By Peg Prendeville

The death has occurred of Mary (Margaret) Barrett (née Sheahan) formerly of
Turraree, Athea, Limerick. Beloved wife of the late Tom. We extend our sympathies to her brother Seán and her daughter Margaret, son-in-law Sam, grandchildren Emily and Sam, brothers, relatives and friends. She is being cremated in England and her ashes will eventually be buried in Athea.

It was lovely to hear that Eily Hogan from Hogan’s shop in Glin celebrated her 90th birthday this week. As she is staying safe at home it was a quiet but happy day for Eily, who is always happy and smiling no matter what is happening in the world. She is a woman of great faith and accepts whatever is happening with a trust that it will turn out alright in the end. She has a keen interest in genealogy and can trace any local family back as far as you might want to go. I wish her many more years. She is well looked after by her family.

Knockdown Vintage had to cancel their run this year but, instead, is inviting you to do a short “virtual” vintage run on May 3rd at 12 noon. Staying within the 2km rule take your car, bike, wheelbar, tractor, anything that moves on wheels for a quick run and post your videos or photos on their FB page. Just for the fun of it. Yerra, go on, go on, go on! Keep together by staying apart.

It looks like our quarantine will go on for another week or two judging by the numbers of new cases and, unfortunately, deaths. It can be a frightening time but we must also be aware that this is not the first time our world has seen such pandemics. It’s just the first time such a thing has happened in our lifetime. The 1917 Spanish flu killed millions but the earth recovered and continued turning. So it shall now too. We live in hope. But I am very aware that many people are stressed out from working and worrying and we hope it eases very soon. However I do think that many of the children of this time will remember it as the time when they had no school and lots of fun at home with both parents, even if they had to wave to their grandparents through glass.