Mac Hale
Katie Buchanan Orla Daly
Ellie Keenan Niamh Keaveney Sadbh Nelson
Katie Callaghan Laura Casserly Grace Stenson
Subs.Rachel Duffy, Aine O Brien,Lauren Travers,
Ciara Huesoff.
I thought this selection exactly reflected the semi final performance and offered the best opportunity to at last garner some winning silverware for this team who have exhibited such perseveres in trying their best this last five years.Not to mention their management.
Kildalkey are a serious proposition in any contest with the Caman and have made serious progress sine starting up Camogie only a few short years ago.Must be something in the water there.
They matched us for size .
Nothing wrong with the Dunderry water either .
The ball is in the game is on.We are strong up the middle.So are they.In about six positions we dominate.In the balance they have the edge.After initial sparring the game enters a pattern.We break even at midfield but they have an edge and our backs are under constant and sustained pressure.We break for two isolated points.They score six goals.
We are bursting ourselves but to no avail.they are slightly sweeter and have a number 14 who is as good for her age as I have ever seen.And she is not alone.
The half time whistle blows.
Suzie tries to raise morale and truthfully says that the top goal is the scoring goal.Give it a lash she says.And they do.Rachel Duffy is now in goals and Kaylinn is in the forwards.But within a short time Katie Buchanan and Grace Stenson are forced ashore by Knee and shoulder injuries.(none serious as far as I know.).You would fear for us now.
Helena has her hands full now and is breaking even with her marker at best.The vanquished Athboy opponents from the semi final are there cheering us ,but mainly her on.A vignette shows that practise makes perfect.During a long break in play she practices her pucking with a friend on the sideline.
We don't give up and struggle manfully ( womanfully ? ) to the end throwing all in our armoury at them.
WE score 2-2 to their 2-4 ,a remarkable achievement given our injuries.Maybe just maybe they took the foot off the pedal slightly.
We were beat fair and square by a superior team on this occasion.No excuses.
Orla Daley played out of her skin for the hour.Katie e Buchanan for as long as she was on and the rest gave it all they had.Ellie Keenan made some telling hooks as well as playing well in general play But Katie Duffy to me played as plucky a game as you could wish.
No shame girls.Ye have runner up medals .As an aside I played from 10 yeas to twenty one years and won only one winners medal in all those years. I guarantee that if ye stick with the mentors ye have ye will do far better.
Thanks for the adventure.
And thanks for inviting me back to the Clubhouse for the very tasty refreshments served up with such hospitality.
Suzanne Kelly and her astute selectors,Donie Mooney and Caroline Duffy lined out the team as follows:-
Kaylinn Mooney
Katie Duffy Hannah Morgan Emily Lynch
Lauren Finnegan Helana Garry Deirdre Mac Hale
Katie Buchanan Orla Daly
Ellie Keenan Niamh Keaveney Sadbh Nelson
Katie Callaghan Laura Casserly Grace Stenson
Subs.Rachel Duffy, Aine O Brien,Lauren Travers,
Ciara Huesoff.
I thought this selection exactly reflected the semi final performance and offered the best opportunity to at last garner some winning silverware for this team who have exhibited such perseveres in trying their best this last five years.Not to mention their management.
Kildalkey are a serious proposition in any contest with the Caman and have made serious progress sine starting up Camogie only a few short years ago.Must be something in the water there.
They matched us for size .
Nothing wrong with the Dunderry water either .
The ball is in the game is on.We are strong up the middle.So are they.In about six positions we dominate.In the balance they have the edge.After initial sparring the game enters a pattern.We break even at midfield but they have an edge and our backs are under constant and sustained pressure.We break for two isolated points.They score six goals.
We are bursting ourselves but to no avail.they are slightly sweeter and have a number 14 who is as good for her age as I have ever seen.And she is not alone.
The half time whistle blows.
Suzie tries to raise morale and truthfully says that the top goal is the scoring goal.Give it a lash she says.And they do.Rachel Duffy is now in goals and Kaylinn is in the forwards.But within a short time Katie Buchanan and Grace Stenson are forced ashore by Knee and shoulder injuries.(none serious as far as I know.).You would fear for us now.
Helena has her hands full now and is breaking even with her marker at best.The vanquished Athboy opponents from the semi final are there cheering us ,but mainly her on.A vignette shows that practise makes perfect.During a long break in play she practices her pucking with a friend on the sideline.
We don't give up and struggle manfully ( womanfully ? ) to the end throwing all in our armoury at them.
WE score 2-2 to their 2-4 ,a remarkable achievement given our injuries.Maybe just maybe they took the foot off the pedal slightly.
We were beat fair and square by a superior team on this occasion.No excuses.
Orla Daley played out of her skin for the hour.Katie e Buchanan for as long as she was on and the rest gave it all they had.Ellie Keenan made some telling hooks as well as playing well in general play But Katie Duffy to me played as plucky a game as you could wish.
No shame girls.Ye have runner up medals .As an aside I played from 10 yeas to twenty one years and won only one winners medal in all those years. I guarantee that if ye stick with the mentors ye have ye will do far better.
Thanks for the adventure.
And thanks for inviting me back to the Clubhouse for the very tasty refreshments served up with such hospitality.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Dunderry V Clann na Gael U.14 Camogie 27/05/2014
On an idyllic Tuesday evening in Athboy these neighbouring teams squared up in the semi final of this competition.Clanns are not that long competing at Camogie at all so it is a feather in their cap to have reached this far in the competition,I didn't know what to expect from them but figured that they must be fairly good as bad teams don't advance that far.I had seen our team play before and was flabbergasted at the improvement in their play since last year.
This team has been together since they were eight years old and have enjoyed little success over the years but this year all the training under the expert tutelage of manager Suzanne Kelly (now Finnegan ) and selectors Caroline Duffy and Donie Mooney is sure paying off and they have turned inside out.
All three have skin in the game in that they have children playing and treat all the girls as if they were their own.Suzanne I trained myself since she was a kid and she was always top drawer.Caroline Daly was an outstanding player with Trim who we always beat those days,thank God and is a great addition to the Club.Donie is a great all round Gael from a family of Gaels of impeccable pedigree and all the girls are from well and long established GAA families.
All the players are respectful to their mentors and a credit to the Club.
I witnessed one of the best games I have seen this year and one which had the entire audience riveted to the very last puck of the ball.
Dunderry Team.
Rachel Duffy
Katie Duffy Hannah Helena Garry
Lauren Finnegan Deirdre Mac Hale Emily Lynch
Orla Daly Katie Buchanan
Sadbh Nelson Laura Cassidy Ellie Keenan
Grace Stenson Niamh Keaveney Kaylinn Mooney
Sub used .Katie Callaghan.
