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============
IN THIS ISSUE
============

=== News Snaps from Ireland
=== Half an Egg! by Marie O'Byrne
=== Erskine Childers: Fourth President of Ireland
=== Dublin Castle
=== Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
=== Gaelic Phrases of the Month
=== Monthly Free Competition Result

Popular Articles from Recent Newsletters:

Grace O'Malley - Gaelic Pirate Queen of Ireland
Sean T. O'Kelly: Second President of Ireland
Killarney National Park, County Kerry






==========
FOREWORD
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Hello again from Ireland that is under siege from relentless Atlantic storms at the moment. The devastation caused by the unusual winds and rain has to be seen to be believed. This month we have a short story, a biography of an Irish President and two places you simply must visit when in Ireland! Until next time, Michael




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NEWS SNAPS FROM IRELAND
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'QUIET MAN' COTTAGES VERY AFFORDABLE IN IRELAND One of the effects of the dramatic collapse in property prices in Ireland is that there are bargains to be had. Cottages in rural locations away from the larger urban centres are in good supply and can be picked at auctions where the minimum reserves are often as low as 25,000 euro (approx US$34,000). A quick search of Ireland's leading property websites reveals an abundance of cheap sites, derelict cottages, houses needing refurbishment and actual gems that you can move into today. If you have ever dreamed of living the 'The Quiet Man' lifestyle then there has never been a better chance to snap up a bargain. At Ballinlough in County Roscommon a cottage can be yours for 25,000 euro. An 'Ideal Project For The DIY Enthusiast' the sales literature says! A derelict cottage on the wonderful Dingle Peninsula at Ballyferriter can be yours for 50,000 euro. Kerry in general and the Dingle Peninsula in particular are often regarded as among the most beautiful parts of Ireland. The wonderfully named Honeysuckle Cottage in Galway is located at Williamstown, a matter of 20 miles or so from the village of Cong where John Wayne and Victor McLaglen slugged it out over the rolling fields. If DIY is not your thing then you can move into a very handsome cottage at nearby Oughterard in Galway for just under 90,000 euro, smack bang wallop in the heart of 'Quiet Man' territory. IRELAND PUMMELED BY ATLANTIC STORMS A series of storms that have blown in from the Atlantic Ocean have caused severe damage across Ireland with more on the way. Over 100,000 homes were left without electricity while the ESB (electricity supply board) struggled to deal with its biggest ever backlog of repairs. Roofs were blown off structures in villages and towns by the incredible 170kph winds that continued for hours at a time. As many as 100,000 homes across Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Clare were left without normal water supplies. Nowlan Park, the Gaelic Football stadium in Kilkenny had asbestos roof tiles ripped from its structure and tossed and shattered onto the nearby road, causing a double hazard as the asbestos is regarded as a very dangerous substance to handle. The cost of the cleanup will likely run into tens of thousands for this onc incident alone. And this is a drama that is being replayed all across the country. Property owners that have been repeatedly flooded over the last few years are afraid also that their insurance cover will be ceased, with insurance companies running shy of offering cover in areas that are constantly threatened with overflowing water. WAR ON OBESITY IN IRELAND STEPPED UP The war on obesity in Ireland is being fought on many fronts. The 'Operation Transformation' show on Irish television has helped motivate tens of thousands of people to adopt a better lifestyle, eat healthier and get out and take some exercise. The reality show has certainly been a big success with the show organisers even appearing before a Government committee to promote their agenda. Not so successful however has been the attempts of the Irish Government food watchdog 'Safefood', in convincing supermarkets to remove the display of sugary sweets at their checkout tills. Parents have often complained that it is next to impossible to prevent their kids grabbing at the bars of chocolate and packets of sweets while they queue up to pay for their groceries. The supermarkets realise that this is an easy profit game. After contacting each of the five biggest supermarket chains in Ireland Safefood was disappointed to reveal that none had so far given any commitment to have the confectionery removed from the checkout area. Obviously the profits are too big to risk. Marian Faughnan is chief specialist in nutrition for Safefood: 'This issue has been around for years, but it has never been more important to get action on it given the high rate of childhood obesity... this is a simple step that would really help' A Safefood survey revealed that 73% believe that having junk food at checkouts is a contributory factor to obesity, and 29% said they'd be more likely to shop at stores where it is banned from the tills. A recent World Health Organisation report has revealed that Ireland ranks third in the league table of overweight 11-year-olds in Europe. Third worst! Of 53 European countries the prevalence of overweight 11-year-olds in Ireland was 30%, behind only Greece at 33% and Portugal at 32%. The Netherlands at 13% and Switzerland at 11% fared much better. The Regional director of the WHO for Europe is Zsuzsanna Jakab: 'Physical inactivity – coupled with a culture that promotes cheap, convenient foods high in fats, salt and sugars – is deadly. Our perception of what is normal has shifted: being overweight is now more common than unusual.' GREAT CHANCE FOR IRELAND TO QUALIFY FOR FOOTBALL FINALS The new managers of the Irish international football team have a great chance of qualifying for the European Championships in 2026. The finals are to be held in France with an expanded number of teams playing in the finals. With France guaranteed qualification as host nation there are 23 places available for the other 3 teams. Previously only 16 teams could qualify but this has been increased to 24 meaning that several teams who finish in third place in their group will take their place at the finals. In a group with Germany, Poland and Scotland the Irish team must surely fancy their chances of at least finishing in the top three if not second in a group that Germany are expected to top. Gibraltar and Georgia make up the other fixtures facing the boys in green. New managers Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane must be looking forward to the action, particularly the games against Scotland which will surely prove to be the highlights of the campaign.






