HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Weekly Photo Challenge – Time of Year
Posted on November 26, 2016
In recent years, MB has been lucky on a few occasions to be home for the Christmas Carol service in his home Church at Grange. On the nights MB has attended, the services have opened with a traditional Irish air called Innisheer (or Inis Oírr in Gaelic).
So, without further ado, here are Grange girls Noreen O’Sullivan on concert flute, and Jade Dillon on keyboard, playing Inisheer (& apologies for posting a video as MB’s effort for the weekly photo challenge!):
Weekly Photo Challenge – Local
Posted on October 14, 2016
Weekly Photo Challenge – Quest
Posted on September 23, 2016
Quest (noun): A long or arduous search for something.
For MB & daughter MB2 earlier this week, the quest involved a search to locate the various food outlets at the Irish National Ploughing Championships, and avail of the tasty free sample handouts. The 100,000 other attendees on that day each also had their own quests to pursue.
The NPS is Europes largest outdoor exhibition with over 1,700 exhibitors displaying, publicising and selling everything under the sun. Almost 300,000 people visited NPS over the 3 days from 20 to 22 September 2016.
So MB suggests you add the Irish NPS to your bucket list. Even if no interest in ploughing (MB never saw any!) or farming, the NPS is a spectacle on a grand scale that can be enjoyed by all.
National Ploughing Championship, Tullamore, Ireland. 20 September 2016.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Frame
Posted on August 26, 2016
The ruins of ‘Crokers’ estate house, framed through a whitethorn bush, directly across the road from the farmhouse where MB and siblings grew up in Grange, just north of HX, Limerick, SW Ireland.
The ruins of Crokers Estate House at Grange, Limerick, SW Ireland
The Euros, and all that!
Posted on June 29, 2016
As every lady knows, the Euro football championships are on at present in France and are a footballing joy to behold. Iceland football team, and Republic of Ireland fans, are everybody’s favourites. Iceland’s defeat of the ‘auld enemy’, as we in Ireland sometimes often refer to ‘England’, will be many people’s favourite sporting moment ever, in the whole world, in the whole of sporting history, back as far a the days of the Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble.
It’s a little a lot ironic, that in the middle of the tournament, Britain voted to exit the European community. Northern Ireland, Wales & England (all Brits) are each playing in the competition; but MB isn’t going to get into a deep (or even a shallow) discussion about Brexit, David Cameron, et al. Instead he wants to mention an aspect of it all that friends of MB back home would not have considered.
The beautiful game is, of course, a world sport and the games are watched avidly in MB’s Middle East abode. And as the ME is a melting pot of numerous races and peoples from every continent on the globe (except Antartica), MB found himself having to explain to many, when asked, the difference between the Republic of Ireland (MB’s patch and one of the participating teams) and Northern Ireland (another of the participating teams). “So you’re all British MB?” asked many Pakistanis/Nepalese/Mongolians/Khazaks/Arabs and God only knows who else.
“Grrrrrrr” replied MB to the first one or two such questions. Then MB though – it’s actually a question that Irish people have also asked themselves for approximate 800 years, since date of arrival of first British visitors to Irish shores, who had previously read all sorts of good and juicy things of the Emerald Isle on some early version of tripadviser.com. And arrived en masse to ‘help’ the locals.
Anway, MB tried as best he could to explain the difference between North (British) and South (Republic – not British – definitely not) Ireland to all who asked, and hopefully the people of Outer Mongolia and elsewhere will shortly receive geographical enlightenment from their cousins working under the hot desert sun in the Emirate of Qatar. The world bwill be a better place for it, and MB will receive less such Grrrr questions in the future.
MB also explained to many that Ireland has it’s own language. “You mean English MB?”. “Grrrrrrrrr” replied MB yet again. But in the spirit of imparting knowledge and wisdom, as MB is often given to do, and to put the geographically and culturally challenged imbeciles friends of MB in the right direction, MB pointed many to YouTube links to an Irish college, who have numerous really cool videos of the kids performing uber-cool versions of well-known popular music pieces – in the Irish Gaelic language, or ‘as Gaeilge’ as we say back home. MB regularly watches and listens to the videos of Coláiste Lurgan (Lurgan College), not because of any curtural/Irish reason, but because they are so damn good.
So HX followers, herewith, MB gives you the kids of Coláiste Lurgan, singing their hearts out in the Irish language – as Gaeilge. Not in English. Grrrrrrr…………….!
Warning – it’s addictive listening. You may find yourself listening to more than one or two!
Really cool. Enjoy.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Spare
Posted on May 28, 2016
Lots of HX locals are heading to the Lough Gur lakefront at present trying to capture photos of the (allegedly) 5 new cygnets born to the pair of resident swans last week. MB was in the locality yesterday with canon-in-hand, not exactly at the lakefront area – but nearby, when he spotted a swan swimming slowly by with – not 5 – but 8 cygnets in tow. MB is not sure if this swan is a totally different one from those at the lakefront area (swans are territorial and tend to stay in their own locality), or it is one of the lakefront swans who has managed to pick up a few spares in recent days!