Dunderry are well able to hurl and have all the skills.They are physically strong up the middle and the entire team are full of fighting spirit .And so are Clanns.And a daughter of Graham Geraghty played at number 11 and is some hurler.She has plenty of support and was as dangerous as her auld fella was when she got a sniff of a loose ball.They dominated the first half and we got hard to settle.The defence was under tremendous pressure in the first quarter and it took great tenacity and bravery to hold out against a fierce Clann onslaught.From the goalie to both midfielders we held resolute and how a clatter of goals didn't rattle the onion bag is beyond me.But cometh the hour cometh the woman and Helena Garry gradually emerged as an unbreakable ford which Clanns could not forge.Following in the footsteps of her aunt Teresa Rattigan who was some player in her day.And the management did the master stroke and switched her on to the young Geraghty lassie and Helena won that battle hands down.Never the less we went in at half time down 1-3 to 0-1,the bold Helena scoring our solitary point.
The management rallied the troops and the lusty roar "one,two three Dundrrry " rose pheasants on the faraway bog.We were now playing into the town goal and immediately launched into attacking mode.There was an ever so slight uncertainty in the Clann defence and a long distance free found its way into the Clann net.Game on.
Then an event you might not see in a lifetime's game watching.One of the Clanns better players got possession at the midway line proceeded to jink through our lassies forgot the change of ends and scored an absolutely brilliant own goal.God help her but these things happen.She was a brilliant player before this and remains a brilliant player .
But our lassies smelled blood and raised their game in every department and added a third goal .
It took Clanns some time to get their act together but they did rise again and reeled in a goal and a point to draw level at the cusp of time.Grace Stenson scored a goal I think and either Orla Daly ,Katie Buchanan or Katie Callaghan ,a half Kilmessan woman and the spit of her young mother when she hurled ,scored the other.(With helmets on it is hard at times to recognise the players.).
Extra time so ,ten minutes each half.
Now it was Clanns time to exert pressure and our defence were again stubborn in their resistance and held out against fierce pressure.We were lucky to draw a point apiece at full time.
It was down to willpower now and we rose to the challenge.Again the weakness in the Clanns defence appeared..We rattled in 1-3 to their 0-1 and and deservedly so.And the joy was unbridled and proper order.
On the day Helana Garry was our best by a whisker.
Granny.Grandad,Daddy ,Mammy,and grandchildren Mooney ,true blues all were on a high.
This management team is excellent and know their onions.
All the girls and the subs should take a bow.Some team.
This Sunday at 11.00 a.m. they play Kildalkey in the Final at the same venue.
Bring it on. agus beidh me ann.
This team has been together since they were eight years old and have enjoyed little success over the years but this year all the training under the expert tutelage of manager Suzanne Kelly (now Finnegan ) and selectors Caroline Duffy and Donie Mooney is sure paying off and they have turned inside out.
All three have skin in the game in that they have children playing and treat all the girls as if they were their own.Suzanne I trained myself since she was a kid and she was always top drawer.Caroline Daly was an outstanding player with Trim who we always beat those days,thank God and is a great addition to the Club.Donie is a great all round Gael from a family of Gaels of impeccable pedigree and all the girls are from well and long established GAA families.
All the players are respectful to their mentors and a credit to the Club.
I witnessed one of the best games I have seen this year and one which had the entire audience riveted to the very last puck of the ball.
Dunderry Team.
Rachel Duffy
Katie Duffy Hannah Helena Garry
Lauren Finnegan Deirdre Mac Hale Emily Lynch
Orla Daly Katie Buchanan
Sadbh Nelson Laura Cassidy Ellie Keenan
Grace Stenson Niamh Keaveney Kaylinn Mooney
Sub used .Katie Callaghan.
Dunderry are well able to hurl and have all the skills.They are physically strong up the middle and the entire team are full of fighting spirit .And so are Clanns.And a daughter of Graham Geraghty played at number 11 and is some hurler.She has plenty of support and was as dangerous as her auld fella was when she got a sniff of a loose ball.They dominated the first half and we got hard to settle.The defence was under tremendous pressure in the first quarter and it took great tenacity and bravery to hold out against a fierce Clann onslaught.From the goalie to both midfielders we held resolute and how a clatter of goals didn't rattle the onion bag is beyond me.But cometh the hour cometh the woman and Helena Garry gradually emerged as an unbreakable ford which Clanns could not forge.Following in the footsteps of her aunt Teresa Rattigan who was some player in her day.And the management did the master stroke and switched her on to the young Geraghty lassie and Helena won that battle hands down.Never the less we went in at half time down 1-3 to 0-1,the bold Helena scoring our solitary point.
The management rallied the troops and the lusty roar "one,two three Dundrrry " rose pheasants on the faraway bog.We were now playing into the town goal and immediately launched into attacking mode.There was an ever so slight uncertainty in the Clann defence and a long distance free found its way into the Clann net.Game on.
Then an event you might not see in a lifetime's game watching.One of the Clanns better players got possession at the midway line proceeded to jink through our lassies forgot the change of ends and scored an absolutely brilliant own goal.God help her but these things happen.She was a brilliant player before this and remains a brilliant player .
But our lassies smelled blood and raised their game in every department and added a third goal .
It took Clanns some time to get their act together but they did rise again and reeled in a goal and a point to draw level at the cusp of time.Grace Stenson scored a goal I think and either Orla Daly ,Katie Buchanan or Katie Callaghan ,a half Kilmessan woman and the spit of her young mother when she hurled ,scored the other.(With helmets on it is hard at times to recognise the players.).
Extra time so ,ten minutes each half.
Now it was Clanns time to exert pressure and our defence were again stubborn in their resistance and held out against fierce pressure.We were lucky to draw a point apiece at full time.
It was down to willpower now and we rose to the challenge.Again the weakness in the Clanns defence appeared..We rattled in 1-3 to their 0-1 and and deservedly so.And the joy was unbridled and proper order.
On the day Helana Garry was our best by a whisker.
Granny.Grandad,Daddy ,Mammy,and grandchildren Mooney ,true blues all were on a high.
This management team is excellent and know their onions.
All the girls and the subs should take a bow.Some team.
This Sunday at 11.00 a.m. they play Kildalkey in the Final at the same venue.
Bring it on. agus beidh me ann.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Heffo's Mini Army on the March.
As a Dub I totally admire what Kevin Heffernan did for Dublin Football and thought that his name was unique.I have since learned that he was not the sole proprietor of that name.There resides in our Parish another Gael with this moniker.This man is a native of Limerick and is putting in and has put in considerable time and effort into the promotion of hurling at underage level in our Club.
I know him and have often seen him training the younger kids in the pitch.It is easy to see that he is steeped fully in the universal ethos of the GAA and is no johnny come lately into our traditions.
