NEW YEAR AT CENTRE OF IRELAND

OLD FATHER TYME

 

Old Father Tyme says farewell to 2012, and welcomes in the new year of 2013, at the popularly reputed centre of Ireland, Hodson Bay island, near Athlone town, Ireland..........

 

 

 

 

Ireland's Bethlehem

Along the shores of Lough Ree, near the spot where the three counties of Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon meet, lies the little townland of Bethlehem which is untouched by the ages and close to earthly nature, despite the unearthly but soothing chill beside the water around this time of year.

The ruin of Bethlehem convent is on private land, less than 10 miles from Athlone and exists at the end of many crossroads, close to the townlands of Tubberclair and Ballynacliffy, which are both close to the Westmeath/Longford border.  The River Shannon, which emotionally links the north, south, east and west is the stronghold guardian of Bethlehem, keeping its identity of peace and serenity together.

However this townland, called after the Biblical town is sparsely populated, and its land domain is largely untouched by time and man and there are little remains of the 17th century Poor Clares convent that once existed there.

Tagged Cattle graze peacefully beside the water, similar to the Oxen that grazed outside the crib in another Bethlehem, an aeon ago. 

Cecily Dillon, the mother abbess of a convent in Merchant’s Quay, Dublin, originally founded the Bethlehem convent.  Cecily’s family owned much of the Tubberclair area, near Bethlehem. 

In 1630 the sisters were ordered out of Dublin by the English authorities at a time when their community numbered 19 including Cecily and her sister Eleanor. 

These women decided to build a convent on the shores of Lough Ree on land belonging to the Dillon girls’ father, Sir Theobold.  They had been an enclosed order in Dublin and the peacefulness and silence of the land beside the lake must have been a heavenly haven for them. 

It was 1631 before the nuns moved into their convent, naming it Bethlehem.  The very name ‘Bethlehem’ evokes visions of Christ’s birth and a new beginning and this idea of a new birth or re-birth of their convent may have been significant to the nuns, in their naming of the convent.

The Dillon girls along with six of their nieces were among the first 19 nuns at Bethlehem.  Some time later the convent increased in size to almost 60 nuns and they lived a very tough life, which consisted of eating unpleasant food, working hard and living their life through constant prayer.

They obeyed a vow of silence, said the Matins prayers at Midnight, never ate meat nor wore socks or shoes instead relying on the wearing of a wooden sole on each foot.

The decision to build a Poor Clare convent at Nuns Island in Galway was taken at Bethlehem in 1641.   It was accomplished in the following year and is there to this very day. 

At this time the English forces in Athlone was under siege by the Confederates under the control of Cecily’s relation, Sir James Dillon.  The English suffered for lack of food and supplies so went searching the countryside.  Sir James feared the worst for the Bethlehem convent but the nuns held out until the soldiers were close by before fleeing.  This was the second time in a decade the Poor Clares were forced out by the English.

The nuns took little with them and left all personal belongings behind to cross the lake to the safety of friends and neighbours of the Dillons. 

When the English eventually arrived at Bethlehem they desecrated the convent and then burned it.

The story goes that these drunken soldiers, (who had been drinking their fill while they resided at the captured Ballynacliffey Castle, which is only two miles from Bethlehem,) were attacked and delivered to their death by the castle’s owner Oliver Boy Fitzgerald and his merry men.

The English evacuated Athlone in 1643, therefore prompting the nuns, (who had lived with friends and relations in the countryside following the destruction of their convent,) to begin again in Athlone under their former Mother Abbess, Cecily Dillon.  Unfortunately some years later it too suffered under the hands of Cromwellian forces.

Today boats with tourists travel across the Lough Ree shore, with many not knowing that they are sailing close to the area named from the town of Jesus Christ’s birth. 

Muckanagh, Tubberclair, Glasson, Portlick and of course The Three Jolly Pigeons are landmarks close by.  But the name of Bethlehem is not as widely known.

The lake around Bethlehem is rich with pike. Rocks stretch out from the shore to meet the Shannon waters.  Nature has the comfort to exist and grow in this little townland, which is largely untouched.

Nature is at one on this shore with the cold chill of winter in the atmosphere.  And when nightime comes, Christmas is under the starlight.

