Senior Times Magazine March/April 2017

Issue 86 March/April 2017

NOW E3.00/ÂŁ2.70

The magazine for people who don’t act their age

Memorable Movie Musicals Twenty to take you back

News Review l Creative Writing Travel l Health l Fashion & Beauty Profiles l Competitions & much more !

Jane Austen, the genteel giant

Gift of the gab:The White House shamrock story

On the wolves and bison trail in Yellowstone

Walking The Mournes

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12

March - April 2017

Contents 24

News: 2 Memorable movie musicals: 6 The recent success of La La Land got people talking about the old-style musicals again. Aubrey Malone offers his personal list of 20 A fisher of words: 12 Eileen Casey talks to the celebrated author/ playwright Michael Harding The gift of the gab: 16 The St Patricks Day tradition of presenting shamrock to the US President at The white House is traced by Aubrey Malone On the wolves and bison trail: 24 Breda Joy tours Yellowstone, the world’s first national park founded in the US in 1872 Jane, the genteel giant: 30 Lorna Hogg visits the places and buildings associated with one of England’s most celebrated and revered novelists Jane Austen , the bi-centenary of whose death is commemorated in 2017 Golf: overcoming the sexist handicap: 36 Dermot Gilleece traces the history of the ILGU, the oldest national women’s golf union in the world, the development of the women’s game globally, and some of its greatest exponents.

What’s on in the arts: 39 Maretta Dillon previews happenings around the country in the next few months

98 Activity section: 46 The Mournes – Conor O’Hagan guides you through The Mournes, ‘the walkers mountains’. Cycling the River Weser: Deirdre Davys found a week’s cycling along Germany’s rivers a great activity break Days out: take your choice of numerous attractions around the country: 56 Asturias, the ‘Ireland’ of Spain: 64 Pat Keenan reports on a visit to Spain’s ‘green’ northern coast.

Cosmetics and grooming: 72 Mairead Robinson features anti-ageing products Focus on Cavan: 75 Don’t fall for the obvious: 80 It’s not just people who are frail or have mobility problems who fall. One third of people over 65 fall once per year.

Finola Cronin advises Northern Notes: 82 Wine World:

88 Another Spanish success story Meeting place: 92 The beauty of Irish gardens: 98 Crossword: 102 Modern History: 104 Connie McEvoy recalls a momentous moment in her family’s history

Front cover: The smash hit La La Land with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone marks the return of the Golden Age of the Hollywood musical.

Publishing Directors: Brian McCabe, Des Duggan Editorial Director: John Low Editor At Large: Shay Healy Consultant Editor: Jim Collier Advertising: Willie Fallon - willie@slp.ie Design & Production: www.cornerhouse.ie Contributors: Lorna Hogg, Dermot Gilleece, Maretta Dillon, Jim Collier, Peter Power, Matthew Hughes, Mairead Robinson, Eileen Casey, Debbie Orme, Connie McEvoy Published by S& L Promotions Ltd.,

Unit 1, 15 Oxford Lane, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 Tel: +353 (01) 4969028.

Fax: +353 (01) 4068229 Editorial: John@slp.ie Advertising: willie@slp.ie Sign up to our newsletter and be in with a chance to win some great prizes at www.seniortimes.ie Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

News Now Eye Doctors of Ireland publish guidelines on patient best practice The ICO, the training and professional body for eye doctors in Ireland, has published guidelines on the consent process for its members and developed a series of patient information leaflets on a range of ophthalmic procedures in order to provide patients with clear and accessible information in advance of a proposed procedure.

performed annually in public hospitals since 2005.

The patient information leaflets outline the nature, purpose, risks and benefits of a proposed intervention for the most common eye conditions requiring treatment in the Irish health service. They include cataract, one of the highest volume day case procedures in Ireland featuring in the top 20 day case procedures

In order to ensure the information is accessible to all, the documents have also been produced in audio and Clear Print format for those with reduced vision, in collaboration with the NCBI, Ireland’s National Sight Loss Agency. All formats are available on the ICO website www.eyedoctors.ie

Among the other eye conditions covered in the new ICO patient information leaflets are wet agerelated Macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular oedema, retinal vein occlusion, strabismus (squint) and glaucoma.

Find your independence again with Myhomecare From companionship to around the clock nurse led care, Myhomecare provides the level of care you need at various stages in your life. Myhomecare empowers our clients to live with dignity at home in the knowledge that they will receive the best possible care.

Essential needs delivered to the door Healthy eating is an essential component in ensuring physical and emotional well-being. Myhomecare caregivers can assist with shopping needs, including online grocery shopping.

Staying active Myhomecare caregivers support you to continue to keep a busy productive life by engaging in activities like regular visits to local venues and events.

Homecare technology ‘Our combined approach to care and technology supports independence at home. Our caregivers promote the use of app technology features including medication and appointments reminders and low-intensity exercise programmes’.

To help you live independently, maintain dignity and participate in the delivery of your care contact Deirdre today: Freephone: 1800 400 900 Email: ddoyle@myhomecare.ie Web: www.myhomecare.ie

Major Caravaggio exhibition opens at The National Gallery The highly anticipated exhibition Beyond Caravaggio has opened in the National Gallery of. It brings together over 40 major works, including four master paintings by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), complemented by other significant masterpieces by his followers, the Caravaggisti. Many of the works in the show are on loan from private collections, and regional galleries, and this is a rare opportunity for visitors to see works not easily available to the public. Ticket booking for the exhibition is now open. (admission €15/concession €10).

NGI go free. All tickets include a free audio guide. The Gallery has organised a wide-ranging public programme to accompany the exhibition. It will include free talks, study days, Thursday event lectures with Caravaggio specialists and art workshops for adults, teens and children. This exhibition is a unique collaboration between the National Gallery, London, the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Galleries of Scotland.

Beyond Caravaggio is on from 11 February – 14 May. Ticket on sale at: www.nationalgallery.ie 2 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

The Taking of Christ, 1602 by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) On indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland from the Jesuit Community, Leeson St., Dublin, Photo National Gallery of Ireland

News

NHI disputes criticism of nursing home bed availability Nursing Homes Ireland has disputed claims that non-availability or non-accessibility of nursing home beds are responsible for a hospital bed crisis. Tadhg Daly, NHI CEO stated: ‘A snapshot survey we undertook this month informed of bed availability in 176 nursing homes being 742 beds. Considering there are 430 private and voluntary nursing homes with a spread across the country, the reality of bed availability is likely double that informed of within the survey.

‘It is disingenuous to attribute the overcrowding in hospitals with nursing homes. Nursing home care is fulfilling a lead role in supporting persons to be discharged from hospital care back into the community for transitional or long-term care. On a monthly basis 668 persons are being enabled by the HSE to avail of transitional care within nursing homes and a further 250 persons are discharged to private nursing home care under the Fair Deal scheme’

Insight 8-day Russian tour Insight Vacations 8-Day Easy Pace Russia tour includes highlights such as sightseeing with a local expert that will show St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the fortress of St. Peter and Paul and Decembrists’ Square, joining in a Celebration Dinner that straddles the culinary East to West divide in Moscow.

Highlights: • Petrodvorets: Cruise by hydrofoil to Peter the Great’s Summer Palace, built to rival Versailles.

Explore the formal gardens, bursting with thunderous cascades, sparkling fountains and golden statues.

• St. Petersburg: With a local expert explore the spectacular Hermitage Museum - one of the world’s great repositories of European art and housed in the stunning former Winter Palace of the Tsars.

• St Petersburg: Visit the former residence of the Yusupov family and the scene of Rasputin’s murder.

Insight Vacations, Travel House, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 Tel: 1800 98 98 98

Investment fund claims up to 40 per cent tax relief The Goodbody 2016 EIIS Fund, jointly managed by Goodbody Stockbrokers and Baker Tilly Hughes Blake, provides investors with an opportunity to invest in a diverse portfolio of high-potential SMEs and receive tax relief of up to 40%.

The Goodbody 2016 EIIS Fund invests in established Irish SMEs that showed strong 4 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

potential for further growth over the next three to four years.

EII schemes and funds are increasingly in demand as they provide one of the very vehicles to allow 40 per cent tax relief on investments, according to Aoife Lavan, Senior Pensions and Tax Advisor at Goodbody. Lavan said that, from an investor perspective, there have been no significant changes this year to the rules regarding EII schemes. An investor can continue to invest up to €150,000 in EII schemes per annum. More information on the Goodbody 2016 EIIS Fund can be found on www.eiismanagement.ie.

Mallow Injury Unit officially opened In 2016, over 6,000 patients attended the Mallow Injury Unit; recently officially opened, one of eleven Injury Units now in place across the country. Located at Mallow General Hospital, the unit is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm and can treat both adults, and children aged five and over.

The Injury Unit, which opened in March 2013, is designed and equipped for the treatment of patients with injuries such as broken bones, dislocations, sprains, strains, wounds, scalds and minor burns that are unlikely to need overnight admission to hospital. Staff members perform and read x rays, reduce joint dislocations, apply plaster casts and treat wounds by stitches or other means. Swift access to diagnostics is provided including x- ray and laboratory tests and rapid access to physiotherapy services.

The Unit is staffed by consultant-led teams of doctors, nurses, radiographers and physiotherapists. Patients can go directly to the Unit or be referred by a GP. Urging the public to think of the Injury Unit in their area when they suffer an injury that they feel needs hospital attention, Dr Gerard McCarthy, Clinical Lead HSE Emergency Medicine Programme added, ‘The opportunity for patients to be seen and treated in an appropriate clinical setting with a potential turnaround time in some cases of less than an hour is clearly desirable.

We know that while some of our Units are well known and used, in other areas, the public may not be quite as aware of the available service.

This winter, we are reminding the public in the surrounding area of Mallow of the Mallow Injury Unit, and asking them, where appropriate, to visit the Unit, rather than heading straight to an Emergency Department’.

Belleek Pottery Visitor Centre offers a fascinating day out The Belleek Pottery Visitor Centre. Celebrates 160 years of expert craftsmanship in 2017. Belleek Pottery is Ireland’s oldest working pottery.

Since 1857, Belleek Pottery has been welcoming visitors’ from across the world to the unique village of Belleek, nestled by the banks of Lough Erne in Co.Fermanagh.

To commemorate its 160year anniversary, Belleek have launched the ‘Belleek Archive Collection’ 1857-2017. This is a collection of 16 pieces of Belleek, representing the sixteen decades of design and craftsmanship.

Each piece takes you on a journey through the years, with each piece having a unique 2017-anniversary backstamp. The archive collection is available to view and purchase in our retail showroom in the visitor centre.

Whilst visiting the centre, you can take a guided tour, bringing you on a 30 minute tour of the manufacturing process that takes place to produce Belleek. All tours have a personal guide that will firstly explain what the visitor is about to experience. From the beginning the visitors will see, hear and touch the product throughout the tour.

The Visitor Centre at Belleek Pottery offers the visitor a unique experience whilst visiting the Fermanagh Lakelands. Our museum, houses a collection of the finest Belleek every produced over the last 160 years. To finish off your visit to Belleek, our restaurant offers a selection of hot and cold food during the week and soup and sandwiches at weekends. We also have a scrumptious selection of baked goods and sweet treats to accompany your tea and coffee and all served on Belleek tableware.

Belleek Pottery Visitor Centre Belleek Co.Fermanagh BT93 3FY Tel:+44(0)28 686 59300 / +44(0)28 686 58501 Email: takethetour@belleek.ie Web: www.belleekpottery.ie

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Entertainment

Judy Garland sung her way Over The rainbow and into our collective hearts

Memorable Movie Musicals The recent success of La La Land got people talking about old-style Hollywood musicals again. What are your favourites of the genre? Aubrey Malone offers his personal list of twenty to take you back to the days when Judy Garland and her partners were tripping the light fantastic on those gold-plated Tinseltown tableaus.

The Wizard of Oz. Judy sang her way right over the rainbow and into our collective hearts with her star turn as Dorothy Gale in Victor Fleming’s smorgasbord of cartoon fantasy in a more treasurable way than any number of Mr Chazelles could dream up. Like a comic book come to life with its vast array of eclectic characters, this is a film that makes you feel ten years old again every time you see it.

Singin’ in the Rain. The recent death of America’s pre-eminent girlnext-door Debbie Reynolds, just a day after her wild child daughter Carrie Fisher died from a heart attack, will make us even more teary-eyed than we might otherwise have been the next time we watch this parody of the Talkies. I always found Gene Kelly to be looser in his movements than Fred Astaire, the dance world’s avowed godfather, and nowhere is this more evident than in Kelly’s finest hour sploshing around in the puddles towards the film’s end. Donald O’Connor brings up the rear with some amiable goofiness.

Oliver! This is one of those films that never fails to captivate, whether it’s leading us down the mean streets of Dickensian poverty or breaking our hearts with torch songs by Shani Wallis like ‘As Long As he Needs Me,’ or listening to the irresistible Ron Moody - as Fagin - entreating his young charges to pick a pocket or two, or squirming in our seats as the moody-broody Oliver Reed threatens to blow the works on our cheeky chappies and our tarts with hearts. A film that ticks all the boxes, and then some.

Show Boat. Lena Horne should have got the ‘mulatto’ role essayed by Ava Gardner here but the racism of the time rendered her ineligible for 6 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

it. Never mind; Gardner stumps up admirably in her place. Neither are Kathryn Grayson or Howard Keel too shabby. The soundtrack is like a grocery list of evergreens, all delivered with the requisite amount of industrial strength emotion, especially the magisterial ‘Ol’ Man River.’

South Pacific. I fell in love with Mitzi Gaynor here when she was washing Rossano Brazzi out of her hair. That led to many dreams of enchanted evenings across crowded rooms on Bali Hai. The rest is history – or herstory.

West Side Story. I never saw street ballet before this but Robert Wise’s re-location of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the slums of New York converted me instantly. It seemed to pave the way for every revolution that happened afterwards, right up to our own Riverdance.

The film’s main stars (Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood) had the carpet pulled from under them by second leads George Chakiris and Rita Moreno. (How could they compete with all that Puerto Rican passion – or the lavender!) Beymer’s career went into meltdown afterwards and he got his P45 from the industry. Wood was promised she’d be allowed use her own voice but in the end they went for Marni Nixon.

Choreographer Jerome Robbins worked everyone to the bone and it showed. (Russ Tamblyn said his feet were nearly falling off at the end

Entertainment

John Kerr and Mitzi Gaynor in Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific

The iconic Gene Kelly scene from Singin.. in the rain

The multi-oscar winning Oliver, with Mark Lester in the title Tonight..tonight.. Natalie Woods and Russ Tambling duet role and Jack Wilde as the artful dodger ion West Side Story

Ava Gardner, one of the stars of Showboat

of each day). The Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim score was to die for. A classic of inter-racial strife, it led up to a poignant dying fall as Wood campaigned for a new world order over the corpse of her dead love in a dilapidated back street. In a word: a masterpiece.

we can’t really evaluate it by common standards anymore. And almost every song in it is hummable. Let’s give it a reprieve on the artistic front and just accept the fact that, like the poor – or another type of Swiss roll?

- it’s always going to be with us.

Oklahoma. The hairs still stand up on the back of my neck when I hear ‘People Will Say We’re in Love’ in this landmark Rogers & Hammerstein vehicle. It had Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones - it was her film debut but you’d never guess - whooping it up bigtime. As if this wasn’t enough we also had Gloria Grahame – for once not the femme fatale in some shady film noir – telling us she cain’t say no. How could she? Or we?

The Coal Miner’s Daughter. The first time I saw this I literally couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was it really Sissy Spacek singing her cotton-pickin’ little heart out, using her own voice and in many ways sounding better than the woman she was cast to play, Loretta Lynn?

You bet your rhinestone boots it was. She could act a bit too: rarely was an Oscar more richly deserved. Sissy took us through the Full Monty of calf love, drug overload and the seven year marital itch as career and domesticity collided for her in the wilds of Kentucky. Her being in such incendiary form meant there wasn’t much of a chance anyone else could get a look in but a young Tommy Lee Jones scrubbed up well enough as her misunderstanding husband, as did Beverly d’Angelo in a brief but resonant role as ill-fated warbler Patsy Cline.

High Society. Charles Walters’ musical version of The Philadelphia Story combined the talents of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, the pre-eminent crooners of the time,with that of the delectable Grace Kelly - soon to depart Hollywood for her Monaco mansion - in a triangular love story about the vapid lives of the glitterati . Of course when you’re looking at Grace Kelly you don’t really care about stories, do you? Who wants to be a millionaire indeed.

Cabaret. Liza Minnelli became the 1970s answer to Marlene Dietrich with her blitzkrieg nightclub routine here as the exuberant Sally Bowles.

Bob Fosse cleverly unpicked Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin memoirs to give us something quite different altogether: a subtle parable of fun and fear. The film’s smoky bierkeller mood – frolicsome music score set against the backdrop of incipient Nazism – hit just the right ‘note.’ And Joel Grey was cheerily supreme as the Luciferean emcee.

The Sound of Music. Many people – including the film’s star Christopher Plummer – dismissed this as ‘The Sound of Musak,’ not least because it had Hollywood’s Mother Teresa (Julie Andrews) at its core.

How do you solve a problem like Julie? ‘Working with her,’ Plummer droned, ‘was like being hit over the head every day with a Valentine’s Day Card.’ But the film has become so iconic with the passage of time

Guys and Dolls. Marlon Brando sloughed off his Method boots to play Sky Masterson in this Damon Runyon yarn awash with a raft of catchy Frank Loesser songs. Frank Sinatra, meanwhile, sulked over the fact that he hadn’t been given the Masterson role. In the end he decided to play his more offbeat character, Nathan Detroit, as a hero too. So now you had two heroes and no anti-hero. (Is this what you call the evil of two Loessers?) The film was also bedevilled by the fact that Brando and Sinatra couldn’t get on. Brando thought Sinatra was a lousy actor and Sinatra thought Brando was a lousy singer. So how did it all work?

Probably because the adorable Jean Simmons was in the middle of the two of them, dispensing some downhome Salvation Army grace. Luck be a lady? You got it.

Nashville. To the casual viewer this zany mosaic of style and guile looked like an unmitigated satire of the rootin’-tootin’ c&w genre (and political chicanery). On reflection, though, you got the impression that Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 7

Entertainment The unforgettable Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music

Who can forget Lis Minella’s performance in Cabaret?

Shirley Jones and Gordon McCrae led the cast of Oklahoma

Bob Altman, its director, had a sneaking affection for the nutty souls populating his convoluted tapestry of aspiration and decadence. Not so much a movie as life-going-on, the documentary feel was underscored by the fact that some cast members (Julie Christie, Elliott Gould etc.) were playing themselves. As it went on I found myself, like Altman, feeling very affectionate towards its wannabes and has-beens. In the end it manages to celebrate what it at first purported to satirise.

Mary Poppins. Not only did this semi-animated Disney offering provide the world with a new word nobody could stop saying (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) and a happier manner of cleaning chimneys (with Dick Van Dyke). It also showed us the ideal way to fly around London in the event of a bus strike: under Julie Andrews’ umbrella.

Elvis: That’s the Way It Is. Yes, folks, the film that in one fell swoop made up for those 30-plus shambolic sitcoms the King made after he came out of the army. Showcasing his renaissance in the Las Vegas Hilton, it has him demonstrating the fact that he still had the moxie when it came to the kind of live performing that shot him up the stellar tree in the first place. His charismatic personality shines through the songs and we also get to see him all shook up offstage, goofing around with the Memphis Mafia and some musical folk as he bumps and grinds his way through material new and old.

New York, New York. This Martin Scorsese production got a hard time both from the critics and the public when it came out but if you give yourself up to its muted magic you’ll reap a rich harvest. Okay, so Robert de Niro looks a bit like a fish out of water as a Big Band saxophonist, and neither does he seem like the type of guy to melt the heart of Liza Minelli, the love interest, but once the film warms up – it takes a while to do so - it proves worth the wait. Like La La Land this was a ‘new’ kind of ‘old’ musical - maybe the first one to revolutionise the genre from the inside.

(That sound you hear is Busby Berkley turning in his grave).

The Last Waltz. Martin Scorsese – again - directed this valedictory trib8 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

ute to The Band. It has so many riches you just didn’t want it to end. The mother and father of all rockumentaries, it lulls you into its embrace as icon after icon comes onstage to do their thing. Neil Young looked like he just came down from the mountains. Neil Diamond was obviously in love with himself. Emmylou Harris was a rabbit in the headlights. Rick Danko seemed to be wired to the moon. But somehow it all came together and by the end, when they all lined up on stage like co-celebrants at a secular High Mass to sing along with a certain man in a fedora (that’s Mr Bobby Zimmerman, aka God) you were gone, baby, gone.

Grease. Olivia Neutron-Bomb and John Revolting smashed up the screen with some luscious summer love in this foot-stompin’ ode to cheesecake romance and leather at the five and dime. Anyone for sarsaparilla and some Aunt Jemima on the side? Step right up in your winkle pickers and groove, man.

My Fair Lady. George Cukor’s adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is worth seeing just to hear ‘posh’ Audrey Hepburn yelling ‘Move yer bloomin’ arse!’ in cockney at a pedestrian steed after Henry Higgins’ verbal makeover seems to be springing a leak. Rex Harrison reprised his Broadway role as Higgins and won an Oscar for his troubles. Julie Andrews should have got the Hepburn part (she’d been on Broadway with it too) but the studio couldn’t raise the money on her.

Instead Hepburn – who couldn’t sing – got the nod, with the inevitable Marni Nixon doing the vocals once again. As things worked out, none of these things really mattered. The film deservedly swept the boards at the Oscars and everyone went home happy.

All That Jazz. Roy Scheider was scintillating in his portrayal of Bob Fosse in this at times ethereal biopic of the hydraulic choreographer.

The film moves with the pace of a life lived on fast forward, as Fosse’s was. A visual symphony, it throbs with a passion for the world of song and dance. And - maybe more importantly - what happens when the music stops.

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Dental health

Stopping tooth sensitivity in its tracks Dr Marie Sanfey advises Time can be hard on many things and the teeth are no exception.

One of the big ones we encounter as hygienists is root decay and sensitive teeth.

Root Decay: This is one of the biggest causes of tooth loss in over 50s.

The gum that normally covers and protects the dentine gradually recedes as we age. This is where the expression ‘long in the tooth’ comes from. As the gum recedes, the roots of the tooth are exposed.

The roots are full of dentine, which is much more prone to tooth decay than enamel and so when it is exposed the teeth are at major risk.

Even worse than that is that if you get tooth decay on the roots of the tooth the decay is instantly much nearer to the nerve than it is on the enamel. That means that the decay can damage or kill the nerve faster than it can anywhere else.

Exposed dentine is also more prone to collecting plaque than enamel is. Dentine has thousands of little holes in it which means it its porous.

Plaque and bacteria attach to these holes and this also makes it much more likely to get tooth decay.

Decay on the roots is very hard for dentists to treat properly as fillings are prone to falling off here and teeth can end up very sensitive as a result.

What can I do to prevent it?

See your hygienist and get the area sealed and treated with high strength fluoride. By sealing the holes and polishing the area it becomes harder for plaque to attach. By applying fluoride it becomes harder for the bacteria to break down the dentine.

Seeing a hygienist regularly can also help prevent gum recession which leads to exposed root surface. Your hygienist can review your brushing technique and identify and treat gum disease which can cause recession. There are also some products such as tooth moose your hygienist can advise on to strengthen teeth.

Teeth in a glass? Not anymore..

We all know it’s important to look after your dentures but are your dentures looking after you? For years dentures have been the easiest way to replace missing teeth. Had an accident? Dentures? Broken teeth? Teeth taken out or even falling out?

Dentures have always been a quick fix solution to fill in those unsightly gaps in your smile or to “get you by” for the time being but there’s more than one option available these days to replace missing teeth. One of these options is using dental implants to replace missing teeth.

Dental implants are the closest thing you can get to your own natural teeth back. In regards to taking care of dental implants, the oral hygiene routine is very straightforward. Most people worry about looking after dental implants but few realise how simple it can be.

Dental implants are brushed the same way as natural teeth. Using a soft-bristled toothbrush and your everyday toothpaste along with some mouth rinse will ensure they are kept in tip-top condition. We would also recommend flossing daily and visiting your hygienist for regular 10 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

cleans, the same as you would with your own natural teeth. Leaving gum disease untreated can lead to you being at a higher risk of heart disease and strokes, which most people aren’t aware of, so don’t put seeing your hygienist on the long finger.

Been told you don’t have enough bone? No problem! We use the latest technology to detect these things and there really are ways and means around everything. Dental implants actually stop any further bone loss so it really is a no-brainer! There’s a solution for everyone and it all starts by making sure your gums are nice and healthy.

Don’t let good hygiene habits hibernate!

Gum recession, bleeding gums, sensitivity, tooth loss..Sound familiar?

As a new year fast approaches it’s important not to put your hygiene visit to the bottom of the list. We all lead busy lives these days but keeping up good oral hygiene habits is a must! We all want that nice, bright smile so it’s important to remember that visiting the hygienist regularly is just as important as your at-home care.

Brushing, flossing and rinsing can seem more like a chore sometimes but it is something that should be adhered to. Keeping your teeth and gums nice and healthy will ensure you’re smiling right into your golden years.

There are some easy to follow tips that will make your regular routine a bit less tedious. One good tip I tell my patients is to try brushing your teeth to a song on the radio- we would recommend brushing for the entire length of a song.

Visiting your hygienist regularly will ensure your overall health is in good condition. Spitting blood when you brush can be a sign of gum disease.

Gum disease has also been labeled as the silent killer of teeth as it can go unnoticed for months or even years until it finally results in tooth loss.

Don’t leave it until it’s too late! Tooth loss can be prevented, don’t let yourself get ‘long in the tooth’.

Did you know that studies have linked periodontal (gum) disease to people being at higher risk of heart attacks and strokes? Even surgeons require their patients to get dental fitness clearance before performing any type of surgery. And to think, all of this can be solved with a quick visit to your hygienist and some simple home-care. It’s never too late to start looking after your oral health.

Dr Marie Sanfey is a dentist with Seapoint Clinic. www.seapointclinic.ie

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Interview

A fisher of words Michael Harding; . ‘I think we discover who we are by talking. How can I know who I am before I say it? This is something that makes writing wonderful. If you do it honestly, it is a declaration of who you are’.

Eileen Casey talks to the celebrated author/playright/actor Michael Harding

‘I always leave time for writing. That’s the essential thing. It’s like fishing. Waiting for something to surface in the water. There’s a lot of waiting involved.’

Michael Harding needs little introduction. His name is synonymous with lyrical, darkly comic and deeply spiritual writing. A successful novelist (Bird in the Snow,Lilliput Press among others), he is also noteworthy as a newspaper columnist (The Irish Times), playwright (a number of his plays were produced by the Abbey Theatre) and highly successful one man show performances. However, he is better known perhaps for his three books of memoir. The most recent Talking to Strangers, comes after Hanging with the Elephant, and Staring at Lakes, all three books published by Hachette. Born in Cavan, he now lives in Leitrim near Lough Allen. He also went to live in the Midlands (Mullingar) for a time so that his daughter Sophia could pursue her equestrian dreams. Although 12 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

he loves living in Leitrim, he cites Donegal as a favourite setting (for the ocean) and also, some of the towns in Poland which he describes as being ‘hauntingly beautiful.’

There are a number of ‘angles’ from which to approach this very popular literary figure. A widely travelled individual, he left the priesthood in 1985, spending seventeen years practising Buddhism. Searching for the Buddhist life brought him as far afield as India and Mongolia. Incredibly, as well as being an award winning writer, he is also emits a powerful stage presence in his one-man shows, he is after all an accomplished actor, winning the Dublin Theatre Fringe Festival Best Actor in 2004.

More recently, he played the part of Bull McCabe in an Abbey production of J.B. Keane’s The Field.

When I had the opportunity of interviewing Harding, I decided I would primarily focus on writing in general and his own personal process in

Interview

‘Often old people think about the past. And though it is beautiful to reflect on the past, it is only valid in as much as it is a practise for living the present moment more fully. Be now. Be here.

That’s about it. There is nothing else.’ particular. For example, he will be appearing at Listowel Writers Week (June, 2017), the blurb for which programme carries a quote from African American writer Maya Angelou; ‘There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.’ I put it to him that in some ways being a writer means that there is a delicious sense of being ‘outside’ of ordinary day to day engagements, of being able to escape into an imaginary world (albeit this world is given away when it enters the publishing arena). When asked how he felt about revealing this ‘untold’ story and what brings him to the writing space, he provides a typically wise reply. ‘I think we discover who we are by talking. How can I know who I am before I say it? This is something that makes writing wonderful. If you do it honestly, it is a declaration of who you are. But it’s also a discovery of who you are.

