Dated 6^th December 2006

Five people from Tuscany in Italy stopped by yesterday after visiting Clonmacnois. They enjoyed their stop at Clonmacnois and were on their way to Galway. They are on a five day visit and Marco Martini one of the group is a fisherman and fishes for carp. Glad to hear that the fish are returned alive. Next time he promised to bring his fishing rods and try his luck in the waters around here.

An obituary appeared on the papers this week for the Welsh rugby player Keith Rowlands 1936 – 2006. It contained a photograph of Keith tackling our own Willie John Mc Bride in a Five Nations match in 1963. May he rest in peace.

The recent strong winds and rain has brought the river level higher and floodwater has appeared in our garden this morning. More strong winds and rain are promised for later in the week.

Charlie Bird the reporter will be in The Oat Gallery on Saturday 9^th December at 11.59 a.m. for book signing – ‘This is Charlie Bird ‘

Some interesting dates that were mentioned this week include;

January 6^th 1839 – The night of The Big Wind or as it was known in Irish ‘Oiche na Gaoithe Moire ‘

December 6^th 1954 – the ‘Irish Army evacuated the families from Clonfert and Garryduff. I heard that most of them were having their dinner as they were prepared for flood conditions by having a floating wooden floor in their kitchens and open fireplaces whereby they were able to add rows of bricks to keep the fire up out of the waters. By co-incidence a Brendan Spellman from Clonfert has his funeral announcement on the paper today. The Spellman family were one of those evacuated in 1954. Rest in Peace.

Met a couple from London today who are planning to return to Ireland and they have bought a new home in Ahascragh. They were telling us that his father used to visit the late Paddy Kenny, Raghrabeg to talk about football as both had immigrated to London.

The annual Mass for deceased members of the Shannonbridge Power Station Staff takes place this evening at 8.00 p.m.

The National Gallery has purchased the historical drawing of Athlone Castle for 30,230 Euros at an auction held in Christies, London