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============= HALF AN EGG! by Marie O'Byrne ============= I have many fond memories of my childhood, growing up in Greystones, Co Wicklow in the 1960's. In Particular I remember the busy mornings sitting around the kitchen table with my eleven brothers and sisters while my dear mother served us all a hot meal to set us up for the long school day ahead. Almost every morning she fed us porridge from the big metal pot that was sitting on top of the old range. She was up at the crack of dawn, well before any of us, and she always had the fire going and the kitchen warm and toasty for us all before we got up. Having to feed thirteen people every day was no small task and it made a lot of sense to use just the one big pot so that there would be plenty for everyone. Our mother ran a tight ship and she always managed to have good, wholesome warm meals on the table for us all. On some rare occasions however, we were lucky enough to have a change: we got a boiled egg and toast with our cup of tea for our breakfast. On those special days there was an unspoken rule that you cut your egg in half and handed over the top part of the egg to your sister or brother that was sitting next to you. This was due to the fact that there simply was not enough eggs to go around such a large family and it became an automatic action on our parts. I rarely remember having a whole egg all for myself. My father in his wisdom often said that 'Half an egg is better than no egg!' I vividly remember one St. Patrick's morning when we were all sitting around the table having our breakfast of boiled eggs. I automatically cut my egg in half and was about to pass the top part over to my sister Eileen. When my mother saw me, she gently raised her hand up in the air to stop me. 'Oh, No, Marie, today is St. Patrick's Day , it's a very special day for us all, and you get to have a whole egg all for yourself pet! Everyone get's a whole egg on St. Patrick's Day !' She beamed with gratitude and a real sense of pride. 'Really! Ah, sure this is great Ma' said Eileen. We both giggled and laughed as we very happily tucked into the lovely gooey yoke! Sometimes I wish I could go back in time to those simpler days. Even tough materially speaking we were very poor, in other ways we were abundantly rich. We had loving caring parents, lot's of fun and laughter playing with each other, a big glowing fire and a warm cosy, cottage. I wouldn't trade any of it, even though I only got half an egg. Marie O'Byrne is author of three Irish Novels available from www.marieobyrne.com.




