Dia is mhuire diobh go leir a cairde and welcome to my weekly Report.
The hour we lost at the weekend when we moved our clocks forward is already giving us brighter evenings, or as we used to say long ago more lightsome. It’s a long time since we heard that word and in other words also such as lonesome, troublesome, tiresome and others as well which don’t come to mind just now. Instead we now say lonely, troubled, weary etc. Funny how we change without even knowing it. In the past they had a word or phrase for everything. Arising out of some simple statement that somebody let fall off the tip of their tongue on some occasion. For example, ‘Too Late says Puller’, the horse is dead, is a statement that was used over and over when it didn’t even apply to a horse being dead. I never heard of the true origin of it, but I can barely recall a man of that name who lived in the town. Apparently the help or vet didn’t make it on time to save the horse’s life and it died but the words of its owner lived on and on. It was applied to just about every situation after that. In a case of perhaps someone not making up the hay before the rain came, “Too late says puller” said it all. The list goes on, it rolled off the tongue so easily when the occasion arose. “Too late says Puller”.
’Cian Dial’ was another beauty that was bandied about. ( I think that Cian Dial in English would be something like ‘Cry to the Devil’ ? Again the story goes that an old man was nearing the end with the family all around him, he was making great efforts to get out of the bed and they doing everything they could to keep him in it , eventually one old timer known locally as the CUCK,said ‘cian deal,(?) lave him out’, ever after that if the hens were trying to get out or the pigs or even the children were trying to escape, they’d say, cian deeal says the CUCK lave ‘em out. There were names of people we never heard of used in certain cases to prove a point or gain a bit of one-up-man-ship. Such as giving an opinion on somebody’s work or achievement. When asked for a comment the way they opined was to say ‘well that’s not the way that Maura Canog would do it’. We all had times, sooner or later when we could cheerfully murder Maura Canog.
Names and nicknames abounded, even animals. If a cow was bought from someone called Paddy Johnnie, then when she joined the herd, she was known as Paddy Johnnie from then on. Nicknames were alright when people were aware of them, but many a bad slip was made when they were not. God Rest my stepmother Francis. When she came needless to say she was not in the know, she had a few embarrassing moments. One day for instance she met a man whom she heard us calling him Dan Gould and she politely saluted him one day as Mr. Gould, only to find that when she mentioned it later, that his correct title was in fact Murphy. New songs were coming on stream all the time. Some written by locals, but other times a song coming in from elsewhere could be altered to give it a local flavour. When the war ended on 1945, food rationing continued for some time and work was scarce it was a time of great change. There was big money to be earned over in England in the wake of the bombings and many of our people from various walks of life went. In ways it was the first thing that did away with class distinction over there they were all on the one level and helped each other as best they could. A few words of one of the songs of the time came into my head last week when a local man passed away and I suppose it’s too long gone for anyone to know the rest of it. Needless to say local names replaced those of the politicians up in Dublin.
‘Bless De Valera and Sean McAntee, they blackened the bread and they rationed the tea and they gave us no cocoa at all, bless ‘em all , Paddy Mick and Mick Batt and Pete Paul, You’ll get no promotion this side of the ocean, So Cheer up me boys, ‘em all. This could be heard at every street corner and scoriacting house until some new song came to replace it.
Our Town was very much alive on Sunday morning when Our Vintage Car Club rolled into town at the start of a long run for a very good cause. They assembled at the Bridge Bar for refreshments and registration at 11 am, having tightly parked their multi-coloured, multi titled vehicles in Noel C Duggan’s Car Park, After 11.30 Mass the crowds assembled to hear the announcements, there was a draw for many prizes and the route was explained to all involved. There was a strong Garda presence to make sure that the traffic was kept moving in safety. Then the pipe band struck up a lively tune and led the beautiful spectacle out of town. First stop Castleisland. Entitled the Johnnie Hickey Rally the event was held in support of Tubrid Well, a place very dear to his heart. You can read a fine interview on line that Sean Radley had with Rally Members at Tubrid Well during the week.
There is no need for me to tell you about Tubrid Well, the place of prayer and tranquillity and hope and joy but never overlook the importance of Tubrid Well as our invaluable source of water. While other towns have to go to endless effort our Holy Tubrid flows away into our homes and even farms far out into the country side. Buíochas le Dia.
Easter is fast approaching and the Holy Season of Lent is running out fast .Next Saturday is April the first. How we dreaded it long ago when everybody was trying to make a fool of everybody else. All in a good humoured way, always a laugh in the end. We hear very little about it these days, just another old custom which has faded into the past.
Easter Sunday falls on April 9th. At the end of Holy Week before then we have time to continue with what is left of Lent as best we can, and time to add to our Trocaire Boxes and have them ready to hand in good time before the holidays and where all the funds collected will go to help those who cannot help themselves. So do the best you can for this worthy cause.
Eucharistic Adoration in Millstreet Church every Tuesday from 10.30am to 7.30 pm. Sign up for a given hour or drop in any time.
Mass every day. On Friday Mass is at 10 am and will be preceded by the Stations of the Cross at 9.30am. Confession on Sat.12.30 to 1. Legion of Mary meeting every Tuesday at 7.30 at the Parish Centre.
Here are the results of this week’s lotto draw which was held on Sunday night. Numbers drawn were 17,25,26,30 and the Jackpot was not won. €100 went to J & A Murphy, Drishane Rd. the seller was Colemans and they got €50 sellers prize. €50 went to Shane Brown, c/o Eily. €20 each to Catherine Cleary, c/o The Bridge Bar. Michael Hickey, c/o Ita, Sharon Lane c/o Denny Lane, Trisia CJ & Ronan c/o PJ Creedon, Barry Murphy, Kilcorney, Anne Burke, Murphy’s Terrace, Kate Dennehy, Dromagh c/o J Sheehan. The Murphy Family, Kilmeedy. Jackpot next week €7,200.
The Draw on Sun. April 2nd.
The Cullen and District Special Needs wish to thank all those who helped in any way with this year’s highly successful fundraising Weigh In.
Aubane Social Club will host an Easter Egg Hunt in their Community Centre on Easter Sunday from 10.30 am. Plus Bouncing Castle & Raffle. Admission €5 per child.
Tune in to Sean Radley on Cork Music Station tonight from 9.30.
Agus sinn abfuil a cairde Slán is Beannacht Dé libh go léir.
