Death of Paddy Conway,Halltown,Dunderry.

Former Dunderry footballer ,husband,father, grandfather and brother,uncle and granduncle ,Paddy unexpectedly took a turn for the worse at home this morning and died soon after being taken to Navan Hospital.
I understand he suffered a bout of breathlessness yesterday in Navan,but appeared fine whilst in Dunderry yesterday later in the day.
He was rarely ,if ever ill during his 86 years on this earth.
He was a great friend of my people the Mac Cormack's and related ,his ancestors sharing the same grave in Churchtown with mine.
To his stricken wife Phylis his children Seamus,Pat and Jacki his siblings .in laws and many friends I offer my sincere condolences.
The Conway's are being hammered this year as it is only a few short months since his brother Fig went to meet his maker.
The arrangements are not yet to hand.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a hanam Dilis.

Reposing in Fitzsimoms funeral home in Navan this Thursday from 3.00.P.M. removing at 7.15 for Boyerstown Church to arrive at 7.30.
Funeral  Mass on Friday  at 11.00 A.M.and burial afterwards in Churchtown Cemetery.

Death of Sean Mallon,Bohermeen Cross.

On Wednesday past ,29th.May 2019,Sean cast off this mortal coil.
He had died in his sleep in his 78th. year and although I  haven't yet seen him I  am assured that his demeanour is such that he died peacefully.No man deserved a peaceful death more than Sean did as he was one of natures gentlemen and I am fairly sure that he never did a bad turn on anybody.
Sean was a first cousin of my mother's Peggy Mc Cormack,his father Ned being a sister of my granny Kate Mc Cormack.
Ned's wife died when the kids were small and my mother used walk from the Curragh Boreen to Bohermeen to babysit the Mallon kids.
I am sure they are comparing notes in Heaven at this stage and I am sure that his sister Baba is joining in the conversation.
All the Mc Cormacks of that generation are dead and all the Mallons save Larry have passed over and one thing they all had in common was the gift of good conversation and a withering sense of humour.
T o put it bluntly they could all cut the boots from you if you asked for it.
I'd say that the get together around God's table of these cousins is riveting. I  suspect that even Jesus is not spared the odd cut.
Sean was a decent man,a family man par excellence and there was not a mean bone in his body.
His aunt ,my granny used feed any tinker who called to her door and it is no coincidence that the tinkers used camp adjacent to Ned's house decades ago as they were sure of a hand out or a leg up if the Mallons had it.
IT is rumoured that Sean as a kid went begging with them on occasion...
Recently he gave them full permission to draw water from his well  and loaned them his trailer as they needed it.They did not abuse this privilege.
Sean was a man of many work talents and was big in the cattle trade for many years.This came to an end when European Agricultural regulations decreed that the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of Euros would have to be made to provide overnight lairage for the cattle ,money he did not have.
Never a man to be put down he remembered a quarry in his property from his father's time and physically dug out stone and sustained himself and the dependent family members for a period until ill health overcame him.
He was a game man and a trier to the very last.
Sean was a bigger than life man as long as I  knew him.Not only was he physically big but he exuded a presence in any company that drew people to him.HE  was a great conversationalist and full of fun.Irrepressible and great company.
Of late his great friends Liam Harte and ,when he was able Georgin Herterich,were his wingmen and what a crew they were.I  often tn went on the beer with him.
We take a lot for granted in this Country presently.Just over a hundred years ago we were a slave Nation ,a colony of the Brits and certain people put their lives on the line to get our freedom.
Sean's father Ned and two of his brothers put their lives on the line as IRA members for the periiod  of the War of Independence  in the fight for freedom.
Mc Cormack's house was a safe house.Kate wasn't going to let her brothers live under the open sky while on the run.
To his people we owe a huge debt and we sometimes forget this.
The Mallon household was a welcoming one and this was and is due hugely to his wife Mary ,who serves up only the best in grub and hospitality,a welcome I  can vouch for as I  have often enjoyed it.
They were not only husband and wife but great friends as far as I  could see..
She must be heartbroken,as must be their children ,Eamon,John.Lillian ,Sandra and Maria.They were predeceased by their son Patrick just as was entering his prime of life and this left a permanent emotional scar.
Larry is his only surviving sibling ,another great man for the conversation and enjoyable company too.
His nephew Gerry Murtagh is a friend of mine and he to possesses  those qualities that made Sean such an outstanding individual.
As do his children.
To all these,his grandchildren .other family ,in laws and friends too numerous to mention I offer my sincere condolences.
His remains will be reposing in his house in Bohermeen on Friday from noon until 9.00 p.m.
The funeral Mass will be on SATURDAY AT 11.A.M in Bohermeen  and his remains will go thence to Lakelands Crematorium ,Cavan.
Ar Dheas De go raibh a hAnam Dilis.

