Mallow 20th Anniversary

On 10th September Mallow celebrated their 20th anniversary with Mass by Canon Casey followed by lunch and entertainment at Springfort Hall Country House Hotel. We were delighted to have our President Mai Quaid, our CEO Maureen Kavanagh and our Outreach Worker Moira Quinlan with us.Our founder member Pat Winkle was there also. She was the 1st Chairperson back in 1994. Our 1st Secretary Con Power was also there as were many of the earlier members.A special presentation was made to Pat and she was thrilled even though she warned us not to make a fuss.

80 attended and a lot of members took part in the mass, readings hymns etc. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch served up by the excellant staff of Springfort Hall.Many thanks to Paul and his staff who looked after us on the day and to Theresa who organised the whole thing. After the lunch we enjoyed music by Billy and songs by John. Later in the evening we had Tea/coffee and some of the delicious cake made by Gretta. Thank you Gretta for the hours of labour over that cake. You will see she even got the Logo in and it was filled with cream and strawberries.

The siege of Ennis

Pat Con and Lil our oldest member at 93

Committee members

20th Anniversary at Springfort Hall

Photos Michael Stubbs and Dave Nelson

Sunflowers

I have never had any great success with growing sunflowers. I'd plant the seeds and get as far as seedlings and small plants and then they would die, fall over or be eaten! But this year I have had beautiful tall sunflowers for the first time.The strangest thing is I did not plant sunflowers at all this year , in fact not for several years. So where did they come from? I wondered would it be the birds as I have lots of birds in my garden. Or would it be my home made compost?
Early in the year I noticed some weeds in my tubs and baskets and discarded them. I had used home made compost when planting them up. The I noticed similar "weeds" and one taller specimen hidden behind another plant and wondered if it could be a sunflower.I planted it out  and in a few days I knew it was a sunflower so I decided naturally not to discard any others. So that is how I have sunflowers everywhere in pots and on ditches etc. But the mystery is where did they come from. I think it is from my compost . Is that a good sign of my composting abilities or not.I took great delight in seeing the bees feasting on the flowers in the sunshine this summer . A good flower to attract bees to your garden. Great for pollinating!

The Lake District

Members from Mallow, Kilshannig and Boherbue joined with others to travel to the Lake District with O Callaghan Coaches Killarney on a 4 night trip recently.We travelled from Killarney via Dublin Port across Wales and up the west of England to Kendal in Cumbria where we stayed for the 4 night in The Riverside Hotel.We were very pleased with the accomodation meals and staff.This hotel was built on the site of an old woolen mill and in the style of a mill. On the 1st day we went on a walking tour of the town, a lovely old town with cobbled streets and little alleyways. Later we got a tour of the surrounding district by coach.We had time to visit the shops or the pool later before dinner at 7. During our stay we visited Windermere and went on a cruise on Lake Windermere, also we visited Dove Cottage home of William Wordsworth and his family.During our day out each day we stopped  at little villages for coffee lunch or ice cream.John our driver and Seamus our guide were marvellous and knew all the best spots.They were also very helpful with regard to getting on and off the coach , helping with luggage etc.On another day we travelled up the Cumbrian mountains to Kirkstone Pass where  there are wonderful views.We held our breaths while John negotiated the narrow mountain roads. We rolled down the other side to travel on a steam boat on Ullswater.We then travelled on toGlenridding and Penrith.We had a lovely group on the tour from Cork Kerry and Limerick. We made many friends and met some old ones too.On the 5th day we travelled home and only then did it rain! We had such fabulous weather all the time we were there.There are certain advantages to travelling by ferry. No passport control,no weight restrictions, no restrictions with regards to fluids, no waiting for 2 hours at the airport or security screening.All in all we had a very enjoyable holiday and a very pleasant ferry crossing. And of course the shopping was very good too!

On Lake Windemere

Dove Cottage

Cumbrian Mountains from Kirkstone Pass

On Ullswater