This week, our columnist Frank comments on rural nightlife (in the past and today); the latest win for Creggs sporting teams; the successful but short-lived career of Irish pop group Six… and discussing starting Christmas celebrations early…
A lot of our readers won’t remember it, but there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Glenamaddy on a Saturday night was perhaps the closest thing we had to Ireland’s Las Vegas… maybe minus the casinos!
Hundreds of revellers would crowd into the East Galway village, travelling by buses from all over the western province to visit some of the many pubs for a few courage-boosting beverages – before ending up in the renowned Joe O’Neill-owned ‘Sound of Music’ dancehall, where many a romance began and – I suppose – where many a one ended as well.
However, for those who were unfortunate in their quest for love, there was always the consolation prize of queueing for some time at the mobile chipper. There, along with the arguably unhealthy, although absolutely lovely, fish and chips, there was also many a row – which often spilled over the road from the dancehall before being brought to a dramatic conclusion.
That was a long time ago, but last Saturday evening, as I arrived into Creggs for the 7.30 pm kick-off of the Cawley Cup rugby semi-final against our near enough neighbours, Buccaneers, the large crowd all around the village reminded me of the great Glenamaddy Saturday nights of yore.
On the rugby pitch, our lads came out on top in a very competitive battle and qualified for the final, where they will meet old foes, Tuam on November 10th. Why it’s so far away I have no idea, but I suppose it’s nice to have it to look forward to.
After the game I made my way to the village, where the two pubs, Mikeen’s and Gannon’s, were both packed out. A lot of the rugby supporters made the short trip across the road to Gannon’s, where I joined them for a little while before heading down to Mikeen’s, where my next-door neighbour Kate Hanley was having her 21st birthday party. A large crowd arrived to celebrate with Kate and the craic was 90, with Sean O’Donoghue providing the fantastic entertainment. It wasn’t too long before the dancers (and a few chancers!) were out on the floor.
I have to admit that I am no longer a night owl, and before the cake was brought out on the stroke of midnight I was already safely home in my bed. However, as with Glenamaddy back in the day, the village was buzzing on Saturday night, and congrats to Kate and happy birthday to her.
Funnily enough, one of the other reasons for my early night was the fact that our footballers were due to play (no, I wasn’t playing) a vitally important play-off game against St Brigid’s in the Intermediate Championship in Ballyforan the next day. I find watching our club games to be more stressful than nearly anything else I can imagine, so I wanted to be fully fit for the game.
As it happened, the match was a huge test for my recently serviced pacemaker, but in the end we staggered across the line and dramatically won last weekend’s quarter-final by a two-point margin. There is nothing quite like winning a tough, hard, competitive championship game – and especially to beat a quality side like St Brigid’s.
So there was definitely a feelgood buzz around the place on Sunday evening – one that lasted right until we heard our ‘reward’ is to face up to county senior champions of 2022, Strokestown, in this weekend’s quarter-final.
However, sport can throw up unlikely results, and even though we will be raging underdogs, it’s good to be there. In the words of Jack Charlton, I hope we really “give it a lash!”. I will be having an early night in order to be fully fit – I don’t know how I’d cope if we got to the semi-final!
Six’s stardom was short but sweet
It’s funny what can come into your mind – or at least into mine.
Some day last week, as we drove on the road between Castlecoote and Donamon (where we spotted a red squirrel and a fine, good-sized deer), I heard the song, ‘There’s a whole lot of loving going on’ being played on the radio, and immediately wondered if it was the version recorded by the short-lived Irish ‘Popstars’ winners, ‘Six’. As it happened, it was. In fact, to this day it is apparently the third highest best-selling (and fastest-selling) single in Irish history.
The band, which was formed on the Irish version of Popstars, comprised of three lads and three girls, and achieved a degree of notoriety when ‘Derry girl’ Nadine Coyle made it into the chosen group, before being disqualified because she had lied about her age. She was replaced by ‘Galway girl’ Sarah Keating, and the new band ‘Six’, managed by the Kiltimagh music guru Louis Walsh, seemed to be set for a long, successful, and glittering career.
I was working in Athlone at the time (2002), and on one occasion Six were due to appear in the shopping centre – but the crowd that turned up to see them was so big that the appearance had to be cancelled for safety reasons. Something similar happened in Castlebar. Everywhere they went, they sent the huge crowds into a frenzy.
After the massive success of their first single, they then released ‘Let me be the one’ – a song that also reached the coveted number one spot. In August 2002, the group did a sell-out Irish tour, and released an album called ‘This is it’, which charted at number seven in Ireland.
And yet, despite it all, Six disbanded in early 2003. They barely lasted a year, and I have no idea where it all went wrong, but as I listened to ‘There’s a whole lot of loving going on’, I found myself thinking back to that day in Athlone when they were due to appear; it’s almost impossible to comprehend the extent of the anticipation and excitement that was around the town that day. The truth is that even if their career was curtailed, for a while they brought an incredible buzz and excitement to the local entertainment scene, and I must admit I liked their two top-selling singles.
After ‘Six’, all of the members went on to have successful careers, some in music, and others in different parts of the entertainment and media world. But the biggest winner of all was Nadine Coyle, who, after being removed from the group, went on the have huge international success with Girls Aloud.
It can be a strange world!
And finally…
I am writing this on Monday morning, September 16th, and as I write, I can hear a lady on Good Morning Britain telling us that she celebrates Christmas the whole year round.
And as if that wasn’t mad enough, she was followed by a woman who has a Christmas shop opened in Shropshire in England every day of the year… except on Christmas Day.
Now I like Christmas as well as anyone, but in recent years I have definitely thought that it is starting way too early – the shops here have already started selling Christmas stuff now (in September). In my old head, nothing of this sort should start until the 8th of December.
But worse again, over in Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro has announced that Christmas will start this year on October 1st. However, with huge political unrest and widespread poverty overshadowing everything else in the country, there is a widespread belief that the President is using it as an attempt to divert attention from the real problems that his regime is facing. Ordinary people, who are struggling to make ends meet in a country where the minimum wage is only £2.70, are mainly sceptical about his motives, and wonder how there can be any major improvements in their lives just because Christmas starts in October, when they are finding it so hard to feed their families.
Anyway, hopefully Michael D will leave it alone. If Trump gets in in America, God only knows what changes he will implement – maybe he’ll scrap it altogether!