Dignity in death.

 I have the father and mother of a flu and haven't been out much lately,at least I  hope that is what I  have.
Nonetheless I  have kept in touch with my good friend  and fellow Muskateer Liam Dalton.
He had the saddest of news three weeks ago today.
His beloved daughter Louise and her husband Russell Dersley had the huge misfortune to give premature birth to two identical twin boys Jack and Harry a few day's earlier.They knew this was coming and even though it happened at twelve weeks the sadness was nevertheless palpable.
They gathered in Dunderry Churchyard to bury the boys in the family plot.
It was a private ceremony and I  went out of friendship and even though I was too sick to get out of the car I  am glad that I  did.
The entire family ,especially the parents and the only sister of the twins ,were devastated.
The ceremony and prayers were lead by Father Hornick,the grave was opened and in the most dignified manner possible the twins were interred in a white coffin not the size of a shoebox.
Tears flowed copiously and why wouldn't they.
The Daltons are decent and true Catholics so decency is in their DNA.
Ar  dHEIS dE GO RAIBH A Hanam dilis.
This event effected me hugely as it brought back personal memories of events of decades ago ,when my own sister went to full term carrying dead children and they too were buried with her husband's ancestors  in Kentstown after a ceremony officiated over by the local Priest.
May they too rest in peace.

Death of Fig.Conway.

It was a grand Spring day in Dunderry,weatherwise.I am just after poking my head out the door and it is invigorating and would make you feel good to be alive.

dunderry drumbeat

I am therefor saddened in the extreme to be the bearer of the bad news that my great friend Phil Conway died at c.1.00 a.m. this morning in Beaumount Hospital where he had been languishing these few weeks back.
I last saw Fig about a week before last Christmas and although shook he was well with it and had no contemplation nor expectation of imminent death.
He had recently come home after a 5 week stay in the Mater where he had been treated for swelling of the body.
He was told that the dreaded cancer was not back and that the medics could find no reason for the swelling.Having seen about 50 doctors he could get no answers and came home.
I  had arranged a few pints for myself and a few others a few days later and asked him to come.He was delighted and promised that he would.He never landed.
I knew then that things were not good.
Shortly afterward he was admitted to Beaumount and the inevitable followed.
There are indelible ties of friendship between the Conways and the Mc Cormacks ,my, mother's people ,that defy time and space,that have their genesis in hardship and history.
Fig's uncle Jack was an important and brave participant in the War of Independence.H e was active.
For years in the 1960.s and 1970,s Dunderry GAA Club used his field for matches and training at  time when my uncle Tommy Mc Cormack was Chairman.
It had by far the best playing surface of any pitch Dunderry ever used including the present one.
It is no coincidence that an active participant and patriot in the struggle against imperialism should help out another and more enduring perhaps movement for sovereignty ,the GAA,in furthering the common  ideal.
Fig was a life member of Dundery GAA Club and was upset that he did not  receive a notification of last year's AGM,a matter of considerable concern to him at the time.
I  was glad to be able to sooth his mind on this omission.
Eaten bread ought not be forgotten.
I am proud to be related to Fig,although this link is buried in the mists of time.
I will explore this link further but am assured that my grandfather and Fig's walked to Longwood for the funeral of  Pappy Conway ,another great GAA man in the 19th.century and that he was related to them equally.
We called to the house today.Anne was there.She is a great friend of my wife Agnes and they both lost another great friend Eileen Mc Nally recently.
Liam Harte and his wife Bernie,Anne's sister and a brother of theirs and his wife  were up and about and in a state of shock.
His sons were resting after their recent vigils by his bedside.
Liam and Bernie have been on hand these last weeks and have done more than anyone could to help out.
His grand kids were all there and it is common knowledge that he adored them and they him.
His mortal remains will be resting in the Chapel of Rest ,Old Johnstown from 3.00 to 5.30 on Friday ,leaving to arrive in Dunderry Church at 6.30.
Funeral Mass is at 11.30 on Saturday ,with removal after wards to Dunderry Cemetery.
To his wife ANNE,his sons Anthony,Sean and Philip ,his grandchildren Cillian,Clodagh and Daniel and his surviving siblings Paddy ,Seamus and Richie and sisters Sheila ,Lily ,Phylis,Teasie and Imrlda we offer our sincere condolences.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a hAnam Dilis.

