Plenty of Floods Yet No Water

In common with the rest of the country Mullinahone has been deluged with extremely heavy rainfall since the beginning of the month.

On august 15^th between 10am and 10am on August 16^th, 42.3mm of rainfall as recorded locally. Such heavy rainfall could be expected to bring floods but fortunately they turned out to be less serious than those in the past.

In recent times continued heavy rain has caused concern re flooding around the square. The problem seems to be caused by pipes and drains going into the village stream which become backed up with flood waters. About ten years ago a splendid job was carried out cleaning up the village stream. This scheme as set in motion by local people helping themselves.

Later the local authority and government funds chipped in to complete the job. All has worked well until recently when problems began to show up. It now seems that surface water up towards the school has been diverted from its old path towards the river and this causes a problem for those around the square.

One local man on the Ballydonnell road was semi satisfied with flood precautions taken recently. At his own expense running well into four figures he had built up a roadside channel, passing his house to carry the roadside water past his house. At the height of the floods racing past his house the place looked like a kayak racing course.

Not a drop of water came but the same time not a drop of water was coming from his water supply on this stretch of road. It is likely to be a very hot topic in the 2009 local elections. No doubt there are plenty of people in the area who have flood water stories and water famine stories to tell.

The death took place recently of Michael Joe Boland or Joe Boland as he was known. Joe was a member of the Boland family who farmed at Ballyvoneen. He lived there with his brothers Tom and John, following the deaths of their parents Ned and Maggie Boland.

The parents came to Ballyvoneen form Moyglass. Joe and his brothers attended school in Mullinahone. Joe was 76 years of age. He was confined to St Patrick’s Hospital for the past five years, where he died. He was a very private person and was devoted to farming. His relaxation consisted playing the violin.

At his funeral Mass a piece of the violin was played in his memory. His remains were brought to St Michael’s Church from St Patrick’s for his funeral Mass which was celebrated by Fr John McGrath PP.

The white pall was placed on Joe’s coffin by his cousins Michael Cahill and Ned Cahill. The readers were Mary O Mahony (Cahill) and Helen Cahill. Prayers of the faithful were recited by Miriam Dore, Rita Seymour and Lily O Neill. The offerty gifts were presented by Joe’s cousins, Kathleen Barry and May Dore. After the funeral Mass Joe’s remains were interred in the family plot in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Killaghy.

To his brothers Tom and John we extend our condolences on the loss of their brother. Our regrets also the his extended family and friends.

Last weekend the Kickham Country weekend took place in Mullinahone. In spite of inclement weather, it was one of the best in a big number of years.

Highlight of the weekend was the return to the parish of his birth of Seamus Freeman, the newly appointed Bishop of Ossory. Bishop Seamus offered a Mass of thanksgiving in St Michael’s church for his elevation to Episcopal ranks.

The Mass was also the anniversary Mass for Charles J. Kickham and his biographer James Maher. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Freeman, Fr McGrath PP and Fr Thomas Aherne, a native of Mullinahone who had returned for the day and was also responsible for the diocesan choir, which sang during Mass. 

Speaking at Mass in St. Michael’s Church, which was full, the bishop spoke on the need for vocations. Afterwards as part of the Kickham weekend Bishop Freeman gave the oration at Kickhams grave.

2008 is the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Fenians and both history lectures on Friday and Saturday nights dealt with this topic. The Kickham bus tour this year embraced the Callan area, taking in the new memorial erected to James Hoban, the architect who designed the White House in Washington.

Unfortunately the open air poetry reading in Killaghy Castle had to be moved indoors due to heavy rain. In true theatrical tradition, the show went on with broadcaster Leo Cullen as guest poet.

Once again, it is almost Kickham Country Weekend time in “the little village”. Preparations are at an advanced stage for the annual cultural and historical weekend which gets underway on Friday August 8th in the local Knocknagow centre.

This year is the 26th such weekend. It all sprung out of the Centenary celebrations in 1982 held to commemorate the death of Charles J. Kickham a century previously.

 The weekend will be officially opened on Friday August 8th by Liz Howard. Liz is this years’ Tipperary person of the year. Known to many for her previous and high profile role in the GAA, Liz has many connections with Mullinahone. As well as being Tipperary person of the year, Liz is also the Uachtaran or President of the Irish Camogie Association. Her love of hurling is legendary and she was one of the first lady analysts of the game in RTE. I also believe that she may be the first lady to officially open the Kickham Country Weekend. 

The official opening will follow a cheese and wine reception at 7.30pm. An historical lecture will follow at 8.30pm called “John O Mahony: The Fenian in America”. This years 2008 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Fenian Brotherhood which was founded in 1858. On Saturday afternoon, a guided bus tour of the Callan area takes place with local historian Joe Kennedy acting as a guide. That night in the Knocknagow centre at 8.30pm “The Munster Fenians” are featured by historian Eva O Cathaoir. 

This years Sunday programme has much more local flavour than usual. The annual Anniversary Mass for Charles Kickham and his first biographer James Maher will be offered in St. Michael’s Church at 11.30am. The celebrant will be the new Bishop of Ossory Bishop Seamus Freeman. Bishop Seamus is an ideal choice as of course he was born in the parish of Mullinahone, even if reared in Coolagh. 

Of course, the late James Maher made the opposite journey from Callan to Mullinahone. Bishop Seamus will also be double jobbing as after Mass, he will give the oration at the laying of wreath on the graves of both Kickham and James Maher. Parishioners are encouraged to attend the 11.30am Mass to welcome Bishop Seamus home. 

The glow of Munster hurling final success continued to bathe Mullinahone in a warm glow last Tuesday evening. The sun was shining and the local GAA ground looked a picture when the Munster Cup was brought to the village by four members of the Tipperary team led by Eoin Kelly, who also led the team on the field. Eoin was accompanied by Paul Curran and the quartet was filled by the Killenaule pair Declan Fanning and Patrick Kerwick.

The ground was a mass of colour with Tipperary, Mullinahone and Killenaule jerseys to the fore. Before the arrival of the cup Mullinahone had been playing Killenaule at under 6, under 8, and under 10 level, so there was no shortage of young people around. All four lads were most obliging in the matter of posing for photographs, singing jerseys and autographs and just chatting to the crowd who quickly assembled. 

It was certainly a huge improvement on bringing the cup to pubs and all four lads are to be congratulated on the part they played on a lovely evening. They made excellent ambassadors for the team and hurling in general. 

Broadband

It is reported that broadband could be rolled out in Mullinahone early in 2009. In a recent letter Tom Hayes TD, stated that two companies would be willing to supply broadband to Mullinahone depending on demand. 

If interested contact: 01 4818400. A call or letter to Eircom would not go astray either.

Long ago in school we learned in geography class about the monsoon season. This season was only associated with hot countries which we never expected to see.

This rainy season of course never came to Ireland. Nowadays it seems that we can’t be too sure any more if the first week of July is any guide. During the first six days of July 72mm of almost 3’’ of rain has fallen. To put this in perspective the heavy rainfall during the six days is more than the combined total rainfall for the months of April and May this year.

The fact that we have had rainfall each day in not that surprising but the severity of the rainfall is, at the end of June rainfall for the first half of 2008 had reached 463mm. maybe the weather will clear up by St Swithin’s Day (July 14^th) but don’t depend on it. Of course we don’t want to see the skies over Tipperary crying on the day after the Munster Final.