Issue 37 Volume 4 November 14th
Josephine calls it a Day
Josephine O’Mahony, (pictured above with members of her family) the lady
who looked after the gastronomic needs of a U.S. President,
Politicians, TV Stars, Movie Stars, Sporting Heroes and the
ordinary members and visitors to Ballybunion Golf Club for the
past twenty six years, has decided to call it a day after more
than a quarter of a century of loyal service.
One of the most instantly recognised and most popular
members of the golf club staff over the years, Josephine a
native of County Limerick, came to Ballybunion in the late
1960’s and actually worked for a short term in the bar of the
old clubhouse which was located next to the present sixth tee,
before moving on and then returning on a permanent basis in
1988.
Since then she has of course see many changes at the club,
working under four different General Managers and a number
of different catering franchise holders and in that time as a
waitress and dining room supervisor she has tended to the
needs of US President Bill Clinton……………. continued on page 3
2
A mixed week of weather with everything from dry sunny
days to monsoon –like downpours.
It’s very, very, quiet about the place which is to be expected before the Christmas onslaught I suppose.
I seem to be writing a lot these days about retirements
and two more this week with Josephine O’Mahony
retiring from the Golf Club after twenty five years or so
and Dan Dalton retiring after thirty five years as a
teacher at St Josephs Secondary school.
Both were extremely popular not alone with the people
they dealt with on a daily basis but also with their
respective work colleagues and I would like to wish them
both a long, happy and healthy retirement.
It’s North Kerry Championship time again and the longawaited clash of Beale and neighbours Asdee ,takes place
tomorrow (Saturday) here in Ballybunion . We have a lot
of readers in the Asdee area but sorry, you cant be
impartial in the North Kerry Championship, and I’m
nailing my colours firmly to the Beale mast. However I
wish both teams the best of luck and may the winners go
on to lift the title.
Its been twenty five years since Beale last won it and St
Mary’s Asdee have never lifted the title in their history ,so
either way to win it out would mean so much to both
clubs but its only the first round on Saturday so we cant
really look beyond that for now.
Women in Media which takes place here in Ballybunion
every April , have a very impressive new website
containing all the information for the 2015 event which
takes place from April 17th to 19th. Event organiser Joan
O’Connor is claiming responsibility for the design of the
new website but I suspect that she had a “Little help from
her friends”. Either way its worth a visit at
www.womeninmedia.ie
Finally, here’s wishing Catherine O’Connor from Sandhill
Road and Peter Hughes from Armagh all the best as the
tie the knot in Ballybunion today.
Ger
2
3
Continued from front page….
Readers Competition
Mayor of New York Rudolph Guiliano,
practically every top golfer in the world for the
past twenty five years including Tiger Woods,
movies stars like Michael Douglas, Catherine
Zeta-Jones, Aidan Quinn & Bill Murray, and
sporting figures such as Michael Jordan, Ian
Botham and Jamie Redknapp as well of course
as the thousands of visitors who come to
Ballybunion each year and not to mention the
members of the club who held her in the
highest regard.
We are giving away two pairs of tickets for
Radio Kerry’s “Night with the Stars” concert at
the Brandon Conference Centre in Tralee on
Wednesday November 26th.
The all-male line up features some of the
biggest names on the Irish country music
scene including Mike Denver, Jimmy Buckley,
Michael English, Mick Flavin, Patrick Feeney,
Paddy O’Brien & T. R. Dallas and M. C. for the
occasion will be Radio Kerry’s Dermot
Moriarty .
Always in good from to greet you when you
entered the bar and dining room area of the
clubhouse, she had an uncanny gift for
remembering people even if they had not visited for several years and she always welcomed
visitors and members alike with a smile.
All you have to do is answer the following
question with your name, address and mobile
telephone number by email to :
[email protected]
Friends and family gathered at the Exchange
Inn on Saturday night last for a surprise party
and Josephine was certainly shocked when
she opened the door to find a huge gathering
lying in wait for her, which included her
daughter Patricia who came all the way from
Belfast to be there on the night.
Question : What is Mike Denver’s real name ?
Closing date for entries will be Thursday
November 20th and the winners will be
announced in Issue 38 of Ballybunion News on
Friday November 21st.
Josephine with Donal & Jean Liston and Brendan & Rosalie O’Neill on Saturday night
Several members of the Golf Club were
present also to wish her well and a wonderful
night ensued.
No doubt several of our overseas readers
many of whom are golfers would know
Josephine and will want to join me in wishing
her a long and happy retirement here in
Ballybunion with her family.
Rumour has it that she is talking about taking
golf lessons and joining the club !!!
