Recently Megan Donohoe has been in contact from America seeking information on the Belton Family as a Patrick Belton was her great great grandfather. At one time a Frank Belton wrote ‘Memories of Shannonbridge’ which can be found on the Shannonbridge webpage under Famous People. It was used on his memorial card when he died.

The Belton Family were in charge of the canal stores in Shannonbridge when the canal boats were operating.

I am told that there was a separate store to house Shackle ton’s Flour and Mr. Kinlough was in charge of this store.

Last night I met Larry Mc Grath from Allenwood who told me that his brother Paddy Mc Grath from Prosperous died on 4^th February 2008. For many years Paddy led family members and friends on a visit to the Shannonharbour Boat Rally weekend. Later they came upstream to call at Shannonbridge where he made many friends over the years. Last year on their way home Paddy got sick in Tullamore and he was sick for seven months before his death. He was aged 73 years.

Larry was in company of his brother Mark Mc Grath and Nancy Boland and Murt Cronley who are all now living in the Allenwood / Prosperous area in Kildare.

Nancy Boland had an Uncle John Boland who drowned on Lough Derg in 1946 on the 45M when it sank.

Also drowned on that barge were Ned Boland and a Mc Grath. The body of the Mc Grath man was never found.

Larry Mc Grath is married to a Theresa Killeen from Mayo Abbey. Larry told me that the skipper of the first canal boat to take a load from Shannonharbour to Dublin when the canal boats started up was a John Killeen. Howzabout that then. May Paddy rest in peace.

On Late Date during the week John Creedon told about a little girl who was busy digging a hole in her garden

The neighbour spotted her digging and enquired what she was doing.

‘My goldfish is dead and I am digging a hole to bury it in’ replied the young girl.

‘And isn’t that a big hole you are digging for your goldfish’? asked the neighbour.

‘Yes said the young girl because it is inside your cat’.

Colonel Mort Buckley Cloghan died during the week and was buried in Clonmacnois yesterday.

Mort Buckley served with the Irish Army in Costume Barracks Athlone and in 1960 he was leader of the first Irish peacekeeping force that was sent to the Congo He retired in 1975 and was involved with his little farm and doings around Cloghan. He was aged 93.

Yesterday the army gave him a full military funeral with military police on the roadway and soldiers carrying the coffin draped with the Tri- colour flag to the graveside. Then they folded the flag in a ceremony and presented the flag to a family member. A volley of shots was fired from the hillside and a trumpet and drum played The Last Post. I noticed that the trumpeter was Joe Byrne.

Jimmy Redmond was at the funeral and he told after the funeral that he was only 17 years when he joined the army in Athlone and was the youngest in Colonel Buckley’s brigade Soon afterwards he was off to the Congo.

Mort is survived by two sons and four daughters.

May he rest in peace.

The singer Maisie Mc Daniels died and was buried during the week. She was a very popular singer in the Showband Era and is buried in Sligo. May she rest in peace.