Did you know that Val Joyce on Late Date radio has been featuring the singer Jo Stafford this week and she really has an amazing voice?

The first draft of Amhran Na bhFiann ( The Soldier’s Song ) signed by its author Peader Kearney in 1907 was sold by public auction on Wednesday for 760,000 Euros to a telephone bidder. Later it was selected as our national anthem. It was a photo finish beating O Donnell Abu which was written by the Shannonbridge man Michael Mc Cann who resided on Lamb Island which is just upstream from the village bridge.

Walking Ritchie Brown’s dog across the bridge today we noticed that a second swan was feeding in front of that same Lamb Island so keep your fingers crossed. Ritchie’s dog has a great habit of picking up litter and today he picked up 72 pieces while walking to the bottom of Gunning’s Hill. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we saw and smelled a great carpet of primroses inside the wall and on an embankment in the field before you reach the entrance to Raghrabeg.

The dog wanted to go down to pick up some careless litter among the primroses but there was not enough room in the sack. Noticed some blackthorn in blossom. There was only one piece of litter from Supermac which has got off to a great start. Good to see that the manager Christy O Connor has employed three local Supermac Ladies.

Remember the robin that made its nest in the WKD carton? Today when leaving out some boiled egg for her use in the shed she flew from the nest and I noticed some feathers moving in the nest. There were three eggs but I do not know how many young robins are in the Wicked box.

Still on birds – yesterday Stephen Heery left in a report book on a vast range of birds seen in the Shannon midlands and Boora Parklands covering the period 2000 to 2003. An article on Jackdaws Nesting in Shannonbridge written by Declan Ryan caught my eye and it happened in 2003. A photograph of a range of metal pieces thrown down the chimney dates it as there is assorted wires bolts and a knife and spoon. Declan is preparing his thesis paper for his study course and he has decided to write about the Clerhane Quarries. If you have any information on the workers or happenings that happened there drop him a line to Shannonbridge Athlone.

Eyre Square in Galway City opened to the public yesterday evening. What started as a Millennium project in 1999 has had lots of problems since then. For the past 25 months the square has been closed off and traffic has been diverted. The official opening is set for May 27^th.

Temperature today was 11C / 52F.

A group from Portumna visited Clonmacnois yesterday and stopped off in Shannonbridge .I noticed that Christy Cunniffe was with them. He told us that they were a group taking an eleven month course on computers and historic learning. Christy was looking after them on the local historical end and so their trip to Clonmacnois.

Today was Good Friday and Mick headed off on the boat with Tom and Margaret Carty as far as Meelick.

Shane and Sinead and Aoifa returned from a break in Lanzarotte today. Shane met a man wearing a Village Tavern t-shirt and of course he asked him where he was from. Now we know where the Germans are going. Aoifa has learned a heap of songs and her favourite seems to involve a pounding with the foot so it sounds and looks like Cabaret.