Eily’s Report – 4th June

Dia is Mhuire dióbh go léir a cairde and welcome to my Report.

What is it about the Green Glens that it keeps on winning. And it’s cheers all round again this week as the Irish Team wins the Nations Cup. Fifteen Nations from across the globe made their way by plane, ship and truck to get here in an effort to win tops  and then it comes to the host nation little Ireland. We won the Eurovision Song Contest, We won World Boxing here and now the Mighty Nations Cup. We have reason to be proud indeed we have. I want to thank my new-found friend, Jill for giving me that piece of welcome information as it was happening on the course.

As I said last week, the mega horse carriers came thundering into town from early in the week .Some finding it hard to take the turn at Corkery’s Corner. But they all made it. It must take some forward planning to fit each one into a given space at the showgrounds. To link each one up the services and that is just for the lorries .Then the task of placing each valuable horse into a stable which meets with the regulations that apply in the horsey world. A large number of the visitors live in their horse carriers, but not all. The more senior people like to get into a real bed, complete with shower etc, while they’re here. I don’t know what the demand is like for accommodation at showtime in recent years, but in the early days it was manic. Once people came to realise that a few bob were to be made by opening the place to visitors ,t was a case of pleading with the office to send on some clients. On the other hand the office itself was the one pleading with people to fit somebody in. Needless to say there were some misses and some near misses. Telling a stranger on the dark of night that there was a bed two or more miles out with crossroads and boreens to be negotiated, often led to them sleeping in their jeep, the first night anyway and there’s the well-known story of when the office rang and asked a lady if she had space for two, a man and a woman.  She said she had and they were duly sent off.  Next day the office rang to thank her for taking the two at such short notice  and she replied that they were just lucky that she had just the one bed left. Consternation. They were not a couple at all and had never met before. Wonder what story are they telling today. Not everybody had rooms to spare. But when the need for accommodation came round they would squeeze up, they would move children, all into one room or do whatever was needed to have some space to make a little very needed cash. It often happened when a little one got up at night to go to the loo, he would automatically go to his own room only to find it full of strangers and be hushed back to bed.

Those were the days of the big breakfasts, long before fast food and breakfast rolls.  Tables had to be set formally, well ironed table cloth, table matts,  side plate, cup ,saucer, knife, fork, spoon,  bread, often homemade brown, milk ,sugar, sugar spoon ,butter, butter knife, jam/marmalade with spoon. Two rashers ,two sausages, black & white pudding, fried egg, toast, tomatoes.  English guests liked their bread fried in oil. No dishwasher back then. Sometimes they didn’t all come down to breakfast at the same time or the table space may not be big enough to take them all. That meant a lot of extra work.  Shops in the town were forewarned of a show and when it was coming so that they had ample time to stock up with all the necessary foods and they often gave  special offers or price reductions.

In the early days because they didn’t have ample stabling at the Green Glens for all the horses that came  animals were boarded  out .To farmers especially, because they had cow houses and large sheds which they altered to make suitable resting places for valuable steeds. In some cases both man and horse were accommodated by the one family, which suited them greatly because owners had to rise very early to feed their charges, especially if they were competing early. The buzz of the whole thing was electrifying. Big lorries came and went our byroads and boreens, people contacted one another about who they had staying,  how long they were to stay, if they had a place available and so on. Some had to leave sooner than planned if their horse didn’t qualify. Great friendships developed as the visitors became familiar with their hosts ,and came back year after year to the same place. And all this time further improvements were being added to the Green Glens complex. Following the devastating fire in ’83 the mighty indoor that we have today was erected in a very short time. Tons of sawdust were dyed green to give it the appearance of a green field. That complete with brightly painted fences and plants in coloured pots gave a wonderful indoor display that is hard to describe. There was a charge at the entrance that time and tickets were like gold. Locals were employed and paid to man the doors and see people to their seats. Certain moments stand out like the night that Capt. Jerry Mullins won the European Championship. All the best of the Continent had jumped , all with faults, minor ones I may add. You could hear a pin drop as the Captain emerged from the pocket, dressed in his green uniform of the Irish Army. Man and beast remained in unison as they did the course together, as the packed house held their breath. When they cleared the final fence without a blip, the roof rose in wild applause. Moments to treasure and there were more than a few.

How things have changed. Gone is the mighty cooked breakfast,  all a guest needs these days is an ‘en-suite room and Wi-Fi. A couple had to leave my place one time because they couldn’t log into mine. All very understandable as  without it they couldn’t contact their family abroad. The crowds who jammed our roads back then for Millstreet Horse Shows no longer come as the Equestrian world no longer seems to be the great spectator sport  that it was.  Yet they travel the world to compete. This year 2024 the Duggan Family have outdone all previous events, hosting the Inter National Qualifiers for the Olympics. 15 countries in all have travelled from far off Australia, Hong Kong ,USA etc to try and grasp the accolade. The scene was mind blogging as 11 all weather arenas and 3 indoor worked in tandem to wade through in excess of the 400 horses that came. The décor was amazing, as the brilliant sun shone down. Water fountains in the distant manmade ponds and wonderful carved wooden fences and colouful gypsy caravans all adding lustre to the scene .People were allowed to drive their cars all the way into the paddocks and enjoyed picnics while watching the cream of the world’s bloodstock do their best. It was like a scene from a fairy tale book. And all free to those who cared to wander in.

Please support our Community School Parents Association in their in their fundraising 5K Walk on Sunday June 9^th. Meeting at the Millstreet Town Park for registration at 1.30 and  2pm start.  Food vendors on site or bring your own picnic. Face painting ,tuck shop, music and more. Please support them well.

Darkness to Light, well done to all who organised and supported our Darkness to Light fundraiser in any way. A massive €2,965.37 has been lodged. Many of our local shops and businesses kindly donated and we are all asked to continue to support them.

The annual Mass was held at Tubrid Well on Friday night, not only the last Friday of the month but also the last day of the month. As always a very large crowd attended including the Church Choir and the Community Singers. Mass will be said  at St. Johns Well in  Mushera on June.

The sun shone all the way for the Corpus Christy Parade after 11.30 Mass on Sunday. The little children who received their First Holy Communion this year were all dressed up in their lovely white dresses and they paved the way before the Blessed Sacrament with rose petals all the way to the town Square for Benediction. Our Pipe band played and the Rosary was recited as the people walked along. Well done to all those who helped in any way to make our annual Parade the lovely event that it was.

Eucharistic Adoration continues in our church every Tuesday from 10.30 am to 7.30 pm.

Friends of Millstreet Hospital will hold their Church Gate Collection in Millstreet and Ballydaly next weekend June 8/9.

The footnote on our Mass leaflet was by Fr. John in which he said a prayer for all those who will be doing exams and wished them luck and Gods Blessing in their choices.

Tune in to Sean Radley on Cork Music Station every Tuesday night from 9.30.

Every good wish to our Active retired members who are on their coach tour to Donegal this week.

Sinn a bfuil a cáirde, Slán is beannacht Dé libh go léir.