What brings me to the writing space is curiosity. After hearing peoples’ stories, after encountering people, I always need time to be alone and to reflect. And in that space it’s curiosity that leads me to write, because I don’t know what I’m going to say.’

Writing rituals Every writer has their own writing rituals. Whether it be to smoke a pack or two of cigarettes first, drink endless cups of coffee (or something stronger), make copious notes etc. Michael Harding is no different.

‘Primary rituals are very useful,’ he says, warming to the subject. ‘I light the stove, look at the lake, feed the birds, watch the cats, listen to Radio 3 and gradually begin to look at what I wrote the day before. I don’t think a certain amount of words a day works for me. In fact, I give myself permission to do nothing. I might be at a preliminary stage all day and only get to the typing in the afternoon. But I always leave time for writing.

That’s the essential thing. It’s like fishing. Waiting for something to surface in the water. There’s a lot of waiting involved.’

‘Staring at Lakes,’ was rooted in Harding’s battles with depression while ‘Hanging with the Elephant’ ultimately reflected on older people becoming isolated in old age. ‘Talking to Strangers,’ again revisits darker realms, a part of him that proves yielding in terms of exploring the condition and mining it for writing. His ability to come at his subject ‘sideways’ makes for a quirky, exquisitely observed portrait of what it is to be human. ‘Talking to Strangers,’ came about when he got the notion of adding an extension to his house in the tranquil hills above Lough Allen. He had thought to gain a renewed sense of purpose in life as he approaches old age but as the walls of his home crumbled, so too did his mental health. Yet, no writer gives us a greater insight into that great darkness. Michael believes that it is this darkness that makes us truly human. ‘Talking to Strangers,’ is a book about love, about the stories we share with others and the stories we leave behind us.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 13

Interview its own form. You know instinctively what branch to cut. You shape and shape and knock off small words and little sentences that are not necessary. You can’t say why they are not necessary. You just work on instinct. But at that stage you are not dealing with your memories. You’re dealing with the story as an object that will exist outside yourself. I find great pleasure in that, especially when working on the stories that form my columns in the newspaper.’

Listowel Writers Week

‘You know instinctively what branch to cut. You shape and shape and knock off small words and little sentences that are not necessary.

You can’t say why they are not necessary’.

John McGahern once said that ‘woman combing her hair or a man eating an egg were every bit as important elements for literature as big events.’ Harding’s memoir seems to reflect this approach, starting off with small incidents which are then magnified. Does he always know instinctively when he has the opening segment?

‘I choose the first thing and I don’t let go of it. That is my way of working.

If there is something at the fore of my mind, some memory of a small incident that has just happened or happened yesterday or forty years ago, I try to get that story down immediately. I try not to judge or impose either judgement or form on my stories. They exist like a form within the stone and like the sculptor I try to find them, see them, show them.’

He has won several awards for his work (including a Hennessy Short Story Award and Bord Gais Book Awards) and so, it would be difficult to imagine that he has ever suffered the slings and arrows of rejection (surely the lot of every writer?). It’s hard to imagine his work being rejected particularly as he has been described by A Mail on Sunday reviewer as being able to ‘write like an angel.’However, he’s quick to dispel any myths I might be constructing in this regard, insisting; ‘I have had many books rejected...and plays rejected also. And I have had one or two plays attacked unfairly by critics in their day. But with writing I think it’s important not to get involved with your public persona or the sense of success. Success is a private matter. It’s an issue of how you feel when you have discovered something in the writing. When you read back the pages and feel that you have deepened your own realisation about the beauty of human experience. What others say about it doesn’t really matter and being successful doesn’t matter either. I was a failed writer for thirty years. Perhaps I still am.’

Most writers are too easily pleased perhaps and consider the first draft to be the completed manuscript. It’s where the writer can be fully engaged and the first draft, according to Terry Pratchett, is the best place to be, where the writer can tell himself the story first. I asked Michael Harding if he agreed. ‘Not so. I like to edit a lot and the fun of editing is when you are pruning the tree for the sake of the tree. You have forgotten your original intention in a story and it begins to take on 14 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Most writers in Ireland, and a huge amount from abroad, gather each year in Listowel, Co. Kerry for the annual Writers Week. It’s a top quality writing festival which features established writers (one of my own abiding memories is of being in a fiction workshop led by Remains of the Day author Kazuo Ishiguro) facilitating workshops and also reading their work. Listowel Writers Week also features a number of literary competitions, the life’s blood of writers in terms of gaining recognition. How important does Harding feel that writing festivals are for the budding writer? Are they a distraction or an addition to writers wanting to develop an imaginative life? ‘They are wonderful for connecting with other writers, for discovering that writing is a real thing that real people do. And that writers are ordinary. And wonderful for getting inspiration from the off the cuff remarks that you hear from other writers as to how they approach the work and the life.’ I had the impression that he puts more store in these ‘live’ engagements than gleaning advice from sources on the internet. ‘ I’d be wary in general of following any of those internet glib concepts, even if they sound wise. Just write. Use your instincts. Follow your own wisdoms. You will get there.’

Having been such a successful writer, especially in the memoir genre, I asked if he believed, as Flannery O’Connor did, that anyone who has survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life. Did he think there’s too much delving into childhood as the ‘beginning’? Isn’t it more interesting to make the incision in a more mature timeframe? For instance, in his new book ‘Talking to Strangers,’ the blurb says; ‘It’s always a bad idea to go online and book a flight when you’ve had too much wine. You never now where you might end up.’ Surely it’s this sense of not knowing that keeps the reader turning pages, rather like a suspense novel. Does he approach the memoir as he would a novel, fictionalising once he has the bare bones of ‘truth’ laid down. ‘Yes I think stories are stories. The principals of storytelling apply to novels, plays, memoirs and the conversations we have at the dinner table. Stories work through linguistic structures that pull the reader in and enthral them.

This is also how life happens. When we begin to see our own history as a story, it becomes fun remembering things.’

Which brought me nicely to ask what Michael is reading at the moment himself. ‘I’m reading Jodi Picoult. I also enjoyed Sebastian Barry’s beautiful book(‘Days without end’ which recently won Barry his second Costa Book Award) and that extraordinary book called ‘Sapiens.’

Saving the good wine for last, I asked Michael Harding how he feels about growing older, that’s if he ever thinks about it at all. In true philosophical fashion, he delivers a response that is as deeply spiritual as it is wise. ‘Banish the thought when it arises. We are never old if we are living in the present moment. You can be weary as a young person by speculating on things other than the present. Often, young people think of the future. And you can be weary as an old person by speculating on things other than the present. Often, old people think about the past. And though it is beautiful to reflect on the past, it is only valid in as much as it is a practise for living the present moment more fully. Be now. Be here.

That’s about it. There is nothing else.’

Michael Harding’s Talking to Strangers tour venues are available to view on http:/www.michaelharding.ie, a tour which takes in venues in County Offaly, Carlow, Wexford, Cavan, among others. Michael Harding will be hosting his writers workshop at the Listowel Writers’ Festival on Sunday 4th June, info@writersweek.ie. His books are available in all good bookshops.

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Shamrock

The gift of the gab

The St. Patrick’s Day tradition of presenting the shamrock in the White House started back in 1952 when Harry Truman was President. It’s now become an annual ritual which will shortly be renewed. Aubrey Malone traces the history of this symbolic ‘rite’.

Gerry Ryan used to say he only felt really Irish when he was outside Ireland. I know what he meant. Anytime I’m abroad I become rabidly patriotic, going mad to meet anyone from the old sod, getting excited when I hear an Irish accent and gobbling up the Irish papers every time I see them on a rack, despite the fact that I wouldn’t be caught dead reading many of the self-same papers when I’m at home.

And isn’t it the returned Yanks, the plastic paddies and second generation Irish, who get so worked up about the shamrock design in the creamy head of their pint of Guinness?

(The rest of us just want to get the stuff down into our bellies). Likewise, Paddy’s Day is a much bigger deal stateside than here. Can you imagine what they’d do if the man had been American?

The St. Patrick’s Day tradition of presenting the shamrock in the White House started way back in 1952 when Harry Truman was president. The man who brought it that year was Irish ambassador John Joseph Hearne but he couldn’t hand it to him in person because Truman was away from Washington at the time. This would be unthinkable today. It would be hard to imagine Enda Kenny dropping it at the door of the White House and saying to

In 1959 President Sean T. O’Kelly actually pinned a shamrock on the collar of the then American president, Dwight Eisenhower, at the airport after he touched down on American soil, thereby laying the basis for a much more symbolic ceremonial rite.

Melania, ‘Any chance of you seeing Donald gets that when he comes in from his round of golf?’ What a waste it would have been to have made a 3000-mile journey without even a chance to, if not drown the blessed shamrock, at least engage in the tsunami of blarney that seems to afflict Taoisigh (if not American presidents) at this time of year.

In 1959 President Sean T. O’Kelly actually pinned a shamrock on the collar of the then American president, Dwight Eisenhower, at the airport after he touched down on American soil, thereby laying the basis for a much more symbolic ceremonial rite. The following year Thomas Kiernan, the Irish ambassador, presented John F. Kennedy not only with a bowl of shamrock but also the Kennedy family crest.

Kennedy’s charisma lent itself to such extravagant gestures. After he was assassinated, the Lyndon B. Johnson shamrock presentation on Paddy’s Day became something of an anti-climax. The same could be said for Richard Nixon, despite him using the occasion to tell people, ‘I will visit Ireland’ as a result of it. (Not too many people seemed that interested).

Ronald Reagan used Paddy’s Day to exhibit a rare piece of wit when he said ‘Leave it to the

16 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Irish to be carrying on a wake for 1500 years.’

In later years the day became a platform to try and deal with ‘The Troubles’, most notably after Bill Clinton shook hands with Gerry Adams, then seen by many to be a pariah.

Clinton, of course, reprised Kennedy’s charisma. According to Bertie Ahern, when he was at a party in the White House one March, Bill said to him, ‘Hillary and myself are turning in early tonight. Don’t forget to lock the door on your way out.’ By this time, with the Celtic Tiger raging and Ireland becoming all Riverdanc-y, there was green beer flowing free wherever you looked and people even painting their faces (if not other areas of the anatomy lower down) the national colour.

The ceremonial rite even survived the Bush presidency, though one imagines it difficult to think of either of the Bushes working up too much of a green sweat. It wasn’t until Barack Obama took residence that the patriotic fervour was really generated. Obama went so far as to turn the water in the fountain in front of the White house green. Given time, he might have tried the same trick with Niagara Falls.

He had to go back a few generations to find his Irish roots but when he did he embraced them with a vengeance, telling us he was now going

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Irish Ambassador Thomas J Kiernan presents John F Kennedy at the White House in 1962

to embark on a search for ‘the missing apostrophe’ in ‘Obama’ so he could be a true-blue (or true-green?) Paddy.

This year different circumstances apply.

People have been very vocal in their denunciation of the annual ritual, not only because of the revulsion so many people feel towards ‘Mr Tangerine Man’ (to paraphrase Bob Dylan) but also because Kenny’s days in office seem to be as numbered as those of Trump. In some ways it sounds like the rendezvous of two dead men walking, separated by a plant.

One is reminded of the time Charlie

Haughey, republican sympathiser extraordinaire, presented Maggie Thatcher (the woman who let Bobby Sands die) with a teapot in number 10. As he did so he’s alleged to have muttered under his breath, ‘I hope it chokes the effin’ bitch.’ Like many Charlie stories, this one may be apocryphal but one imagines there will be little love lost between Enda and The Donald this March 17th. After protests were held recently against the imminent meeting at the American Embassy, Kenny said he was going to use the occasion to tell Trump he didn’t agree with many of his policies, in particular the recent immigration ban which is going to target so many Irish as well as other nationalities.

18 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Whatever he says, one can take it as read that he won’t be as cosy with Trump as Theresa May was when she met him. Of course England needs America desperately because of Brexit. Asked if she was going to confront Trump, May gave a typical politician’s answer by saying it wasn’t her business to tell him how to do his job.

Even more worryingly, she didn’t even have a shamrock to divert attention from her toadying to a president who seems, at the time of writing, to be The Most Hated Man in the World.

Would St. Patrick be turning in his grave at the thought of it all?

Pain Relief At The Touch Of A Button Arthritis affects one in five people in Ireland, that’s approximately 915,000 people nationwide. Initially many people start to feel pain and stiffness in their bodies over time. Sometimes their hands or knees or shoulders get sore and are hard to move and may become swollen.

Arthritis may be caused by inflammation of the tissue lining the joints. Some signs of inflammation include redness, heat, pain, and swelling.

There are over 100 types of arthritis but the most common forms are osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (also known as rheumatic arthritis) and fibromyalgia affecting people of all ages from babies and toddlers through to adulthood making it the single biggest cause of disability. Rheumatic diseases affect your joints and muscles. Some,

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like osteoarthritis, are the result of wear and tear. Others, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are immune system problems.

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Non-medical arthritis treatments available that can help you to control your arthritis symptoms include medications, regular exercise, a healthy

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VIBRATION: Vibration primarily stimulates: it is capable of causing muscle contraction, causes a pleasant tingling sensation due to stimulation of sensory nerves, and increases blood flow and subsequently temperature of the region. It is valuable in cases of paralysis, neuralgia or neurological weakness or fatigue, where

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Legal affairs

Get your legal ‘health’ checked today.

Cian Moriarty advises Business succession: Are you self-employed or have your built a company over your lifetime?

While retirement might only be a dot on the horizon it is important to take steps now to ensure a smooth transition of the business to the next generation when the appropriate time comes. Are there family members who will expect financial provision from the business but have never taken an interest in working for the business? Would better provision be made for your family by a sale of the business? What financial provision will you need from the business in retirement? Too often these matters are not discussed between family members. Take charge and develop a succession plan. We assist clients in preparing family charters and complimentary documentation setting out exactly how the family will interact with the business while considering everyone’s expectations.

This forward planning will help you steer your business into the future.

Check your title deeds: Have you always talked about a little place in the country or that villa in Portugal? Maybe you have always wanted to build your own home designed exclusively by Dermot Bannon? Whatever the dream, when the kids have moved out, the family home can feel like more than you need.

Downsizing to suit your new stage of life can be an exciting prospect.

You will need assistance from your solicitor when buying and selling your property. Part of the selling process is locating the title deeds to your current property. Many people are not sure what happened to their deeds once their mortgage was paid. Your Solicitor can help you locate your deeds ahead of a sale or even just so that you can keep these documents with your Will. Remember you do not need to go back to the Solicitor you used when buying your property and many Solicitors will hold these important documents for you at no extra charge in their strong room.

Many people who bought properties with a spouse or partner will have purchased in joint names however where one of the parties inherited the family home or came to the relationship with the property, the family home may be in that person’s sole name. This can lead to difficulty in the event of the death or incapacity of the owning party. This is something you should discuss with your Solicitor 20 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Is your Will out of date?

Very often people make a Will when they buy their first home or when they have children. However, many of us then forget about their Will.

Now is the time to consider whether your Will needs updating. Have you made provision for your children “while they are still in education” but your youngest child finished college 20 or 30 years ago? Have you inherited from a late spouse but neglected to make a subsequent Will to reflect this change to your assets? Would you like to leave a little something to your grandchildren? Do you know the effect of having new sons and daughters in law with regard to leaving assets to your children? Tax law and thresholds have changed considerably over the last number of years, not to mention decades. Could your Will be more tax efficient?

We encourage our clients to update their Will as their circumstances change and we are always happy to take a phone call from clients who just want a quick assessment where their situation may have changed.

Remember, you do not need to stay with the Solicitor who prepared your first Will.

Have you finalised your family law matters?

If you have separated from your spouse but never formally divorced or obtained a judicial separation or entered a formal separation agreement you should address this as soon as possible. Spouses in Ireland have many rights which may last until the marriage is formally dissolved including a legal right to a share in the other’s Estate or ownership over joint property. If you have been in a relationship with your partner but are not married you or your partner may be a “qualified cohabitant” under new legislation. As such you have rights which can be similar to those of a spouse. These rights can include a right to apply to Court for a share in the Estate of your partner if that person has passed away. Many couples mistakenly believe that as cohabitants they are common law or de facto spouses. It is in fact the case that cohabitants unlike spouses have no automatic rights or entitlements and it is important to make provision in the event of death or incapacity.

Cian Moriarty is a solicitor at Fachtna O’Driscoll Solicitors, the only Age Friendly Certified Solicitors in Cork. Contact the practice at 9 South Mall, Cork. Tel: (021) 4278131

Open your Eyes to Elder Abuse The vast majority of older people live full and active lives, enjoying good health, happiness and independence.

Most older people play a valuable role in their communities and in society generally. However, a small number of older people may experience mistreatment, abuse or neglect.

Any person or organisation may be guilty of abuse. Most often it is someone known to the older person, for example, a family member, relative, friend or carer. Advantage may also be taken of an older person by unscrupulous individuals, such as bogus traders and callers.

Elder abuse can happen to anyone. If it happens to you, remember, you are not alone and you are NOT at fault. You do not need to continue suffering abuse.

If you or someone you know is being abused, talk to someone you trust • a family member or close friend.

• Your health professional - your family doctor, public health nurse or community health worker, Social Worker, HSE Safeguarding & Protection Team or anyone at your local health centre.

• Your local Garda Station • Your bank or solicitor • Nursing home owner or the nurse in charge • The HSE Information Line (1850 24 1850) who can give you details of HSE staff in your local area who can help you.

You could be in a position to help an older person who may be at risk of abuse. Be vigilant. Look out for signs of abuse. If you suspect abuse, seek advice. The earlier you express your concerns, the sooner help can be provided and relationships supported.

HSE Information Line 1850 24 1850, Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm or www.hse.ie/go/elderabuse/

There’s no excuse for elder abuse Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 21

Travel

On the wolves and bison trail..

Over 1,000 wolves roam the Northern Rockies; 100 of these in Yellowstone where wolves died out in the 1930s.

Breda Joy tours Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, founded in the US in 1872.

‘They just effortlessly float across the landscape – a real easy stride.’

It’s 7.30am on May 11th in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley. Our guide, Nathan Varley, founder of wolftracker.com, is describing the gait of one of the Jackson Bute wolf pack ambling through sagebrush beside the Lamar River.

To the naked eye, the six wolves are just charcoal smudges, particularly when lying down, but they can be clearly seen through the powerful scope. When any wolf rises, there is a frisson of excitement among the ‘wolf watchers’, an informal network constantly trading sightings. There’s an unconfirmed report that ‘Number 992’, missing since April 24th, has been sighted. Nathan explains that, since the release of ‘Number One’ at the beginning of the Yellowstone Grey Wolf Recovery Project in 1995, each new wolf captured and collared gets a number.

Over 1,000 wolves roam the Northern Rockies; 100 of these in Yellowstone where wolves died out in the 1930s.

‘That’s a lot of wolves,’ Nathan said. ‘They live in small groups. They remind us of ourselves because they live in a family group.’

About 30 wolves are in the Mammoth/ Lamar Valley area. But the scope is taking in more than the wolves this morning. Panning 22 Senior Times lMarch - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

eastwards to to a wooded slope, we see a grey coyote padding among a herd of elk who seem unfazed at his presence. He looks like a big huskie. Further uphill, two grizzly bears are having a ‘lovers’ tiff’, someone jokes. One bear takes off at speed but has second thoughts and double backs to reconcile.

Back on the road, Nathan points to a blob of white in a distant tree. The binoculars are out.

It’s a bald eagle, eyes gleaming fiercely, as it head turns every which way.

Dawn was breaking over the Gallatin Mountains at 5.30am when Nathan, a biologist, collected us. He grew up in the Park and is following in the footsteps of his parents, biologists and park rangers for three decades.

By the time we have our first sighting of a grizzly bear around 6am at Blacktail Pond, the

temperature is still below zero degrees. The grizzly is tearing at a carcass at the water’s edge. We see his claws flex. The morning light picks out a blonde tint in his coat. ‘Silver tip’ is a common name for older bears, we learn.

Over the next few hours, we encounter elk, bison and pronghorn (similar to antelope) but the most remarkable sighting of the morning comes at the end of Gravel Road.

On a distant hillside, a cave mouth opens onto a ledge. Through the scope, we watch four or five wolf cubs come and go from the cave to the ledge. Their sentinel is a large adult female, a ‘family member’ on babysitting duty. Another message crackles over the radio: ‘All seven of the Mollies got up and went upriver’.

Mollie H Beattie, an American conservationist and director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, died in 1996 from brain cancer. She

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had been a proponent of the Yellowstone Wolf Recovery Project. Wolves are only identified by numbers but the Mollies pack was specially named for her, Nathan explains.

‘A pack lasts three or four years,’he says.

‘Dozens have come and gone in the last 21 years. There is a lot of turn-over in packs. The Mollies pack has lasted consistently for 15 years.’

If the Mollies are heading upsteam, it’s time for us to head back downriver, our heads full of unforgettable images.

Yellowstone’s outdoor theatre of snow and steam What are the outstanding memories of six days traversing Yellowstone National Park?

Naturally, the moments off the beaten track carry an extra loading: Solitary geyser high in the woods above Old Faithful, the near-deserted Upper Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs at dusk, geese nesting in the cliffs at Firehole Canyon Drive.

Then, there was a young Montana cattle rancher, complete with Stetson, enquiring what we hunted in Ireland, complaining about the ‘hippies’ up in Bozeman re-introducing the wolf and relating that, once, the meat of bison shot outside the Park had been redistributed for charity.

Snow was still falling outside the diner we met him in halfway along our 84-mile journey from Bozeman Airport to Gardiner, our base at the northern entrance to Yellowstone. The Christmas tableau of snow-laden pines was unexpected on May 10th.

In the Lamar Valley, we first saw great herds of bison, that classic image of the American west.

We were among the first of a projected 4m visitors to Yellowstone in 2016. It’s good to get there early or, by the same token, in September. Visiting the park, located in Wyoming apart from a sliver in Montana, so early in the season means you experience much colder temperatures and the limitation of some road closures, but these disadvantages are far outweighed by the relatively small numbers of visitors on clear stretches of boardwalk shared only by ourselves and, it seemed, half the roving population of Japan. The evening we arrived, we took in the almost deserted chalk-white travertine terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs a short drive inside the northern entrance.

Yellowstone is a 3,475 sq km elemental landscape of hydrothermal features, forests, sparkling rivers and Genesis-like populations of wildlife.

Think of the hydrothermal features as a great, big open-air laboratory where the absent-minded professor has stepped out, leaving hundreds of turbulent experiments to their own devices.

The arena for these ‘experiments’ with boiling water, steam and mineral deposits is a 45-mile wide caldera or depression left behind after

24 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Yellowstone’s volcano erupted about 640,000 years ago and collapsed inwardly. Most of the Park’s attractions are at altitudes of over 6,000 and 7,000ft. Temperatures vary widely: I went from wearing a fleece to teeshirts. Pack for every eventuality.

In the Lamar Valley, we first saw great herds of bison, that classic image of the American west. Elk grazed Gardiner’s motel lawns and baseball pitch. The mountain road to Norris passed a spectacular bridge hugging the side of the Golden Gate Canyon and led to a vast plain with banks of snow. A warning sign for the ‘bear frequenting area’ was annotated with the message from May 5th, ‘Grizzly with two cubs in area, be vigilant’.

Norris Geyser Basin The Norris Geyser Basin (7,526 ft) is 21-mile drive. Remember that a 45mph speed limit applies in the park when estimating journeys. At Norris, Porcelain Basin is a lunar-like landscape steaming with aquamarine pools. But do take the warning signs seriously. A few weeks after our visit, a young American man left a boardwalk and stumbled into scalding, acidic water.

His body was not recovered.

ASI Helpline press Senior Times132x190 feb16.indd 1

02/02/2016 15:57

★★★★

OVER 50’S MIDWEEK BREAKS Enjoy a midweek break in Tralee, our Over 50’s breaks include Bed/Breakfast & Dinner each evening and complimentary Tea/Coffee & Scones on arrival.

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Travel

What magnificent buildings they produced on the forked Chicago River and along the shore of Lake Michigan from which the city draws so much of its vitality and freshness.

Accommodation is cheaper outside the park but if you have the cash, you can book park packages combining hotels and bus tours. The Yellowstone Lake Hotel would be my dream hotel.

Snow drifts lay among the lodgepole pines on the 12-mile drive to Canyon Village (7,918 ft), access point for the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Though the canyon is 24 miles long, it is the upper 2.5 mile stretch here beside Canyon Village that is the most spectacular.

Carved out by the Yellowstone River in sand and pink tints, the canyon boasts two spectacular waterfalls.

From the canyon, we track Yellowstone River upstream through the Hayden Valley and along Yellowstone Lake, the largest high-elevation lake in North America. The snow-capped Absaroka Mountains rose in the distance.

Our next base was West Yellowstone at the west entrance. Accommodation is cheaper outside the Park but if you have the cash, you

Norris-Geyser-Basin-at-Sunset-Yellowstone-National-Park

can book Park packages combining hotels and bus tours. The Yellowstone Lake Hotel would be my dream hotel.

Heading for the legendary geyser, Old Faithful, we encountered our first ‘animal jam’, a scatter of bison lumbering across the road. Allow a morning for this geyser-studded route. At Midway Geyser Basin, Excelsior Geyser pumps 4,000 gallons of boiling water per minute into Firehole River. But the queen of them all is Grand Prismatic Spring: the largest of Yellowstone’s many hot springs.

We watched Old Faithful erupt three times before the crowds but we had Solitary Geyser almost to ourselves.

Next up was the Alpine scenery of Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Hole, our final bil-

26 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

let, had the character of a frontier town but was pricey. At the airport, a double rainbow printed on the grey Wyoming sky was a fitting salute to an extraordinary trip bookended by rainbows and snow. And so on to Chicago..

How Chicago emerged If you want to understand how Chicago emerged as one of the great architectural capitals of the world, an old-fashioned limestone tower standing among the designer shops and towering buildings of North Michigan Avenue is your key.

I happened on the Chicago Water Tower last May while walking in the city centre. Solidly built of Joliet limestone blocks in 1869, the tower was one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire that engulfed the city on

Travel

I happened on the Chicago Water Tower while walking in the city centre. Solidly built of Joliet limestone blocks in 1869, the tower was one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire that engulfed the city in 1871

Further information

the architects charged with re-imagining a city from the ashes.

What magnificent buildings they produced on the forked Chicago River and along the shore of Lake Michigan from which the city draws so much of its vitality and freshness.

That May morning, the exclusive shops of the 13-block ‘Magnificent Mile’ held no attraction for me. Instead, I revelled in the sheer beauty of the wide boulevard banked with tulips.

This was my third visit to the city, drawn there to visit family and discovering incrementally the expanses of Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue, the wealth of museums and art galleries, fascinating walking tours and the quirky suburbs.

This time out, I took my first river cruise, a 75-minute tour of the Chicago Lock and the Y-shaped Chicago River. It’s an ideal way to get a sense of the history, the lay-out of the city and that Mrs O’Leary’s barn is now home to the Chicago Fire Service training facility.

October 9th, 1871, killing at least 300 people and destroying almost 70 per cent of the city.

Fact or fable, the cause of the fire is often attributed to the legendary Mrs O’Leary’s cow who is alleged to have kicked over a barn lantern. The destruction handed a blank slate to

I called into the riverside Trump International Hotel to visit Killarney native, Colm O’Callaghan, regional vice-president in the Trump hotel group. Whatever your views on Mr Trump, do check out the views from the 16th floor bar, ‘The Terrace’.

United Airlines flies Shannon-Chicago-Bozeman, Monday to Friday inclusive, from May to September. www.wolftracker.com/TheWildSide/ TheWildSide.htm www.wolftracker.com/varley/ http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/ wolves.htm Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Public Library are all musts.

Useful websites: http://www.choosechicago.com/ https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/chicago http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/chicago-us-il-chi.htm. http://www.fodors.com/world/north-america/ usa/illinois/chicago. http://www.architecture.org/ For further suggestions on planning your visit, check out: https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm https://www.yellowstoneassociation.org/ www.yellowstonereports.com https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/rocky.../ yellowstone-national-park Breda Joy is the author of Hidden Kerry, The Keys to the Kingdom and The Wit and Wisdom of Kerry.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 27

Three Nights AR Midweek Break

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3 nights Dinner, B&B, Tea & Biscuits on arrival

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Country Music Weekend with Gerry Gutherie, Patrick Feeney, John McNicholl, Declan Nerney & more,

€195

per person sharing

March 3 – 5 2017, 2 nights B&B, One dinner, Entry to all shows

Whist Breaks

€270

€255 per person April 2-6 2017 October 2-6 2017 4 nights Dinner, B&B, afternoon activities in Hotel No single supplement!

