29th March, 2001
Notice Board

MOTORING MOMENTS!

Malcolm Campbell went to see Materliuck's play "Bluebird", about the fabled Bluebird of Happiness, which is by the side of each of us, always within reach Yet if pressed it's always beyond our grasp. He was so enthralled that on the way home he got the local ironmonger out of bed and bought his entire stock of light blue paint. He spent until four in the morning painting his Darracq and next day the first Bluebird car raced at Brooklands.
Dan Dempsey's 24 hour Rescue & Recovery, Kinsale. 086-8217777

COCA COLA's 115th BIRTHDAY

Coca Cola is the famous trade name of a sweetened, carbonated drink, originally made with coca leaves and flavoured with cola nuts, and containing caramel and caffeine. Invented and launched on the market on the 29th march in 1886 , Coca-Cola was sold in every state of the USA by 1895 and in 155 countries around the world by 1987.
Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages, established 1987, is the largest soft drinks company in our market area , controlling 40% of our country's soft drink sales. 49% of the company is owned by the US Coca-Cola Company and 51% by Cadbury Schweppes.

BRUMMELL

George Bryan, also known as Beau Brummell, was an Englishman who became famous for his fashionable lifestyle. He set styles for men's clothes and manners for 20 years. Brummell studied at Eton College, where he attracted the attention of the Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The prince made him an officer in his own regiment, the Tenth Hussars. After a few months at Oxford University, Brummell was left moderately wealthy by the death of his father. He then set up elegant bachelor quarters in London and won the admiration of the fashionable world. But his gambling and extravagant living soon plunged him into debt. Brummell fled to France to escape his creditors in 1816. In 1830, he became consul in Caen, France. He was jailed for debt in 1835. Brummell died in France on 29th March 1840 while in a mental institution. He was born in London in 1778.

THE DOUGLAS POEM

(A poem written and read at The Douglas Rose Night by Carol McSweeney , representing St Columba's Hall. Carol went on to be selected as 'The Douglas Rose 2001')

Flowing South to Cork Harbour a river called Dubh Ghlasha flowed,
Now bearing its name 8 centuries later lies Douglas, home to brave and to bold,
1251, it’s first historical mention, a land of wealth was Douglas of yore,
Home to families of great distinction, sons of earls, ladies and more.

Great houses have been built upon the green fields of old Douglas,
Built to last the test of time, still standing all around us,
Looking East to Maryborough, and West to Donnybrook
The exiles of last century took a final lasting look.

A fine trading reputation, had the Douglas that we know,
From linen spinners to woollen makers, reminders of long ago.
O'Sullivan’s ropes and twines, made in Galway’s Lane
Douglas Brickworks, St. Patrick’s Mills, all still famous names.

The fingerpost where walks the ghost of legend Phil Carty,
Directing all who come to pass to county and to city.
Though it may be a sight from a long, long time ago,
It stands today as much a part of Douglas as of yore.

St. Columba’s Church a symbol of the faith and hope that’s held,
By all who worship on its pews, every Sunday at twelve
Still standing throughout Penal Wars and Civil Wars and such,
Says much about the view that says Douglas has God’s touch.

The GAA always prominent within this Irish village,
Has flourished year after year to great heights with great courage.
Now a Senior hurling side stands Douglas, a tribute to hard work
The Millennium should bring the club to the highest heights in Cork.

And last to St. Columba’s Hall, a home from home for me,
Where laughter rings throughout it’s eaves, and words are spoken simply.
Where I have been made feel welcome, on the other side of town,
Where lasting friendships have been forged between both old and young.

To everyone from the Hall, of which there are too many to name,
I take this opportunity to thank you all the same,
For all the help I have received, I thank you all once again,
St Columba’s Hall is still a meeting place for friends.

And so to end this great, great night, a night I’ll always treasure,
To represent you as your Rose has been the greatest honour.

Carol McSweeney

DEFINATELY NOT CLAPPED OUT!

Eric Clapton is one of the worlds most influential rock guitarist and composers. He gained fame for his skill at improvising, his technical brilliance, and his use of experimental harmonies. Clapton performed in some of the leading groups in rock music.
Clapton was born on the 29th March 1945 in Ripley, Surrey, Southwest of London. He taught himself to play guitar as a teen-ager. His early influences were the American guitarists B. B. King, Robert Johnson, Bill Broonzy, and Muddy Waters. In 1963, Clapton joined a band called the Roosters. In 1964, he joined a rock band that eventually became the Yardbirds. He left the group in 1965 and in 1967 formed a trio with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker called Cream. The group only played together for two years, but it ranked as one of the leading rock bands of the 1960's.
Clapton formed another band, called Derek and the Dominoes. In 1970, he made an album called Layla that became a rock classic. After a period of inactivity, Clapton recorded again in 1974, producing a hit version of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." In 1978, he recorded another successful album, Slowhand, which included the hit song "Lay Down Sally."
Clapton appeared in the rock motion pictures Tommy (1975) and The Last Waltz (1978). He also composed music for several films, including The Colour of Money (1986), Lethal Weapon (1989), Rush (1991), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and The Van (1996).

