From: Patrick Fallon (pfallon@supanet.com) 4th November 2001
Patrick Fallon – 4th November 2001
Category: People
Brendan Gallagher – 2nd June 2001
From: Brendan Gallagher (brendanintacoma@home.com) 2nd June 2001
I know it is late, but I wanted to tell you what a wonderful time we had with Denis and Ita. It was a short trip but it was great.
This is a picture from the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. We had a lovely view of the city and the mountains. There were too many clouds so they could not see the Mt Rainier not the Olympic Mountains. We too a ride on a ferry so they could get a better view of the City Seattle.
We went to Victoria in Canada. We had another Ferry Trip backcross the Straits of Juan De Fuca. If you look at a map you will Port Angeles on the Washington State side and Victoria on the Vancouver Island side. We went out to the Buchard Gardens. It was too early in the year for the tulips and the Rhododendrons. It was nice to see how a big quarry was turned into a beautiful garden. Victoria in a way is more British than England. It was long day starting out about 6:30 am and getting home about 10:00 pm.
Slán agus beannacht
Kathleen Madden – Saturday 5th May 2001
From: Kathleen Madden – Saturday 5th May 2001
Hi to all at currane.net
As promised the photograph of the supporters with the CUP at the recent Mayo v Galway Allianz Football League Final held in Croagh Park on the 29/4/2001
We are Season Ticket Holders for all the Mayo matches and at last we had a victory, hopefully we will not have to wait 31 years for another victory!!!!
from: Kathleen Madden (no 1 supporter)
From: Brendan Gallagher Thursday 8th March 2001
From: Brendan Gallagher (brendanintacoma@home.com) Thursday 8th March 2001
Well this is interesting. As you all know we had an earthquake here in western Washington last week. It scared me a bit for 30 seconds or so but everything turned out well. We have a brick house. I thought we would lose all the bricks, but lucky for us we had no damage. There was damage 30 miles north of us in Seattle and 30 miles south of us in Olympia, the state Capital.
We have had a few small earthquakes here but nothing to worry about. This last one was different.
Thought you might like this picture of Curraun. I took this last October.
Slán agus beannacht
Letters
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Margaret Gallagher – (Denis) (2002)
This interview took place in 2002:
Our sincere condolences go out to Margaret and her family over the recent death of her Mother Hannah. May she Rest in Peace.
It’s an appropriate time to persuade Margaret to be our Person of the Moment. Margaret is the ‘home’ Chairperson of the Fáilte Abhaile Pobal a’Chorráin 2003 Committee.
| Name: | Margaret Gallagher |
| Age: | 42 |
| Tell us a little about your family: | I’m no.9 in a family of 12.- My original family! I’m married to Eoinie Moran so then there’s all of my ‘acquired’ family as well. |
| Employment: | Childcare worker |
| What do you like about Currane? | It gives me an identity and a sense of belonging. |
| What is your favourite view in the area? | From our bog – looking home. |
| What is your favourite time of year? | Spring |
| How would you improve the area? | Employment for the indigenous population. |
| Is there a place that you enjoyed traveling to? | Germany and Achill Beg |
| Favourite story/folklore: | Anything to do with old traditions, folk etc. particularly to do with the sea. |
| Favourite saying: | Ní neart go lur le chéile |
| Favourite book: | Eternal Echoes by John O’Donohue |
| Favourite type of music: | Any |
| Favourite song: | ‘Today’- John Denver |
| Favourite film: | The Sound of Music |
| Favourite drink: | Brandy and ginger ale |
| Favourite food: | Fish |
| Favourite night out: | A meal, then a few drinks |
| Favourite sports: | GAA and cards |
| Favourite teams: | Currane N.S. Football team |
| Which person would you most like to meet (living or dead)? | My Father |
| Any plans for the year ahead and the future? | Open a coffee shop !!! THE FAILTE ABHAILE FESTIVAL 2003. COME AND SEE ME THERE!! |
Bridgie Moran (Bheag) RIP (2002)
This interview took place in 2002:
Bridgie celebrated her 90th birthday, surrounded by friends and family on January 12th 2002. The pictures on the right show her at her birthday party at the Compass Bar.