A SURE SHANNON PLEASURE CRUISE

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Public Sailings recommencing on the 18th of March , call today for more details Moon River seats 90 passengers and a full bar is provided along with coffee, tea and snacks, ensuring you are fully relaxed to revel in the beauty of Ireland’s finest river.

Enjoy our onboard entertainment and light refreshments or sit on deck and lap up the beautiful surroundings. Either way our crew will ensure you experience a wonderful trip!!

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Moon River, Main Street, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim Tel: 071 96 21777

Anner Hotel, Dublin Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary T: +353 (0)504 21799 E: info@annerhotel.ie W: www.annerhotel.ie

E: info@moonriver.ie www.moonriver.ie

Literature

Jane, the genteel giant In the latest of her literary journeys around these islands, Lorna Hogg visits the places and buildings associated with one of England most celebrated and revered novelists, Jane Austen, the the bi-centenary of whose death is commemorated in 2017 Two centuries ago this year, Jane Austen, one of the most inspirational and influential writers in the English language died.

To be read a hundred years after your death is impressive for any writer. To succeed as both a classic and popular author, widely read two centuries after your death, and continue to inspire contemporary culture and attract visitors to your old haunts is the mark of a literary giant. Even more so when your themes are modest and settings of action narrow. Yet in this anniversary year of Jane’s death, exhibitions, trails, walks, performances and new biographies will ensure that she continues to intrigue.

Mention Jane Austen and witty plus insightful observations of Regency manners and morals set against glittering balls and social gatherings spring to mind. Yet Austen’s true inspiration might surprise many. The peaceful county of Hampshire provided the security and many of the ideas and experiences which inspired her work.

Jane Austen never earned large sums of money from publishers. Nor did she acquire widespread fame in her lifetime Jane’s brass memorial wall plaque in Winchester Cathedral.

came of the flirtation. However, these experiences, plus her observation and clear thinking informed drafts of her three first novels - Northanger Abbey , ` Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Her father continued to encourage her writing, and even sent in a (rejected) manuscript.

Jane was born in the old rectory in the village of Steventon, Hampshire on December 16th 1775. Her father was a clerygyman and Jane grew up in a close and noisy family of eight. She had six brothers and a sister Cassie, whom she adored. Aged just seven, she accompanied her sister away from home to school. It was then unusual for girls to be well educated, but Jane and Cassie both had school and later home tutoring.

Jane also became an enthusiastic reader of fiction. However, by 1787, family finances rquired her to return to the Rectory, where she started to write.

In the society of her times, Jane’s background meant that she grew up as part of the gentry, enjoying friends, invitations and with regular vis its to large local houses such as The Vyne and Ibthorpe. There were aso parties, informal local dances and social assemblies in Southampton - we know that Jane’s eighteenth birthday celebrations included a dance at the Dolphin Hotel, Southampton.

The Austen family moved to Bath in 1801. Two of Jane’s books, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are based in Bath.

As was not unusal in those times, at the age of sixteen her brother Edward was adopted by a distant family member. However, the family remained close. Two of Jane’s brothers, Charles and Frank, entered the Royal Navy, and Henry became a bank manager in nearby village of Alton. Jane’s life was involved with community. She walked the muddy country lanes, shopped in nearby Whitchurch and Overton and collected post at the Wheatsheaf Inn. She also had a romance – with Irishman Thomas Lefroy, who briefly visited Ashe Rectory near Alton. It seems, however, that she misread the extent of his initial interest and nothing

Jane’s first twenty five years were happy and contented, but in 1801 her father retired, and announced that the family would move to Bath, where her parents had married. Popular belief is that she fainted in shock at the news. Bath was then still ‘new build’, glaring white, noisy and crowded with carriages and visitors. However, there were also concerts, balls, and assemblies in the splendid buildings, and popular for ‘taking the waters’ at the Spa – all fertile ground for her writing.

30 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

CRUISING IN STYLE ON THE SHANNON

Public Sailings recommencing on the 18th of March , call today for more details Cruise the River Shannon in the comfort of our luxurious 50 seater passenger vessel. River Run is ideal for day trips, corporate events and social gatherings.

The pleasure cruiser has been fully refurbished to the highest standard of safety and comfort and is fully wheelchair accessible.

A range of catering options is also available for private parties.

River Run, Athlone Castle Athlone Co. Westmeath Tel: 071 96 21777

E: info@theriverrun.ie www.theriverrun.ie

The Island Resort Lodges at Waterford Castle Hotel isn’t just a break, it’s an adventure.

Located on a private Island in the River Suir, the centuries-old site sits just downstream from Waterford city.

The 310 acre island is only a two

minute private car ferry ride from the mainland, and is an ideal location for a mini break. The Island Lodges (sleeps six) offers rates from €319 for a 3 night stay.

Wine and dine in their award-

winning Munster Room restaurant, or the King’s Channel Club House, minutes from the Lodge and offers a full bistro menu, taste some of the best traditional and contemporary Irish cuisine.

Enjoy some of their many activities

available during your stay, such as golf, falconry, clay pigeon shooting, tennis, croquet or a lovely scenic stroll through the grounds.

Catch a glimpse of the resident wildlife, Deer, Fox, Red Squirrel, Hedgehogs, Badgers and Hares and numerous wild birds.

Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Resort, The Island, Waterford T: 051 878 203 E: info@waterfordcastleresort.com W: www.waterfordcastleresort.com

Join the Friends of the National Concert Hall Speak with Deirdre on Freephone 1800 400 900

Together our Friends make up a vibrant community of like-minded individuals, with a shared love of music and culture. Their collective enthusiasm and engagement enhances the work of the National Concert Hall. We invite you to become a part of this remarkable group of supporters.

Friends of the National Concert Hall enjoy exclusive benefits, such as: • Ticket discounts • Priority booking and dedicated Friends booking line • Special events, receptions and talks • Access to bespoke cultural tours at home and abroad

Special offer: Become a Friend now for just ¤100 when you quote ‘Senior Times Offer 2016’.

(Offer applies to first-time NCH Friends members only; does not apply to membership renewals.)

Email: ddoyle@myhomecare.ie l Web: www.myhomecare.ie

Join now by calling the National Concert Hall Box Office on 01 417 0000 or visit www.nch.ie.

Literature

Jane often walked the muddy country lanes around Whitchurch and Overton and collected post at the Wheatsheaf Inn.

Two of Jane’s books, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion , were based in Bath, and at this time she also received one known marriage proposal, later rejected, on a seaside holiday in 1802. However, her family’s finances progressively worsened after the death of her father in 1805, and the family decided to leave.

Move to Southampton They remained close, however and in 1806 went to live in Southampton, where one of her brothers had a house. Then an old seaport, with a walled citadel, cobbled streets and gates, it was also spa town. They lived in Castle Square and regularly walked the walls, visited the spa, attended the Theatre Royal and visited many friends. Jane also closely followed the naval careers and Portsmouth dockings of her brothers Charles and Frank.

In 1809, Jane’s brother Edward Knight inherited Chawton House, a beautiful manor house, where he would live in some splendour. He offered a large farmhouse, originally a steward’s cottage in the nearby village of Chawton, to his mother and sisters, and this became Jane’s home. Whilst a comfortable house, in comparison with the the grandeur of Chawton House it makes the point of the insecurity of life then facing spinsters without money, although her brothers were generous.

However, Jane was happy there over the next eight years. Sense and Sensibility written ‘ by a Lady’ appeared. Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion were completed, as well as the revision and sale of some earlier manuscripts.

However, Jane never earned large sums of money from publishers. Nor did she acquire widespread fame in her lifetime, publishing anonymously, her success known only in a few circles.

Ill health with a kidney complaint brought a May

Jane celebrated her eighteenth birthday in the Dolphin Hotel, Southampton

1817 visit to Winchester, to be nearer to her doctor. Nothing helped however, and Jane, ‘ the sun of my life’ died in Cassie’s arms in College House, on July 17th. As a woman, however, Cassie did not however, attend the funeral in Winchester Cathedral. Nor was mention made of Jane’s literary success on her tombstone.

However, a brass wall plaque was added in 1872, and light from a 1900 publicly subscribed stained glass window now falls on her tomb.

In 1967 Jane received a wall tablet in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey.

On the Jane Austen trail..

Take the Line 76 bus or the Stagecoach 16 bus from Basingstoke to Steventon, or join a Hidden Britain: The Dancing Years experience.

A lime tree and railings surrounding an old well mark the spot of the now demolished rectory.

You can still visit the church, alongside the ancient yew which Jane would have known, walk down Church Lane and to the Wheatsheaf Pub, where she collected post.

Chawton Travel from Basingstoke on Line 13 bus, or from London Waterloo to Alton. The Jane Austen Museum, at Chawton `cottage’ where she lived, gives an insightful sense of her later home life You can visit the room where she wrote, the little table and small pieces of paper, which could be swiftly covered if she heard a creaking stair. A patchwork quilt, embroidered along with with Cassie and their mother, hints at pastimes, and with her modest jewellery, are all on display.

Nearby is her brother’s old home, the magnificent Chawton House. Now containing Chawton House Library, an internationally respected centre of the study of early writings by women, it can be visited. Don’t miss the quiet churchyard, where family members are buried.

32 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Southampton The city, badly damaged by World War II bombing, has produced an excellent Heritage Trail, which gives you an idea of the medieval city Jane would have visited. The leaflet allows you to self-guide, taking in The Dolphin Hotel, theatres and buildings and sites of spa and assemblies.

Winchester The beautiful cathedral city has retained the views around College Street, the Water Meadows and Winchester College, virtually unchanged since Jane’s times. You can view the exterior of the last place she lived in College Street, and her tomb in the cathedral.

Basingstoke Jane attended Assemblies here, and the city now has an Austen Book Bench trail, twenty five sculptures inspired her themes, in and around Basingstoke. Check the website for details.

Where Jane stayed..

We know that Jame Austen visited friends regularly, and some of the houses she knew are open to the public – as well as the wide range of houses which appeared in film and TV of her works.

The Vyne, near Basingstoke Hampshire.

(National Trust) Magnificent mansion dating to Tudor times, with a Long Gallery, and where Jane attended balls. (Roof currently under renovation.)

Oakley Hall, Oakley, Basingstoke, Hampshire.

Regency home to the Bramstone family, friends of Jane. Mrs Bramstone provided inspiration for Lady Bertram in `Mansfield Park’ Now a luxurious hotel. www.oakleyhall-park.com

Recognising the work of Public Health Nurses

Dr Sinead Hanafin & Dr Keith Swannick

Clare Lewis & Deirdre Tuohy

Jonathan Acton & Margaret Keogh

Johanna Downey & Violet Hayes

Noeleen Cronin & Grainne O’Brien

Oonagh Cox & Marie Chambers

At the recent Institute of Community Health Nursing (ICHN) AGM, five public health nurses were recognised for the exceptional care they provide and their commitment to promoting Public Health Nursing in the community.

dealing with the patients within her community. Violet was also recognised for the huge support she has given to her staff at both a professional and personal level. She epitomises what all nurses should aspire to be.

well-deserved recognition” commented Ed Murphy, CEO and Founder of Home Instead Senior Care in Ireland.

Nominees for the ICHN Annual Award are highly commended for their professional commitment to nursing in the community and for their work in the promotion and development of best practice and services for identified health needs of varying population groups.

Clare Lewis, Clinical Care Manager for the elderly in Dublin North, was named the overall winner at the ICHN Annual Awards in addition to being named regional winner east for her dedication to the patients in her local community and also for the support and mentoring of community nurses in dealing with older clients with complex care needs.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Violet Hayes, Director of Public Health Nursing, West Cork. Violet was awarded for always going that extra mile when

Congratulations to the winners and all the Public Health Nurses for making Ireland a better place to grow old!

Speaking at the awards Ms. Johanna Downey President, commented “On behalf of the ICHN and the Public Health Nursing service we would like to congratulate all of our winners today. Their initiative, motivation and care given in the workplace is inspirational. Those awarded continually go above and beyond in the care they provide within their community”.

THE REGIONAL AWARDS WERE PRESENTED TO: • Regional Winner: Midlands; Margaret Keogh, Public Health Nurse, Longford Westmeath.

“Thank you and congratulations to this year’s award recipients. As a home care provider, we at Home Instead have a vested interest in supporting public health nurses who help ensure older people live a happy, healthy and independent life in the community. At the end of the day, we all want to remain in our own home and without the support and expertise of public health nurses this would not be possible. Thank you for all you do and congratulations on this

• Regional Winner: West; Marie Chambers, Public Health Nurse, Achill Island • Regional Winner: South; Grainne O’Brien, Clinical Care Manager, Cobh • Regional Winner East; Clare Lewis, Clinical Care Manager for Older Persons in Dublin North

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 33

Literature

Stoneleigh Abbey

Jane’s writing desk and chair in the Jane Austen Museum

The church at Steventon, Hampshire the village where Jane was born and grew up and where her father was rector.

Chatsworth House Stoneleigh Abbey, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

Magnificent mansion and home to friends of Jane, whom she visited in 1806. www.stoneleighabbbey.org Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire.

Jane visited the county in 1811 and `The Palace of The Peaks’ is reputed to have inspired Darcy’s home, Pemberley. www.chatsworth.org Saltram House, Plymouth, Devon. Georgian style home to Frances, Countess of Morley, a friend of Jane and fan of her books. Her husband, the first Earl of Morley, is rumoured to be the inspiration for Mr Darcy. The family history may also have inspired the scandal which

featured in ‘Mansfield Park’. (National Trust) More information www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/janeausten www.visitwinchester.co.uk www.chawtonhouse.org www.winchesteraustentrail.co.uk www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk www. destinationbasingstoke.co.uk www.southampton.gov.uk www.nationaltrust.org www.hiddenbritaintours.co.uk

34 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

The Hermitage Medical Clinic First Class Health Care

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Golf

England’s Joyce Wethered , widely acknowledged as the greatest of all women exponents of the game: ‘Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as ladies’ golf at all - only good or bad golf as played by members of either sex.’

Not only did the ILGU become the oldest national women’s golf union in the world it facilitated the emergence of gifted young Northern players such as May Hezlet

Overcoming the sexist handicap Dermot Gilleece traces the history of the ILGU, the oldest national women’s golf union in the world, the development of the women’s game globally, and some of its greatest exponents The merger of the Royal and Ancient and the Ladies Golf Union, which came into effect on New Year’s Day , brought to an end 126 years of administrative separation of the sexes in golf. And we can imagine the applause from beyond the grave from countless pioneers, dating back to Mary Queen of Scots as the earliest role-model for women golfers.

As it happened, she wasn’t the only medieval royal to be bitten by the golfing bug, as can be gleaned from a letter written by Queen Katherine to Cardinal Wolsey in 1513, when Henry VIII

was preoccupied with the irritating distraction of invading France. The letter read: ‘Master Almoner, from hence I have nothing to write to you but that you be not so busy in this war as we be here incumbered with it. I mean that touching my own concerns, for going further, when I shall not so often hear from the King, and all his subjects be very glad.’. Her Majesty went on: ‘I thank God to be busy with the golf, for they take it for pastime; my heart is very good to it, and I am horribly busy making standards and banners.’ And not a mention of equal status nor

36 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

the problem of getting a game at weekends!

At this point, it may be appropriate to refer to the writings, four centuries later of England’s Joyce Wethered and her ideas on the game as played by the fair sex. ‘I am not talking about ‘ladies’ golf’,’insisted the player who is widely acknowledged as the greatest of all women exponents of the game, ‘because, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as ladies’ golf at all --only good or bad golf as played by members of either sex.’

An interesting view, I think you’ll agree. Either way, the first women’s golf clubs emerged

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Golf

Killymoon Golf club, Northern Ireland, is believed to have hosted the first women’s golf competition ever played on this island.

during the latter half of the 19th century. It was a time when genteel ladies of leisure played what could be described as no more than a slightly elongated form of pitch and putt. This stemmed from the fact that it was considered indelicate for women to raise the club above shoulder height, which the restrictive nature of their clothing would seriously inhibit in any case.

Gradually, however, women players began to take the game a lot more seriously. This was especially true of the US where, in the classic spirit of the pioneer, members of the newly-formed club at Shinnecock Hills, Long Island, were persuaded by their wives to build them a separate nine-hole course in 1893. And a year later, a group of women founded their own club at Morristown, New Jersey, with a seven-hole course.

Nor were Ireland’s women left lagging behind.

Indeed we are informed that on an autumn day in 1887, a certain Miss C E McGee travelled to the Kinnegar, Holywood, Co down, on an intriguing mission. The trip was made at the invitation of a certain Dr Collier, who was convinced she would be more than a little interested in the sight of a very rare species -a woman golfer! In a letter 26 years later to her friend, Leah Garratt, Miss McGee wrote that the woman golfer she had been introduced to, ‘nspired me with a wish to play the game.’

The golfer in question was the wife of a Captain Wright of the Scottish Light Infantry, and their meeting at the Kinnegar would become a key element in the founding of the Irish Ladies’ Golf Union in 1893. Meanwhile, a more immediate effect was that Miss McGee’s enjoyment of golf led her to discuss with a fellow enthusiast, the possibility of forming a women’s club.

This resulted in the inaugural meeting of the Holywood Ladies Golf Club in 1888. So, the letter from Miss McGee to her friend, Leah Garrett, was in fact written in 1913, the silver jubilee of the club. And having been given the lead by Holywood’s women, clubs soon sprang up at Killymoon, Newcastle, Portrush, Dungannon and Belmont. All of which prompted the Belfast Newsletter of May 14th 1891 to report: ‘Yesterday, the first competition for the Killymoon

golf club’s Ladies Scratch Medal took place, open to all Ireland ... [there were] 12 entries from Dungannon, Aughnacloy and Killymoon.....’ This is believed to have been the first women’s golf competition ever played on this island.

However, not all women responded immediately to the call. In fact the same newspaper presented in August 1905, evidence of the emergence of a new class known as golf widows, while highlighting the reaction of one particular victim to her plight. It came in the form of this poem: I am a widow, though a wife, My husband’s lost to me; I seldom see his face at all He’s joined the BGC His talk is all of drives and putts, Of holing out in four, Of bunkers, hazards, mashie shots, And what he calls his score.

His purse grows leaner every day, His golf bag fuller grows; How many balls he’s bought He never will disclose.

I’ll join the club myself; and play When he is out to work; Dusting and darning, cookery And washing day I’ll shirk.

I’ll be home at dinner time And in my usual seat, And feed my truant husband well On excellent, tinned meat.

Meanwhile, it is clear that from an early stage, quite a number of men, mostly in the ascendancy class, did not take kindly to having women anywhere near the golf course, much less involved in the game. Indeed in 1890, an eminent Scottish judge, Lord Montcreiff, was moved to observe: ‘It is to their [women’s] presence as spectators that the most serious objection must be taken. If they could abstain from talking while you are playing, and if the shadow of their dresses would not flicker on the putting green while you are holing out, other objections might perhaps, be waived.!’

As we have indicated, women had to overcome the strictures imposed by their own garments, quite apart from widespread, male

38 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

In 1890, the eminent Scottish judge, Lord Montcreiff, was moved to observe: ‘It is to their [women’s] presence as spectators that the most serious objection must be taken. If they could abstain from talking while you are playing, and if the shadow of their dresses would not flicker on the putting green while you are holing out, other objections might perhaps, be waived.!’

prejudice. One such victim of the time, informs us that ‘every self-respecting woman or girl had to have a waist and the more wasp-like it was, the more one was admired. This was a terrible drawback at golf or tennis, but for a time it had to be endured. The skirts had stiff petersham belts too, which were uncomfortable, and we sometimes wore two petticoats, which came down nearly to the bottom of the skirt and made it all very heavy and cumbrous.’

The 19th century observer went on: ‘In the winter, we had our skirts bound with leather, so that the mud we collected could easily be sponged off; but oh! the weight of the petticoats, the skirt with its collection of mud and the unhealthiness of the whole thing! When I think back on it all, I do marvel that we ever got round a course, even a little nine-hole hen-run.’

Despite these problems, however, the women’s game prospered, with Ireland to the forth in this development. Not only did the ILGU become the oldest national women’s golf union in the world; it facilitated the emergence of gifted young Northern players such as May Hezlet and Rhona Adair, who became known as the ‘Golden Girls’ of golf in these islands. But that’s a story for another day.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 39

Culture

Charlotte Rampling and Jim Broadbent star in The Sense Of An Ending

‘Rita’ returns for countrywide tour Maretta Dillon previews happenings around the country in the next few months Willy Russell’s Educating Rita is updated to 1980’s Belfast in this new production. Beginning at the Lyric Theatre on Feb 4, the tour expands out island wide with a five day stint at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre. Hairdresser Rita’s thirst for knowledge is balanced against her tutor Frank’s world weariness and disillusionment in this ultimately uplifting tale. More details ticketmaster.ie

performing with long-term collaborator and acclaimed recitalist Pascal Amoyel will tour Ireland, north and south, with a programme of Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Liszt, Brahms as well as a new work by Irish composer Kevin Volans. The duo has performed together for many years, winning widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Something to anticipate. From March 21, information from musicnetwork.ie

Dublin. Irish composer Siobhán Cleary’s new work, inspired by an Angela Carter short story, is set in 1914. Hero, an English soldier is on a cycling holiday in the Carpathian Mountains, and seeks shelter in a lonely castle where he meets and disarms the beautiful vampire Countess. Katy Hayes provides the libretto for this exciting musical offering. More info from riam.ie

Male dancers don’t always enjoy the same profile as their female counterparts. Lïnger looks to counter this. It’s a critically-acclaimed contemporary Irish dance work involving former principal of Riverdance Breandán de Gallaí and Nick O’Connell, two male dancers at opposite ends of their dancing careers.

Choreographed and directed by de Gallaí, this immersive work explores identity, sexuality, and aging, unfolding through a rich tapestry of music, movement, live drawing, photography and film. The production begins an all-Ireland tour in Dublin on March 6 – eriu.co

There’s a double helping of opera this month with Opera Theatre Ireland’s new production of Handel’s, Acis and Galatea, to be conducted by renowned Baroque specialist Peter Whelan and featuring the dazzling Irish Baroque Orchestra. Written in 1717, Acis and Galatea, is a high point of baroque repertoire and one of Handel’s most treasured works. For more details see opera.ie

Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling team up in this adaptation of Julian Barnes’s novel, The Sense of an Ending, about aging, memory, jealousy, and the lies we tell ourselves to survive. Broadbent is Tony Webster, a curt divorcé who is bequeathed a diary by an old friend but the volume is in the possession of an ex-girlfriend (Charlotte Rampling) who refuses to give it to him. Tony becomes somewhat obsessed with the diary and what it might or might not contain. From April 14 nationwide.

French cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand

At the other end of the scale is Vampirella, a world premiere of a new Irish opera presented by the Royal Irish Academy of Music in collaboration with The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College

40 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

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Vampirella is a new opera

by Siobhan Cleary at Smock Alley, Dublin from March 21-25

Breandan de Gallai, director and choreographer of Lïnger

Pianist Pascal Amoyel and cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand are touring the country

Events around the Country / March – April 2017 EDUCATING RITA Theatre Willy Russell’s now classic play is updated to Belfast in the 1980’s . Island wide tour from February 4 / Gaiety Theatre, Dublin March 21- 25 Booking: ticketmaster.ie THE PAINTING SHOW, FROM THE BRITISH COUNCIL Visual Arts Overview of contemporary British painting by 15 British artists, showcasing their unique approaches to their work.

Feb 9 – Apr 16 / Limerick City Gallery of Art Information: gallery.limerick.ie BEYOND CARAVAGGIO Visual Arts Over 40 major works highlight how other artists adopted Caravaggio’s ideas and themes in their own work.

Feb 11 – May 14 / National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin Information and booking: nationalgallery.ie LINGER Dance Contemporary Irish dance work explores the world of two male dancers at opposite ends of their careers.

From Mar 6 Information: eriu.co / Ériu Dance Company

AMERICAN LEGENDS TOUR Music A celebration of the best in country music with the songs of Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Shania Twain.

Mar 10 / Birr Theatre and Arts Centre.

Booking and Information: (057) 91 2291 / birrtheatre.com ST PATRICK’S FESTIVAL Festival Various diverse events nationwide to celebrate the national holiday. Your chance to wear the green jumper!

Mar 16-19 / nationwide Information: stpatricksfestival.ie EMMANUELLE BERTRAND AND PASCAL AMOYEL Music French cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand and acclaimed recitalist Pascal Amoyel on tour.

March 21 - 30 / Music Network Island wide tour Information and venues: musicnetwork.ie VAMPIRELLA Opera New opera from Royal Irish Music Academy

by Siobhán Cleary based on a short story by Angela Carter.

Mar 21-25 / Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin Information: riam.ie / Booking: smockalley. com MOUNTAINS TO SEA dlr BOOK FESTIVAL Literature This now established and much anticipated literary event takes over this coastal town for five whole days.

42 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Mar 22 - 26 / Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Information: mountainstosea.ie ACIS AND GALATEA Opera Opera Theatre Company will tour a new production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea, one of his most celebrated works.

Mar 25 – Apr 13, 2017 Information and venues: opera.ie THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE Theatre Druid’s acclaimed production is back onstage due to public demand after a long international run.

Mar 28- April 15 / Gaiety Theatre, Dublin Information: 08 18 719 388 / ticketmaster.ie THE SENSE OF AN ENDING Film Julian Barnes’ novel gets the film adaptation treatment with Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling and Harriet Walter.

April 14 nationwide BARROW RIVER ARTS FESTIVAL Arts Festival Eclectic mix of classical, folk, traditional music and jazz all performed in the delightful spaces of Borris House.

Apr 21-23/ Borris. Co. Carlow Information: barrowriverartsfestival.com Finally, if you would like your event to feature in our list of What’s On please email: events. country@gmail.com

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Michael James Ford as Frank and Kerri Quinn as Rita in Educating Rita

Frank about Frank Actor Michael James Ford talks to Maretta Dillon Educating Rita has enjoyed success both as a stage play and, of course, a film – one which was actually shot in Dublin! Michael James Ford takes on the now very familiar role of ‘Frank’ in a production set this time in Belfast in 1980. The show will embark on an island wide tour in March.

This is your second time playing ‘Frank’ in Educating Rita. Is there something about the character and the play that appeals to you?

Very much so, he’s a complicated character, he’s a guy who’s lost his way; I find the complexity of the character very interesting. He’s a guy that was at one time an aspiring poet; at one time he also had a passion for teaching. But his career as a poet never really took off so he’s become very disillusioned and he’s descended into self-loathing and alcoholism. What is really interesting for me as an actor is the journey when he meets Rita and he rediscovers his mojo a bit and rediscovers his love for teaching and for literature.

This production is set in Belfast rather than in the original Liverpool of the early 1980s. Do you find that this brings a new dimension?

I think it definitely brings new things because the new location brings a more complex hinterland. Frank hasn’t just turned his back on the academic world that he’s now come to hate, there is the world outside which is a threatening one with all kinds of violence happening. We use radio broadcasts to set that in context – the hunger strikes are imminent - and this just fuels Frank’s sense of isolation.

Do you enjoy the rehearsal process or are you always waiting for the performance element to kick in?

Obviously, the most exciting thing is when you are up in front of an audience but it’s been great to come back to the play to re investigate it and to discover lots of new things.

Was acting your first and only choice as a career or did you drift into it?

It was something I really wanted to do but I was a bit afraid of it. I was putting off the dread moment. I did an academic drama course and then I did a post grad in Trinity in the 80s. It was a very exciting time for people in Trinity Players and people who were really serious about the theatre. So I got into it through that.

44 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Does acting get easier as you get older or is it always a challenge?

I think it’s always a challenge, I wouldn’t say it gets easier at all. I think as you get older and more experienced you are kind of harder on yourself.

You have a more complete understanding of what you are trying to achieve so you go into the detail much more. You know what works but there are aspects of it that get harder; even something as basic as the lines. It definitely doesn’t get easier but it possibly gets more fulfilling.

You’ve worked on stage, screen and TV. What’s your favourite?

Film and TV can be very exciting but there’s not the same thrill as theatre. Theatre would definitely be my favourite thing, the connection with an audience, it’s fantastic. Educating Rita really is a great play, it’s very exciting because you feel the response not just to the laughter but when the emotional moments happen, you feel that connection.

How do you deal with the ‘resting periods’. What do you do to take a break from acting?

To be honest, I really just keep going because I have a number of small shows that I can always do. I worked a lot with Bewley’s Café Theatre.

I did a couple of things there last year, so I tend to keep looking, to keep going.

Have you any advice for those contemplating the acting profession as a career? Or words of encouragement?

