I found myself at the launch of this new book by journalist and writer Declan Lynch, in Easons of Dawson Street, Dublin on Tuesday night last. How did I come to be there. Connor Sheridan, phoned me on Tuesday afternoon and asked me if I'd like to come along. He had a message from Arthur Matthews, he of the FR Ted creation, inviting him along. Arthur was involved in the book, being responsible for most of the cartoons and illustrations.
You see Connor, myself and Arthur had been in a band togethr in the 1980's, Adored by Millions. Arthur was the drummer, Connor the lead singer and myself playing guitar.Arthur of coarse went on to fame and fortune in the world of comedy writing, with Fr Ted the big one that really took the world by storm/
I hadn't seen him since around 1988, so it was great to meet up again at the book launch on Tuesday night .
Barry Devlin , he of Horslips fame and later creating U2 videos offically launched the book, with Declan Lynch, the author then reading some excerpts from it.
The books takes a comic and satirical look at the old folk, men living in modern Ireland, especially in regard to their choice, or lack of ,TV viewing on RTE our national broadcaster.
Funny it is, as with anything Lynch or Matthews put their attentions to can only be. Afterwards we chatted with Barry Devlin recounting old tales and yarns form the great days of the Horslips gigs around the country. Nice, down to earth guy he is too.
Later we supped Guiness in Keoghs pub, and had a good auld chat with Thomas Walshe, he being the songwriter, vocalist, and main man of the band Pugwash. Ria, Arther's sister was also present. It is she who has been credited in introducing the Punk ,-new-wave music revolution to Ireland in the mid 70's.
So it wa s great to reconnect, with old friends and aquiantances, and to rub shoulders with the great and the good. We parted comapny, promising that it won't be a s long again until we meet. Oh, and, go and buy that book, Poor Auld Fellas.
Go and buy that book Poor Auld Fellas
Friday, October 19, 2007
Sarah's Christening
On Sunday last October 14th we christened Sarah in Maudabawn chapel, the same church where the other two, Emily in September 2005,an d Lisa in June 2003. The same church where w e were married in July 2000, and where I made my first confession in, was it 1967?
Fr Kevin Cooney officiated at the baptism, as he did for the other two . Weather was, plaesent , warm, calm, and sunny, making it all the more enjoyable.
So Sarah is now a fully fledged christian, and that's the way she will remain until she has the reason to decide otherwise when she reaches maturity.
You don't hear much about orignal sin these days; that's the one you are automatically born with, and it's only with the waters of baptism that's erased. You can believe it if you like and a lot do. Dosen't seem fair that a totally innocent baby should be burdened with this big sin, before they can even utter their first gutteral sound. Anyway., thats christianity for you.
Back to last Sunday. She has 4 god parentss all our children have, Rosie's brother Gerd, sister Valtroed, Helan Markey and Thomas Wershmoller. Tomas couldn't make the trip from Germany, but the others did along with Roswitha's mother and father, who have been present at the other christenings.
Afterwards we retired to our house in Drumbinnis.Rosemary Connelly, like on the previous occosions provided the excellent food. Sundays meal was up to it's usual high standard and was savoured by all. Later in the evening, Squire and I played a few songs to round off the occosion, and what was a most day.
That will be our last christening, definetly, definetly.
Fr Kevin Cooney officiated at the baptism, as he did for the other two . Weather was, plaesent , warm, calm, and sunny, making it all the more enjoyable.
So Sarah is now a fully fledged christian, and that's the way she will remain until she has the reason to decide otherwise when she reaches maturity.
You don't hear much about orignal sin these days; that's the one you are automatically born with, and it's only with the waters of baptism that's erased. You can believe it if you like and a lot do. Dosen't seem fair that a totally innocent baby should be burdened with this big sin, before they can even utter their first gutteral sound. Anyway., thats christianity for you.