Our thanks to Mark Ruddy for carrying out out this interview and to all of Bridgie’s family who emailed their nominations.
Our sincere condolences to Bridgie and her family over the recent death of her sister,
Mary O’Malley of Currane and Manchester.
| Name: | Bridget Moran |
| Age: | 90 |
| Tell us a little about your family: | I have 10 children- 6 girls and 4 boys. 27 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Some live in England, some in Ireland. |
| What do you like about Currane? | The friendliness and good nature of my neighbours. |
| What is your favourite view in the area? | Clare Island, Clew Bay, the lovely big mountain in front of my kitchen window, Currane Hill. |
| What is your favourite time of year? | Spring |
| How would you improve the area? | Street lighting and employment for the youth. |
| Is there a place that you enjoyed traveling to? | Shopping at the nearest town. |
| Favourite TV programme: | Fair City |
| Favourite song: | Any of Dana’s |
| Favourite film: | The Quiet Man |
| Favourite drink: | Whiskey |
| Favourite food: | Not fussy |
| Favourite night out: | The whist. |
| Favourite sports: | Rugby and Gaelic football. |
| Favourite teams: | Manchester United and the local team. |
| Which person would you most like to meet (living or dead)? | My Husband (deceased) |
| Any plans for the year ahead and the future? | To stay in good health and to go out and enjoy myself. |
Alistair Steger-Lewis (2001)
This interview took place in 2001:
Al (as he’s known to his friends) recently became chairman of the Achill IT committee.
He has lived in Currane since May 2000.
| Name: | Alistair Steger-Lewis |
| Age: | 37 |
| Tell us a little about your family and links with the area: | My wife is Jane, whose mother was born in Currane. My parents live in Southsea, UK. I have a sister who lives in Honduras teaching scuba diving and training dolphins, and a brother who is currently in Thailand training to be a scuba dive master. |
| Tell us a little about your employment history and professional life: | I studied electrical engineering at King’s College London, graduating in 1989. I started my career with a small DTP Bureau and Publishing Systems Integrator in Fulham, south-west London, initially in the bureau but moving into systems engineering after a year. I worked my way up to Engineering Manager, then the company went bust! Several freelance and short-term jobs later (including a spell at Harrods) I moved to Associated Newspapers (Daily Mail, Evening Standard etc.). Nearly five years passed by, after which I went to the Guardian for a year before moving to Currane. My wife, Jane, and I now run our own business offering a wide variety of services including web/internet development, publishing consultancy, graphic design and general ITC consultancy. |
| What do you like about Currane? | The people/community, scenery, lifestyle & priorities. |
| What is your favourite view in the area? | The view across Clew Bay to Clare Island |
| What is your favourite time of year? | Spring, with all its promises of growth and regeneration; crisp, clear days lengthening towards summer; the calm before the tourist season starts. There is no bad time of year, and I love a powerful storm! |
| Is there anything you would like to change about Currane? | I’d like to see a telephone exchange in Currane so we could all have a decent phone service and benefit from high speed technologies as they become available. It’s be nice to see less litter in the countryside and the sea. |
| Tell us about your role on the IT Committee and community work in general. | When Jane and I moved here we wanted to become involved in community development. We talked to the late Denis Gallagher about it and he arranged for us to join the Achill IT Committee in January 2001. The IT Committee is part of the Achill Local Development Company and is responsible for running two IT Centres, one in rented offices the former school in Crumpaun, Keel, and one in Currane, in a room rented from Muintir a’ Chorrain, the Currane Development Company. These centres were set up to train the people of the parish in Information and Communication Technologies with the aim of both enhancing employment prospects for individuals and attracting businesses to the parish. In October I was asked to take on the role of Chairman of the committee. Of course I didn’t hesitate! There are many challenges ahead. The IT Centres have been running since 1998 and in that time over 2000 trainees have taken advantage of the courses. We must now move on to the next stage, to proactively encourage businesses to start up or locate in the parish and to offer higher-level or ‘next-step’ courses. We are working with other groups and state agencies in an attempt to set up an Business Centre where enterprising individuals and groups can start up businesses, receiving support and sharing costs. We are looking at ways of expanding our protfolio of training courses. We are embarking on several social projects that we hope will benefit the parish in their own right as well as stimulating economic activity. We are delighted that, in the last week, we have succeeded with an application for funding under the Social Economy Program, which will directly create 5 jobs focussed on driving forward our development program. Jane and I are also on the board of Muintir a’ Chorrain and hope to play a part in developments within Currane, in particular in relation to telecommunications. |