He gives as much time and attention to the weakest players as to the strongest,always the mark of a true Gael,man , and Club man.
I had the great pleasure lately of stumbling in to the pitch lately and was totally entranced by the skills and effort of this team in winning through the semi final of this Shield competition against a game Drumree Team.
I promised myself I would go to the Final if possible.
And last Monday week ( 19/05/2014) I faced a fierce dilemma.The under 12 Shield Final between Rathoat and Dunderry was on at 7.00 p.m.in Kilmessan.
Dunderry were playing the same Club at 7.30 in Dunderry in Intermediate Hurling and a son of mine is captain .And a daughter Mags was playing Intermediate Camogie with Navan O Mahonys against Kilmessan in Navan at 7.30.And I had a crucifying chest infection and other health issues.
Anyhow I decided to go to a bit of each and see how it would develop.
So first I headed for the Shield Final in Kilmessan,Got there about 10 minutes before half time on a hateful and overcast evening.Drizzle and damp and not nice.
Met a few of our older kids heading with hurleys to the hurling wall in Kilmessan.Dream on Daithi.Will we got one ?
Then saw the life blood of the GAA at active duty in Kilmessan.There were a half dozen Kilmessan men bursting themselves replacing the netting behind the upper goal.In the rain and no bother.Fair dues.
Back to the game.First any score carries the same value,Goal or point all the same.And HEffo ,and his able assistants,Hickey and Gallagher were prowling the line with intent.
All had skin in the game,in that they all had kids involved.
IT is a mark of a team that if you are happy for your own kid to play with it is worth having.And this team is worth having.
The players involved were :-
Jack Fagan,
Daire O Leary.
Mark Coffey,
Niall O Leary,
Connor Mulligan.
Cormac Heffernan.
Lee Walsh,(Capt )
Issac Mc Keever,
T.J.Loughran,
Rachel Duffy,
Ryan Walsh,
Kane Lewis,
Cormack Hickey.
Oisin Heffernan,
Diarmuid Heffernan,
William Tracey,
Ben Feeney,
Aaron O Connor.
There was a fair crowd there from Dunderry.I spotted Freda ,who still hurls with our Camogie team egging on her son and nephew.And a clatter of others.
The game was a ding dong affair between two skillful and competitive teams cheered on with enthuasism by their parents..From where I stood the Dunderry mentors questioned the referee not at all whereas some of the Ratho supporters were too vociferous.Not great example to young kids.
On the field of play there was very little between them but our defence was under fierce and sustained pressure much of the time but defended like tigers,
We are strong up the middle but so were they,
All our players are skillful and gutsy.No cowards here.
We went in ahead by 4 scores to three as far as I could see.
In the second half there was huge effort put in by both sides and the defence was again magnificient.
It is clear that the mentors know full well how to place a team to full advantage as the lads up the middle were all outstanding and were marginally better and more skilful than the opposition.
I could pick out a few for special mention but don#t like doing this at such a young age.But believe you me there are some wonderful players on view and all are a great credit to the Club.
From what I can see they are all from long established GAA families and are well integrated into the ethos of our Club.
They won by 9 scores to 5 scores
After they went back to the Clubhouse in Dunderry and were given a standing ovation by the Intermediate Hurlers who were also victorious.
Good enening for Dunderry.
It escapes me how it was not possible to have both games in the same venue.I would like to have seen both matches as would all the players involved I am sure.
As a matter iof interest Mags team also won.
On a personal level I would like to compliment the mentors and families for producing such a well mannered ,respectful competitive and skillful bunch of children for our Club.From the four corners of the Parish Ye should be proud.
I know him and have often seen him training the younger kids in the pitch.It is easy to see that he is steeped fully in the universal ethos of the GAA and is no johnny come lately into our traditions.
He gives as much time and attention to the weakest players as to the strongest,always the mark of a true Gael,man , and Club man.
I had the great pleasure lately of stumbling in to the pitch lately and was totally entranced by the skills and effort of this team in winning through the semi final of this Shield competition against a game Drumree Team.
I promised myself I would go to the Final if possible.
And last Monday week ( 19/05/2014) I faced a fierce dilemma.The under 12 Shield Final between Rathoat and Dunderry was on at 7.00 p.m.in Kilmessan.
Dunderry were playing the same Club at 7.30 in Dunderry in Intermediate Hurling and a son of mine is captain .And a daughter Mags was playing Intermediate Camogie with Navan O Mahonys against Kilmessan in Navan at 7.30.And I had a crucifying chest infection and other health issues.
Anyhow I decided to go to a bit of each and see how it would develop.
So first I headed for the Shield Final in Kilmessan,Got there about 10 minutes before half time on a hateful and overcast evening.Drizzle and damp and not nice.
Met a few of our older kids heading with hurleys to the hurling wall in Kilmessan.Dream on Daithi.Will we got one ?
Then saw the life blood of the GAA at active duty in Kilmessan.There were a half dozen Kilmessan men bursting themselves replacing the netting behind the upper goal.In the rain and no bother.Fair dues.
Back to the game.First any score carries the same value,Goal or point all the same.And HEffo ,and his able assistants,Hickey and Gallagher were prowling the line with intent.
All had skin in the game,in that they all had kids involved.
IT is a mark of a team that if you are happy for your own kid to play with it is worth having.And this team is worth having.
The players involved were :-
Jack Fagan,
Daire O Leary.
Mark Coffey,
Niall O Leary,
Connor Mulligan.
Cormac Heffernan.
Lee Walsh,(Capt )
Issac Mc Keever,
T.J.Loughran,
Rachel Duffy,
Ryan Walsh,
Kane Lewis,
Cormack Hickey.
Oisin Heffernan,
Diarmuid Heffernan,
William Tracey,
Ben Feeney,
Aaron O Connor.
There was a fair crowd there from Dunderry.I spotted Freda ,who still hurls with our Camogie team egging on her son and nephew.And a clatter of others.
The game was a ding dong affair between two skillful and competitive teams cheered on with enthuasism by their parents..From where I stood the Dunderry mentors questioned the referee not at all whereas some of the Ratho supporters were too vociferous.Not great example to young kids.
On the field of play there was very little between them but our defence was under fierce and sustained pressure much of the time but defended like tigers,
We are strong up the middle but so were they,
All our players are skillful and gutsy.No cowards here.
We went in ahead by 4 scores to three as far as I could see.
In the second half there was huge effort put in by both sides and the defence was again magnificient.
It is clear that the mentors know full well how to place a team to full advantage as the lads up the middle were all outstanding and were marginally better and more skilful than the opposition.
I could pick out a few for special mention but don#t like doing this at such a young age.But believe you me there are some wonderful players on view and all are a great credit to the Club.
From what I can see they are all from long established GAA families and are well integrated into the ethos of our Club.
