Friday, Sept 10 2021 was International Suicide Awareness Day. Bridget’s picture above shows a troop of people who ventured into the sea at Ballybunion on that evening to show solidarity with those bereaved by suicide and to highlight the issue of treatable mental illness.
Pictured with Snámhaí Sásta, June Curtin, are local ladies, Billy Jo and Lelia O’Connor and Bridget McCarthy.
June brought some of her positivity calendars with her on the night. She is selling them in aid of Pieta, the suicide prevention charity.
Aoife Scott was in town for a concert as part of the Ballybunion Arts Festival at The Tinteán. She came and sang a song or two for the delighted swimmers.
<<<<<<<<<<<
Listowel Races in Years Past
This man has been coming to the races and staying with Nora for over twenty years. I hope he got a ticket this year.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Out of This World
This Ballybunion placename never ceases to amaze me.
<<<<<<<<<<
Bringing home the Turf
If I had been asked I would have said that this scene was earlier than the 1970s.
Donkeys and carts were ideal for bog work. The ground underfoot in the bog is soggy and unstable so it calls for a fairly light sure footed animal like this lovely ass.
Look at how the young man leading the donkey was dressed for his day in the bog. In the early years of the 20th century in Ireland there was no such thing as casual clothes. Athleisure is a very recent fashion. We had good clothes and old clothes. this man is in his old clothes, i.e. a suit that used to be his Sunday suit but was now relegated to everyday wear. It kind of looks like a suit he may have inherited from someone bigger than himself. Hand me downs were common too. Suits often were passed down through the family until they were no longer wearable.
I bet his v neck is hand knitted. All jumpers were hand knitted one time, until Ben Dunne brought us cheap clothes and it no longer made sense to knit something you could buy more cheaply. Of course it didn’t last as long but that mattered little when it was so cheap and did not entail hard work.
Along with the turf, this scene will soon be unfamiliar to all but the oldest of us.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Poetry Town
We’ve exchanged our Social distancing stencils for Poetry Town ones.
<<<<<<<<<<<