Only Our Rivers Run Free!: Recent Episodes
Patrick Mc Menamin
.......this Podcast reflects on Politics, Current Affairs & History, a bit of Sport & Life in general! The Podcast is an audio version of my weekly article for the Tirconail Tribune, based in Donegal.
.......at 3am on Monday 9th August 1971 thousands of British soldiers raided homes in nationalist homes across the 6 counties, 340 men were arrested, brought to interrogation centre’s and eventually to Long Kesh, internment had begun!
.......the Truce of 1921 left Ireland divided, civil war in the 26 counties, sectarian slaughter in the 6; what did we learn from history in 1971 when ‘armed struggle’ returned to the streets!
........2019-21 has been the years of the Pandemic-COVID!But throughout history events have shaped the world, we look back and marvel at how the world developed ?
.......the birth of the ‘NI’ statelet in 1921, born in violence it has been a dysfunctional society for a century, a cesspit of sectarian bigotry and hatred, it has run its course!
........Rangers football club are an institution imbedded in sectarian bigotry. A few weeks ago they won the league title for first time in a decade and 20,000 celebrated in the Centre of Glasgow, it turned into an orgy of sectarian bigotry, drunkenness, violence & hatred, there is no place for it in 2021!
.......’Phil the Greek’ passed recently, born in Corfu to Greek royalty he became a large part of the British monarchy, we look at this archaic form of life in the 21st century!
........40 yrs ago on the 5th May Bobby Sands died on hunger strike, he was 27. His death changed everything, hie election as MP propelled the republican movement into electoral intervention which in 2021 sees SF as the largest political in Ireland, in Govt in the 6 counties and soon to be in power in the Republic! Bobby Sands RIP🌹
The Tuam baby home scandal, a stain on our past! Also a tale of a brother I never knew who died at 2 before I was born!
........the darling of Belfast and Glasgow, Charlie Tully was a football genius with both Belfast Celtic and Glasgow Celtic! In barren times for Celtic in the 50’s Tully lit up the field with his play and became a Celtic icon!!
.....on the 2nd January’71, 80,000 went to a Rangers v Celtic game at Ibrox, 66 wouldn’t come home! On stairway 13 an unparalleled disaster took place as the fans exited the stadium, 66 men, youths and one girl were crushed on the steps, a horrific day for football!!
......it was 72 hrs that shocked the football world! 12 of the richest clubs in Europe threatened to create a Super League, invitation only, a closed shop, financed by American bank JP Morgan to the tune of 3bn, but the football world rejected it and the idea collapsed .......but for how long??
......in November a golf society was formed in Dunfanaghy, it was christened ‘the Muckish Ramblers’ and began a 20+ year adventure around the golf courses of Donegal, Tyrone, Derry, Sligo, Cavan, Scotland, Spain and the Algarve! It was a special time in our lives, and so many friendships and memories made which last a lifetime. It definitely wasn’t a ‘good walk spoiled’!
Ireland 32 England 18! There’s nothing like beating England at anything, from soccer to showjumping, boxing to badminton, and definitely racing to rugby!
.......23 years of peace since the GFA and then a week of rioting, burning, petrol bombs and apathy! Loyalism hits out at an evolving situation in the EU, UK, Republic and the 6 counties, the union is finished, a referendum on unity is a decade away, loyalism needs to sit down with nationalists and plan a new future for our children!
.......it’s a slow news day but a major story is developing as word comes that an American hedge fund PLC are investing $30m to create a new golf resort in the bog at Glenveagh, as I said a slow news day on April 1st, 2021!
Claire Byrne hosted a first ever discussion on Irish Unity recently, Mary Lou, Leo, An Taoiseach, John Briton, Naomi Long, Gregory Campbell & Joe Brolly! As the 6 counties face up to a nationalist majority for the first time in the recent census, the debate on unity has begun!
The virus and lockdown has deprived us of many things but not being able to head to Gran Canaria or Malta has been the worst for us!
Charley Brady writes for an American publication, a former journo with the Indo, he now enjoys the quiet life in Oranmore!
.......during his imprisonment after Nuremberg Albert Speer to keep sane planned a route around Europe, in his mind! During COVID I planned something similar around Ireland, it was some journey!
