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Newsround Miscellany
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Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Sligo Heritage readers (Pic: taking the water at St. Patrick's Well, Corbeg Co. Leitrim)
For more on St. Patrick in Sligo go HERE and scroll down
Listen in to RTEs 'Sunday Miscellany' on St. Patrick's Day after the 9.00 a.m. news to hear short stories in celebration of 'Seachtain na Gaeilge' and St Patrick's Day. One of the stories is contributed by your web host and describes a very traditional celebration on Achill Island! More information click HERE
Sunrise at Loughcrew
At the 5000 year old Loughcrew megalithic cairn T in Ireland, the rising sun
on the mornings around the equinox illuminates the passage and chamber. The
Office of Public Works will have staff in attendance at Cairn T, Loughcrew
on the mornings of Saturday the 20th of March, Sunday the 21st March and
Monday the 22nd March from 6.15am until 7.30am.
http://www.newgrange.com/news37.htm
Saint Patrick's day is celebrated within a few days of the Spring Equinox,
could it be that the Spring Equinox Festival was christianised to Saint
Patrick's day and that this knowledge has been lost over time?
http://www.newgrange.com/saint_patrick.htm
Lissadell residents assert their rights
The Lissadell estate in Co. Sligo was considered an open access area by locals with its roadways available for use by everyone long before the Cassidy/Walshes came to Sligo, the High Court was told yesterday. Mr Justice Bryan McMahon, who is hearing the long-running action over whether there are public rights of way across the historic 410 acre estate, was told of “big changes” in relation to access when the estate was bought by current owners, barristers Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy.
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Lissadell owners |
In proceedings against Sligo County Council, the couple are seeking orders and declarations that four routes in the estate are not subject to public rights of way. The council contends such rights do exist, including on the basis that public monies were spent in 1954 on certain roadways. Angela Darcy, who bought a property close to the estate in 1984, taking the stand told Nuala Butler SC, for the council, that she, her family and neighbours “often walked through the estate” for “pleasure” and also to gain access to a nearby beach. She said such activities continued until Lissadell was sold in 2003 and “the gates went up”. Ms Darcy, a native of Dublin, said she was “never alone” when travelling within the estate and did not consider the routes to be “anything other than public”.
Under cross-examination from Brian Murray SC, for the owners, Ms Darcy said she believed public rights of way existed and stemmed from “customary” use by local people “over time”.
Lissadell a 'nice place to play'.
James Harron (65), a carpenter who grew up about a mile from Lissadell, said he spent much of his childhood “in and out” of the estate. He said Lissadell was considered by locals as “a nice place to play”. When his own children were growing up, he regularly returned and drove around the estate with them and went to the beach.
For all of his life, he had never heard of anyone being told they needed permission to use the roads within the estate, he said. The recent closure of routes was “unfair” as they had been in use for many years, he said.
Mr Walsh and Ms Cassidy whose principal address is Morristown, Lattin, Naas, Co Kildare, but who use Lissadell as a holiday home, bought the 410 acre estate for almost €4 million in 2003. They claim to hae spent spent some €9.5 million restoring it and say they cannot operate it as a tourist amenity if public rights of way exist. The case continues.
Friday 26th February
The Fairy Faith
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| Cnoc na Sidhe at Mullaghmore, County Sligo (Note entrance middle right) Classiebawn Castle in background. |
It is with great pleasure I can report that the Fairy Faith is alive and well with our Celtic cousins over in Scotland. Here in Ireland we know where the Sidhe (pronounced Shee) or Fairy folk reside in the hills and 'gentle' places. We know where they plant their fairy thorns. Even among the scoffers and unbelievers only the very bravest, or the foolish, will interfere with their homes or cut down a fairy bush.
Sure there might be nothing in those old tales — but then again there might — better to play it safe! And everyone knows at least one person, or a family, who came to grief by disregarding ancient taboos.
In 1999 a bypass here in Ireland at Ennis Co, Clare was rerouted around a fairy 'sceach' when locals warned that no good would come from destroying it.
Just a week ago a Scottish newspaper 'The Daily Record' reported the following:
'A BUILDER was forced to design a luxury estate around a rock - because locals said fairies lived under it. Work on the multi-million pound development ground to a halt when villagers complained that the fairies would be "upset". Marcus Salter, of Genesis Properties, estimates the colony of
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Perthshire's Fairy Rock |
fairies believed to be under the rock in St Fillans, Perthshire, has cost him £15,000.
He said he first noticed possible problems when his diggers moved on to the site outside the village.
He said: "A neighbour came over shouting, 'Don't move that rock. You'll kill the fairies.' Then we got a series of phone calls, saying we were disturbing the fairies. I thought they were joking. It didn't go down very well." The bemused builder then went to a meeting with the community council, where chairman Jeannie Fox told him: "I do believe in fairies but I can't be sure that they live under that rock. There are a lot of superstitions going about up here and people do believe things like standing stones and large rocks should never be moved.
The new development now centres on a small park with the "fairy" rock in the middle. The Planning Inspectorate have no guidelines on fairies but a spokesman said: "Local customs and beliefs must be taken into account when applying for planning permission."'
