Well I got up at 07:30 sharp at least half an hour before the others. Teagan happy with Santa and other presents including a Nutcracker. I was worried if my bladder would last through all the ceremonies in the church. I catheterised around 09:00 and made it over to the church on a crisp frosty morning in plenty of time for hymns at 09:45. In fact, I think I was the first person in to the church after the sacristan, Rose McEneaney. I looked at the crib, shifted this year to the south west wing of the church at the back. Also lower and easier to see. Lovely red carnations up around the altar. Two red poinsettia blossoms decorated each of the stations of the cross. Lights all lit. Incense burning in the vestibule. I was dressed in red silk tie, blue and white striped dress shirt, burgundy pattern pedlar’s zipped cardigan, steel grey woollen trousers with thin vertical stripes, black and while light F&F socks, Clark’s rubber-soled brogues, navy Bugati long coat, black and red Titleist golf cap complete with bobbin, black gloves. Walked back from mass with Eleanor Wehrly. Like days of yore. The singing before mass was slow, deliberate, good.
O, Little Town of Bethlehem
Away in a Manger
When a Child Is Born (Christine, solo)
Ding Dong
My list of intentions for these carols was; Aisling, Teagan, Rosanna, Óg; in that order. Christine did well singing through the microphone. I enjoyed the first 2 hymns which are right up my street.
There were a number of faux-pas in the choir during mass itself. The first verse of Silent Night finished correctly but I was beset by doubt afterwards about the finish of the second verse. Catherine sang the wrong words for the second refrain of O, Holy Night. I stopped singing completely. It was a mistake but it was not fatal. Fr. Duffy was late coming with the thurible from the altar to incense the crib so we sang 2 verses of Adeste Fideles before he carried out his manoeuvre and then repeated the first verse afterwards. Not the way it was planned. The incense should have come between the 2 verses in our hymn sheet.
Adeste Fideles
Silent Night
O, Holy Night
Joy to the World
My intention for the first 3 of these hymns were: Teagan, Margaret Kennard, Rebecca Crudden. Nothing for the last. I will dedicate it now to Anne whom I rang there about an hour ago. An Indian couple are moving in to stay in her house. He a chef; she a nurse. Teagan in great form in her Aladdin outfit. I took half a dozen snaps of her. Sent one to Joe and John Crudden. I e-mailed them tonight. Sent most of the photos to Aisling. She is gone to bed for over an hour. I don’t think she checked her e-mail tonight.
Brown bread, butter, cheddar, ginger preserve; tea
Fried rashers, 4 fried sausages; a banana
Turkey, ham, gravy, Brussels sprouts, celery, mash, salt, cranberry sauce; chocolate ice cream and jelly; tea and sweet biscuits
I think I will eat an orange before I go to bed, catheterise, then take Combodart
I ate a few chocolate sweets today and tonight. Rosanna cooked the dinner. I washed up. Teagan did not want to eat dinner but there were no tears. Seán Óg rang at 15:30 just when I had finished my main course of dinner. In excellent form. He is coming down to Greenore tomorrow. He more or less asked me to play golf the next day. Eamonn and Leah rang, too, soon after Óg. They are coming tomorrow. I did not need to catheterise today for the second time until 14:00. So my worries of this morning were definitely unfounded. RTE Radio 1 playing in the background now as I type on my Dell Inspiron. 23:48. Charged the fire fully in The White Elephant Lounge at 23:00. Teddy rang c 20:00. Atmosphere in the house not too bad today. Teagan lasted all day without a nap. Aisling went for a run to Templetown on the beach before dinner. Driving her mother’s new Stonic. Aisling and Teagan went over to Eleanor’s at 18:00 before that house sat down to dinner at 19:00. That’s roughly the time when I did the washing up. I sang a few hymns for Teagan this morning. Aisling did not like them but I think Teagan did. Silent Night and Away in a Manger. I took a walk in my green parka and my red and black Titleist cap after dinner c 16:15 in the twilight; down around the church and back by the top road. Carried out a full routine this morning including exercise. Passed a solid motion in the early afternoon. Catheter infrequent. To bed c 00:35 after catheter and a Combodart. Had eaten an orange c 00:00. No requests on RTE 1 Radio tonight. It was not Aenghus McNally who was spinning the records this year. Christmas music. I did not really listen.
