History « Thurles Information

From Soot To Ceremony: How Wedding Chimney Sweeps Could Bring Luck.

There was once an old wedding tradition that believed it was good luck for a bride and groom to meet a chimney sweep on their wedding day. The story is often linked to a royal legend: a chimney sweep is said to have helped save a king from runaway horses, after which sweeps became known as bringers of good fortune. Whether the tale is fact or folklore, the symbolism is easy to understand. The sweep was connected with the hearth, the fire, and the warmth of the home; all powerful images for a newly married couple beginning life together.

Today, this tradition has become a charming wedding extra. A chimney sweep may appear outside the church, registry office, or wedding venue to greet the couple, shake hands with the groom, kiss the bride on the cheek, pose for photographs, and offer a few words of good luck. It is unusual, memorable, and full of character, exactly the kind of detail many couples now look for when planning a wedding.
Wedding venues and professional photographers could also adopt the idea as an added service for couples looking for something traditional, quirky, and memorable.

**“Wishing you a lifetime of love, luck, and happiness.”**

A venue might offer a “lucky chimney sweep” as part of a heritage or vintage wedding package, while photographers could suggest it as a characterful photo opportunity after the ceremony.
Some couples may worry about soot marking the bride’s white dress, but this can be easily avoided. The sweep can arrive in clean ceremonial clothing, use a display brush rather than a working one, avoid close contact with the dress, and pose carefully at the bride’s side. With a little planning, the charm of the tradition can be kept without any risk to the gown.

For modern chimney sweeps, this old custom could also offer a useful additional income stream.
The trade is changing. With cleaner heating policies, reduced reliance on fossil fuels, and the gradual move toward low-carbon homes, traditional chimney work is not the same as it once was. Gas, oil, coal, wood, and smokeless-fuel use are all under closer environmental scrutiny, and many households are moving toward heat pumps, better insulation, and electric heating. At the same time, sweeps remain important for homes with working fireplaces, wood burners, and multifuel stoves, where regular sweeping is still essential for safety.

That creates a challenge but also an opportunity.
A wedding appearance does not replace the practical work of chimney sweeping, but it can sit alongside it. It makes use of the sweep’s traditional clothing, local reputation, storytelling, and historic image. It can be offered as a weekend or seasonal service, especially during the spring and summer wedding months, when demand for chimney maintenance may be lower.

A Chimney Sweep could offer packages such as:
► A lucky sweep appearance after the ceremony.
► Photographs with the bride and groom.
► A short traditional blessing or good-luck greeting.
► A certificate or keepsake for the couple.
► Optional attendance at the reception for photos with guests.

The idea works especially well for historic venues, country weddings, church weddings, vintage-themed ceremonies, and couples who want something different from the usual wedding entertainment. It also gives younger generations a chance to see a trade that was once central to everyday life but is now becoming less visible.
In that sense, the wedding chimney sweep is more than a novelty. It is a way of keeping an old craft in public view, preserving folklore, and helping working sweeps adapt as heating habits change.

For chimney sweeps looking to diversify, the message is simple: the soot may be less common, but the story still has value. A clean chimney keeps a home safe; a lucky sweep at a wedding brings a smile, a photograph, and a tradition that couples will remember for years.

“Come on, lads — let’s bring a little imagination to wedding events.”

Ireland, Israel, RTE & The Politics Of Constant Outrage.

Ireland’s political and media class increasingly seems trapped in a cycle of outrage, where emotion appear to matters more than realism.

The recent arrest of Dr. Margaret Connolly; sister of Irish President Mrs Catherine Connolly; on board a Ga, so called aid flotilla immediately caused uproar in Irish political and media circles. Government figures condemned Israel, activists treated the incident as a major international drama, and RTÉ coverage became highly emotional.

At the same time, Eurovision exposed another reality that many activists do not want to face. Despite loud campaigns demanding Israel be excluded, Israel still took part in Eurovision and finished in second place. RTÉ and several other broadcasters boycotted the contest over Israel’s participation, but Eurovision went ahead anyway without their participation.
So will RTE, who this year ignored licence fee payers, decide to repeat this boycotting scenario again next year?

That raises a very simple question; what exactly is the long-term plan?
If the goal is somehow to make Israel disappear, that is not serious politics. Israel is not going anywhere. It is a strong country with major international alliances, a powerful economy, and the world’s largest Jewish population.

If the goal is to isolate Israelis from international events, that also appears to be failing. Eurovision continued. International organisations continue working with Israel. Trade continues. Sporting and cultural events continue. And if Israel competes again next year in Sofia, Bulgaria, the wider world will largely move on, regardless of any Irish outrage.

