The weather was playing havoc locally over the Easter holiday weekend in 1994. A spectacular lightening burst ‘lit up Fermoy’, with one eyewitness telling The Avondhu “It burst over the river like a ball, there were two forks which came flying down seconds after. It was quite spectacular”. The electrical storm effected several premises in the town, with many alarm systems being triggered. In the Ballyderown area of Kilworth, ESB crews dealt with a power outage, while on the eastern side of the Galtee Mountains, ‘houses shook’ due to thunder in Anglesboro, Kilbehenny and Burncourt areas!

It was thirsty work for thieves, who targeted one Araglin public house, stealing seven kegs from the premises. The culprits clearly had a liking for stout, with 5 of the barrels being Guinness, when the store at O’Mahony’s pub was targeted – the estimated value of the haul was £665.

An important meeting was to be held in Lismore, to discuss the proposed amalgamation of the town’s two primary schools – CBS and Presentation Convent. Having been previously rejected by the boards of management, there were public fears that another rejection may jeopardise the £1.3m funding by the Department of Education, earmarked for the new community school in the town.

Mouse racing was about to take Kilbehenny by storm. Local supporters of the Cork charity ‘Save The Children’ were organising a mouse racing derby for the Three Counties Bar – Bosnian refugees would benefit from the charity’s ongoing work.

The people of Fermoy, as well as the town’s Urban District Council (UDC), were split over a proposal to allow amusement giants, Perks, to hold a fair in the Town Park in May 1994, to coincide with the Fermoy Salmon Festival. It was reported that festival organisers, Avondhu Tourism, had been looking for a positive outcome prior to the vote on the matter by the UDC - a vote which was narrowly passed, 5 votes to 4, with chairperson, Cllr Aileen Pyne having the casting vote in favour. However, Cllr John Fitzgerald, who had opposed the motion, was set to ask the UDC to rescind its decision as he felt the public did not want the park used in this manner, with concerns being aired regarding possible damage to the grounds from heavy generators and trucks. Alternative locations were proposed and the councillor felt as it was ‘the people’s park, they should be the ones to decide’.

In brief: Tallow man Sean Tobin was set to put his best foot forward for his company, Goalpost Ireland Ltd, when appearing on RTE’s ‘Up And Running’ – top prize for the winning business was £5,000 along with a set of IBM computers. Two local authority houses in Oliver Plunkett Place, Doneraile were being tended to by a specialist company, to rectify an issue of subsidence – residents were reported to be ‘very happy’. Point-to-point followers were left disappointed with the Ballynoe meet having to be cancelled due to inclement weather.

It was a happy Easter for Hill Celtic in 1994. A 0-5 away victory was recorded on Good Friday to Grange Vale in the President’s Cup, with Sean Hegarty (hat-trick), Declan Freeman and Mick O’Leary the scorers; while on Easter Monday, Celtic had home comforts in the league v Carrigtwohill, again recording an emphatic 5-0 victory. Here, first half efforts from John Sheehan and Sean Hegarty saw the Hill take a 2-0 lead into the interval, with Declan Freeman (2) and Sean Hegarty wrapping up the scoring.

A ‘classy extra 20 minutes’ saw Galtee Gaels U21 footballers dump Blackrock out of the South Limerick championship. Played in damp and wintery conditions in Glenroe, Blackrock held a deserved half-time lead of 1-3 to 0-2, however a spirited comeback saw Gaels force the game into extra time, with the full time scoreline reading Galtee Gaels 3-7 Blackrock 1-8. Gaels team and scorers: Paul Doyle, Kieran Luddy, Ken Luddy, Jack Doyle, Darren Slattery, Sean Kearney, Sean Donovan, Willie O’Donnell (0-1), Andrew Breedy 1-2, Maurice English 0-1, Brian McGuire 0-1, Ptk Hennessy 0-1, Martin Casey, Joe Kearney 1-0, Kevin Condon. Sub: Willie Noonan 1-1.

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