They won by 9 scores to 5 scores
After they went back to the Clubhouse in Dunderry and were given a standing ovation by the Intermediate Hurlers who were also victorious.
Good enening for Dunderry.
It escapes me how it was not possible to have both games in the same venue.I would like to have seen both matches as would all the players involved I am sure.
As a matter iof interest Mags team also won.
On a personal level I would like to compliment the mentors and families for producing such a well mannered ,respectful competitive and skillful bunch of children for our Club.From the four corners of the Parish Ye should be proud.
Monday, May 26, 2014
They are reaping just as they sowed.
My gut feeling about the elections has been accurate enough.Labour has utterly failed to learn from the Meath East bye election and jettison the womb raiders,the sneerers at hetrosexuals ,the anti Catholic bigots it harbours in droves and the stickies who talk a good game but never togged out in the game of life and will leave a husk of a party in its wake.
They are now the sole refuge of the atheists,the gay and lesbian movement and trade unionists who are stuck so far up their holes that they cannot and will not let go.
Oh and I forget the feminists men haters who are now being wheeled out to spin the lie that the female gonad somehow trumps the male gonad when it comes to governance.Yep people, let more like them into the fold and watch your support sink down to 2 %.
You do see how Joan "SEXIST "Burton has rallied the troops in Dublin West and how so few people admire her that Labour failed to register at all in the bye election.Yep get more like her on board.There are plenty to be found drawing handy money from our hard earned taxes in minor p professorships in vague university's polishing their gonads and further demeaning their sisters with the message of academic prostitution (i.e possession of a fanny is the bees knees ).
And the man who knows more than the Pope and thought himself fit to admonish his Church has bought into this agenda hook,line and sinker.
Enda has proven to be the spiritually successor of Cromwell in words and action.He has enough apostles lurking in the Churches and GAA clubs of Ireland spying on the goings ons to know full well how much he and his Junior partners are actively hated by the Greter populace.
Well it has only started.
And RTE and the general media are so divorced from reality that it hasn't and hadn't a clue.
Here's some free advice for those genuine enough to exercise compassion.
1.Each week abolish a quango.
2.Each week unravel and unpick one piece of legislation enacted these four years back.
3.Each week delegislate one piece of Euro legislation enacted without Dail Scrutiny.
4.Apologise and make restitution for each suicide and economic emigrant that happened in your watch.
5.Try telling the truth.
They are now the sole refuge of the atheists,the gay and lesbian movement and trade unionists who are stuck so far up their holes that they cannot and will not let go.
Oh and I forget the feminists men haters who are now being wheeled out to spin the lie that the female gonad somehow trumps the male gonad when it comes to governance.Yep people, let more like them into the fold and watch your support sink down to 2 %.
You do see how Joan "SEXIST "Burton has rallied the troops in Dublin West and how so few people admire her that Labour failed to register at all in the bye election.Yep get more like her on board.There are plenty to be found drawing handy money from our hard earned taxes in minor p professorships in vague university's polishing their gonads and further demeaning their sisters with the message of academic prostitution (i.e possession of a fanny is the bees knees ).
And the man who knows more than the Pope and thought himself fit to admonish his Church has bought into this agenda hook,line and sinker.
Enda has proven to be the spiritually successor of Cromwell in words and action.He has enough apostles lurking in the Churches and GAA clubs of Ireland spying on the goings ons to know full well how much he and his Junior partners are actively hated by the Greter populace.
Well it has only started.
And RTE and the general media are so divorced from reality that it hasn't and hadn't a clue.
Here's some free advice for those genuine enough to exercise compassion.
1.Each week abolish a quango.
2.Each week unravel and unpick one piece of legislation enacted these four years back.
3.Each week delegislate one piece of Euro legislation enacted without Dail Scrutiny.
4.Apologise and make restitution for each suicide and economic emigrant that happened in your watch.
5.Try telling the truth.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Fir Breaga out of control
The political establishment clearly take us, the electorate, as total gob shites,with the memory of an amoebae.That is when they are not quietly mining the ore from the voluntary charity sector to where they migrate when the onus of quarrying the public lucre becomes too barefaced even for themselves and their voracious supporters.
We now know that Fine Gael,Fine Fail,Labour and P.D Grandees and their pals can slither into the long grass of the charity sector and continue quietly for decades to sip from the endless gravy train all the while spreading their vile principles of political greed via an unquestioning and seamless media who won't let the cat out of the bag .
Just as it falls into step with the lie that the tsunami of homelessness snuck us on us.Nothing could be further from the truth.
I have consistently compared this Government to that of Cromwell.
It has been the messenger boy of a foreign agent,the troika,and has been vigilant beyond duty in implementing the anti Irish policies of its employers.
There is talk of" rats" lately.Queen of the species herself,and Queen of the scratches ,Joan actively encourages them.She wants neighbour to inform on neighbour.
But a much deeper definition of the species is of someone so low that there is no hole dirty enough that s/he won't climb into it.
Since this Government's ascension to power,there has been no part of the citizen's life that the rats have not been forced into to extracts whatever pitiable tit bit they can from the unfortunate victim.They have burrowed into your pension,your van tax,your wage slip.your septic tank.the price of your heating,the roof over your head.and the water that falls from the skies.
And anyone with initiative they especially hate.
They attack the young,the youth,the middle aged,the healthy,and especially the old and elderly disabled.
They are intent on making decent people into bowsies and breaking the hearts of a proud race.
They have installed hail fellow well met economists into all the important finance ministries whose non answer to the question of homeliness is to emit a nervous and self deprecating smirk and academic sleight of hat and and treat the matter as a hilarious quirk of nature and promise to look into it.
And they wheel out tight lipped and heartless hussies who pretend that this has caught them by surprise.
Truth is that they all worked ceaselessly to so impoverish us so that homelessness,they hoped ,would be socially accepted by a broke people.
Run the fuckers back to the holes they escaped from and never let them see the light of day again.
What a collection of bowsies.
We now know that Fine Gael,Fine Fail,Labour and P.D Grandees and their pals can slither into the long grass of the charity sector and continue quietly for decades to sip from the endless gravy train all the while spreading their vile principles of political greed via an unquestioning and seamless media who won't let the cat out of the bag .
Just as it falls into step with the lie that the tsunami of homelessness snuck us on us.Nothing could be further from the truth.
I have consistently compared this Government to that of Cromwell.
It has been the messenger boy of a foreign agent,the troika,and has been vigilant beyond duty in implementing the anti Irish policies of its employers.
There is talk of" rats" lately.Queen of the species herself,and Queen of the scratches ,Joan actively encourages them.She wants neighbour to inform on neighbour.
But a much deeper definition of the species is of someone so low that there is no hole dirty enough that s/he won't climb into it.