A random Sunday.

This morning ,a Sunday,I  was tied up until noon when I  was able to face the world,which I did.Venturing out the gate I  observed a knot of people at the front of the Church.
Included in this knot was the Hormone and John Daly.Given that the 11.00a.m.Mass was long over I  asked the Hormone who was getting Christened."No one said he,twas my fathers anniversary Mass today."
It is hard to believe that Mickey is a year dead.
I  loved Mickey .He was a true gent.Uniquely all his sons and himself are life members of Dunderry GAA Club and he devoted a lifetime to promoting it.
Elsewhere I  have called for prayer for two beloved people who are suffering greatly.They too are life members, a man and a woman.
From there I went up to the pitch to get the end of an Intermediate football league match between ourselves and  Ballinabrackey.
With about 15 minutes to go it was a draw at 1-5 a piece.
The final 15 minutes were fought out fairly competitively ,overwhelmingly with hand pass after hand pass after hand pass from both sides and with kicking as rare as hens teeth.
Ballinabrackey levelled with the last kick of the game.
What I found more enlightening was a conversation I  had with a young lady from Iskaroon.She is based in AUSTRALIA,was in Spain on business's for her Australian employer and flew home for the weekend to see her folks.
She was in the company of her brother ,who is a chemist working on cancer treating chemotherapy preparations in a Dublin Hospital,who was educated in Scotland.He lives in Dunboyne and had his infant son with him at the match.
Like every child his age he found the biggest puddle there to jump in and soak himself.
The Dunderry team was short its only County player Paddy Kenneally ,who is away in New Zealand and his brother John Paul is away in Canada  at opposite ends of the world so to speak.
Both are reputed to be bursting with brains.
Talking of which I am given to understand that up to 5 Dunderrians will be studying medicine next year.
Lord we are some cosmopolitan village,with talent to beat the band.
Thence I  went to Mass in Johnstown,a Tridentine Latin Mass,where I  go now and again,WHEN i don't go to Dunderry.
The Mass is entirely in Latin ,you have a book with the English translation and the only non Latin language used is the" Kyrie"which is Greek.
So this morning I  heard English,Latin ,Greek ,Irish,"those gosoons are horrid young to be playing adult football"and Dunderrian "horrid young".
The attendees at the Tridentine Mass are far more religious than me and are Catholics in the truest sense.They abhor this Government and all the Parties who pushed through our Constitution the abortion laws which they equate TO  the Mass MURDER OF THE DEFENCELESS AND INNOCENT UNPROTECTED.
They consider themselves to be on the right side in this matter,a position on which I  agree.
Like myself they are dismayed with the watery defence of unborn life offered by our Bishops ,save Bishop Doran.
Personally I think that parts of the body politic are in thrall to  Satan and subject to Demonic Possession and that time will bear this out.
Regarding the football,we are at a crossroads,we picked up our first point today out of a possible 6.
There young lads have a hard road ahead of themselves and have to breach a gap in football nous ,which will be very challenging.
As I  understand it there is no relegation this year,but next year 3 teams will be coming down from Senior.
The Inter Championship will then be very hard to win,so its now or never maybe.
The County team is perking up with Andy Mc Entee at the helm.I  met him when he was over Dunboyne in 2005 and he is a sound guy.
His brother Gerry gave a great hand out to Brigids my former Club for years and made them a respected force in Dublin football when he was in charge.
Given the population of Meath it is time that a more solid marker was put down in football circles.
 