 

 

Memories of an Irish Christmas in the 30s

Austin Berry in Athlone 2012

 

The Christmas that people experience in shopping centres and high streets today, would be as alien to the Irish people of the 1930’s, as the worlds they would have seen in movie serials of the time like ‘Flash Gordon’s Trip To Mars’.

In the 1930’s, there was no big shopping centres, and people had to shop in much smaller places.  There was no such thing as shopping for leisure, and Christmas didn’t have the same commercial meaning as it does today.

However there was still a great love of the Christmas tree, the Christmas cards and the man of the moment himself – Santa Claus.  But indeed it was a different world during Christmas in the midlands of the 1930’s, and very unlike the world today.

Athlone town’s ever youthful former Mayor, Austin Berry was born in 1930, and spent his childhood living in the rural Co. Offaly townland of Clonshanny, near Ballycumber.  He remembers those Christmases in the days when there was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and when turkey was only a once a year treat, writes David Flynn.

“Santa only came once a year to us in the 30’s, but nowadays he arrives nearly every month,” he says.  “But you were always in a joyful and happy mood leading up to Christmas, which is interesting to think, because none of the families including ourselves had a lot of money.”

Austin says he remembers the buildup to Christmas in Clonshanny as taking place in late November.  The Berry family would get a little tree from down in the field by cutting the top off a larger tree, and the children decorated the tree with tinsel or paper, because there was no such thing as Christmas lights because there was no electricity.  It was just decorated in its natural form, with no lights of any kind.

Austin said that in his day Santa Claus had a wide chimney to get down, and wouldn’t have had much bother getting up or across the thatched roof of their cottage.

“I don’t know how the poor man manages with some of the chimneys in houses today,” he laughs.  “We usually got sweets and chocolates in the socks that we hung up over the fireplace.  You might get one toy, and in those days it would probably be a spring operated toy.”

Christmas morning mass was a must for the Berry children in Clonshanny, and the young siblings walked the three mile journey to the Island Church, which is still in the townland today.  He said the Christmas atmosphere in rural Ireland of the period was peaceful, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

“A lot of people mightn’t enjoy Christmas today because of demands and pressure over money and presents, but that was never a problem to us, because we never had any money to worry about,” laughed Austin.  “But there was a lot of scrimping and saving coming up to Christmas.” 

In those days there were no cars or rural transport buses, so some of the Berrys’ went with their mother on the donkey and cart, or the pony and trap down to Williams in Ballycumber. William’s was a bar and grocer, like many others of the era, which serviced the rural population between Clara, Ballycumber and Clonshanny.

The shopkeeper was very appreciative of the family’s custom throughout the year, and he used to throw in a small Christmas cake. For the house, the family always bought a very large Christmas candle, and put it in the window.

“There was the hymn singing in the church with the people in mass singing along with the choir,” he says.  “Outside the church the people would go round wishing each other a Happy Christmas and the nice thing about it was nobody was rushing like mad to get away and it was a lovely social occasion.”

The following day was St. Stephen’s Day, which has traditionally been known as the day of hunting the wren.  Children dressed up and went around to neighbours houses to entertain the folk with singing and playing music.  In the morning Austin and his brothers and sisters put bootpolish on their faces, and headed out to sing and make a few pennies.  They usually got a halfpenny at every door.

 

 

 

 

The Christmas Man

 

There once was an auld fellow that travelled the roads of the Irish midlands in the 60s and 70s.  He had a long white beard and an old hat like prospecting miners used to wear in 1940’s Hollywood westerns.  He also wore a wide old coat and it was possibly a huge number of light covered coats.  Children called him ‘Fortycoats’ or ‘Santa Claus’.

He used to tour the countryside and the housing estates and knock on each door.  He would then walk away, and on to the next door, so he was not technically a beggar!  He was always acknowledged as “a safe old man”, so safe that children regularly stopped and talked to him.  Then again, it was a different era, when people were more trusting. 

When the old man knocked on a door, a child would run after him and place a coin in his hand.  The child would then receive a blessing from the old man, which went something like: “May the Great God, the Blessed Virgin and the infant Jesus, bless you now and always!”

He was always walking and it was obvious that he slept rough.  He used to carry a canvas bag, which probably held clothes, or maybe food.