3
4
4
5
Fundraising Night at the Dogs
A fundraising night at the dogs in aid of the
Healy family of Asdee will be held at the
Kingdom Greyhound Stadium in Tralee on
Saturday December 20th.
The fundraising event has been organised to
assist the family following the sudden death of
Anne Healy in August and the organisers are
seeking sponsorship through advertising from
business people in the local area with a
full-page advertisement in the programme for
the night costing €100, a half page at €50 and
a quarter-page at €25.
Contact : 087-1330910 for further details.
You can also make a donation to the fund
through a Bank Account. The following are the
details :
Bank : Bank of Ireland Abbeyfeale, Sorting
Code : 90-41-30, Account Number :
82913072,
IBAN Number : IE89BOFI90413082913072
Swift Code : BOFIIE2D
Bake Sale at Scoil Íosagain
Scoil Íosagáin is hosting a Bake Sale on
Sunday next November 16th at the school
between 11.00am and 12.30pm.
There will be wonderful range of home-made
cakes and pastries on sale so please come
along and support this event.
Beale GAA Coiste na N’Óg
Congratulations to the players and mentors of
Beale’s Under 14 team who secured a 3-06 to
2-04 win against Knock/Brosna on Sunday in
the quarter-final of the North Kerry
Championship.
They will now play St.Senans in the semi-final
on this coming Sunday November 16th in
Duagh at 11.30am.
Coiste na N’Óg will be holding their our annual
awards night on Saturday Nov 29th at the
Community Centre and all age groups are
invited to attend. More details to follow soon.
5
6
Wildcats Basketball
Congratulations to the Wildcats Senior ladies
team who defeated St. Brendan's to win the
St. Brendan's tournament in Tralee on Sunday
last and also to Patricia Browne was chosen
as MVP for the game
The Under U16 girls were defeated by
St. Joseph's at home on Sunday last by 5912.
The Senior ladies are away to Glenbeigh this
evening (Friday 14th at 7pm) while the Under
Girls are away to St. Paul's in the Sem Hall in
Killarney on Sunday at 12pm .
The Under 14 Girls are also in action at home
to Rathmore on Sunday at 12.30pm
New Wildcats hoodies are now available to
order from all Wildcats coaches.
Kids sizes €17, Adults sizes €25.
Josephine O’Mahony (centre) pictured at her Retirement Party on Saturday night at the Exchange Inn with her two great friends Ann Harty-Dillon and Nora
Pierce
6
7
Donation for Men’s Shed &
Youth Cafe
Businessman David Bennett (centre) presents cheques
on behalf of his company for €250 each to his father
Francis for the Men’s Shed and his mother Mary for
the Cove Youth Café
Pic by Declan Bennett
7
8
Ballybunion News would like to send birthday wishes to the
following readers who are celebrating around this time:
Katie Joy
November 10th
P.J. O’Connor
November 15th
Jim Dee
Christine Hellard
Sylvia Hughes
November 15th November 16th
November 16th
Betty Farrell
John Hannan
Brian O’Connor
Nonie Quane
Tessa Harty
November 16th
November 18th
November 19th
November 20th
November 21st
If you, a family member, or friend, are celebrating an upcoming birthday why not send us
on a photograph by e-mail to : [email protected] and we would be delighted to
send them birthday greetings via this publication.
Ballybunion Wildcats Senior Ladies Basketball team who won the St Brendans Tournament in Tralee last weekend
8
9
9
10
Beale GAA
Senior Football : The old adage “goals win
games” certainly held true on Sunday
afternoon when Beale succumbed to Beaufort
in the last game of the County League,
Division 4.
Beaufort raised the green flag three times in
quick succession in the opening half and
while Beale reduced the deficit in the final
quarter, picking off eight points without reply,
they went into the interval trailing by 3-03 to
0-9.
Several great team moves by Beale on the
changeover were denied by great
goalkeeping and Beaufort proved the stronger
team in the final quarter to run out winners by
4-09 to 1-11.
Beale team: Seán Dee, Philly Blake, Colm
Kissane, Tom Hayes, Dan Ellis, Paul Collins,
Killian Walsh-O’Boyle, Pádraig Murphy,
Jeremy King, Ger John Griffin, Declan
Bambury, Ger O’Gorman, Shane Hanrahan,
Ian Mannix , Tom Joy, Barry O’Mahony.
Substitutes: Rory Mulvihill for Tom Hayes,
Maurice O’Connor for Ian Mannix, Joe
Downey for Seán Dee, Ian Mannix for Ger
O’Gorman, Philip Hornyiak for Barry
O’Mahony.
