Brendan Cummins Tipperary Hurling Goalkeeper, one of the all time greatest net minders up there with great Ollie Walsh,Paddy Barry ,Noel Skehan,Tommy Quaid to namefew…won his third Poc Fada in row in CooleyMountains in Co. Louth .
Poc Fada, What is it ?, I hear you ask.
Poc Fada in the Irish Language (Gaelic) means it is a long puck. A Hurley (caman) and a sliotar are used for the event. Its tradition lies with Ancient Irish Folklore, Cuchulainn an Irish Legend also known as Setanta would always have a Hurley and sliotar with him on walks. Legend has it that this saved his life when he was attacked one day by a large ferocious dog, to defend himself he struck the sliotar with the Hurley and killed the animal.
The Poc Fada Competition commenced in 1961 and was founded by Fr.Pol Mac Seain from a County Down Club. The Players must puck a sliotar with a Hurley over a 5km course across the rugged terrain of the CooleyMountains a feat of endurance transgressing, bogs, mountains, streams and a temperamental Irish Climate sometimes with driving wind and rain. The first winner in 1961 was Vincent Godfrey from Limerick in a field of 16 competitors who completed the course from the beginning at Annaverna to the finishing line at Aghameen with 52 pucks. The player who finishes with the lowest number of pucks is declared the winner; Brendan Cummins holds the course record with 48 pucks. The 2008 title he has just won with 49 pucks. This year’s competition sponsored by M. Donnelly http://www.mdonnelly.ie/sport-page20740.html had an international flavour with a competitor from the USA Dan McAuliffe Milwaukee.Davey Fitzgerald former Clare Goalie and current Waterford Hurling Manager was another well known figure taking part on the day.Lyndsey Condell from Carlow won the Women’s Camogie category.
The Garden in Dromoland Castle is a sight to behold a priceless peaceful gem hidden away from the Castle.A beech tree lined tunnel awaits the visitor and then a large wooden black door at the end almost like the film ” A Secret Garden”.On opening the door a wall of colour is seen with the Hydrangeas http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/currently in bloom with their large flowerheads of Pinks Reds,the White one in particular caught my eye.The Garden Pond with it’s lovely Pink Water Lillies and its nasturniums make a showy display with flowers from red to white and orange to yellow.
Then it is into the large Herb Garden where you are met with so many beautiful scents from the Lavender,Rosemary,Thyme a tall Fennel towers over the sage.I can hear the song parsley ,sage ,rosemary and thyme “Are You Going to Scarborough Fair ” By Simon and Garfunkel.Everyone should have a herb garden ,all one needs is a series of containers or windows boxes.
Congratations to Annmarie Keyes who represented Limerick last weekend in the International Miss Macra Festival which took place at Dundrum House Hotel, Tipperary. She had a wonderful weekend and wished all her supporters much thanks for their encouragement and support during the festival which began on Thursday. More here on the Macra link http://www.macra.ie/Story.html/799.html
This years European Rally is being held in Switzerland with representatives from 26 countries. This rally brings rural youth groups like Macra Na Feirme, together. Macra’s European Rally team are Damien Govern, Meath Macra, Dara Kavanagh (Team Leader) Wicklow Macra, Shane Roche, Louth Macra, Kaye Duffy, Cavan Macra and Caroline Divilly, Galway Macra. It gives young people the opportunity to travel and learn about the various techniques and issues affecting farming and rural communities across Europe. The Chairperson of County Wicklow, Dara Kavanagh will be the team leader of the national group sent by Macra Na Feirme, representing Ireland at the Rally. It is a chance every year to showcase Ireland, Irish produce and innovation in the rural community. This year’s focus is on Nature and Technology and the information our representatives bring back should be very interesting. More here from the Macra link http://www.macra.ie/Story.html/794.html Lisa Cahill
The following acts have been confirmed for this years festival, running from Friday 14th November to Sunday 16th November: Friday 14th November ‘Ireland’s top comedian’ Neil Delamere live in the Bridge House Hotel Saturday 15th November The Aftermath Sunday 16th November Gala Banquet in the Bridge House Hotel http://www.bridgehouse.com/ , followed with music by Fiesta and disco ’till late. This year marks the first occasion the festival will have escorts for the participating Queens. Entry forms will be available soon. Tullamore Show 2008 The committee are looking forward to the visit of reigning Queen of the Land, Yvonne Daly, to the Tullamore Show on August 12th. Yvonne will be present on the day to judge in the Best-Dressed Lady competition and will also participate in the official opening ceremony.The Queen of the Land committee will be present at the Macra stand at the show for the day so call in for a visit! There will be a raffle on the day for weekend tickets for the festival.
Best of luck to the Tullamore Show committee, in particular Freda Kinnarney who was a judge for the 2007 festival.
Check out the Queen of the Land bebo page on http://www.bebo.com/QueenoftheLandFest for regular updates and further announcements of the festival activities and lineups.
People around the country lined the streets of their towns in support of a cross-country tractor run by a group of Callan farmers.Callan Macra na Feirme set out on a 5 day national tractor run, visiting dozens of towns across 26 counties in six days, raising money for Lifeline along the way. And they did just what they set out to do With two tractors, drivers and a dedicated support crew, the cavalcade crossed the country and raised almost 10,000 euro for Lifeline – a suicide awareness organisation. Speaking after the event organising member Niall Quinlan said the run had been a huge success and the group was delighted with the support they received. He said there were no breakdowns, but a few wrong turns resulting from faulty GPS settings (or operators)! He concluded by saying a big thank you to Comerfords Garage, Ballycallan who sponsored the Tractors, sponsors Callan Joinery and everyone who donated so generously to such a worthy cause.
Lisa Cahill
King John's Castle ,Limerick City. (c)Tippryan Copyright
Limerick and the University Arena plays host this week to the World Baton Championship .The first ever championship was held in the U.S.A in 1980 it has also been held in Germany, Japan ,Canada, , Italy, Spain, Holland, and France.This is a great honour for Ireland and Limerick to host this prestigious event.It will also be of major economic benefit to the region with countries from all over the world sending their representatives to Limerick for the week long event.