This is where many ordinary people are beginning to lose patience with what critics now call the “Paddystinian” movement.

Many feel the movement has gone far beyond criticism of Israeli government policy and has become something more obsessive and even hostile. Criticising Israel is perfectly legitimate, just as criticism of any government is legitimate. But when every issue becomes centred around Israel, people naturally begin asking questions.

There is also growing concern about the atmosphere being created for Jewish people living in Ireland. Across Europe, Jewish communities have reported rising hostility and intimidation since the Gaza conflict intensified. Many Irish Jews now feel increasingly uncomfortable speaking openly about their identity or opinions. That should rightly alarm decent people.

A country can support Palestinian civilians without turning hostility toward Israel into a national obsession. It is possible to care about Gaza while also rejecting hatred, intimidation, and political hysteria.

Many people now treat attending such weekend protests in major cities as a kind of social pastime, with large numbers taking part, despite having only a limited understanding of the history or complexities behind the issues involved.

Unfortunately, parts of Irish public debate no longer seem interested in balance or nuance. Too often, disagreement is treated as proof of moral failure. Anyone who questions the dominant activist narrative, risks abuse, smears, or social pressure. That is not healthy democratic debate.

Ireland once had a reputation as a calm, sensible country known for diplomacy and peace-building. Increasingly, however, parts of Irish politics and media appear more interested in performative outrage than practical solutions. Meanwhile, the rest of the world simply keeps moving.

Israel continues trading internationally, participating in global events, building alliances, and developing economically. Eurovision survived the RTE boycott. International audiences still voted for the Israeli entry in huge numbers. That reality may be uncomfortable for activists, but it is reality nonetheless.

Movements built mainly on anger and grievance eventually run into a problem: outrage alone is not a strategy. Shouting louder does not necessarily change minds. In fact, constant moral lecturing often pushes ordinary people away, and that may ultimately be the biggest danger for Ireland itself. Because countries that become consumed by ideological crusades can end up isolating themselves far more than the people they are trying to punish.

In the end, most people simply want balance, common sense, and a bit of perspective, not this endless outrage, division, and political theatre pumped out on news bulletins and via social media.

A Warning To Late Travellers On The Cashel Road.

If the Roads Around Cashel Fall Silent, Best Turn for Home.

If you find yourself out late around the town of Cashel, Co. Tipperary, take a bit of advice from the old people; go home before the road goes quiet.

Tourists especially beware, because according to the folklore of the Galtee country, there are worse things abroad at night than a Garda checkpoint or a missed Fish & Chipper.

Long before horror films discovered the headless horseman, Ireland already had the Dullahan, latter a charming individual who travelled the roads carrying his own head under his arm and announcing death wherever he stopped. No door lock kept him out. No gate latch held him back. The only known deterrent was gold, which feels very Irish altogether. Even supernatural evil respects inflation.

The most entertaining version of the tale comes from an old story called “The Good Woman”, collected by Thomas Crofton Croker in the nineteenth century. The story is set around the Galtee Mountains and Cashel, where a horse dealer named Larry Dodd makes the sort of decision that proves Irish folklore exists mainly to warn men against acting the maggot after dark.

Larry is riding home from Cashel one June evening after buying a horse. He’s feeling pleased with himself, no doubt after “just the one pint” that became several. Along the road he meets a mysterious cloaked woman walking alone at twilight.

Now, any sensible person in rural Ireland knows there are only three explanations for a woman silently appearing on a lonely road after sunset; a banshee, a fairy, trouble.
Larry, unfortunately, ignores centuries of accumulated wisdom and offers her a lift.
She says nothing. Climbs up behind him. Still says nothing, which, to be fair, should have been the first warning sign to any member of the male species.

Eventually the horse stops near the ruins of an old church. The woman slips down soundlessly and glides away across the graveyard. Larry, displaying the sort of judgement that has doomed Irish men since mythology began, chases after her looking for a kiss and catches her, only to discover she has no head.

At this point the story becomes considerably less romantic. Larry faints dead away and wakes among a gathering of Dullahans; headless ladies and gentlemen, soldiers, priests, musicians and skeletons tossing skulls around like hurling balls. Naturally enough, someone offers him a drink. Well this is still Ireland after all.

Things go poorly from there but eventually he escapes with his life, though not with his dignity, and his horse disappears entirely which may be the most authentically Irish ending imaginable. Survive supernatural terror if you like, but someone is still stealing the livestock.