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============================================== ERSKINE CHILDERS: FOURTH PRESIDENT OF IRELAND ============================================== Erskine Hamilton Childers was born in 1905. He served as President of Ireland from 1973 to 1974, was an elected TD (member of the Irish Parliament), served as a Minister in several Government Departments and was appointed Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) in 1969. His father was Robert Erskine Childers who was a leading Irish Republican, executed during the Irish Civil War. He was the author of the espionage thriller 'The Riddle of the Sands'. Erskine Childers was born in London to a Protestant family from Wicklow in Ireland. After the First World War his family moved back to Wicklow. His father's ancestry was Irish while his mother, Mary Alden Childers, was from Boston and whose family had arrived in America aboard the Mayflower. Together they were ardent opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which partitioned much of Ulster from the rest of Ireland. They were stringent Republicans. The young Childers was educated in History at Cambridge in England and was only 16 years of age when his father was executed by the new Free State Government, on charges relating to gun possession. After he graduated from College he worked for a time in Paris before taking up a position at Eamon deValera's newspaper 'The Irish Press' in 1931. In 1938 he was elected to the Irish Parliament for the first time. He served as the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in 1951, Minister for Lands in 1957, and as Minister for Health in the Jack Lynch Government, becoming Tanaiste in 1969. He supported Jack Lynch's condemnation of the violence in Northern Ireland and also supported the proposal of Ireland joining the EEC (now the European Union). He was an outspoken critic of Charles Haughey in the aftermath of the 'Arms Crisis' when Haughey was accused of attempting to import arms for the Provisional IRA, a charge he was later acquitted of. He was nominated for President by Eamon deValera who pressured the then Taoiseach Jack Lynch to put him forward as the Fianna Fail candidate. Having been educated in England and a Protestant he was not expected to defeat the Fine Gael candidate Tom O'Higgins who had only narrowly been defeated by deValera in the 1966 Presidential election. Despite these apparent disadvantages he campaigned with vigour, proving his wide popularity and support and won the Presidency by a small margin in a big political upset. As President he clashed with the Fine Gael Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave. Childers had wanted to make the role of President of Ireland more open and accessible to the people. Cosgrave may have viewed such an expansion of the role of President as a threat to his own power and position and blocked his initial attempt to establish a think-tank within the Irish Parliament to plan the future of the country. Cosgrave briefed Childers on national matters only about once every six months, a far cry from the once-a-month updates of previous Presidencies. Childers was thus somewhat isolated from the Fine Gael Government of the time. His attempts to reform the Presidency having been thwarted he instead embarked on a series of official visits and speeches. The strain of his engagements must have taken their toll as he suffered a heart attack in November 1974 and died in the Mater Hospital in Dublin. Such was the popularity of Erskine Childers and his wife Rita that a plan was hatched by Cosgrave to appoint Rita Childers as President by acclamation. Initially the Fianna Fail leader Jack Lynch agreed but later withdrew his support for the plan when details of it emerged in the press. Attorney General and Chief Justice, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, was nominated as the next President instead. KEEP THIS NEWSLETTER ALIVE! Solve your gift problem at: https://www.irishnation.com ============================================ IRELAND'S MOST POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS ============================================ FREE ATTRACTION #17: DUBLIN CASTLE Dublin Castle is a complex of Government Offices that served as the centre of British rule in Ireland from the twelfth century. If you ever saw the film 'Michael Collins' then you may remember the scene in the Castle courtyard where Collins is ceremoniously presented with the Castle when British rule ended in 1922. The Castle was originally a Norman fortress but was then developed into a Royal residence and later into an administrative centre. The Castle is host to many Government ceremonies and is the home of the European Presidency approximately every ten years. After the Strongbow invasion of 1172 the ruling Normans built the Castle as a