Back to last Sunday. She has 4 god parentss all our children have, Rosie's brother Gerd, sister Valtroed, Helan Markey and Thomas Wershmoller. Tomas couldn't make the trip from Germany, but the others did along with Roswitha's mother and father, who have been present at the other christenings.
Afterwards we retired to our house in Drumbinnis.Rosemary Connelly, like on the previous occosions provided the excellent food. Sundays meal was up to it's usual high standard and was savoured by all. Later in the evening, Squire and I played a few songs to round off the occosion, and what was a most day.
That will be our last christening, definetly, definetly.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Newspaper Deluge
There are now 5 weekly newspaers circulating in Co Cavan, as I write, the date being October 8th 2007. Up until about 9 months ago it was the age old Anglo Celt that provided us the people of this noble county with our diet of weekly local news. The good old Celt has been around for longer than I care to remember. It was established some time towards the latter half of the 18th centuary. So at this satge it would be fair to say that it has gained a fair foothold on the local media scene.
Many would day that there isn't an awful lot in it. Take away the local news, court case reports, GAA and the adds and what would remain. Not a lot. It's abit like the Monthy Python, Life of Brian, scenario, of what did the Romans ever do for us?
Stiil you feel that if you didn't get the Celt one might miss something. The Celt in my yonger days came out on Fridays. That then changed to Thursdays,.In more recent times it came to hit the shelves by Wednesday evenings.
Then late last year the Cavan Echo appeared. This was a free paper and and a new competitor to the established Celt.To combat this the Celt issued a a similar free paper, The Cavan Life. So almost overnight we had 3 weekleys to choose from.
The Echo was ok. Has a couple of decent features, like a history page. They run a weekly latest story, take the camera out to local pubs and venues and publish out and about photos. The Celt also followed suit and began to do something similar. The Echo must be feeling very flattered.
Then in September of this year The Cavan Post hit the streets. Its part of a national media chain which has publications in most counties, including our nextdoor neighbours, Monaghan.
The Post Looks impressive, bulky, with many different features, locals news, court cases, out and about photos, fashion and as far as I can see it, like to publish photos of crashed cars.
The Post keeps it's articles short and to the point. It seems to be aimed at those to dont like wordy or detailed articles. You'll find the same court cases and local news as in the Celt, and indeed most of the other news as in the Celt. The Post comes out on a Tuesday, so they have some stories before the Celt and vica versa.
The Post does have a couples of good journalist, with flair, wit, oodles of satire and an obvious love of the English language. Something which I like in a writer and in a newspaper. I'm more into reading a well written piece over and above what it's about.
Paul O Dowd is the sports editior. Being a former goalkeeper for the Cavan County GAA team, he's gone from standing between the post to writing for the Post.GAA and sport is where he excels, but he could ,given the scope and space ,write about any subject under the sun and make it interesting. Perhaps he's using the Post as a springboard to something bigger on the national scene.
So there we were in September with 4 papers to choose from. Just when I felt it was safe to walk into a newsagents again and not be confronted with another new title, lo and behold there's another new one begging for my attention. Two weeks after the Post launched, The Cavan Voice popped its head above the parrapet. More photos from out and about, local news, courtcases, crashed cars. A more wordy paper then the Post, it seems to be aiming more at the serious reader, what ever type of beast he or she may be I'm not too sure. It's also giving away a free CD for the 1st 10 weeks. Irish Voices. Daniel O Donell was the first one inflicted on the reader.
I put it on one Sunday at lunchtime and my wife curtly ordered me to stop it as she didn't want to her eating experience spoiled and ruined. I complied with her request and put on Ry Cooder's Chavez Ravine album instead. I must say it sounds superior to DoD.
Dodgy CDs' aside, I like the Voice. It could be a good competitior to the Anglo Celt, but that will remain to be seen.
It's shame in a way that all these new titles have come all at once. The competition to the Anglo Celt could illiminate itself. It will be interesting from a readers viewpoint to see how long they last or which ones will prosper.