| Is there a place that you enjoyed traveling to? | Australia was quite an experience, though best enjoyed when you’re young! Skiing in the USA was fabulous. Amsterdam was fun. But Venice for our honeymoon was the best place I’ve been: the opulent luxury of a fine hotel, meals on the Grand Canal, and so much culture! |
| Do you have a favourite type of music? | 70s/80s ‘pop’, especially glam-rock and Abba! I’m also ather partial to Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and ‘heavy metal’ from the 70s and early 80s. Actually my tastes are quiet varied, though Jane is not too keen on most of my choices! |
| Favourite song: | It’s a tough choice. Something by Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Abba or the Carpenters maybe. ‘Music Was My First Love’ by John Miles always makes the hairs on my neck tingle, and for passion and pride it’s hard to beat ‘Flower of Scotland’, ‘Jerusalem’ or especially ‘Ireland’s Call’. |
| Favourite drink: | Guinness in the pub and good coffee elsewhere. |
| Favourite food: | Haggis, game and kebabs! |
| Favourite night out: | A night in the George – always a warm welcome, good company and great Guinness. |
| Favourite sports: | Rugby, F1 Motor Racing. |
| Favourite teams: | Rugby: Harlequins and England; Munster & Ireland. F1: McLaren, Williams, Jordan. |
| Any plans for the year ahead and the future? | To build a house, develop our business to a point where we are profitable, and to work with local groups to develop Currane and Achill – especially the telecommunications in Currane. |
Maeve Cafferkey (2001)
This interview took place in 2001:
We’ve decided to award this slot to two personalities this month; Noreen and Maeve have just arrived back from their epic adventure in the southern hemisphere.
They have provided us with much entertainment during their months away with their dispatches on the Currane.net message board. Now they are back amongst us.
Welcome home Noreen and Maeve!
To read Noreen’s interview click here.
| Name: | Maeve Cafferkey |
| Age: | 22 |
| Family details/links with the area: | My parents come from and live in Achill. I have three brothers and a sister and a dog. |
| Where do you live? | I’m supposed to be living at home with my parents but I often find myself stranded in The Compass late at night, so I sleep there the odd night. |
| Tell us about your travels: | The excitement really began when we left the fruit-farm in April. Our first adventure was when we rented a car and drove along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The scenery here was gorgeous and there were parts that really reminded us of home… with the heather landscape and the cliffs. This was our first time driving properly in Australia, and my driving experience speaks for itself while Noreen’s “nice and easy” pace made us miss our ferry! So I spent my time telling her to speed up a bit and she was telling me to slow down. And both of us thought that we were the best drivers ever!! We headed to Sydney from here to go to the Kylie Minogue concert on May 10th, and it was a great show – Kylie was brilliant! And I’m not a fan or anything, but we had a mighty night. From Sydney we went to New Zealand. Noreen had to be out of the country by the end of May as her visa was up, so when we went to New Zealand, she renewed her visa there for another three months. We rented another car in New Zealand, and we drove aimlessly around the south island before we landed in Queenstown. I know not everybody is interested in this, but the road we took in getting to Queenstown was the worst road in the world. It was what the Irish would call a bog road, but it went over a mountain range, going up and down through the mountains and we only had a tiny bit of petrol. We were sure that we would perish on Dansey’s Pass, but luckily after 5 hours of second gear driving we arrived safely on a tarred road. That was by far the scariest thing that I have done since the driving test. Queenstown was where we went on the Luge… we took a ski lift to the top of a mountain and then got into these go-carts and raced down the mountain! It was mental craic but as I said earlier, Noreen is a cautious driver, so she took her time racing down while I was such an Irvine wannabe! Then I took