Since this Government's ascension to power,there has been no part of the citizen's life that the rats have not been forced into to extracts whatever pitiable tit bit they can from the unfortunate victim.They have burrowed into your pension,your van tax,your wage slip.your septic tank.the price of your heating,the roof over your head.and the water that falls from the skies.
And anyone with initiative they especially hate.
They attack the young,the youth,the middle aged,the healthy,and especially the old and elderly disabled.
They are intent on making decent people into bowsies and breaking the hearts of a proud race.
They have installed hail fellow well met economists into all the important finance ministries whose non answer to the question of homeliness is to emit a nervous and self deprecating smirk and academic sleight of hat and and treat the matter as a hilarious quirk of nature and promise to look into it.
And they wheel out tight lipped and heartless hussies who pretend that this has caught them by surprise.
Truth is that they all worked ceaselessly to so impoverish us so that homelessness,they hoped ,would be socially accepted by a broke people.
Run the fuckers back to the holes they escaped from and never let them see the light of day again.
What a collection of bowsies.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Dunderry V Ballinabrackey .IFC 17/5/2014
Today was a grand Spring day ,as good as it gets.Nobody here will be aping the Yanks in erecting weather rooms at their offices to better pamper their poor vapid employees to better enjoy the awful weather here.What a condescending bunch of Yankees.
Around Dunderry a good day to be alive.
Personally I have b been as sick as a rabid dog for a week.My stroked arm is giving me hell.I irrevocably destroyed me stroke twisted knee thirty years ago to the extent that ligaments are non existent,cartilage is problematic and the slightest divergence from the direct line forward is severely punished .This week I twisted it.The pain was unbearable any rate,
On top of this I developed a chest infection which led to a tsunami of phlegm forming In my lungs and staying stubbornly there flowing from one side to the other but refusing to do the decent thing and erupt through my throat into infinity and back,
NO matter how I Lay there were eruptions aplenty and unceasing.I coughed for Ireland and the only little sleep I got was sitting up in a chair.
Driven by misery to the triple attack I surrendered to the mercies of my harried G.P.on Friday.
Painkillers,steroids ,anti bio tics,inhalers,anti hystiems etc and the combination started to kick in on Saturday.
I left the bed in one piece.Our Blaithin was in situ,being spoiled by Agnes ably assisted by her two year old cousin Chloe who had to be stopped from cuddling her to death as Jacinta dragged Cormack to Dublin to equip him for his First Holy Communion.On the bus,.Our Claire a nurse gave me the one over.Passed..
I didn't feel great and mosied off down to the farm to enjoy better the fresh air and the grand weather and do like my uncle Joe used do.That is look at the cattle ating and just living.I strongly recommend it and now know how he so loved farming.
Totally undecided about going to the game,And at six Minogue phoned .Did I want a lift.And then Aoife phoned "Was I going..Padraig ,Finns Son wanted a lift.
Game on so.
I drove myself.Had to wait for Padraig to put on the gear.Dunderry jersey knicks and socks.The sixth generation of our breed to wear the colours .Proudly.
Small enough crowd I thought in a resplendent Summerhill for the game.Fiver in .Enough.
The Legend,the Lev and Neddie fielded the following team.
Jennings
A.Newman S.Harte Davy Mac Cormack
C.Dempsey Finn Stephens Conor O Shea
Liam Dempsey Conor Farrell
A Waters S,Coogan Swiss Clarke
Lukie Martyn Paddy Kenneally Bob Doherty
I hadn#t seen Ballinabrackey play this year but had heard reports that they were a serious team ,a team on the move ,unlike our poor gob shites who would be cannon fodder for the real footballers.
I don't accept this agenda.As a club we have and are working through the tyranny of players and their acolytes who always knew more than the management and made it their life's work to overthrow them and put theitr own men into office to secure their own gametime at better players expense.
The Legend and his men are their own men,so far at any rate.Long may it continue.
The first half was an even steven up and down affair with text book refeering by Far and away the best referee operating in Meath football at the moment.Richie Morris.
Coogan opened the scoring with a flawless close in free.Brackrey responded with a free from play.Soon after Coogan repeated the dose.,followed by one from play.
Then Brackey reeled off three scores two from play and one from a free before Coogan grabbed back two from a free and a forty five .The half was completed by a fine Brackey point from play to leave it at 0-5 apiece at the break.
Jennings was having a master game.Newman and Spongee were cleaning up in the corners and covering well for Harte who ,while having his moments ,is maybe a half stone over the ideal .But his instincts are good,Conor a is adapting quicker to the step up from Div.5 minor football to intermediate than Lukie and was playing well and O Shea ,freed from Hurling duties was buzzing around with aggressive gusto.
Finn was having his first half man of the match performance.He is flying again.Finally has found faith in his own ability and being encouraged in it by a perceptive management.,No longer a fall guy taking the hits for lesser and less courageous luminaries.
Bomber plays on the edge and just has to get in the last word.He is good enough not to play this way.A matter of belief and self control.He should button it and get on with it.He is talented and gifted enough to go either way.Now is the time to put up or shut up.
Dempsy at midfield is big,strong courageous and a team player.Needs to learn that the field is not a debating chamber and you are judged at your play not your say.I know he is doing training above and beyond and with their build this will always be the case.Is brimming with promise.
Waters was cute and is fit and has bought into the team plan.Not always anxious to tackle back.Coogan ghosts into positions when a reasistic expeectation of a good pass is on the cards and wins it inevitably/Got all our first half scores.
Lukie is tough and brave but is getting fierce hard to make the transition from Div,5 Minor Football to Intremediate.The ball just didn't fall for him in the first half.It was directed more towards Paddy Kenneally and he had to feed on the mickey drippings.No fault of his.Swiss involved himself at every opportunity and was always available,sending much ball to advantage to Paddy.
Paddy got plenty of good ball.was fouled twice for frees which Coogan converted,Opposition teams gave now cottoned to his style of play and no longer buy itto his quicksilver changes of pace while holding on to the ball.He was stymied several times/Will have to work out a more understanding style of passing interplay with his team mates.Bob was mining any well placed pass that went his way and is hard to beat under a high ball but needs someone running art him to take the ball when hie gets possession.
Carroll at midfield caused huge trouble for us when he got the ball.
I would have made possibly two changes after the half but on balance was happy enough with the draw/
I didn't expect Lukie to get line but he was taken at half time With Carty getting his place.When you think about It this is some statement.Carty is a current under under 21 county football team player.Lukie is not on the minor team .But there you go.Carty is like a will o the wisp ,he just appears ,shakes and motors on ball somehow controlled.And he did almost straight away ,conjuring up a shot on open goal from nowhere and ...missing.Ballinabrackey didn;t stand and admire,they threw two over the bar from play.
