Flying Boats: Foynes role in Aviation - Lindbergh 1933

clipped from en.wikipedia.org Foynes (Faing in Irish) is a small town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. It is noteworthy for having been, in the early years of aviation, the last port of call on the eastern shore of the Atlantic for flying boats. Surveying flights for flying boat operations were made by Charles Lindbergh in 1933 and a terminal begun in 1935. The first transatlantic proving flights were operated on July 5, 1937 with a Pan Am Sikorsky S-42 service from Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador on the Bay of Exploits and a BOAC Short Empire service from Foynes with successful transits of twelve and fifteen-and-a-quarter hours respectively. One of Foynes' main claims to fame is the invention there of Irish Coffee. This came about, it is said, in order to alleviate the suffering of cold and wet passengers during its aviation days in the 1930s and early 40s. Foynes as a port has a longer history

Back in 1933, Foynes was not even a village.

Peace Prize Winner - Wants to Kill

clipped from michellemalkin.com Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams came from Ireland to Texas to declare that President Bush should be impeached. In a keynote speech at the International Women’s Peace Conference on Wednesday night, Ms. Williams told a crowd of about 1,000 that the Bush administration has been treacherous and wrong and acted unconstitutionally. “Right now, I could kill George Bush,” she said at the Adam’s Mark Hotel and Conference Center in Dallas. “No, I don’t mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that.” About half the crowd gave her a standing ovation after she called for Mr. Bush’s removal from power.

ColoradoRight 07-12-2007

But she only wants to kill him non-violently? Lethal injection? It just goes to show how political and unhinged the Nobel Peace Prize has become. If they could give one to a thief, thug, and murderer like Arafat - it really doesn't mean anything about peace.

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Mushmaster25 07-13-2007 2.31am

Nothing has much real substantial meaning anymore. Try to look on the bright side though, its going to mean that the things that are substantial are going to mean allot more.

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Righthand 07-13-2007 2.44am

“Right now, I could kill George Bush,” she said at the Adam’s Mark Hotel and Conference Center in Dallas. “No, I don’t mean that. How could you non-violently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that.”

Get the impression that you don't like Arafat? He was a bit like Sharon, I suppose, but he was responsible for far less deaths. And he certainly was far far less corrupt than Sharon.

What was it now that stopped the peace breaking out then. Was it when Israel assassinated its own Nobel Peace Prize winner? That's a great discouragement to any future Zionist peace maker, don't you think? Must be why they've written that little incident of of history.

I'm sure that you would agree that the great American peace lady, Mrs Sheehan should be nominated for the peace prize as soon as you get rid of Bush. Seeing as you brought the subject up.

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Cniq_cniq 07-13-2007 12.53pm

Except Sharon was not awarded the Nobel prize, so what is the point of your comparison?

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Righthand 07-15-2007 2.14pm

Now, Sharon nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize! You must be joking? Who'd assassinate him then?

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Moving Tribute on Cliff above to US Climber feared Dead.

clipped from www.independent.ie Renowned climber is praised on fatal cliff-top July 18 2007 ROCK climber Michael Reardon pushed himself to the limit of his abilities, but ships were never meant to remain in harbours. Tribute was paid to the fearless way the solo climber lived his life, at a moving ceremony on the cliff-top overlooking his last dramatic climb on Valentia Island, Co Kerry yesterday. people gathered in sunshine to pay their respects to the 35-year-old American who was washed out to sea on Friday, after scaling the cliff-face twice. A traditional lament on harp and tin whistle opened the ceremony attended by the missing man's wife Marci, their 13-year-old daughter Nicki, close friends, members of the rescue services, the gardai, local people and well-known figures from the sporting and climbing worlds. These included the mountain-running champion John Lenihan and Kerry football great and island native Mick O'Connell. people had gathered to honour "a beautiful man" and a "truly extraordinary" climber

West Kerry GP and poet Micheal Fanning read two of his poems: 'I run with the winds and moods', which he dedicated to Mr Reardon's daughter, and 'Odysseus', a poem about daring people and those waiting for them, dedicated to Marci Reardon.

Father Kevin McNamara, a curate attached to Killarney parish, led the prayers. Michael Reardon "wouldn't hurt a rock by putting a claw into it", in order to preserve it for future generations, he said.

He had left a mark that would never be forgotten. He had pushed things to the limit. A ship was safe when in harbour, but that was not what ships were for, the priest said.