defensive structure. Dublin Castle formed one corner of the defensive perimeter of the entire city. Over the centuries the buildings in the Dublin Castle complex have been demolished and replaced although the 'Record Tower' still survives from the thirteenth century, the only surviving tower of the original fortification. This place is steeped in history. It is from here that the Irish rebel leader Red Hugh O'Donnell escaped in 1592. It is from Dublin Castle that the Irish 'Crown Jewels' were famously stolen in 1907, never to be recovered. The richly decorated rooms of the 'State Apartments' are within the Castle walls and are well worth a visit. Saint Patrick's Hall is the most important of these rooms and is very ornate with a painted ceiling and fine decorations. Among the other fine apartments are the Throne Room, the State Drawing Room and the Dining Room. In modern times the crypt of the Chapel Royal is used as an arts centre, and occasional music concerts are held in the grounds of the Castle. Guided Tours and Self-Guide tours of the State Apartments and Medieval Undercroft are available for a small fee. The Silk Road Cafe is located in the nearby Chester Beatty Library, which houses the collections of the mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, and which was named European Museum of the Year in 2002. Dublin Castle is located off Dame Street in Dublin, yards from Christ Church Cathedral and Trinity College. It is well worth a stroll around the famous courtyard and the small fee to be guided through the State Apartments is a bargain. Find out more here: http://www.dublincastle.ie FEE-PAYING ATTRACTION #17: CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL Christ Church is a huge Cathedral that stands in the very heart of Dublin City centre. It is located a matter of only a few hundred yards from Trinity College, O'Connell Street, The GPO, Grafton Street and St. Stephen's Green. The Cathedral was founded in the eleventh century, sometime after 1028. King Sitric Silkenbeard built the original structure at Wood Quay, originally a Viking settlement. After the Anglo-Norman invasion, led by the famous Strongbow, the Church was rebuilt in stone, comprising the construction of a choir, some choir aisles and transepts, the crypt and chapels. It is a magnificent building, heavily Gothic in style. A tour of the Cathedral could take 30 to 60 minutes and can be self-serviced using the handy map and explanatory leaflet available at the entrance. The Cathedral contains the tomb of Strongbow, a medieval crypt with the oldest known secular carvings in Ireland, the stocks made in 1670 and used for the punishment of offenders. The crypt is also home to an audio-visual display and a small cafe. The stunning floor-tiles make for a great photo opportunity. The Cathedral is joined by an enclosed bridge to the Synod Hall that is now home to the Dublinia exhibition which is another very popular tourist attraction that focuses on the Viking influence in Dublin city. A visit to Christ Church followed by some refreshment in the cafe and then a tour around Dublinia next door would make a wonderful morning or afternoon excursion. Allow half of a day to visit the two attractions together and when finished a short walk down Dame Street will lead you back towards Dublin Castle, Trinity College and the Book of Kells and the nearby National Gallery and National Museum that are both free to visit. Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin is one the 'must-see' attractions in the entire country. Well worth a visit. Find out more here: http://www.christchurchdublin.ie ================================ GAELIC PHRASES OF THE MONTH ================================ PHRASE: Maidin Mhaith PRONOUNCED: mod-jin wot MEANING: Good morning PHRASE: Tá sé in am éirí PRONOUNCED: taw shay in amm eye-ree MEANING: It is time to get up PHRASE: Ar chodail tú go maith? PRONOUNCED: air cud-ill two guh mot MEANING: Did you sleep well? View the archive of phrases here: https://www.ireland-information.com/irishphrases.htm   KEEP THIS NEWSLETTER ALIVE! Get Great Family Crest Gifts at: =================== COMPETITION RESULT =================== The winner was: M_Welsh95@aim.com who will receive the following: A Single Family Crest Print (US$19.99 value) Send us an email to claim your print, and well done! Remember that all subscribers to this newsletter are automatically entered into the competition every time. I hope that you have enjoyed this issue. by Michael Green, Editor, The Information about Ireland Site. https://www.ireland-information.com Click here to contact us Google+     PLEASE 'LIKE US' ON FACEBOOK! KEEP THIS NEWSLETTER ALIVE! Visit https://www.irishnation.com (C) Copyright - The Information about Ireland Site, 2014 P.O. Box 9142, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland Tel: 353 1 2893860