5 grilled sausages, fried cold microwaved small potatoes left over from the other day, a fried egg, brown sauce, a champagne glass of orange/barley drink
Wheat biscuits, sliced banana, raspberries, milk
Hovis, butter, easi-slices, tea
Banana loaf, coffee (after mass)
Well I felt fat and stiff today even though I exercised this morning before I dressed. Drove over to the meeting room of the church for the Annual General Meeting of IMPERO. Door of the meeting room locked. Rose McEneaney apologised to me before 19:30 mass. But I had already scouted around yesterday and found the door of the room locked so I brought a key with me today. Dessie turned up in plenty of time; Leonard Hatrick turned up 15 minutes late. I think he had trouble with his “bag” this morning. Anyway the meeting went well and lasted nearly an hour and a half. It was well prepared. I read my article Outcaste and I thought when reading it that it would not be out of place at a more academic gathering. I really could write in 2005 and 2006. Took a few photos, too, but I have not looked at them yet. Arranged to meet Dessie on Tuesday at 12:00 at McCrystals to withdraw the money I am owed from the IMPERO account. 370 euro in there now. There will be < 100 euro left. Rosanna went down to play golf in the special competition first round at 13:45. I had to come back from the church for my reading glasses and saw her pull out when I was going in the front door. I watched the match between France and Australia this morning. Assisted by VRA France ran out 2 – 1 winners. Felt very uncomfortable this evening before mass and uneasy. A bit better now? 21:46. Fr. Stansfield assisted by Fr. Pádraig Murphy who was still speaking gobbledegook when he read some of the prayers after communion. “The men add something to the choir,” Fr. Stansfield said when he was passing by going home after mass. “Keep saying that!” I joked. Anyway Catherine was absent so the singing was more together and, I think, better than usual.
Sweet Heart of Jesus
There Is a River
There Is a Place
Sweep Over My Soul
Our God Reigns
We also sang My Lord, My God and an Amen as well as Alleluia x 2. I gave 5 euro in the yellow envelope “for the priest” and 10 euro in the buff-coloured envelope for priests’ dues. No collection at the door. Earlier in the evening I paid 7.45 euro in the shop for 1lb of Kerrygold and a banana loaf. Used the opportunity to get change of a 50 note which was all the currency I had. So I was able to “fill” the envelopes reasonably correctly. I also watered the flower pots and the hanging basket this afternoon before mass. Most of the banana loaf is already eaten. I prepared a fry this morning because there was no butter in the house. I cooked 8 or 9 Denny’s sausages this morning leaving 3 over for Rosanna. Dustin Johnston in the lead in Shinnecock Hills this morning but he had not begun to play yet today. Conditions are difficult, I think. I did not hear from Paul Smyth today? Rosanna has just now put her key in the front door. 22:02. I woke this morning to the strains of the alarm on my mobile phone at 09:00 and got out of bed immediately. 00:18. I trimmed my neck and upper lip this morning. Christine looking well and fitter than usual in summer gear, a pink T-shirt and matching fingernails.
Never left the house all day.Prepared lunch; dinner.Washed up after dinner.Lit the fire in The White Elephant Lounge in the early afternoon.Rosanna still wrecked.She was in bed during the day for a few hours.Aisling went to Dundalk and Carlingford with Teagan.I still have trouble over urination.Much the same as the past few days.Frequency with bladder and bowel moving in unison.Read my journal for this day in 2011 and also this day in 2015.A lot of “memories” on Facebook for this day.Trouble with The Dell Inspiron.Real time scanning off.MVT (McAfee Virtual Technician) did not work for me to turn real time scanning on.Worried all night about my computer, virus, etc.Still worried until after mass tomorrow when MVT worked the oracle.Journaled this morning.20:27.
