At the weekend one of a group of twenty one Clara people visiting Clonmacnois
told us he was Michael Brennan and he played Tenor Sax, Clarinet and Flute for
years with Big Tom and The Mainliners Showband and was recalling playing for
the Carnivals in Shannonbridge in the late seventies and early eighties.
He looked mighty fit and was mad to play a few tunes but no flute clarinet or even
a tenor sax was to be found.
Talking to a French couple last evening who visited Clonmacnois some years ago
and noticed the river cruisers moored at the jetty. They planned that next time they
visited Ireland they would have a cruiser and this year they did just that and are
enjoying every moment. When I mentioned the Martello Fortifications built against
Napoleon the man said he was ashamed of the hurt caused by Napoleon and was
not much in favour of much of what he had done.