.......on 28th Aug ‘72 Johnny Burns and I were linked for life by an incident during the conflict, it led to years in Long Kesh & memories, we hadn’t met for many yrs but last week word came he had the virus and a few days later he died! Goodbye old friend!🌹
........back in 1977, 20 of us headed to the Salmon Leap to party, drink Mundies and sing, it was 3 weeks of hedonistic mayhem Termon style, great memories, 43 years ago!
........2020 will never be forgotten, Corona or COVID-19 has brought reality to our world, what is important now, it’s not wealth but life! Old people dying in their thousands, isolation, social distancing, no football, no golf, it’s a different world!
.........it’s been there millions of years but in the 1970’s I started making shapes in it, the Bog! The turf had to be worked for the winter fuel, a hard slog but great when you bring it home! ‘Would you know a good turf??
.........Easter 1970, ‘honeymoon is over! British troops clash with republican youths and things will never be the same again.
.......2020 and Coronavirus-COVID-19! The world is facing the biggest Pandemic since 1918 and the Spanish Flu! I relate the story of old Ned Billy who lived through 1918 and survive until his 90’s!
.........a two part article, the first half about the political stalemate and the politico’s who rake it in? Secondly the lives of Harry Gregg & Jimmy Greaves!
........soccer in the UK is big business, Irish supporters flood across the channel to follow their teams, ManU, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City but none moreso than Celtic, the Irish club in Britain!
........the 2020 election is over and FF & FG Scramble to hold on to power at the expense of the Shinners? When everyone else fails there’s always the Army Council to fall back on for Loe & Mi-Hole???
.........the 2020 election changed Irish Politics for good, SF became the leading Party and although FF & FG won’t share power it’s only a matter of time until a new alignment brings the old show down!
..........the build up to Election 2020, FF & FG won’t sleep with Mary Lou metaphorically of course but Eamonn Ryan might? TV debates, Social Media, Google Analytics, a very modern election!
.......FF & FG refuse to jump into bed with Mary Lou casting the Shinners as outcasts yet their historical lineage dates back to the Civil War, their modern words stink of hypocrisy?
........1970, 50 yrs ago, the Beatles, Joe Cocker, Army in Belfast, Vietnam, Apollo13, Nell McCafferty, Brazil & Pele, and I was 16 at a party and Little Ole Wine Drinker Me was in vogue!!
.......in Jan 2019 Charlie Flanagan announced the Govt wanted to commemorate the RIC, ‘the eyes & ears of the British Govt’, he got his answer from the people swiftly, ‘no way’ and had to cancel!
.........the greatest football club ever in Ireland only existed for 58 yrs, Belfast Celtic left football in 1948 after their players were attacked at Windsor by sectarian thugs and would never play again! Their history lives on!
..........the Celtic Tiger imploded, so did Rangers, Donegal won Sam, Spain the World Cup, wee Eddie & Harry passed on as did my beloved Oisin, Trump & Boris elected & Mary Lou takes over from big Gerry!
..........Brexit, Boris leads Britain to collapse, Scotland will leave & Irish Unity on the agenda, meanwhile politicians fill their greedy hands with filthy lucre!!
........events in Aug ‘69 led to the formation of the Provisional IRA and onward to 30 yrs of armed struggle, History was written for a new generation!
......in 2019 we formed a Book Club in Renville Village, it’s quite a collection of ‘Wordsworth’s’, this is a look at the Books we’ve read during the year from Wounded Knee to Eleanor Oliphant & many more!
.......In 1918 the last British general election held in Ireland SF won 73 Seats and declared an Irish Republic & set up the 1st Dail, 100 yrs later the British are in disarray over Brexit and the election could pave the way for Scottish independence & Irish Unity??
........November 2019 ten Bogies & Fogey’s went to Malta for a golf break, it was a great few days in the winter sun, at the same time the richest guy on the island was trying to leave in his yacht with millions, a suspect in the murder of a journalist who exposed corruption??
.......winner of ten Captains Prizes, James Brogan is a Golfing Legend! Now in his 80’s he uses a golf club like a great violinist plays or a ballet dancer glides across the floor, wee James he was some golfer & friend!🏌🏼♂️
.......Lazio visited Paradise, they brought a form of fascism with their Ultras, it’s not a pretty sight in 2020, but Celtic supporters let them know what they thought, Lazio, Vaffancuco - Fcuk off Lazio!
