The first half was a very enjoyable affair with the sides level at 0-4 each after 16 minutes but Michael’s got a grip on proceedings after that and when Henry blasted home a 26th minute goal it helped the Cootehall men into a 1-8 to 0-5 lead at the interval. Michael’s were superb in the second half and Fiachra Henry sealed his virtuoso display with a cracking second goal in the 54th minute.

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Murphy said young farmers in the west of Ireland would always have his support and described the march as “one of the most positive engagements that has occurred in agriculture for a long time”.

Senator Murphy, who is a former member of Macra na Feirme, commented that such activities were crucial so as to ensure young farmers are listened to and said he was in constant dialogue with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue in relation to supports for young farmers.

He highlighted the Young Farmers’ Scheme as an example of the current Government’s commitment to young farmers and said he would continue to work alongside organisations such as Macra na Feirme.

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Lanesboro is a popular residential location on the River Shannon, offering excellent boating and fishing. This property is located within walking distance to local schools, shops etc.

The property has recently been renovated and fully insulated, including walls pumped and attic insulated. Accommodation comprises of an entrance hallway with WC off, sitting room with inset solid fuel stove, kitchen/dining room, three large bedrooms and a family bathroom. Outside, there is a cobble-lock front driveway with a private, secure, landscaped garden to the rear. This property has a BER rating of C1 and a price region of €160,000.

For more information, contact Oates Auctioneers on 090-6627878, email info@oates.ie, or visit oates.ie.

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  The subject property is situated in a select residential estate within walking distance to all local amenities in Glenamaddy. The property benefits from a high level of finish, and is presented in excellent condition both internally and externally.

  The residences comprises of a living room, dining room, kitchen/dining room, utility, WC, and an office/sitting room/playroom on the ground floor, and there are four double bedrooms (one ensuite) and a family bathroom at first floor. There is direct access to the attic via a solid staircase, with two storage rooms offering obvious further potential.

  Viewing comes highly recommended and immediate enquiries are advised. The guide price for this property is €300,000.

  For more information, contact REA Seamus Carthy today on 090-6630001.

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  This property was brought to the market in excellent conditions throughout, finished to a very high standard To the rear of the property is a beautiful, mature garden, with a paved patio area, a manicured lawn, and an array of shrubs and flowers. There is ample off street parking available towards the front on the tarmac driveway, which also features a manicured lawn and mature shrubs. There is gated side access both sides of the property.

  We are currently looking for similar properties in all areas for cash buyers.

  For further details or to arrange a free consultation, please contact RE/MAX Team Earley, Stonecourt Roscommon on 090-6626579, email teamearley@remax.ie, or log onto teamearley.ie. Contact auctioneer Cormac directly on 086-3519492.

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“We have seen recently that Sweden’s Health Agency has recommended those aged 80 or above or living in nursing homes should receive a second booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine and other countries are also considering the need for a fourth vaccine,” stated Denis Naughten.

“In Ireland, we are awaiting a decision from National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) on whether a fourth vaccine will be needed, and there are many under 16’s who are only now becoming eligible for their booster, so closing vaccination centres now would appear premature.

“If we want people to avail of vaccines then we have to make it as easy as possible to access vaccination centres and not expect people to make long journeys when they are juggling work and families or may have transport difficulties.

“It is hard to see the benefit in dismantling a vaccination centre now if a widescale vaccine rollout is needed again later in the year.

“In addition, the Government has been trying to encourage parents to vaccinate children in the age 5 to 11 category, yet parents will be expected to travel to vaccination centres in Moate or Carrick-on-Shannon and those who have had their first dose will now have to travel long distances to get obtain their second dose. I would urge the HSE to delay this closure at least until a decision is made on the rollout of a fourth vaccine.”

The HSE has confirmed that the vaccination centre in Roscommon Town will close on Sunday 27^th March.

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As a result a temporary public office will be in place, the station will be opened to the public daily as follows:

Monday to Saturday
11am to 2pm
7pm to 9pm

Sunday
11am to 1pm

We apologise for any in convenience these opening hours may cause, Normal Policing Service delivery will remain unchanged.

We thank the community of Boyle and surrounding areas for their understanding and continued support.

For any queries in relation to these renovations please Contact:
Sergeant McGarry, Boyle Garda station on 071 9664620.

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  The auctioneers on the day will be Ivan Connaughton and Matthew Donnellan. Matthew has previously carried out our machinery auctions for Connaughton Auctioneers.

  The registration fee is free for any lot and all lots will be subject to advance approval by the auctioneer. Only plant, machinery, and builders items will be accepted for this auction.

  Anyone wishing to enter lots for the auction must register online via the LSL website, upload pictures, videos, and information of their items and a member of the sales team will make contact. Those wishing to bid at the auction will also have to register online via LSL and pay a holding deposit of €250 for authorisation to bid on the day. Deposits will be returned within seven days after the auction.