Finn manned the breach impressively and steadied the ship across the middle .No entrance.We responded.Coogan pulled one back from another impeccable free.Ballinabrac kept at it and score another minor from play.Then Catty and Swiss split the posts before the trusted boot of Coogan scored the final two from his trusted boot/
Paddy and Swiss departed through injury And Martin Garry.who made a most influential contribution graced the field.Lukie was reintroduced and gave it rebind diddy and Col Harte Stefan Clarke was thrown in r towards the end.
This was a good game of football the result of which was in doubt right up top the end.Truth to tell we missed four scorable chances in the the last ten minutes and had we got them we would have been out of sight.
Finn was our best ,followed by spongy and Jennings ,who attaining the status of his namesake in another code of a different era,and Swiss with the score rate of Coogan making the pick of the forwards a foregone conclusion.
I would have liked to see Marty Garry on for longer.
We won 0-10 to 0-8
BUt to the Legend,the Lev and Ned and lifestyle coach the Crowes nest ,fair dues.
WE did suffer one defeat on Saturday however.One of our more vociferous supporters was routed by an w even more vociferous female supporter from the opposition who out screeched and totally intimidated her into unconditional submission /Well you cant win them all.
Our blaithin was
Around Dunderry a good day to be alive.
Personally I have b been as sick as a rabid dog for a week.My stroked arm is giving me hell.I irrevocably destroyed me stroke twisted knee thirty years ago to the extent that ligaments are non existent,cartilage is problematic and the slightest divergence from the direct line forward is severely punished .This week I twisted it.The pain was unbearable any rate,
On top of this I developed a chest infection which led to a tsunami of phlegm forming In my lungs and staying stubbornly there flowing from one side to the other but refusing to do the decent thing and erupt through my throat into infinity and back,
NO matter how I Lay there were eruptions aplenty and unceasing.I coughed for Ireland and the only little sleep I got was sitting up in a chair.
Driven by misery to the triple attack I surrendered to the mercies of my harried G.P.on Friday.
Painkillers,steroids ,anti bio tics,inhalers,anti hystiems etc and the combination started to kick in on Saturday.
I left the bed in one piece.Our Blaithin was in situ,being spoiled by Agnes ably assisted by her two year old cousin Chloe who had to be stopped from cuddling her to death as Jacinta dragged Cormack to Dublin to equip him for his First Holy Communion.On the bus,.Our Claire a nurse gave me the one over.Passed..
I didn't feel great and mosied off down to the farm to enjoy better the fresh air and the grand weather and do like my uncle Joe used do.That is look at the cattle ating and just living.I strongly recommend it and now know how he so loved farming.
Totally undecided about going to the game,And at six Minogue phoned .Did I want a lift.And then Aoife phoned "Was I going..Padraig ,Finns Son wanted a lift.
Game on so.
I drove myself.Had to wait for Padraig to put on the gear.Dunderry jersey knicks and socks.The sixth generation of our breed to wear the colours .Proudly.
Small enough crowd I thought in a resplendent Summerhill for the game.Fiver in .Enough.
The Legend,the Lev and Neddie fielded the following team.
Jennings
A.Newman S.Harte Davy Mac Cormack
C.Dempsey Finn Stephens Conor O Shea
Liam Dempsey Conor Farrell
A Waters S,Coogan Swiss Clarke
Lukie Martyn Paddy Kenneally Bob Doherty
I hadn#t seen Ballinabrackey play this year but had heard reports that they were a serious team ,a team on the move ,unlike our poor gob shites who would be cannon fodder for the real footballers.
I don't accept this agenda.As a club we have and are working through the tyranny of players and their acolytes who always knew more than the management and made it their life's work to overthrow them and put theitr own men into office to secure their own gametime at better players expense.
The Legend and his men are their own men,so far at any rate.Long may it continue.
The first half was an even steven up and down affair with text book refeering by Far and away the best referee operating in Meath football at the moment.Richie Morris.
Coogan opened the scoring with a flawless close in free.Brackrey responded with a free from play.Soon after Coogan repeated the dose.,followed by one from play.
Then Brackey reeled off three scores two from play and one from a free before Coogan grabbed back two from a free and a forty five .The half was completed by a fine Brackey point from play to leave it at 0-5 apiece at the break.
Jennings was having a master game.Newman and Spongee were cleaning up in the corners and covering well for Harte who ,while having his moments ,is maybe a half stone over the ideal .But his instincts are good,Conor a is adapting quicker to the step up from Div.5 minor football to intermediate than Lukie and was playing well and O Shea ,freed from Hurling duties was buzzing around with aggressive gusto.
Finn was having his first half man of the match performance.He is flying again.Finally has found faith in his own ability and being encouraged in it by a perceptive management.,No longer a fall guy taking the hits for lesser and less courageous luminaries.
Bomber plays on the edge and just has to get in the last word.He is good enough not to play this way.A matter of belief and self control.He should button it and get on with it.He is talented and gifted enough to go either way.Now is the time to put up or shut up.
Dempsy at midfield is big,strong courageous and a team player.Needs to learn that the field is not a debating chamber and you are judged at your play not your say.I know he is doing training above and beyond and with their build this will always be the case.Is brimming with promise.
Waters was cute and is fit and has bought into the team plan.Not always anxious to tackle back.Coogan ghosts into positions when a reasistic expeectation of a good pass is on the cards and wins it inevitably/Got all our first half scores.
Lukie is tough and brave but is getting fierce hard to make the transition from Div,5 Minor Football to Intremediate.The ball just didn't fall for him in the first half.It was directed more towards Paddy Kenneally and he had to feed on the mickey drippings.No fault of his.Swiss involved himself at every opportunity and was always available,sending much ball to advantage to Paddy.
Paddy got plenty of good ball.was fouled twice for frees which Coogan converted,Opposition teams gave now cottoned to his style of play and no longer buy itto his quicksilver changes of pace while holding on to the ball.He was stymied several times/Will have to work out a more understanding style of passing interplay with his team mates.Bob was mining any well placed pass that went his way and is hard to beat under a high ball but needs someone running art him to take the ball when hie gets possession.
Carroll at midfield caused huge trouble for us when he got the ball.
I would have made possibly two changes after the half but on balance was happy enough with the draw/
I didn't expect Lukie to get line but he was taken at half time With Carty getting his place.When you think about It this is some statement.Carty is a current under under 21 county football team player.Lukie is not on the minor team .But there you go.Carty is like a will o the wisp ,he just appears ,shakes and motors on ball somehow controlled.And he did almost straight away ,conjuring up a shot on open goal from nowhere and ...missing.Ballinabrackey didn;t stand and admire,they threw two over the bar from play.
