by Peg Prendeville

We had a very sad death in the parish of Loughill/Ballyhahill this week. Sincere sympathies to Mary and Ned Enright, Ballyhahill  on the death of their daughter Bibi Dillon, a mother of three young children. We will keep them in our prayers.

Sympathies too to Mary Keating, Clounties, Shanagolden on the death of her husband Willie this week. It is one of the hardships of Covid that our whole funeral tradition is in tatters at the moment. Let us hope that things will return to normal in that line.

When the schools closed before Easter my grandson Noah, who is nine, challenged me to a task. He had the suggestion to write a story and he and I would take alternate days to write it. So he bought a little notebook and wrote the first 100 words and passed it to me to continue the same story. And so we did, about 100 words each other night. I looked forward to his contribution and wondered if I would be able to keep up with his thoughts and ideas. Lo and behold we have the notebook finished and the story too. The title is The Final. I am very proud of Noah who did not give up through it all and who is as proud as punch of our achievement. He is soccer mad so I had to brush up on my soccer knowledge (of which I have none) to keep pace with him. His mother, my daughter, designed a cover and got it printed into book form through an online site. There are almost 60 years between us but those of the family who have read it says it flows very easily and one would not guess that there were two authors. It is something we both will treasure for ever. Thanks to Covid 19 for the opportunity.

Lots of people are writing their experiences of living under Lockdown. A book on that subject that is being released on Amazon this week is called Lights on the Horizon. The author is Andrew William Tinney, who has collected poems and articles from various people about their experience of living in these times. I have two poems included. The link, for anybody interested, is https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088XQG786 .

It was lovely to read Thady Hunt’s uplifting piece in the Irish Times last week. Great to see his positive attitude to life.

Isn’t it ironic that the weather is so nice but we can’t go travelling to beaches etc. I am not complaining as I am enjoying life at home but sometimes the urge to go to Killarney or Ballybunion or Clare can be tempting. But, like I said, I will continue to enjoy the sun in Glenbawn too and thank God for it.