leave a light on

Tue

9°C | 6°C

Top Irish person Mary Robinson lit a candle in the kitchen window of Aras an Uachtarain, (left of the top 3 windows inside the columns) the presidential residence in Phoenix park, to make a link with all those who had to emigrate from Ireland. It has remained lighting and has become a symbol for the 80 million Irish descendents across the globe.

Terry Wogan (famous old ex-pat Irish radio presenter!) was doing his new programme last night on BBC1 'Terry Wogans Ireland' and he visited the light. The only moment of pathos in the 'I'm such a jolly Irishman' commentary.

He visited Powerscourt on last week's show and saw the sunken road to the house for the servants to use so that they would not spoil Lord Powerscourt's view when they came to work. This kind of damaging social divide does not exist in Ireland nowadays.

Reading about 'One Hyde Park' in the Sunday papers, the new block of luxury flats just across the road from Harrods, London (one sold recently for ₤135,000,000) that houses a few sheiks, the 'tunnel' included in the design for servants to get to the flats so they won't accidently cross paths with the owners seems to me to be something like that shocking, shameful sunken road of days gone passed.

Chewing gum for the brain. eggs

des and tescos

Fri

3°C | -2°C

Finding it hard to find a positive angle on the day apart from the sunny sky so will introduce you to an Irish (Irish American) gem. Des Bishop. My favourite Irish comedian. His brave new show 'my dad was nearly james bond' got 5 stars in reviews. Check out the excellent documentary shown last night about the show on the rte player .

We are lucky to have him- so there is something Irish to be grateful about.

I was invited to a focus group last night as market research for the new Tescos in Oranmore- 50 euros cash- not to be sniffed at. Eight women dissected the new shop and decided it should be rebuilt from scratch. It is strangely constructed on a flood plain, so the new underground car park has already flooded and the lights flicker- beware if you have epilepsy because there is no overground parking. What should be a beautiful location with 3 sides looking out onto Galway bay has managed to become piles of waste earth and hoardings. There is no shop front so it is sort like shopping in a cave.

Everyone was, however, delighted to get Tescos in Oranmore as it is nearly impossible to drive into Galway with the traffic congestion and to get to Tescos involves braving 'the magic roundabout' a demented junction with traffic lights and infinite options to crash in to everyone.

My personal experience of Tescos Oranmore was driving in the exit road (apparently it has a 'no entry' sign on it but also a big arrow saying 'Tescos') I then drove up on the little bit of pavement dividing the traffic going into the underground car park and had to painfully scrape the bottom of the car backwards to get off. Unfortunately I also bought a gone off chicken that was in date and confused me into binning all the other food in the fridge before I discovered the smelly culprit. Poor Tescos Oranmore- the only way is up.

But we all agreed the staff were very friendly and by all accounts very happy with their employer. 

And make no mistake everyone appreciates the jobs.

coole park and cows

 Wed

6°C | 0°C

To get the blood pumping around my veins I went for a run in Coole park this morning.



Coole Park was once the home of Lady Augusta Gregory, dramatist, folklorist and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre with Edward Martyn of Tullira Castle and Nobel prize-winning poet William Butler Yeats. Coole Park, in the early 20th century, was the centre of the Irish Literary Revival. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O' Casey all came to experience its magic. They and many others carved their initials on the Autograph Tree, an old beech still standing today

I started running last November with the Carron ladies 'meet and train' group. We meet every Thursday (well maybe not every Thursday...) at 8pm and after a few stretches we run in our different groups (I did progress to the 4 minute run -2 minute walk group but am back to the 2 minute group since Christmas) under the lights, around the GAA pitch. It is more entertaining than it sounds with about 30 women and the communal energy carries you along. You feel great on Friday mornings.

Breaking news- a cow escaped from the mart in Ennis yesterday morning, it rampaged around the town stampeding the Gardai and injuring a few people. A woman is quoted as saying 'I thought it was a bull I never realised cows could be so dangerous' 

therese and susannagh

My great grandfather Edward Hearne left Carlow for the UK as a young teenager. Son of a butcher he enlisted in the British army veterinary corps. In his pocket he kept a prayer card. St Therese of Liseux. He quickly found himself in the trenches of WW1 and told my grandmother (who was called Therese) that when he prayed to the card it used to curl up and give him comfort. He died at a young age from the after effects of gas in the trenches leaving my granny and her sister orphans. They were placed in the care of some kind (good press at last!) Catholic nuns, whom they loved. When she left them at 18 they gave her a survival list for the outside world. One of the bits of advice was 'don't accept flowers from strangers.' As she was a classic Irish beauty with black hair and blue eyes who became a model in London probably not as useless as it sounds. She kept the prayer card and I have ended up with it as my second name is also Therese. She is a lovely saint who promised to send down showers of roses from heaven. My granny had a beautiful rose garden.

