Afternoon Tea in Cashel Library tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm
‘How Are You?asks, Ms Maura Barrett, (Cashel Library) who now reports:
“Hello, How Are You?” is a campaign about connecting with those around us and engaging in open conversations about mental health. It’s about asking the question, ‘How Are You?’ with meaning, and really listening to the response.
Following on from the successful Afternoon Tea last year, Cashel Library invites you once again, to come along and meet people; form a new friendship and discover the well-being effect that talking and listening to each other can have.
Sometimes all we need to do is ask the question “HELLO HOW ARE YOU?“
Afternoon Tea is a free event but please remember booking is essential in order to facilitate the necessary catering requirements for this event. To confirm attendance contact Tel: 062-63825.
Visitors attending this eventcan locate the Cashel Library building; situated on Friar Street, Lady’s Well, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, HERE. (G487+RX).
We learned today (and it has been confirmed) that His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, previously visited Thurles, Co. Tipperary. His Holiness stayed for 5 nights at the Horse & Jockey Hotel, Horse & Jockey, Thurles, latter regarded as the traditional crossroads of Ireland, set in the heartland of Co. Tipperary and one of Ireland’s overall great meeting places for some 250 years.
Thurles.Info contacted the Horse & Jockey hotel today; successfully run by the Egan family and while management and staff declined to comment, a well informed source who was present during his stay, confirmed that His Holiness was a resident guest there, for some five nights, towards the end of June 2013, while presiding over an Augustinian seminar, held in the hotels excellent, tiered, conference facility.
His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, was Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine for some 12 years; from 2001 until 2013. The Order of Saint Augustine is a mendicant religious order of the Catholic Church and was founded back in 1244, after groups in the Tuscany region; latter not concerned with the temporal world or swayed by mundane considerations, were found to follow the Rule of St Augustine, written by the theologian, writer, preacher, rhetorician, Bishop and later Saint Aurelius Augustine of Hippo, in the fifth century. (Note: Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria). St Augustine was known to have written over 200 books and nearly 1,000 sermons, letters, and other works, before the theologian and philosophers own death on August 28th 430.
Aurelius Augustine of Hippo was canonized by popular acclaim and recognized as a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298. His feast day is also celebrated on August 28th.
Currently the Horse & Jockey Hotel is justifiably regarded as the number one “licensed hostelry”, here in Co. Tipperary and beyond; having been awarded the Gold Medal Awards:- ‘Best 4* (Star) Hotel in Ireland’, last year, (2024) and also the Georgina Campbell ‘Best Business Hotel’; again in 2024.
Except for the encouraging words of Father Butler, nobody spoke in the dressing room, which now was reeking with liniment. Mick Duggan sat on a form, like the others, pensive and cradling his hurley in his arms. Father Butler was roaring away with words of advice, more to kill the tension in the air, than with much hope of his wise words being listened to. “Lyndon, stay glued to that corner-forward like he was your Siamese twin. None of ye are young any more, don’t let them get ye for speed for Heaven’s sake”. Mick Duggan grinned affectionately at the old Parish Priest and thought that if the County Final today could be won by words, he was the man to do it. Though deep in his heart he knew that the chances of the “Old Men of the Watery Mall”, as the local weekly had dubbed them, winning this final were about as remote as the hope of meeting Fionn Mac Cumhaill on the top of Sliabh na mBan.
Of course, this was not to say that ‘The Mall’ were going to lay down their hurleys and give an open net to their opponents ‘Borris’. Old men they might be, all on the wrong side of thirty, but the spirit of Knocknagow was wild in them still.
Mick Duggan was thirty nine years old; the real old man of the Mall team, who by some miracle or due to the lack of decent opposition had reached the Tipperary County Hurling Final. Mick had played club hurling since the days of the rural school games and had even spent a stint with the ‘Grocers’ in Dublin, winning a Dublin County Championship medal.
But it was the Tipperary County Championship medal that had always eluded him and his team-mates and so today was probably his last chance for glory. Time was when Mick had been the terror of many a good defence. When he had been fast, young and courageous, almost to the point of recklessness; but there was a bit of a drag in his feet now. Still there was more to hurling than fast trotters, he mused. It was a matter of family pride to win today for Duggan; as it once had been for his father and his father before him. Which is why Duggan put that extra effort into training for this game, even to the extent of downing a half dozen raw eggs every day, before and after his work in the local factory.