Finn manned the breach impressively and steadied the ship across the middle .No entrance.We responded.Coogan pulled one back from another impeccable free.Ballinabrac kept at it and score another minor from play.Then Catty and Swiss split the posts before the trusted boot of Coogan scored the final two from his trusted boot/
Paddy and Swiss departed through injury And Martin Garry.who made a most influential contribution graced the field.Lukie was reintroduced and gave it rebind diddy and Col Harte Stefan Clarke was thrown in r towards the end.
This was a good game of football the result of which was in doubt right up top the end.Truth to tell we missed four scorable chances in the the last ten minutes and had we got them we would have been out of sight.
Finn was our best ,followed by spongy and Jennings ,who attaining the status of his namesake in another code of a different era,and Swiss with the score rate of Coogan making the pick of the forwards a foregone conclusion.
I would have liked to see Marty Garry on for longer.
We won 0-10 to 0-8
BUt to the Legend,the Lev and Ned and lifestyle coach the Crowes nest ,fair dues.
WE did suffer one defeat on Saturday however.One of our more vociferous supporters was routed by an w even more vociferous female supporter from the opposition who out screeched and totally intimidated her into unconditional submission /Well you cant win them all.
Our blaithin was
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Why this country is disintegrating before our eyes
Until the mid 1980,s Government Departments were run on the basis of the applicable law and without fear or favour.It mattered not a whit who you were or what prominent position you occupied in Society.Your actions ,proposals ,whatever were judged strictly on their merits and in light of the applicable law.
This approach served the State well since its foundation.
In the time frame I am talking about there emerged from all over the Public Service a breed of person who actively advocated a commercial business approach to Government function.
When all the rhetoric was stripped away this meant that you took shortcuts and approached problems in a business like fashion.Distilling this further this meant that you aped business.
These guys were so naive that they didn't realise that businesses cheat to preserve the business.And so I argue Government departments started to cheat to preserve their powers and in administering thee functions.And anyone who stood up to this injustice was caste aside and those in power promoted their apostles.
And the administration of the State went haywire.
Thees advocates were snapped up by outside business interests to increase their bottom line,profit ,no more no less.
This approach dovetailed with the emergence of a breed of politician whose sole reason d'etre was greed and was admired for it.Even to day we have those commentators who would gladly hand over any given Government function to an astute business man on the basis outlined above.
Every investigation properly undertaken from the mid 1980 to date has exposed gross impropriety on behalf of those in power in Public service and it all stems from what I have outlined above.
The unfortunate thing is that this laisser faire attitude to the exercise of responsibility is so embedded in our Public Service that it would take major surgery to remove it.
As a general aside,you will find that the fairest people in the public service are not at the top of the food chain and it is them and them only that enables Government Departments to function at all.
Any Civil Servant who lived through the times I am talking about will remember the type of person I am talking about and maybe now realise the incalculable damage they foisted on this country and the tax payer.
This approach served the State well since its foundation.
In the time frame I am talking about there emerged from all over the Public Service a breed of person who actively advocated a commercial business approach to Government function.
When all the rhetoric was stripped away this meant that you took shortcuts and approached problems in a business like fashion.Distilling this further this meant that you aped business.
These guys were so naive that they didn't realise that businesses cheat to preserve the business.And so I argue Government departments started to cheat to preserve their powers and in administering thee functions.And anyone who stood up to this injustice was caste aside and those in power promoted their apostles.
And the administration of the State went haywire.
Thees advocates were snapped up by outside business interests to increase their bottom line,profit ,no more no less.
This approach dovetailed with the emergence of a breed of politician whose sole reason d'etre was greed and was admired for it.Even to day we have those commentators who would gladly hand over any given Government function to an astute business man on the basis outlined above.
Every investigation properly undertaken from the mid 1980 to date has exposed gross impropriety on behalf of those in power in Public service and it all stems from what I have outlined above.
The unfortunate thing is that this laisser faire attitude to the exercise of responsibility is so embedded in our Public Service that it would take major surgery to remove it.
As a general aside,you will find that the fairest people in the public service are not at the top of the food chain and it is them and them only that enables Government Departments to function at all.
Any Civil Servant who lived through the times I am talking about will remember the type of person I am talking about and maybe now realise the incalculable damage they foisted on this country and the tax payer.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Eurovision 2015 ,Dunderry entry.
The event formerly known as the Eurovision song contest ,but now better known as a freak contest ,will receive a huge Irish fillip next year when the world gets to see first hand the Dunderry entry,which is now being induced into performing mood.
Let me explain.I know that the whole secret of success in this competition lies in getting inside the heads of those who judge these things and appealing to the lowest common denominator of that mindset.
It is clear that the lyrics and melody of any song is a waste of space unless there is a freak element to the presentation.This should not surprise us Irish in the least as we were the first half nation to sent a non human act to represent us there ,a puppet turkey who spoke wit a Dublin accent and whose best pal was a bit of two by two wooden plank.
This was followed by a pair of twits whose expertise consisted of head stands and other acts of physical contortion which were deemed "gas " by pre teen Irish ludramans.
The latest winner is a being whose gender is uncertain and which sings in a frock while sporting a full beard.Is it human,is it alien is it it.?It also comes with an inbuilt anti Russian hiss factor which is activated when the Russian contribution gets merited marks.
In short it is the product and zenith of Western European secular evolution and the sting of a dying wasp.It is the product of an entertainment act which regards all art as essentially the sole prerogative of the queers and the gays and of a movement that for stops just short of making homosexuality and lesbianism mandatory for everybody and which revels in poking fun at people who regard themselves as heterosexuals.
It is the raison detre of the Pussy Rioters and is revenge for the very tolerant and reasonable treatment of their blasphemy by reasonable Russia.It is the epitome of bunkered cowardice which reasons the lack of boots on the ground and the use of drones is the domain of the brave and which selectively supports army coups d'etats when it suits their purposes.
Any how I toured Dunderry Fair today to see if I could identify any thing which could be interbred to ensure sure fire success at the 2015 Erosion.And I am sure I cracked it.
I will immediately start to interbreed an ugly turkey today with with a black danish sheep breed and cross it with a home bred duck which has a baritone quack.
The result will be a short legged,big chested ,thin necked,black,hornless ,two eyed ,yellow billed ,red combed,half duck ,half sheep ,whose posterior would put the Kashardin sisters to shame such is the size of its feather circled arse which has three holes of uncertain destination .
And it can gobble,quack and baa to tune.
Should be a shoo in.( or whatever you are having yourself )
And it can be trained to boo whatever country you are having yourself.
Let me explain.I know that the whole secret of success in this competition lies in getting inside the heads of those who judge these things and appealing to the lowest common denominator of that mindset.
It is clear that the lyrics and melody of any song is a waste of space unless there is a freak element to the presentation.This should not surprise us Irish in the least as we were the first half nation to sent a non human act to represent us there ,a puppet turkey who spoke wit a Dublin accent and whose best pal was a bit of two by two wooden plank.