Prayers urgently needed.

As I write at least a brace of well regarded and loved Dunderrians are suffering the ravages of that most hateful of diseases and need all the support and prayers they can get.Oremus.

Current member of Irish Cabinet reputed to be a witch.

Search for the name of a female Irish Minister and the word "Witch "on your search engine.
The results will shock you and explain a multitude.

A modern Miracle.

On 15th August 1996 an elderly Eucharist minister let the Host fall on the ground whilst giving out Communion.in a Church in Buenos Aires.As it was dirty he asked the Priest to pick it up,which the Priest did and placed it in a recepticle with water in it and put it in the Tabernicle to dissolve it.
He checked it out a week later but instead of dissolving it had grown in size and was covered in red splotches.
In short order the red splotches increased and multiplied until it looked like a piece of flesh.
A sample was taken by a Lab. in the City ,where red blood cells,white  blood cells and haemoglobin were identified  and were found to be moving and beating.
Three years latera a  scientist named Dr Richard Gomez was asked to perform a more robust examination and sent a sample to a New York Lab., not disclosing what it was.
They diagnosed it a a living human heart muscle.
In 2004 a Doctor named Frederick Zugibe ,whose speciality was identifying the cause of death from an examination of a sample of the heart muscle of a deceased ,examined a sample of the matter involve and wothout knowing whence it came ,concluded that the person had been tortured to death.
He was acutely perplexed as to how the sample ,apparently from a dead person ,had cells that were curently moving and beating.
As they say in Mass "This is my Body and this is my Blood".

Dunderry First Team GAA Management for 2019.

All is changed utterly.
Football Manager is David Callaghan,Mickey's son and his Selectors are Con O Neill and  Padraic Travers.
David played up to minor level in football with St.Ultans and thereafter with Dunderry.He was on the 2005 team that went back from Senior to Intermediate and of which I was Manager unfortunately.He follows in the footsteps of Barry Callaghan , Kevin Dowd ,and Stephen O  Rourke,who played with that team,Tommy Dowd and Con O Neill who have had their hands on the tiller since and a variety of selectors who have tried and failed to win the Laurels.
David was a selector with Kells for a year and they are now Senior.
He played in the USA in his day and maybe in England,I  am not sure.
Con has since stepping down from adult football been involved with the juveniles and they are making good progress.
Padraic is a Bohermeen man but has the saving grace of being married to a good Dunderry woman Stephanie Coogan.
We wish them well.
The Juvenile Club have at last got their act together and are turning out fairly decent players at minor level.
It will be interesting to  see how these guys gel these minors into the Intermediate set up.
We wish all the best in the year to come and thank those who gave their time selflessly in the year gone.viz Kevin Dowd,Evan Stephens,Lee Mulliganand Phil Day.

Hurling Manager is Timber Leavy and his selectors are Kevin Heffernan,Derek Hickey and Damian Martin.Timber has been up  to his oxters in Juvenile Hurling this last decade as have Derek and Kevin.
I played with Timber many moons ago and acted as a selector when he was still a player.
He was a nifty wing forward and fairly useful.Derek too gave it diddy as long as he played.I  didn't see Kevin in action but being from Limericj k cannot hurt.
Damian is an All Holding Goalkeeper from Offally and there is no higher honour.
Timber and Co.have done the trench work at juvenile level and are ideally placed to ressurect the Club's honour at adult lever.
We wish them the best and thank Mark  Nolan and Co.for the magnificient work done in recent years.

I have no idea how many adult teams we have and who is over them.
As soon as I  find out I  will let ye know.

Political Leaders are pure spoofers

In the last debate on RTE  before the 2011 General Election the Leaders of the Political Parties had the following to say on evictions.

Mickie Martin."Increase mortgage interest relief and in no circumstances take the roof from over their heads"

Enda Kenny."Guarantee  you won't lose your home."

E.Gilmore".Head off the Bailiffs"

F.Gerry Adamms"No evictions in Ireland."

G.John Gormley."Don't take the roof from over their heads."

