Thurles Information

Tomorrow Sat. Oct. 30th Three Hours of Pumpkin Festivities At Holycross Market.

It is “Ready, Set, Go” for Halloween Festivities at Holycross Market, here in Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, tomorrow, with their extra special “Holycross Pumpkin Fest” taking place.

A host of spooky and other spectacular events will take off, promising to entertain young and old and guaranteeing the very best in family fun.

Market organisers will be seeking those skilled conker fighters to participate in the “Tipperary Conker Championship” which will result in a trophy and prizes for both the winner and runner-up.

Don’t forget Ruadhán Gormally, that incredibly talented Galway born puppet maker, who was recently featured on the Ryan Tubridy Show, will be here in Holycross Market tomorrow, to entertain and delight with a collection of his best puppets.

A “Muppet Monster” style Puppet will also be raffled off as part of the afternoon’s much anticipated festivities.

As stated, the market will be extending their opening time by one hour, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, with lots of extra music, tricks, treats and other shenanigans, for children and adults, in honour of this truly Irish tradition.

Meanwhile; the market organisers of this Holycross Market Pumpkin Fest, want to keep the family fun rolling out over the full Halloween holiday, with other ‘spooktacular’ Halloween activities after their market closes.

Create Your Own Halloween Puppet from Paper

After Ruadhán Gormally’s puppet display, you’ll be inspired to make your own puppets. To make these easy Halloween hand puppets, all you need is paper, glue, scissors and some ‘crafty’ creativity.

Make Some Halloween Garlands.

Street area’s and stalls at the Holycross Market will be decorated for Halloween. Why not have a go at making your own Halloween decorations? Many of us will remember making these paper garlands as children. Why not put a Halloween spin on this oldest of paper crafts. No skill required, just some folding and cutting with a scissors. Just click HERE.

Learn to Draw a Favourite Halloween Monster.

You are sure to see lots of creepy costumes at the Holycross Halloween Market. When you get home, why not learn to draw a few. As always, Art for Kids Hub offers hundreds of free tutorials on how to draw our favourite Halloween characters. With lessons for all ages and abilities it’s no wonder this channel has over 5 million subscribers. Click HERE.

Bake Some Halloween Buns with Mum.

Once you have eaten all the delicious cakes you bought at Holycross Market, try out some of these delicious Halloween bakes, courtesy of Oldlum’s by clicking HERE.

Play Some Halloween Games.

Still feeling competitive after the Holycross Conker Championship? Here are five other Halloween games that will provide lots of fun for young and old.
Halloween Charades click HERE.
Pin the Spider on the Web click HERE.
Wrap the Mummy click HERE. (Persuade Mum to buy a few extra toilet roll)
Halloween Relay Race click HERE.
Guess the Gross Food click HERE.

See you all tomorrow at Holycross Market Pumpkin Fest. – It’s the place to be.

Quirke Appeal Against Murder Conviction To Be Decided Next Week.

Mr Patrick Quirke from Breanshamore, in Co. Tipperary will learn, possibly on Tuesday next, whether his appeal regarding his conviction for murder has been successful.

The 52-year-old Mr Quirke has spent the past two years in Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, County Laois, where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of lorry driver and part-time Disc Jockey, Mr Bobby Ryan, in or about June 3rd 2011, at an unknown location. His guilt had been decided by a 10 – 2 jury verdict, following a 15-week trial.

It has been more than one year since Mr Quirke’s appeal against the court’s decision regarding the infamous love-rival killing in Co. Tipperary was first lodged. The Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with some 52 submissions of appeal by Mr Quirke, led to the unprecedented delay in the appeal case. However, it is understood that both defence and prosecution counsel were informed, on Wednesday last, that a judgment would be delivered early next week. If successful in his appeal, Mr Quirke’s conviction for the murder of Mr Ryan, will now be overturned.

The trial of Mr Quirke, in 2019 was the longest in the history of the Irish State, with the victim missing for some 22 months, before his body was eventually found in a disused run-off tank on Ms Mary Lowry’s land at Fawnagown, Co Tipperary, in April 2013.

Issues during the trial were raised about how Gardaí had handled the discovery of Mr Ryan’s body, with the court hearing details of how part of a concrete capping slab fell into the tank, possibly causing damage to the body of deceased in the process.

Covid-19 Cases Reach 3,727 In Past 24 Hours On Island of Ireland.

The Department of Health has confirmed 2,605 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours here in the Irish Republic.

There are 487 patients in hospital with the virus, down 16 on the same time yesterday and of these 99 patients are being treated in ICUs across the country, a decrease of 2 on yesterday’s reported figures.

Hundreds of hospital procedures are being cancelled each week, as our health system struggles to cope with COVID cases; rising numbers of patients on trolleys and healthcare staff out sick.

