The holidays are here. Schools have been closed for the past few weeks. The builders are on their traditional two-week break amid fears that some of them may be forced to endure and even longer holiday. Many people have headed for Portugal and the South of France in search of sun, sand and sea breezes.

The Dail is also in denial. Someone once said that we should try running the country without politicians for a week and see how it got on. Well, we shall be without representation and political meddling for the next FOUR MONTHS, as our hard-working T.D.s take their annual sabbatical on full pay, so expect a gradual upturn in the economy.

The town is enjoying an influx of summer visitors at present, despite the recent spell of bad weather. Many exiles have returned from England, America, Australia, etc to spend time with family and friends, while local guest houses and accommodation outlets also report a steady stream of tourists passing through the area.

A popular visitor to the town last week was poet, story teller and folklorist, Eddie Lenihan, who hails originally from Brosna and is a past pupil of St Ita’s College. Eddie was fulfilling a few lecturing engagements around West Limerick and North Kerry, and dropped in to Jack O’Rourke’s bar for a quiet drink and a lively chat. He informs us that he has a new book in the pipeline, and details of all of his publications can be found at www.eddielenihan.ie.

Galway races also start next week, and our local gambling fraternity will travel up in force for their annual joust with the bookies. Expect many near-misses and hard-luck stories.

A few of us more patriotic souls are waiting patiently for a break in the bad weather, so that we can visit Ballybunion and stroll along the cliff top before partaking of our yearly sea-weed bath and, from there, on to the Railway Bar for a refreshing pint.

Who needs Ibiza when we have the Nuns’ Strand?

SPORT

Pride of place this week must go to golfer, Padraig Harrington for his marvellous achievement in retaining his British Open title. And his second shot on the seventeenth will surely go down in golfing history. Padraig has had his detractors (myself included) but he has now surely proved that he is one of the all time greats of Irish sport.

Well done, Padraig! Its great to beat the Brits in their own back yard. I think we all walked a little bit taller on Sunday evening.

And what about those Limerick footballers. Or were they really fifteen Kerrymen dressed up in green jerseys?

Who would have thought that, following a mediocre display against Tipp in the opening round, that they would beat Cork everywhere but on the scoreboard, and follow it up by hammering Meath? We may yet discover that we are residing in either a parallel universe or a fool’s paradise. But, let us enjoy it while we can.

Next Saturday evening, Limerick face Kildare in the Gaelic Grounds with a place in the quarter-finals of the All Ireland as the prize. The usual large Abbeyfeale contingent will travel, but let us hope that the rest of Limerick will also flock to the Gaelic Grounds to support Micky Ned and his team.

UP LIMERICK!

PILGRIMS:

A group of young pilgrims from Abbeyfeale, led by Fr John O’Shea P.P. are presently in Sydney, Australia to take part in the World Youth Day ceremonies which are being hosted by His Holiness, Pope Benedict.

APPOINTMENT;

Johnny Walsh, Mountcollins has been appointed principal of Tournafulla N.S. He takes over from GAA County Board Chairman, Liam Lenihan, who has recently retired.

CHERNOBYL:

The Abbeyfeale Chernobyl Children’s Committee would like to thank everyone who supported their recent church gate collection.

CHARITY:

A recent charity fundraising soccer match between Harnett’s Spar Shop and Tesco Abbeyfeale ended in a 4-3 victory for Tesco. Proceeds from the match went to the Make A Wish Foundation.
ATHLETICS
Congratulations to Emma Culhane, Thomas Sexton, Shane O’Connell and Emma Sexton who won medals at the recent county championships.

RUGBY

Abbeyfeale are back in training for the new rugby season and, as usual, are on the lookout for players. Anyone interested in playing rugby at whatever level should contact the club for details. A new gymnasium is now in operation down there, as well as the all-weather training pitch. Declan Woulfe is chairman this year and (no pressure, Deckie) expectations are reported to be high.

GOLF:

Presentation of prizes for the Lady Captain’s Prize (Annette O’Leary) at Abbeyfeale Golf Club was held in Jack O’Rourke’s bar and the results were as follows; 1^st Mary O’Donoghue (13) 33pts. 2^nd Geraldine Collins (34) 31 pts. 3^rd Margaret Moloney (32) 30 pts. 4^th Jane Dwyer (34) 25 pts. 5^th Kim Mullins (36) 18pts. Front 9 – Maggs O’Riordan (34) 15 pts. Back 9 – Bridie Collins (30) 10 pts.

GAA:

Fr Casey’s booked their place in the knock-out stages of the County Senior Football Championship with a 1-14 to 0-10 win over Claughaun. Local player, Padraig Browne, featured in Limerick’s fine win over Meath in the All Ireland qualifier at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening.

Football results; All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Rd 1: Donegal 3-11 Roscommon 1-9; Kildare 1-16 Cavan 1-15; Limerick 4-12 Meath 4-3; Longford 0-11 Laois 1-10; Louth 1-10 Tyrone 1-18; Monaghan 1-13 Derry 1-12; Offaly 2-10 Down 5-19; Tipperary 0-6 Westmeath 0-15; Ulster SFC final: Armagh 2-8 Fermanagh 1-11; Leinster MFC final: Meath 1-14 Offaly 2-10; Ulster MFC final: Tyrone 0-13 Monaghan 0-10. Tommy Murphy Cup Quarter-Finals: Antrim 1-10 Carlow 0-11; Clare 1-8 Leitrim 1-12; London 3-14 Sligo 2-12, aet; Wicklow 0-18 Waterford 0-12;

Hurling Results; All-Ireland SHC Qualifiers Rd 4: Cork 0-23 Galway 2-15; Waterford 2-18 Offaly 0-18; All-Ireland SHC Relegation Playoff: Antrim 2-18 Laois 0-16; Christy Ring Cup Quarter-Finals: ; Down 0-18 Derry 1-20; Kerry 2-4 Carlow 1-14; Kildare 3-13 Westmeath 2-22; Wicklow 1-22 Mayo 3-18, aet; Nicky Rackard Cup Quarter-Finals: Fingal 1-19 Leitrim 0-12; Monaghan 1-11 Cavan 0-9; Non Ards 2-16 Louth 4-13; Sligo 2-15 Tyrone 2-11.

Ladies Football; All-Ireland MFC semi-final: Dublin 3-23 Mayo 2-7; Monaghan 0-8 Tyrone 1-9. TG4 JFC Rd 1: Antrim 0-12 Wicklow 3-9; Louth 0-7 Derry 1-7; Aisling McGing Memorial C’ship Rd 3: Meath w/o Kildare scr; Cork 5-28 Galway 0-1

.Camogie; Gala SCC: Cork 2-21 Limerick 0-5; Wexford 3-8 Dublin 0-7; Kilkenny 1-13 Galway 1-9; Gala ICC: Derry 2-6 Wexford 0-11; Kilkenny 3-8 Galway 3-8; Gala JCC: Derry 0-0 Armagh 3-12; MBCC: Waterford 2-13 Down 3-7; Laois P Offaly P; Sighle Nic an Ultaigh, Minor A: Cork 3-12 Antrim 0-3. All-Ireland U16 A semi-final: Kilkenny 1-15 Galway 3-8.