Doc was telling us about a Dawn Mass celebrated in Oughterard on Easter Sunday. About 600 people gathered at the shore of Lough Corrib and the celebrant was Father Jimmy Walsh C.C. After the Mass they had breakfast of a tradional Irish fry with rashers and sausages sponsored by the butchers of Oughterard .Everyone was delighted with the way everything went so well.

The river levels seemed to be creeping up during the week and on Friday and Saturday the drain alongside Darcy’s Callow had started to overflow, but I notice that it has eased back again today.

There was a two page feature on the paper about the filming carried out in Banagher and area including Shannonbridge during the winter. Codenamed Pure Mule, filming for now has finished and the result will be screened on TV as a series in a few months time. Good photograph of Michael Hough and a customer sitting outside of Hough’s Pub in Banagher.

Good to see Brid Cassidy in Shannonbridge on Saturday. Brid had been out to visit Clonmacnois and she told us that her late husband ‘Ned and herself got married on Saint Patrick’s Day many years ago.

The death has occurred of James Nolan, Banagher who was a van driver with Bord na Mona for many years. He survived for over four score years and ten and is survived by well known entertainer Peter. Among the congregation at his funeral yesterday was Barney Mc Kenna of The Dubliners.

Five men from Sydney Australia are making a return trip to Shannonbridge for two weeks. They first came in 2000 and arrived at lunchtime on Saturday to say that they had tickets for the rugby game in Landsdowne Road where Leinster were beaten in the Heineken Cup. So they went to the match and were back in time for the music on Saturday night. They were wondering if they would need tickets for yesterday’s match between Dublin and Offaly footballers in Tullamore. They went and Dublin won.

Paul James Byrne died in Leighlinstown, Carlow and his obituary notice on the Irish Times on Saturday posted all the details of his funeral and ended up with the line –

“Dad, you finally made it to the back page of The Irish Times”

Lots of news and photographs and remembrances of the late Pope John Paul 11 and this morning one of the local radios had an interview with Tom Moore, curator at Clonmacnois, asking him to recall the Papal visit to Clonmacnois some 25 years ago.

Thought that they might have mentioned that the Pope was doing a kind of Religious

Tree as monks from Clonmacnois had converted Poland in about the ninth century’

Our four Polish friends who live in the village and work for a local engineering firm were sadder than the rest of the village with the news of the Pope’s death. Thomas. One of them was telling us that he saw him in Poland.

In the “Where’s That” section of today’s Irish Times they are looking at the origin of the word Hagfield. I liked the first sentence which goes – That which might come to mind on hearing the Irish word ‘cailleach’ is the fine bouncy Connamara song Cailleach an Airgid ( the witch of the money), the chorus of which is “Si do Maimeo” (she is your grandmother)

Some work has commenced on the two houses adjoining Nugent’s Butchers, with slates and chimneys being removed.