The Green Lady must have vanished
Anyone who grew up in the Boyle of yesteryear would have heard of the Green Lady. On Halloween eve, it was said she appeared at midnight in a top floor window at the old army barracks (now King House). Many an October 31st evening was spent looking up at the then derelict building in the hope of seeing the Green Lady or for those more brazen, a sortie through the building by torch light, more frightened that Willie Joe McNamara would get you than the Green Lady! Nowadays it seems the Green Lady is no more. A pity really as the story could provide a brilliant backdrop for a Halloween Spook Fest in the great House.
Defibrillator locations need to be made public
A viewer of the Boyle’d Pot has got in touch to suggest that a list of the locations of all defibrillators in Boyle should be made known to the public. In addition, the viewer suggest that the names and numbers of those trained in the use of the appliances should be posted adjacent to the defibrillators. Many clubs and organisations have defibrillators but they are not available to the general public. A case has been erected at Boyle Garda Station to house one but to date no appliance has been installed. It has been suggested that another defib should also be located close to the Courthouse which is seen as an additional central location.
Is our rail line the next to go?
First it was the ESB office, then the AIB and NIB banks, next Nire, the Green Isle factory, Stewarts Mills, Forest Park and Royal Hotels and in recent weeks talk of the mental health centres in Boyle – all destined for closure. How much of a fight was put up to save some of the aforementioned is debatable but the fact is that the majority of those mentioned are no longer part and parcel of Boyle life. And this week fears have been expressed for another vital service in the town – our rail line. A recent review of Iarnrod Eireann has shown that €600 million needs to be invested in the service over the next five years. It is believed that without that funding many rail lines will be destined for closure with only the Dart, Dublin and Cork commuter routes and inter-city services from Dublin to Cork, Belfast and Limerick remaining. If that were to happen it would be another nail in the coffin for Boyle. Vigilance is needed now and not after an announcement of closure is made, to ensure nothing but progress and investment takes place on the Dublin – Sligo rail line.
A busy Halloween in store in Boyle
Once again a bank holiday is upon us and Boyle is the place to be with plenty of Halloween themed events taking place. Bars and businesses have parties, fun and entertainment laid on. Our own Lough Key Forest Park is gearing up for the weekend and Drumanilra Farm Kitchen have a line up of activities planned. The trees around Boyle are glowing in magnificent autumn colours right now and the many shops in town have weekend offers ongoing. Also this weekend Aidan Ray Menswear (see advert) have their 30th anniversary celebrations taking place. A few of the many reasons to visit Boyle this weekend.
The Boyle swimming pool fund
Last week our neighbours in Ballaghaderreen had to adjourn a meeting called to discuss how the €440k collected for a swimming pool would be spent. Such was the size of the crowd in attendance that it was felt unsafe to hold the meeting in the planned venue. It will now take place at a later date in a bigger space. The Balla meeting stirred memories of a collection here in Boyle in the late seventies for a swimming pool for the town. A novel idea was developed at the time whereby people would build a mound of the then seven sided 50p pieces around a central column. Every bar and shop had one of the counter top columns at the time. That was nearly forty years ago and a lot of money was collected at the time. The funds were probably put into use for some other project or perhaps they are still sitting in a dormant account…Does anyone have any knowledge on what became of the monies?
Boyle needs to be included in Living City incentive
The Heritage Council idea that the tax incentive Living City initiative, currently in place in parts of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Kilkenny, should be extended to help revitalise other towns sounds like a great idea. Should it come to fruition, then Boyle needs to ensure it is included in the list. The initiative gives tax breaks to owners or landlords to refurbish vacant units bringing life back to town centres. Emphasis has to be placed in Boyle on getting people back living in the town centre. If this happens, then commercial occupancy will follow.
And finally….!
Harold’s wife bought a new line of expensive cosmetics guaranteed to make her look years younger. After a lengthy sitting before the mirror applying the ‘miracle’ products, she asked, ‘Darling, honestly, what age would you say I am?’
Looking over her carefully, Harold replied, ‘Judging from your skin, twenty; your hair, eighteen; and your figure, twenty five.’
‘Oh, you flatterer!’ she gushed.
‘Hey, wait a minute,’ interrupted Harold. ‘I haven’t added them up yet!’
