1st November, 2001
At the end of last weeks 'Seen, Read & Heard'
I mentioned the passing of Sheila McDonald. Married to Tony for
many years, they lived in Palace Ann Lawn, South Douglas Road.
Sheila's funeral took place last Friday in St. Columba's Church.
It was a beautiful service. For many years Tony had been a member
of the Garda choir, and on Friday they came to sing, and it was a
joy to listen to their harmony, which was beautiful. The girl
from West Cork, I think her name was Mary Coughlan, played some
traditional tunes, and again the sound was excellent. The cortege
left Douglas after the mass, took the South Douglas Road route
and stopped briefly at Palace Ann Lawn, before continuing out to
Kilcully cemetry. I must mention the Garda motorcycle escorts.
There were two of them, but somebody mentioned to me that it
looked like there were ten on them!! A wet Friday afternoon
through Cork, and the cortege was not stopped once, thanks to the
motorcycle Garda escorts. Well done to everybody who made such a
sad day, a beautiful day.
Again, in reference to my piece last week on Donnybrook Hill and
the speeding traffic. I met a resident of Calderwood Estate
during the weekend and his point was that motorists also speed up
the hill, and this makes it very hard, and dangerous, on
residents who are attempting to exit their estate. So drivers,
when you're driving up the hill, just past Christy's Carpets,
give the residents a chance to exit, and slow down!
Another reader was pretty upset about something she had seen in
the Roman Catholic graveyard. She told me that she had seen some
bones next to a grave. That afternoon I called to see caretaker
Pat McSweeney. Most of you know local man Pat, who I believe is
doing a very good job as caretaker. I told Pat what the woman had
told me. He did tell me that sometimes a stone mason will disturb
an old grave, and then forget to tell the caretaker, and it is
left to Pat and his crew to keep a sharp eye out for any
situation like that. Pat did tell me that they have put up new
fencing, the major paths are being improved and that he and his
staff do tidy graves that have become overgrown with weeds, etc...
These would be graves of people who had no family, and so there
is nobody left behind to tend them.
The long weekend took me down to Garrettstown on Sunday. It was
like a summers day. Thousand of people around. It was sad to see
Coakley's hotel closed. Many generations of Cork people always
called into that great hotel, especially on a Sunday trip. A
bottle of orange, a cup of tea and a sandwich, now no more. The
two council toilets were locked, which was unbelievable.
Thousands of people in Garrettstown on a warm bank holiday Sunday
and both toilets closed. Surely one man could have driven down
with a key, opened them up, and returned that night to lock them
again.
We went to Youghal on Monday. Youghal really looks beautiful, the
streets were spotless (which is more than can be said for Douglas
on Monday). It's a beautiful town, and I love the walk along the
beach facing those lovely old Victorian houses, beautiful
memories of Youghal, but again, the two council toilets were
locked. I saw people trying them and walking away looking for a
big tree on a tall hedge!!
On that Sunday afternoon returning home we felt a bit peckish, so
we called to McDonald's, Douglas. The time was 5.50pm, a big
crowd was there. I ordered a McChicken for my wife, small fries,
and I Big Mac for myself. The bill came to £5.09, no problem
with that. We drove home with our food in the bag and put the
kettle on. I took out the McChicken, put it on a plate with a few
chips for my wife, took out my Big Mac from the carton, to be
greeted by a Big Mac with two bites taken out of it!!
Back down to McDonald's, the place was packed. I asked for a
supervisor and told hr I had bought the Big Mac ten minutes ago
and I opened the carton. "What's wrong with it?" she
asked. "Probably nothing", I replied, "Except that
somebody has taken two bites out of it before you sold it to me!"
She offered me another one, or a refund, I declined. I has lost
my appetite. I gave her my card and asked her to phone me. This
is Wednesday morning, and still no call. Apart from that, it was
a good weekend. However, I would like to know was my burger
returned by a customer, or was a member of staff feeling peckish?
Bye for now,
Michael O'Hanlon.
P.S. Best of luck to the team representing Douglas Weekly in the
GAA singing competition this Friday night in the club.