·Wheat biscuits, milk, sliced banana
·A white pan heel, a small brown heel, butter, smoked cheddar, Ballymaloe relish, ½ a blueberry muffin; tea
·Steamed Roosters, ham, baked beans in tomato sauce; a banana.Coffee later
Paul Smyth rang.He golfed with Casey and Mallon a.m.
Robert Duffy using a cherry picker hired for the day topped some of the big green trees at the back of the house and felled most of the ivy clad silver birch which had grown to a great height over the past 47 years. Aisling returned from her break in Sligo and Clare with Teagan. A Marist small of stature with a flowing white beard and white locks celebrated 19:30 mass and finished off with Hail Queen of Heaven which the congregation joined in on with gusto. He is a slow deliberate speaker with very correct enunciation. His sermon was good but the pace of his speech and his voice pattern became boring in the end. I gave €5 “to the priest.” Received the sign of peace from Paddy O’Toole but forgot to sympathise with him on the death of his brother in Enistymon a place Aisling stayed in for the past few days. Activated my new UB Mastercard in Ballymascanlon service station after mass buying milk, bread, chocolate biscuits. Withdrew €50 from the ATM there as well. Journalled a.m. Wales defeated Ireland 10 – 16. A challenge match in preparation for the World Cup. Paul O’Connell’s last match in the Aviva. Eleanor sat in my Parker Knoll in the early afternoon and watched the tree “trimming.” I went to bed before 23:00 feeling tired and sluggish and apprehensive about golf tomorrow. I drove over to mass this evening. I forget what I ate today. Much the same as yesterday, I think, with chicken and ham instead of mackeral.
Up 06.30. Nice morning but breezy. Played 6 with Alan Ratcliff starting at 10.00. 7, 4, 4, 6, 2, 5. Holed my 3-metal second shot on 17. An albatross. Looked for the ball in the rough at the back of the green then found the ball in the hole! Did not change socks or clothes. Coffee. Alan paid including pay for the last time he was there. Forgot my shoes and cardigan. Unloaded my gear at home and returned to the club. Golfer’s fry, chips, tea. Called in at 15.00 to Dixon’s funeral parlour in Maxwell’s Row the first to view Dickie Breen laid out with a rosary entwined in his delicate hands. My name ostentatiously the first in the Book of Condolences. Printed 21 x 6”x4” photos in Long Walk Shopping Centre. €6.20. Bought 2.75l of milk in Tesco. Rosanna was called out to play in a team with Ken Donald and the O’Hagans, Siobhán and Dónal. I mounted 16 of the photos in the red Lú folder after my journal for July. First took a much needed siesta. Then washed my teeth; my feet in a basin of Radox; then used the solvent to wash my face and head. Before my ablutions I ate 4 open ham sandwiches, a slice of Kilmeaden, a mug of tea. After my ablutions and before mounting the photos I quaffed a glass of Soave. Then fixed the snaps. Ate a wheat biscuit and some wheat/rice crispies, in milk; for supper. The Chada boys buried today. Alan scored 48. He goes to England in the next day or two to “baby-sit” and to consult his surgeon.
Left Eamonn in to DkIT in the morning. Got to Dundalk Shopping Centre just in time to pass a motion. 10% haircut proposed on all deposits in Cyprus. Read some of No Bother. Took an early siesta after I came home from town. Picked Eamonn up from DkIT at 17.00 and returned after 19.00 to 19 Cherryvale to pick up Michael Farrelly for the last session of Renew for this Lent. Fr. Larkin, Dessie there as well. Catrióna Hughes and Catrióna Treanor ensconced in the vestibule when Michael and I entered the church. They were “teaching” a gaggle of subdued teenagers. Easter ceremonies? Paddy O’Toole turned up soon after Renew ended. To lock up and to “do a few things.” At the end of Renew I passed around cans of Coke Zero and took 3 or 4 snaps with my Canon. All participants in good mood. Everything went well. “A good team?” I remarked and Fr. Larkin commented, “ Well balanced!” He adverted to the fact that we had no women on the team. Eamonn went early to bed. I am not sure but I may have celebrated with a glass of wine. We sang, “Ceád Míle Fáilte Romhat, a Íosa,” at Renew tonight after the reflection. Micheal did the prayers, Dessie the lessons and the psalm from his missal. Fr. Larkin read the gospel and the “final thought.” I read the reflection. The gospel was the “triumphal entry into Jerusalem.” “A humble man riding a colt down the hill,” I pointed out before the hymn.
