In Reply to: Memories of summer posted by Gt on May 28, 2011 at 07:53:43:

One cannot mention summer without mentioning the bonfire. Every evening after school we would head for Lough Lannagh armed with saws and hatchets to collect wood for our annual Bonfire at Newtown.

The last week or two before the big event we would do our rounds of the garages around town to collect tyres for the bonfire. “How many tyres have you for the bonfire? “, became a major subject of conversation in school each day. We would buy some cloakroom tickets so that we could organise a raffle for some of the spot prizes we collected from the few shops in the area.

When the evening of the big event came we would bring our bonfire material to Brett’s boirin in order to erect our bonfire. At that time the boys had a fire at the bottom of the boirin beside Moran’s shed. The girls had their fire outside the gates of the old Tech across from Matt O Boyle’s tailoring business. There was great rivalry between both groups.

As time went on and we got a little older we joined forces with Newport Road and organised a bonfire at the top of the boirin beside the field in which St, Gerald’s College is now situated. On the night of the bonfire we would have fun and games for several hours until we were almost exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep.

Once we were in our late teens we would travel around town to view bonfires in Blackfort, Turlough Road and Mc Hale Road. The Mc Hale Road bonfire was definitely the best in town. Music , singing and dancing were a feature of this big event and celebrations went on into the early hours of the morning.

For a little on the background and history of the bonfire in Ireland see link

• St. John’s Eve, June 23