Tuesday February 23rd
Puppeteer Eugene Lambert has died.
The Sligo native entertained generations of Irish children with well known characters like ‘Judge’ the dog and played the role of ‘O’Brien’ in the popular television series Wanderley Wagon. He also owned the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Dublin, the team of which was behind shows such as ‘Bosco’.
Mr Lambert died on February 22nd peacefully at his home, aged 82. He is survived by his wife Mai and eight children. Minister Cullen has described him “a master of the art of puppetry” and said his work has “enriched the lives of both adults and children” across the country. His daughter Paula – who is the voice of Bosco – says he’ll be sadly missed.
Sligo's Reverend Christy Jones, Bishop of Elphin speaks out following meeting with Pope
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Bishop Christy Jones |
In an interview with Niall Delaney of Ocean FM the Bishop of Elphin has said he had no idea of the abuse that was taking place within the Catholic Church. He was speaking following the meeting of bishops with the Pope in Rome this week over revelations of child sexual abuse detailed in both the Murphy and Ryan reports.
There has been much criticism by survivors of abuse of the inaction by Bishops and the Catholic Church in dealing with the issue. Bishop Jones said he is not sure if he were Bishop at the time if he would know how to deal with the situation as he was never before aware such abuse could happen.
Speaking on Ocean FM, he said that he genuinely did not know that people were exploiting children for pleasure.
“I did not know that kind of thing was going on in society. It was never discussed in Maynooth, not even in the text books. When psychologists and psychiatrists were asked for their advice in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, they were told you can send this man away for a few months for treatment and you can re-appoint him. Not only did we, as bishops and priests, not know, but they didn’t know and they were the professionals... You have no idea what it is like for a priest or a bishop to walk out to a congregation the morning after the report is published, the embarrassment, the shame, that our colleagues have carried out such horror and such crimes.
He said that the bishops had conveyed this to the Pope, who said he was “very sad” at what had happened. “He not only admitted it was a horrible and heinous crime, he also put it in the faith context that it was an offence against God and against the dignity of the human person.”
Shell to Sea Protester Pat O'Donnell sent to jail
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| Pat O'Donnell protests in his fishing boat the John Michelle. It was sunk last June at 2 a.m. by four masked raiders alleged to work for Shell |
The mighty monoliths of State and Multinational have combined to crush the cause of the Corrib gas protesters. in Castlebar Circuit Court, Shell to Sea campaigner and local fisherman Pat O Donnell (52) was sentenced to 7 months in jail after being found guilty of an alleged “breach of the peace” and allegedly "obstructing a Garda". A number of high profile Shell to Sea campaigners including 'the Chief' Pat O'Donnell and Maura Harrington sought to appeal certain criminal convictions in cases heard last week at Castlebar Circuit Court from 9th - 11th February. A few of the appeals were successful but some of the convictions were upheld by the court.
More information HERE
Feb 13th 2010
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A HIGH Court judge stopped off at the grave of WB Yeats recently on his way to Lissadell House to view for himself the disputed rights of way. Mr Justice Bryan McMahon travelled to Sligo as part of the hearing into a dispute between the current owners of Lissadell House, barrister couple Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy, who brought an action against Sligo Co Council claiming rights of way over the estate don't exist. (Pic left: Justice McMahon on right with usher Eamon Giles left)
Mr Justice McMahon, who is chairman of the boardof the Abbey Theatre, made a brief stop in the North Sligo village of Drumcliff, where the poet and Abbey co-founder, W.B.Yeats is buried beneath a headstone with the famous inscription "Cast a cold eye on life and death, Horseman, pass by". He then travelled the remaining 6km journey westwards to the 410-acre estate on the shores of Sligo Bay that is at the centre of a dispute which has ended up in his court. Mr Justice McMahon spent several hours inspecting the roadways through the estate.
Walsh/Cassidy V Sligo County Council
Mr Walsh, a high profile and very wealthy barrister himself, says that the claim to rights of way are designed to "humiliate, embarrass and undermine" everything that had been done on the estate since it was purchased by him and his wife in 2003. Mr Walsh and Ms Cassidy, whose principal address is Morristown, Lattin, Naas, Co Kildare, but who use Lissadell as a holiday home, bought the 410 acre estate - which was once the home of Countess Constance Markievicz - for almost €4 million in 2003.
Sligo County Council and local action groups say these paths and roads are traditional rights of way
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to the seashore and other points. Among various claims in its counter-claim, the Council contends the dedication and/or acceptance of public rights of way over the roads in question can be inferred from various materials, including the passage over the roads by members of the public “throughout living memory and since at least 1900”. It also relies on various maps and the use of public monies for the upkeep of roads at Lissadell. The council also claims public rights of way may be inferred from the making of grants by the Grand Jury for the County of Sligo on dates form 1813 to March 1834 to the owners’ predecessors in title for the purposes of building or repairing the roadways. (Pic above: Barrier at right of way to 'Burra')
The hearing is expected to continue for several weeks yet.
For more information click HERE and scroll down
For previous Newsround articles go HERE