One piece of advice is to develop a love of the literature. I would say just read, read as much as you can. Life is short, one of the great things about theatre is that it brings you into so many periods of time, into so many worlds, so my advice would be to explore, to keep yourself energised and motivated through that process even if you are not working.

Educating Rita plays at Lyric, Belfast, Feb 4-25 / Market Place, Armagh, Feb 28 - Mar 1 / An Tain, Dundalk, Mar 3 & 4 / Theatre Royal, Waterford Mar 8 & 9 / LimeTree, Limerick, Mar 15 & 16 / Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, March 21- 25 / Everyman, Cork – Mar 28 – Apr 1.

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Walking

The Mournes

- small but beautifully formed Conor O’Hagan guides through The Mournes – ‘the walkers’ mountains’ The Mournes are walkers’ mountains; more so perhaps than any others in Ireland. Uniquely compact, the range includes 12 peaks over 600m but yet is barely eight miles across. Each summit is crowned by granite tors. The Mourne upland is dominated by a compact ring of 12 mountains, each rising above 600m, with the highest peak, Slieve Donard, reaching 853m.

Just 31 miles (50km) south of Belfast and 62 miles (100km) north of Dublin hugging the County Down coastline. With many small towns and villages dotted across the foothills of the Mournes there is plenty to keep visitors entertained and many high-quality accommodation providers, happy to take groups of tired out walkers!

Part of the charm of these mountains is that they afford a feeling of wildness and isolation, despite being thoroughly accessible and superbly well-served by a network of tracks, paths and ways with an almost limitless range of challenges from gentle strolls to full-on multiday challenges suitable only for the very fit and experienced. Whatever you’re up for, the Mournes have it.

Between the Eastern or ‘High’ Mournes and the Western or ‘Low’ Mournes, there is a gorgeous variety of landscape captured in what is, in geographical terms, little more than a pocket. From giant ancient, smmothed granite boulders to winswept heath, wooded valleys and bucolic farmland, the Mournes are unique in their many-facetted beauty.

Built between 1904 and 1922, the Mourne Wall is a 22-mile (35.5km) stretch of dry stone walling enclosing 9000 acres of the Mournes water catchment area, draining into the Silent Valley and Ben Crom reservoirs. It takes in 15 of the highest peaks in the Mournes.

46 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Silent Valley

Win a Columbia Trekking Outfit One men’s and one women’s

Walking

sportswear outfits, worth €400 each, prizes in Great Outdoors competition We have one Dublin men’s and women’s Great Outdoors areone giving away one men’s and one lady’s outfit from Columbia Sports to Columbia Sportswear outfit. Each prize is worth almost €400 and giveaway. Prize consists of a jacket, includes rain pants, shoes and T-Shirt. Entrants will rainjacket, pants, fleece, shoesfleece, and T-shirt. have to pick which they are entering and choose the correct ourthe website for more details. answerVisit from multiple choice for the following question www.greatoutdoors.ie ‘What is Columbia’s current tagline that sums up the durability and quality of their products?’.

The Mourne Wall

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Entry is via the website, http://www.greatoutdoors.ie/columbia-giveaway-spring-2017/ Map For any serious walking, the Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland (OSNI) Mourne Activity Map 1:25 000 is indispensible; it’s widely available in towns throughout the area.

For an excellent overview of the layout of the Mournes, see the 3D map at http:// mourneviews.co.uk There are a number of small towns and villages dotted around the foothills of the Mourne Mountains, providing a wide variety of accommodation options for walkers visiting this area.

Located at the foot of Slieve Donard, New-

castle and surrounding area is a great base for walkers visiting the Mournes on a short break.

There are plently of great places to eat and drink in Newcastle with many hotels, guesthouses and B&B’s. The smaller coastal village of Rostrevor offers a more tranquil alternative overlooking Carlingford Lough, while Bryansford is a quaint village located beside Tollymore Forest Park roughly halfway between Newcastle and Castlewellan.

rivers - Shimna and Spinkwee are surrounded by forested hills and offer a choice of sublime wooded walks.

Forest Parks

Kilbroney Forest Park 97 acres close to the shore of Carlingford Lough. Open spaces and pathways in Kilbroney Park allow relaxing strolls and links directly into the forest park where trails lead

Tollymore Forest Park Irelan’s first Forest Park, opened in 1955. With a backdrop of the Mourne Mountains, the two

Castlewellan Forest Park Taking in mountains and sea, Castlewellan Forest Park has a world-class tree and shrub collection, a walled garden, a mile-long lake and much more for walkers and garden enthusiasts.

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Walking through oakwoods and planted slopes of sitka spruce, douglas, fir and pine.

Festivals The Mournes play host to some first-class walking festivals each year; a perfect opportunity to enjoy the mountains in good company.

The Mourne International Walking Festival takes place in the last weekend of June each year, alternating each year between Newcastle and Warrenpoint. This festival gives walkers

of all levels of fitness and abilities a choice routes between 6 miles (10km) and 25 miles (40km) at both high and low levels. For more information, see www. mournewalking.co.uk The Wee Binnian Walking Festival is an annual festival organised by the Wee Binnians, one of the most prominent walking clubs in Northern Ireland. The festival is based in Newry and covers the Mourne Mountains, The Cooleys and Slieve Gullion with nine guided walks over the weekend. www.weebinnians.com

The Mournes

Walks WalkNI (www.walkni.com) have designated over 20 Quality Walks in the Mournes region as part of the Quality Walk Scheme, accommodating all levels of fitness. From traversing the foothills and valleys of the range to attempting a summit challenge walk, the Mournes experience really can be dictated by the walker’s own personal preference.

Get hold of a copy of The Mourne Mountains: A Walker’s Guide - it’s available in NI Tourism offices or online at www.walkni.com I’ve picked two classic Mournes routes as highlights; while manageable for the modestly experienced hill walker or any vigorous newbie, they are, like any mountain walks, highly variable with weather conditions. So pay attention to forecasts and carry or wear decent raingear and spare layers, along with suitable footwear.

Slieve Binnian 7 miles Map: OS Sheet 29 + Mourne Outdoor Pursuits Map (1:25,000) Grid Reference: J345219 This circular walking route tracks the Mourne Wall to the summit of Slieve Binnian (747m), traverses between the spectacular South and North Tors before descending along a track past the Blue Lough, Annalong Forest and back to the starting point at the Carrick Little Car Park.

Getting to the Start The Carrick Little car park is at the junction of the Head Road and Oldtown Road near Annalong. The Mourne Rambler bus departs from Newcastle Bus station on a regular basis during the summer months.

From the car park, follow a clear, stony track that rises gently between the fields. Note the boulder walls alongside, and the high mountains around the distant head of Annalong Valley. Cross a stone step stile beside an iron gate and turn left to follow the Mourne Wall uphill.

The wall rises steeply on the rugged slopes of Slieve Binnian, but it is an obvious line to follow almost all the way to the summit. There is a break when the wall runs into a bare face of granite, and before this point you should drift to the right and aim for a notch in the top of the mountain.

Going all the way to the summit at 2449ft (747m) involves using your hands and taking care on the rock.

The reward is an exceedingly fine panorama of the surrounding mountain. In clear weather it’s possible to see the Isle of Man out to sea and the Wicklow Mountains beyond Dublin. Pick your way carefully around the base of the Summit Tor and continue walking along the ridge of the Mountain. You cross a broken wall and follow a clear path past the Back Castles and North Tor; an outcrop of granite towards the end of the crest, which the path passes on the left side. The ground slopes away more steeply as the path leads to the col between Slieve Lamagan and Slieve Binnian.

At the col turn right and follow a clear path downhill. This passes close to 48 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

the Blue Lough and by keeping right at junctions with other paths, you’ll be led down to a clear track passing a corner of Annalong Wood. Simply follow the track alongside the Forest fence and return to the iron gate in the Mourne Wall. Cross the wall using the stile and follow the track back to Carrick Little car park.

Slieve Donard, Commedagh and Bearnagh 11 miles Map: OS Sheet 29 + Mourne Outdoor Pursuits Map (1:25,000) Grid Reference: J311314 This is a challenging walk with some strenuous ascents, but it is certainly worth it. The walk takes in three of the four highest peaks in the Mourne Mountains (Slieve Donard 853m, Slieve Commedagh 765m, Slieve Bearnagh 739m) and also the Brandy Pad – the well-trodden and infamous smuggler’s track. The walk gives wonderful views to the Irish Sea and to the heart of the High Mournes.

Getting to the Start The walk starts at the Trassey Track Car Park. From Bryansford take the B180 to Hilltown. 4 km later, turn left onto Trassey Road. The Car Park is on the left approx 1.5km along this road.

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 From the start of the Trassey Track, follow the track up towards the mountains. You will go through three sets of double gates (including the one at the start) before you reach the open mountains. Look ahead and you will see Hare’s Gap (a saddle between Slieve Bearnagh and Slievenaglough). Continue up the main Trassey Track and just before the path increases in gradient up towards the quarry, take the right hand track up towards the col between Slieve Meelmore and Slieve Bearnagh, where you meet the Mourne Wall. Cross the stile and turn left, following the Mourne Wall up Slieve Bearnagh which is a challenging ascent with some rocky outcrops to maneouver. On the top make your way over to the Summit Tor for wonderful 360 degree views of the High and Western Mournes. Walk across to the North Tor, approx 500 metres away.

From the North Tor, follow the steep track down Slieve Bearnagh towards Hare’s Gap. Part of the lower track is built steps. On reaching Hare’s Gap, you get good views of the High Mournes and Ben Crom Reservoir. From Hare’s Gap, follow the easily identifiable Brandy Pad, bearing left at the distinct cairn on the path at the col between Slieve Beg and Slieve Commedagh. Continue along the path underneath the Castles (pinnacles on the south side of Slieve Commedagh) and at the end of the Castles, bear left and continue on the path up to where it meets the Mourne Wall at the col between Slieve Donard and Slieve Commedagh.

(At this point it is possible to walk up Slieve Donard and retrace your steps back to the col before commencing the summit of Slieve Commedagh). Follow the Mourne Wall up Slieve Commedagh. From Commedagh views can be enjoyed to Newcastle below and out to the Irish Sea. From here continue along the wall, up Slievenaglough and then down towards Hare’s Gap. It is better to be on the south side of the Mourne Wall to navigate your way down the steep ascent towards Hare’s Gap. Part of the lower track is built steps.

At Hare’s Gap climb the stile or pass through the gate and descend through the rocky terrain to meet the Trassey Track. Follow the Trassey Track back to the start point.

A memorable sojourn awaits in the beautiful Austrian Tirol, with the Senior Times Summer Trip to Ehrwald. This trip offers the perfect mix of culture and activity, with excursions, hikes, gentle walks, a boat trip in stunning surrounds, a thrilling cable car ride and an evening of traditional Tyrolean entertainment, just a fraction of what is on offer on this wonderful trip to one of the Tirol’s most scenic areas.

Your Ehrwald Holiday Includes  Return flights from Dublin  Return transfers by luxury coach  7 nights half board in the Sonnenburg Hotel  Welcome ‘Senior Times Tour ’Meet & Greet’ including drink and snack  Excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle  Full day excursion to beautiful Garmisch & Linderhof Palace  Cable car ride to the top of the Zugspitze Glacier  Guided hike to Lake Seebensee with lunch at a mountain hut  Boat trip & stroll at Lake Heiterwang & Plansee  Z-Card for relax day  Tyrolean evening in the Sonnenburg  Full day excursion to Innsbruck with Guide  20kg bag allowance and all airport taxes FROM

€799PPS

Departure Date 30th July 2017

To book this holiday call Topflight on 01 240 1753 All holidays are subject to availability & are licenced by the Commission for Aviation Regulation under Licence Nos: TO 074 & TA 055

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 49

Activity

Cycling the River Weser Deirdre Davys found a week’s cycling along Germany’s rivers a great activity break, taking advantage of the network of cycle paths which criss-cross cities, towns and villages, fields and forests, following the great waterways as they head to the sea..

A good place to start your cycling trip is in the medieval town of Hann Muenden, situated at the confluence of three rivers, the Fulda, Werra and Weser.

Imagine a country where there are hun dreds of kilometres of cycle paths. Imagine pedalling along, far from any roads at all, past great fields of crops with not a cow in sight. See in your mind’s eye ancient trees - chestnut, oak, ash and lime. Sing to your heart’s content as you cycle along full of the joys of life. Keep pace with a huge river flowing past medieval monasteries and castles.

Late spring or early autumn would be the perfect time to cycle in Germany. May and June is asparagus season and every restaurant boasts endless dishes of this succulent vegetable.

These are not the miserable little green stalks which we import from the far side of the world.

These are fat, white and juicy, eaten with melted butter, baked with ham and crusty cheese, hidden inside pancakes. You think of it and the Germans will have invented it.

Fairy Tale cycle route When planning a cycle trip like this the goal does not have to be the number of kilometres cycled each day, otherwise you just miss out on the many and varied cultural activities, markets and fun things happening along the way. Sometimes these will be a few kilometres off your cycle path, but always well worth the detour. In and around the area of the river Weser there are other cycle routes which you can dip in and out of, like the 103-kilometer-long Fairy Tale route, which visits castles and villages associated with the stories of the Brothers Grimm. Remember The Sleeping Beauty, The Pied Piper of Hameln or another which visits the many medieval abbeys founded by the Benedictine monks.

This is Germany, that European country which so many Irish people associate with Christmas markets rather than real holidays.

When we’ve languished under grey skies for weeks on end the lure of sun, sea and sand can be irresistible, so we head south. However, a week’s cycling along Germany’s rivers is a great activity break, particularly as a whole network of cycle paths crisscross cities and villages, fields and forests and follows the great waterways as they head to the sea.

Autumn along the Rhine or Mosel valleys is grape harvest time. Could anything be more pleasant than biking along in autumn sunshine sampling the new wines, stopping in perfect little villages to check out the local farmers’ markets and fetching up at your accommodation slightly the worse for wear, but of no danger to yourself or anyone else.

Cicerone has produced a very useful series of guide books for the cyclist, giving information in great detail about distances, height gain, accommodation etc. Added to that the train system in Germany is excellent and punctual and not particularly expensive, so long as you avoid the Intercity trains (IC). This makes getting from an airport to the start of a cycle route very easy. Being able to take the bike into the carriage and keep an eye on it, tethered with its very own seat belt is an added bonus.

None of these river cycles is particularly taxing and cycling along by the river Weser is dead easy, as northern Germany is so flat. A good place to start is in the medieval town of Hann.

Muenden situated at the confluence of three rivers, the Fulda, Werra and Weser. Before setting off on your journey it would be fun to explore its six-hundred-year-old streets, with their half-timbered houses, Renaissance town hall and the old watch towers which formed part of the town’s defences in times gone by.

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Corvey a particularly beautiful abbey was founded over 700 years ago at the time of King Ludwig the Pious and still stands on the banks of the river Weser, just north of Hoxter.

Nowadays this wonderful old building is a centre of culture, offering the visitor the chance to explore a library with 75,000 books from all over the world, sample some of the many wines in their extensive wine cellar, enjoy concerts, exhibitions and talks and even stay a few days at their Activity Hotel.

Some people have an aversion to museums, but in the space of half an hour you can learn so much about an area and its history, which really enriches your travelling experience. All along the River Weser there are museums which you can dip into for a couple of Euros.

At Bad Karlshafen, between Hann. Muenden and Hoxter, the Huguenot Museum is well worth a visit. Housed in a lovely old building over two stories, it tells the story of the persecution and subsequent flight of the Huguenots from France into Germany and how they were received there.

Your Hillwalking Adventure Starts Here.

Zugspitze, Ehrwald





    SUPERIOR

Hillwalking Holidays in the Austrian Tirol

Courmayeur Hillwalking Holiday

Dolomites Deluxe Hiking Holiday

in Ehrwald, in the Austrian Tirol.

and Switzerland.

di Campiglio.

The beautiful resort of Ehrwald will be your home for this wonderful week of hillwalking in the Austrian Alps. Ehrwald, a charming Tyrolean village is surrounded by a landscape of beautifully sculpted mountains and picturesque alpine valleys. It has become a perfect destination for hillwalking, with an abundance of scenic trails at your disposal.Enjoy guided walks, led by our highly experienced guides.

Chic, sophisticated and boasting a superb ambience, the charming Alpine Italian resort of Courmayeur draws many avid hillwalkers to its verdant valleys and lush trails each year.

Nestled snugly at the foot of the majestic Mont Blanc at the end of the Aosta Valley, hillwalking aficionados of all levels can enjoy access to a vast stretch of hiking terrain.

Enjoy a deluxe hiking holiday in Madonna di Campiglio, a beautiful resort in the Dolomite Mountains.

Madonna di Campiglio is a truly beautiful destination for walkers, hikers and groups. Explore scenic mountain trails, spectacular landscapes and some of the most beautiful walking paths in the Dolomites.

You will be based in the luxurious 4 Star Superior Hotel Cristal Palace, a beautiful alpine-style hotel.

Experience unforgettable hillwalking tours

Your Ehrwald Hillwalking Holiday Includes  Return flights from Dublin  Return transfers to and from the airport  7 nights’ in the Hotel Sonnenburg with breakfast and dinner included  5 local guided walks through the Zugspitze Arena  Half day excursion to either Fussen or Neuschwanstein Castle on arrival or departure  A ‘Tyrolean Evening’ with live music  Expert Topflight tour manager 

20kgs baggage allowance & airport taxes

FROM ONLY

€689PPS



20kgs baggage allowance & airport taxes

3, 10, 17, 24 Sep

€689PPS €689PPS €689PPS

1 July

26 Aug

Your Deluxe Hillwalking Holiday Includes  Return flights from Dublin  Return transfers by luxury coach to and from resort  7 nights half board accommodation at the 4 star superior Hotel Cristal Palace  Use of hotel wellness and spa facilities  A FREE 6-Day Dolomeet Card / Lift Pass (worth up to €85)  5 local guided hikes, with 2 private guides for groups of up to 40 people 

20kgs baggage allowance & airport taxes

€849PPS

Available Dates

13 Aug

Enjoy a luxury hiking holiday in Madonna

FROM ONLY

€799PPS

4, 18, 25 Jun 16 Jul

€689PPS €689PPS

Your Hillwalking Holiday Includes  Return flights from Dublin to Geneva  Luxury coach transfers to/from Geneva  7 nights half board in the 4 star Hotel Mont Blanc in Courmayeur  3 local guided hikes  1 day hiking excursion with guide in the Swiss Alps (incl.coach transfer)  1 day hiking in Chamonix with guide (incl. coach transfer)  Half day excursion to Geneva on departure

FROM ONLY

Available Dates 21 May

Reach for the stars in Italy, France

Available Dates

2 Sep

9 Sep

16 Sep

€859PPS €859PPS €799PPS €799PPS €799PPS

10 Jun

17 Jun

24 Jun

€849PPS €849PPS €879PPS

2 Sep

9 Sep

€859PPS

€849PPS

21 May / 24 Sep Singles Week - No Single Supplement 28 May Painting Week with Grahame Booth 18 June / 13 Aug / 10 Sep Hiking Week 23 July / 06 Aug Ehrwald Family Adventure Week

Call Topflight on 01 240 1753 or visit topflight.ie All holidays are licenced by the Commission for Aviation Regulation under Licence Nos: TO 074 & TA 055

Preferred Travel Partner of

Activity How interesting it is to see the parallels with today’s refugees in that very same country. For the most part the Huguenots were welcomed and given a place to settle, but of course it depended upon who they were and how much they interfered with the existing inhabitants.

The newcomers were distributed to thinly populated areas even to the sites of long abandoned medieval villages. Poor farmers were given three to five hectares of land and grazing rights in the forest. Naturally there were the usual protestors who didn’t see why the foreigners should get special treatment.

As time passed many of the displaced Huguenots flourished and contributed widely to German society. Many of these refugees were highly skilled and hardworking and immediately set about restarting their lives in their original trades as stocking makers, hatters, glove makers and linen weavers, producing beautifully crafted products.

Being used to hills and small fields full of cows and sheep, the Irish cyclist will experience something completely different in northern Germany. For starters the landscapes are so much bigger. You’re cycling along, perhaps on a narrow path under sweet smelling limes or lilacs then around the next bend an enormously wide vista opens up. Huge fields of crops, swaying gently in the breeze stretch out into the distance, then start to climb a gentle hill to meet a deciduous forest. With thirty-two percent of its land covered in forest autumn must indeed be spectacular in Germany.

Then there are the church spires, copper green, tall and slender stretching skyward as each village appears and in the half-timbered houses, ancient oak beams inscribed with the words of scripture remind us constantly of the very old Christian heritage of this country.

Riding along between fields of rape and rye, corn and oats you round a bend and maybe there’s a big passenger steamer bowling along or perhaps a little motor boat rushing busily down river. Moored at a bridge under sighing poplars a tiny ferry could be waiting to take you across to that little café for a coffee and a slice of genuine German cheesecake. Duly fortified you pedal on and rounding another bend the town of Bodenwerder comes into view.

Beautiful Bodenwerder What a beautifully sited town. In late Spring the air is filled with the scent of roses and chestnuts and bird song fills the skies. Our hotel sits on the river bank with gardens stretching to the water’s edge. A spreading walnut tree surveys the scene as it must have done for hundreds of years. On the far side of the river, the deep dark forest forms a backdrop to the large detached houses, while in the foreground lush green grass is a reminder that just like at home there must be plenty of rain at times.

Apart from the richly decorated medieval houses, Bodenwerder’s great claim to fame is the so called ‘Baron’ von Muenchhausen a colourful character from the eighteenth century whose many statues can be seen around the town.

Apart from the richly decorated medieval houses, Bodenwerder’s great claim to fame is the so called ‘Baron’ von Muenchhausen a colourful character from the eighteenth century whose tall stories of his travels abroad entertained friends on dark winter nights.

Perhaps story telling runs in the blood at Bodenwerder for the curator at the town’s museum, which is housed in an old grain store, delights both young and old with his accounts of the exploits of the said ‘Baron’.

Outside around the town you come upon statues of the gentleman riding on a canon, sitting on a half horse and in various other poses - all great fun. The book which originally recounted the ‘Baron’s’ exploits became so famous it was translated into forty-seven languages and the museum houses over a thousand different copies.

When planning a cycling trip the more research you do beforehand the better. Flight dates and airports will of course determine how long the trip will be and whether you will fly into one airport and out of another. Unless you really are unfit I would suggest cycling between forty and fifty kilometres a day, including in those kilometres places of interest off the river path.

For a real sense of achievement, it would be fun to try and reach Cuxhaven where it enters the sea.

What about food and wine I hear you shouting. You’ve hardly mentioned it. Don’t worry German food is hearty and plentiful and Flammkuchen shouldn’t be missed. After a day on the bike a chilled Riesling or Grauburgunder sipped by the river, listening to the birds is pretty perfect.

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For further information, contact: German National Tourist Office, 60 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W OAH. Email: Jeanette.schuchmann@d-z-t.com www.germany.travel

Win a Columbia Trekking Outfit

We have one men’s and one women’s outfit from Columbia Sports to giveaway. Prize consists of a jacket, rain pants, fleece, shoes and T-shirt.

Visit our website for more details. www.greatoutdoors.ie

Lake Garda continues to attract Irish holidaymakers..

Italy has long been a favourite destination with Irish holidaymakers due to its diverse and picturesque landscapes, historic cities, magnificent art treasures and rich gastronomic culture.

With its Mediterranean climate, blue waters, attractive villas and gardens, and close proximity to the unique cities of Venice and Verona, it is no wonder Lake Garda is one of Travel Department’s most popular holiday destinations. Many people are unable to resist the draw of this gorgeous region and return time and again, sometimes several times a year.

Set against a stunning Alpine backdrop, Riva Del Garda, where Travel Department groups are based during their week-long stay, is a picturesque town on the northern tip of the lake. It is not just a holiday resort but also a prosperous Italian town, with medieval towers, Renaissance churches, palazzi and narrow cobblestone streets where everyday business proceeds in its alluring way. Riva is also the perfect location from which to explore some of Italy’s best loved cities. Verona is only a short 54 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

trip from Riva del Garda and no trip to this ancient city is complete without paying homage to the city’s most famous residents – Romeo & Juliet.

A second full day trip allows visitors to discover the artistic and architectural glory of Venice.

During the spring and summer months, Travel Department’s 7-night holidays to Lake Garda include a full day boat trip around the lake, with stops in the picturesque towns of Malcesine

and Limone, where visitors can sit back and soak up the culture, atmosphere and the sun.

All the while, Travel Department customers will have the expert knowledge and support of friendly local guides, who will enhance your holiday by providing helpful information, recommendations and useful tips.

For more details, call Travel Department on 01 637 1600 or visit www.traveldepartment.ie/italy

Spring Breaks in Spain Costa del Sol, Spain • 4* Hotel-apartments • Luxury seafront resort • Activities & entertainment • Perfect for relaxed breaks

April from

80€

*

*Per 1 bedroom exterior apartment/night

Ireland’s

favourite hotel on the Costa del Sol Fast Facts

• Seafront location, Benalmadena Costa • 20 Mins from Málaga airport (approx. 28€ taxi) • Comfortable apartment-style accommodation • All rooms have kitchenette & terrace • Walking distance to shops, bars, restaurants & Benalmadena Marina

Accommodation

The 4* hotel-apartments at Sunset Beach Club provide the perfect base for a comfortable stay on the Costa del Sol. This friendly Irish-owned hotel boasts a stunning seafront location in Benalmádena Costa, just 20 minutes from Málaga airport. The hotel’s friendly staff, exceptional facilities and services will help ensure you enjoy a memorable holiday.

Outstanding Facilities:-

• 24 hr Reception & Security • Leisure Desk • Panorama Bar • Oasis Restaurant & Terrace • Supermarket & Bakery • Free Activities & Entertainment • Outdoor Pools & Sunbathing Area • Guest Library • Gift Shop • Laundry & Self-Service Launderette • Medical Centre • Left Luggage Room • Hair & Beauty Salon • Free Wi-fi

Book online now:www.sunsetbeachclub.com A selection of room types to cater for every need!

Our apartment-style rooms and Junior Suites combine perfectly with luxury four star hotel facilities to provide our guests with the best of both worlds! All have: • Fully equipped kitchenette • Terrace with table & chairs • Free Wi-Fi • Bathroom with hairdryer • TV with International channels • Air conditioning / heating • Daily cleaning (except kitchen) • Daily change of towels • Change of linen twice / week

Sunset Beach Club Avda. del Sol, 5 Benalmádena-Costa 29630 Málaga (Spain) Tel +34 952 579 400 booking@sunsetbeachclub.com www.sunsetbeachclub.com

Attractions

Get out and about!

From caves to coal mines to prisons, gardens, museums, cemeteries, to a major new arts and literary centre, and much, more, are waiting for you to visit..

Arigna Mining Experience - for a day out with a difference The Arigna Mining Experience in Co. Roscommon will certainly appeal to those looking for a day out with a difference.

The visitor centre is located in a beautiful scenic location overlooking Lough Allen. Now a popular tourist spot, this visitor centre is a community inspired initiative that preserves the 400 year coal mining heritage of this area, and allows visitors an insight into coal mining life as it was in the Arigna Valley for centuries.

Arigna Mine

The unique story of the Flying Boats is told in told in this award winning Museum H Board the World’s only Boeing 314 Flying Boat replica H Learn how Irish Coffee was invented here in 1943 & taste the original recipe H New flight simulators and much more...

Aillwee Cave

With an ex-Miner as your tour-guide, the visit to the museum includes access to an exhibit area where there is a DVD presentation and a wonderful authentic photographic exhibition. The highlight of the visit is an underground tour with an ex-miner as your tour guide where the visitor is brought to the mine’s coal face and where lighting and sound effects add to the reality of the experience. The centre is fully accessible and is an all-weather facility .It is an ideal day out for the family with a gift shop and coffee shop on site.

Special offers for groups Entry to the Flying Boat Museum, Maritime Museum & Control Tower €8.00pp Include Irish Coffees with the above package for just €13.00pp Or homemade scones plus teas/ coffees for just €12.00pp

Aviation Museum Maritime Museum l Control Tower, Gift Shop & Irish Coffee Centre l Enjoy lunch or afternoon tea in O’Regan’s Restaurant l l

Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum Aras Ide, Foynes, Co Limerick T:069-65416 www.flyingboatmuseum.com info@flyingboatmuseum.com 56 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

The Arigna Mining Experience and its world class tour is close to the borders of Sligo, Leitrim and Mayo and located 12 miles from Carrick-on-Shannon. The centre is open 10-5pm daily all year. Visit www.arignaminingexperience.ie or phone 071-96-46466 for further details Aillwee Cave and Birds of Prey Centre For three generations Aillwee Cave and Bird of Prey Centre welcomes visitors to The Burren in County Clare. Our family gives your family a chance to explore its weirdly shaped underworld, enjoy unexpected freedom with majestic Birds of Prey and hone essential survival skills surrounded by hazel and ash trees for shelter.

