A snail in Wexford; Photo credit, Mick O’Callaghan
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What an Athlete!
The great Paul O’Donovan this weekend won his seventh world gold medal, this time rowing alone is the lightweight skull championships. He stayed away from any Olympic celebrations, where, of course, he also won gold in a boat with Fintan MacCarthy. What focus, what dedication? Superman!
AND let’s not forget that Siobhan McCrohan won bronze at the world championships as well. That was a great achievement too against a strong field of oarswomen.
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A Bronze Horse
Several people have talked to me about Tony O’Callaghan’s bronze artworks since I featured the ones I happened upon in The Bons in Cork.
Then Liam ÓHainnín shared this from a Love of History page on Facebook.
“The Jockey of Artemision is a large Hellenistic bronze statue of a young boy riding a horse, dated to around 150–140 BC.
It is a rare surviving original bronze statue from Ancient Greece and a rare example in Greek sculpture of a racehorse. Most ancient bronzes were melted down for their raw materials some time after creation, but this one was saved from destruction when it was lost in a shipwreck in antiquity, before being discovered in 1926.
It may have been dedicated to the gods by a wealthy person to honour victories in horse races, probably in the single-horse race (Greek: κέλης – kēles). The artist is unknown.”
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Budapest
People may remember my grandsons, Sean and Killian, who used to holiday every summer in Listowel. We used to visit Kennedy’s Pet Farm, Coolwood, The Donkey Sanctuary as well as Ballybunion, The Rose of Tralee and the Dog Track. Happy days!
Now the boys are young men and spreading their wings. This summer their travels took then to Portugal, Strasburg and only last week to Budapest. Sean sent me these photos of the world renowned fireworks display for St. Stephen’s Day 2024.
St Stephen’s Day, Hungary’s national holiday, is celebrated on August 20. It commemorates the first king of Hungary. There is a massive fireworks display on The Danube. It is attended by huge crowds.
Getting home on The Metro was “mental”, according to Sean.
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A Monday Kind of Poem
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The Bad Old Days
Dublin, 19 June 1915 – The Fresh Air Association has appealed for funds to allow it continue its work of sending underprivileged children in Dublin for a week in the countryside to relieve them from the troubles of life in the city.
The association estimates the cost of five shillings a week procures board and lodging in healthy surroundings for a child for a week. In a statement this week, the association claimed: ‘None but those who work among the poor have any idea of the happiness it affords the young people to see the green fields, and enjoy the pure air of the country.’
[Editor’s note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
The above is from The National Archives
Jer found the following in a later 1920s newspaper…
At a public meeting in Cork a Fresh Air Fund was inaugurated for the purpose of giving poor children holidays in the country or at the seaside. The Lord Mayor, Councillor Daly, presided. The project was sponsored by Cork Council of Women, and Miss Long, Secretary of the Dublin Fresh Air Fund, explained the working of the scheme.
Does anyone remember any of these children coming to Kerry?
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A Fact
The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona but the project was rejected.
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