Last week decent people in Roscommon ran bailiffs ,who had put evictees on the side of the road as  the Gardai stood silently bye,just the same as the Redcoats did in Famine and colony times.
And our great leader Leo took the side of the Bank and decried the decent people who defended the evictees.
No wonder that he defended the Bank.He himself is a supporter of the Bank of Mammy and Daddy as are his Cabinet.
To use the law as a shield for this behaviour by the Bank is nothing new.Precisely the same excuse was used in Famine and Colonial times.
This stuff is going on daily in every Court and County in the Country and many people have had their lives destroyed and have indeed taken their lives as a consequence.
The political leaders and parties have betrayed the people of Ireland.
Hell is not hot enough for them to roast for eternity.

The bushy tailed assassin still loose.

Last Saturday week the Meath Hunt arrived in Dunderry.I  was glad to see it .Maybe now I  thought that the hounds and hunters would capture the assassin who had killed and ate my innocent ducks and captured and ate all my neighbour's hens .
Not a word of it.The assassin is still on the run .
I  am comforted however by the old saying that "no matter how fast the fox runs ,he is always caught in the end."
Of course this saying has application to all sorts of illicit activity.
Oremus.

The dog,the Deer and the Crocodile.

A family member recently visited Sri Lanka.While visiting a nature reserve alongside a lake she witnessed the following horrific sequence of events and captured it on video.I have seen it and proves to me that dogs and crocodiles are related in viciousness and depravity.
What happened was that a wild dog chased a deer through the brush forcing the misfortunate animal to jump into a lake to escape and swim for it.The dog gave up the chase and the poor deer thought it was home and dry.
Not so.The crocodile appeared out of nowhere ,was a far superior swimmer than the deer ,crushed it in its maw ,dragged it underwater and killed and devoured it.
I  was wondering why God saw  fit to let  me in on this scenario and it has finally clicked.
The dog can be equated to the political  gloaters,yahooers ,dancers,Judas goats  and abortion facilitators who  weep with joy now that they have succeeded in enabling the baby haters to murder said babies before birth,the deer can be equated to the most innocent of the preborn babies on the run from these blood thirsty excuses for humans and the crocodile can be equated to those sub human medics and so called health professionals into whose maws the misfortunate preborn kids are chased for disposal.
We all know that there is a commonality  between the dog and the crocodile as the most ardent promulgators of abortion are now actively acting as persuaders to recruit  human crocodiles  so that they can get rid of the human deer.

The Bushy Killer prowls Dunderry again.

Last May I bought two baby ducks at the Fair.Myself and all here minded them well.They thrived and were grand innocent creatures,totally inoffensive and quacked with joy daily.
They laid the nicest of eggs which we all ate,either boiled,fried in an omellete or in the cup.
Last Thursday herself told me that there had been a kidnapping,that the two ducks were missing.I am friggin' raging.
All that remains is  a heap of feathers.
I  have compared notes with a neighbour ,all of whose hens and chickens have likewise been lifted.
I m quacked enough to start  society for the protection of ducks and for the elimination of the ginger assassins the bushy tailed Reynards.
Any takers.

Death of Eileen Fulham

Eileen from Meadstown ,just the far side of Garry's Cross on the road from Dunderry to Athboy as you turn right for Tullaghanstown has died on 21st October in Care Choice nursing in Trim aged 88 years
She was predeceased by her husband Thomas 14 years ago and is survived by her children Brendan,Bernadette,Geraldine and Eileen and numerous grandchildren ,sons in law ,daughter in law ,nephews,nieces and many true friends.She was  a Ward from Tullaghanstown ,exemplary people also before and after marriage.
She was matriarch of an exemplary family of the highest moral code and a true supporter of Dunderry GAA Club both financially and in the spread of the games it nourishes.
I  had the pleasure of playing football and hurling with her son Brendan ,who despite his lack of inches was as tough as nails and feared no one on the field of play.Now that his playing days are over he is ,as you would expect , involved in the management side of a juvenile team with which his sons play and is a former long serving Secretary of the GAA Club.
One of  her  sons in law Pat Geogh  is caretaker in Dunderry and Kilbride Schools and as you would expect is helping to promote the GAA at schools level there also.
Eileen her daughter was and is a friend of mine and like the entire family is  a person of the highest integrity,which is no more than you woud expect, as the apple never falld far from the tree.
The entire Fulham clan are simply the best and pillars of the local community.
Padre Pio's relics were and are no strangers to the Fulham's homesteads and are a great source of comfort and more to the family.
Reposing at her home today Monday from 4 pm to 8 p.m.with funeral Mass on Tuesday in Kilbride Church at 11.00 a.m.,followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hAnam Dilis.