He was a regular sight in Athlone town, until the early 80s, and the poor man seemed to wear the same clothes all year round.

Strangely at Christmas time he was never seen in the housing estates, where he would have cleaned up financially. 

Interestingly at Christmas time, there were many reported sightings of him at various open cribs in Athlone.  He was often seen praying at the Friary Crib, and the crib outside the Prince of Wales Hotel.

In fact the old man got national publicity sometime in the 1970’s, when a journalist and photographer spotted him asleep in the crib, at the Prince of Wales Hotel, in place of the Baby Jesus.  A photo was taken, a poetic story was written, and the old man became a celebrity, although he probably never knew it.

The old man who resembled Santa Claus, brought the true meaning of Christmas to many smiling children of that era.

In May 2012, 100 years old Mrs. May Green of the Cova shop, in Athlone, found a photograph (above) of the old man, dated 1966! writes David Flynn.

The photo of him was an amazing find, because there didn’t seem to be any local image of him available, although numerous people remembered him from that time.  The Westmeath Independent newspaper published the photograph, and it evoked many more memories of the old man of the roads. Many people contacted the paper through its Facebook page or sent letters or emails to the editor.  Some of them knew that the man’s name was Johnny Regan, but few knew any real details of his background, because while he was friendly, he was also intensely private.  Many had heard the rumour of him being a national schoolteacher at some time in his past, but it was never confirmed.

Johnny was 76 years old when he died at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Athlone on October 28^th, 1987, and he was buried in a grave at Coosan Cemetery.

Jimmy Keegan from Annagh, Ballykeeran and his family were friendly with Johnny Regan almost forty years ago, and he was moved by the Westmeath Independent story and picture.

Jimmy became part of a committee of people who planned to have a monument erected at Johnny’s gravesite.  The committee raised funds, following further stories in the newspaper, and were given kind donations by people who remembered Johnny fondly.

The group succeeded in placing a monument over the grave, and on Sunday, December 3rd following 12 noon mass at Coosan Church.   Fr. Declan gave a blessing at the graveside.  However before that Fr. Declan mentioned ‘Fortycoats’ very fondly in his homily at the church.  The theme of the homily was homelessness, which tied in perfectly to the story of Johnny’s life.

“He was a homeless man, and I’m told that Johnny was unusual in many respects, he was homeless and well respected, and jobless but didn’t want any handouts from the state, and he was well spoken,” said Fr. Declan at the mass.  “He was not looking for money, but just looking for a place in a barn or shed to stay, his dignity was intact, and it says a lot about Johnny, that he hasn’t been forgotten.”

The rain poured down as almost forty people with many umbrellas crowded around Johnny Regan’s grave at Coosan on Sunday afternoon.  They included Fr. Declan, who gave the blessing at the graveside, Jimmy Keegan, and Eamon Green, son of Mrs. Green, who found the photograph of Johnny that stirred so many local memories.

“Many of you have heard I’m sure, ‘happy the corpse the rain falls on,’ and Johnny is a man that could very easily be forgotten about, but as much as it says about Johnny, it says a lot about you all, coming here in the rain today,” said Fr. Declan.

Twenty-two years ago, Johnny’s story was first told in the Westmeath Independent, and it was called ‘The Christmas Man’ at that time. ‘The Christmas Man’ story has now been completed this December 2012.

Ar dheis de go raibh a anam dilis

 

REMEMBERING THE RIORDANS

The power of its simplicity, humour and light drama made ‘The Riordans’, Ireland’s favourite family, and a ratings success on RTE television for 15 years throughout the 60’s and 70’s.

The trials and tribulations of Tom (the late John Cowley) and Mary Riordan (the late Moira Deady) and their sometimes troublesome offspring, Benjy, (Tom Hickey) Michael (the late Chris O’Neill) and Jude (Rebecca Wilkinson) in the fictitious village of Leestown, Co. Kilkenny, was an important part of the week for the Irish at a time when there was only one television station in the land.  At this time, most people weren’t recieving the British stations and the only satellites people talked about was in NASA. 

For 30 minutes each week the nation could switch on to Leestown and switch off their problems of the Oil Crisis of the 70’s and the idea of money belts being tightened.

