================================================

 The Information about Ireland Site Newsletter 
                  June 2010
 
The Newsletter for people interested in Ireland 
 Now received by over 50,000 people worldwide 
      https://www.ireland-information.com 
          https://www.irishnation.com
              Copyright (C) 2009  

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		IN THIS ISSUE

=== News Snaps from Ireland 
=== New free resources at the site
=== The History of the Irish Chipper
=== Biography of Daniel O'Connell: 'The Liberator'
=== Ireland Tourist Tip: Wheelchair Access
=== The Rabbit by Pat Watson
=== Shamrock Site of the Month: celticattic.com
=== Gaelic Phrases of the Month
=== Monthly free competition result

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FOREWORD
========

Never happy unless complaining some sections of 
the populace are starting to complain about the 
extended warm weather. Already there is talk of 
drought with water supplies being rationed in 
some Counties.

Well, we have had the worst recession in the 
history of the Irish State followed by a big 
freeze in January, then tons of Icelandic 
volcanic ash falling on us and now the 
possibility of a drought. Never a dull moment....

Michael

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=======================
NEWS SNAPS FROM IRELAND
=======================

HOPES FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY INCREASE

Several reports have been issued recently which 
indicate that an economic recovery in Ireland is 
already under way and that Ireland will have the 
best recovery among the euro-zone countries. GDP 
is expected to be nearly 3% in 2011 and as much 
as 7% in 2012 with a slowed contraction of 1% in 
2010. The painful and wide-ranging government 
cutbacks (accounting for 9% of GDP since 2008) 
have been cited as the main reason why the economy 
will be able to return to growth sooner rather 
than later. The reduction in staff costs and wages, 
as well as a fall in the value of the Euro have 
all helped Irish businesses.

Consumer sentiment is at its highest level in 
Ireland since 2008, a further indication that 
people can see light at the end of the economic 
tunnel. Unemployment is forecast to remain 
stubbornly high though and will be at least 12% 
for a number of years. 

WATER RATIONING INTRODUCED AS HOT SPELL CONTINUES

The long spell of dry and warm weather may be a 
great boost to locals and tourists alike but also 
brings with it the problem of water rationing. 
Supplies in reservoirs are 40% down on last years 
levels with some Counties already imposing a 
'dusk to dawn' ban on water, effectively cutting 
off the supply at night. Sligo, Galway, Clare and 
Donegal have been particularly affected although, 
if the warm weather continues the rationing is 
likely to be introduced country-wide.
 
DRINK DRIVING LIMIT FURTHER REDUCED

Despite intense lobbying from rural pub-owners the 
government has further reduced the blood alcohol 
limit for drivers to 50mg, which is about the 
equivalent of 1 pint of beer. Compulsory 
breath-testing for all parties to a road traffic 
accident has also been introduced in the new laws.

ANCIENT NECKLACE SAVED FROM THE RUBBISH DUMP

The National Museum of Ireland has put on display 
the 4000-year-old necklace that was nearly thrown 
away with the thrash. The priceless necklace is 
called a 'Lunula' and was recovered from an old 
safe that was being disposed of in a waste-skip. 
Originally the Lunula was found by Roscommon 
farmer Hubert Lannon when he was cutting turf from 
a bog in 1945. He gave it to the local chemist, a
man named Patrick Sheehan who secured it in a safe 
where it stayed until last year when the entire 
safe was stolen in a burglary. The National Museum 
contacted the police and am intensive search was 
launched. The thieves must have realised that there 
was no way they could sell the 'one of a kind' 
artefact and dumped the entire safe in a skip. 
Amazingly it has been recovered just hours before 
it was to be hauled to a dump and likely lost for 
another 4000 years.

1901 CENSUS OF IRELAND IS NOW ONLINE

Another great boost to researchers of genealogy 
has been announced by the National Archives of 
Ireland with the release of the 1901 census 
online. The 1911 census is already available for 
online viewing. The impressive archive displays 
the actual census document that was completed by 
people over a century ago. 
Visit www.census.nationalarchives.ie for more.


Voice your opinion on these news issues here:

https://www.ireland-information.com/newsletterboard/wwwboard.html

==============================
NEW FREE RESOURCES AT THE SITE
==============================

IRELAND HOUSE-SWAP LISTING

We are working on the online program to allow you 
to freely add and view details of other people who 
are interested in this service.