An Tánaiste Mr Leo Varadkar has stated that the Government is considering a dedicated campaign on vaccinations in an attempt to reach out to communities who do not speak the English language.

His remarks come as the Central Statistics Office data shows that eastern European nationals, working in the Republic, show the lowest rates of vaccination at 44%, compared to 67% of Western European nationals and 90% of Irish nationals.

The deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn says precautions should be taken to reduce children’s activities over the remainder of the Halloween midterm, due to the recent rise in Covid-19 cases.
A total of 4,393 cases were reported in children aged 5-12 in the two weeks to Monday last, compared to 2,930 over a similar time-frame earlier this month.

The Minister for Health Mr Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that people who are deemed close contacts, of any Covid-19 case, will now be sent antigen tests with effect from today. Under this system, people can use the antigen tests at their home, if they are both fully vaccinated and do not display symptoms.

In Northern Ireland, their Department of Health has confirmed an additional 1,122 Covid cases, with, sadly, 9 further deaths in the same 24 hour period.

Russia has reported a record 1,159 deaths from Covid in the past 24 hours resulting in shops, restaurants and schools shutting in Moscow; in a partial lock-down, as Russia battles record Covid deaths and infections.
Today, only essential shops like supermarkets and pharmacies are allowed to open in the capital, while food outlets can only provide takeaways. Perhaps not so wise, authorities have also given workers across Russia nine days off from Saturday next in a bid to curb 40,096 new infections in 85 regions of their State.

NPHET continues to urge people here in the Irish Republic who have been offered a vaccine, to take it and importantly to make sure to present themselves for their second vaccine dose.

Choosing to get vaccinated is an act of protection for yourself,
as it may save your life; but it is also an act of solidarity with others; the more of us that get vaccinated, the safer we all will be.

Death Of Margaret Bourke, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death, yesterday, Tuesday 26th October 2021, of Mrs Margaret Bourke (née Coman), The Heath, Thurles, Co. Tipperary and formerly of Boherlahan, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

Predeceased by her parents Paddy and Kitty; Mrs Bourke passed away unexpectedly.

Her passing is deeply regretted by her loving family; devoted husband John, son Michael, daughter Catriona, sisters Anna and Sr Breda, brothers Jim and Phil, nephews, nieces, brothers-in-law Thomas and Jim, sisters-in-law Breda, Mary and Theresa, cousins, extended relatives, neighbours and many friends.

Requiescat in Pace.

Funeral Arrangements.

The earthly remains of Mrs Bourke will repose at Hugh Ryan’s Funeral Home, Slievenamon Road, Thurles on Saturday evening, October 30th, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
Her body will be received into the Cathedral of the Assumption, Cathedral Street, Thurles on Sunday morning, October 31st, at 10:30am to further repose for Requiem Mass at 11:00am.
Interment will follow immediately afterwards in St Patrick’s Cemetery, Moyne Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

For the many persons who would have liked to have attended the funeral service for Mrs Bourke, but are unable to do so, due to current virus restrictions; funeral Mass can be viewed online HERE.

[NB: Due to Public Health Guidelines, regarding C-19 virus restrictions; those attending will continue to observe strict adherence to social distancing and face covering.]

The extended Bourke family wish to express their appreciation for your understanding at this difficult time and have made arrangements for those wishing to send messages of condolence, to use the link shown HERE.

Suaimhneas síoraí dá h-anam dílis.

Covid-19 Cases Reach 2,922 In Past 24 Hours On Irish Mainland.

The Department of Health has confirmed 1,631 new cases of Covid-19 here in the Irish Republic, within the past 24 hours.

There are 503 patients in our hospitals suffering from the virus, down 10 on the same time yesterday.

Of these however, 101 patients are in ICUs, around the country, an increase of 4 from yesterday’s reported figures. Some 67 people, sadly, have died here in the Republic of Ireland in the last 7 days from the virus.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has stated that Covid-19 is growing at a rate that is concerning and it would be very sensible for those who visited nightclubs, last weekend, and in the future, to stay away from vulnerable people over the days following.
Meanwhile, nightclub and live venue operators have been told that rules requiring tickets to be booked at least one hour in advance, will take effect from tomorrow. The guidelines which outlined how the new system will work, were published on Friday last.

In Northern Ireland, 1,291 Covid cases have also been reported in the past 24 hours. An additional 6 deaths, sadly, have also been reported.

A medical panel of US government advisers have now endorsed the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 5-11, thus paving the way for younger children to get immunised within the coming weeks.

The Executive Director of the World Health Organization, Dr Michael Ryan has stated that he remains critical of pharmaceutical companies whom he said are making profit by manufacturing doses for countries who have two or more times the supplies they require and are failing to share with their COVAX programme.

Choosing to get vaccinated is an act of protection for yourself, as it may save your life; but it is also an act of solidarity with others; the more of us that get vaccinated, the safer we all will be.