Rural Ireland could always identify with the family being the centre of a community or a business or farm and that is exactly what the theme of ‘The Riordans’  was, a family living and working on their farm in rural Ireland. 

Streets emptied and no one uttered a sound when all black and white sets in the country were turned on to watch ‘The Riordans’.  Punters in pubs stayed silent for that half-hour because they would be glued to the set to see characters, very like themselves, drinking and socialising in Mickey Mac’s pub.

The friends and neighbours of the Riordan family in Leestown added an extra dimension to the drama.

Viewers in pubs, homes, hospitals and community centres sat together and watched the courtship of Benjy and Maggie (played by Biddy White Lennon) and listened to the hilarious tales told by the village gossip Minnie Brennan (played brilliantly by the late Annie D’Alton).

Minnie once uttered a description of  the youngest Riordan son, Michael, to express the fact that he wasn’t  overweight. “There is more skin on a tinker’s stick after a fight than there is on Michael Riordan!”

Humour was a big part of ‘The Riordans’ drama series just like it is with today’s UK soap opera, ‘Coronation Street’. 

Television in Ireland was new when ‘The Riordans’ began in the mid-sixties and there wasn’t any other regular rural Ireland drama series on the air.

The good and bad of farming life was part of the theme of the series.  Tom Riordan could be identified with by many middle-aged farmers trying to make a living on a small farm, while his wife Mary became a figure that was identified by farmers wives throughout the length and breath of Ireland.

The theme of love was as central to ‘The Riordans’ as was farming.  Benjy and Maggie’s courtship lasted a number of years letting people wonder if marriage would  ever happen.  Eamon Maher, played by Joe Pilkington, was a settled traveller who lived with his sister Delia and his uncle, Francey in Leestown.  Eamon was one of the programmes favourite characters and his many love affairs were discussed throughout Ireland.

Fr. Sheehy (played by the late Tony Doyle) was always on hand to give a sympathetic ear to his Leestown parishoners and he played the part to perfection. However Ireland’s favourite priest hit controversy (at a time when Irish priests were not hitting controversy) in the early 1970’s when he sympathised with Maggie when she told him she was on the pill.  Letters of protest poured into RTE, but the much loved Fr. Sheehy and Maggie weathered the storm and remained viewers favourites.

Benjy and Maggie’s wedding was one of the most  popular episodes of the series, but  some of the sadder episodes also got high viewing figures, like in 1978, when Young Brendan was bit by a dog and rushed to hospital suffering from a suspected rabies infection. Viewers were on the edge of their seats watching the child’s trauma and were relieved to see him get the all clear.

Tom Hickey left the series at the end of the fourteenth season and his portrayal of Benjy Riordan was sadly missed.  Benjy was written out by leaving the farm and going away to be a lay missionary in the Third World.

A new man was needed to help with the farm work, so Pat Barry, a sheep farmer from the Wicklow mountains came to live with the Riordan family.  Gabriel Byrne, in his first screen role, played Pat. 

Another big change hit ‘The Riordans’ in its fifteenth season when it was screened for one hour every week.  However this was to be its final year and the last episode was screened in May 1979.

Irish viewers were disappointed at the loss of ‘The Riordans’ from their screens, so RTE responded by screening in January 1980 a six part follow-up series called ‘Bracken’.

‘Bracken’ was created by Wesley Burrowes who had also written for ‘The Riordans’. 

The new drama concerned Pat Barry returning to his Wicklow home to farm his late father’s land.  ‘Bracken’ starred Gabriel Byrne, Niall Toibin, Joe Lynch, Mick Lally and Hollywood veteran Dana Wynter. 

‘Bracken’ was a smash hit with Irish viewers and another six episodes were planned, but were not screened until January 1982.

It was realised there was a major gap in the RTE drama schedule as a result of ‘The

Riordans’ cancellation, so plans were put in place for a new rural drama.

Wesley Burrowes started to write a new series with the working title of ‘The Blow-Ins’, but it was changed to ‘Glenroe’, with Joe Lynch and Mick Lally reprising their ‘Bracken’ roles of Dinny and Miley Byrne.

John Cowley turned up in ‘Glenroe’ playing a judge and Moira Deady played the hilarious role of the travelling woman, Nellie Connors in several episodes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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