Swan & Cygnets @ Lough Gur. 27 May 2016
Weekly Photo Challenge – Admiration
Posted on April 29, 2016
MB admires very much the unpaid volunteers from his home community who man the Lough Gur lake Heritage Centre. As well as giving of their daily time to look after the shop and interactive displays for visiting tourists, they also act as guides for those who wish to gain some knowledge of local monuments. Some of those same monuments date back over 6,000 years.
Check out www.loughgur.com for further info on MB’s home locality.
The Lough Gur Heritage Centre
A local Guide with a group of visiting tourists at the Grange Stone Circle
The Emerald Isle
Posted on April 19, 2016
MB travels home tomorrow for a mini-break. Maybe he will see some sights similar to those below, captured on previous trips. Read More
Weekly Photo Challenge – Landscape
Posted on April 1, 2016
This weeks photo challenge from Cheri is Landscape.
As part of the Summer Solstice Festival back home in HX every June, the festival organisers host a ‘Long walk for the Long Day’ on 21 June, the solstice day. It’s generally around the lake area, with the permission of local farmers. The scenery is stunning; although ten-a-penny in Ireland. When you live in the Middle East desert for a number of years, you more fully appreciate just how stunning it actually is.
MB took this shot on a rainy 21 June evening last year, 2015. Awesome shot MB. Thanks lads.
Centenary (1916 to 2016)
Posted on April 1, 2016
Following MB’s recent series of posts in relation to the Irish Rising of 1916, and the War of Independence that followed………………
The Irish national TV station (RTE) aired a centenary celebration show in recent days relating to the rising event and all that followed in Ireland to this day. MB is sure he has never seen a better TV show in his entire life. And thanks to friend and HX follower SC for posting a link on fb which caught MB’s attention. Read More
Trip Home – Cattlescape
Posted on March 19, 2016
On seeing the cattle in front of the cottage, MB stopped his car in the middle of a quiet country road not far from his own house, hit the handbrake and left the engine running as abandoned his vehicle for a few moments – camera in hand. Read More
Weekly Photo Challenge – Dance
Posted on March 18, 2016
One of the great things about Ireland is the cultural and social life that people enjoy. There are so many sports and other community groups with a huge number of volunteer member & participants that there is always something going on, no matter where you happen to be or the time of year.
During MBs trip home last week, he attended a ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ fundraising night for the local Ballyneety Golf Club, who are attempting to purchase the club on behalf of the members from the current owners. A number of MBs friends were involved in organising the event. If you don’t know the TV show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ look it up on Youtube.
The night in question did not involve professional dancers, but ordinary members of the local & golf club community, who were willing to practice for some 3 or 4 months before the event with a professional dance choreographer, so they would look half decent on the night. People bought tickets to attend and paid to vote for their favourites, and business groups placed adverts in the Event Programme that was on sale on the night. In all, some 1,000 people attended the event in a Limerick Hotel (the South Court) and the night was a great piece of entertainment and fun. According to MBs sources, some Euro 50,000 was raised.
MB captured ‘loadz’ of pics on the night but he has chosen a sequence of three, to meet Ben’s requirement that the post should “capture the rhythm in the movement”.
Herewith:
SONY DSC
SONY DSC
SONY DSC
Trip Home – The Farm by Lough Gur
Posted on March 15, 2016
If you walk along the Lough Gur lake front, past the visitor centre, you come to a closed metal gate. Scale the gate or the adjacent style, advance straight ahead, rather than left for the hill of Knockfennel, and the Farm by Lough Gur appears on your right as your elevation above the lake level increases. The farm was the home of the Catholic O’Brien family who lived there and farmed the land in the mid 19th century. The story of everyday life of the family was transcribed by Sissy O’Brien (with some assistance from family) who passed her recollections to one Mary Lady Carberry. The book was first published in 1937 in London. It was a best-seller in Dublin and also sold well in England.
The local community reprinted the book in recent times with the passing of the copyright time limit.
From the loughgur.com website:
The book ‘The Farm by Lough Gur’ written by Mary Carberry has been re-launched following much local interest. This true story is based on the life of Sissy O’Brien who lived on the farm at Lough Gur in the mid 19th century, as told to Mary Carberry. A fascinating account of ordinary domestic life in Ireland. Available at Ryans and Reardons at Holy Cross, Nagles Spar shop in Bruff and also available at the Honeyfitz theatre 087 285 2022. Price €15 per copy. Limited edition.
The Farm By Lough Gur
Trip Home – Conway’s House
Posted on March 13, 2016
My favourite house in the HX locality is Conway’s house. So called on account of the family who lives there. Really MB?! Ya. Really.
MB has no idea of the history of the house but it must be some 100 to 150 years old. Maybe if one of the Conway connections reads this post they might be so good as to enlighten us in that regard.
Anyway, regards to the Conways!
Conway’s House – in early morning sunshine
HX Report 