floor had to be re-lifted to open a drain underneath. Billy Keane RIP came to give us a hand, digging the drains,
as he was a fan of
Declan
Nerney's and he was worried Declan might drownl!ll We
also got the dyke between Leans and Doran's filled in. Moving the marquee and
filling the dyke
provided badly needed extra parking
places. Local man,
SeSn
got the filling from
Peter
Enright, did the work and we
Galwey's quarry, Fahaduff. It cost C4,031 to complete but Kerry Co. Co, paid €3,000,
This was the last year we placed the open-air dance
platform at the memorial site. We got balloons specially
printed with a Dan Paddy Andy Festival logo to mark
our 15th. The
festival jackets. committee got hi-vis We also engaged portable toilets for the first time.
We held a
waltzing competition during the Ceili with dancing trophies sponsored by the Mangan Family. In 2013 Michael
Lyons sponsored them. For the past three years Larry
O'Connor, Farm Supplies, Duaqh have sponsored the trophies. Also in 2012 loe Harrington put pen to paper
and wrote, what has become the anthem of our festival, 'The Dan Paddy Andy Festival is here'. We use lines from this song when we make our own recording of the advert
for the festival which goes out on Radio
Kerry.
2014 saw us Purchase sandwiches,
for the first time. for our boq walk. Up to then we were up early on a l4onday morning to make them. Each year Chris and Pat Quinn prepare the
bog for the turf cutting experience along with having the sledn and pike ready. I\4ossy Long is always on hand on the day of the walk
to help out. We use part of Bord na l46na bog in Carrigcannon for our bog walk. Bord na M6na sold the bog in 2Or4 but they informed the new owner of our link with it. Since 2014 all our meetings are held at'The Glen'. During one of our early
first time performing in
Lyreacrompane. The group
have been travelling to England since 2000 to entertain lrish exiles. At
break-time the punters were treated to a cup6n Tea and a slice of the special 2oth Dan Paddy Andy cake which was sponsored by Eirn Lyons,
fil
festivals Valentine Trodd, Editor of the Bord na Mona publication, Sceal na Mona,
brought down the silver sle5n that was used by De Valeria to cut the inaugural sod in the very first national turfcutting competitions in 1934 from Bord na M6na's Peatland World Museum in Co. Kildare.
Jer Keane, Kilmorna,
has
been providing the outdoor
sound since 2014. 2015 saw Dan Paddy Andy go
on social media for the first time. Irish TV came to Lyreacrompane in 2016 to record our bog walk. This was the first year that local falconer, Eric Witkowski, was
with us. Eric put on a fantastic display with his
birds of prey and walkers were delighted to have the birds flying alongside them during the walk.
For our 20th festival we extended it to a five day
event. lohn O'Sullivan of Lee Strand, Tralee, was our main sponsor. on approaching John for support he didn't
hesitate
on affirming Lee
Strandinvolvement.
The
festival opened with a mighty Irish Rambling House Show.
Even though organised by lyre locals, it was the group's 12
I li
$
I
.--+rr4-.-i-taa, Padraig Doran had made a field available for us to hold our maiden sheep dog trials but unfortunately we had to
cancel it owing to bad weather. This year we organised
a 5k and 10k
run/walk fundraiser for charity. It was the first 10k to be held in Lyreacrompane on what turned out to be a very bad morning, weather wise, but the event was a great success. Refreshments for the event were sponsored by Martin lames Leane 'Lidl', lohn O'Sullivan Lee Strand Tralee, Donal O'Connor'Total Produce' Tralee
and
Peter & Carry Tralee. The assistance we had from Listowel Gardai before and on the morning of the walk was very supportive.
Clifford 'Cliffords Cash
[4embers of our community who came on board to help
with the organising were, Bridget Long, Marie Murray,
Christy Donoghue,
Billy Connell, Michael Carmody, Noel lvlurray, Eirn Lyons,