I have asked for help from her a couple of times. Once, as I sorted out my paperwork, she was in the pile and I asked her to help me find a job. With typing as all I had to offer it wasn't such an easy request. Amongst the pile I was sorting a postcard from a stone masons yard fell out. I wrote to the factory asking for a job in the office on the dubious grounds of 'loving stone'. I worked there for 3 years and met my husband there.
Another difficult time when I found myself struggling with lonliness and my daughter had gone to France on an exchange for a term I picked up the prayer card (the relics of Therese were actually travelling around Ireland at the time) and asked if she could help me find a single girl who would come and stay in my daughters room for a few weeks to keep me company.
The next day the foreman stumbled up the stairs in the factory with 'do you have a spare room, there is this girl who needs somewhere to stay tonight...'
She had come from Czech to work on a local farm and the mad old farmer had fallen in love with her. So that is how I met her, ten years ago. She stayed with me for months, witnessed the birth of my dog, helped me training some horses, took us skiing in the Czech mountains...and this morning I  left her at Shannon at 5am with her daughter. She is extracating herself from an unhealthy relationship and although I know we will not lose touch, she won't be coming back. I will miss her.

Showcase Ireland is on. This is the crafts trade fair where most of the international orders are made for the year. It attracts over 5000 visitors from 16 countries.There is a wide selection of top designers in gifts, crafts, fashion, accessories and interiors. My school friend Susannagh Grogan was awarded the Creative Island Award and was highly commended in the accessories section for her printed, limited editions, 100% silk scarves.

 

Election 25th February

amazon eve

Mon

6°C | 4°C

Brian Cowen has stepped down as leader of Fianna Fail. So he is now leader of the country but not of the party that is governing the country. Confused? Isn't everyone.. but the general feeling is more relief than anxiety, at last there is some sign of change in the frustrating stagnation that has lasted so long. There have been 4685 articles about the situation last week across 72 countries, all negative.
For a depiction of the arrogance and greed of people in positions of power that have got the country into this mess see- savage eye consultants- funny but unfortunately so true.

Today fm was trying to find some good news item to start the programme today and all it could find was that Amazon Eve, the tallest supermodel in the world, 8 ft in heels, is coming to Ireland on holiday!
She loves the Irish accent...so that has made half the population happy.

building boats

Fri

5°C | -1°C

During 2004/05, 12 Heron dinghys were built in garages throughout the village

and 6 more were purchased  by families in the area leading to

quite a healthy fleet within the first year. This also lead to a few members

swelling up with an allergic reaction to the resin used to form the shell.

See Kinvara Bay Sailing Club and below a photo of one of the herons.

Last winter my husband renovated a traditional irish rowing boat called a curach.

See below Lorace before/after.



This is our local chemist taking advantage of the dry weather yesterday to work on his 6 berth sailing boat The Red Gauntlet.

The Red Gauntlet was built in the 1930s and came with a small rowing boat used to row to shore when the sailing boat was anchored. The rowing boat has just been discovered in a shed in Brittany. The french man who owns it traced the original boat builders and found the previous owner of the sailing boat and the two will be reunited some time this year.



stone cracked

Thu

-1°C

The Burren, County Clare, is 10 square miles of limestone pavement,
bounded on one side by the Atlantic. See below the ballyvaughan walking club

In Spring the Burren is home to rare orchids and alpine flowers,

like the Fly Orchid and Spring Gentian.

 

Also feral goats,

swans, including, this winter, a pair of black swans on the flaggy shore,

  

And the rare Burren green moth- amongst others.

Yesterday I climbed up Abbey Hill, past St Patrick's holy well, to the summit of Slieve Carron

 - this was the view from the top looking out to Aughnish and Galway Bay.

I love the Burren