‘Bonfires were blazing’ in Ballylanders, as locals welcomed the local footballers back to the South Limerick village, having secured the Limerick county championship, bridging a 43 year gap in the club’s history. Overcoming a strong Cappamore challenge on a 1-13 to 1-7 scoreline, team captain Michael ‘Haulie’ O’Brien accepted the county junior football cup from Eddie Wade, Limerick County GAA Board amidst scenes of jubilation. It was the club’s fifth such title and they could now look forward to playing in the intermediate ranks in 1996.
Cork senior hurler Barry Egan was the special guest at the 7th Mitchelstown All-Star Awards held in The Firgrove Hotel. Award winners on the night – Sr Carmel (Community Award), Denis Toomey (Hall of Fame), Olive Kenneally (Badminton), Catriona Sheehy (Camogie), Mary Kelly (Golf), Marian O’Keeffe (Tennis), Brian Burke (Dairygold, football), Dave Moher (Hurling), Richie Cahill (Soccer), Paddy Dunne (Pitch & Putt), Jerry Heenan (Skittles), John Reidy (Equestrian) and John Sheehan (Best Administrator – M’town Badminton). MC for the occasion was John Casey.
An SOS was issued from ‘a reader in distress’, who was looking for good homes for seven Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs (a 2-year old white boar and six piglets). Quick to point out that they were ‘not for eating, simply to be kept as pets’, owner Susan Norton from Castlelyons told The Avondhu that they made wonderful pets and were very intelligent animals. She was however, holding on to the mother, who had become part of the family.
An irate reader contacted The Avondhu, to highlight the dumping of 2 large boxes of chicken meat at the side of the main Mitchelstown/Ballylanders road, at the fenced off old quarry near to the Shinnick Memorial. Our reporter, on visiting the scene, reported that the area was ‘crawling’ and didn’t make for a pretty sight or smell. ‘Some moron’s despicable and lazy act of disposing of unwanted materials’ was rightly condemned. Locals warned they would be extra vigilant in an effort to stamp out any future incidents of dumping in the vicinity.
The engineering staff at Cork County Council were tasked with investigating the possibility of providing Mitchelstown with a ‘Superloo’, following calls for immediate action on the public toilets in the town. Cllr Conor O’Callaghan was requesting either an upgrade of the toilets be undertaken or, alternatively, to ‘get rid of the facility altogether’ due to their poor condition. His motion was backed by Deputy Ned O’Keeffe, who described the toilets as ‘a source of embarrassment’.
Four members of Kildorrery Macra na Feirme enjoyed ‘the best weekend of their lives’, when hitting Liverpool to meet with some familiar faces and also to visit Anfield for a Saturday match. Enjoying their ‘last four pints of decent Guinness’ before boarding the plane, it was non stop for Sean, Joe, Dave and Austin, whose place of residence was the Antrim Hotel. The lads met with Kildorrery native, Maeve Dwane on their first day, who showed them the ‘hot spots’ – their haven for the weekend was Flanagan’s Bar. Reportedly, Joe and Sean sang to a packed bar and gave them their ‘definition of Riverdance’ – sounds intriguing! Also meeting with Tom Thornhill who ‘came all the way down from Glasgow’ and Muireann Sheedy. On first name terms with the bouncers in the bar by journey’s end, some of the lads wandered into ‘a strange club’, as well as ‘having the pleasure of meeting a psychic and a lotto winner’.
Mac’s Bar, Glanworth was the venue in 1995 for a visit by RTE Radio Cork, with top broadcasters Alan Shortt and Stevie Bolger airing a 1 hour 15 minute show. Members of the community interviewed included Mary Mahon, Ollie Ryan, Fr Michael Corkery and Paul Cotter. The programme also featured Jimmy Barry, ‘aptly described on air as a most eligible bachelor’, as well as proprietor of Mac’s Bar, Billy McAuliffe.
A public meeting was called in Fermoy by the local Fine Gael party to provide a platform for the public to debate the upcoming Divorce Referendum in late 1995. Deputy Jim Higgins TD, Government Chief Whip, would attend as guest speaker. All members of the community were being urged to attend to ‘air their views’.
Bog The Donkey, a band with a ‘lively’ and ‘energetic’ show, was formed – it consisted of Fermoy’s Kevin McCormack; Bartlemy man Pat O’Sullivan; Niall Savage, Midleton; Ray Murphy, Cork and Dave Hockity, Limerick.