A 100 feet below, Navy and Garda sub-aqua teams scoured the sea-bed for any trace of the man renowned among climbers and mountaineers for his daring exploits without ropes or safety equipment. Those on the cliff waved to the divers on the boats below.

Prayers were asked that the ongoing search would bring closure for Mr Reardon's friends and family.

Towards the end of the ceremony, Nicki, tearful throughout the hour-long ceremony, spoke briefly of her father who was "louder" than most people and larger than life.

Flowers were brought to the scene along with a plaque made of local Valentia slate.

A haunting rendition on the bagpipes of the Blasket island elegy 'Port na bPucai', an air said to echo the journey of the departing soul, ended the ceremony.

Michael had arrived Ireland about a month back, to climb the island's cliffs and "reacquaint himself with the land of his ancestors." He blogged on his website, "Chaos follows me everywhere. I arrived in Killarney, Ireland, barely rested from the ten-hour plane flight, and surprised my friend Con Moriarty by showing up two days early. Big smiles and bigger hugs came from everyone at his outdoor shop. It had been too long since I last shared a pint with everyone."

It wasn't a fall but a wave that took the free climber at the bottom of the cliff face at Dohilla he'd just scaled. After the accident, Con Moriarty told an Irish TV news station, "He had just finished a climb and was standing on a rock shelf at the base of a cliff when a wave hit him from behind, knocked him on his back, and carried him out to sea."

Independent reports that a photographer who was with Michael when he fell into the sea tried to throw him a rope, and the climber responded to calls. The photographer then ran to alert the local lifeboat which was immediately launched, but by then Michael had vanished.

Due to return to the United States this weekend, Michael's wife, Marci and daughter Nicki (13) instead arrived in Ireland from LA yesterday

Photos- Michael Reardon: Life Without Limits. HOPE???

clipped from www.freesoloist.com My Climbing Pro Blog (every two weeks) presented by Climbing Magazine http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/problog/michaelreardon/ ." Chris and I The area around Dingle is one of the many pathways to understanding the traditions and lure of Ireland. The residents speak fluent Gaelic and I’ve discovered over the years that their knowledge of history extends back to the dawn of time better than any history book could provide. The written word has been around for centuries, but it is the oral traditions passed through the ages that provide depth to this cultural preserve. So many climbs, so many days. Sea Stacks on the Coast One Small Part of the Gap of Dunloe The Sandstone "Granite" Another Sunny Day in Ireland Giving Jim the Beta on "Hole Patrol" ! Feb 5 During the winter months, the Atlantic pounds furiously against the walls and regularly sweeps hundreds of feet up on the land. This action during the earth’s life has solidified the gneiss and cracked the bands

Michael had arrived Ireland about a month back, to climb the island's cliffs and "reacquaint himself with the land of his ancestors." He blogged on his website, "Chaos follows me everywhere. I arrived in Killarney, Ireland, barely rested from the ten-hour plane flight, and surprised my friend Con Moriarty by showing up two days early. Big smiles and bigger hugs came from everyone at his outdoor shop. It had been too long since I last shared a pint with everyone."

It wasn't a fall but a wave that took the free climber at the bottom of the cliff face at Dohilla he'd just scaled. After the accident, Con Moriarty told an Irish TV news station, "Reardon had just finished a climb and was standing on a rock shelf at the base of a cliff when a wave hit him from behind, knocked him on his back, and carried him out to sea."

Independent reports that a photographer who was with Michael when he fell into the sea tried to throw him a rope, and the climber responded to calls. The photographer t

Search still ongoing for US rock climber Michael Reardon

clipped from www.mounteverest.net It wasn't a fall but a wave that took the free climber at the bottom of the cliff face at Dohilla he'd just scaled. Thumbnail of Michael courtesy of his website, over image of Cliffs of Mohar (about 60 miles north of Valentia) courtesy of public library/Answers.com (click to enlarge) Michael had arrived Ireland about a month back, to climb the island's cliffs and "reacquaint himself with the land of his ancestors." He blogged on his website, "Chaos follows me everywhere. I arrived in Killarney, Ireland, barely rested from the ten-hour plane flight, and surprised my friend Con Moriarty by showing up two days early. Big smiles and bigger hugs came from everyone at his outdoor shop. It had been too long since I last shared a pint with everyone." Related Links More on the accident Reardon's blog Independent It wasn't a fall but a wave that took the free climber at the bottom of the cliff face at Dohilla he'd just scaled.