Tommy Pop Lawless is dead

I  am 68 years coming .From a very young age I came on holidays to the Mc Cormack's on the Curragh Boreen .They were happy days and there were Healys,Conways ,Newmans and Lawleses living nearby to play with and have the craic with.
I  thought then and still think that it was unique to have a crossroads named after your family name.I  well remember Tom Lawless who had a shop on the actual crossroads ans I  think Lizzie who lived the Bohermeen side of it.
And then there was another family of Lawlesses who lived the Dunderry side of Tom Lawlesses shop.There was Tommy ,Matty and Catty --Catherine--and I can barely remember their parents,but the three kids I well remember.
Mattie died young a few years ago,much too soon and now Pop has shook off this mortal coil,at too young an age also.
I didn't know Pop as well as the others ,because after his n marriage he went to live in Donore but did know him and he knew me.
My memory of him is that he was a jovial and quiet and considerate guy ,always being particular in his dress sense and taking great pride in the way he conducted himself and cared for his car ,for example ,which was always kept in the best of form and had the most up to date gadgetry.
He was a big guy and handsome to boot  and would avoid confrontation if at all possible.The King of jobs at the time he finished school was to get a position in Navan Carpets and he had no bother getting one.I  was so impressed with this that one year after I  went home to Blanchardstown after my summer holidays that I  tried to talk my parents into letting me apply for a job there too.They decided otherwise.
Any how Pop stayed there for decades until the Carpet Factory closed down and advanced well upwards in responsibility.
The Lawlesses were never afraid of work and I  understand that his work ethic was such that work always found him ,recessions or no recessions.
I  understand that he kept extremely busy right up to the time of his extremely short illness,which took him and all belonged to him by total surprise.
Right up to his death he was a fierce supporter of Dunderry Football and always supported them in all games of importance as he did the County Team in good times and bad.
He died in the Lourdes Hospital after the shortest of illnesses and is survived by his Wife Pauline,children Sharon,Ronan,Emma and Brian and grandchildren and a great grandchild and devoted in laws and a large coterie of friends.
Cathy is the sole surviving sibling.
On my own behalf and that of my family and on behalf on the deceased members of the Mc Cormack family who thought so much of Pop and indeed all the Lawlesses I offer my sincerest condolences.
The Funeral Mss is on Monday 15th.October at 11.00 A.M in Donore.
Ar Dheis De go raibh a HAnam Dilis.

Getting it right at last.

At adult level we went out with a wimper.The Intermediate Football Team were beat 0-7 to 0-4 by a super defensive Ballinabrackey .The Senior Hurlers failed to win a Championship  match all season and reverted to Intermediate.The sting was taken out of it by securing the League title in Div 3 by beating KILDALKEY'S  2nd.team in extra time.
The Junior Football  Team at least scored a decent score before being turfed out of the Championship.
We have had no second hurling team for many years now and this is not good enough and must be rectified immediately.Adult hurling is a Cinderella sport in our Club and I don't know how our Mentors and players endured it.
The Camogie Club retained Senior status and will but they too were beaten by I  think 3-14 to 0-3.by Na Fianna in the semi final of the Chachampionship.They are better than this .
I  know that the Camogie has a brilliant set up at Juvenile Level and that there is a seamless flow the whole way through to Adult ,where they also field a second adult team.
For many years the Juvenile GAA Club has failed miserably to bring enough players through to adult level.Last year for example we only had two minor hurlers who fielded with Trim and for years we populated the lowest Divisions in the sports we promote .
Now at last there are green shoots of growth.At both hurling and football we have clawed our way up the Divisions and decent teams are getting that winning feeling.We are starting to produce winners,in my view because the Mentors know what they are about.
Next year we must  aim to produce field 2 Adult Hurling Teams and three Adult Football Teams and give games to the talent coming through and believe you me there is talent coming through.
Now is the time to drive our players forward.If we don't there are plenty of other sports waiting to poach those of our youth they haven't yet poached.
One of my grandsons Padraig plays under 11,and 12 hurling and football.They have good mentors and always give a good account of themselves and are well able for the big town teams.This is encouraging .
I am as proud as punch that Padraig and 46 other boys and girls under 12 from Dunderry were part of the crew who partook in a  Guinness World Record training session of 1772 kids who trained concurrently at hurling in  Croker last Sunday.
Well done.
a

