Community Spirit

Just a quick post to acknowledge some impressive achievements within the general Limerick region over the last month.

Templeglantine- Ceomhaltas branch in euphoric mood after the magnificent triumphs recorded at the Fleadh Cheoil Na hEireann in Cavan last month. Good night over at Halla Inse Ban at the end of August for Heritage Week, simple but effective lay-out on the night; local musicians, old photos and press cuttings, some vintage artifacts and a short but wonderful screening of scenes from Glantine in the 1970s (most noticeable change since then the amount of houses that have gone up in the locality)

Abbeyfeale- There was a remembrance last Sunday at St. Marys Graveyard for the memory of Patrick Harnett and Jeremiah Healy, two local men murdered by the Black and Tans in September 1920. Nice ceremony, most impressive however was the beautiful state of this historic graveyard. A voluntary committee has in the last couple of year rescued St. Mary's from its dilapidated state (that attracted much anti-social activity), and while constant maintenance will always be needed, all involved deserve great credit for the work done so far.

Glenroe- Not quite in the West Limerick region, but spent many summers over there as a child and the dramatic landscape is indelibly sculpted in my mind. A massive congratulations to the volunteers involved in the local GAA club for the trojan work they put into staging the week-long Harvest Festival (essentially a fundraiser to fund the new pitch, clubhouse etc) Was there on the Saturday night and while initially slightly disappointed on seeing that Shane McGowan could not attend due to sickness, that feeling quickly evaporated to be replaced by a sense of awe at the scale of the event and how smoothly it was run. Sharon Shannon gave a great show, Mundy proved a good replacement for McGowan and although I rarely eat burgers, have to say they were top-class at this event!(the meat supplied by local farmer Colm Maguire) Left in the early hours of Sunday Morning with a warm glow inside, glad that my memories of Shane McGowan were confined to seeing him on TV in the late 80s and early 90s, and a great recollection from a Kerrywoman I met on a bus, who used to meet a friend in a pub where McGowan drank in London back in the 1980s, and pretend to be chatting amongst themselves although they were really listening to his ruminations on life...sometimes one vision of legends is best confined to the mind.

Belated new years greetings

Just to say thanks to those who posted comments on the Jerry Harmon interview and the Bowls programme, was actually conversing with a Ballincollig man recently who recounted the tale of Mick Barrys' incredible feat. We've had some technical problems with the Abbeyfeale studio in the last few months, so a lot of energy has been diverted from this blog but hope to have a few podcasts up within the next few days. Finally, outside of the arts and culture realm, big shout out to all who supported the table quiz at the Winners Circle bar in Abbeyfeale on the 22nd January. An enormous crowd turned up to raise funds for Abbeyfeale native Linda Sweeney, who is based with the Red Cross in the Caribbean area and is presently working with that organisation in Haiti, and a huge sum was raised on the night.