Darley School Cootehill ........

The Darley National School will celebrate its 150th anniversary over the first weekend in June, that is 5 June to the 7 June. The school is steeped in history having initially being founded and financed by a wealthy philanthrophist clergyman named John Richard Darley, whom subsequently became Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. I have been asked to give a short talk on the schools history and it was with great pleasure that I accepted this invitation. Rev. Darley has facinated me for many years and I felt that his life story had been lost to the mists of time. With painstaking research I have managed to discover much about him. Readers interested in Bishop Darley can read the fruit of this research in the forthcoming Breifne Journal, available in city library's around the globe; otherwise it is possible to purchase the journal direct from Cavan Genealogy Centre, located in the Johnston Central Library, and Farnham Centre buildings in Cavan, Ireland. I know that the Darley School's celebrations will be terrific and I wish them every success on this their 150th anniversary. ( -I'm certain that John Richard Darley would have been pleased............). The Cootehill Heritage Walking Trail, as researched and compiled by the Historian Mr. Patrick Cassidy, mentions the site of the old Darley School, see: http://www.cootehilltourism.com/html/things.htm

Germaine Greer Warbles on.......

The other evening I was searching through the stations on tv, when I spotted a documentary on BBC4, titled: 'How Britain Got the Gardening Bug'. I thought this would be great to watch. They approached the subject from gardening in the days of World War 2, right up to the present. Percy Thrower was there as was Geoff Hamilton, but there was a glaring omission from their array of celebrated gardeners. As Germaine Greer warbled on about the philosophy of the whole thing, I began to wonder, have they forgotten Geoffrey Smith, one of the finest gardeners of the early 1980's.
Poor Geoffrey Smith, was omitted from the programme. Well I liked Geoffrey Smith even if some cannot remember his name. How Britain Got the Gardening Bug, BBC4, 29th March 21:00.

Sadly Geoffrey Smith passed away last February, read : http://blog.gardenersworld.com/2009/03/02/geoffrey-smith/

An Impending Clothes Mountain

For the past two years, I have been receiving numerous leaflets each week that request clothing for charity. I have no problem with genuine charities per se, but I do object to the people who are hoarding my letterbox with these leaflets on a day-in/ day-out basis. At one stage, I pasted a note on the front door urging these rag and bone merchants to desist. The requests continued to pile in through the door. On one occasion, I caught the culprit pushing his piece of paper through the letterbox at 7am. He then took the liberty of walking across my lawn and flower garden, and it was at this point that I exchanged some pleasantries with the individual. After all, how many clothing appeals can there be in a week, never mind a year. I have reached the conclusion that they think, that our area is running a Harrod’s scale version of a clothing factory. If this constant request for clothes keeps up, will we all be in danger of contributing to some sort of a European clothes mountain. What will they be looking for next, a request for steam irons?

Cartoons and caricature......

My good friend Tim Leatherbarrow has worked internationally as a cartoonist for many years. His work has been bought by the good and the great and I think everybody deserves the chance to see such marvellous pieces. Tim has family connections with my home-town of Cootehill in Cavan, Ireland and has a great love of all things Irish. Have a good look at his blog and see how outstanding his work is. Checkout Tim Leatherbarrows work at: http://madbadninky.blogspot.com/ its just a click away. It actually makes a difference to find art as good as Tim’s, as compared to what some folk pass off as art these days.

http://pingomatic.com/

Recalling Cavan Historian Tom Barron

Tom Barron, for many years served as an outstanding historian. I wrote the following article as a tribute to a man who dedicated his life to studying the history of County Cavan.
Take a moment to read about the great Tom Barron, courtesy of:

http://www.irishidentity.com/extras/gaels/stories/jbarron.htm