Dated 26^th December 2006

Christmas Day and our good neighbour Brid Fitzpatrick died and went back to her God. Brid lived across the street from Killeens bar and has been in poor health for some time. She died in Portiuncula and Brid wished to be buried in her home county Donegal, and so the remains will leave the morgue in Ballinasloe and travel directly to Donegal. May she rest in peace.

Christmas Eve Mass was a special candlelit celebration and the congregation enjoyed the singing and the candlelight and the Mass and the sermon. Father O Hanlon was asked to repeat an old sermon about World War 1 and how on Christmas Eve the soldiers on both sides decided to stop shooting and they began to sing Silent Night. The choir sang and hummed the carol. I thought it would have been an addition if the seven grownups who had been singing Christmas Carols outside the church as the people arrived, had come along and sang the Silent Night in German. Perhaps they will next year. The carol singing was their yearly effort to raise funds for the Hospice people.

News came at Christmas of the death of Scobie Breasley, the jockey, who was aged 92 years.

Scobie was an Australian and in 1964 he won the Irish 2000 Guineas and the English Derby when he rode Santa Claus. In 1958 he partnered Ballymoss to win the Arc de Triomphe which was trained by Vincent O Brien. May he rest in peace.

Bono is to become Sir Bono shortly. His real name is Paul Hewson.

Our Christmas dinner number was reduced by three when a 24 hour bug arrived and hit Mick Mary and Pat. The third course was a surprise e-mail from Mike Thornhill who is currently in South Africa. Our make-do cooks had to ring Niamh in Abbey seeking directions on how to heat the plum pudding. It worked and it was smashin.

On Christmas Eve after Mass I enjoyed some of Maureen Thornhill’s mince pies which are a part of Christmas.

Mark Oberton from Correen was telling us that when the flood was at its height their was two inches of water at his doorstep and the water on the road leading to Correen Ford was up to his knee.

On fishing I read where Nigel Williams who is known to the UK media as ‘’The Pike Ace’’ was stopped at Holyhead ferry port and fined £800 for trying to take 119 live fish into Ireland. He intended using some of them as dead bait for fishing but apparently there is a disease in the carp fish in England and it is not in Ireland.

Irish holly stocks are continuing to be plundered for Christmas decorations and there is an appeal from Crann - the tree people, to report any stripping of holly trees and for landowners to plant more holly trees.

Noticed an article about the privatisation of some hotels in Dublin such as The Burlington and The Westbury. The writer thinks this may be the first step in selling off the hotels for development.

Yesterday TG4 television broadcast a tribute to Michael O Hehir the broadcaster. His radio commentaries on hurling Gaelic football and racing were renowned. When John F Kennedy died he happened to be in America and he was asked to do a five hour commentary on the funeral. Every year he was one of a team of four commentators that covered the English Grand National on radio. His son told that for weeks before the race he used to draw out and colour in the colours that each jockey would be wearing. At one Grand National there was a large pile up at the corner fence after Beechers Brook and one horse jumped clear. Michael immediately recognized it as Finn Avon, a 200 to 1 shot, which went on to win the race. On a Late Late TV program he told Gay Byrne that before the race he was in the jockeys room and he noticed a jockey wearing silks with two black stripes that he did not recognise. He enquired from the jockey who told him that there were two green stripes on the original but the owner did not like them and got them changed to black. Of course they were Finn Avon’s colours.

Finally Patrick Kenny was following ‘the wren’ this morning’ and he told of the three publicans who died and met Saint Peter. Saint Peter asked anyone who had given short measure to take one step forward. Two of the publicans stepped forward.

Then he asked anyone who had wrong changed a customer to take two steps forward. The same two took two steps forward. Saint Peter then told the two that they were going to Hell and he asked them if they would mind bringing that deaf hoor with them.