This was followed by a pair of twits whose expertise consisted of head stands and other acts of physical contortion which were deemed "gas " by pre teen Irish ludramans.
The latest winner is a being whose gender is uncertain and which sings in a frock while sporting a full beard.Is it human,is it alien is it it.?It also comes with an inbuilt anti Russian hiss factor which is activated when the Russian contribution gets merited marks.
In short it is the product and zenith of Western European secular evolution and the sting of a dying wasp.It is the product of an entertainment act which regards all art as essentially the sole prerogative of the queers and the gays and of a movement that for stops just short of making homosexuality and lesbianism mandatory for everybody and which revels in poking fun at people who regard themselves as heterosexuals.
It is the raison detre of the Pussy Rioters and is revenge for the very tolerant and reasonable treatment of their blasphemy by reasonable Russia.It is the epitome of bunkered cowardice which reasons the lack of boots on the ground and the use of drones is the domain of the brave and which selectively supports army coups d'etats when it suits their purposes.
Any how I toured Dunderry Fair today to see if I could identify any thing which could be interbred to ensure sure fire success at the 2015 Erosion.And I am sure I cracked it.
I will immediately start to interbreed an ugly turkey today with with a black danish sheep breed and cross it with a home bred duck which has a baritone quack.
The result will be a short legged,big chested ,thin necked,black,hornless ,two eyed ,yellow billed ,red combed,half duck ,half sheep ,whose posterior would put the Kashardin sisters to shame such is the size of its feather circled arse which has three holes of uncertain destination .
And it can gobble,quack and baa to tune.
Should be a shoo in.( or whatever you are having yourself )
And it can be trained to boo whatever country you are having yourself.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Muskateer Update.
Liam's mother died and is well buried.Deirdre has been battling hard against illness but returned this week to the Friday prayer group.She is much better.Leo and Carmel are dizzy with hope for a fine day on Sunday for the Fair.I am fairly bet myself.I twisted my bad knee and even hobbling is a major pain in the ass.On top of this i have a hateful cold that has gone to my chest.I still need prayer for a close family member.
God is good.We hope,
God is good.We hope,
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Bullshit aside.
You should not be fooled by all this talk of economic recovery and suchlike.
Just this week another talented tradesman and Dunderrry footballer emigrated to England for work.There is no work here for him.
Another dear friend who lives locally hadn't called in for a month.We were worried and checked.Put simply she was afraid to leave the house empty in case it was robbed.The only time that both she and her husband were at home at the same time was at night time .As he was away working long hours she was afraid to move out and leave the house empty in daylight hours in case it was robbed.
They are a relatively young couple.
Another family I know who have already been the victims of burglary have had to install electronic gates at enormous expense and even at that are afraid to leave the house empty.
And yet another couple have had to build a fortress like shed with steel shutters to house their diesel tank to stop the theft of diesel.
This is what the Government has done for rural Ireland.
There is a huge fall in support for politicians of all the main parties in rural Ireland.
Labour will be destroyed.Fine Gael will be boycotted by a significant number of its core vote such is the disappointment of its adherents with its governance.Rather than vote for any other party many will just not vote at all.,
Fianna Fail is so ashamed of its recent past that it is hard to see the Fianna fail logo on its posters,but those who switched to Fine Gael the last time out will return to F.F.on the basis that they are no worse than the Government parties.
Floating voters will vote independent but thinking Catholics will not turn to Sinn Fein in the numbers predicted because of its pro abortion stance.
Ronan Mullin will I believe get a better vote than currently predicted as pro life people have no obvious Party to flock to.
I am giving it a miss this time out but am hoping for enough good fortune to run in the next General Election.
Even more a cynic than I was it seems to me that back bench T.D.s are reduced to burrowing into positions at funerals adjacent to the bereaved so as to present themselves for handshakes immediately after the bereaved.They are also useful for using their influence in skipping the queue of mourners by having a quiet but influentisal word with the undertakers.
Just this week another talented tradesman and Dunderrry footballer emigrated to England for work.There is no work here for him.
Another dear friend who lives locally hadn't called in for a month.We were worried and checked.Put simply she was afraid to leave the house empty in case it was robbed.The only time that both she and her husband were at home at the same time was at night time .As he was away working long hours she was afraid to move out and leave the house empty in daylight hours in case it was robbed.
They are a relatively young couple.
Another family I know who have already been the victims of burglary have had to install electronic gates at enormous expense and even at that are afraid to leave the house empty.
And yet another couple have had to build a fortress like shed with steel shutters to house their diesel tank to stop the theft of diesel.
This is what the Government has done for rural Ireland.
There is a huge fall in support for politicians of all the main parties in rural Ireland.
Labour will be destroyed.Fine Gael will be boycotted by a significant number of its core vote such is the disappointment of its adherents with its governance.Rather than vote for any other party many will just not vote at all.,
Fianna Fail is so ashamed of its recent past that it is hard to see the Fianna fail logo on its posters,but those who switched to Fine Gael the last time out will return to F.F.on the basis that they are no worse than the Government parties.
Floating voters will vote independent but thinking Catholics will not turn to Sinn Fein in the numbers predicted because of its pro abortion stance.
Ronan Mullin will I believe get a better vote than currently predicted as pro life people have no obvious Party to flock to.
I am giving it a miss this time out but am hoping for enough good fortune to run in the next General Election.
Even more a cynic than I was it seems to me that back bench T.D.s are reduced to burrowing into positions at funerals adjacent to the bereaved so as to present themselves for handshakes immediately after the bereaved.They are also useful for using their influence in skipping the queue of mourners by having a quiet but influentisal word with the undertakers.
And so it goes.
Tonight our third football team turned up at the pitch for a League Div.7 match against Rathoath.There was no match ,our Chairman having been notified at 6.00 p.m. this evening that the visitors couldn't field.
Even though it was a hateful evening weather wise our boys were disappointed.
Hard to blame them ,they are making a huge effort and need all the football they can get.
In my noggin there stirred a memory from a decade or so ago when there was controversy in Meath GAA circles over the attempted transfer here of a juvenile from a different Parish.
At the time a Ratoath Gael wrote to the papers wishing our Club bad luck over our stance on the issue.
It hurt me at the time.
We are still standing.What goes around comes around.
Even though it was a hateful evening weather wise our boys were disappointed.
Hard to blame them ,they are making a huge effort and need all the football they can get.
In my noggin there stirred a memory from a decade or so ago when there was controversy in Meath GAA circles over the attempted transfer here of a juvenile from a different Parish.
At the time a Ratoath Gael wrote to the papers wishing our Club bad luck over our stance on the issue.
It hurt me at the time.
We are still standing.What goes around comes around.
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