......on the 15 Th October 1974, 2000 IRA prisoners burned Long Kesh to the ground then fought the British Army for 6 hrs the next day, helicopters dropped CR gas, an illegal substance, today 120 men who were there have died of cancer related illness???
.........the Irish rugby team play the All Blacks, they have the iconic Haka, we have ‘ Ireland’s Call’ instead of Amhran na bhfainn, it’s ridiculous, the only country not to play the anthem???
.......1845-1850 and the greatest catastrophe to hit our shores, the so called famine created by an ineptitude by the British Govt who took food out of the country while 1 million starved & 1 million migrated, a human disaster!
........one night in the summer of ‘88 the legend that was Georgie Best arrived at the Mountain Bar, in a pub of legendary characters Georgie fitted right in! A special guy, the greatest footballer of a generation!
......one of the iconic sports commentators Joe Brolly, All Ireland winner, Barrister, TV pundit, & grumpy old man, with Pat Spillane & Colm O’Rourke he brought the Sunday Game alive!
Phil Coulter on the LLS talked about being offered a gong from the Queen which he refused, an archaic system which Irish people should reject but many don’t, Martin O’Neill for one??
........Termon GAA club are a major part of the community, they cater for the youth of the area and bring them through to adulthood in a positive manner, CLG Sn Tearmann - More than a football Club!
.......the All Ireland final, 82,300, it’s a special day, the Dubs going for 5 in a row, the Kerry revival, Ulster takes a back seat after great success since 2000, Mayo perennial bridesmaids, Galway returning, its part of what we are !
..........Partition created two states within one country and a partitionist mentality? But 100 yrs later we are moving towards a referendum for Irish unity and now is the time to prepare!
.........what can we do with a problem like Boris? Brexit, Backstop, he’s landed in the middle of the most important times in a century, Boris the Bollix, he’s no Walter Raleigh??
.....Noreen Bawn, Mary From Dungloe and the Rose of Tralee, sad songs about 3 women who migrated and lost in love through small mindedness, they personify the story or emigration & Lost love!
........August ‘69, the north imploded, the Battle of the Bogside and the attack on the Lower Falls, 8 Dead in Belfast and Free Derry created, our lives were never the same again!
........50 yrs of Partition all of a sudden blew up in the faces of Unionism, we were 15, unprepared but willing participants, the Battle of the Bogside & Burning of Bombay St, things would never be the same again!
.......2019. Portrush and Shane Lowry lifts the ‘Open’, a magnificent achievement from the Offaly man, pure genius on the Dunluce Links to an audience of 250,000 and millions on TV, Golfer supreme!⛳️🏌🏻♂️
.........sectarianism raises its ugly head every 12th July in Belfast & Glasgow, it’s pathetic, disgusting & medieval in the 21st century!
.........two men who personify the conflict, Billy McKee IRA Commander and Ivan Cooper SDLP, physical force Republicanism & constitutional nationalism!
.........it was a momentus year and the summer of ‘69! Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon, the Beatles & Let it Be, the VC strike for victory, and the British Army Land in Belfast & Derry, it was the summer of ‘69!
.........May 2019 and 32 golfers from Galway Bay headed to Donegal to play Rosapenna, Portsalon & Ballyliffen, it was a great 4 days, the Golf, Glen Bar, Harbour Bar, we’ll be back!!🏌🏻♂️⛳️🍷🎻
.......the Leaving Cert, that dreaded final exam of teenage yrs, the path to University with 400,500 or 600 pts, the most demanding time of a young person’s life, is the system right in the 21st century??
........35 yrs of conflict and the British Army a major protagonist killed hundreds yet not one soldier charged with murder???
.......in the recent conflict the British Army killed 500 people, no British Soldier was ever charged with murder, British justice how are ye??
.......time waits for no man, Lurgy reach the 40th anniversary but we are losing some stalwarts each year, Dicey, Tony Kelly, Eamonn Doherty, Paul Annie, Raymond Ban, Andy Quigley, Hugh Strain & now Donny McGinley, R.I.P.
Maria Bailey, TD, took to a swing in Ballsbridge and became an overnight sensation with her sense of entitlement and an embarrassment to Leo and the Govt, what do you do with a problem like Maria?