After decades of service as sacristan in St. Mary’s Church, Bellurgan and, subsequently, in Our Lady of The Wayside Church, Jenkinstown, Eva Hamill retired officially from her sacred duty on Saturday 16 February 2013. Her retirement was marked with a presentation from Gemma McDermott, chairperson of the pastoral council, and another from Fr. Pádraig Murphy PP DD, parish priest of Lordship and Ravensdale. The presentation followed a very moving mass including blessing and anointing with oil celebrated by Fr. Murphy starting at 11.00. This mass was Eva’s final duty as sacristan. It included the hymn “To Do Your Will” sung after communion at Eva’s request.
Up soon after 07.00. Dropped Eamonn outside the restaurant in DkIT c 08.50. Piddled in Saint Oliver’s and then got in to the clinic, my second attempt. Collette opened the locked door. A tall statuesque dark student nurse emerged from within after a while and told me that Pakie would not be in until 09.45 and apologised. So I went back to Saint Oliver Plunkett’s Hospital and gave Mary Mag a small box of Cadbury’s Roses. Less coherent than usual she was happy enough. Her bed was neat and the nurses were coming in with porridge when I left. Mickey Lane blew me when I was walking in to the Clinic. 25 mg of Risperdal Consta in the left “side.” Pakie told me the joke about the woman with a duck under her arm. “What do you think of my pig?” I told him my story of Billy Hulme and the wife. Good humour all round. Pakie had slept it! Drove home and rang Jo Malone and John Finnegan. Could not “get” Eva. Kevin McGeough bought me tea and toast in Glenda’s. We talked about singing and the usual things. His sister, Sheila, in the final stages of illness at home from hospital at her request. €1 for 3 apples. “Have you nothing smaller?” Glenda. “I am looking for change,” I said handing her a €20 note and showing her my empty purse. €10 note + 4x€2 coins + €1 coin. Used the €1 coin to park in DkIT straddling a line between 2 cars alongside a shed in the car-park beside Carroll’s building. Took a few snaps outside before and 1 of Ferdia Mac Anna after the creative writing class. Enquired at reception about the protocol for taking photos. I wrote a brief story about my handball match in 1961 with Pat Kiernan. A little precipitation. Fried cold small microwaved potatoes and a piece of Salmon Wellington on the Tefal pan in butter; reheated carrots parsnips peas by microwave in the “circus” bowl; heated the coagulated gravy in the roasting dish on a ring of the cooker; put a few slices of cold silverside on my plate; laid out the salt and tomato sauce. A tasty repast. Washed it all down with a nice glass of McGuigan red. Rosanna golfed 12 holes with Pat Cluskey. Alan Ratcliff rang on my mobile when I was sitting at the window in the meeting room of Our Lady of The Wayside Church c 19.35 when I was waiting for Renew to start at 20.00 and warming the room up. Briege who has had teeth pulled unwell due partly at least to Wafarin in her system. So no Alan and no kettle! When Dessie turned up I drove home in the rain and took the kettle out of an empty house. Rosanna gone in to DkIT to collect Eamonn? Fr. Paddy Larkin, John “Feather” Finnegan, Jo Malone; also turned up. John, Dessie and I stayed on afterwards for tea in disposable cups that I had supplied along with 0.5l of cow’s milk. Nice, I thought, with Dessie’s Ginger Nut biscuits. Feather showed an interested Fr. Larkin Michael O’Hanlon’s history of Cooley while I was boiling the kettle. But Fr. Larkin left before we drank tea. Jo had already departed. Ate some cold chicken curry at home and searched the archive on indymedia.ie and Sean’s Space on the subject of love, for my “homework.” After supper washed teeth and got to bed around 23.10. Rang Áine this morning outside the clinic. She returned my call in the evening and I waxed on about Mental Health: Peers in Progress.
Sean's Space 
Recent Comments