the plunge and did a bungee jump – 440 feet – and that was classic! There was an eight second freefall before I bounced back up and so for the first few seconds I was thinking “Yeah!! I’m great! I jumped!”, and then I still had time to panic before the rope tightened, so it was really scary, but worth it! We even went ice-skating in New Zealand, but after an hour of wet and sore bums we quit. We can’t be cut out for EVERYTHING can we?! We left New Zealand and flew into Perth. We met up with my brother Eamon here and all three of us went job searching. We all found a nice sales job and we all got on well in the interview and the following day when the time came to start the job, we ended up having to go from door to door selling teddy bear bookends. Fifteen minutes into the job I quit, Noreen lasted 2 hours and Eamon lasted the whole day. We were never so embarrassed to be selling anything in our lives. That experience alone made us want to leave Perth, so we did. I went on a tour to Alice Springs in the centre of the country, while Eamon and Noreen flew to Darwin in the north. On my travels I learned an awful lot about the Aboriginals, about their survival and their demise over the past 200 years. I did a tour of the Ayers Rock, which was mind-blowing. I never thought that it would hold me like it did. I still can’t begin to explain the greatness of it. After this experience, I flew to Darwin to meet Eamon and Noreen. We went to Kakadu National Park a couple of days later and we had the time of our lives. Climbing, swimming, trekking, living life to the max every minute of every day. It was exhilarating being there and it was with sorry hearts that we left Kakadu and headed back to the concrete jungle again. We celebrated Eamon’s 21st in Darwin and the following day we flew to Cairns to do the diving course that we had planned for months. The Great Barrier Reef was breathtaking; we couldn’t get enough dives in. And again, we hated the thought of going back to the busy town of Cairns; we loved the peace and quiet of the ocean. In Cairns I did a parachute jump with Eamon while Noreen went ballooning. Now that was fantastic! It wasn’t as scary as the bungee jump because I didn’t have to jump, but it went on forever… I freefell for about 45 seconds and then landed like a pro! Mary Carmel Gallagher, who had been to Australia a couple of years ago, recommended that we take Uncle Brian’s tour from Cairns, so we did. It took us to the surrounding rainforests where we spent a great day learning even more about how the animals and the people survived the climates. A couple of days later, we were all supposed to go white-water rafting, but we slept in and missed the bus, so we put it down to fate and continued on our travels. Our next stop was the Whitsunday Islands off Australia’s east coast, where we spent 3 days lounging on a yacht, living the high life! We stopped on different islands for a lounge in the sun or even a snooze and we jumped off the yacht at our leisure for a swim in the warm tropical waters. It was absolute heaven, but three days was enough for me. The boredom would have got the better of me after that! Fraser Island was our next stop, an island of complete sand with those fierce dingoes roaming around the place. Here we rented a four-wheel drive and bopped and bumped our way around the island. I must now say that here on Fraser Island, my excellent driving capabilities and experience showed their worth and I proved myself to be one of the finest drivers of my generation!! In my head anyway! And then it was back to Sydney for our last couple of days where we stayed with Shaun Kilbane from Saula. We left Australia and headed to Bangkok for a couple of days and then flew to Koh Samui, one of the islands off Thailand. From Koh Samui we headed to Koh Pha-Ngan where Noreen spent a day diving while I rented a three-speed scooter and motored my way around the island! I gave Noreen a spin on the back of the scooter going home one night and we were going uphill when the engine conked and the two of us fell off the bike. So much for my driving skills! We headed back to Bangkok again, where we went to a friendly football match between Thailand and Manchester United, and that was a mighty match… the Thai people are dotes! So then we headed to Noreen’s sister Maura in London and spent a couple of days around London, before landing home! Home sweet home! |
| What were the highlights of your trip? | For me, the desert between Perth and Alice Springs was a highlight of my trip. Kakadu National Park just out of Darwin was also a place that will stay with me forever. It’s a coincidence that both these places cost nothing… it was the feeling that I got in these places that made it so good for me; learning about the land, experiencing the bush and the desert, exploring places, being filthy all the time… material things were of no relevance and that made those places appeal to me the most. |