Hear and feel the beat of a falcon’s wing as it swoops. Smell the earthy dampness of a long dried up river bed decorated with twinkling crystal-

SPIKE ISLAND, CORK HARBOUR

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ISLAND MONASTERY, FORTRESS, PRISON & HOME, DISCOVER 1300 YEARS OF HISTORY ...

REACHED BY FERRY FROM COBH - FULLY GUIDED TOURS AUDIOGUIDES - CAFE - ISLAND WALKS - MUSEUMS FORTRESS - PRISONS - PICNICS - KIDS ACTIVITIES Sailings: Depart Kennedy pier, Cobh. Open St Patricks weekend.

Weekends 8th April on & October.

7 days MayJune/July/August/September www.spikeislandcork.ie email: admin@spikeislandcork.ie

Attractions

line formations. Challenge yourself by testing your aim or learning how to make fire. Indulge in the tasty rewards of smoky cheese or sweet fudge.

This Summer to experience what a visitor called ‘a fantastic forever-remembered day’ booking on line will give you the best value for all of what Aillwee Cave and Bird Of Prey Centre has to offer.

Open daily from 10am. For more details check out www.aillweecave.ie Spike Island, a leading visitor attraction

2km n/w from Patrick’s Street and while the magnificent castle like building is now a major and unique visitor attraction, this Gaol once housed 19th century prisoners. Visitors get a fascinating insight into day to day prison life at a time when the high walls ensured no escape.

Stepping inside visitors are taken back in time to the 19th century. Wandering through the wings of the Gaol, the atmosphere suggests you are accompanied by the shuffling feet of inmates, each representing their particular period in Irish history from pre –famine times to the foundation of the state. The cells are furnished with amazingly life like wax figures; original graffiti on cell walls tell the innermost feelings of some inmates while a very spectacular audio visual tells the social history and contrasting lifestyles of the 19th century Cork and why some people turned to crime, and some ended up in Australia. This exhibition fascinates visitors of all ages and nationalities and the tour is available in up to 13 languages.

Belvedere House, a magnificent lakeside estate

Spike Island is a heritage island located off the coast of beautiful Cobh in Cork harbour. The island has 1300 years of rich history to tell, starting with the 6th century island monastery built by St Mochuda. In the 1800’s the 24 acre star shaped Fortress Spike was built and it still dominates the island today, and during the famine years that Fortress became the largest prison in the world, with over 2300 inmates packed into its buildings. The island would be used by the British army until 1938 when Eamonn De Valera accepted its handover from the British, and the Irish army and Navy would use the Fort until it became a prison again in 1985.

As well as its religious, penal and military history, the island has centuries of social life among its many uses, and we tell the stories of the Irish civilians who lived here.

Today the island is a leading visitor attraction and is reached by a short and scenic ferry ride across Cork harbour. Once on the Island Ireland’s best storytellers offer fully guided tours, and visitors can enjoy our museums, prison cells, military rooms, social history exhibitions and our cafe and island walks. We recommend 2 – 4 hours to fully enjoy this unique corner of Irelands Ancient East. www.spikeislandcork.ie, admin@ spikeislandcork.ie Fascinating insight into day to day prison life

The magnificent 160 acre Lakeside Estate of Belvedere House, Gardens & Park boasts a fully restored Georgian Villa, built in 1740 by the famous Architect Richard Castles for Robert Rochfort, later Lord Belvedere (‘The Wicked Earl’).

The estate has a fascinating Victorian Walled Garden, with one of Ireland’s finest collections of rare and special plants. The naturalistic designed 18th century parkland, punctuated with Romantic Follies includes the largest in Ireland; ‘The Jealous Wall’.

Within the welcoming Visitor Services Centre is a Licensed Restaurant and Gift Shop and there are also 4 outdoor children’s play areas & many picnic areas on the estate .

Whether you are part of a gardening group, historical society, active retirement association, family gathering or group of friends, a visit to Belvedere is a superb day with a difference.

Tel: 044-9349060 Fax 044-9349002. Email: info@belvedere-house.ie Web: www.belvedere-house.ie Facebook: www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Par Award-winning Foynes Flying Boat and Marine Museum

Cork is a city with a very rich historical and archaeological heritage much of it still in evidence today. Part of this heritage , Cork City Gaol is located 58 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

The award winning Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum is housed in the original flying boat terminal building & its many exhibits excitingly capture the role played by Foynes in the establishment of passenger travel across the Atlantic. The story is told by way of original film in a 1940s style cinema, showcases on the war years, airline & aircraft memorabilia, stories about famous pilots & uniforms from that era.

Visitors have a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience unrivalled

For more information and to book, visit www.SeamusHeaneyHome.com or call the Box Office on 048 7938 7444.

Planning a visit to Seamus Heaney HomePlace?

Book now quoting SHHP01 to enjoy your journey through the life and literature of one of Ireland’s greatest writers and receive 10% discount.

Our stunning interactive exhibition is packed with hundreds of personal stories, photographs and artefacts, and filled with the voice of the poet himself.

Discover the people who inspired him: his mother, his father, his brother Hugh, his neighbour at The Forge, Barney Devlin, his wife, Marie, his children, Michael, Christopher and Catherine, his grandchildren and even Carlo, the family dog!

Explore the places of his childhood and formative years - Anahorish, Moss Bawn, Broagh, Toomebridge, Lagan’s Road - and through words and images, share the emotion of poetry – from the joy of Blackberry Picking to the sorrow of Mid Term Break.

See and hear for yourself on our video walls and touch screens how Seamus Heaney is remembered by his family and friends, as well as by global and cultural figures.

Experience the reaction to the award of his Nobel Prize in 1995 in a specially created film which is screened in a tucked-away attic study – reminiscent of Seamus Heaney’s own Dublin study and complete with some of the personal items which surrounded him while he worked there.

And at the end of your journey, sit back and relax in our café with its locallyproduced food or browse through some of the bespoke range of gifts in our shop.

Step into Seamus Heaney HomePlace and be inspired!

Attractions

Glasnevin is truly both the guardian and storyteller for over 1.5 million people. Glasnevin’s mission strives to showcase the remarkable stories, from the ordinary to the extraordinary, of those laid to rest in the cemetery. Beautiful to stroll around or engage on a guided tour, there is an enviable collection of statues and headstones from the simplest to the magnificently ornate, including Daniel O’Connell’s crypt.

Glasnevin is proud of an array of new features and tours that have made it one of Dublin’s most popular attractions:

A Boeing 314 flying boat at the museum

luxury aboard the world’s only full-size Boeing B314 Flying Boat replica.

Walk in the footsteps of JFK, Bob Hope, Eleanor Roosevelt & many other dignitaries, movie stars & refugees who landed at Foynes during World War II.

• 1st Prize winner Best Cultural Experience in Ireland at the Irish Tourism Industry Awards • Winner Certificate of Excellence TripAdvisor 2016 and listed at #2 on the list of ‘best things to do in Dublin’, highlighting Glasnevin as a cemetery of historic importance.

• New ‘Dead Interesting’ tour featuring the quirky tales of some of Dublin’s best loved personalities • Patrick Pearse Re-enactment daily Seamus Heaney HomePlace

Foynes and the flying boats will forever be connected with the invention of Irish Coffee and the story is told through a 3D Holographic Show and Irish coffee making demonstrations. Take in majestic views of Foynes and its surroundings from the top of the Control Tower and explore the maritime history of the River Shannon.

Enjoy home baked cuisine and taste an original Irish coffee in O ‘Regan’s Restaurant, set in beautiful 1940s decor. Foes is nestled along the banks of the Estuary, a recommended Wild Atlantic Way Discovery Point (N69Route). www.flyingboatmuseum.com Glasnevin, one of Dublin’s most popular attractions Seamus Heaney HomePlace is a major new arts and literary centre dedicated to the legacy of one of Ireland’s literary greats, the Noble Prize winner, Seamus Heaney. Only 45 minutes from Belfast and Derry, and two and a half hours from Dublin, the centre features a stunning interactive exhibition, packed with hundreds of personal stories, photographs and artefacts, and filled with the voice of the poet himself.

A hauntingly gorgeous Victorian garden cemetery, Glasnevin’s tour guides are passionate about sharing their love of heritage and history, telling the stories of Ireland’s complex and fascinating past through daily walking tours.

Located just 2.5km from Dublin’s city centre, Glasnevin Cemetery covers 124 acres of glorious parkland with plenty to appreciate – perfect for those interested in exploring the legacies of Ireland’s heroes.

The natural beauty of the grounds merges with a who’s who of Irish history through which knowledgeable and entertaining guides take visitors on a memorable journey turning a learning experience into a period of magic with a careful balance of passion, sensitivity and even fun.

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You can visit the library, now home to hundreds of books from Seamus Heaney’s own collection, donated by his family and stop at our café to refresh before heading on to the next place on your itinerary. You can also check out the events programme to make a long weekend out of your visit, and enjoy theatre, music, song, poetry, readings, talks and workshops from artists such as Phil Coulter, Sinead Gleeson, Fintan O’Toole, Liam Ó’Maonlaí, Glen Hansard, the Ulster Orchestra and Stephen Rea all having performed in The Helicon (the purpose built, intimate theatre space designed to reflect the work of Seamus Heaney), since its opening in September 2016.

For details of the current programme of events, and to find out more about group discounts, visit www.seamusheaneyhome.com or telephone 048 7938 7444.

White Star building major attraction of Titanic Experience in Cobh Did you know that the picturesque harbour town of Cobh in Co. Cork was the last port of call for Titanic? Indeed Cobh, then known as Queenstown, was a busy transatlantic port with frequent sailings between Queenstown and North America served by the shipping greats of the time the Cunard Line and White Star Line. It is estimated that over

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Attractions

2.5 million Irish emigrants departed from Cobh/ Queenstown on the world’s greatest passenger liners.

Indeed it was with great excitement that Titanic was greeted on her arrival into Cork Harbour on the morning of April 11th 1912. Hailed as the world’s most luxurious liner 123 passengers were waiting to join her maiden voyage. Once all passengers were on board, she lifted her anchor and set her course across the Atlantic Ocean.

Titanic was owned and operated by The White Star Line shipping company who held their offices in a landmark building in the centre of the town. Over a century later this historic building has changed little and is now home to Titanic Experience Cobh.

Today, retracing the footsteps of those passengers, Titanic Experience offers guided tours, taking visitors on a virtual and immersive journey to discover the tragedies and triumphs behind the stories of Titanic’s Queenstown passengers.

Restored railway station centrepiece of Cobh Heritage Centre

Learn about Irish Emigration story, trace your ancestors, hear about the ill-fated Titanic and the Lusitania, and immerse yourself in Irish naval and military history at Cobh Heritage Centre.

This beautiful, informative and sometimes emotive cultural Centre is situated within Cobh’s beautifully restored Victorian railway station, a building with its own historic story. Cobh: The Queenstown Story.

62 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Belvedere House, Gardens & Park

Belvedere House, Gardens & Park

Come visit Woodstock Gardens this summer

Contact: Contact: Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar, Co. West- House Gardens Belvedere meath. meath.

Tel: 044-9349060 Tel: 044-9349060 info@belvedere-house.ie info@belvedere-house.ie www.belvedere-house.ie www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park www.belvedere-house.ie

& Park, Mullingar, Co. West-

• Beautiful, recently restored Victorian gardens • Located overlooking the River www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park Nore in picturesque Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny Location: 5km south of Mullingar on N52 • Walk through our arboretum 1hour from Dublin, M4/N4 Exit 15 Location: which is home to a collection 5km south of Mullingar on N52 Sat Nav: Latitude/Longitude of rare and exotic trees 1hour from Dublin, M4/N4 Exit 15 53.4761, - 7.3552 • Visit the walled garden where Opening Times fruits and vegetables are once 7days a week all year round from 9.30am Sat Nav: Latitude/Longitude again grown in abundance Seasonal closing times apply 53.4761, - 7.3552 • Take time out for tea in a Admission Rates Opening Times Adult €8. Student/Senior €6. Child €4. beautiful conservatory This magnificent 160 acre Lakeside estate boasts a fully restored Georgian Villa built in 1740 by Family Ticket (2 adults + 2 children) €23. 7days a week all year round from 9.30am the famous Architect Richard Castles for Robert Rochfort – later Lord Belvedere. overlooking the flower Contact: Each additional child €3.

Seasonal closing times apply gardens Belvedere HouseFine Gardens & Park, Mullingar, Co. WestThe estate has a fascinating Victorian Walled Garden, with one of Ireland's finest collections of Catoca Food and Giftware th rare and special plants. The naturalistic designed 18 century parkland, punctuated with meath.

Great food, great service, great location. Catering for all Admission Rates • Open all year round, Romantic Follies includes the largest in Ireland; “The Jealous Wall”. your special occasions and corporate events.

Tel: 044-9349060 Adult €8. Student/Senior €6. Child €4. daylight hours www.catocafinefood.com ThisVisitor magnificent 160 acre Lakeside estateand boasts a fully restored Georgian Villa built in 1740 by Within the welcoming Services Centre is a Licensed Restaurant Gift Shop and there info@belvedere-house.ie Family Ticket (2 adults + 2 children) €23. are also 4 outdoorthe children’s play areas & many picnic areas on the for estate.

• Facilities:- Tea Rooms, Car famous Architect Richard Castles Robert Rochfort – later Lord Belvedere. www.belvedere-house.ie Each additional child €3.

Parking Free car parking available on site Parking, Toilets, Children’s www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park Whether you are part of a gardening group, historical society, school tour, active retirement estate has of a friends, fascinating Victorian Garden, Catoca Fine Food and Giftware association, familyThe gathering or group a visit to BelvedereWalled is a superb day out with with aone of Ireland's finest collections of Playground, Mobility buggy rare and special plants. The naturalistic designed 18th century parkland, punctuated with difference.

Great food, great service, great location. Catering for all Romantic Follies includes the largest in Ireland; “The Jealous Wall”. available for less able bodied persons, please phone ahead if you wish to your special occasions and corporate events. avail of this service (free of charge) www.catocafinefood.com Location: Within the welcoming Visitor Services Centre is a Licensed Restaurant and Gift Shop and there 5km south Mullingar on N52 • Guided tours available by appointment are also 4 outdoor children’s play areas & many picnic areas on theofestate.

Parking • Admission fee - €4 per car includes admission for all car occupants to 1hour from Dublin, M4/N4 Exit 15 Free car parking available on site Whether you are part of a gardening group, historical society, school tour, active retirement the gardens Contact: association, family gathering or group of friends, a visit Belvedere is a superb day out with a SattoNav: Latitude/Longitude • Buses and coaches strictly by prior booking. difference.

Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar, Co. West53.4761, - 7.3552 Contact: meath.

• Price available upon request.

Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar, Co. West-

vedere House, Gardens & Park A Fascinating Estate to Visit

A Fascinating Estate to Visit

Gardens & Park Gardens & Park e,rkGardens & Park Gardens & Park Gardens & Park

Contact: Tel: 044-9349060 Contact: Opening Times meath.

Belvedere House & Gardens & Park, Mullingar, Co. Westinfo@belvedere-house.ie Belvedere House Gardens Park, Mullingar, Co. West-7days Contact: John Delaney - Head gardener at Woodstock on 087 8549785 a week all year round from 9.30am Tel: 044-9349060 Contact: meath. www.belvedere-house.ie ark, Mullingar, info@belvedere-house.ie Co. Westmeath.

Belvedere House Gardens & Park, Mullingar, Co. West-Seasonal closing times apply Claire Goodwin in Kilkenny County Council Parks Department on Tel: 044-9349060 www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park Tel: 044-9349060 www.belvedere-house.ie meath. info@belvedere-house.ie info@belvedere-house.ie 056 7794373 or email woodstock@kilkennycoco.ie Admission Rates www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park Tel: 044-9349060 www.belvedere-house.ie www.belvedere-house.ie Adult €8. Student/Senior €6. Child €4. info@belvedere-house.ie Kilkenny County Council, Parks Section, John Street, Kilkenny. www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park akeside estate boasts a fully restored Georgian Villa built in 1740 by www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park Family Ticket (2 adults + 2 children) €23. www.belvedere-house.ie Location: T + 353 56 7794373 F + 353 56 7794069 d Castles for Robert Rochfort – later Lord Belvedere.

House-Gardens-Park Each additional child €3. www.facebook.com/Belvedere-House-Gardens-Park 5km south of Mullingar on N52 Location: IMC Senior Times adApr 2016.qxp_Layout 1 21/04/2016 09:17 Page 1 ng Victorian Walled Garden, with oneM4/N4 of Ireland's finest collections of 1hour from Dublin, Exit 15 Catoca Fine Food and Giftware 5km south of Mullingar on N52 The naturalisticLocation: designedLocation: 18th century parkland, punctuated with Great food, great service, great location. Catering for all 1hour from Dublin, M4/N4 Exit 15 e largest in Ireland; “The Jealous Wall”.

5km south of Mullingar on N52 5km south of Mullingar on N52 your special occasions and corporate events.

Sat Nav: Latitude/Longitude Location: from Dublin, M4/N4 1hour from Dublin, M4/N4 15 Exit 15 www.catocafinefood.com 53.4761, -1hour 7.3552 5km of Mullingar on Exit N52 r Services Centre is Nav: asouth Licensed Restaurant and Gift Shop and there Sat Latitude/Longitude 15 1hour from Dublin, M4/N4 Exit 15 play areas & many picnic on the estate.

53.4761, -areas 7.3552 Parking Nav: Latitude/Longitude Opening Times Sat Nav: Sat Latitude/Longitude Free car parking available on site - 7.3552 7days a week all year roundtour, from active 9.30am 53.4761, -53.4761, 7.3552 gardening group, historical society, school retirement Opening Times Sat Nav: Latitude/Longitude g or group of friends, aavisit to all Belvedere is a from superb day out with a Seasonal timesround apply 7days week year 9.30am 53.4761, -closing 7.3552 Times Opening Opening Times Seasonal closing times apply COIMISIÚN LÁMHSCRÍBHINNÍ na hÉIREANN 7days weekround all year round from 9.30am Admission Rates 7days a week allayear from 9.30am Opening Times Seasonal closing Adult €8.

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IRISH MANUSCRIPTS COMMISSION

in private archives.

You can also read and search our outof-print books in the Digital Editions section of our website

See our catalogue and buy our books online at

www.irishmanuscripts.ie

or

Travel

Universidad Laboral de Gijón

Asturias, the ‘Ireland’ of Spain On the drive from Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport (the famous golfer was a local) many remarked on how much this green and pleasant Spain had a likeness to Ireland, not the parched and sunny Spain that thousands expect, know and love. It may remind you of Ireland, but make no mistake, this is truly Spanish, and however unlike the rest of Spain it may be, here you will find something new to love about this country. This northern coast, called the Costa Verde (the Green Coast), is watered regularly by Atlantic rains. The climate however, is still sunnier and warmer than Ireland. We were visiting Asturias, wedged between Galicia to the west, Cantabria to the east, the cantankerous Bay of Biscay to the north and the snow capped Picos de Europa Mountains to the south.

64 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

That mountain range almost always features as the backdrop for the entire coast and has been an influence on the region throughout history. The Romans and others arrived but just about - none found these mountainous territory easy to cross. A local told me ‘Asturias is Spain,’ the rest he said ‘was conquered’ He was referring to the Moors who overran Spain in the 8th century but this northern coast never really became part of Islamic Spain. It became a refuge for Christians nobles and eventually harbored the emerging impetus for the Reconquista (Reconquest from the Moors). The Celts arrived much earlier during the Bronze age but they had the good sense to arrive from the Atlantic side and many Celtic cultural influences exist to this day.

Complaints make public services better says Ombudsman Tyndall Ombudsman Peter Tyndall wants to see more people complain about services provided by public bodies such as government departments, local authorities and the HSE. The Ombudsman says that complaints can be used to improve the delivery of public services.

“In most cases the delivery of public services goes well. However, if people don’t complain when things go wrong then people will experience the same problems over and over again. When people complain it gives service providers an opportunity to put things right and to stop the same mistakes happening again.”

If you are unhappy with the response you receive from your complaint then you can contact the Ombudsman.

• The Health Service Executive (HSE) • Public hospitals and health agencies providing services on behalf of the HSE • Nursing Homes (including private nursing homes)

• Government Departments and Offices

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall • By E mail: ombudsman@ombudsman.ie

• Local Authorities • Online: www.ombudsman.ie • Third-level education bodies, such as Universities and Institutes of Technology The Ombudsman is impartial, independent and free to use. The Ombudsman cannot take complaints about private bodies such as banks, insurance companies, private pension schemes, An Garda Síochána, An Post, the Labour Court, Bord Gáis or the ESB.

What does the Ombudsman do?

The Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who feel they have been unfairly treated by certain providers of public services such as:

In addition you must have tried to resolve your complaint with the service provider before contacting the Ombudsman.

How do I make a complaint?

You can complain to the Ombudsman:

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Main St, Ballybofey, Co Donegal • +353-(0)74-913 2266 www.villarose.net • info@villarose.net

• In writing/in person: Office of the Ombudsman, 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2 • By telephone: 01 639 5600

• By talking to Ombudsman staff at our monthly visits to Citizen Information Centres in Cork, Limerick and Galway (see www.ombudsman.ie for dates and times).

Escanciar: pouring cider from on high in a sideria

Pancar: St.Patrick’s chapel

While there is always a plentiful supply to good Spanish wine, it doesn’t come from here, for like Ireland the climate is not suited to growing grapes. But it sure is suited to growing apples, over 200 varieties and they make sierra (cider) and lots of it. At a sideria (cider bar) in the tiny village of Pancar near the the city of Llanes we discovered how they pour it and drink it - in a marvelous and fun way.

When I was a young and novice Irish drinker, it was so engrained in me that - the glass should be filled to the brim, a small head was allowed, never spill any, and no matter how bloated you might feel, you must finish the drink, never leave any in the glass. So when they say, Asturias is ‘so like Ireland’, it’s not when it comes to drinking.

Their method of serving cider is called escanciar. Essentially it is a way of aerating the cider by pouring it from a bottle held high over the head into a tilted wide-mouthed glass held as low as possible. The pourer looks at neither glass nor bottle but straight ahead, poker faced. There are splashes, a few misses and always a wet floor. Only a small amount of the now aerated cider reaches the glass, maybe an inch or two.

Traditionally it must be drank immediately, fired back shot-style, it should never be allowed to stand and so, what remains is simply chucked on the floor. Someone explained that it was one of those Celtic traditions based on the belief that what we receive from the earth should return to the earth. The posher siderias and restaurants will have a bucket. It’s great fun and if they let you, try a pour. Some of mine actually reached the glass.

Within staggering distance of our Pancar sideria there is a chapel dedicated to St.Patrick and every March it is lit up in green. Uphill from the chapel there is a ‘holy cave’, of course, a legend and it is said to be place of meditation and inspiration for the saint. It seems that one Gaspar de la Vega left Asturias, made a fortune in New York, returned in 1922 and built the chapel in honour of Saint Patrick.

66 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

In Llanes the Santa Maria Basilica is also green-lit for St. Patrick’s Day. Llanes (pronounced to my ear as ‘yan-nais’), is a traditional working fishing port surrounded on all sides by some really spectacular coastal scenery, enjoyable cliff walks, 32 white sand beaches, one nudist, all set against the Sierra del Cuera mountains - capped with snow when we visited. Llanes is a port town with a history. Many sailed from here to the Americas and some returned with fortunes, some never returned, lost to colonial wars and conflict history. There is a plaque here to commemorates the men and their three ships, the Santa Ana, the San Nicolas and the Santelmo, that sailed from here to join the ill fated Spanish Armada in 1588. In more recent times, from September 6 to 22 in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War,the mountain regions here were embroiled in fierce fighting that became known as the Battle of El Mazuco when 5,000 Republicans held off 33,000 Nationalists and the German backed Spanish

Golf Clinic April 12th and 13th, Glasson, Ireland

2 Day All Inclusive clinic with Tadgh Harrington and Rebecca Codd (20 pers.) u 2 nights in 4* Hotel Glasson Hotel & Golf Club in Standard Room with full board u Transfers in and out Dublin Airport

Day1 08:00

Introduction & warm up at the range

09:00

Short game clinic w. chipping, putting & bunker play

10:30

Tea Break

11:00

Common swing faults plus individual analysis

12:15

Lunch

13:30

Golf w. Rebecca and Tadhg playing a number of holes with each fourball (12 holes)

16:00

Leisure time to enjoy hotel facilities

19:00

Dinner and prize giving

Day 2 08:00

Review of Day 1 and analysis of any problems at range

09:00

Driving clinic hosted by European Tour Pro, Rebecca

10:30

Tea Break

11:00

Short game Masterclass hosted by Tadhg w. tour secrets

12:15

Lunch

13:30

Golf to include Rebecca instructing from the tee and Tadhg instructing around the greens

16:00

Free time to enjoy hotel facilities

19:00

Dinner and prize giving

Contact www.glassonhotel.ie info@businesslanguages.de

Travel

Oviedo: Cathedral of San Salvador,in front which standing in the square is a statue, strangely representing hypocrisy and vulgarity. It’s of a lady and it is named ‘La Regenta’ after the novel of that name by the Spanish author Clarín. airforce in an epic fight of resistance.

Oviedo the capital city is compact and exudes a mix of history, sculpture and cheese. A walk around the centre will take in the Pre-Romanesque shrine of San Julián de los Prados and the Cathedral of San Salvador,in front which standing in the square is a statue, strangely representing hypocrisy and vulgarity. It’s of a lady and it is named ‘La Regenta’ after the novel of that name by the Spanish author Clarín.

I was surprised to see Woody Alan stride down the Calle de las Milicias Nacionales. Woody, it appears, developed a particular affection for Oviedo when filming ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ here in 2008. The city returned the affection with a life-size statue. The city has a ever multiplying collection of statues, almost as many as there are cheeses. I have never seen such a quantity, and quality too. Try Afuega’l Pitu, Cabrales, Gamoneu and Los Beyos, these are probably the best Just less than 2 miles from Oviedo is the pre Romanesque Santa María del Naranco Church (awarded a World Heritage designation by the UNESCO). It was built on the slope of Mount Naranco in the 9th century as the palace for King Ramiro I. It appears to have many functions, a royal residence, a recreational palace, but also a church. It may also have had a military role in a turbulent time when Christian Asturias faced attacks from both Vikings and Moors. For us it affords magnificent views across Oviedo.

Gijón ((pronounced ‘hee-hon’) is Asturia’s largest and most industrialised city. We visited the enormous Universidad Laboral de Gijón 68 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Oviedo: Woody Alan strides down the Calle de las Milicias Nacionales

a massive spread of architecture built during the times of Franco’s dictatorship and considered to be the biggest building in Spain. Now it is part of the University of Oviedo and schools of drama and music. Climb up nearly 200 ft to the clock tower for for a sweeping view of Gijón. or use the lift as I did. There is also the Atlantic Botanic Gardens, a Roman Museum and Baths, a cliff top parkland called Bateria alta de Santa Catalina, and if you like fish there are over 4,000 of them at the large Aquarium on Poniente Beach.

On the way back along the coast to the airport we stopped at the lovely red roofed fishing village of Lastres. Take some time to climb up the steps from the harbour to a one of the best panoramic views on this coast. We stopped foe a while at Ribadesella, once the favourite summer haunt of a young journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, long before she met and married Prince Felipe. She is now Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. A walking town, a long waterside, a fishing harbour and two main shopping streets, the Gran Vía de Agustin Argüelles, and CalleComercio. There is a vibrant Casco Antiguo (Old Town), with shops, bars restaurants and Ribadesella’s church, The Iglesia Parroquial de Santa María Magdalena (Parish Church of St.Mary Magdalene) well worth a visit because it is post Spanish Civil War and displays new and modern murals with a distinctly new religious interpretation on conflict and war.

In order to avoid airline food we decided to have lunch sitting outside the Sideria La Marina, overlooking wide estuary of the Sella River, eating tapas and just one last long pour from a bottle of cider, held high.

Sideria La Marina, Plaza Sta. Ana, 19, 33560 Ribadesella

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Travel

Llanes: on the cliff walk - spouts of water flying into the sky from the ground

Getting There Ryanair fly direct Dublin - Santander (about 2 hours from Oviedo by road or rail) Aer Lingus fly direct Dublin - Bilbao. www.aerlingus.ie (Bilbao to Oviedo takes about 3 hours by road) Where to stay Hotel Hacienda Don Juan is set on an apple farm dating to the late 19th century,10 minutes walk to Playa del Sablón beach and 5 km from the golf links: Club de Golf La Cuesta de Llanes.