“Foot & Mouth Warning needs
translation in Cork Airport”
says Simon Coveney TD MCC

“Every day scheduled flights come into Cork Airport from Amsterdam and Frankfurt, yet there are no Foot and Mouth Warning Leaflets in either Dutch or German. Surely it makes sense to have Dutch and German translations of Foot and Mouth Warnings when there are regular flight from both Holland and Germany on a daily basis in Cork Airport. This is particularly the case with recent outbreaks in Holland. The only languages that leaflets are available in are English, Spanish and French at present in Cork. The Department of Agriculture should act quickly to ensure that all European nationalities coming into Ireland are made fully aware, in their own language, of restrictions due to Foot and Mouth Disease”, said Simon Coveney.
“As the Foot and Mouth crisis continues and we are all asked for our continued co-operation and vigilance, it is important that the Department would continue to improve information and warning systems. Apart from the movement of animals, certainly the movement of persons from infected countries to Ireland presents the highest potential risk of further spreading this disease. Proper translation in all European languages to suit regular scheduled flights should be provided in Cork Airport without delay”, concluded Deputy Coveney.

DOUGLAS LIBRARY CHESS CLUB

Douglas Library Chess Club recently took part in the first round of the ESB Checkmate competition, which is a national chess tournament open to all primary schools throughout the country. The Douglas Library Chess Club defeated Gaelscoil Mhanchan by three games to two. The members of the winning team were: John and Fergus O'Connor, Maeve Griffin, Nathan Ellis and Shane McCarthy. Well done to all concerned

"Top of the World Ma!”

James Cagney, the great American motion-picture actor, became famous for his roles as a cocky tough guy. Cagney also was an accomplished dancer. He won an Academy Award as best actor for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). This motion picture portrayed the life of the Broadway showman George M. Cohan.
Cagney appeared in more than 60 motion pictures, of which the first was Sinner's Holiday (1930). His performance as a gangster in The Public Enemy (1931) established him as a star. Cagney made several other gangster films, including G-Men (1935), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Roaring Twenties (1939), and White Heat (1949). Cagney's other films included Footlight Parade (1933), Mister Roberts (1955), Love Me or Leave Me (1955), Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), and One, Two, Three (1961).
James Francis Cagney, Jr., was born in New York City in 1899. During the 1920's, he performed in vaudeville and on Broadway in New York City. He died on the 29th March 1986.

America's Mass Murderer

On the 29th March 1971, Lieutenant William L. Calley, JR. of the US Army, was convicted of war crimes in the Vietnam War, his conviction raised some of the main moral issues of the conflict. Calley's Army unit had massacred at least 100 and perhaps as many as 200 civilians in 1968 in the hamlet of My Lai in South Vietnam. Calley was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to prison for 10 years. Some war critics used the trial to call attention to the large numbers of civilians killed by U.S. bombing and ground operations in South Vietnam. Others pointed to the vast stretches of countryside that had been destroyed by bombing and by spraying of chemicals. U.S. forces used such weedkillers as Agent Orange to reveal Communist hiding places in the jungle and to destroy enemy food crops. This contributed to the public outcry, which led to US withdrawal from Vietnam.

STARRY, STARRY NIGHTS

Vincent van Gogh, born on 29th March 1853, this Dutch Post-Impressionist painter tried various careers, including preaching, and began painting in the 1880s, his early works often being sombre depictions of peasant life, such as The Potato Eaters 1885 (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). Influenced by both the Impressionists and Japanese prints, he developed a freer style characterised by intense colour and expressive brushwork, as seen in his Sunflowers series 1888. Both the number and the splendour of his pictures produced during a short and unhappy life remain astonishing, and his influence on modern art in the conception of colour and individual expression has been immense.
He was the son of a Dutch pastor. He did not take to art seriously until he was 27, having by that time failed in various projected careers, in the firm of Goupil & Co., art dealers at The Hague and in London and Paris, as an usher in schools at Ramsgate and Isleworth, and as lay preacher among the miners of the Borinage. The first stage of his career as artist may be dated 1880-86 in Holland and Belgium. Supported by an allowance from his brother Theo, he took drawing lessons in Brussels, was with his Uncle Anton Mauve for a while at The Hague, and for a year in the Academy at Antwerp. The Potato-Eaters of 1885 was the remarkable product of this period. There follows the Paris period, 1886-88, in which he was much influenced by Japanese prints, by Impressionism and the division of colour as practised by Seurat and Signac. His famous Boots was a last effort in his early dark, proletarian style; his new sense of colour and design found wonderful expression at Arles 1888, to which period belong such famous pictures as his views of Arles, The Drawbridge, Orchard in Blossom, Boats at Saintes-Maries, The Chair and Pipe, The Café at Night. The Zouave Officer and his several Sunflowers. Following the mental crisis of 1888, when after a quarrel with Gauguin he mutilated his ear, his genius struggled with the depression of mental illness and hospital surroundings. The year 1889 at St-Rémy produced his free copies after the works of various artists and his paintings of cypress trees; 1890 at Auvers-sur-Oise (with Dr Gachet), the last agitated paintings of cornfields before he shot himself. His letters to his brother Theo are an illuminating commentary on his work and ideas.
His numerous works (over 800 paintings and 700 drawings) include still life's, portraits (also many self-portraits), and landscapes, including The Starry Night 1889 (Museum of Modern Art, New York) and Crows over Wheatfield 1890 (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). The Arles paintings vividly testify to his intense emotional involvement in his art; among them is The Night Café 1888 (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven) of which he wrote `I have tried to express with red and green the terrible passions of human nature'.
His painting Irises 1889 was sold for the record price of $53.9 million at Sotheby's, New York, on 11 Nov 1987.

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