
Evening in Ballybunion in June 2025
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Summer Visitors

Bobby, Carine and Reggie out and about in Ballybunion

Reggie loves the beach

Cora gave me a good excuse to lunch in Lizzie’s.

The weather was a bit rainy so we made a jigsaw. Cora made most of it.
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The Book Club
A post from someone who wished to start up a bookclub in Listowel got me thinking about how marvellous and varied an institution the book club is.
I’m a member of a library based book club in Ballincollig. I spend a lot of time in Ballincollig with my family and I thought a book club would be a good way to meet up with like minded people. I was right.
There are many advantages to this type of bookclub. We don’t choose the books so every month is a surprise and we get to sample books we may never have chosen to buy. There is no obligation to attend so if one of us is otherwise occupied we just go ahead anyway. We have a warm comfortable venue with tea and biscuits provided, no washing up and no tidying the house. What’s not to love?
Of course like most bookclubs I know, setting the world to rights in the chat after the book discussion is a vital part of every meeting.
My sister-in-law’s book club is very different. They were mostly friends or friends of friends already. They meet in one anothers’ houses. They cook a meal for each meeting and they each take a turn to choose a book. It is usually a book they have read and so are recommending to the others.
Then my daughter’s book club is a different kettle of fish altogether. They formed online and they meet every month in a local tapas bar. The chat and the socialising is more important than the book. That club is 10 years on the go this year so after a glass or two of wine one winter’s evening, one lady suggested they go to Spain for their tapas to mark their 10th anniversary.

Here they are in Bilbao, not a book in sight, enjoying their 36 hour getaway with their bookclub mates.
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The Corpus Christi Procession
A few photos from this year’s procession on Saturday, June 21 2025

Turning into Courthouse Road



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People I met at the Sunday Market in Scoil Realt na Maidine

These lovely people from just over the border in Newcastlewest have a lovely product, wax melts. I bought a lavendar one and my house smelled of old world charm for hours.

The boys from 3D & Me have a steady repeat business every week.

Bobby met a man he hadn’t met since schooldays. Tom and Bobby were in the same class and played on the same soccer team.

Karen’s River Crafts are absolutely beautiful. They are made locally using local fallen trees, pebbles, foliage and flowers.

I bought this one. I love it. I’ll be back for another one.

The market is a great place to meet and chat, have a cup of coffee or a baked potato. Bobby and Carine met their friends, Dulce and Sylvestre. Reggie and Rian were welcomed in the market as well.
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A Fact
Marks and Spencers were the first to laser barcodes into fruit. This saves tonnes of paper and glue every year.
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