  Auctioneer Ivan Connaughton said: “We are delighted to have joined forces with LSL Auctions (livestock-live.com) for plant and machinery auctions in 2022, with our first auction this Saturday, March 19^th, in Glenamaddy.

  “From holding similar auctions previously, we are well aware of the amount of administration required. The LSL Online Auction platform has been working very successfully in other locations throughout Ireland over the past two years. The system makes the process easier for everyone.

  “For example, anyone selling or buying must register online. Sellers can upload pictures, videos and information for their items very easily online via their mobile phone. Buyers can view any lot before the auction and bid online from anywhere in the world on the day of the auction. Buyers can also bid in person with a paddle board by registering on the day.

  “Any unsold lots can be entered into a timed auction after the auction. This will give buyers more time to bid on their chosen lots. The venue in Glenamaddy Equestrian Centre is very suitable, with ample indoor and outdoor space for auction lots and customer parking.

  “Our association with LSL will market this auction nationwide, as their platform is used for livestock marts and property auctions and they have had direct marketing to 1.24 million viewers (in the last twelve months) via their 25,000 social media followers and LSL News”.

  A link to the auction is on the website connaughtonauctioneers.ie and Connaughton Auctioneers’ social media pages. Items entered into the auction can be dropped off to the venue this Thursday, March 17^th, and Friday, March 18^th, from 9 am to 6 pm each day. Lots can be viewed on Friday, March 18^th, from 12 pm to 6 pm and on auction day from 8 am. The auction will commence at 11 am.

  Catering facilities will be in place on the day. Entry to the auction is free and everybody is welcome to attend.

  If you require any additional information, contact Connaughton Auctioneers on 090-6663700, email info@connaughtonauctioneers.ie or visit connaughtonauctioneers.ie.

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  Offering vacant possession, the unit would suit various commercial pursuits due to its size and location, and the auctioneers now invite immediate viewings and all offers to lease. The rent price is €195 per week.

  For more, contact RE/MAX Team Earley, Stonecourt, Roscommon, on 090-6626579, email teamearley@remax.ie, or log onto teamearley.ie. Contact auctioneer Cormac directly on 086-3519492 or auctioneer Cathal on 086-1409158.

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Boyle-based author and historian Tony Conboy has penned an affectionate series of articles on memories of his youth in his native Castlecoote. The articles revolve around the local shop – Hughes’ – and to a lesser extent the adjoining Thatch Bar. A slice of social history, this series will be fascinating reading for people from the area, and further afield. Part 2 next week.

Part 3: Hughes’ staff – ‘Shop Boys’ and ‘Shop Girls’    

Like all such establishments, there was a considerable turnover of staff. This was part of the process with shops and bars throughout the country. The ‘shop boy’ (girls – and there were many – were rarely referenced as ‘shop girls’) was a regular migrant member for an area. Hughes’ shop had employees who were nearly always from a distance away and we got to know them very well. Most of them came from Galway county. I have talked to a number of them in the lead-up to this essay and they invariably had very good memories of the happy times they spent working in Hughes’ where they were treated well.

Jimmy Coyne – ‘Shop Boy’

Jimmy Coyne, who was a pivotal contact, came there from County Galway in 1953 and stayed for a five-year stint. I had met up with him a number of times in later years as he now lives in Sligo. When I phoned him near Christmas 2020 we talked for nearly an hour as we rolled back the decades. Jimmy had a clear and detailed memory of that period of his life. Though he had to work long hours at low pay (as was the case everywhere) he held his employers in very high regard.

He was just fourteen when he decided to leave school and his father asked a teacher of his in Portumna if he might get him into a business premises there. The teacher enquired but there was no position just then and asked Jimmy and his father if he would go to Castlecoote in Roscommon instead. His mother asked if it was a Catholic house. The teacher was David Frawley, a member of the Frawley family from Fuerty.  A week or so later Mattie Hughes collected his new ‘shop boy’ and brought him the considerable distance then to Castlecoote. Arriving late at his new home he relished his cup of Bournvita and started the first chapter of a life away from home, his mother having been assured that Hughes’ was a good Catholic house. The following Sunday Nellie Hughes gave him her bicycle and two shillings to go to the film matinee in Roscommon town.

  ‘Shop Boys’ like Jimmy traversed the country and were part of the communities in which they then lived.

They stayed in the premises and this room and board was the near total payment for their work.

  Soon after he arrived, a colleague, Miss Larkin, took him on her bicycle up to Galvins’ where, as she said: “There are boys there your own age to mix with”. Jimmy himself became a very popular young man in the area. Fuerty was an active GAA club, football mostly, but also junior hurling which suited him more. Coming from Galway he was a valued member of the Fuerty junior hurling team.

  It was a period of mass emigration and eventually in ’59 Jimmy joined some of his Castlecoote friends, Mulherns and Galvins, and took the boat to England. He got a job ‘on the buses’ in Birmingham. His first period in England was short and he returned to a post in Tullamore, arranged by Carmel Hughes. He returned to England a few years later but was enticed home to a position with the emerging supermarket group Spar in 1968. This was to be his life from then and he eventually settled in Sligo town. Jimmy ended his contribution to me by commending the positive start he got in Hughes’ which motivated him for a long life in business subsequently.