You can add your home-swap details to our new free 
listing service at:

https://www.ireland-information.com/irelandhouseswap.htm

IRISH HOLIDAY AND TOURIST BOARD

Post a question about holidaying in Ireland 
and we guarantee an answer will be posted on 
the board.

https://www.ireland-information.com/irishholidays-irishtourist/irishtouristboard.html

NEW COATS OF ARMS ADDED TO THE GALLERY:

The following 5 coats of arms images and family
history details have been added to the Gallery:

M: Moody, Mulrooney
T: Toohey, Turley
W: Weir

View the Gallery here:

http://www.irishsurnames.com/coatsofarms/gm.htm

THE PERFECT WEDDING, ANNIVERSARY OR BIRTHDAY GIFT!
We now have over 100,000 worldwide names available.
Get the Coat of Arms Print, Claddagh Ring,
Screensaver, Watch, T-Shirt Transfer or Clock for
your name at:

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================================
THE HISTORY OF THE IRISH CHIPPER
================================

It is a well know fact in Ireland that the 
majority of chippers are run not by the Irish but 
by Italians! The first of his countrymen to set up 
in Ireland was Giuseppe Cervi who arrived in 
Dublin late in the 1880s. He worked as a labourer 
until he had saved enough to buy a hand-cart and 
cooker on which he could prepare and sell chips 
to the many locals leaving pubs at night. With his 
wife he established the first ever Dublin 
chipper on Pearse Street and is even credited with 
being the originator of the famous Dublin saying: 
'a one and one' (meaning 1 fish and 1 chips portion). 
By the year 1909 there were 20 fish and chip shops 
in Dublin alone.

This new industry was certainly not confined to 
Ireland with the north of England having many more 
chippers than Dublin. Scotland became the undisputed 
centre of the trade with thousands of Italian 
chippers operating there by the time of the first 
war. Immigration from Scotland into Ireland and 
especially in to Ulster had continued during the 
eighteenth century and of course the Italian 
chippers arrived with them.

It should be noted that the most famous chipper in 
Ireland, Beshoffs, was set up by the Ukranaian 
Ivan Beshov who arrived in Ireland in the 1940s, 
and who was originally arrested upon suspicion of 
being a German spy! He proved his innocence of that 
charge and in a salt and vinegar covered irony his 
first chipper was destroyed by the German Luftwaffe 
who accidentally bombed the North Strand area of 
Fairview in Dublin in 1941. He relocated to the 
city centre and became a Dublin institution!

==========================
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==========================

==========================================
DANIEL O'CONNELL BIOGRAPHY - THE LIBERATOR
==========================================

Daniel O'Connell was born in 1775 in Cahirciveen, 
County Kerry. Although he was born into the native 
ascendancy, he was raised among the Catholic 
peasantry and thus learned not only the Gaelic 
language, but also the many tribulations faced by 
the poorer class. 

As a teenager he was sent to France for further 
education but travelled to London in 1793 on 
foot of the French revolution. His experience of 
the violence that was part of the revolution 
forged his lifelong commitment to peaceful means 
to achieve social change.

He qualified as a barrister and built a successful 
practice in Dublin. O'Connell abhorred the 
violence of the Wolfe Tone led 1798 rebellion but 
agreed with the overall aims of thr United 
Irishmen.

In 1802 O'Connell married his cousin Mary. The 
marriage was a good one with 12 children being 
born, although only 7 survived.

The 1800 Act of Union had raised hopes of Catholic 
emancipation but these remained unfulfilled. 
O'Connell soon got involved in political 
activities and in 1823 founded the Catholic 
Association with the express aim of securing 
emancipation. 

O'Connell was known a famous orator, debater and 
a sharp wit. He was a regular thorn in the side of 
the Dublin authorities and when in 1815, he called 
Dublin Corporation a 'beggarly corporation', the 
authorities thought they had a chance to discredit 
him. One member of the Corporation, D'Esterre, a 
noted duelist, challenged him to a duel. If 
O'Connell accepted the challenge then it was 
thought he would certainly be killed. If he backed 
down then he would be politically damaged and 
discredited.

To everyone's surprise O'Connell accepted the 
challenge and fatally wounded D'Esterre. O'Connell 
always regretted his death, and later assisted the 
D'Estere family financially.

