by Peg Prendeville

Sincere sympathies to the McAuliffe family, Tooreendonnell on the death of Jackie last week.

I have had reason to be spending more time than I would like to in hospital recently tending to Paddy Faley and it makes me aware once again how vulnerable old people are in a hospital environment. They revert to little children who need somebody to be looking out for them and to plead their case for them as confusion and disorientation soon sets in, in the strange environment. If it was not so pitiful it would be funny. A man of 95 years in the same ward as Paddy wanted to get out of his chair in which he was firmly held in. When nobody answered his call to help him get out he said “ I have travelled through all the continents, met many people but I have never met anyone as mean as the people in here and I wish ye no good luck for it as ye don’t deserve it!” The poor man. Paddy Faley needs all the prayers he can get to make his life a bit more tolerable at the moment. Hopefully he, and all people who are suffering, will find relief soon. He was delighted to get a visit from an old friend Dan Lynch, formerly of Glasha, who is home from Chicago.

I hear that Jim Ahern’s sister from Killarney is appearing on Winning Streak next weekend and we wish her the very best of luck. Co-incidentally a neighbour of my sister Helen Martin from Athlone is appearing also. We hope they all have a good time.

As I have already said a few weeks ago the new volume of ‘Vanishing Ireland’ is due to be launched in the Hunt Museum on October 20^th at 8pm. It includes mini biographies of Din Lane, Lisa Mulvihill, Mikey and Annie Kinnane, Paddy Faley and Maurice Fitzgerald. Many of the photos that will appear in this volume Vanishing Ireland – Recollections of our Changing Times are currently on display in Limerick’s Hunt Museum. All welcome to the opening by Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

Mrs Julia Ryan, former teacher in Ballyguiltenane National School, has donated some work which was written by the students in the school during the 1970’s. Anybody who was in the school during that time may be interested in seeing the essays  they wrote about themselves. Feel free to drop in to the library anytime to have a look and reminisce. There are some names from the Gragra/Glasha area.