He could hear the familiar rumble of the crowd outside in the stands now and surmised that their opposing team had run out onto the pitch, which conjecture was reinforced by the loud roar that followed from one section of the crowd; a section of the crowd that could see only one result for their fast and skilful young team, latter which comprised many under 21 players from the County Squad.
The Mall players rose as one to their feet, jumping up and down on their toes to lessen the tension. Then they filed out of the dressing room, and as they did so the bold Father Butler liberally sprinkled their jerseys with Holy Water.
“Whom the Gods love, die young”, Duggan shouted mischievously to Father Butler, who in turn retorted with a very unholy exclamation and a hard glare. “Holy water is it, Father ah, now let’s just beat them fair and square, eh?”
The Mall lads were on the field now and after a limbering up period, they lined up behind the pipe band and soon were marching around the field to the strains of “Wrap The Green Flag Round Me, Boys”. The march around was followed by the tossing of the coin to determine choice of ends. The Mall won the toss and elected for wind advantage in the first half. The referee tossed in the ball and the game was on.
Duggan immediately rubbed shoulders with a deadly earnest young man of nineteen years, who had captained the county minor team the previous year. The kid is out to make an impression thought Duggan, but he will have to earn it, by God. He gritted his teeth. Mick noted that the youngster’s eager eyes were following every move he made. “Be the hokey, the garsun is giving me plenty of attention”, thought Duggan, flattered, but thinking that such attention to Duggan could prove costly in the end.
The first half of the game was, predictably enough, a tension-filled battle of wills with both sides giving little away, and the play had developed almost into a midfield battle with the young opposition lads running themselves into the ground, to no avail. At half-time opponents ‘Borris’, although having played against a very strong wind, were level with the old men of ‘The Mall’. Still, the crowd waited for ‘Borris’ to get the wind advantage and a brace of goals to put an end to this foot-shying around and let them home. The crowd, that many-headed monster, waited for the old men to fall to pieces and indeed, the bookies would not give out much for ‘The Mall’ now.
After the interval, during which ‘Borris’ black and amber flags waved triumphantly in anticipation; the teams took to the field again, both steeled to deliver the final punch for the sake of both little villages. Duggan again lined up shoulder to shoulder with the young ‘Borris’ corner-back, who so far had contained Mick’s every effort at goal, though Duggan had made a couple of good openings, whether the young fellow had noticed it or not.
After ten minutes of the second half and with no side having scored, the Borris lads were under strident vocal pressure from their supporters to deliver the goods. “Hit the ball! It’s legal!” screamed an irate and score-hungry fan to one ‘Borris’ forward. This led to some anxious, wayward play among the Borris boys who, despite their best efforts, could not raise a flag – green or white, after fifteen minutes. This led to them, in frustration, throwing away free after free, which the Mall centre-forward was converting into points. Then a desperate burst with a solo run up the field by the ‘Borris’ goalie, saw him blast the leather into the Mall net and the sides were level again and the crowd were now bracing themselves for a grandstand finish, a battle royale.
The young Borris boys were growing in confidence but also getting more and more careless. Egged on by a crowd of supporters, who were now not beyond cheering the efforts of the Mall team. Mick knew it was only a matter of time. He smiled as he heard the backs in his immediate vicinity swear and roar at one another to play the ball on the ground and hit first time. Too late for that now, Mick grinned. They had lost umpteen scores as a direct result of not doing that earlier. After that titanic battle of the first half, both sets of mid-fielders were now visibly very tired, and as both sides sensed this, the game was now, in its closing stages, developing into a tennis game, between both sets of opposing backs, with the ball going from one defence to the other.
More and more the young men of ‘Borris’ were losing their cool, as time ticked away to the end of the game which by now had both sets of supporters roaring themselves hoarse. The young ‘Borris’ boys continued to give away free after free. ‘The Mall’ old men tired, bruised, but battling for every ball now sensed that victory was a real possibility and Mick Duggan waited for the ball to come his way. The ball that would see the county championship trophy going to the Watery Mall, for the first time.
Both sides piled on the precious points, now one side, then the other. Duggan knew that as the game raced to a close, it would be when the experience and bottle would count most.