So if you’re around Cashel late at night and happen to see a silent figure on the roadside, perhaps keep driving. Do not offer lifts. Do not flirt. And, absolutely do not follow mysterious women into ruined churches.

The old stories survive for a reason, and mainly because somebody ignored obvious warning signs and succeeded to live just long enough to warn the rest of us.

Concern Raised Over Sinn Féin Platforming of Convicted Terrorist’s Son.

**Poster published, by Mary Lou McDonald, *(Sinn Féin)*.**

Serious concern has been expressed following the appearance of Arab Barghouti, son of convicted Palestinian militant leader Marwan Barghouti, at the most recent Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Belfast.

According to reports from the event, Arab Barghouti addressed delegates and supporters to sustained applause during proceedings focused on international solidarity and Middle East issues. Critics have described the reception as deeply inappropriate given the violent history associated with his father.

Marwan Barghouti is currently serving multiple life sentences in Israel after being convicted in 2004 for involvement in attacks that killed five civilians during the Second Intifada. Israeli courts found him guilty on several counts of murder and membership in a terrorist organisation. While some political activists, sadly, continue to portray him as a symbol of Palestinian resistance; while many victims’ families and international observers regard him accurately as directly responsible for acts of terrorism that caused immense civilian suffering.

Opponents of Sinn Féin’s decision to provide a platform for Arab Barghouti argue that inviting representatives connected to individuals convicted of orchestrating deadly attacks risks undermining efforts to promote peace, reconciliation and respect for innocent victims of violence.

“This was not simply a controversial political appearance,” one critic stated. “It amounted to the normalisation and sanitisation of terrorism in front of a large public audience. The victims of these attacks, and their families, deserve better than to see applause for those associated with such unbelievable brutality.”

The controversy has also reignited debate around the responsibilities of political parties when selecting international speakers for major public conferences. Commentators have argued that democratic institutions should remain vigilant against attempts to romanticise or rewrite the legacy of political violence, regardless of where it occurred.

A similar sentiments were widely expressed on Tuesday April 28th last, when Arab Barghouti addressed a public meeting in at a pub in Cross Guns, Dublin 9. The event, promoted online by pro-Palestinian activists and Sinn Féin supporters, focused on solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and support for Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Palestinian political figure and former Fatah leader. Again attendees heard speeches concerning the situation in Gaza, Palestinian prisoners, and international solidarity campaigns. Promotional material referred to Marwan Barghouti as a “jailed Palestinian leader,” while critics again noted that he was convicted by an Israeli court for involvement in attacks that killed civilians during the Second Intifada.

Others have defended the invitation on the grounds of international solidarity with the Palestinian cause, noting that Marwan Barghouti remains a widely recognised political figure among many Palestinians and international campaigners.

Nevertheless, critics maintain that no political grievance can justify the targeting and killing of civilians, and that public representatives should be careful not to blur the distinction between political advocacy and the glorification of violence and hatred.

Bournea Reaching Out Historical Society Report Successful Lecture.

Bournea Reaching Out Historical Society had another very successful Lecture on Tuesday April 28th 2026.

Tim Maher Reports:

Dr John Reynolds a former member of An Garda Siochana at Templemore Garda College and well-known historian, lectured on the Foundation of An Garda Siochana in 1922 and the Templemore Museum and Archives.

Our vice Chairperson Michael Costigan introduced Dr. John Reynolds to the audience on behave of our non-resident Chairperson Christine Timoney who lives in Australia. Michael welcomed John to Lismackin Hall on behalf of Bournea Reaching Out Historical Society and gave a brief summery of his achievements to date.

**Photo shows Dr. John Reynolds with members of ‘Bournea Reaching Out Historical Society’.**
*Pic: Courtesy Tim Maher*

Dr Reynolds detailed the changeover from the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) armed police force of the United Kingdom in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, to the unarmed Irish police force An Garda Siochana, and how they managed the changeover after the Irish War of Independence and during the Irish Civil War.

After a tea break and a chat, he continued the second part of his lecture on how he set up the Templemore Garda Museum. He told us, he had hundreds of visitors per week from home and abroad visiting. They had groups of school children, tourist, and many other groups, like ourselves, visiting before the COVID-19 virus hit. When the pandemic was over,unfortunately the museum was never opened again and some parts move to a new Dubin Garda museum.

We finished up with our vice chairperson Michael Costigan thanking him for his time and his wonderful lectures. Dr Reynolds said he would be delighted to come again to lecture on a different subject. He is the author of two books that he had for sale, ‘The Templemore Miracles‘ and ‘46 Men Dead‘.

We had a great turnout and thanks to everyone who attended and made it a great night.