I remarked to someone that we won't need firelighters from now on during the winter when lighting the solid fuel stove, or indeed one will never be stranded in the house with no toliet paper.
So as it stands we have 5 weekly newspapers in County Cavan. People in far flung corners of the globe are slaving away felling swathes of precious rain forests, destabilising already fragile eco systems to provide the raw material to print these papers. The people of Co Cavan have never been as well informed about the goings on in our noble county. But at what cost to the global environment. Only time will tell the tale.
Now where did I leave my Irelands Own
Many would day that there isn't an awful lot in it. Take away the local news, court case reports, GAA and the adds and what would remain. Not a lot. It's abit like the Monthy Python, Life of Brian, scenario, of what did the Romans ever do for us?
Stiil you feel that if you didn't get the Celt one might miss something. The Celt in my yonger days came out on Fridays. That then changed to Thursdays,.In more recent times it came to hit the shelves by Wednesday evenings.
Then late last year the Cavan Echo appeared. This was a free paper and and a new competitor to the established Celt.To combat this the Celt issued a a similar free paper, The Cavan Life. So almost overnight we had 3 weekleys to choose from.
The Echo was ok. Has a couple of decent features, like a history page. They run a weekly latest story, take the camera out to local pubs and venues and publish out and about photos. The Celt also followed suit and began to do something similar. The Echo must be feeling very flattered.
Then in September of this year The Cavan Post hit the streets. Its part of a national media chain which has publications in most counties, including our nextdoor neighbours, Monaghan.
The Post Looks impressive, bulky, with many different features, locals news, court cases, out and about photos, fashion and as far as I can see it, like to publish photos of crashed cars.
The Post keeps it's articles short and to the point. It seems to be aimed at those to dont like wordy or detailed articles. You'll find the same court cases and local news as in the Celt, and indeed most of the other news as in the Celt. The Post comes out on a Tuesday, so they have some stories before the Celt and vica versa.
The Post does have a couples of good journalist, with flair, wit, oodles of satire and an obvious love of the English language. Something which I like in a writer and in a newspaper. I'm more into reading a well written piece over and above what it's about.
Paul O Dowd is the sports editior. Being a former goalkeeper for the Cavan County GAA team, he's gone from standing between the post to writing for the Post.GAA and sport is where he excels, but he could ,given the scope and space ,write about any subject under the sun and make it interesting. Perhaps he's using the Post as a springboard to something bigger on the national scene.
So there we were in September with 4 papers to choose from. Just when I felt it was safe to walk into a newsagents again and not be confronted with another new title, lo and behold there's another new one begging for my attention. Two weeks after the Post launched, The Cavan Voice popped its head above the parrapet. More photos from out and about, local news, courtcases, crashed cars. A more wordy paper then the Post, it seems to be aiming more at the serious reader, what ever type of beast he or she may be I'm not too sure. It's also giving away a free CD for the 1st 10 weeks. Irish Voices. Daniel O Donell was the first one inflicted on the reader.
I put it on one Sunday at lunchtime and my wife curtly ordered me to stop it as she didn't want to her eating experience spoiled and ruined. I complied with her request and put on Ry Cooder's Chavez Ravine album instead. I must say it sounds superior to DoD.
Dodgy CDs' aside, I like the Voice. It could be a good competitior to the Anglo Celt, but that will remain to be seen.
It's shame in a way that all these new titles have come all at once. The competition to the Anglo Celt could illiminate itself. It will be interesting from a readers viewpoint to see how long they last or which ones will prosper.
I remarked to someone that we won't need firelighters from now on during the winter when lighting the solid fuel stove, or indeed one will never be stranded in the house with no toliet paper.
So as it stands we have 5 weekly newspapers in County Cavan. People in far flung corners of the globe are slaving away felling swathes of precious rain forests, destabilising already fragile eco systems to provide the raw material to print these papers. The people of Co Cavan have never been as well informed about the goings on in our noble county. But at what cost to the global environment. Only time will tell the tale.
Now where did I leave my Irelands Own
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