With thirty seconds remaining and both teams level, a nervous move by a ‘Borris’ boy gave a 50-yard free to The Mall. Mick Duggan steeled himself. Would Lyndon do the necessary? He surely must! Then came the free. It was a long, high ball that sailed in Mick Duggans direction, in towards the left hand-side of the square. Duggan gritted his teeth, slightly jostled the young man, and roared: “Here it comes, young fellow!”. As he had so often done throughout the match, the young man stuck to Mick Duggan like glue, shoulder to shoulder, his eyes on Mick’s hurley as Mick gently swung his stick from side to side, as if preparing to pull on the ball, when it hit the ground. It was while the young fellow was preparing to pull in similar fashion that Mick Duggan leapt with all the strength of his thirty nine years. Leaped like a champion high-jumper he once had been, grabbed the ball and then blasted it to the back of the net, past an advancing goalie.
Almost immediately the whistle blew and the old men of ‘The Mall’ were county champions for the first time in their history. Mick Duggan, exhausted by the mighty, high-fielding leap, wept as he knelt on the pitch, supported by his hurley. The young man, bitterly disappointed, nonetheless advanced towards him and congratulated him. “No wonder they call you the grabber,” he smiled ruefully. Mick grinned and managed to pant out a few words: “Never take your eyes off the ball, son…the oldest rule in the book.”
More than 15,000 people from counties Tipperary, Clare and Limerick’s Mid-West Region are expected to pass through the gates of Craggaunowen and Bunratty Castle & Folk Park this Easter Bank Holiday Weekend.
Lady Longbottom and Madame Bloomers will be judging the Easter Bonnet Competition at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park this Easter.
The popular County Clare visitor attractions are hosting a comprehensive programme of family-friendly activities and entertainment for all ages.
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park’s Easter events will be held on Friday, April 18th, Saturday, April 19th, and Sunday, April 20th from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.
The public is invited to step back in time with reenactors from Clan Life and Tercio Irlanda, who will bring 16th-century Gaelic Ireland to life, through engaging displays and talks on the era’s chieftains, warriors, and culture.
The traditional skills of the past will also be on display. Visitors will be able to witness the art of traditional Irish ironworking with live blacksmith demonstrations, showcasing the history and craftsmanship passed down through generations.
At 2.00 p.m. daily, the Bean an Tí will showcase the art and traditions behind Irish baking as the aroma of freshly baked griddle bread fills the interior of the Golden Vale Farmhouse.
Easter Bunny&Chick will be appearing at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park and Craggaunowen this Easter.
Along with getting the opportunity to meet the Easter Bunny and Chick, there will be plenty of children’s entertainment throughout the visitor attraction, as well as live traditional Irish music.
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is calling all young designers aged 12 and under to showcase their creativity using recycled or upcycled materials in the Easter Bonnet Competition. The judges, Lady Longbottom and Madame Bloomers, will announce the winning bonnets and hats on the village street at 2.30 p.m.
The Wobbly Circus will keep visitors entertained outside the Tea Rooms with a showcase of fire-juggling, unicycling and circus skills, while Garry Rossiter will be combining juggling, comedy, audience participation and danger through knife juggling, fire eating and stilt walking.
Guests can hop on the Bunratty Express and travel through the Folk Park past the elegant Georgian design of Bunratty House and the reconstructed Ardcroney Church, and through the Fairy Trail, woodland trails and paddocks, with their vast array of indigenous Irish animal species from Kerry Bog Ponies to Irish Red Deer and Bunratty’s resident Irish Wolfhounds Rian and Mide. The 10-minute train ride departs from the Red Barn, located behind Mac’s Pub, from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.
A fun and interactive Clue Trail, designed for younger visitors and their families, will lead participants through the folk park’s scenic woodland trails. Along the way, they will meet lively characters such as Mike the Seanchaí, the School Master, and the Village Policeman, all while uncovering fascinating stories from Ireland’s past.
Ms Marie Brennan(Events Manager at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park), said, “The Easter bank holiday weekend will be filled with various family-friendly activities and entertainment suitable for all ages. Visitors can expect a diverse range of attractions, including circus performances, storytelling sessions, train rides and living history reenactments. The programme aims to offer a blend of fun and educational experiences and is an opportunity for everyone to join us in a true Easter celebration.”
The Easter Bunny makes a quick leap from Bunratty to Craggaunowen, where more exciting activities await on Easter Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tony Baloney will entertain with his puppet show, while The Wobbly Circus provide fire-juggling, unicycle and circus tricks.
Craggaunowen will celebrate Ireland’s ancient crafts with talented artisans hosting woodworking, blacksmithing and weaving demonstrations.
There will also be an opportunity to meet the Easter Bunny at the popular East Clare visitor attraction, which has undergone significant investment and upgrades during the past year.
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