Hotel Hacienda Don Juan, Calle Concepción, 5, 33500 Llanes www.haciendadedonjuan.com/ Hotel Abba Playa Where to eat There are eight Michelin starred restaurants in Asturias and we sampled two, my favourite was La Salgar, managed by Chef Esther Manzano, at Muséu del Pueblu d´Asturies, Paseo Dr. Fleming, 33203 Gijón, (www.lasalgar.es/) and Auga, at Marina of Gijón, (http://restauranteauga.com/en/). but we also got excellent food at these restaurants: Restaurant-Cider Bar La Finca, Calle Gascona 4, 33001, Oviedo, www.sidrerialafinca.es Sideria La Marina, Plaza Sta. Ana, 19, 33560 Ribadesella Aquarium??

Further information Spanish Tourist Office Ireland at www.spain.info/en_IE/ Tel.:+353 016350200 Asturias website: www.infoasturias.com www.turismoasturias.e 70 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Pancar: St.Patrick’s cave

“I’m Calling You about a Virus on Your Computer” Have you received a call out of the blue from a person warning you about an issue with your computer that you were unaware existed until you received the call?

The caller then urges you to act now to fix the issue; otherwise you’re at major risk.

This is a scam, don’t be deceived!

How does the computer virus scam typically work?

•

You receive an unexpected call from an unknown person. The caller warns you that your computer has a virus.

•

The caller then claims that they are from a technical support area that identified the issue with your computer.

•

The caller then offers to fix the problem now for you.

•

The caller gives you directions on where to look on your computer, and in some instances asks you to download a piece of software.

•

The software downloaded could be a spyware that gives the caller remote access to your computer, including records and passwords.

Never act on an unexpected call from an unknown person who claims you have computer virus issues.

•

•

The caller helpfully shows you where the alleged virus is on your computer.

Never give your banking or credit card information to unknown individuals or businesses.

•

•

The caller then offers to sell you a six or twelve month computer service contract that he claims is meant to help protect you and your computer.

Never download software suggested by unknown callers.

•

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If you agree, the caller requests your credit card details or asks you to pay by electronic money transfer.

Do your research. Check out the company that contacted you with trusted Government sources, such as Law Enforcement or Consumer Affairs – visit http://www.consumerhelp.ie/

•

Never send money to someone you have never met in person.

•

What you don’t realise is that there was no virus in the first place. However, the scammers may have uploaded spyware onto your computer and may now be processing transactions on your credit card.

You work hard for your money; never let a few minutes with a scammer take from you what has taken years or a lifetime to earn. Learn more on how to help protect yourself from fraud by visiting: https://www.westernunion.com/ie/en/fraudawareness.html

Tips to avoid falling victim to the computer virus scam:

Gavin Peniston-Bird, Regional Fraud Risk Manager at Western Union advises: “Awareness is the best defence against scams. These scams can be convincing, but it’s important to check with your local law enforcement or government department like the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Ireland”.

To learn more about common scams, watch our helpful videos and gain some useful tips, visit our website at: https://www.westernunion.com/ie/en/fraudawareness.html.

© 2016 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Rev. 02/10/2016

Cosmetics and Grooming

Turning back the years Mairead Robinson recommends some tips and tricks for an anti-ageing seasonal uplift.

Springtime is the season of hope and rebirth, and most of us welcome it enthusiastically after the dark days of winter have passed. Sometimes however, for those of us who can’t wait to get out and about like the spring chickens we think we are, our enthusiasm can lead to joint pain if we are not careful.

That is true for gardeners, golfers, walkers and hill climbers – to name just a few! It can be difficult to find the right product to help as the market for health and anti-aging supplements is growing at a phenomenal rate.

A new Magnesium Gel developed in Clogherhead, Co. Louth is an exciting new product that is proving very effective in providing rapid relief for joint and muscle discomfort. Oriel Magnesium Gel is a powerful sea mineral extract that you apply directly to the affected area and gently massage in. What we like about this product is that while Magnesium deficien-

cy has a very negative effect on our overall health; rather than taking another supplement, this gel is applied directly to where it is needed, is rapidly absorbed and we found results virtually instantaneous. You can purchase Oriel Magnesium Gel on line at www.magnesiumstore.com and it costs €24.99 Oriel Revive drops, a food supplement, are also available to further boost your magnesium intake and they help conditions such as migrane, PMS, fibro myalgia and skin and hair health.

Chemical peeling Now we all know that exfoliating is good for getting rid of tired skin and helping to expose a fresh, more youthful glow. Chemical peeling takes this process further, but many of us shy away from the more extreme processes, especially if we have sensitive skin. Popular brand Vichy has just launched a great new product – Idealia Peeling. The way it works is as an overnight liquid peel which has been formulated to suit even the most sensitive skin.

72 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

This new radiance activating night peeling care combines 4 per cent glycolic acid with 5 per cent hepes to create a gentle peeling action for long-term radiance and improved skin quality day-by-day. Its unique water-light formula visibly tightens pores, improves skin texture and smoothes fine lines. Skin is left feeling softer and looking brighter. This avoids the redness and heightened sensitivity that is often the result of using harsher chemical peels, yet it also gives the desired results. It is easy to apply with a cotton pad, under your usual night cream. By avoiding sun exposure, you are also avoiding the potential damage that sometimes follows.

Do make sure you use an SPF the following morning – most good moisturisers will include a 15 per cent SPF .

Now that your joints and skin are healthy and in great condition, it is important to maintain a good cleansing regime to ensure that your anti-aging strategy is kept going.

Pollution in the air can cause an increase in skin sensitivity. Pollution particles can be up to 20 times smaller than pores, which can lead to visible irritations, dehydration, a weakened skin barrier and redness – decreasing the skin’s ability to protect itself.

Darphin has introduced a pollution detox for sensitive skin with their new Intral Air Mousse cleanser and the Intral Environmental Lightweight Shield SPF 50.

Formulated with gentle botanicals, the Intral Air Mousse Cleanser transforms from a liquid to an air mousse, delicately lifting away impurities and pollution. It has a creamy and rich texture, is entirely propellant-free with a precise mixture of liquid and air. Skin feels smooth and noticeably softer. I love this ‘dynamic duo’ when it comes to gentle yet deeply effective cleansing, and protecting against pollution and damage for sensitive skin.

Sensitive skin Many people are increasingly finding that their skin is sensitive to certain products and treatments, and for many of us finding a solution to sensitive skin can be difficult.

While over-the-counter products are getting better at giving information on their ingredients, people can still find that their skin reacts badly to many cleansers, moisturisers, shampoos and shower gels. Bioderma is a leading French dermo-cosmetic new to Ireland and has just announced the launch of two new products from its Atoderm range. Atoderm shower oil and Atoderm Hands & Nails are developed specifically to treat normal to dry sensitive skin and very dry, irritated to atopic skin which can affect people of all ages, from infancy to old age. Atoderm Nourishing Cream which is designed for very dry skin, has also proved very effective in calming itching skin and it purifies the skin and restores comfort to dry and irritated skin.

When selecting an anti-ageing cream, it is worth checking the ingredients and you should look out for Creatine, Hyaluronic Acid, Magnolia bark extract and nature’s own Q10, which decreases in our skin as we age. Nivea has been a popular skin care brand in Ireland for years, and by continuing to research and innovate in the world of anti-aging, and in 1998 produced their affordable age-proofing Q10 range. I am a great fan of their Q10 Plus Night Cream which has a lovely rich nourishing texture, and also the Q10 Plus Energising Day Cream which really refreshes your skin in the morning. Check out also the Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream, and the brightening Q10 Serum Pearls. All these products are widely available and very affordable.

So Spring has sprung, and with such wonderful products available to keep our youthful glow, there is no reason why we cannot get out and enjoy it to the full.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 73

Get a taste of local life awaken your senses

From lakes and laid-back retreats to city breaks, and active holidays, Crystal Summer offers every type of holiday imaginable with a guarantee of fabulous food and amazing architecture.

Crystal Summer’s 2017 programme features over 60 resorts in Europe’s lakes and mountains regions across Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Whether you crave lakes and lazy days or mountains and city breaks, Crystal Summer have the perfect Italian destination for you. Discover the crystal clear waters of Lake Garda, Lake Como or Lake Maggiore and combine with the historical and cultural sights of Verona and Venice. Don’t forget to head up into the UNESCO-protected Dolomite Mountains for some unforgettable sights.

Austria is all about the scenery and is the ideal destination for those who enjoy being in the great outdoors with activities ranging from short walks and hikes up the mountain terrain to relaxing by the lakes. Each area of Austria has its unique sights and cultural history for all holidaymakers to explore and enjoy.

Enjoy a leisurely pace in Switzerland and its train network with seemingly endless opportunities for exploration. Vast mountains, tranquil lakes and cities that burst with heritage are there to discover - all made easily accessible by a Swiss transport system that you could set your watch to. With departure dates now available any day of the week, Swiss holidays give you the freedom to see what you want to

see, when you want to see it.

Enjoy a land of lakes, castles and cities, with an irresistible blend of folk culture and staggering scenery in Slovenia. Relax on the sand and shingle beaches of the Adriatic coast in the south or travel to the rugged peaks of the Julian Alps in the north. Explore over 8,000 subterranean caves and more than 7,000km of marked mountain trails. Slovenia also produces some wonderful wines which aren’t available on the Irish market so make sure to bring some home from your holiday.

Germany’s alpine region is a little known gem of majestic mountains, gently rolling hills, crystal clear lakes and softly flowing streams. Famous for their hospitality, brass bands and breweries, the Bavarians welcome their visitors with open arms. There is fabulous mountain walking, mountain biking, gentle riverside cycling and fishing. Alternatively you can just relax by a lake or sit outside at a café or mountain restaurant, watch the world go by and enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery in Germany.

Crystal Summer have combined the best hotels and excursions to give you the easiest way to discover more of your chosen destination. The fantastic range of Discovery Packages combines the best handpicked excursions with your Crystal holiday. Choose from a variety of hotels as your base and enjoy an array of excursions, with flights and transfers included. Choose from a great range of Discovery packages in Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. Book by 1st May 2017 for summer 2017.

74 Senior Times March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

For more information visit www.crystalsummer.ie/ or call 01 433 1080 Slovenia: Fly from Dublin to Salzburg on the 31 May. Stay for 7 Nights in the 4* hotel Milka on a half board basis from just €635pp.

Austria: Fly from Dublin to Salzburg on the 14 June.

Stay for 7 Nights in the 3* Gasthof Mauth on a half board basis from just €719pp.

Italy, Lake Garda: Fly from Dublin to Verona on the 03 June.

Stay for 7 Nights in the 3* Hotel La Perla on a half board basis from just €869pp.

Prices based on 2 sharing

The changing face of retirement Today’s retirement is very different from that of previous generations.

Gone are the days when retirement was considered as “the beginning of the end”. On average, todays retirees culd spend 25 years plus in retirement and this offers the opportunity to find a challenging, rewarding and satisfying future.

The Retirement Planning Council has a panel of expert speakers who cover a wide range of issues over the two days all aimed at helping individuals manage their transition into a new phase of life. Full details of our Courses may be found on our website www.rpc.ie

Yet many people spend more time planning their two week annual holiday than their 25 plus years in retirement!

In research carried out by the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland, most course attendees prior to coming on one of our courses focussed on financial wellbeing in retirement as the priority. And whilst this is obviously important, too often what is overlooked (and is every bit as important) is managing the psychological transition from fulltime work to (perhaps) fulltime retirement.

Initially, freedom from the 5 day a week alarm clock, the commuting, the stresses of work and long meetings are usually very welcomed.

However, we need to remember that most human beings are creatures of habit. Just as the garden will not bloom without regular care and attention, neither will your retirement without some planning and pruning.

We believe that the keys to a successful retirement are: • Having a positive attitude towards your future • A clear vision of the type of life you (both) want • A healthy approach to mental and physical aging • A positive view of “work” (whatever that may be) • Nurturing family and personal relationships • An active social network (we don’t mean Facebook or Twitter!)

• A balanced approach to leisure • Maintaining financial comfort The essence of the RPC Planning for Retirement Course is that financial and emotional preparation should go hand-in-hand.

RPC Pre-retirement courses We offer three types of pre-retirement courses – typically a two-day course: • Open Courses – held weekly in our Dublin office or monthly in locations around the country (Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway).

• In-House Courses – held in our Dublin office where a particular Employer wants a bespoke course for their employees only.

• In-Company Courses – where a particular Employer hosts a bespoke course for their employees only.

Brain Health At a conference held in 2016 hosted by the Irish Association of Pension Funds, Professor Sabina Brennan of Trinity College, Dublin delivered a paper on “Brian Health – The best Investment for Retirement”.

Research now clearly shows that brain health is very important for retirees, with the challenges of work needing to be replaced by other activity.

Her top tips for maintaining brain health into retirement are: • Seek out opportunities to challenge yourself. This can include cross words, Sudoko, engaging in artistic activity, getting involved in volunteering, etc.

• Seek out opportunities to change yourself. Don’t get stuck in a rut.

Learn something new. Learning a language or a new hobby can be both motivating and challenging.

• Stay socially engaged. We are a highly social species. Joining a book club, a choir, a community group etc. can all prevent social isolation.

• Engage in some physical activity (even if it is only a 30 minute brisk walk at least 5 days per week).

• Adopt a positive attitude and live in the present.

An important message from her presentation was that “brain health” helps hugely in preventing Dementia. For further information see www.hellobrain.eu. One can download a completely free app from this site which delivers scientifically designed exercises “Brain Buffs” to help your brain stay fit and healthy.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 75

Excursions

Cavan, Ireland’s well kept secret

The Cavan Burren Park

Locals call it a ‘well kept secret.’ Its forests, countryside dotted with lakes, castles, old estates , comfortable hotels and cosy pubs are all part of the the tranquillity and beauty of Co. Cavan, making it ideal for a short break. From ancient history and traditional craft to state of the art spas, from boating and fishing to luxurious hotels in unspoiled beauty, Cavan is filled with attractions, so bring along your camera.

You really do experience original attractions in these parts. A few kilometres south of Blacklion, northwest of the Cuilcagh Mountain, lies a limestone plateau, a `relict’ landscape, filled with funereal monuments and fields surviving from ancient times. The Cavan Burren has fossils in the limestone dating back some 340 milion years. Its spectacular views and remains of a wide variety of Neolithic tombs trace life from those early settlers to the limekilns and animal shelters of a couple of centuries ago.

Visit the Legolough Tombs and the wedge tomb at The Giant’s Leap.

Walk the well laid trails leading to beauty points such as the Lost Valley and Giant’s Leap. The spectacular uninterrupted views look out over the surrounding counties. There is a good interpretive centre, and the site is well signposted.

on upcoming activities. Local UNESCO Geopark accredited guides are also available to highlight the rich natural and built heritage of this site.

Coach and car parking, picnic facilities, interpretation and toilets are also available.

So, connect with the past in Cavan Burren Park. You won’t be disappointed.

To arrange a guide or for more information please contact: 087 2548747 or email macgeopark@cavancoco.ie Please see www.cavanburrenpark.ie for lots more information.

Lake country

Cavan Burren Park Cavan Burren Park is one of the finest integrated prehistoric landscapes in Ireland with spectacular examples of megalithic tombs, stone walls, ancient rock art, glacial erratics and pre-bog walls. Situated in the heart of the UNESCO designated Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark extraordinarily rich in archaeological and geological heritage, Cavan Burren Park is a flagship attraction and is located on the slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain just outside Blacklion in West Cavan with spectacular views over Lough MacNean, West Cavan and Fermanagh.

Visitors will enjoy exploring the interpretative centre and four walking trails (with one multi-access trail suitable for wheelchairs and buggies).

Visit the ‘Giant’s Grave’ wedge tomb and the ‘Calf House’ dolmen. Make the short climb up to ‘Tullygobbin’ wedge tomb for views that will take your breath away. Interpretation along the way will assist you in unravelling the intriguing layers of human history as you walk. So make some memories at one of Ireland’s hidden gems – Cavan Burren Park.

Visitors can also visit cavanburrenpark.ie for more information, check us out on Tripadvisor and see our Geopark Events Guide for lots of details 76 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Cavan is lake country –it is said that there is one for every day of the year. It is also well worth making the short trip to the Shannon Pot. A naturally fluctuating sixteen metre pool in the karst landscape near Cuilcagh Mountain, this is the traditional source of the Shannon.

The county’s Forest Parks have lakes, forest walks, trails, leafy glades, and beautiful views - dog heaven. Dun na Forest Park outside Kingscourt, has a dramatic gorge. Otters, mink, badgers and red squirrels have all been spotted here, and there is plenty for bird fanciers.

“WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED”

For award-winning restaurants, fabulous hotels, panoramic landscapes, stunning heritage attractions, world-class fishing, breath-taking walks and the friendliest people in Ireland, visit Cavan in 2017. You’ll be surprised at what you find here.

Cavan Tourist Information Office Johnston Central Library Farnham Street, Cavan, Ireland. t: +353 (0) 49 433 1942

Excursions

Calloughs Lake, Killeshandra, part of Cavan’s ‘lake county’

One excellent current highlight at Cavan County Museum is the World War I Trench Experience. The Museum is now home to the largest replica trench open to the public in Ireland the UK.

Once part of the Cabra Estate, home to the Pratt family for two centuries, you can walk through the acres of magnificent peaceful scenery, enjoying dramatic gorges, waterfalls and rapids, the old stone bridges, chasms and beautiful trees.

All the galleries and facilities are accessible and family friendly.

Killykeen Forest Park lies in another scenic area, along the shores of Lough Oughter, part of the River Erne system. Spruce, ash, oak and beech provide beautiful foliage and the lough is famed for fishing. The ruins of Cloughoughter Castle lie on a small island the middle of the lake, bout 4kms east of Killeshandra.

The Museum also holds the Farnham Collection, including portraits, war medals, papers and mementoes of the Maxwell family, who lived at Farnham house, which is now the Radisson Blu Farnham Estate. Overall, it provides intriguing background information for a visit to or stay at the hotel.

Cavan County Museum

Cavan County Museum, Virginia Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan +353 49 8544070. www.cavanmuseum.ie

Cavan’s history is well recorded at the Cavan County Museum sited in Ballyjamesduff. With a wide range of exhibitions, videos and projects, the folk life, archeological and local history come to life here, from the local effects of the Great Famine, to local hero Percy French. One excellent current highlight is the World War l Trench Experience. The Museum is now home to the largest WWl replica trench open to the public in Ireland the UK, and includes sound and visual effects to enhance the experience.

The Museum was also once a convent of The Poor Clare Order and The Nun’s Story Exhibition details the origins and work of the Poor Clares, linked to Ballyjamesduff from 1872.

Indoors, Cavan County Museum is a treasure trove of fascinating artefacts from our past, such as ancient arrowheads that our ancestors used to hunt, or the mysterious threefaced Corleck Head.

When finished your tour visitors can enjoy refreshments in the coffee shop and browse around our beautiful craft shop.

Cavan County Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10am - 5pm.

The four star Farnham Estate Hotel has beautiful walks, and its bluebell trails through ancient woods are worth a trip, and the luxurious hotel has off-peak deals and excellent food. One thoroughly modern aspect is the spa, one of Ireland’s top rated, with an infinity swimming pool, thermal sand options ranging from a variety of beauty and massage treatments to a mud chamber and dry floatation.

MORE INFORMATION www.thisiscavan.ie www.irelandsancienteast.com www.cavanmuseum.ie www.radissonblu.com/Cavan www.farnhamestate.ie www.cavanburren.ie www.cavanburrenpark.ie www.marblearchcavesgeopark.com www.coillteoutdoors.ie www.cabracastle.com

78 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Discover Cavan Burren Park

CLw

Blacklion, Co. Cavan

T: 049 95 26121 cavanburrenpark.ie

Experience spectacular views, prehistoric tombs & fantastic geology 4 walking trails including 1 multi access trail / Interpretative centre picnic tables / guided tours (pre booking necessary)

thisiscavan.ie

Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, Ireland Three unique centenary exhibition experiences in one beautiful museum WW1 Trench Experience

1916 Rising Exhibition Experience

Battle of the Somme Installation

After war comes peace and when peace comes never let it go.

Tel: 049 854 4070 • www.cavanmuseum.ie • Facebook.com/cavanmuseum • Twitter.com/cavanmuseum

Health

Don’t fall for the obvious It’s not just people who are frail or have mobility problems who fall.

One third of people over 65 fall once per year. Finola Cronin advises ‘My name is Mary Jane [not real name]. I’m only 60 and I don’t consider myself old. Last week I went flying forwards after tripping over a crack in the footpath. It is the same footpath I have been walking on for years. My first thought was to get up as fast as possible. I was so embarrassed I just wanted to get away quickly from the people who came to my assistance.

I did not realise until the next day how bruised and sore I was. That has healed but the fall has really affected my confidence.’

When we are young we just jump up from a fall, there are usually a few tears and a plaster on the knee but we go onto our next adventure.

When you fall when you are older there are different considerations. Mary Jane’s story is not unusual. She is not alone. Many people fall. Some people seek advice after a fall and others are too embarrassed to mention it or hope that it won’t happen again.

Falls are the leading cause of accident and injury for those aged 65 and older. A local report published in 2009 indicated that at the time approx 90 persons over the age of 65 years were attending acute emergency services each week as a result of a fall. Also the same report highlighted the fact that over 500 people were admitted in a year to Cork city hospitals with a fracture due to a fall. That does not include those who had a fracture and were not admitted to hospital. These figures relate to people over 65, but why wait until you are 65 to start thinking about staying well and free of falls?

It is not just people who are frail or have mobility problems who fall. One third of people over 65 fall once per year. But to dispel the myth – falling is not an inevitable part of getting older.

The vast majority of falls could be prevented with some fairly modest changes in lifestyle and to the home. Medically speaking, though, falls are often a warning sign that something isn’t quite right – but it is often something quite treatable (www.saga.co.uk/falls).

Changes in lifestyle could include engaging in activities that are good for maintaining balance and mobility, for example: gardening, walking to the shops, strengthening and balance fitness classes, (and even when you are watching television) getting up and walking about in every ad break or between programmes. Some people get so worried about having a fall that they restrict their movement and spend more time sitting down and indoors. This harms balance, body strength and mobility, which in turn makes a fall even more likely. It’s a vicious circle that damages confidence and your own independence.

There are a number of prompt questions that you may ask yourself. We have included a checklist here: • I have had a trip/stumble/slip or a fall but not seen anyone about it • I have not had a medication review with my GP in the past year • I often need to get up in the night to go to the loo • I am probably not as active as doctors recommend (30 minutes moderate activity 5 times/week) • I sometimes feel dizzy or light headed on standing or walking • A bit of clutter has built up at home over the years • I save electricity by turning off unnecessary lights

80 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

• I don’t get out as much as I’d like because I worry about tripping, I feel unsteady • If I had a fall I would probably be too embarrassed to tell anyone • I often get my feet tangled up in things that could trip me; my pets, my grandchildren, even the belt on my dressing gown If you have recognised yourself in any of the above statements and answered ‘yes’ then you will be happy to know that Cork city and county has a Cork Falls Service.

• The telephone number for more information on the service is 021 – 4923352.

• As part of the Cork Falls Service there are Falls Risk Assessment Clinics (F.R.A.C.) available in Cork city and county.

• If you have a history of: • • •

having a fall/ or even a trip, a fear of having a fall or any issues with your balance or the way you are walking

then you are eligible for a free assessment of your falls risk and subsequent advice on what to do. The assessments are carried out by H.S.E. occupational therapists, physiotherapists and public health nurses.

• For more details, you can contact the number above or get in touch with your local GP/ public health nurse or any H.S.E. healthcare professional in your area.

Finola Cronin is the Falls Co-ordinator for Cork Falls Services and is based in St Finbarrs Hospital, Cork

DONATE TODAYÂ Leave a Lasting Legacy

There are 55,000 people living with dementia in the country today, which will increase to 150,000 over the next 20 years.

You can play your part in the future of excellence in dementia care in Ireland.

Dementia is being diagnosed more and more frequently, we want to ensure that everyone living with dementia, feels wanted and needed, supported and loved and most of all that they feel alive.

You can make a difference; call Siobhan 01 282 3000 www.saintjosephsshankill.ie

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Northern

By Debbie Orme

Notes

The New Year has already not only brought great news for older people in the North, but has shown how the wealth of experience and inspiration that the province’s over 50s can contribute.

Great news for ground-breaking initiative Impact Officer will help to organise elements, such as transport requirements.

Over the last five years, MEAAP has made major differences to older people’s quality of life thanks to very successful, collaborative associations such as their Good Morning Services in which MEAAP provide a daily phone call for older people.

Front left: Deirdre McCloskey, Project Development Officer, MEEAP; Stephen Slaine ICP Chair, Mid & East Antrim; Mayor Audrey Wales MBE and Anne Marie O’Boyle, Northern ICP Business Manager.

Older people’ in the Mid and East Antrim area of Northern Ireland are to benefit from nearly £1 million of funding from The Dunhill Medical Trust. The Dunhill Medical Trust recently announced that the Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership (MEAAP) would receive the funding for a new programme of community-based care and support for older people.

The funding will enable MEAAP to deliver the Involving Many to Prescribe Alternative Care Together (IMPACT) programme, which will

deliver a wide range of activities, services and support programmes to a minimum of 1,100 people aged 70 years and over in Mid and East Antrim through up to 13,200 funded ‘alternative care prescriptions’.

Those who meet the criteria will be assessed and then provided with a personalised care plan, which not only considers medical requirements but social needs. If, for example, a person is lonely and isolated, they can use one of their twelve ‘social prescriptions’ to attend a luncheon club or other community group. The

These calls not only provide reassurance, but also allow people to overcome social isolation; enabling them to remain independent at home.

MEAAP recently carried out a survey, which found that 99 per cent of those who used the service felt that they had a ‘little more’ or ‘much more’ confidence in terms of staying safe and well in their own home, while 78 per cent felt more informed about activities and support available in their local community.

‘As the local Agewell Partnership,’ said Deirdre McCloskey, Project Development Officer (MEAAP), ‘we aim to improve the lives of older people across the Ballymena, Larne and Carrickfergus areas. Over the last three years, our successful core Ageing Well & Reaching Out Programme has given us an insight into the various experiences of older people in terms of meeting their health needs. We are now delighted to be in a position to showcase the impact social needs, like access to transport, loneliness and literacy, can have on the health and wellbeing of older people in our community.’

Tea (dance) for 600 Strictly Come Dancing may be over for another year, but in Belfast’s community centres, hundreds of older people have been taking to the dance floor at the recent Christmas tea dances.

Almost 600 older people attended the popular tea dances held across the city in Dee Street, Glen, North Queen Street, Donegall Pass, Tullycarnet, Suffolk and Sally Gardens community centres during December.

‘It’s so good to see older people enjoying a dance together,’ said Councillor Matt Garrett, Chair of Belfast City Council’s People and

Friends enjoy an Age-friendly Punjana Tea Dance at a Belfast City Council community centre.

Communities Committee. ‘As well as being a fun, sociable activity, dancing is a great, inclusive way of getting exercise and has been shown in a number of studies to help improve mental health and emotional wellbeing. And our community centres are proving to be the perfect venues as they’re so handy for people to get to, and provide a really warm welcome.’

82 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

From left, Philip McKinley, Ellen Donaghy and Cllr Matt Garrett, Chair of Belfast City Council’s People and Communities committee enjoy an Age-friendly Punjana Tea Dance at Suffolk Community Centre.

For those who fancy getting off on the right foot in 2017, more tea dances will be held in community centres across the city throughout February. Details are available at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events. Entrance is free and those interested should contact their nearest participating centre to book a place.

Shanaway Road, Ennis, Co Clare www.theinnatdromoland.ie Phone: 061 368161

WIN A Two Night Luxury Break at The Inn at Dromoland

The team at The Inn at Dromoland invite you to experience the surroundings of the Dromoland Castle Estate. Combining high levels of service, sumptuous dining and newly renovated rooms and facilities, we look forward to ensuring you have a relaxing and enjoyable stay. The hotel features a fully equipped Health and Fitness Club, an indoor swimming pool, The Play Inn, Shannigans Gastro Pub, Deerfields Restaurant, along with 155 spacious bedrooms, many of which offer a wonderful view over the Estate and the glorious Shannon Estuary.

The hotel is situated on 450 acres of wooded countryside, offering endless walks and activities to suit every guest.

