Top award for Kilronan Castle
Congratulations to the management and staff at Kilronan Castle who were this week awarded a CIE Tours Gold Excellence Award and the status of ‘Best Hotel Accommodation’ in Ireland at the Annual Awards of Excellence night. These awards recognise the best hotels and attractions across Ireland and are based on feedback from over 32,000 CIE Tours customers throughout the year. Kilronan Castle is currently ‘our local hotel’ and the town does benefit from visitors to the facility, especially during the summer months.
Weather Woes
As if Wednesday’s in general were not quiet enough commercially around Boyle, along comes the snow and the town, like others in the west, quite literally came to a standstill. With schools closed on both Wednesday and Thursday, parents had to take two day’s leave with the knock on effect of people not coming into town, events being cancelled and businesses closing. In general, the snow was an economic disaster for a town that was already suffering the January blues. But brighter days lie ahead and when the sun shines again and the snow is gone, make sure to support the Boyle businesses who have suffered in the past few days.
The forgotten Boyle GAA hero
Here in Boyle we quite rightly honour our deceased GAA stars. Many gifted and impressive footballers over the years came from Boyle. But there is one player who seems to have slipped beneath the radar but who made a major contribution to Boyle and Roscommon football. That man was Tom Cox, who came from an well known and long established Abbeytown family. Tom was one of the first to bring an All Ireland medal to the town when he was a member of the first Roscommon team ever to win an All Ireland title – the minor team of 1939. A gifted athlete, he was also a member of the Boyle minor teams that won county “A” titles in 1938 and 1939. Tom died a young man in 1944 from the cancer of the time – TB, and is buried in Assylinn with other members of his family.
A photographers heaven
This week’s snow has provided an ideal backdrop for photographers who have used the inclement weather to show Boyle in all it’s glory. Some comments on the various photographs published on social media read ” Boyle looking so beautiful in the snow” and “How lucky are we to live in such a beautiful area”. Drone footage of McDermott;s Castle by Zoomzone Photography and Boyle Abbey by ‘Next Stop Who Knows’ also elicited favourable comment and indeed showed the beautiful area which some of us are lucky enough to call home
Boyle link to St Brigid
Today Friday February 1st is the Feast of St. Brigid which, believe it or not, supposedly marks the beginning of spring! There are many traditions surrounding the Feast of St. Brigid including the making of a St Brigid’s Cross -a cross traditionally made from rushes and believed to protect the house in which it is displayed from evil, fire and hunger. Historically, St Brigid is closely linked to the Boyle area and in particular Breedogue. Writing in ‘The Heart of Ireland’ Patrick Sharkey says that ‘Lily of Erin’, as St Brigid was also called, spend the early days of her life in Breedogue. “In the Plains of Boyle almost mid way between the town of Assicus (Elphin) and Boyle lies the little village of Brigid Og or Breedogue, where the youthful Lily of Erin grew in beauty and grace before man”.
Actually, the said book – ‘The Heart of Ireland’, like the ‘Annals of Boyle’ and the ‘Annals of Lough Key’ are great reference documents when one researches the history of Boyle. ‘The Heart of Ireland’ was said to have been written by Sharkey in the Princess Hotel on Green Street – now home to Boyle Credit Union.
And finally….!
A old man went into his local pharmacy and went straight to the back of the store to where the Pharmacist’s Counter is located.
He took out his little brown bottle along with a teaspoon and laid them both onto the counter.
The pharmacist came over smiled and asked if he could help.
“Yes” said the old man. “Could you please taste this for me?”
Being a senior citizen, the Pharmacist went along with the old mans request.
He picked up the spoon and put a tiny bit of the liquid on his tongue and swirled it around.
Then with a stomach-churning look on his face he spat it out on the floor and began coughing.
When he finally was finished, the man looked him right in the eye asked, “Now, does that taste sweet to you?”
The pharmacist, shaking his head back and forth with a venomous look in his eyes yelled, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!”
The old man said “Oh thank God! That’s a real relief! My doctor told me to get a pharmacist to test my urine for sugar!