........Darkness into Light, every year hundreds of thousands make the walk at 4am from darkness to light in memory of someone close who has been lost to suicide, we walk the walk with Oisin!🙏
......1981, the year of the Hunger Strikes, Bobby Sands and 9 others die a slow sad death in Long Kesh, my sister Bernadette was the girl piper at each funeral and suffered greatly afterwards, not all victims of violence are physical!
.......2019, the Masters at Augusta and the Tiger roars again! After a decade struggling with injuries, marriage break up, his golf game gone, we witnessed the return of this genius of golf, it was a special evening!⛳️🏌🏻♂️
........A 29 year old journalist shot dead in Derry, we thought those days were gone? Why are there people in 2019 who think armed Struggle is needed, Society has changed, it’s not worth one more death?
.......My Bucket List, 20 destinations around the world that I consider worth a visit, from Camp Nou to Malta, Prague to Gozo, Glasgow to Croke Park, life’s too short just do it!
.......Celtic v Rangers, there’s nothing like it, 61,000, The Irish Diaspora & the establishment team, also a German Yank, Scottish cousins, Letterkenny Celts, Dublin, Belfast, Cork & Donegal, they’re all there to see the football and Celtic win!!☘️⚽️💚
.........Oisin Lee was my first Grandson, he was 20 and had a lot of life to live but on a fateful Sept night in 2015 he decided life wasn’t for him! It’s beyond comprehension, we’ll never understand!
........the John Delaney reign as supremo in the FAI came to an unseemly end just as Euro 2020 was almost upon us! The controversial flamboyant Delaney was nothing if charismatic, but his end was swift and a defining moment for FAI
.......New York Paddy’s Day Parade and banner ‘England get out of Ireland’, Alan Partridge and ‘Come out ye Black & Tans’, Declan Rice and ‘Ooh aah up the RA’, Gibraltar, Brady’s Ham, it was a strange week!
........we all know the story but is it true? Daithi O’Cronain disputes the accepted theory and has found 3 possible Paddy bhoys???
..........throughout history women have been to the forefront in every major historical event but until recently almost written out of history, but times have changed!
.........500 hundred years after the Reformation and sectarian bigotry is alive and well in Glasgow! Rangers fans abuse Steve Clark, ‘fenian bastard’, in 2019 it’s ridiculous to think this still prevails in modern society!
..........the greatest amateur sporting organization in the world, the GAA is nothing without the local club which is based in every community on the island, ‘Ar gClub’!
.......Nurses on strike, the backbone of the HSE but the Govt don’t see it? Florence Nightingale the iconic image who personified Nursing would be dismayed, the Nurses need our support now!!
.......Big Mal is a football man, from Coventry but lived in San Francisco for a lifetime, played professional football in the US, but he’d never been in Glasgow until a night last December to see Celtic!
......30th January 1972, the British Army murdered 14 innocent Civil Rights marchers in Derry, 40 yrs later an apology from David Cameron and the British Government!
.......21st Jan 1919 and the meeting of the 1st Dail, 150k away the IRA kill 2 RIC men , it’s the beginning of the War of Independence!
.......Golf, the little white ball game, a trip around the great Courses of Ireland, what’s your favourite?⛳️🏌🏻♂️
.......on 1st Jan 1969 the People’s Democracy student marchers left Belfast for a 4 day protest march to Derry, at Burntollet Bridge they were attacked by Loyalists & B Specials and severely beaten, an Irish Selma!
.......Shane McGowan penned the greatest xmas song of all time, ‘I could have been someone’! But the modern PC era had some RTE guy saying it was politically incorrect, what a prick!
.......100 yrs since the 1918 election when SF won 75 Seats and declared an Irish Republic, the issue of entering Westminster is in vogue again, like 1918 any Self Respecting Irishman or woman won’t do it!
........Martin O’Neill & Keane sacked and who takes over, Mick McCarthy, and Saipan memories all over again! One great night v Germany will live long in the memory and not just for Robbie Keane’s 94th minute equaliser!!
.......Martin ‘ONeill, European Cup winner with Forest, World Cup Captain For NI in Spain, Manager at Leicester, Celtic, Villa & Sunderland and then lead the Republic to the Euros, but best of all led Celtic to Seville!
.........Guy Fawkes, Peter Casey, James McClean, Brexit, President Michael D, a busy time for politics!