Whether you are looking for a romantic break, a staycation in County Clare, a family getaway or a trip with friends, The Inn at Dromoland offers the perfect choice. The prize is a 2 night break at The Inn at Dromoland for 2 people sharing in a newly renovated Premier Room, with Breakfast each morning and a gourmet dinner on an evening of your choice.

To win just tell us the name of the Gastro Pub at The Inn at Dromoland?

Answers on a postcard to: Hotel Reviews Ireland Competition C/O Tom Shanahan The Inn at Dromoland Dromoland Estate Newmarket on Fergus Co Clare V95 EPF5 Or by email to:- Tom.shanahan@theinnatdromoland.ie DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES IS APRIL 20TH

Northern Notes

Hope and glory..

The children of Shashemene are certainly benefitting from the work of Hope and a Future!

Hope and a Future is a small Northern Ireland charity that was launched by Randalstown couple Kevin and Christine Keenan following a trip to the town of Shashemene in the south of Ethiopia in 2006.

During their trip to Shashemene, Kevin and Christine were struck by the high level of poverty and the lack of education for some of the poorest children. Many of these children worked from as young as five or six years of age, or made a living by begging on the streets.

When they returned to NI, Kevin and Christine formed Hope and a Future in a bid to provide education for some of the poorest children in the Ethiopian town. From initially starting out with a small rented building with 150 children, the charity has now grown to two schools with around 560 children. The first and main school was purpose built. The charity had local people from Randalstown working alongside the people of Shashemene on the building of this school.

This school is called ‘Schools for Humanity’ and currently provides education for up to 400 children. The second school is called Tesfa. It is a rented property providing education for over 160 children from the river bank area. The river bank is the poorest area of Shashemene with the families living in shack homes made of muck and sticks with tin roofs. There is no electricity or running water and so the river is used for washing, cooking, water etc.

The charity has provided toilets and shower blocks in both schools.

Each child receives a weekly shower (water supply permitting), along with soap and shampoo. These small measures, in addition to a hand-washing programme has greatly improved the children’s health.

Each child receives a nutritious daily meal, fresh drinking water and health care. The children are provided with school uniforms and for many of the children it is the only clothing they have for those in greatest need we provide underwear and shoes.

All teachers and support staff are employed locally and the charity are employing more than 50 staff.

Since 2007 there have been teams of volunteers from Northern Ireland travelling to Ethiopia to work in a practical way with the charity.

In 2015 the Hope and a Future charity began to plan towards building a 84 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

The new building which opened in January.

Therapeutic Centre for children with a Disability and a Youth Centre in Shashemene.

Currently there is no provision for children with a disability, with many of these children living in isolation in their shack houses. They have no access to education, therapeutic interventions, healthcare or opportunities for socialisation with their peers.

‘We are delighted to say that this month has seen construction of the new building completed,’ says Kevin, ‘and we plan to be open and operational within next few months. We are currently raising finance to send a sea container with disability equipment, which has been donated from various healthcare facilities in NI. This new disability centre should make a big positive difference to the lives of many children with disability.

‘The youth centre will provide local children with somewhere to meet and socialise. They will have access to a library and a place to study and complete homeworks. The children will have the opportunity to learn and play table top games, music, art, drama as well as outdoor sporting activities.

‘Over the past years the charity has also become involved with a leprosy community. These people and their families are isolated from the rest of the local community due to the stigma and fear of leprosy.’

‘The families would make a living out of begging on the streets and they lived in unbelievable poverty,’ said Christine. ‘Hope and a Future has helped the community by purchasing cattle which they rear and sell at the meat market and then buy more increasing their herd slowly. They also grow vegetables some of which may be sold at market and some for their own use.

‘The children from the leprosy community of school age now attend either of our two schools. These children do not have leprosy thanks to medication provided to their parents by local authority.

‘We are so pleased that, since the small beginnings in 2007, the Hope and a Future charity has made amazing differences to the lives of so many children and their families in Shashemene. The provision of education will enable these children to have a more positive future not only for themselves but also their families and their community.’

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Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 85

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Northern Notes

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Alderman Brian Kingston with Deirdre O’Hare, winner of the Older Volunteer of the Year 2016 at the Age-friendly Older Volunteer Awards at Belfast City Hall. Deirdre has volunteered with the Tar Anall over 50s group for the last 15 years.

Inspirational older people recognised Some of the city’s most inspirational people have been presented with Belfast Age-friendly Older Volunteer Awards at a City Hall ceremony.

The purpose of the Belfast Age-friendly Older Volunteer Awards is to ensure the invaluable contribution to society given by older people those aged 60 years and over - is given formal recognition and to highlight to others the often unseen contributions they make daily.

‘We’re recognising a group of older people who are making invaluable contributions to our community,’ said Belfast Lord Mayor, Alderman Brian Kingston, ‘and they’re doing that selflessly, in their own time. They’re setting a shining example to us all and proving that older people have a vast amount of experience and skills to share.’

At the awards Deirdre O’Hare was named the 2016 Older Volunteer of the Year, after volunteering with the Tar Anall over 50s group for the last fifteen years. As well as organising trips, activities and events for the group, Deirdre also picks up and drops off those members who find it harder to get out and take part in activities.

‘Deirdre is the backbone of the group,’ says Catriona Brennan, who nominated her. ‘She’s constantly on the lookout for new activities and trips to keep things interesting and sources the funding to make them happen. She even takes time to visit past members of the group who are no longer able to attend because of poor

health. Deirdre is a very kind person who goes above and beyond anything that is expected of a volunteer.’

Musician Ken Robb, meanwhile, who was nominated by the Alzheimer’s Society for his volunteering with their ‘Singing for the Brain’ group, was awarded the Creativity and Culture Award, recognising his kindness, sensitivity, enthusiasm and friendliness.

‘We are delighted to say that this month has seen construction of the new building completed,’ says Kevin, ‘and we plan to be open and operational within next few months. We are currently raising finance to send a sea container with disability equipment, which has been donated from various healthcare facilities in NI. This new disability centre should make a big positive difference to the lives of many children with disability.

‘The youth centre will provide local children with somewhere to meet and socialise. They will have access to a library and a place to study and complete homeworks. The children will have the opportunity to learn and play table top games, music, art, drama as well as outdoor sporting activities.

‘Over the past years the charity has also become involved with a leprosy community.

These people and their families are isolated from the rest of the local community due to the stigma and fear of leprosy.’

‘The families would make a living out of begging

86 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Musician Ken Robb, nominated by the Alzheimer’s Society for his volunteering with their ‘Singing for the Brain’ group was awarded the Creativity and Culture Award, recognising his kindness, sensitivity, enthusiasm and friendliness.

on the streets and they lived in unbelievable poverty,’ said Christine. ‘Hope and a Future has helped the community by purchasing cattle which they rear and sell at the meat market and then buy more increasing their herd slowly.

They also grow vegetables some of which may be sold at market and some for their own use.

‘The children from the leprosy community of school age now attend either of our two schools. These children do not have leprosy thanks to medication provided to their parents by local authority.

‘We are so pleased that, since the small beginnings in 2007, the Hope and a Future charity has made amazing differences to the lives of so many children and their families in Shashemene. The provision of education will enable these children to have a more positive future not only for themselves but also their families and their community.’

“Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional” Chili Davis

The newly refurbished 4 Star Ambassador Hotel located in the heart of Cork City with breath-taking view of Cork City. Uncover the reinvention of the Ambassador Hotel, our guest rooms with expansive in room facilities, thoughtful touches in newly updated surroundings. Relax and unwind in McGettigan’s Cookhouse & Bar Cork’s newest eatery where we are committed to using the finest quality ingredients. McGettigan’s Cookhouse & Bar delivers gourmet food in a relaxed environment for our customers. With gentle surround sound system music ensuring the perfect ambiance in modern designed surroundings. At the Ambassador Hotel, whether you are travelling with a friend or a large group, we will ensure your stay is one to remember, let our warm friendly staff make the Ambassador Hotel a home away from home.

Over 50’s Package 2 Nights Luxury Accommodation l Full Irish Breakfast each morning l Enjoy an Irish Coffee on arrival l 2 Course Dinner on 2 nights in McGettigans Cookhouse & Bar l Passes to Cork City Gaol l Unlimited use of our Gym l Booking incentives for groups of more the 20 people or more

From

l

129

€

.00

per person sharing

T & C’s apply. Offer subject to promotional room availability.

Visit www.ambassadorhotel.ie or contact 021-4539000 for more details.

Wine World Another Spanish success story

Mairead Robinson profiles a new Spanish leader in Alvaro Palacios: ‘Great wines must be made with full dedication in the the world of wine. vineyard. Consultants can make nice blends but they cannot reach top quality.’

Alvaro Palacios is the name that is making a huge impression in Spanish winemaking these days. Both Palacios himself as winemaker, and also his wonderful wines are receiving many international awards and accolades, including 2016 Winemaker of the Year.

Having already produced outstanding wines in Bierzo and Priorat, ‘Great wines must be made with full dedication in the vineyard. Consultants can make nice blends but they cannot reach top quality. His reputation is such that he is currently widely sought as a consultant for other wineries throughout Spain and even further afield. However he is reluctant to spread himself too thinly at this stage and is exceptionally dedicated to his existing vineyards throughout Spain. ‘Great wines must be made with full dedication in the vineyard. Consultants can make nice blends but they cannot reach top quality. I am fully dedicated to my three vineyards in Priorat, Rioja and Bierzo, and I would not be able to give any other project the same level of commitment. Any further effort with another vineyard would detract from my existing work. I want to produce the best wines – no comprises’.

Known also as an amateur bullfighter as well as a visionary winemaker, there is no doubt that Alvaro Palacios is a passionate Spaniard who remains close to his roots. Slowly, year by year, he is altering the viticultural landscape in his native Rioja Baja and he is creating a distinctive style 88 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

based on the ancient Garnacha buds grafted on to Tempranillo vines.

His Rioja La Montesa wine bears testament to this development, and is proving very popular both at home and abroad – including here in Ireland. You will find his wines in good restaurants throughout the country.

Having built up a renowned career over the past twenty-five years, Palacios wants to direct his energy in the future to developing his iconic top range wines. He is a man steeped in tradition yet also looking to the future and to new and innovative developments. He is very dedicated to his family, describing his daughter as an ‘excellent taster’ and he hopes that she will succeed him in the business.

Palacios is very focussed on current research and development as well as traditional practices when it comes to the world of wine, and he gets impatient with those who consider Spanish wine to be now the best it has ever been. He likes to point out the greatness of the wines made generations ago by monks and said he would love to taste the wines that Don Quixote drank!

Alvaro’s story is one of an intellectual journey that began when he grew up in Rioja, born to an old wine-growing family but with ideas and curiosity that went far beyond what he was taught as a boy. Looking back over his career, not once, but twice (in Priorat and Bierzo), he has been the most influential early figure in an emerging wine region. And in each instance he has led by example, teaching those who have followed to

Alvaro grew up in Rioja, the most celebrated wine region in Spain

Continuing success of English wine

It seems hard to believe when we have been experiencing such cold and wet weather, but quality wine making is closer to these shores than you might have thought. The rise of English sparkling wine has taken many of us by surprise with exports reaching twenty-seven countries last year, including to France and Italy! ‘Thanks to sparkling rose from Kent and Chardonnay from Sussex, we are rightly taking our place among the world’s most renowned wine producers’ said UK Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom. English wine producers have struggled in the past with an inconsistent climate and higher production costs than their continental rivals. However the UK’s chalky soils and south facing slopes are now proving ideal for a burgeoning industry with annual sales of £1000m a year.

More than 5 million bottles of wine – both sparkling and still – were produced in the UK in 2015 and land under vine has doubled over the last ten years.

Record U.S. wine exports seek purity and expression—not commercial sameness—in their wines.

Alvaro Palacios is known as one of the most influential winemakers internationally and his wines are so highly revered that they are considered among the very best wines in the world!

Competition There is an opportunity for you to experience one of his most popular wines and taste the single vineyard La Montesa by entering the current competition on www.hotelreviewsireland.com There are six bottles of this wine as prizes in the current competition.

Due to the strength of the dollar, US wine exports earned a record US$1.62bn in winery revenues during 2016, boosted by gains in the UK and in China. Exports to the UK – California wine’s biggest overseas market – were up 18% by value and 5% by volume to $337 million and more than 13 million cases respectively. This led the Californian Wine Institute UK trade director Justin Knock MW to claim that California was ‘on track’ to hit its target of achieving $400 million in UK sales by the end of the decade.

We will have to wait with interest to see how Brexit and the Trump presidency will affect the world of wine and our enjoyment of same!

Competition winners from last issue Break at Hotel Westport Tara Scully, Beaufort, Co Kerry

Break at Hotel Woodstock, Ennis Kevin Daly, Moylough, Co Galway Three copies of Showtime At The Royal Deirdre Spendlove, Dublin 13 Terry Pope, Blarney, Co Cork Maura Healion, Tullamore, Co Offaly Four copies of The Husband by Deirdre Purcell Lena O’Neill Laytown, Co Meath Margaret Cluskey, Balbriggan, Co Dublin Mary Reilly, Wicklow Town Rose Twomey, Wilton, Cork

Crossword Three copies of The Happy Pear Audrey Johnston, Clogher, Co Tyrone J Kiernan, Mullingar Stephen Donnelly, Dublin 6 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 89

Opinion

by Jim Collier

The Storytelling Gallery at EPIC

New cancer slogan is tempting fate

I must say I am not a fan of the new cancer slogan which caused much controversy recently. Having survived cancer twice, I am very glad to have done so and feel this new slogan is tempting fate. I am aware of the reasoning behind the word ‘Get’ as in the aggressive expression ‘I’ll get you yet if you’re not careful’ but it does not gel well with cancer sufferers.

Let’s making the carrying of weapons a jailing offence

Hardly a day goes by without someone being knifed to death or being seriously injured on our streets. There was a time ages ago when carrying a knife was a serious offence, now it appears that ‘I’m carrying it for my own defence is an acceptable excuse’.

There have been horrific incidents in Dublin recently, not least that when a young man was viciously assaulted and killed by a group of seven having been accused of stealing a mobile phone, but was subsequently found not to have a phone on his possession. There is hardly a week without a stabbing offence in one of the local papers. The carrying of any weapon should now be a jailing offence.

EPIC is epic!

Recently I paid a visit to Epic Ireland which is located just five minutes from Connolly station in the CHQ Building on Custom House Quay, Dublin. I was not prepared for the size of the exhibition so i did not allow myself enough time to explore it properly, hence I will have to pay another visit. Emigration to all parts of the world is only one aspect of the exhibition and on its own would probably take a day. This does not just cover the usual USA and Australia areas where our ancestors went to, but also every remote area where Irish people are found. It also covers the reasons for emigration, not just as a result of poverty and famine, but also for employment careers, as policemen, nurses, domestic servants, missionaries, agricultural workers, musicians etc.

The Irish influences on the sporting lives, in particular the huge cultural 90 Senior Times March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

role played by the GAA where ever they dwelled. I was particularly enthralled by the impact Irish traditional music and dance had, having experienced this in my younger days in London. Traditional musicians will be fascinated by the piece about Captain O’Neill, born in Cork who following some years as a cabin boy became Chief of the Chicago Police Force.

He was also perhaps the greatest researcher of traditional Irish music, in particular his 1000 Irish Tunes, which has been the handbook for Irish music teachers for many years.

Again a must visit for those interested is the impact of Irish descendents, such as, James Cagney, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and many others had on the world of entertainment. There is much also for school children and students, including games, contests, etc. A Rogues Gallery featuring Ned Kelly, Billy the Kid and many others is also available. There are many interesting items for ActIve Retirement units also, especially the genealogy service.

EPIC is open seven days a week from 10am until 5pm. There’s a seniors concession of €12. For further information telephone : (01) 5313688 or visit www.epicirelandchq.com

New Active Retirement

I was delighted recently to pay a visit to one of the most recently formed ARA’s in Croom, County Limerick, as this is where I was reared until I was 18 years of age when I departed to work in London in1954. The meeting was in the recently constructed Croom Civic Centre and town park, on the Banks of the River Maigue which was provided for the Community of Croom by Limerick County Council with a fine restaurant included.

Being the oldest ex resident present, I was asked to comment on the changes in the area since my school days, so I was able to give some insight, especially relating to the local hospital which was so busy in those days and the great local dances in the nearby Town Hall which attracted patrons from all over the county, etc. The group meets every second Tuesday from 12 to 2. New members are very welcome, next meeting will be on 7th March.

This stuff can make you feel young again The lack of energy that you begin to feel in midlife is not the disaster you think it is, because science has discovered how to fix it. As we age, levels of a substance called coenzyme Q10 drop. We need this compound to produce energy in our cells. Now, with something as simple as a daily capsule, you can get back your vitality.

What happens as you age is that your body gradually loses its ability to make energy because levels of a compound called coenzyme Q10 decrease. The coenzyme Q10 levels of an 80-year old are estimated to amount to about 40% of those found in the body of a young person.

Vital for energy Coenzyme Q10 is an essential vitaminlike compound which cells need in order to make energy. We produce it in our liver, and a certain amount comes from the food we eat. Now, thanks to researchers who have studied how coenzyme Q10 facilitates the energy turnover in cells, we can pop a pill with this compound and turn up the flame, so to speak. Today, millions of people worldwide take coenzyme Q10 as their daily energy boost, and it is completely natural to the body. The increased energy levels enable them to engage in activities that would normally have been too strenuous for them.

What is coenzyme Q10?

All cells contain some bean-shaped structures called mitochondria. These are the “powerhouses” of the cells that produce energy. In order to convert fat, protein, and carbohydrate into energy (or into ATP – adenosine triphosphate), the mitochondria need the presence of coenzyme Q10 to support the conversion.

Some cells contain more mitochondria, namely cells like those in heart muscle tissue that need to generate large quantities of energy. The tissues that are the most dependent on energy are also those that often deteriorate when the body lacks coenzyme Q10.

Helps in heart disease Not only can a supplement of coenzyme Q10 help to restore energy levels in the ageing population and counteract problems like lack of zest and physical decline, it has even been shown to support vital functions such as the heart function.

This was clearly demonstrated in a 2014 study of patients with chronic heart failure, where daily supplements of coenzyme Q10 turned out to boost their heart muscle function that much it actually lowered their risk of dying of their disease by 43%. Q-Symbio as the study is named has made headlines worldwide, and cardiologists are seriously considering the possibility of including coenzyme Q10 in the standard therapy for heart failure.

However, it is not only people with diseased hearts who are able to benefit from coenzyme Q10. Another study called KiSel-10 where healthy elderly men and women were given coenzyme Q10 together with selenium, an essential nutrient that supports the compound, showed that there were 54% fewer heart-related deaths among those who energised themselves with this fascinating substance.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 91

IE_Q10_Article_TheSeniorTimes_A4_0217

One of those things we feel when age begins to creep up on us is a lack of energy. But did you know that this is a problem that can be dealt with? Science has managed to find the explanation to why our energy levels dwindle and, better yet, researchers have given us a way to reverse the process and, in a sense, “grow young” again.

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Meeting Place DUBLIN MALE ACTIVE 71 YEARS YOUNG, NS, ND loves a laugh and the craic, lives alone, likes the simple things in life. Likes music, computing, art, good conversation, cinema, reading. WLTM a lady to enjoy good times, REPLY TO BOX N UMBER U1 ACTIVE DUBLIN LADY 60s, NS, SD, WLTM gentleman with GSOH. Many interests, including walking, cinema, theatre and golf.

REPLY TLO BOX NUMBER U2 CLARE MAN LATE 50s, single, no ties, fit, NS, SD, GSOH, sincere, caring and respectable. Interests include gardening, walking, traditional and country music, socialising with good company. WLTM sincere, easy going, respectable lady mid 50s with same interests from, or who can travel to, counties Galway, Clare and Limerick, for friendship and possible relationship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER U3 ABSOLUTE GENTLEMEN, 60s, DUBLIN. Single, seeking lady with no children. Caring, sharing, fit, walker, romantic . Will you share woodlands walks with me and the wonder and joyful exuberance of life. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER U4 LATE 50s WEST MEATH LADY WLTM midlands man around same age.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER U5 TIPPERARY LADY, SINGLE, EARLY 50s seeks a kind, honest gent for friendship/company.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER U6 SOUTH DUBLIN GENT, WRITER, EARLY 70s, WLTM lady, initially once a week for coffee. Interests include cinema, theatre, musicals, reading, current affairs. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER U7 NORTH DUBLIN MAN, SIXTIES, happy go lucky, loves to walk and talk, GSOH, NS. Seeks soul mate for genuine friendship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER U8

EAST COAST WIDOW, 70s, kind and caring, fun-loving, WLTM sincere, kind man for friendship, social dancing and to enjoy each other’s company, REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E7 DUBLIN GENT, 71, WLTM adventurous, open-minded, lady to share cabin, costs on an adult-only world cruise January-April 2018. NS, ND. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E8 ATTRACTIVE WEST CORK LADY, early 60s, NS, ND interests include lively conversation, painting, keep-fit, eating out, current affairs, travel, music (not country and western!). WLTM gentleman of smart appearance with GSOH who is kind and sincere and interested in sharing life’s bounties with a sincere companion.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBRT E9 LIMERICK BASED LADY, EARLY 60s, attractive widow, semi-retired professional, Kind, considerate person with GSOH, NS, SD, various interests include travel, nature, theatre, music, walking, swimming, sport (especially GAA). WLTM unattached, interesting and sincere gentleman with GSOH and similar interests for friendship/companionship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E10 TALL GENT, DUBLIN AREA, like walking, dancing and travelling. GSOH and relaxed personality.

Also play bridge and a little golf. Interested sharing the good times and the pleasant quiet times with a lady with similar interests.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E11 ATTRACTIVE LIMERICK LADY, 60s, divorced, no ties, self-employed, semi-retired, GSOH, outgoing personality with many interests. NS. WLTM sincere and honest gentleman 65-70 companionship and friendship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E12

DUBLIN MALE, 71, TALL, SLIM, NS, SD, love a laugh and craic. Live alone and like the simple life. WLTM a lady to enjoy good times with. Like music, computing, art, good conversation, cinema, nights in and reading.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E1

MIDLANDS LADY, 68, SEMI-RETIRED professional widow with a zest for life, outgoing, genuine, caring and sincere. Enjoys sport, music, social dancing, travel, holidays, meals in/out, a glass of wine, current affairs and good conversation.

WLTM a genuine, educated, caring, romantic gentleman with outgoing personality and a GHOH to share special times.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E13

PETITE, ACTIVE, ATTRACTIVE DUBLIN LADY, late 60s, retired professional, WLTM a kind, sincere gent for friendship and companionship. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E2

ATTRACTIVE, ARTICULATE AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL LADY WLTM baggage-free, well-educated man 55-70 to share the good things in life. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E14

GENUINE LADY, 50s, NO CHILDREN loves walking, reading, travelling, fishing, cooking, eating out, etc. WLTM gent with similar interests.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E3

MIDLANDS WIDOWER, EARLY 70s, average height, NS, SD, seeks company of attractive, petite lady with warm personality for friendship relationship. Enjoys music, gardening, cinema, driving restaurants and a laugh.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E15

DUBLIN BASED GENT 60s never married, cheerful personality, active lifestyle, and positive outlook WLTM lady of similar sage with similar outlook for possible relationship.

READER TO BOX NUMBER E4 EDUCATED, SEPARATED CLARE-BASED MALE, 65. Interests include walking, dancing, sport, travelling. WLTM female 60-70 with similar interests. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E5 NORTH DUBLIN MAN, 60, ROMANTIC, broad-minded, discreet, ND, NS, WLTM lady 60-65 for friendship or more. Interests include all types of music, theatre, eating out, walking, weekends away. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E6

70S OFFALY LADY, GSOH, WLTM respectable kind gent for friendship and to share lifes joys.

Interests include walking, dancing, cinema, eating out, weekends away, long drives in the country etc. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C1 ATTRACTIVE 60s LEINSTER LADY WLTM a man who believes we can enjoy the elements, have a laugh, dance to Van, curl up with a film or dine out on words that say we’re on the same page. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C2 DUBLIN LADY EARLY SIXTIES, WLTM a gentleman around the same age. Enjoys walking,

94 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

cinema, theatre, travelling and golf. GSOH. NS. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C3 ATTRACTIVE, RETIRED MUNSTER LADY. WLTM cheerful male/female companion interested in winter sun vacations, music/dance, countryside, books. NS REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C4 PETITE,SINGLE DUBLIN LADY, late 60s, with average dancing ability, WLTM a sincere, respectable gent who likes dancing.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C5 DUBLIN WIDOW, 60s, WLTM gentleman for friendship and companionship. Interested in golf, bridge, dancing, arts and musicals.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C6 LIMERICK LADY, 60s, semi-retired, professional widow, outgoing personality, caring and sincere and having a positive outlook. Interests include travel, reading, current affairs, social interaction, restaurants and nature. WLTM unattached genuine educated, positive and interesting NS gentleman with GSOH to share enriching times.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C7 CORK-BASED LADY, 68 seeks gentleman for a cheerful mate, kindred spirit, sound and strong not stuck in the past when things go wrong! Having inner peace and social ease, like to dance and shoot the breeze A mum, a gran with positive view, lots of interests, and faults..well a few!

NS, SD Christian and free.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER W1

TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT If you are interested in meeting someone of the opposite or same sex, send your advertisement, with four stamps (which is the average reply rate) enclosed in the envelope, to: Meeting Place, Senior Times, Unit 1, 15 Oxford Lane, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.

Or email: john@slp.ie IMPORTANT Ensure you give your approximate age and the area you live, noting your interests. The advertisement should not be more than 60 words.

If you are replying to the advertisement via Senior Time’s email, ensure you include your postal address for those not on the Net. (Only Senior Times will have these details). Deadline for receipt of advertisements for the next issue is April 26th 2017.

TO REPLY TO AN ADVERTISEMENT Each reply to an advertisement should be enclosed in a plain, stamped envelope, with the box number marked in pencil so that it can be erased before being forwarded to the advertiser. Send these envelopes in a covering envelope to the address above so that we can forward them to the advertiser. There is no limit to the amount of advertisements to which you can reply, provided each one is contained in a plain, stamped envelope. Ensure you give your approximate age and the area you live.

For those submitting their advertisements by email ensure that you also supply Senior Times with your postal address so that we can post replies from those who have replied by post. (Only Senior Times will have your postal address).

Citizens Information Service

Know Your Rights

Advice from the Citizens Information Service

How does the Housing Assistance Payment work?

I heard that the minimum wage has increased to €9.25 an hour. My son’s employer says that this only applies to adults and that, as he is under 18, he won’t be increasing my hourly rate of pay. Is that right?

No. Since 1 January 2017, the statutory minimum wage for an experienced adult has increased to €9.25 per hour. Under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, there are also pro-rata increases for those aged under 18 and for trainees. The new rates are as follows:

Experienced adult worker* Aged under 18

Minimum hourly rate

% of minimum wage

€9.25 €6.48

100% 70%

€7.40

80%

Second year from date of first employment aged over 18 €8.33

90%

First year from date of first employment aged over 18 The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people with a long-term housing need. It is administered by local authorities and will eventually replace long-term Rent Supplement.

You must be on the local authority’s housing list (which means that you qualify for social housing support) to be eligible for HAP. HAP is being introduced in phases. From March 2017 the final phase will bring it fully into operation in the last three local authority areas – all in Dublin.

Employee aged over 18, in structured training during work: In the 1st one-third period €6.94

75%

Under the HAP scheme, you find your own private rented accommodation. Although the local authority administers HAP, you will not be a local authority tenant. The rental agreement will be between yourself and the landlord. This means that you will have certain rights and obligations, as will your landlord.

In the 2nd one-third period €7.40

80%

In the 3rd one-third period €8.33

90%

The rent must be within the HAP rent limits, which are based on your household size and the rental market in your area. Additional flexibility is provided where a household cannot find suitable accommodation within the HAP rent limits. The Homeless HAP Pilot in Dublin offers further flexibility for homeless people.

You can find a definition of an experienced adult worker in this list of frequently asked questions on the national minimum wage. https:// www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Frequently_Asked_Questions/ National_Minimum_Wage/

The local authority will pay your landlord directly and you will pay a differential rent to the local authority. This means that the amount of rent is based on your income and your ability to pay. If you are getting a social welfare payment at a post office, you must pay the local authority through the Household Budget Scheme.

If his employer is not paying you the appropriate minimum wage, he can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) using the online complaint form available on workplacerelations.ie. In the complaint form you have two options. You may either request an inspector from the WRC to investigate a claim that the national minimum wage is not being paid or you may refer a dispute to a WRC adjudicator.

