On Sunday the vintage car and tractor rally that started in Ballinasloe attracted a large entry. The route chosen went by Shannonbridge, Cloghan, Banagher, Eyrecourt, and Kiltormer and back to Ballinasloe. Afterwards somebody mentioned that it was a charity venture and they were disappointed with what Shannonbridge subscribed. To be honest I never saw anybody collecting so it is the old ask and you shall bit. I thought that Sean Fitzsimons was part of the rally but a friend brought him for a visit to Shannonbridge for the day. He has lost some weight and looks the better for it.

Patrick Kenny from nearby America called in during the rally and told us that as he was coming out from Athlone on Saturday evening he noticed three hooligans beating up a youngster. They had him knocked to the ground and were kicking him. At first Patrick was going to keep going, but what he saw touched him and he turned his car and returned. He carefully parked his car, got out and between the four of them they taught the youngster a lesson he will not forget. Well done Patrick.

Glad to hear from Lorraine Mc Kenna from Pottstown and looking forward to meeting Jim and herself when they return to Shannonbridge in the first two weeks in October.

The weather has been broken on many days this week and the resultant rain has affected the river levels. Wednesday – 2.58 M, Thursday – 2.7 M, Friday – 2.75 Metres. Brian from the Barge who takes the levels tells that the corncrake is still calling from Moran’s Island and on Wednesday he heard the cuckoo calling from over in Garryduff a little bit up the River Suck.

On Tuesday Mick and I went to the viewing of Kate Beglin in Ballinalea. Kate was a sister of Father Pete Beglin. At the viewing we met Father Corkery, a step brother of Father John Corkery. He was stationed in Ferbane many years ago at the same time that Father John was in Cloghan. I was curious about a book on Clonmacnois that Father John wrote and he told me that when the late Pope John Paul asked to visit Clonmacnois, the then Bishop Daly asked Father Corkery to write a book on Clonmacnois which was presented to the Pope.

It was sad to see the Hogarty family depart for Australia this week. John and Chris and their daughter Max had just built a beautiful bungalow on the Coughlan lands at Cloneish. They plan to return for a visit in March.

Yesterday the wedding bells rang for Kieran Fallon Shannonbridge and Mary Gavin from Moore. The wedding ceremony took place in Moore Church and the reception was held in The Tullamore Court Hotel. Kieran is a son of Willie and Dympna Fallon. Wishing Mary and Kieran all the best in their married life.

In this months EM paper which is printed by the ESB there is a fine photograph of the beach in Muscat Oman which was taken by Roger Morrissey. Roger of course lived in Shannonbridge at one time.

Athlone is twined with a town in France called Chateaubriant and groups of people from these towns visit each other. This year about sixty five people from the French town are visiting Athlone. Today they came on a visit to Clonmacnois via Shannonbridge on one of Padraic Egan’s buses, Alain Minguet, a retired accountant told us that the translation for Chateau is shiny castle and the Briant part is the family name. When I told him about my visit to Nantes last October he seemed to know a lot about Nantes and its connection with Ireland. At one time sails for ships were imported from Ireland because of their good quality and also because of a favoured blue colour which they liked. Also when there was a religious persecution in Ireland many students went to Nantes to prepare for the priesthood in a seminary there. Alain remarked that both Athlone and Chateaubriant had populations of about 15,000 people when they first became twin towns but now Athlone has got much bigger. Two of the Athlone organisers were John Daly and Tom O Connor. John Daly is a teacher in Athlone whom I have known for a long time at the card table. I was surprised when Tom O Connor admitted to be a regular visitor to this web page. It turned out that he works in Tullamore with Marion Mc Manus, Lecarrow who keeps an eye on us. Greetings to Tom and Marion.

Tonight in Saint Michael’s church in Ballinasloe the Three Tenors are giving a concert with the proceeds going to pay the debt caused by the fire in the church about two years ago. I am looking forward to hearing them and even more so to hearing Emily Walsh singing with them. Emily is a daughter of Alfie and Jacquie Walsh and lived for many years in Shannonbridge.