With the backing of the clergy O'Connell stood 
for election to the English parliament in County 
Clare in 1828. A massive victory for O'Connell 
followed as the momentum for reform gathered pace. 
O'Connell refused to take the Oath of Allegiance 
to the English crown and the crisis point had 
been reached. With 6 M-illion supporters backing 
O'Connell the English government feared an 
uprising was on the cards and eventually granted 
Catholic emancipation in 1829. O'Connell was 
now the undisputed hero of Ireland and a year 
later became the first Catholic in modern history 
to be take his seat at the English parliament.

By this time O'Connell had given up his legal 
practice and was concentrating fully on politics. 
He set his sight on repealing the Act of Union 
and the establishment of an Irish parliament. His 
Repeal Association organised monster meetings that 
attracted hundreds of thousands. An estimated 
three-quarters of a m-illion people attended the 
Hill of Tara meeting. The authorities responded 
by banning a similar meeting scheduled for 
Clontarf in 1843. Despite cancelling the meeting 
O'Connell was arrested and charged with conspiracy. 
He served 3 months in prison before being released 
but the damage had been done. The tactics that 
had achieved emancipation could not be used to 
achieve an Irish parliament. His stay in prison 
had also adversely affected his health.

The more radical 'Young Irelanders' withdrew from 
the Repeal Association. In the countryside the 
potato crop was already beginning to fail. The 
Great Famine of 1847 devastated the Irish 
countryside. O'Connell tried to help and spoke 
in the London parliament, appealing for aid for
his desperate starving countrymen. 

O'Connell will always be known as the 'Liberator' 
and Catholic emancipation was indeed his greatest 
success. It is unknown if his peaceful mass 
protests could have achieved any further 
concessions on the road to Irish independence. The
famine that resulted in over 1 million deaths from 
starvation and a further million taking the 
emigrants boat stopped any political momentum 
dead in its tracks.

At 70 years of age O'Connell was advised to move 
to a warmer climate to placate his ailing health. 
He set off for Rome but only made it as far as 
Genoa. He died in May 1847 and was buried in 
Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin. His funeral was 
among the largest ever seen in Ireland.

======================================
IRELAND TOURIST TIP: WHEELCHAIR ACCESS
======================================

The recent building boom in Ireland has seen a vast 
improvement in the facilities for wheelchair bound 
visitors. The updated building regulations made it 
compulsory for access ramps and sunken walkways to 
be included into all planning applications for 
publicly accessible new buildings.

The Irish Wheelchair Association is available at 
http://www.iwa.ie and provides a lot of information 
on this subject including where to hire a wheelchair 
in Ireland.

==========================
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Visit: 
https://www.irishnation.com
==========================

=============
THE RABBIT
by Pat Watson
=============

With our sheepdog Bruno, we chased rabbits every 
day. The war was on and there was money in 
rabbits. Of course we never caught any. After all 
I was only six years old and my brother Frank, 
just eight. The same thing happened every day. 
All three of us arrived in the field where the 
rabbits were. Bruno charged after them, barking 
loudly, followed by the two of us, shouting 
skulla-hulla. The rabbits scampered off and 
disappeared down their burrow at the far end of 
the field. Bruno tore at the mouth of the burrow, 
then snorted down it as if to say; that will 
teach you a lesson. We went home empty handed, 
hoping for better luck next time.

One day Frank had a brain-wave. He ordered me to 
wait a quarter of an hour, while he took a 
circuitous route and entered the field from the 
far end, where he snuck in and sat in the mouth 
of the burrow. When I arrived with the dog the 
rabbits ran for cover as usual but when they 
reached the burrow they ran every way in 
confusion. Bruno grabbed and killed one. We were 
shocked, elated and ecstatic all at once. Rabbits 
were worth a half a crown each, we were rich.