If you take up a job or increase your working hours, you will still be eligible for HAP, provided that you meet the other conditions of the scheme.

People who are on the housing list and currently getting Rent Supplement will be transferred to HAP on a phased basis. If you are on the housing list, living in a HAP area and getting Rent Supplement, you can now apply for HAP. Detailed booklets and other information about HAP are available on housing.gov.ie.

However, you can only refer a dispute if you have requested a statement from your employer outlining the calculation of the average hourly pay.

You can get more information on the minimum wage and your employment rights from the WRC Information and Customer Service (Lo-call 1890 80 80 90 or workplacerelations.ie) or from the Citizens Information Centre.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 95

Citizens Information Service

whether to take further action. If it decides to take further action it can: · · ·

Give advice to the driver or operator, or Issue a formal warning or Proceed with prosecution in court

When making a complaint you should be prepared to give evidence in court, if necessary.

You can find out more at https://www.transportforireland.ie/taxi/faqs/.

I care full-time for a relative with a disability and I have applied for Carer’s Allowance. Although I am not yet aged 66 would I be entitled to a free travel pass, if I qualify for this allowance?

What are my consumer rights when I buy something in the sales?

Can I return sales items?

Your consumer rights during a sale are exactly the same as at any other time of the year. Your rights do not change just because you bought the item in a sale.

Goods should be of merchantable quality, fit for their intended purpose and as described. If they are not, you are entitled to a repair, a replacement or a refund.

If there is a fault with goods that you bought at full price and are now on sale at a reduced price, you are entitled to a refund of the full price (if the shop is willing to offer a refund).

Shop notices such as “No Refunds” or “No Exchanges” do not limit your rights, if you have a complaint about faulty items.

However, you are not entitled to a refund because you change your mind about something you have bought in a shop, whether this is during the sales or at any other time of the year. Many shops do allow you to exchange goods that you have had second thoughts about, but this is at their discretion. It is a good idea to check the shop’s refund policy before buying anything.

Everyone aged 66 and over living permanently in the State is entitled to the Free Travel Scheme. If you are under age 66 and registered for a Public Services Card, you will be awarded free travel with your Carer’s Allowance. You will be issued with a new Public Services Card which will also be your Free Travel Card. The card will have “F-T” printed in a yellow octagon in the top left-hand corner.

If you have not yet registered for the Public Services Card, you will be asked to register before your Free Travel Card issues to you.

The Public Services Card allows people to access a range of government services and payments and it will eventually replace the Free Travel Pass. In order to keep your entitlement to Free Travel, you must register for the Public Services Card when requested to do so by the Department of Social Protection. Your entitlement to Free Travel will be disallowed or withdrawn if you don’t register.

You must show your Public Services Card to the travel operator when you are travelling on public transport. (In some cases you may be asked to scan your Public Services Card. However, not all transport operators have this facility.)

Note that people under 66 getting PRSI-based Carer’s Benefit are not entitled to a Free Travel Card.

If you are living with the person you care for, you may also be entitled to the Household Benefits Package, which includes an electricity or gas allowance as well as a free TV licence. Only one person in a household can qualify for the package at any time.

You should always keep your receipts as proof of purchase and the price paid. This does not necessarily have to be the shop receipt. You could show your credit or debit card statement if you used one or any other documentation that proves it was purchased.

For more information, visit the website of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission at consumerhelp.ie.

I’m unhappy with a recent experience I had when hiring a taxi.

Where can I make a complaint?

The National Transport Authority has overall responsibility for regulating taxis, hackneys and limousine drivers. It deals with complaints relating to the: · · · · ·

Condition, roadworthiness and cleanliness of the vehicle Conduct, behaviour and identification of the driver Fares charged by the driver Hiring and booking of the vehicle Identification and the general appearance of the vehicle

The Authority’s website, transportforireland.ie, provides information on the hiring of taxis, hackneys and limousines and about making a complaint. If you wish to make a complaint, you can make it online, download a complaint form or obtain a complaint form from the Authority’s information line at 0761 064000. You need to submit a copy of any receipt obtained for the journey with the completed complaint form.

Once the complaint has been investigated, the Authority will decide 96 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

My daughter and son-in-law are applying for the Family Income Supplement (FIS) for their two children. They are unsure about what income is included in the means test for this payment. For example, will my daughter’s student grant be included?

Family Income Supplement (FIS) is a weekly tax-free payment for families, including one-parent families, at work on low pay. The combined income of a couple (married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting) is taken into account when your means are assessed for FIS. Income from any source, including a student grant, is assessed in the means test. However, the following payments are not counted as family income: Child Benefit or any income children may have

Citizens Information Service

Guardian’s payments Supplementary Welfare Allowance Domiciliary Care Allowance Foster Child Allowance Rent Allowance for tenants affected by the de-control of rents Income from a charitable organisation Income from providing accommodation to students studying Irish in Gaeltacht areas

customs duty) is payable.

If your vehicle is 4 years old or more, it will have to go through the National Car Test (NCT) immediately.

Further information is available in the Revenue guide to VRT and on revenue.ie

Capital is not assessed. This includes property you own, bank accounts and cars. However, bank accounts may be checked for other income sources and income derived from the use of a car that you own may be assessed (for example as a taxi).

The main items counted as income are a couple’s assessable earnings, any extra earned in employment (such as pay for overtime, bonuses, allowances or commission), income from self-employment, occupational pensions, social welfare payments (apart from those listed above), income from carer’s payments or rental income from the letting of property or land.

My daughter’s partner has been violent towards her and her children. What can she do to stop this and protect her family?

If you are concerned about violence in your home, you can contact the Gardaí, who are specially trained to deal with these situations and can offer advice and information. Under the Domestic Violence Act 1996, where there is an order in place, Gardaí have the power to arrest and prosecute a violent family member. There are two main kinds of protection available – a safety order and a barring order.

A safety order is an order of the court which prohibits the violent person with whom she living from further violence or threats of violence. It does not oblige the person to leave the family home. You can also get a safety order against a person with whom you have had a child, even if you are no longer living with or have never lived with the person. It prohibits them from watching or being near your home. A safety order can last up to 5 years.

What are the rules about buying a car in the UK and bringing it back to Ireland?

In general, all vehicles brought into Ireland are subject to Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and must be registered. If you have imported a vehicle, you must pay VRT and receive the vehicle’s registration certificate showing that you have paid VRT. If you live abroad and are moving to live in Ireland, you may be eligible for a VRT exemption. Even if you are not required to pay VRT, you must still register your vehicle when you move to Ireland. In certain cases, foreign-registered vehicles may be imported into Ireland temporarily by a non-resident without the requirement to pay VRT or register the vehicle.

You register the car and pay the VRT at a National Car Testing Service (NCTS) centre. You can get an estimate of the VRT due from the Revenue Vehicle Registration Online Enquiry System.

When you register and pay the VRT, a registration number will be assigned to your car. You can obtain vehicle registration plates from the NCTS centre or from any motor factor.

If you are importing a new car from another EU state, you have to pay VAT (Value Added Tax), usually when registering the car. If you are importing a new or second- hand car from outside the EU, VAT (and

A barring order is an order which requires the person to leave the family home. If you are not married or in a civil partnership, you can get a barring order against a violent partner if you have been living together in an intimate and committed relationship for 6 out of the previous 9 months and if your partner does not own most or all of the house you are living in.

A barring order can last up to 3 years.

Both types of order can be renewed by applying for a further order before the previous one has expired.

Others living together can also apply for protection. For example, a parent can apply for protection against domestic violence by their own child, if the child is over 18.

To get a barring order or a safety order, you must apply to the District Court. While you are waiting for the court to hear your application, the court can give you an immediate order, called a protection order. The protection order has the same effect as a safety order. In exceptional circumstances the court can grant an interim barring order. This is an immediate order, requiring the violent person to leave the family home.

Further information, including information on support groups, is available from the Citizens Information Centre below.

Know Your Rights has been compiled by Citizens Information Service which provides a free and confidential service to the public.

Information is also available online at citizensinformation.ie and from the Citizens Information Phone Service, 0761 07 4000.

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 97

Gardens

Widely respected as the jewel in Ireland’s gardening crown, Altamont Gardens, part of the Carlow Garden Trail, are an enchanting blend of formal and informal gardens with riverside walks covering over 40 acres.

Ireland’s garden delights..

Spring is in the air and thoughts turn to visiting some of Ireland’s and Britain’s spectacular gardens, Lorna Hogg offers some suggestions.

Ireland’s gardens include some of the world’s finest, with traditional styles set in large acreage, such as Powerscourt and Mount Stewart, to contemporary and inspirational styles, such The Ewe. For the keen gardener seeking inspiration through to casual visitor, all that’s required is to pick an ideal time to visit!

Seasonal delights Snowdrops Altamont and Huntington in Co. Carlow; Burtown House, Co. Kildare; The Argory in Co. Armagh; The National Botanical Gardens, Dublin.

Narcissi Huntington Castle and Delta Sensory Gardens, Co. Carlow; Guy Wilson Gardens, University of Ulster, Derry; Glenveagh Country Park, Co. Donegal.

Rhododendrons and Camellias Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow; Glenveagh National Park; Muckross Estate, Co. Kerry; Mount Stewart, Co. Down; Mount Congreve, Co Waterford: Lismore Castle, Tourin House, Cappoquin House, Co. Waterford.

Bluebells Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow; Renvyle House Co. Galway. Glenveagh National Park: Killinthomas woods, Rathangan, Co. Kildare.

Apple blossom The Armagh Blosson trail is glorious way to see the spring colours. Manor Estate and Loughgall Country Park, Co. Armagh. (www.discovernorthernireland.com/Loughgall-Country-Park-Orchard-Walk) Roses Ardgillan,North County Dublin : Altamont; Birr Castle, Co. Offaly ; Burtown House Gardens; Belvedere House, Co. Westmeath; Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny.

Autumn colour Mount Usher; National Arboretum; Birr Castle; Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford; Curraghmore, Co. Waterford: Belvedere House, Co. Westmeath Japanese Gardens The Japanese Gardens, at the National Stud in Kildare, are amongst the 98 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Colclough Walled Gardens on the Hook Peninsula, Co Wexford

finest in Europe. Developed between 1906 and 1910 by Scottish Colonel William Hall Walter, and laid out by the famous Tassa Eida and his son Minoru, they exemplify Japanese garden design of the period. Among the original sensory gardens, trees, plants, flowers, lawns, rocks and water are used to signify the life of man. www.irishnationalstud.ie Belvedere blooms In Westmeath, Belvedere House and Gardens, open all year, has something for all tastes. The Georgian hunting lodge (also open to the public) on the banks of Lough Ennell, is set in superb parkland, woodland and trails, beautiful year round, and complete with a romantic folly, Faery and Herb Gardens/The Jealous Wall. The Victorian Walled Gardens have springtime shows of primroses and bluebells. Magnolias and blossoms, roses and herbaceous borders maintain interest. www.belvedere-house.ie The beautiful south The Gulf Stream, coastal and mountain backdrops plus skilled planting have given us the West Cork gardens, some of the finest in the country, ranging from formal classical styles, romantic, natural and wildflower gardens to sculptural planting and island gardens.

For the best views of Bantry House’s classical beauty, climb the hundred steps for views over the Bay, from balustraded terraces, sweeping down to the house. There is also a wisteria `circle’, walled and sunken gardens entice, plus but a topiary.

Drishane, at Castletownsend near Skibbereen, has romantic vistas over daffodils and bluebells, plus a tulip tree, Ginko and a magnificent cypress. Informal, romantic gardens include Lisselan, with its rustic bridges and grottos, The Glebe and Glenview Gardens

Gardens

Visit Armagh Observatory, part of the Armagh Blossom Trails

Something different..The Ewe Sculpture Cardens, Glengarriff, Co Cork

Heron Gallery Gardens, at Ahakista, near Bantry, is an artists’ garden, with the mixture of quirky planting. Here you can find vegetables, a wildflower meadow and wildlife ponds as part of a garden, again set in beautiful surroundings.

Altamont, a `jewel in Ireland’s gardening crown,’ was created by Corona North, and blends formal and informal. Snowdrops, splendid rhododendrons and camellias are set against avenues, mature trees, and exotic shrubs, set around the large lake. From its Ice Age Glen and Bog Garden to the varied rose collection, herbaceous borders and autumn colour, a spectacular garden.

Burtown House in nearby Athy Co. Kildare includes herbaceous borders, a rock garden, yew walk, snowdrops and aconites to narcissi, bluebell walks and plenty of woodland and meadow walks.

The Ewe is an ageless modern garden, offers a kilometre walk with “challenging games’’ over its our separate gardens. Enjoy Sculptural, Re-cycling, and Productive and Sculptural themes, while the Valley of Eden, offers superb views out to the sea.

Ilnacullen, (access by ferry from Glengariff to Garinish Island), is world famous, and thanks to the Gulf Stream, filled with exotic planting, colourful herbaceous borders and a wild garden. One of the main attractions is the Italian Garden, designed by Harold Peto and containing rare and beautiful plants from all over the world. www.westcorkgardentrail.com The sunny south east Wexford’s splendid gardens mix traditional - Kilmokea and Woodville, with restored, e.g. Colclough Walled Garden on The Hook Peninsula, and the classic style at Marlfield House.

Often part of their original houses and especially beautiful in spring, these gardens are set in beautiful landscapes in the Blackwater Valley.

Cappoquin House is sited by an old castle at the `angled’ turn taken by the river, and the south facing garden looks up river to distant Lismore Castle, and down to Mount Congreve. The Keane family has lived there for 300 years, and the nineteenth century garden of five acres were restored in the 1950, have excellent collections of old rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas. A mixture of formal and informal, there is a sunken garden, pleasure ground and several specimen trees – as well as a peaceful woodland walk.

Tourin House dates from the 1800s and lies three miles upriver. With fine specimen trees. , the five acres of gardens include a walled area providing cutting flowers, fruit and vegetable potagers . Enjoy a superb collection of azaleas and camellias, planted largely by the parents of the three welcoming and well informed owners.

Lismore Castle, Irish home of the Dukes of Devonshire, is the perfect backdrop to the magnificent seven acre gardens, set on two levels.

Stroll along the Yew Walk which inspired Spenser to write his famous `Faerie Queen’ poem in the 1500s. The upper level contains the formal garden, with herbaceous borders and kitchen garden, and reached by an ancient keep stairway. The lower gardens are informal, with beautiful rhododendrons and camellias and woodland. The Castle also has its own Arts centre, and an excellent café.

Mount Congreve, one of the world’s great gardens, has had a change of ownership, so check websites for opening dates. With views out over the river, the 70 acres of intensely planted gardens contain over 3000 trees and shrubs, and spectacular rhododendrons and camellias. www.waterfordgardentrail.com www.discoverlismore.com Carlow collections The Carlow Garden Trail specialises in variety, with a garden for every taste, from plant havens through to classic ancient herb and modern sensory gardens, and even a Garden Village. With a July/August Garden Trail, there is `a garden delight for every season.’

Huntington Castle’s formal gardens, dating from the 1600s, with a mix of formal and informal, are also at their finest in spring. Over 10,000 snowdrops give way to daffodils and later bluebells in the ancient woods and ornamental lake provide the surroundings.

Duckett’s Grove has two beautifully restored walled gardens, adding to the romance of the now ruined house. Don’t miss Kilgraney House, for its medicinal garden and interpretation of a mediaeval herb garden. Leighlinbridge – the Garden Village, has a variety of community designed gardens, reflecting village life. www.carlowgardentrail.com www.carlowtourism.com Kilkenny beauty Woodstock Gardens, at Inistioge overlook the River Nore, and combine the best of Irish garden attractions. Sadly, over 120 trees fell during the 2014 storm , in this home of Champion trees. Hard work and attention has worked . Enjoy an excellent walled garden, filled with fruit and vegetables, and spectacular yew and Monkey Puzzle walks. Take in the Rose Garden and flower terraces, restored Victorian Pond, restored from the 1840s wbefore tea in the splendid conservatory.

Gardens with a view..

Powerscourt The magnficent eighteenth century Wicklow demense overlooking the Sugarloaf Mountain.

Mount Stewart Situated by Strangford Lough, with lake, formal terraces and Italian Garden.

Ilnacullen-Garnish island Harold Peto’s Italian garden, filled with colour and exotic planting.

Mount Usher Well loved Wicklow garden, famed for its spring displays of camellias and rhododendrons, Mount Congreve Product of a century of skilled planting and careful restoration, set against the Blackwater valley.

Kylemore Abbey Victorian walled garden A large Victorian walled garden, with backdrops of Connemara woodland and lakeshore, with walks and trails.

Garden treasures www.garden.ie

www.opw.ie

www.botanicgardens.ie

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

www.wicklowgardens.com

www.wexfordgardentrail.co

www.woodstock.ie

www.kylemoreabbey.com

Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 99

Poetry Corner

Five poems by Larry Scully

Homeward Bound

Rivers

A Sliver Of Moon

The maple leaf scattered pavement Glistened with winter rain.

Naked branches seem to tear At the grey canopy With spindly fingers, On the car radio Neill Young still searching For a “heart of gold”, And I’m getting old, Stuck in the rush hour Of times, past.

The log jams of memories Flash like the oncoming headlights, Rows of red taillights Lead me through the city, To the solitude of suburbia.

Shape shifter moulds to river bank lake shore, boulder or trout, yet leaves them behind.

Yesterdays River or today’s, silvery portal, enter at will.

Across the valley sessile oak struggle to gain a toehold among granite boulders.

Stoic indifferent they seem to mock.

Pilgrimage The ringing cowbell like a call to prayer, causes my head to lift into the driving Galician rain.

Beware, it will leave no hint or clue, foot or finger print, to point the way or mourn at your passing.

A flake or two of silica to wind and rain, they’ve ceded since sun-dews formed and giant antlers challenged the wind. Laughing as our footprints fade.

Like a million moons before.

Earth Connection

As we face up a hillside of open pasture, cows with udders swaying make their way towards the centre of a field feeding on the lush grass.

She wipes with reverence the last remaining earth from the potatoes, gathering as she goes the precious soil to be returned to hard won beds of stone walled fields.

We follow the well worn path.

The Camino Santiago. one step closer.

The lives of generations slip through worn hands, casting shadows

100 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

Larry Scully lives in South Dublin. A human rights supporter, creativity plays a large part in his life. Currently, he is working towards publishing his debut collection A Sliver of Moon.

A trained men’s health worker, he’s involved in a project funded through the Inner City Drugs Task Force. He’s the first mate on the Rinn Voyager (berthed at the Poolbeg Yacht Club Marina), a sail training after care rehabilitation service to recovering addicts and those at risk.

Crossword Crossword Number 86 by Zoë Devlin

ACROSS 1 & 49 5 8 11 16 & 22 A. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 26 27 29 31 32 33 34 37 39 43 44 45 46 47 50 51 52 53 55 58 59 60 63 65 69 71 72 73 74 76 78 80 81 82 84 85 88 89 92 93 95 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

D. Blind composer & harper, born 1670 (8,1’7) Hence ... therefore (4) Thomas ___, poet, songwriter, wrote ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ (5) Savouring or testing quality of food (7) It’s our heftiest china for these musicians led by Paddy Moloney! (3,10) Wanderer - one without permanent home (5) Thief or housebreaker (7) Share of the profits (3) Relating to those on the list of voters (9) St ___, patron saint of Cork (7) See 16 Across.

Feel sorrow or mourn over loss (6) Profuse, abundant, lavish (4) Gremlins or elves (4) Vigorous or enthusiastic enjoyment (5) Mayhem, bedlam, state of confusion (5) Octogenarian film star, ___ Eastwood (5) Word which describes extremely dry champagne (4) Burns caused by hot liquid (6) French sculptor of ‘The Kiss’ (5) See 14 D. City of the Angels (1.1.)

French couturier, creator of the ‘New Look’ (4) Jewelled headdress (5) Excessively fat (5) Could be Sinead or Mary Mitchell? (1’6) A prompt for Ken Doherty? (3) Liquorice-flavouring in children’s round sweets? (7) Commiseration or compassion (4) Former Portuguese colony in India (3) US state of Salt Lake City (4) Body of citizens in court of law (4) Also known as President Dwight Eisenhower (3) Canine tooth of carnivorous animal (4) Pampers or mollycoddles (7) Health resort near a spring (3) Thawing (7) Filthy, cruel or otherwise, it means money! (5) Part of your five a day (5) Notion or thought (4) 10+1 in Latin numerals (2) Spanish women with assertion? (9) Edgar ___, French painter of ballet dancers (5) See 58 Down. & 28 D. Count ___ ___ , Irish operatic tenor (4,9) Could be Cecelia or Bertie? (5) Rigid tissue that makes up our skeletons (5) Founder of Rhodesia, ___ Rhodes (5) Colours or tones (4) Charolais or Herefords provide us with this (4) Projectiles shot from a bow (6) Moon starer or one who studies the stars (10) Difficult to catch or detect (7) Capital of Scotland (9) Heavy bladed instrument for chopping (3) Make a pig of oneself (7) 19th c. Irish composer of nocturnes, John ___ (5) Metallic element used in canning foods (3) Zsa Zsa, Magda & Eva for instance (7) Structures for birds to lay eggs in (5) Band of material worn from shoulder to hip (4) Personification of the U.S. government (5,3)

102 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

DOWN 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 & 39 15 24 25 28 30 31 33 35 36 37 38 40 41 42 48 49 54 56 57 58 61 62 63 64 66 67 68 70 75 77 79 82 83 85 86 87 88 90 91 94 95 96 97

Having a pleasing musical sound (7) Queens roam through this style of architecture? (10) Severe experience (6) Surname of those 103A girls (5) Dividing in two (7) Bitter conflicts or discords (7) Child’s construction set, can come in handy? (7) English writer of ‘Loot’, Joe ___ (5) Fencing sword found in a tepee? (4) One of two or more layers or levels (4) Critical or mocking humour (9) Benjamin Netanyahu or Daniel Barenboim (7) A.Wrote/sang ‘Alone again, naturally’ (7,1’8) Early spring-flowering garden bulb (6) Wheedled - coaxed (7) Formerly currency of Portugal (6) See 81 Across Also - excessively (3) Performance of music by players or singers (7) Michael ___, composer of ‘The Bohemian Girl’ (5) A vital Baltic state (6) 1950 Oscar-winning film, starred Alan Ladd (5) Children’s writer of dark stories, ___ Dahl (5) Sag, loll or wilt (5) At least ten naive Italians call themselves this! (8) Compass point at 0 or 360 degrees (5) One of the founders of Fianna Fail, Frank ___ (5) It’s alright, found in Brooklyn & Tokyo! (1.1) See 1 Across Persistently stubborn (9) Round flat seed - makes super soup (6) Could be Parnell’s Kitty or actor Milo (1’4) & 80 A. Belfast’s ‘Man with the golden flute’ (5,6) Covered passageways, often with shops (7) 19th c. Norwegian composer, Edvard ___ (5) See new faces in these small coffee shops (5) Irritated or hurt as by a wasp (5) Could be Boru or O’Driscoll (5) ‘Yes’ to 76 Across (2) So cling - to the conclusion (7) Redford and DiCaprio portrayed ‘The Great ___‘ (6) Sadness from being alone - or less online? (10) Energy such as solar or wind (9) In a divided house, it’s opposite to ‘No’ (3) 80’s film based on Mozart (7) Insects with large pair of pincers at rear (7) Brass musical instruments played with valves (7) Ravines formed by rivers (7) An imp lets you see these conical-shelled mollusks (7) African/American district of Manhattan (6) Liberty - power to act without imposed restraints (7) Expressing pain or sorrow (6) Scorches or burns slightly (5) Sir ___ John, English singer, songwriter & pianist (5) Large vases - sounds like makes money? (4) Slender, wisplike, lacking excess flesh (4)

Three Senior Times subscriptions to be won!

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es SeniorTimSenior Times SeniorTimes age who don’t act their The magazine for people

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Issue 66 November 2013 €3.95 (£3.20)

The magazine ffor or people who don’ don’t ’t act the their eir age

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The prize in this issue’s crossword competition is three subscription’s to Senior Times.

The first three correct entries drawn are the winners.

Kenny Confidential On ye

r bike!

Shay interviews TheHealy heal th benefits Pat Kenny

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Masterful Miriam Shay Healy talks

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Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie 103

When the electric light came to Kilcarry

Modern history

Connie McEvoy recalls a momentous moment in her family’s history According to an entry in my mother’s diary on Monday January 9th 1956 as follows, ’Men putting wire on outside of house, started to snow’. All residents of Kilcarry had been notified that the electric light would soon be installed in the homes of willing recipients, some householders were cautious and decided to wait and see how things would pan out before consenting to installation.

Tilly and oil lamps (including the Sacred Heart lamp with the red globe), candles and lanterns were used in our house/farmyard, as well as wet and dry batteries for the wireless, a box iron with two heaters, and a huge end over end Llewellyn churn in which I churned 8 or 10 lbs of butter every week from the age of 12 years (I was even tasked to paint it Nile green and the lettering in black enamel). I couldn’t wait for the ‘electric light’ to happen! As it was Monday Mam had made the usual delicious hash/stew from the leftover meat of the Sunday lamb joint and offered helpings to the 3 men at dinner time, they eagerly accepted but declined to eat in the kitchen with us opting to eat in the bullock shed instead!

Entry on January 16th: ‘Mulvihill here wiring house, beautiful day, Jan 17th. Finished wiring, paid £9 (seven lights) . Next entry Feb14th. ‘At ICA meeting all members making lampshades, I was delighted to be allowed to make one for my own bedroom, still making lampshades on Feb 28th and when members had made enough for themselves they made and donated lampshades to senior citizens who lived alone in the townland and had no way of travelling to the nearest towns Tullow and Bunclody in order to buy lampshades’.

At last on Feb 16th the entry in Mam’s diary read:’E S B switched on’. At this stage we were pleased that there was light every where in the house, but I missed warming my feet from the heat of the Tilly lamp before getting into bed at night (slept in the room over the kitchen, heat penetrated the rafters).

Next entry, Monday Feb18th 1957: ‘J Kealy & W White here doing wiring, this time we got an outside light plus sockets for a radio, iron and kettle as far as I can remember but I still had to turn Llewellyn by hand! and walk four fields to the far bog in order to fetch enough spring water to give the butter the recommended three washings before being made into blocks and pats, this was an achievement in itself as a swamp had to be crossed before getting home safely with two buckets of water (one needed the balance skills of a ballet dancer then). A rest was always taken at the bottom of the ‘field under the house’, while sitting on the grass butterflies, tiny red velvety God’s cows, grasshoppers, horse flies and gad flies could be observed and the mini gabhar, corn crake and cuckoo heard.

Final entry Re ESB: ‘Mon Jan 4th1960- Connie went to Termonfeckin’.

As a member of Bunclody Macra na Tuaithe I was awarded and attended a six week scholarship course consisting of lectures, educational films, and specialised instruction on the use of electricity in the following subjects: cooking, laundering, housekeeping, poultry-keeping, dairying, gardening, dressmaking and handicraft. This course was held at An Grianan and sponsored by the ESB. The churns, sewing machines, cookers, irons, pressers, washing machines, milking machines, carpet sweepers and glass houses, hen and broiler houses were all powered by electricity and there was plenty of hot and cold water on tap.

Having arrived at An Grianan that evening together with 12 others from around the country we were asked to go to the Kellogg hall in order to provide an audience for members of Termonfeckin Macra na Feirme as they practiced for a public speaking/debating county final competition. Among those present was Mickey Mc Evoy of Tubbertoby who was introduced to me and thanks to Macra and the ESB, ‘a switch was flicked ‘– we were married three years later.

104 Senior Times l March - April 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie

The lampshade that I made for my bedroom in 1956 stayed there for thirty years, when my brother built his house nearby thirty years ago Mam gave it to him and it is still as good as new having spent all those years in an upstairs bathroom there.

I am unable to remember what the material used was called, it seemed to resemble an ivory embossed plastic yet more pliable than plastic and more durable than parchment.

Pink plastic thronging was used at the top and bottom edges.

My father allowed us to use a new hand sheep shearing shears when cutting the material to the required size and his leather punch from the stable window ledge when making the holes for the thronging.

I really enjoyed attending the monthly meetings of Clonegal guild I C A with my mother as when the business was dealt with ( very efficiently) all members worked at crafts, chatted, sang and enjoyed tea and goodies before going home.

There is a newspaper cutting in an old diary of mine of an AGM report from Clonegal ICA guild stating that Miss Maura Doyle was elected secretary and Miss C Kelly (yours truly) was elected assistant secretary for 1957/1958.

Thank you Liam, Mary and Juliann Kelly for doing the needful (photo etc) so that it was possible to conclude this article.

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