|
|
Lovers of Christmas and seasonal decorations would do well presently to visit Dwan’s Hardware Store, situated at Cathedral Street, here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
All your Christmas Needs & all in One Store. (Phone: (0504) 23477)
Their Store is now packed to capacity, offering everything you will need to decorate your home this Christmas, from LED lights to Christmas tree ornaments, not to mention their great special offer of a 7ft Christmas tree for only €35.
By the way, their unique German incense burners are also worthy of some special note.
They have five hearts, no eyes, no ears and no teeth, but one large one of the species can produce four to five kilos (9 to 11 lbs) of valuable fertiliser in just one year. They are hailed as the “intestines of the earth”, and according to my late dear grandmother, Eliza-Jane, the organic matter they produce becomes, “the mother of a healthy nosebag”.
They will wander unto Tarmacadam surfaces in search of leaves and breathing through their skin, you can find up to 1,000,000 of them living invisibly in any one-acre field. Back in 1881 Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution; in a statement wrote: “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.” They are “more powerful than the African elephant and more important to the economy than the cow.”
I speak of course of the lowly earth worm, to which the poet William Shakespeare in his play ‘Hamlet’ (Act 4, Scene 3) shows he was well aware of their capable transformative power, “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.”
There are some twenty-seven species of earthworm to be found recorded as existing here in Irish soil. They burrow beneath the ground, consuming through their digestive system, micro-organisms, decomposing organic matter such as roots and leaves, sand grains and soil. As a result, vital minerals and nutrients are added to the soil, making it healthier and richer.
In previous generations; long before our more acquired knowledge of agricultural science, the ancients knew well when to plant crops. They understood that when the ground is cold, earth worms bury themselves deeper to avail of warmer soil, thus granting the farmer / gardener information on the temperate of the soil, prior to sowing.
Flatworms
Alas, back about 1963 we saw the first arrival of the New Zealand flatworm, (Arthurdendyus Triangulates) first recorded in Northern Ireland. It took scientists until around 1983, to discovered a possible link between low earthworm populations and the presence of flatworms. Since then, it has been established that flatworms; which inadvertently arrived here through nursery imports of potted plants from abroad, is an aggressive predator of our native earthworm. In recent years same have been widely recorded in the Republic of Ireland, especially in Co. Mayo, and now established, they are beginning to migrate slowly onto adjacent land.
Studies show that when the flatworm locates an earthworm near the earth’s surface, it secretes a digestive juice which in turn will dissolve the earthworm into a kind of gooey soup, which the former then digests. Once the flatworm becomes established, the native Irish earthworm population will be annihilated.
Earthworms are most definitely a gardeners friend and are vital to healthy rich soil, so for this reason always use a garden fork, rather than a spade, when digging to reduce cutting them up when turning over earth.
Finally, tread softly, because you may be treading on your best friend, and when next time ‘the wife’ refers to you as “a miserable little worm”, do feel complimented 😏.
Can you remember back to 1964, when locals here in Thurles gathered to celebrate the arrival of Tipperary’s All-Ireland Hurling Captain, Michael Murphy, accompanied of course by the Liam McCarthy Cup (Tipperary’s 20th win and the then 78th staging of Ireland’s premier hurling knock-out competition); arriving to Tom O’Toole’s public house on Friar Street in the town?
No, well you can refresh your memory shortly, when “Thurles Sarsfields GAA Story – Volume 1” hits the book shelves.
 Left To Right: – Eamon Shanahan, Niall McNamara, Tom Behan, Michael Murphy, Joe Dwyer, Ned O’Shea, James Moloughney. As we have previously stated, this ‘must-own’, long-awaited and overdue hard-back publication, containing over 500 pages packed with facts, figures and photos, will be available later this year in Thurles, through Bookworm, Lár na Páirce, Eason and Thurles Sarsfields Social Centre.
In answer to the many queries we have received by sporting readers (both male and female), yes, we can now confirm when this book launch is taking place.
The launch will take place at Thurles Sarsfields Social Centre on Friday, 10th November 2017, at 7.30 p.m. sharp.
Note: EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO ATTEND.
It is interesting to note, also, that this new publication doesn’t confine itself purely to Thurles GAA affairs. Indeed, I would suggest that same can also be seen as a social or community written commentary, with the many happenings down through the decades, affecting our rural town and surrounding parish of Thurles, getting mentioned and clearly put into date perspective, e.g. the arrival of Electricity; the Thurles/Titanic connection; the official opening of Thurles Sugar Factory; the Korean War; Fair Days on Liberty Square (West Main Street) and Cathedral Street (East Main Street); The great Count John Mc Cormack’s Concert at Delahunty’s Cinema etc., etc., etc.
Note: A ‘Signed Publication’ can also be ordered direct (Plus €10 extra for postage and packing) from the Author, Mr Liam Ó Donnchú, Ballymoreen, Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
“And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.”
[Extract from the poem “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth.]
The season of Autumn 2017, here in our Northern Hemisphere, truly began just 9 days ago, on Friday, 22nd September at 9.54pm, and will come to an end on Thursday, 21st December 2017, as the dark winter days once again emerge.
But fear not; remember the words of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley “O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?”; so, let’s forget about winter and prepare for spring.