New Technology: Irish TCD-based competition for Skype

clipped from www.siliconrepublic.com 09.07.2007 - Software created by researchers in the Centre for Telecommunications Value Chain Research (CTVR), based in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), uses wireless technology that hopes to “bring advanced new mobile telephone systems to the global market”. Enterprise Ireland has granted €400,000 in funding to bring this new technology through the commercialisation process, as the CTVR see the potential for a “fully-fledged commercial spin-off”. Metakall will enable users to make cheap mobile calls using wireless hotspots and the internet as a network base, with emphasis on the fact that customers would be able to roam at low cost rates. “Imagine the possibility of going anywhere in the world and using your wireless phone or laptop to make calls through the internet for as little as 5 cents a minute, with no other costs,” said Professor Donal O’Mahony Dublin:

The software that sits on the mobile or laptop will have a meter that logs the amount of time you spend online making a call and only charges per minute online, letting your know how much you are spending as you talk.

It is estimated that this service will be offered at, on average, five cents per minute, although, as yet CTVR is still in talks with industry players on how it will implement Metakall.

Metakall can offer low-cost calls because it pays hotspot providers small amounts of cash in real time.

“Right now you can make internet based phone calls, but you will also have to pay a monthly registration charge of over €20 to an Internet Service Provider or buy a scratchcard in each location for about €10. Only then can you use services like Skype or Vonage for example.”

Razed M3 site 'was national monument'

clipped from www.ireland.com Razed M3 site 'was national monument' 06/07/2007 17:59 A site that campaigners claim was an ancient burial ground near the Hill of Tara and which was razed during construction work this week should have been given "the fullest and most detailed attention" and was indeed a national monument, documents published today suggest. Documents published by Minister for the Environment John Gormley today reveal that the director of the National Museum Dr Pat Wallace wrote to the Minister's predecessor Dick Roche in May urging him to set up a special committee to examine a site at Baronstown, just outside Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. That site was razed by heavy machinery earlier this week Dr Wallace said in his letter dated May 3rd, 2007 that a committee should be set up after "a short pause for discussion and reflection" in order to afford "this national monument the fullest and most detailed attention and a total excavation to the highest and most transparent standard".

A letter on file from Dr Wallace to Mr Roche dated May 3 rd last congratulates him on declaring Lismullen a national monument and says there is a "compelling case" to be made that Baronstown is also worthy of such protection. Dr Wallace wrote that the discovery of the national monument at Lismullen came as "no surprise" to those who believed the intended motorway route "was indeed bisecting an ancient ritual landscape".

M: Britain's first spymaster was an Irishman who played patriot game

clipped from www.timesonline.co.uk William Melville was born in the Kerry village of Sneem to a publican’s family and fled his roots to forge a stellar career in London as a detective fighting terrorism. When he “retired” in 1903 from the Metropolitan Police at the height of his fame, he went on to establish the forerunner of MI5, providing the inspiration for James Bond’s boss in Ian Fleming’s books. “Melville was referred to by the War Office as M or the Spy-master from almost the beginning,” Andrew Cook, the author of M: MI5’s First Spy-master, said. “Although a Kerryman born and bred, he has been a forgotten figure and we now have an opportunity to illuminate a fascinating history,” Helen O’Carroll, curator at Kerry County Museum, said. “One of the striking issues in the Melville story is the irony that here is an Irish Catholic who was proud of his Irish identity, defending Britain from terrorist threats that included Irish terrorism.

Melville’s most famous exploit was his foiling of the Jubilee Plot of 1887, an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria by Irish republicans. It has since been argued that the attempt was a “dirty war” operation orchestrated by the Government.

Vikings and the Celtic seas

clipped from www.ireland.com For at least 1400 years, up to the ninth century, the civilization of Ireland remained uniformly Celtic. Then, in the year 795, came the first of the Viking attacks, on Lambay Island in Dublin Bay. "Viking" (from the Old Norse vikingr) means "sea-rover" or "pirate", and this is precisely what these people were. Ethnically, they were Teutons, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian farmers, fishermen and sea-merchants, who were forced onto the open sea in search of a livelihood by over-population and shortage of arable land. From the eighth century, their plundering raids terrorized much of the known world, reaching as far as America, North Africa, and Constantinople. In Ireland, the annalists distinguished two groups among the raiding vikings, the Lochlainn, or Norwegians, and the Danair, or Danes, the Norwegians being described as fair, the Danish as dark. Initially, the Norwegians dominated, and their raids were sporadic and unsystematic.

