Month: August 2020

Had a text wondering why I’d not been blogging????

No excuse … actually had some unpublished posts which I immediately posted!!!

But motivational to know someone reads them.

I didnt realise how much I loved GAA until this pandemic hit. During March, April, May, June, July, I watched replays (favourites of course being last 5 All Irelands!). Replays are great when interspersed with LIVE games. On their own, month after month, even watching great games becomes tedious.

Having watched The Toughest Summer last night the benefits of playing this year’s inter-county football championship are such for players and spectators alike, that everyone involved should do what they have to to get it up and running.

Everyone acknowledges that it won’t be straightforward. The Covid pandemic means things are rarely simple these days and there will be hurdles to overcome.

So it was great when club championships started. Suddenly the dream of an All Ireland championship was possible.

But for spectators, there’s joy of even watching ”live” inter-county games on the TV.

For the players? Michael Darragh Macauley probably captures their mood: “Give me 200 people, it will be a novelty but if that has to be zero, just Dessie Farrell and his dog, that’s what it is.”

It’ll be called GOLFGATE. Elected reps and people of supposed standing and judgement in our society golfed and partied disregarding all health precautions to restrict the spread of Covid-19.

Those of us who had endured the sacrifices of lockdown needed words of inspiration. And Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health provided them:

“I know that at times we can all feel powerless against COVID-19. But we are not.
“Each of us has a range of simple tools at our disposal – knowing the risks, washing our hands, not touching our faces, keeping physically distant, avoiding crowds, limiting visitors to our homes, and wearing a face covering.

“But the most powerful tool of all remains our solidarity with one another – by encouraging each other to stick with the basic measures and by continuing to act and adapt together we can suppress the transmission of this virus once again.”

I couldn’t believe I would be so saddened to hear of the passing of a football manager – But I was. Jack Charlton was such a part of our life in 32 for a decade.

He personified a golden era in Irish football-the Italia 90 campaign being one of pure joy for the O’Loughlin family as we sent our representatives to Italy for the 1990 World Cup. 

And we, at home, might as well have been there. We knew all the support songs. I even played one of them – We’re all part of Jackie’s Army – at the end of year mass in Milltown by special request of the PP. (I was the official organist there – God help us!). I was also the band conductor and on the afternoons of matches the band sat on the wall outside the school giving (strange but enthusiastic!) renditions of “Ole, Ole. Ole!” and “Jackie’s Army” with lots of flag waving and singing by non-band students.   

We had high expectations for USA World Cup 1994 and “knew” it was the heat of New York and the humidity of Florida that brought about our downfall. I still have the video of Jim’s appearance on the Nine o’clock News singing pre-match in Miami. 

Magical memories.

Mrs. Lynch was one of our neighbours. We lived in ‘The Park’; she lived in ‘The Crescent’ – St Mary’s Crescent to be precise. She did the dinners (meals for the elderly) in the Centre (Walkinstown Social Service Centre) with Mam. Now the only times I meet her are at old neighbours’ funerals and she’s still hale and hearty and loves a chat and some news

No wonder we were so excited when she started to make regular appearances on TV. It’s as if, by association, we too have some fame.

Letters from Lockdown is a series of short films, each featuring a letter from one person to another, a reflection on an aspect of the situation we all find ourselves in, whether it is separation from loved ones, concerns about mental health, the breakdown of the rituals we hold so dear…

Margaret Lynch was born 100 years ago in April 1920. While she was busy cocooning, her great grandson, Daniel, was born, 100 years and one day after she was. She has yet to get to hold him but has taken the opportunity to write him a letter, about her life, her feelings about lockdown, and about him, the newest arrival to her large clan. 

Growing up in Inchicore, she was born at a tumultuous time in Irish history, the War of Independence. Although she was too young to recall that,  she well remembers the Second World War and the effects it had on Ireland. She married just after World War 2 ended at the age of 25 to Michael and went on to have 6 children, the youngest of whom  is going to be an OAP on his next birthday! She has 19 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren. Now, at the age of 100 she is living through another troubling time in history, with the Covid 19 crisis of 2020. 

During this period of lockdown, Margaret has been taking cocooning seriously but this means she hasn’t been able to do the things she wants. The oldest volunteer in Ireland, Margaret has had to stop visiting her local day centre where she normally volunteers twice a week.  She can’t get out for her walks, go shopping or get her hair done. Her large family is her saviour at this time.