Mitchelstown girl, Lorraine Healy, was crowned the 1994 Galway Oyster Festival Pearl - as the festival celebrated its 40th anniversary. Originally from Brigown, she was chosen ahead of 18 other contestants, in what was ‘acknowledged as the biggest festival in the west of Ireland’. The second of 4 children and an ex-student of Presentation Secondary School, Mitchelstown, Lorraine was representing her employers, AIB (Lynch Castle, Galway), in the final. For her troubles she received a £500 cheque, a beautiful string of cultured pearls, a Lancome beauty set, a Clarinbridge crystal trophy, as well as a trip to a major oyster festival in Germany in October.

“Like the hardy annual plants, there are some hardy annual people who seem guaranteed to turn up every year in Castletownroche’ - so read the opening paragraph of a September 1994 story, referring to yet another spree of theft from the scenic North Cork village. ‘Green-fingered and light-fingered’ thieves made off with some of the village’s shrubs, something which local Garda Sergeant Larry Condren confirmed was an annual occurrence. Indeed, having researched our files, The Avondhu had reported similar incidents in the preceding three years, all around the same time! The local Tidy Towns committee were none too pleased - investigating gardai believed that the ‘timing had something to do with the age of the shrubs, which could be transplanted elsewhere’. The shrubs were stolen from the area around the grotto.

The proprietors of Fermoy public house, Feach Amach, threw a surprise party to welcome a recently released kidnap victim who was visiting the town and whose parents resided in Glenarouske. 25 year old Michael French, who worked with the United Nations, had been ‘kidnapped by a faction in Somalia’ when based there - thankfully, he was released unharmed and was in Fermoy in September 1994 to meet up with his parents, Joe and Sally, who had moved to the town from Cornwall some four years previous.

‘Reliable sources’ confirmed to The Avondhu that a new garda station was to be built in Doneraile, ending a saga that had dragged on for nearly 20 years. It was reported the new station would be smaller in size than the station in use (a Georgian building some 200 years old), and would encompass a yard at the rear and store house.

A Glanworth widow contacted The Avondhu, having received ‘threatening’ and ‘insensitive’ demands for payment of service charges from the county council, in letters addressed to her late husband. Saying that she was ‘very sad’ that the demand was sent in the name of her late husband, she was willing to ‘understand that bureaucratic errors were always liable to occur’. She was however ‘furious’ that she should be threatened with legal action by the county solicitor, in light of the fact that she ‘never owed the council a penny’ - producing relevant documentation to our reporter as evidence.

The Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Right Reverend Roy Warke, made an episcopal visit to Fermoy for the first time - he was met by local rector, Rev John Haworth and his wife Rose. He visited such places as Fermoy Hospital, St Francis Welfare Home, Colaiste an Chraoibhin, Adair National School and the garda barracks.

Grange overcame Shanballymore in a replayed JBFC 1 final held in Mitchelstown. Played in poor weather conditions, wind assisted they led 1-4 to 0-4 at half-time, Seamus Smith scoring the goal. However, a converted Shanballymore penalty in the second half left only 2 points between the teams, but Grange held firm, emerging victors 1-6 to 1-4. Grange team and scorers: B McCarthy, M Carroll, D O’Sullivan, M McCarthy, M Lynch, F Fitzgerald, J O’Sullivan, G Howard, N McCarthy, J McCarthy (0-2), S Smith (1-2), P Magnier, T Roche (0-2), F O’Dowd, J Roche. Sub: T McCarthy for J Roche.

Meanwhile, Kildorrery footballers were putting their best foot forward for their North Cork junior A final encounter with Milford. Coach Tom Monaghan was expecting a tough encounter. They defeated Mitchelstown (2-7 to 1-8) and defending champions, Fermoy (0-14 to 0-6) in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.

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