Later, towards the end of this month, will be the time to plant spring flowering bulbs, like the Crocus, Snowdrops, Bluebells and Tulips; but right now, is the best time to plant those Daffodils with their wonderful characteristic six petal-like sepals, surmounted by their trumpet-shaped corona; the flower that symbolizes ‘Friendship’.
Among the earliest blooms to appear in our Irish spring; Daffodils have been around for a long, long time, getting mentioned as far back as two hundred years B.C.. Indeed, it was a group of Englishmen in the early 17th century who plucked the Daffodil out of the windflower category; positioned it firmly, because of its charm, for inclusion into our domestic flower garden and rockery. Originating in Spain and Portugal, the Daffodil bulb, thankfully, was brought to the British Isles by the Romans, who foolishly believed that the sap from Daffodils had certain healing powers; alas the sap contains crystals that in some cases can irritate the skin.
When sowing Daffodils note that unlike some other bulbs (e.g. Tulips, Garlic), they do not require to be refrigerated. Each should have at least 2 to 3 inches of soil cover (deeper in sandy soil) and be planted a minimum of 4–5 inches apart over the next week, before really hard ground frost materialises.
After a Daffodil has finishes blooming, it still requires its foliage to gather and store energy for the following year’s bloom, so do watch the video shown above and remember if you want beautiful blooms next year, do not cut them back until the green of their foliage has fully disappeared, (usually late May or June). You can remove the spent flower head, but do remove the leaves.
You will observe from year to year how densely packed your Daffodils have become, so it is recommended that in June about every 5 years, that you grant the bulbs a little more growing space. Once finished blooming and when their leaves have turned brown, do dig them up and divide them by carefully plying them apart from one another, keeping their remaining leaves attached. They can then be replanted, as stated earlier with 2 to 3 inches of soil cover, 4–5 inches apart, or washed and dried by hanging in, if needs must, ladies panty hose, or an onion sack (if you can locate same from your local greengrocer), in a cool, airy location, until they are ready to be replanted. Remember, Mulch can be tremendously beneficial when growing Daffodils, so do not dump all your tea leaves, coffee grinds, tree leaves, grass clippings, sawdust etc in your brown bin for removal by your recycling company.
As one eye said to the other, “Don’t look now but something between us smells.”
Graffiti, it’s everywhere in Thurles; on every Street; on the Doors and Walls of trading business premises; on Electrical and Telephone interconnecting thingamajig metal casings; Car Parks, River Suir Walkway walls, Signposts, the new Source Theatre and yes we know who is responsible, armed nightly with ladders, it’s ‘The Fairies’.
Down in Co. Kerry that celebrated and wise old Teachta Dála (TD) Mr Danny Healy-Rae spotted it first, claiming ‘The Little People’ or the fairies were interfering with roads.
He claimed fairy mounds (or ‘Liosanna’) were impeded by the National Roads Authority in the area of the main Killarney to Cork traffic route, resulting in a surface dip mysteriously re-appearing on a regular basis. Those living abroad may not be aware that Fairy forts and prehistoric Tumuli (ancient burial mounds) were seen by previous generations of Irish people as the entrances to the fairy world. Even the cutting of a ‘Sceach-thorn’ bush (Whitethorn) on fairy mounds was punishable by these “Good People”, resulting often in the death of all who performed such acts.
When Graffiti first appeared in Thurles, many of our residents believed that Banksy, the anonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and film director of unconfirmed identity, had come amongst us to reside. Local Banksy experts within Tipperary Co.Co., however, quickly confirmed that this doodling was not his work; claiming instead that this was the mere scrawling of some 6 of our 2,569 Thurles town unemployed persons, armed with ladders, lending further credence to the well known phrase, “the devil finds work for idle hands”.
However a ‘leaked document’, recently seen by this website and emanating from a prominent Tipperary Councillor, rejects this belief, claiming that this graffiti is the work of ‘migrant fairies’; foreign nationalists if you will; latter forced to flee across the border from persecution in Co. Kerry.
This Councillor in his statement, claims that proof; (as if further proof was needed), is that these fairies are totally invisible, with the Thurles closed-circuit television (CCTV), (which cost one hundred thousand Euro to install just 3 years previously), now unable to visually capture the images of these fairies at work, due to night fog.
This leaked document also states that despite efforts by Tipperary Co. Co. to attract employment to Thurles, through the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), alas no site visits by the latter have as yet materialised. This we understand is not due to the lack of broadband speed, nor the fact that Tipperary hospital patients are the worst affected by overcrowding, in the country and most likely to die in an ambulance.
Keep it to yourselves but the remarks reported by one senior official in the IDA and quoted in this leaked document, states; “The town of Thurles looks like shit, and those on paid salaries and tasked with the job of upgrading its profile, are believed to be either dead or in deep slumber”.
To those politically motivated individuals who will send me emails in the coming days, claiming that I am showing Thurles in a poor light; I say get out of your SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle), your BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi, Ferrai or Porsche; come, take a walk on the wild-side.
|
Support Us Help keep Thurles.info online by donating below. Thank you.
Total Donated 2026: €300.00
Thank You!
Daily Thurles Mass Livestream
|
Recent Comments