LUSK

clipped from www.askaboutireland.ie Surrounded by the cemetery, it is a place of peace. The Church is dedicated to St. Catherine, having formerly been dedicated to St. Damnan. (A grand synod was held in Lusk by St. Adamnanus, in 695). In 1530, the chapels appended to the parish of Lusk were stated to be Rush, situated in the land of the Earl of Ormond, Kilnure and Knightstown (now Whitestown)'. Perhaps this old spelling of 'Kilnure' indicates an older name 'The Church of the Yew Trees', later anglicised as Kenure. Dr Donnelly in his 'History of the Dublin Parishes' says this was the church of Rush in Celtic times, before the coming of the Normans. Click image for detail "Rush by the Sea" - cover illustration Click image for detail Catalogue with crest Click image for detail Catalogue Cover Click image for detail Catalogue history of House Click image for detail Furniture for auction Relics of an Older Time The Great House built by the Duke of Ormond and rebuilt by the Palmers has ceased to exist

Lusk Black Raven Pipe Band!!!

clipped from www.blackravenpipeband.net Site Designed and Maintained By Damien and Keith Russell clipped from www.blackravenpipeband.net The Library Hall was used for practice and one evening during practice a certain Jack McNally happened to be passing complete with tin whistle and following an old Lusk tradition he looked in the Library window to see what was going on. The band were playing 'The wind that shakes the barley''. The pipes finished the tune but a tin whistle echo remained until Thomas Ashe ordered the tin whistle man to be caught. He was finally captured on the 'Green' He did not succeed in escaping from the band until the time of his death in 1965. The Black and Tans brought more than the their share of trouble and finally in November 1917 on the night John (Rover) McCann and Joe Sherlock were shot they raided the band room which was then in the Foresters’ Hall (the old Billiard Club). They took those instruments, which had not already been hidden, and also the Black Raven Flag. clipped from www.blackravenpipeband.net
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The John (Rover) McCann murdered by the 'Tans' was my Grand Uncle. The Foresters' Hall was later part of our home. The photo is on the band stand in front of the 'new' church on The Green where the male side of my family have lived for ever. My father was staff major as he could not play a note, just like me. The practice room in recent times was very close as I studied or tied to.

Thomas Ashe was also a band member. More later...

1969 Tax Break for inventors

clipped from archives.tcm.ie In 1969 Charlie Haughey introduced a series of tax breaks to assist artists and writers and this has greatly helped the development of the arts in Irish society. The government is trying to encourage an economy based on ‘‘brainpower, not brawn’’. To give momentum to this effort, we need to actively encourage technical thinking and innovation in our schools, colleges and workplaces. I propose that the government kick start this effort by introducing tax breaks for inventors who go on to develop and commercialise their ideas in Ireland. Our politicians should be preparing Ireland to become a knowledge-based economy, where the value created will not be manufactured goods or agricultural produce, but intellectual property, creative industries and internationally traded services. This will require world-class infrastructure, which must include decent broadband access. Creating the next Ireland Sunday, October 22, 2006

TCH Archives

Battle of Clontarf: Clan O' Brien and MacDomnaill

clipped from generation13.com In North Ireland, Malachy the Second followed Boru's lead when his forces defeated a Norse army to take Dublin in 980 and Malachy became King of Meath. Boru was granted the title "Ard Ri", meaning "High King". In 1013, Maelmordha, King of Leinster, revolted and allied with the Vikings. They summoned reinforcements from Boru's other Irish rivals and the Viking nations, as far away as Normandy and Iceland. The two forces met on Good Friday, 1014 at Clontarf. Nearly 4,000 Irishmen were killed at the Battle of Clontarf, including Brian's son Murrough, but the Viking/Leinster forces suffered even heavier losses. There would never be another king powerful enough to rule all of Ireland. Today, Boru is also known as the progenitor of the Clan O'Brien,

Battle of Clontarf: Thomond

clipped from generation13.com Brian Boru was from a group of people so obscure that they adopted a fictitious, but more prestigious name, the 'Dál gCais' (Dalcassians in the plural). They occupied a territory that straddled the largest river in Ireland, the River Shannon, a territory that would later be known as the Kingdom of Thomond and that incorporates portions of the present day counties of Clare and Limerick. The Shannon served as an easy route by which raids could be made against the province of Connacht (to the river's west) and Meath (to its east). Both Boru's father, Cennétig mac Lorcáin and his older brother Mathgamain conducted river-borne raids, raids in which the young Boru would undoubtedly have participated. Another important influence upon the Dalcassians, including Brian Boru, was the presence of the Hiberno-Norse city of Limerick on an island in the estuary of the Shannon River (known today as King's Island).