We dressed up and headed for town, three miles 
away. Frank carried the rabbit and I walked 
alongside. 
'You walk the other side,' he ordered. 
'It's my rabbit and I don't want anybody to think 
that you had anything to do with catching him,' 
I hesitated, 
'If you don't go round the other side you can 
go home,' he said.
It was better to walk the other side of a lad 
with a rabbit than not walk at all, so I 
obeyed, reluctantly, well, not so much obeyed 
as agreed. 
After a while he changed the rabbit to the other 
hand and I had to change sides again. The 
farther we went the oftener this happened.
 'Do you want me to take one leg?' I asked.
'Well just for a while,' he said, 
'But if we meet anyone, you must let go 
immediately' I agreed, it was better to carry a 
rabbit a bit than not carry him at all and 
someone might come round a corner before he got 
a chance to reclaim both legs. Then, wouldn't I 
be a big fellow? Just then a man put his head 
over a wall and said, 
'Good gossens! Are ye off to town with yer 
rabbit?' 
'It's my rabbit I'm only letting him hold one 
leg for a bit.'
'And take a bit of the weight,' he smiled.
'I felt very grown up and important' The man 
could see that I was carrying half the rabbit 
and indeed he probably thought I was part 
owner. After all seeing is believing. 

Shortly after I realised why I was allowed to 
help. We were small boys and the rabbit was big 
and long. While holding his paws, we had to keep 
our arms bent in order to keep his head off the 
ground. We tried to overcome this problem by 
catching him above the knees but this was harder 
on little fingers as the legs were fat and slanty. 
Having covered over a mile, we reached the Spring 
Well road. It was a quiet, mile long road running 
beside the railway and there was a grass verge on 
both sides.

Out of necessity, we were now working as a team, 
swapping sides as arms tired. To conserve energy 
we decided to walk on the verge and let the head 
drag on the grass. This worked well enough but by 
the end of the mile the head was looking the worse 
for the wear. We got a drink at the spring well 
and sat a little while. Now for the last half-mile 
through the town to the butcher's shop, we had to 
keep the head off the road and it was very 
difficult, only the vision of the half crown kept 
us going. 

The butcher was standing at the door with a knife 
in his hand and saw us coming. He took the rabbit, 
slit him with the knife, threw the entrails to a 
passing dog, who wolfed them down, then turned to 
us. 
'Did ye see that? That's how you gut a rabbit and 
ye should have gutted him hot. Because ye didn't 
so he is only worth eighteen pence' He handed Frank 
one and six and disappeared with the rabbit. There 
were thirty pence in a half-a-crown. We turned 
away devastated, the tears overflowing in spite of 
manly efforts. It was a long way home. We only got 
just over half the money after all our struggles. 
What could two small boys do?
Then luck struck. Big Peter happened to be passing. 
'Why are ye crying?' He asked. We told him our 
story. The butcher heard the commotion and 
reappeared explaining the gutting problem. 

Big Peter said nothing, just caught him by the 
lapels and began to hop him up and down. He turned 
very pale, his explanation died away and he handed 
me the missing shilling. 

Frank said I could keep it. 
All is well that ends well. 

'The Rabbit' 
is one of sixty lyrical yarns from 
'Original Irish Stories' by Pat Watson, 
Creagh, Bealnamulla, Athlone, Ireland. 
First published in May 2006.
Visit: 
http://www.myirishstories.com
or you can email the author here:
pjwatson@utvinternet.com

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===========================================
SHAMROCK SITE OF THE MONTH: CELTICATTIC.COM
===========================================

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Phone orders 360-286-2307

===========================
GAELIC PHRASES OF THE MONTH
===========================

PHRASE: 		Eanair/Feabhra/Marta
PRONOUNCED:	onn-irr/feow-rih/marr-tah
MEANING:		January/February/March

PHRASE: 		Aibrean/Bealtaine/Meitheamh
PRONOUNCED:	obb-rinn/beowl-tinn-eh/meh-ivh
MEANING:		April/May/June

PHRASE: 		Iuil/Lunasa/Mean Fomhair
PRONOUNCED:	ooh-ill/loon-asa/man-foe-irr
MEANING:		July/August/September

PHRASE: 		Deireadh Fomhair/Samhain/Nollaig
PRONOUNCED:	derr-ihh foe-irr/zoew-inn/null-igg
MEANING:		October/November/December

View the archive of phrases here:

https://www.ireland-information.com/irishphrases.htm

=======================
JUNE COMPETITION RESULT
=======================

The winner was: jfdunphy@optonline.net
who will receive the following: 

A Single Family Crest Print (decorative) 
(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.

Until next month, 

Michael Green,
Editor,
The Information about Ireland Site.

https://www.ireland-information.com

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