In Reply to: Monsignor Joe Quinn posted by MM/Mary McGreal/Blackshire on December 02, 2011 at 13:37:59:

Mary, a small request;might you post a brief background of the Monsignor for myself and the folkes. I don't have the memory any more of all the Castlebar souls that have passed onwards, just from the names ,and am left with the nagging feeling that I knew that person,in passing, to say,Hallo to,of them,or not at all. But from the gist of the respects payed here on the N.B.I would have liked to have known that soul. Yet I would claim that only one or ? have been euligised with a wee description, an anecdote perhaps. To share the character & personality. Dilute the sadness of the loss, by sharing a memory.The reality of this world is that the time of the "Baby Boomer is at hand. From "Cobh to County Tryone", from "John o' Groats to Lands End", from "Manhatten to Marseilles",from "Milan to Moscow", the demographic is simple, there are more senior citizens than the planet has ever known.It is said that the only time a Cistercian talks is when a fellow Brother leaves "This Cruel World" , they celebrate the occasion. They are cloistered, they pray for you and me!!(c/f 'James Joyce 'The Dead")And would'nt it be grand if we all drifted away in our sleep at a ripe old age?.NoNo Not to be, two cars collide and a family is ripped apart by the inhuman loss of a young 'un.It was on a Christmass day after an eight year battle with Cancer - Winifred Daly lies interred overlooking Lough Lannagh.A celtic gravestone visible from the road looking down on the lake. On the same field that skipper and I hiked down to 'the point'for a swim. Across from the Taylor's shop of P.J.Howard, where handicapped taylors sat behind frosted glass and threaded fine cloth for the gentry who travelled from far and wide to be measured, just as we all shall be measured. In one of his fascinating homilies Cardinal Fulton Sheen slammed the hedonists for their sloth and reminded the rest of us!that life is work in a world that is laced with Tears and Joy. "Don't let the secular be too serious" he advised, "In other Words" he said, "The Clown is Right!!." If we had an obituary column on the Castlebar website would you stop buying the Connaught? Morticians generally take care of that and subtract the Euro's,and or the matter is handled by a member of the family personally. Here lies the heart of the matter, literally HERE thro this unique medium you may publish your respects and give voice to your feelings, even though you may live a million miles away or a hundred yards up the hill. Because you KNEW that person or knew of them and wish to let their family know that you personally share their loss emphatise with their grief. You have praised their character and identify the vacuum that their absence leaves in the family dynamic and the community as a whole .Your comments over the years have been sincere,and dignified to a man. Oh you may be able to go to to the funeral, but not to the podium, you were friends but not family. Here you/we have a podium, unlike any other.Civility has been and is the thread that binds the Castlebar Nostalgia Board together since it's onset by it's founder "M" in 1997. Mind you, not to say that across the river the members of the B.B. are rude to each other, testy!?don't sit on my bar stool yankee!.70,000 Euro's for a bronze statue memorial for the ubiquitous magician Monsignor Horan,sure he'd roll over in his grave, carve it out of wood for crying out loud. Start a credit union for the employees ,families and the people of the parish of Knock. How about the bank of Knock ,at least it'll be the only Bank in Ireland you can't Knock!!.Don't kid yourselves B and B's we can get testy here too!!. "Uggh Boots," boy did someone wander off the main rd. and walk thro' the boggh in suade buuts, anyhow would someone direct her back on the road to Loch Lomond and invite her back when she's got her wellie's on. So I digressed from a serious topic.Please take the time while YOU have it to share a memory of a friend, a nostalgic reminiscence. Make the circle encompass the heart. For "Death Hath come down and unhitched Soul from Body."(William Blake)" "If you find yourself at the foot of the Altar say a prayer for that soul."(ST. Monica)Sure tis time for me to go and start the fire. Mary thanks again for keepin her on course. Oliver tell me about "Nellie Devaney" JP or JDP tell that story again about Pat Jordan. Joxer tell that last story about "Paddy the Hen" before he fled the shores of Eire. Moderators fire up a 'Poets Corner'.Great "Friday Fun" on the B.B. check it out.Steady as she goes. I'll be in my cabin. Seven bells struck. Valparaiso looms over the horizon.