........100 yrs since the end of WW1, industrial slaughter unimaginable! In 2005 30 of us from Donegal & Derry visited the Somme & Ypres, an eclectic group, many ex combatants from our recent conflict, a fascinating week!
........I celebrated surviving 65 yrs recently, life’s been good but the last few yrs difficult, cancer for Mary and I needed 3 open heart surgeries, infected Aortic valve & brain hemorrhage and then lost my eldest grandson Oisin, tough times!
.......turning 65, a little reminiscing on life, Belfast, Donegal, Galway, it’s been a good life as James Connolly said to the wife before execution!!
........a lifetime love affair with the written word, visiting a Mobile library at 10 to reading manuscripts in University at 60, reading is the most important thing to give to your children!
..........Brexit the most pressing political problem of recent times, so ironic that Partition, the Treaty and the Border became the stumbling block for the UK?
.......Civil Rights marchers walking through their own city attacked by the RUC, it was the start of 30 yrs of conflict, the 6 counties would never be the same again!
.......in October 2018 the Bogey’s & Fogey’s Galway Bay Senior Society made an inaugural trip to Donegal to play Dunfanaghy, Rosapenna & Portsalon, it was a great few days, great golf courses, & craic in the Harbour Bar, they’ll be back!
.........as a city boy I was familiar with the Bog and turf but definitely not a real Bogman but I spent the 80’s cutting turf , it was an experience, back to nature, just me & Glen and the Curlew, tae & eggs & Lough Lily!
.......General Mike Jackson future Commander of Land forces was in Ballymurphy in August ‘71 when a Paras murdered 11 innocent civilians, one a Priest, Jackson spread lies about it to the world’s press, he was the liar!
......., Guardian Golf journalist, guitarist with Lloyd Cole & Commotions, Tribune columnist & St Michael’s super sub, just a year in the life of Lawrence Donegan!
.......Paradise just nowhere like it, the spiritual home of the Irish Diaspora in the East End of Glasgow! It’s derby day, Celtic v the tax dodgers, atmospheric, consummate rivalry, tension a victory once again for the Hoops!💚
.........Sport gives us an escape from the mundane, football, golf, athletics, it’s escapism, the magical moments, but there is a downside, the cheats, they devalue their sport, despite everything sport is the ilium of the people!
........Annie & Patsy met in Portrush and then made Belfast their home for 50 yrs. country people from Donegal & Tyrone they adapted to city life, but Donegal was always home for Annie and they returned for their final days!
.......In 2005 I spent a week on the French/Belgium border with 30 others, many ex combatants from our recent conflict, it was an amazing week visiting Ypres & the Somme war graves!
.......as the conflict developed in 1969-70 a young Curate was sent to the streets of Turf Lodge. Fr Paddy Coyle could clear a riot situation in 5 mins but he was a friend of the rioters not the Army!
.........a country like Ireland with a fascinating history and yet the Govt are considering dropping History from the LC? Why we need to know our history!
...... in August 1918 the GAA staged a massive protest against the British Govt, 50,000 players took part and played games in defiance of a British ban, it became known as ‘Gaelic Sunday!
........Liam Miller died aged 36, former Celtic & ManU player and a Republic star but his life was cut short. An unseemly row broke out when the GAA banned the use of Pairc I Chaoimh but thankfully it was resolved!
.......the story of the destruction of the Native American nation by Europeans, personified by the final ‘battle’ at Wounded Knee!
.......a wonderful few days in Ballyliffen as the European Tour comes to Donegal! It was a magnificent few days, great golf and a great winner in a Russell Know with a 40’ putt on the 18th play off!🏌🏻♂️
........World Cup 2018, It’s Russia like we never seen it before, dancing singing fans from all over the world and a party like no other, the beautiful game wins again!
.......World Cup 2018 in Russia, the greatest tournament on the planet, a 4 year extravaganza of the genius of the ‘beautiful game’, Pele, Maradona, Messi!
........what makes us join a golf club, walking 5 miles after a little white projectile to put in a small Hole? Is it a walk spoiled or a wonderful walk?
.........Golf, Dunfanaghy, the Muckish Ramblers, Kirchhoff GS, Cregmore, Galway Bay, Mark Twain was wrong , it’s a beautiful walk!
.........Golf has become the game of the masses but it wasn’t always like that, I look at the origins of the little white ball game and it’s success in Ireland.
