At the end of August 2000, a ‘freak downpour’, lasting less than an hour, caused major flood damage at Lower Cork Street, Mitchelstown. One business owner, Deirdre O’Shea of Deirdre’s Children’s Fashions, found several inches of water inside her shop. Traders blamed the council for not keeping the drainage shores clear of debris, resulting in the water damage.
Front page advertising, from FotoStop (Cavanagh’s Electrical, Fermoy), offered a free roll of APS film with each photo film developed, while Fermoy Nissan were heralding their new fleet of used ’00 cars’ – just eight months into the year!
In the Garda report, amongst the usual array of lost-and-found wallets, Nokias and keys, were one pair of men’s shoes, found at Barnane Walk in Fermoy.
Regarding water matters in Lismore, signs were erected to warn motorists on the Cappoquin/Lismore Road about the dangers of knocking down ducks – mallard ducks breeding in the nearby canal were taking to the road.
In Ballyduff, the Millennium Sculpture was unveiled at the entrance of St Michael’s Hall by former Parish Priest Rev Fr Kevin Mulcahy. Meanwhile, over in Killavullen, a twinning process, initiated in 1997, with the Le Foeil region in Brittany, France was completed. 42 French representatives from La Foeil visited the village, where the French mayor unveiled a plaque along with Brid Coakley, chairperson of Killavullen Community Council.
In Castletownroche, John and Peg O’Mahony celebrated 50 years together, on their golden wedding anniversary.
Fermoy Fianna Fáil councillors were up in arms again at the roadworks in the town, as the reduced access points for the petrol station and Cavanagh’s dealership on the Cork Road were restricted to two entry and exit points after upgrades in the area. However, the owners of both Cavanagh’s and John McCarthy Motors said they would, at least, give the works the ‘benefit of the doubt’.
Bartlemy was invited to take part in a 20-year strategic planning exercise for North and West Cork, to develop a growth strategy for the village, identified as an area where some ‘basic local needs’ need to be addressed.
In Mitchelstown, the Ozanam Computer Centre was advertising a range of courses, including a two-week course on the ‘internet and email’, and a seven-week course on Microsoft Word Advanced.
After twenty years in storage, Glanworth’s Sheela-na-Gig was coming home – temporarily, at least. As a piece of heritage, she was to be monitored by CCTV and protected with ‘pressure pads and hi-tec alarms’. It wasn’t confirmed if Glanworth would be allowed to hold on to her – however, there was good news, as Dúchas confirmed that there would be a clean-up of the 13th Century abbey in the village.
Maths whizz Niall McCarthy from Bridget Street, Fermoy, succeeded in passing the tough ‘Big Brother’ style entrance exam, to gain entry to Mansfield College, Oxford, to study Pure Maths.
Tallow Festival 2000 was kicking off, with a hugely varied schedule. For example, in the community centre on the Sunday, bingo at 8.30pm was followed by music from Gina and the Champions, who would take to the stage at midnight in the Community Centre. Also, there was a Ladies’ Soccer Tournament – Married vs Single.
Watergrasshill were getting set to face Carrigtwohill in the East Cork Junior Hurling Championship final, where the ‘bravehearts from the ‘Hill’ would face the 1999 champions.
The Bride Rovers U12s, captained by Michael Collins, defeated Carrignavar to take the trophy in the Willie Ryan Tournament. Over in Glanworth, the U16 hurlers powered their way to their fourth success as North Cork hurling champions, captained by William Blackburn.
For Grange/Fermoy AC, it was a week of celebrations as they took the Best Club Award at Liscarroll Open Sports Day. Amongst other winners, the senior women’s shot saw Ber Geary take second and Anne Sheehan third. In the senior Men’s 4,000m race, James Murphy came first, while Frank O’Halloran secured third.
In pitch and putt, Fermoy’s Hazel Hanrahan won the Coca-Cola Irish Girls Strokeplay Championship, just beating Castlelyons’ Teresa O’Connor by three shots.
Fermoy Swimming Club had six of their members lined up to represent Cork at the National finals in Mosney, amongst them the only female and youngest member, 9 year old Aoife Collins. Joining her were David Sheehan (U16), and the relay team of James O’Sullivan, Gearoid Murphy, and Padraig and Diarmuid Dennehy from Mitchelstown. They were amongst the 22 local athletes travelling to the games. Other representatives were the U16 boys chess team, and the girls sprint relay team, including Kilworth’s Aoife McCarthy, who also captained the indoor soccer team to take silver in the Munster finals.
