Last week I was romancing about Valentine’s Day but what I did not know then was that most of us would be having our dinner by candlelight ….. and our breakfast and supper too! Yes, storm Darwin (I will remember the name as our son is in Darwin, Australia) came with such force that it was a wonder that nobody got killed with all the trees, slates and roofs of barns that were blown down. Knockdown was without power from Wednesday til Saturday evening but there were others who were without it for longer. I hope we do not have another storm like it for a long time. I asked Liza Mulvihill, aged 98, if she remembered one as strong and she mentioned hurricane Debbie in September 1961. I remember at that time being told by my father to stay inside as he and my mother attempted to keep the hay down in the haybarn by putting cement blocks on the hay. On Googling Debbie I read that 12 people were killed in Ireland during that day so Darwin was not the worst, but, it was bad enough. It was so unfortunate that a man got killed in Co. Cork while attempting to repair the phone lines. Hopefully, the weather will settle down soon and we can look forward to Spring. Already the daffodils are well up so there is hope.

I was talking to Joe Feely from Canada ( formerly Glasha) on Skype this week and he tells me that he has four feet of snow and one would get frostbite if outdoors for too long so again we should consider ourselves lucky. It was Joe’s first experience of using Skype and he was “blown away” at the realisation that he could see a person in Ireland while talking to them. He is now 81 and is glad to be alive to see such progress, he says. He is looking very well and has become a great granddad recently which is another delight to him.

I met Nora Mulvihill in St Ita’s this week also and she passes on her regards to all her neighbours in the Knockdown area. Nora is always happy as is the above-mentioned Liza Mulvihill who is heading to 99 years and is still reading the daily paper and keeping up to date on the news. Congratulations to Patie Geoghegan who celebrated his 91^st birthday on Valentine’s Day and is still enjoying life also. It must be the West Limerick air that is keeping them all in good spirits. Long may it continue.

Well done to Ballyhahill School’s two quiz teams who qualified this week for the County Community Games Quiz final! They are an ambitious lot and we wish them well.

There is a meeting of the Parish Readers from both churches in the Parochial House on this Wednesday 19^th at 7.30 pm.