SUMMERTIME!

Despite many weeks of poor weather, including torrential rain, today - August 13th - was quite warm and sunny for most of the day.

Making the most of it was Freddie Kelly picking blackberries from the huge crop available on the roadside up near Curraghmore gates just now; possibly the largest blackberries I've ever seen!

"I'll freeze them when I arrive home, and they will be a special treat for next Christmas Day!", said Freddie.  Now, maybe I could do likewise with my strawberries next year?

Passing by was famous hurler from the past - Frankie Whelan - out with his grandchild for some fresh air and the badly needed sunshine.  Frankie walks many miles EVERY day on Portlaw's beautiful rural roads.

Due to the low amount of sunshine experienced by everyone this year so far, experts are saying that people are quite deficient in Vitamin D.   They are recommending you bare your arms, at least, on sunny days from now on, to make up for this deficiency, taking the usual precautions not to get sunburnt.  

An hour later quite a few more people were picking the blackberries on the same stretch of road.

You'd better hurry along, if you want that special dessert for Christmas!

A double left-click on any image will enlarge it for easier viewing.

NEW! New! New! Portlaw Car Boot Sale

Portlaw Car Boot Sale, which is held each Saturday from 10.00 a.m. inside the gates of the Tannery/Cotton-Mill site,  is slowly beginning to take off, and a wide variety of bric-a-brac is always on offer . . . from books, clothes and jewellery to window-boxes and  plants.  What really caught my eye was a selection of mirrors made from slate but incorporating copper-wire and stained-glass motifs.  

Jewellery galore for the ladies at this stall by a local man.

Mr.Mikey O'Shea having a relaxing moment with a friend over a cup of coffee!

The mirror display, mentioned earlier.

A collection of books and more by Seán Foskin. I spotted some very interesting volumes among those on display.

A great place to pass an hour or more on Saturday mornings, but come early if you hope to find some bargains.  Who knows, you might pick up a Caravaggio for a few Euro! 

A double left-click on any image will enlarge it for easier viewing.

TRAMORE EXHIBITION

If in the Tramore area during the month of August, why not drop in to see this exhibition? The Portlaw-made  hand-crafted leather hand-bags have been a big attraction there,                               with numerous designs on display.

The arts centre, is accessible from the Doneraile Walk, or first turn left after you round the sharp corner on the way out towards the Cove Bar roundabout.  Plenty of parking at the far end of that street,  Love Lane.

MONOGRAM

MONOGRAM

A very ordinary gate, but with an interesting monogram. What lies beyond the gate, I’m fully aware of, and it has a strong Portlaw connection!

However, I want to know what the monogram stands for.

The first to email me with a convincing answer – in a short few sentences – will receive an A4 copy of any one image of your choice on this site, on archivally-permanent material.

Replies on or before October 31^st 2012 only. Use the email facility under my profile.

JULY 25th 2012

As if in a dream . . . there it was in a local field . . . a Dublin city double-decker bus, 100 miles from home. 

Maybe the driver got lost?

Registration number, for those interested in the history of transport, is: 

90 D 1005

........................

8.06 pm

Someone rang me to say the driver is gone to Specsavers, and a large group of Dubliners are being catered for in a local hostelry, while the local Red Cross members are tending to others!

A special welcome to Anne Balog from New Jersey, USA,  a recent visitor to this site, who located the Blog while researching her Irish ancestors. They hailed from both Brown Street and Queen Street, and emigrated from Portlaw in 1872 to work in a cotton-mill in Massachusetts. The surname was COX, and their house number in Queen Street was 6, obviously a very different house from those in Queen Street at the present time.

It’s quite possible that the Malcomson-owned business here, which more-or-less closed in 1875, was already going downhill, and the people in question decided to get out in time. It is also possible that other families emigrated from here to the same place, or to England where the cotton industry was thriving, although that location had it’s ups and downs also.

-          oooOooo   -

A special welcome also to Gerry & Denise Dignan’s  group, from all over the USA, who came to Ireland this month (July 2012) on a ‘Celtic Spirituality’ tour, and whom I had the pleasure of leading on a day-trip to ancient Christian sites in the Glen of Aherlow. This was followed by a great evening of music and song in a local Portlaw house, where about six local musicians and singers entertained them for some hours.  See Gerry’s website at:

www.gerrydignan.com

In the Glen, on the same trip, I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Taylor of York, U.K., who was also visiting and photographing these ancient sites. Robert has a wonderful website devoted to Viking objects, which are sold to customers worldwide.   Why not check out his website at:

www.jelldragon.com

Then there was the lady from Belgium, whom I met in the same area, who has been holidaying in the Glen of Aherlow for the past fourteen years! Yes, there’s lots to see and do in that part of Tipperary – The Galtee mountains, ancient holy wells, churches, abbeys, other antiquities, tales of rebels, rogues, fairies and banshees, the local people, also traditional music and song. Take a look also at:

www.aherlow.com

Finally, ‘Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir’ to those local landowners and others who were most welcoming and helpful!

-   oooOooo   -

The graphic at the top of this page is from a photograph taken at Clonagam, Portlaw.
Most images on this site will enlarge with a double left-click!

INACCESSIBILITY!

Since April 30th last, I have been unable to access the Blogger dashboard to upload new images and text on my own desk-top computer.   Hopefully, this can be fixed in the near future.

I havenow found that I can access the site on a different computer, but that is not very convenient.

If you have any suggestions on what the problem might be, an email would be appreciated.

24 June 2012

T H A N K S !

Thanks to Chris Morley from the U.K. who suggested I change my Internet browser, which I did, from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome.

Lo and behold, I'm back in business!

Chris is a descendant of the Portlaw Morleys of Milfort House.

23 July 2012

After still more weeks of Internet and computer problems, I seem to have got back to normal, but this time with a different computer.

All images for the Eucharistic Congress Bell page have now been uploaded, with the addition of over thirty more.

I may add some text later.

I now intend to upload some recent news and images before reverting to the Martin Hospital fund-raising day images.