.......1970, Hampden, EC semi final, Celtic v Leeds, 136,500, a European record, and Celtic wipe the floor with the English champions, those were the days!
.......the Republic comes into the 21st century as we vote massively to allow Abortion, everyone that is except Donegal, but then we always vote No!
........a legendary pub with legendary characters! Judges & Georgie Best, Bog men & Parish Priests, and a xmas to remember, that was the Mountain Bar!
.......the Mountain Bar, a legendary watering hole on the road from Termon to Gaoth Dobhair, John & Mick mein hosts extraordinaire, the Bushmills flowed amid stories told of days of old!
........a quick tour of Malta & Gozo, the beautiful little islands in the Med, my home from home, St Julians, Swieqi, San Gwann, the Dubliner, Paceville, the Avenue & Peppinos, it’s heaven!
.......Celtic on the way to 10 in a row but Rangers are coming or so they say? 2 of the biggest clubs in world football, it’s passion, atmosphere, hatred, bigotry and some football, sit back and enjoy!
......the Muckish Ramblers, the in house golf society at Dunfanaghy! The Catscan Classic, Paul McGinley, Capt Lua & the ‘Bordello’!🏌🏻♂️⛳️☺️
........3 IRA vols killed in Gibraltar, IRA vol Kevi Mc Cracken killed as they returned, Stone kills 3 at Milltown during funerals, 2 soldiers killed at funeral of Caoimhin MacBradaigh, himself killed at Milltown, a week of hell in March 1988!
.......14 days in March 1988, 3 IRA Vols killed in Gibraltar, Kevi in Turf Lodge, 3 more killed in Milltown and 2 soldiers at a funeral in Andytown, a horrific month and maybe the beginning of the end of conflict?
........Charlie Flanagan suggests that the Shinners should enter Westminster to bring an end to Tory Rule & Brexit, and abandon a 100 year old Republican principle of abstentionism?
.........20 years in a German car factory, Albert Speer was 20 yrs in a German gaol, his way to get through a day gave me an idea how to survive?
Gerry Adams, probably the most famous & controversial political figure of our times! From Ballymurphy to Martha’s Vinyard meeting the good and the great, leading the IRA from conflict to peace, an extraordinary man in extraordinary times!
........the Republic on the verge of qualifying for WC Russia 2018 and my bloody Aortic valve plays up again! I’m in A&E & Denmark thump us 5-1 at the Aviva, not a good night!
.......every year in November we have the same issue with the Poppy? Sky & BBC insist that all guests on TV wear it? James McClean refuses, British Paras murdered 14 innocent civilians in his home town of Derry, how could he wear it, it’s a principled stand not understood in England?
.......on a mid winter break to Gran Canaria I realise that the locals are not impressed by Catalunya seeking independence from Spain, not a surprise I suppose, Franco was the military commander here when he launched the overthrow of the Spanish Republic!
......Malta, a beautiful little island wedged between Sicily & Libya, a second home for me the past decade, it’s a wonderful place but in 2017 the local mafia killed a journalist with a bomb under her car, her crime, exposing the corruption within the elite, businessmen & politicians, Daphne Caruana Galizias R.I.P.!
...........Ophelia the big storm of 2018 blew over the country like nothing else, even Theresa Mannion would have been stuck for words! Storms & Shakespeare, tragedy & pathos, ‘don’t make unnecessary journeys, don’t take risks on treacherous roads’!
.........for almost 20 yrs I survived a German car components factory in Letterkenny, it was mind boggling stuff, 5000 axle covers a day but it paid the mortgage and got the kids through school, we also had a great golf Society which kept us sane!!
.......in May 2005 along with 30 others I went on a week’s trip to visit the WW1 graves and the Peace Tower. The group contained an eclectic mixture, former British Army, UDR, UVF, UDA, IRA, Sinn Fein, musicians, poets, writers, relatives of WW1 victims, it was an amazing week at Ypres & Picardy!
..........a review of the film ‘Maze’ and the Great Escape of 1983 when 38 Republicans left the gaol by the front gate in a hijacked food lorry! The story of life in a prison camp of notoriety, now thankfully a part of history!
.......Philly McMahon, 5 in a row All Ireland winner, his father Phil I went to school with and shared a Cage in the Kesh! Phil lost a brother to drugs and has devoted his life to helping those in Ballymun to escape the scourge of drugs & unemployment!
