by Peg Prendeville

The whole world is aware that our Pope Francis is not well. I do not know how many would agree with me but Instead of praying for his recovery I pray that he will not suffer too much and that he will pass over to the next life peacefully. He is 88 with numerous health issues so he has a lot to recover to get back to health again. One thing of which we are certain is that we will all die someday. It’s not a calamity when one reaches a good age having had a good life so I will continue my prayers that he will pass easily. I do hope and pray for a suitable successor afterwards. There are enough lunatics in positions of power in the world at the moment. We need another gentle shepherd, like Pope Francis was, to give us some hope.

It was lovely to listen in to Radio 1 on last Saturday night to hear Ceili House coming from Moore’s Bar in Carrigkerry. A hour of great music and song and of course the sound of the bodhrán.

Congratulations to Shakeel and staff of Glin Grub on winning both The Kebab of the Year and Pizza of the Year at the Irish Takeaway Awards 2025 in the Radisson Hotel on Monday night. Shakeel thanks everybody who supports his thriving business. He is a very popular man in Glin and very generous to all his supporters.

This week I include a very interesting bit of reading which I included in the Knockdown News in February 2005 – 20 years ago! It is still worth reading.

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. “I want to repay you,” said the nobleman. “You saved my son’s life.” “No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,” the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the door of the family hovel. “Is that your son?” the nobleman asked. “Yes,” the farmer replied proudly. “I’ll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.”

And that he did. Farmer Fleming’s son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman’s son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son’s name? Sir Winston Churchill. Someone once said: What goes around comes around.