  In referencing emigration of the 1950s, nearly every house had members who emigrated. Some Galvins went to Manchester, Wards to Nottingham, Conboys to London, and Neilans to New Jersey. As a boy I was present at an ‘Emigration Wake’ when, in the late ‘50s, the greater part of the McGuire family, including parents, left the village for Melbourne, Australia.    

Anne Cunniffe-Lavin

I contacted Anne (from Creggauns, near Creggs) in Manchester where she had married Martin Lavin from Sligo and spent most of her life there. Anne was the senior one of the three Cunniffe sisters who worked in Hughes’ over a period. After Anne was Lizzie and then Sally. Anne’s time in Hughes’ overlapped with that of Jimmy Coyne. She too had good memories of ‘The Thatch Bar’ and the clientele who were customers there, including my own father. She had some ‘snaps’ from that time of both employees and customers. Getting a picture taken then was a bit of an event but Anne still had them after sixty years. She has not forgotten her home place and (before Covid) visited regularly. Sally worked in Castlecoote from ’68 to ’70, Lizzie was there from ’59 to ‘62. Lizzie and Sally now live in County Galway.

The really busy times in ‘The Thatch Bar’ included the Friday evening when the lads from Farrell’s Mill, armed with their week’s pay, crowded into the bar to slake their thirst. St. Stephen’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day were special days. St. Stephen’s had its local and visiting ‘Wren Boys’ and also the locals home from many locations in England. Occasionally there might be tune from Joe Reddington or Johnny Tarpey. A local play group with John Dunne and Leo Featherstone performing in the Hibernian Hall on the New Road would also be reflected in ‘The Thatch’. So too would visiting play groups from Dublin, known as ‘Fit Ups’. Around the 1960s it was the annual dance Carnival across the bridge that brought the extra crowd.    

  Bridie Gannon was the bookkeeper from Abbeyknockmoy in County Galway. She too emigrated to England. I assume that she had a regular and clear input to the Conboy ‘shop book’.

  Myra Kelly was also from near Creggs and shared her memories of Hughes’, which overlaid those of Anne. She met and married Mickie McCormack of Fuerty.

Josie Kelly, also from Creggauns near Creggs, married Tom Joe Dillon of Fuerty. Her sister Mary and brother Kevin were prominent Irish dance teachers and great friends of my sister Francey. Josie shared her time there with Maura Ward from around Kilbegnet.

Another lady to get married from Hughes’ was Myra Dempsey who married Jack Farrell who was a member of the local Farrell’s mill family. They went on to continue in that business in Mountbellew.    

In the early 1950s the personnel included Madeline Larkin who was the apple of many a local man’s eye then. She came from Kiltormer and was in Hughes’ circa 1953.

  Around that time, in ‘The Thatch’ also, was Phil Regan from Athleague. She too went to England.

There was also a young lady named Reenie Calligy from Laurencetown near Ballinasloe in the early ‘60s and we see her in pictures with Lizzie Cunniffe.

  Apart from Jimmy the only other male shop boys were Jim or Tim Murray who Jimmy Coyne associates with a Jew’s Harp and a Tim Finnerty from earlier.

Those involved with the farming side of things was Paddy Dowd, then Jim Meally. Mickie Ward remembers handing up the thatch to Jim when roof repairs ensued. Mike Gately was another farm-hand and he too emigrated to England. He was from Castlestrange. His sister Marie was the housekeeper in the house.   

  Jim Neilan, who lived across the field from the bar, was an ever-present in that vicinity for years. He tramped the worn grass path to Hughes’ house for his breakfast and did whatever odd jobs needed to be done. One of them was in collecting the empty bottles and washing them as Hughes’, like many bars, ‘bottled’ their own labelled stout. Jimmy Coyne was the main bottler, helped by Jim. Jim Neilan regularly insisted on being a ‘quality control taster’ for the stout being bottled. Now health and safety was well in the future in terms of hygiene and cleanliness but it seemed that people adapted to the conditions and created their own resistance to these threats of the time. Jim Neilan lived and died in the lodge gatehouse at the entrance to Castlecoote House. He is buried to the right of the main gate in Fuerty and is buried with his Neilan connections.

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank all those who responded to my queries and helped me relay, hopefully a subjective, if incomplete, account of the Hughes’ shop and bar in the 1950s and early ‘60s.

  I thank Anne Hughes Cunningham, Michelle Hughes-Walshe and Mamie Delaney, all members of the extended Hughes family. My thanks also to James Moran for all his assistance.

  I thank Anne and Lizzie Cunniffe for evocative pictures from that time. I also thank John Kerrigan for the important local picture of ‘The Thatch Pub’ and PJ Naughton for the aerial picture from 1974.    

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