Favourable comment for new Bell Tower
Well done to the Parish Council and local firm Keville Engineering on the completion of the new bell tower at St. Joseph’s Church. The new tower is somewhat reminiscent of the old tower that existed prior to the 1977 fire and has been the subject of favourable comment since it’s erection. All the recent attention on the bell brings back memories of the late Paddy Leonard from St. Patrick Street who made the journey by bicycle every day at 12noon and 6pm to ring the Angelus Bell in St. Joseph’s Church.
The foundation stone for the church was laid in June 1876 and completed in 1882 at a cost of £8000. In 1961 two thirds of the Church roof were damaged during Hurricane Debbie and replaced before the tragic fire of 1977 which completely gutted the building. The current modern Church was built and opened in 1980 with the bell tower moved to it’s current location.
Belief in Boyle leads to further funding
There was further good news for Boyle last Monday when Failte Ireland awarded the town €470,000 as part of their ‘Destination Towns’ initiative launched earlier this year by the National Tourism Development Authority. When matched funding is provided by the local authority, the investment will be closer to €600,000. Boyle was put forward by Roscommon Co Co to Failte Ireland as the town in the county most suitable for the funding. The monies will be used to progress a walkway from the end of the cycle path at the Garda Station, to continue down past the Library. It will also be used for the upgrade of the walkway at the rear of Main Street and to continue the soon to be constructed river walk from the side of the Royal, in through the Pleasure Grounds where paths will be upgraded. It is not for the upgrade of the playground, which, it is understood may be the subject of a separate funding application in the new year.
Having Boyle nominated by the Council for this funding just goes to show the great working relationship Boyle Town Team and Chamber of Commerce has with the local authority and the benefit to Boyle of having a plan – Boyle 2040 at its disposal. Without this plan none of the over €4m funding received to date would have been achievable.
The Funeral Undertaker
Wednesday night’s brilliant documentary ‘The Funeral Director’ profiling the work of undertaker David McGowan made for compelling viewing. David’s comment during the programme that ‘there is no point been the richest man in the graveyard’ brought back memories of a similar comments made in Boyle years ago by the affable Fr Derek Gormley. During a sermon at a funeral Derek came out with two great sentences: “There is no ATM in Assylinn” and “There is no hitch on the hearse’.
Town centre living is the way forward
Another piece of good news to feature on Boyletoday.com during the week was a planning application for 9 apartments on Green Street. With a push currently underway to get more people to live in Boyle town centre, this latest news is most welcome. We have to accept that we will never have as many retail premises on our streets in Boyle as we had years ago. What we need to do is turn some of the retail into residential, as is planned to happen on Green Street and get more people living in our town centre.
‘Isn’t there a grand stretch in the evenings’
With the weather now well and truly winter and with a little over two weeks left in 2019, thoughts begin to turn to brighter days and longer evenings ahead. Traditionally December 21st is viewed as the shortest day of the year, but in fact the winter solstice on that day does not have the latest sunrise nor the earliest sunset of the year. This is because of a discrepancy between our modern-day timekeeping methods and how time is measured using the sun, known as the equation of time. This year the earliest sunset will take place in, for example – Dublin, at 16.07.25 on this Saturday December 14th. The evening start to get longer from there on with the sun setting on December 15th at 16.07.26 – one second longer! So from Sunday on you are permitted to say “Isn’t there a grand stretch in the evenings!”
No new cars for Boyle Gardai
Unfortunately Boyle Garda Station was not among those allocated a new official vehicle during the week, when a number of stations nationwide – mainly in the North West, were named to take delivery of 2020 patrol cars and vans. Carrick on Shannon station was named as one of those to get a new patrol car with Sligo getting a new van. Here in Boyle we still have high mileage vehicles in use, a Garda Station that is not open 24 hours per day and one that would appear to be on reduced manpower.
St Vincent de Paul collection this weekend
The annual St. Vincent de Paul collection will be taken up at all Masses in St. Joseph’s Church, Boyle this weekend. Donations can also be made by post directly to SVDP, Boyle, Co. Roscommon or they can arrange collection by contacting 087 9292627. In addition, donations can be made directly to national or regional offices and will be passed back to local level. Please give generously to this weekend’s collection.
And finally…..!
A man boarded an aircraft at London’s Heathrow Airport for New York, and taking his seat as he settled in, he noticed a very beautiful woman boarding the plane.
He realised she was heading straight toward his seat and bingo – she took the seat right beside him.
“Hello”, he blurted out, “Business trip or vacation?”
She turned, smiled enchantingly and said, “Business. I’m going to the annual nymphomaniac convention in the United States.”
He swallowed hard. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen sitting next to him, and she was going to a meeting for nymphomaniacs !
Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, “What’s your business role at this convention ?”
“Lecturer,” she responded,” I use my experience to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.”
“Really”, he smiled, “what myths are those ?”
“Well,” she explained, “one popular myth is that African-American men are the most well-endowed when, in fact, it’s the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is that French men are the best lovers, when actually it is the men of Greek descent. We have also found that the best potential lovers in all categories are the Irish.”
Suddenly the woman became uncomfortable and blushed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really shouldn’t be discussing this with you, I don’t even know your name !”
“Tonto,” the man said. “Tonto Papadopoulos, but my friends call me Paddy.”
