by Peg Prendeville

I was very sorry to hear  that Nancy Brouder passed away at the weekend. A lovely gentle woman, wife to her beloved Raymie who died in 2019. I extend my sympathies to all the Brouder families. Raymie and my Dad were always good friends with shared interests in poetry and local lore. May they all be reunited in Heaven now and chat away while keeping an eye on us at this side of the veil.

A huge crowd attended the Knockdown Vintage presentation to both the Midwest Cancer and Parkinson Society in the Knockdown Arms on Friday night. George Langan treated all to his country music until the babble of the crowd muffled it a bit. It was a great night of meeting people, some not seen for a long time and afterwards enjoying dancing to Billy O’Brien band. The night was dedicated to the memory of Patrick Langan who died just after C hristmas and who was the chief founder of Knockdown Vintage. Thank you to all who made the night a success.

The Abha Bhán players are busy transporting their stage set to An Glorach this week for their staging of A TOMB WITH A VIEW on this Saturday night at 8pm. Ring 0871383940 for bookings. There are a few seats left I think. Thankfully one of our members who had to be replaced for our last two performances is back in action again. Thanks to Athea man Tom Denihan for stepping in at the last minute to replace John Buttery when he was unable.

Muckross House and Gardens is and always has been my happy place. I love the walks and the views and the whole atmosphere. On Sunday Jim and I visited and was delighted that every place is so accessible with the wheelchair. Even the farm walk. I could not believe that the staff were so helpful, organised the farm bus to take us up the hill and picked us up again to finish off the last leg home. The bus was very wheelchair accessible and the driver most courteous. He admitted he had never used the wheelchair ramp on the bus before and was not even sure he had one!  My only negative comment on the day s that though there are wheelchair toilets they are not big enough wheel a chair into them so makes them useless. This is a major drawback. One needs to be able to drive in the chair and close the door behind you. Other than that it was perfect including the weather.