It’s almost certain that nobody reading this piece will have known Eamon Drew, and what’s worse, is the fact that you will never get to know him now, because last Thursday, at around dinner-time, Eamon suffered a massive heart attack and sadly passed away.
It could in some ways have been worse, as he was driving a jeep at the time of the attack and fortunately, though he did hit a wall, he didn’t collide with either any other motorist or any other type of road user.
It’s hard to know why I feel compelled to write about Eamon, because at first glance you would say there was nothing special about him.
Just an ordinary everyday type of fellow, but for me he was the salt of the earth – happily single, loved his few pints (sometimes more than a few), had an odd flutter on the horses, worked very hard, if hungover could be a bit tempermental, but most times in good humour and was, generally, a good guy.
He would always say to me that I made him laugh and indeed we had some great craic, and for the last few years we were always going to meet for “one or two” in his local, Gunning’s in Rathconrath. Needless to say it won’t happen now, and I have to admit that I am very sad that it won’t.
You will probably have figured by now that Eamon worked with us at Lynn Antiques, and the place will definitely not be the same without him, but what’s bothering me this morning is whether or not he should be dead at all.
He was a young 66 years old, but apparently last week he had what he himself described as a weakness. Now everyone told him to go to the doctor, and maybe he did, although I doubt it, because men don’t want to talk to doctors, but what hit a chord with me was that I too got a weakness and at the time I also did nothing about it.
I got mine at a football match in April, and John Small, our trainer, saved me from hitting my head off an iron gate, and maybe hurting myself badly; subsequent events proved that I had a problem with the ticker, and now I have a load of stents inserted, which will hopefully keep me overground for another little (maybe not so little) while.
But even though I knew at the time that there must be something not fully right, I decided to ignore it and put it down to “one of those things.” And so while I know it’s too late for Eamon, and not knowing for sure that he didn’t go to the doctor, I must urge everyone out there, not only men, to heed the signs and not ignore any warnings that your body may give you.
Usually if something unusual occurs there’s a reason for it, so it’s only right to check it out. As for Eamon, I will have a pint in Gunning’s, sadly without him, when we gather to say goodbye to him. He was one of the good ones, and I always looked forward to meeting him. May he rest in peace.
On the road with…
On a lighter note (don’t tell Carol) I think I have fallen for another woman. However, before we head for the divorce courts, it’s only in the musical sense, and, she’ll have to put up with me for a while yet.
The girl I’ve fallen for, although she doesn’t know it yet, lucky her, is country singer Lisa McHugh, and her show ‘On the road with Lisa’ which goes out on Irish TV, is an absolute delight, and not to be missed.
This week she spent the day with singer Barry Doyle, who also performs as Farmer Dan, and the poor girl dosed sheep, filled and spread slurry, learned how to drive and reverse a big tractor (with a slurry tank in tow), cooked his lamb chops for breakfast and generally did stuff that you wouldn’t expect a top female country star to do.
The show was great fun, and if you have Irish TV make sure you tune in and see Lisa’s adventures with a lot of our major country artists.
As for me, if you happen to see her anywhere in the near future, don’t tell her about me; we’ll keep our little secret ‘till I meet her face to face.
Fury’s fortune, Connacht’s class
On to sporting matters, and it was a weekend when Tyson Fury, the son of an Irish traveller emigrant, became world heavyweight boxing champion, in an admittedly dreadful bout with previously unbeaten Russian, Wladamir Klitschko, celebrating by buying a second-hand caravan for about 4,000 stg.
He is reputed to have earned £7 million stg for the Saturday night fight. So heartiest congratulations to him; he has many more huge paydays coming, if he wants them. There is no limit to the number of caravans he can now buy!
However, back home in Ireland, pride of place had to go to the rugby players from Connacht who beat Munster in Thomond Park for the first time in 29 years. According to some papers on Sunday, Robbie Henshaw is definitely on his way to Leinster. You would hope that with the way the Western team is going, he might have second thoughts and stay with his native province.
Anyway, it was a great evening for Connacht, and the challenge now is for them to keep their standards up, and build on the foundations that previous coach, Eric Elwood, and now his Samoan successor, Pat Lam, have in place.
Here in Creggs, we have fond (maybe not so fond) memories of Jack the Higher, and my brother, the Rasher, (that translates to Jack Cunningham and Declan Brandon –but you should know that by now), who both played for Connacht at that level, and now we have the connection with present player, Denis Buckley, so we too can share in the glory of this marvellous victory.
Funny enough, our own local Creggs side are playing unbelieveably good and attractive rugby at the moment, and for the fourth week in a row, they secured a bonus point win, this time at the expense of a gallant Ballyhaunis side in The Green on Saturday night, so it’s good times all round.
The news from Creggs…
Back to local matters, and the 21st annual Barrie Harris Walk was launched in Mikeen’s, also on Saturday night, by local TD Michael Fitzmaurice.
I’m not going to tell you of the importance of this fundraiser again, but if someone (me included) asks you for a bit of sponsorship, put the hand in the pocket, and give a little something – you won’t miss it, and it will be of great help to someone less fortunate.
Also, the Senior Citizens Party is taking place on Sunday, December 13th in St. Mary’s Hall, Kilbegnet, and everyone is invited.
Thanks to the generosity of the Sheepdog Trials, Brian, from the Foroige club, and the Kilbegnet Drama Group, the organisers didn’t have to go selling tickets this year, but the party itself will be, as it always is, one of the great social days of the year – don’t miss it.
And finally…
Finally for this week, the big night for the local GAA club is on next Saturday night, when Kevin McStay launches their new book on the history of the club, in the school hall. Throw-in is at 9 pm and everyone is invited to attend. We will see you all there.
‘Till next week, Bye for now
