Arriving in style, Johnny Kelly and Ann Curtin on their wedding day with Josephine O’Connor, Bridesmaid and Darren Kelly, Best Man
Athea & District
Credit Union
The Credit Union will be
Closed on Saturday, October 1st.
for computer Maintenance.
Athea C.C.E. Classes
Music and singing classes will be held on Thursday nights at the Top of the Town, Athea.
6.30-7.30 Beginners Tin Whistle
7.00-7.30 Intermediate Mixed Instruments
7.30 Singing, all levels.
Limited spaces still available in all classes. Please message CCE Athea Co. Limerick page if interested in a spot.
Please note: All students must have their own instruments for music classes. A folder will be needed for music and singing notes that will be handed out during classes.
For further info call 087 7527127
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
The Listowel Races are over, the Wrenboys have had their night and there are definite signs of change in the weather as we move into Autumn or “Fall” as they say in America. Days are getting shorter, nights longer and leaves are dying and falling from the trees. All growth is coming to an end for the next few months and I, for one, won’t miss the constant cutting of lawns, strimming weeds and cutting back hedges. It is one of the saddest times of the year, especially from here to Christmas but at least we have Halloween to look forward to. This has become a bigger festival than it used to be, driven by American customs that we have adopted such as the use of pumpkins that are hollowed out to make grotesque faces with lights inside. I say it was imported from America but in actual fact that custom was brought across the ocean by Irish emigrants who used turnips instead of pumpkins. There is a great emphasis on ghouls and goblins with an unhealthy obsession with death and ghosts. “Trick or Treat” is definitely American and is tantamount to begging from door to door. Long ago Halloween night was known as “snap apple night” because that was one of the games that was played in kitchens up and down the country. It was quite simple; an apple hanging by a string and we had to try and get a bite of the apple without using our hands. Sounds easy but in actual fact it was a very difficult thing to do as the apple moved away at the slightest touch. Getting it from a basin of water was a lot easier but, of course, you had to get wet in the process to the joy of all the others in the room. They were simpler days but we did have a lot of fun and enjoyed the nuts that were bought for the occasion. Getting a sweet, in those days, was a big thing as we very seldom strayed from the ordinary daily diet. Sweets are nothing new to today’s youngsters who are spoiled for choice. At the end of the day it is all harmless fun and something to look forward to before the cold of Winter really sets in. As evenings lengthened and temperatures dropped it was important to have enough turf for the fire and oil for the lamp. I am going back to a time before electricity, not really that long ago, when most houses had just a fire in the kitchen. It was a kitchen but it was also the living room, dining room and sitting room where all activity took place and where even the sow might be brought in just before she was allowed to have bonhams.
The fire was the centrepiece and it was used for cooking as well as heating so a good supply of turf was essential. That was one of my jobs in the evening, to bring in a bag of turf from the shed and leave it behind the scullery door. The lamps used paraffin oil and that could be bought in most shops of which there were plenty in the countryside at the time. Our nearest shop was owned by Johanna Woulfe and we would go across the fields for the oil. She kept it in a shed by the shop and I can still remember the strong smell when she opened the door. The oil was kept in a big barrel and was poured into a measure to give us a pint or two and of course there was a little spillage which accounted for the strong smell. In truth the light was not great from those oil lamps but it was enough for us at the time. Some lamps had double wicks which gave more light and then some had a mirror behind the globe that increased the glow a great deal. The globe, made of glass, was very delicate and would crack at the slightest pressure so it was treated with great care when taking it off to light the wick. At that time there was very little in the way of entertainment. Radios were only just coming on the market and even those houses who could afford them and were lucky enough to have them would only use them for the news or a special programme so as not to waste the batteries. Some houses had gramophones which, more often than not, had come from some relation in America. These had to be wound up with a handle and an arm with a needle attached placed on a 78 record on a turntable. In the beginning the turntable rotated at great speed but as the spring wound down it slowed and the handle had to be turned again. The records were mostly of Irish traditional music recorded in the US by musicians like Michael Coleman from Sligo, The Flanagan Brothers, Patsy Tuohy and many more. They provided the music for many dancers during the long evenings, indeed I took my own first steps on the floor to the sound of the gramophone at Cusack’s next door. The girls had great patience with my first clumsy attempts but I eventually became good enough at it and I have enjoyed dancing ever since. Those records also gave me an appetite for music and I wanted to be able to play the tunes I heard as soon as I learned how to play the tin whistle. This was also achieved during the long evenings. We used to ramble to Dave Connors’ house in Knocknaboul and it was there we learned how to play cards, another great winter pastime. Mick Connors and myself were the same age so we coaxed Mick’s father, Dave, to teach us a few tunes on the whistle. The method was very simple. As soon as we had learned to cover the holes, Dave sat in front of us and, as he played a tune very slowly, we mimicked the movements of his fingers. After that it was just a case of practice and I was playing away in no time. So, the long evenings weren’t wasted and people were very happy rambling from house to house bringing news, playing cards, playing music, singing and dancing and all without the use of even one electric socket. With the way the price of gas and electricity is escalating we could be going back to those days sooner than we think.