Garda Property Taken
Sergeant Mick McCarthy is seeking information
about missing Garda equipment which was
taken from the Church Road area of the town
recently.
During a funeral in the area, local Gardaí placed
a number of flashing blue traffic warning lights
along the Church road to help with traffic
management for the duration of the funeral but a
number of them were taken during the evening.
These items are of no real use to anybody
except the Gardaí who would like to have them
returned.
If anybody has any information as to their
whereabouts, please contact the Garda station
on 068-27104.
In a separate note the local Gardaí have
expressed their thanks to Ballybunion News for
its role in a peaceful Halloween by featuring the
“Zero Tolerance” warning on the front page.
Beale finished second in the table winning
promotion and will contest division 3 in 2015.
North Kerry Championship : Attentions now
turn to the North Kerry Championship as
Beale host neighbours Asdee on Saturday
next at 3.00pm with a quarter-final tie against
Knocknagoshel awaiting the winners.
Work on the Clubhouse : Refurbishment of
the clubhouse is near completion and we look
forward to updated facilities for players and
supporters. The works (mainly internal)
include rearranging the configuration of
existing dressing rooms from four to two,
providing toilet facilities and showers in each,
the provision of a new kitchen area / meeting
room and new public toilets, upgrading of
building services and redecoration.
10
11
11
12
Schools Out for Dan
Arguably one of the most popular teachers in
the history of St Josephs Secondary School,
Dan Dalton, has recently called time on his
teaching career and will now concentrate on
farming and his other passion in life, Gaelic
football.
Colleagues past and present gathered at the
Listowel Arms Hotel last weekend for a
function to pay tribute to Asdee native Dan,
who first joined the staff of St Josephs thirty
five years ago in 1979.
It was indeed a tribute to his popularity to see
so many in attendance on the night and I’m
sure that the photograph below will bring back
many fond memories to readers who attended
the school and will look back fondly on their
time there and remember former teachers.
Dan has one other big function this weekend,
the North Kerry Championship and no doubt
his voice will be the loudest on Saturday
urging on his Asdee team against Beale.
Front Row L to R : J.P. Walsh, Sr. Genevieve Hurley, John O’Donovan (Principal), Dan Dalton, Donie Costello, Leesha Given, Linda Lynch.
Middle Row L to R : Anna-Marie Mulvihill, Clare Mulvihill, Marina Mulvihill, Michelle Costello, Eilis O’Boyle, Alice O’Riordan,
Eileen Lenihan, Joanne Moriarty, Charles Dalton, Geraldine Brosnan, Zena Ryan, Maria O’Donovan, Iwona Pyczynska.
Back Row L to R : Christine Reimers, Tom O’Brien, Siobhan Hayes, Elaine O’Connell, Thomas Ladden, Anna Nealon, Trish Byrne, Gavin Daly.
12
13
Picking Spuds
The above picture was taken in Hauling in a catch of Salmon at the Cashen strand in the 1950’s
Back Row L to R : Maney Beasley, Paddy O’Sullivan, Robert Johnson (on the tractor) , Fr
Doherty & Noel Finnucane & ???
Second Row L to R : Kathleen Beasley, P.J. Holland, Kieran O’Carroll, Francis O’Carroll
(RIP), Michael Fitzgerald, ??, James Long, Paddy O’Connor, Liam Browne, ????
Third Row L to R : Willie Joe Buckley, Frankie O’Connor, Gerard Murphy (Rip), Charlie Nagle,
Patrick Hannon & James Beasley
Front Row L to R : Liam Bunyan, Mossie Bunyan, Thomas Falvey, Mike Halpin, Gerry
Casey, Noel Beasley, Francis Bennett, Declan Keane, Charlie Farrell, Martin Enright & Martin
Costello
13
14
14
15
15
16
Nuala Costello & Dan Kiely pictured with former Kerry Footballer Paul Galvin at his book signing in Eason’sof Tralee on Saturday
last.
Pic by Dermot Crean of traleetoday.ie
Paddy Enright, Anthony Nagle, Josephine O’Mahony & Mary Jones at Josephine’s Retirement Party in the Exchange Inn on
Saturday night.
16
17
17
18
An emotional Josephine O’Mahony gets the surprise of her life on Saturday night
on arrival at the Exchange Inn. Also in the picture is her former work colleague
Pavel Wasko.
Tom Allen & Seán Dee at the Traditional Music Session in the Railway Bar on
Sunday night
Enjoying a quiet pint in “Cranks Corner” at Mikey Joe’s are L to R : Denis Lane, Jackie Culhane, Tom Scanell and Denis Healy
18