........Lurgy/Kilmac Celtic, a special football club celebrates 40 yrs providing a sporting outlet to the youth of the area, the players, memories, success & pathos, its all there, and much more!
.......40th anniversary of Lurgy/Kilmac Celtic, a wee club who have become a big part of the local community and a powerhouse in Donegal football! Part 1:
........a look at the poetry and thinking of the great Bard of the Irish Literary revival!
........in 1968 a group of us sat on a wall in our estate and pondered about life, Kevi, Micky & Norman didn’t have much life, within 20 yrs all were dead, killed by the British Army, Loyalists and fellow Republicans respectively, this is their story!
.......in Oct 1976 I had the pleasure to meet Maire Comerford, a great old lady who personified the revolutionary period of 16-23! A runner at the GPO, Secretary in the 1st Dail, Cumann na mBan volunteer during the Tan & Civil Wars, & a defiant Republican to the end!
........an old friend passed recently, Paddy ‘the Cope’ Friel, Private Secretary to Minister for Defence, Founder Member of Termon GAA club, local historian, Mountain Bar regular on his trips home from the Four Courts, a good friend, farewell ‘Cope’!
........Martin O’Neill, a Gaelic footballer from Kilrea becomes the Manager of Glasgow Celtic and achieves legendary status!
.........30 years after the events of October ‘74 I returned to Long Kesh, it brought back many memories of tough times and thoughts of friends who never survived to see the peace!
.......Celtic Play Barca in the Camp Nou in the CL, a wonderful few days in the Catalan capital, the most beautiful city in Europe with a Magic about it, and Celtic got a draw v Messi, Iniesta, Xavi!
.......Celtic v Man U in the Champions League at Parkhead, a little Japanese guy with an exquisite left foot sends Utd home deflated and leaves Paradise bouncing!
......Sept ‘06, the Ryder Cup comes to Ireland, Tiger, Phil Michelson, Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke + Michael Jordan, Ray Houghton, George Bush, Bill Clinton, it was the world stage and it was at the K Club!⛳️🏌🏻♂️
.......Jinky Johnstone, voted the greatest Celtic player of all time, a wee red haired wizard, a Lisbon Lion, the equal of Best, sadly passed at 60 with Motor Neurone!
.......Finola Meredith of the Irish Times interviewed Mature Students at various Universities including NUI Galway where Martin Sheen & Paddy McMenamin were among the Undergrads!!
......in 2010 our Mature Student Society organised a trip to the little Mediterranean island of Malta, all NUI Galway Graduates plus one ‘Professor’ it was a great week exploring the history of the island & bars of St Julians!
......40th anniversary of Lurgy/Kilmac Celtic FC, dinner dance in the Lagoon and launch of Paddy McMenamin’s booklet on the history of the Club, and the stories from those who played over the years!
.........just a little tribute to my great friend Pat who passed so quickly in May ‘05, aged 49! A great Celtic man from Patrick in Glasgow, he worked in the shipyards and then a painter & decorator all around Termon in the 80’s & 90’s, a good guy!💚⚽️
........100 yrs after the greatest Pandemic to hit the world, the Spanish Flu’, 2020 again sees the world facing a horrendous Pandemic!
........6 months after the Battle of the Bogside and the burning of Bombay St & the onslaught on the Lower Falls, the British Army had settled in but major decisions were needed, what the British Govt did next would have repercussions for the next 40 yrs! Easter 1970 heralded the first major battles between nationalists and the British Army, Ballymurphy was the battle ground, it was the point of no return!
......My first experience going to Parkhead to see Celtic v Benfica in 1969 just after Neil Armstrong took his ‘giant step for mankind’!
.......One month after Election 2020 and no sign of a Government? Why do people get so animated over the political system? What has ever changed for the working class? On a sporting note the great Harry Gregg , hero of the Munich disaster & Jimmy Greaves, goalscorer supreme!
.......It was 1970, 25 yrs after the end of WW2, and 6 mths into our modern Conflict! We were 16, school, work, girls, throwing petrol bombs at equally young Squaddies! Georgie Best was God, George Harrison sang ‘My Sweet Lord’, the Army enforced a Curfew on the Lower Falls and they were here for the long term, we responded with ‘the Long War’!