Death of John Campbell

The above who was in his seventies emigrated to England and settled in London.A native of Carnaross he was a brother of Etna Dowd ,nee Campbell,the the wife of Tommy Dowd and the mother of Tommy the Allstar,Cathy,Dolly and Kevin.
He is survived by a son.
Well Etna and Cathy travelled over to London to bury him at what she says was a very well attended funeral.
Ar dheis De go raibha hAnam dilis.

Computer mice busy as bees.

Now that the GAA Seasons are over for most and that the serial Managers have burnt their boats at their present Clubs there is fierce activity on the Internet in order to establish ;

A.The name and nature of the Chairmen of prospective new Clubs.

B.The names and nature of Secretaries and Treasures of prospective new Clubs.

C.And most importantly whether all other things being equal what Clubs have a strong and successful Lotto.

Dunderry excepted.

Death of Brendan Rogers ,Boyerstown,Navan.

Brendan Rogers was one of ,if not ,the oldest surviving former footballers of Dunderry GAA Club.He played with my uncles Joe,Paddy and Tommy  Mc Cormack and a host of other men long since gone to their eternal reward and I  think that he won Intermediate Championship medals with them in the 1940.s but I  could be wrong.
His father before him Mattie ,better known as the Buller was one of Ireland's,Leinster and Meath's greatest footballers and had and indeed has legendary status amongst true Gaels.
He drove my mother to Dublin to give birth to my late brother Robert 6 decades ago in one of the former Parish Priest's cars he always had in stock all those years ago.
Brendan had not been well at all in recent times and was in and out of hospital  and had the appearance of bad health.This did not diminish has keen interest in all matters agricultural and his wider family ,which he kept up until his untimely death.
His granddaughter Zara is a keen Camogie player with Dunderry Camogie Club and plays Senior and her father Brendan Junior is deeply involved with supporting his daughter's involvement.
The deceased was I  understand reared partly with his granny King beside my mother's people alongside the riverbank of the river Clady and they were lifelong friends.
As long as his health allowed he got daily Mass in Dunderry  Church ,a fact I know because I  often saw him coming or going.
His funeral Mass is in Boyerstown Church this coming Saturday at 3.30 p.m.with burial in the adjoining cemetery afterwards.
To his wife Joan,children David,Joseph,Brendan,George,Joan,Agnes,Anne,Mary and Olive,his survining siblings Micheal ,Tommy,Agnes,Olive,lilly and Brigid .his numerous in laws,and grandchildren and other relatives and friends we offer our sincerest condolences.
Ar dheis De go raibh a h anam dilis.

JOHNNY I HARDLY KNEW YA.

Electric Picnic is  hailed as a great family day out.I  don't go but expect it is fairly expensive to attend.A  guy went on Joe the Squaddie's show last week to complain ,justifiably ,that he was waiting 8 years to get a hip replacement operation in Navan Hospital but that it was cancelled at the last moment.
The Health Board gave out free Johnnies at Electric Picnic.The guy still awaits his operation and over one million people await in line to see consultants.
Give them all Johnnies says I.
Sodom and Gomorrah  spring to mind.Or should that be Gonorrhea.
This is the Leo and Simon way.
God and Pope Francis help us.
Hope HE  does not zappone us .
"A Johnny in my time was the name given to a French Letter or a  piece of rubber you put on your bud to prevent the contents of your sack from spilling outwards".