| What were the low points? | I hated New Year’s Eve… I love the way we celebrate it here with the whole family and friends and neighbours and hugging and kissing. I wouldn’t have it any other way. |
| What did you most miss about home while away? | My family, my car, my bed and older people. We hadn’t much contact with older people while we were away, the circles that we found ourselves in were mostly backpacker circles, so I missed the presence of older people. |
| What was it like spending so much time with Noreen? | It was an experience. Noreen is very adaptable, so any situation that we found ourselves in Noreen was always graceful in her dealing with it. She’s always up for a laugh, and she embraces new experiences with gusto! She has a very easy presence, which makes her a delight to be with and she finds the funny side of things to every disaster of which there were many! Even in Australia, where we’d have spent a month looking at each other, if the time came for us to separate for a while, I’d only be walking away from her and I’d be missing her already. She is a mighty cook, which suited me down to the ground! And she’s great at keeping a tossed room, which didn’t suit me down to the ground at all until we moved into the same room and I began to learn the beauty of not tidying your room. She’s a great guru! And we sang… and sang… and sang. We sang our way around the world. We didn’t need to know the words or the beat, we just sang whatever tune came into our heads and we kept singing. For hours. Without stopping. Without caring. Without worrying. It was exhilarating being with her. I can’t deal with her not being beside me all the time now, it’s weird. Except for the week that I was in the desert, we probably spent an hour apart every week, if even the hour, so it’s tough not having her there. I find myself talking away to myself now, thinking that she’s there, so it will be a big adjustment to make getting used to being apart. |
| Profession, past/present employment details: | Pass… I used to be a lot of things but I’m just trying to sort out what I’m going to do for the future now. |
| What do you like about Currane? | The pace of the place, the attitude of the people towards the place, and The Compass Bar (my home away from home). |
| How would you improve the area? | To improve the area, I would issue honorary citizenship to myself. That’s all that’s needed for the place to be improved really…. oh yeah and the roads. I’d get Fine Gael to come in and put in proper roads. |
| Favourite place/view: | In the whole world, my favourite view is a sunset over any horizon. Just land or sea and the sky, with the sun setting |
| Favourite time of year/weather: | My birthday is my favourite time of year (September 23rd.. !!). I love bad weather lashing against you with the wind knocking you everywhere. Sideways rain I could do without, but you have to take the good with the bad |
| Favourite story/folklore: | Pass… Again, I don’t have a favourite story. |
| Favourite saying: | “Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí”. It’s a fairly well known saying, but it’s a good one. The meaning behind it is to praise the youth so they’ll prosper rather than being dogmatic towards them. What’s the point in giving out to a child? |
| Place you’ve most enjoyed travelling to (and why): | Currane. It’s just the best place ever! |
| Favourite book: | There’s none that I would call my favourite of all. |
| Favourite music: | Traditional Irish stuff. |
| Favourite song (Irish): | Mo Ghile Mhear. |
| Favourite film: | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, followed by the Godfather Trilogy. |
| Favourite drink: | Water. |
| Favourite food: | I’ve taken quite a fancy to Thai food lately, so that’s my favourite at the moment. |
| Favourite type of night out in the area: | Anywhere there’s singing and dancing. |
| What sports do you enjoy: | I’ve never tried a sport that I didn’t enjoy. |
| Which teams do you support: | St. Vincents…!! |
| Which person would you most like to meet living or dead: | Bono or W.B. Yeats, it’s between the two of them. |
| Any important plans/resolutions for the future: | I would like to wake up laughing every day. |
To read Noreen’s interview click here.
Noreen (Johnny) Gallagher (2001)
This interview took place in 2001:
We’ve decided to award this slot to two personalities this month; Noreen and Maeve have just arrived back from their epic adventure in the southern hemisphere.
They have provided us with much entertainment during their months away with their dispatches on the Currane.net message board. Now they are back amongst us.
Welcome home Noreen and Maeve!
To read Maeve’s interview click here.
To read Maeve’s interview click here.
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