Senior Times Magazine Sept-Oct 2019

Issue 101 September - October 2019

Times

NOW E3.00/£2.75

The magazine for people who don’t act their age

Cracking the code:

Gentleman Jack’s journey to the screen

Mediterranean mood food: What to eat to help beat depression

Tipping point:

Life and times of John Henry Newman

On top down under: New Zealand’s challenging hikes.

PLUS: Mary O’Rourke – Creative Writing - Competitions – Motoring – Travel – Gardening - Health - Meeting Place and much more...

Issue 101 - September - October 2019

Contents 6

News:

52

2

Gentleman Jack:

Lorna Hogg explains the background of the central character of the popular TV series and visits the places associated with the series

6

Tipping point:

10 Eamonn Lynskey on the life and impending canonisation of John Henry Newman Reeling back the years:

On the eve of the publication of her latest novel Muriel Bolger recounts episodes from her early life and her father’s cinematic obsession

14

What on in the arts:

Guess the year:

Another teaser from Gerry Perkins

68 Golf no handicap:

Pat Keenan hacks his way around two championship courses in Mallorca

Up ‘the staircase’ down under:

52 72-year-old Greg Butler tackles the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, one of New Zealand’s most challenging one day hikes.

Technology corner:

18

22

Mary’s Musings:

24 In her latest observations Mary discusses Daniel O’Connell, Noel Whelan, Edna O’Brien, Leo Varadkar, Christine Lagarde and much else.

56

Fitness and activity:

62 Conor O’Hagan shows you how to keep fit as you grow older Wine World:

Is there a future for wine?

50

65

Mediterranean Mood Food:

68 What to eat to help beat depression and live a healthier longer life.

Recipes from Paula Mee’s bestselling cookbook Motoring:

72

Western Ways:

George Keegan on happenings along the Western Seaboard

74

Creative writing:

32

Tips on retirement:

How to plan and enjoy retirement

80

Golf:

38

Northern Notes:

84

Know Your rights:

Advice for the Citizens Information Service

90

Meeting place: Crossword: Crafts:

92 94 96

Dublin Dossier:

40 In his first roundup of events in the capital Pat Keenan visits the Dracula festival, the Lucian Freud/Jack Yeats exhibition at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainhan, as well as the re-opening of Carlucci’s in Dawson Street and gets time to sample the legendary breakfast at Stauntons on the Green

Front cover: Suranne Jones, who plays Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack Publishing Directors: Brian McCabe, Des Duggan Editorial Director: John Low Advertising: Willie Fallon Design & Production: www.cornerhouse.ie Contributors: Lorna Hogg, Dermot Gilleece, Maretta Dillon, 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

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News Now Irish Heart Foundation seeks E20 packet of cigarettes by 2025 The Irish Heart Foundation is urging the Government to take a more dynamic approach to reducing smoking rates by committing to tax hikes that will increase the price of a packet of cigarettes to at least €20 by 2025, in addition to more than quadrupling funding for quit services to €50 million a year.

In its pre-Budget submission, the Foundation says that 20 per cent of people over 16 – some 800,000 people – are still classed as current smokers and more has to be done to meet the Government’s flagship health objective of a Tobacco Free Ireland – fewer than 5 per cent of people smoking – by 2025.

Irish Heart Foundation Head of Advocacy, Chris Macey, said ‘The number of current smokers in Ireland has fallen by 80,000 in the last three years, which represents good progress, but to achieve a tobacco-free Ireland we need further reductions of around 100,000 smokers each year for the next six years.

NUI: 50 years of inspiring and engaging adult learners

NUI started its first adult education courses in 1969

‘Evidence shows that tax increases are the most effective way of reducing smoking rates.

A dual approach that combines this with improved support for the vast majority of smokers who want to quit is vital if the Government is serious about hitting this target.’

With a packet of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category currently costing €13, it would require a pro-rata increase of just under €1.17 per pack for each of the next six Budgets for the price to reach €20, ignoring any 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Adult Education at NUI Galway. NUI Galway started its first ‘Extra-Mural Adult Education’ courses in 1969 with a focus on community & regional education. These courses covered topics like local development and empowering people to provide leadership in their communities.

Many of these early courses were the predecessors to some of the part-time degree and diploma options still offered at the Centre for Adult Learning & Professional Development today.

Over the past five decades Adult Learning has continued to develop a wide range of part-time, flexible courses for Adult Learners that have been delivered regionally through classroom-based learning, nationally through blended learning and now internationally through online learning.

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additional increases imposed by the tobacco industry.

Meanwhile, the Irish Heart Foundation is also proposing increasing funding to services which help smokers quit, including medications, smoking cessation services, the national Quitline, and mass media campaigns. Currently, the State spends just €11.8 millions a year on cessation. In its pre-Budget submission, the Irish Heart Foundation is calling for this to be increased to €50 million a year.

Courses allow students to study at their own pace in a wide range of subject areas such as: Arts & Social Sciences, Languages, Business & Management, Science & Technology, Training & Education, Early Childhood Studies and Community Education.

For adult learners who do not have the time to undertake a full part-time course, the option to register for an individual module for the purposes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit is available www.nuigalway.ie/cpd.

The Centre also offers a series of short, non-accredited courses in a number of different subject areas every Autumn. For further information check out the Centre for Adult Learning and Professional Development’s website: www.nuigalway.ie/adultlearning

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News AMD Awareness Week from 7th to the 15th September

Cork nursing home launches Memory Care Village

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the number one cause of sight loss in Ireland for those aged over 50. More than 100,000 people in Ireland aged over 50 are living with AMD. The earlier AMD is detected, the sooner it can be treated to reduce its progression. Over 7,000 new cases of AMD are diagnosed each year in Ireland.

The symptoms, including blurred vision, distortion, and dark spots, often go unrecognised in the early stages of the condition so it is crucial that those aged 50 and over, get their eyes tested regularly.

AMD Awareness Week runs with the theme of ‘Sightsee with Me’, aiming to celebrate the nation’s love of sightseeing and travelling, particularly across Ireland’s stunning landscapes, rugged terrain and beauty sights.

The campaign aims to inform people about the symptoms of AMD and highlight the importance of maintaining good eye health to continue to enjoy impressive sights with the ones they love.

A national tour of the ‘Sightsee with Me’ bus stop will embark across Ireland during AMD Awareness Week helping inform those at risk as well as their caregivers and the wider public.

The new AMD Symptom Checker will be available to the public at the pop-up bus stop during AMD Awareness Week and is also available at www.amd.ie.

An Saol assists survivors of Acquired Brain Injury Established in 2014, An Saol is dedicated to giving survivors of Acquired Brain Injury every opportunity to live their lives with dignity and respect, to continue to improve, to regain as much independence and self-determination as possible, and for their injuries to heal, supported by adequate therapies.

To achieve its goals, the Foundation promotes awareness about sABI and neurological rehabilitation, supports research, delivers neurological rehabilitation services, raises funds, and engages in other, related support activities.

In 2016, the HSE awarded An Saol E1.5 million for their proposed three- year pilot project.

The pilot project will combine specialised neurorehabilitation day therapies, innovative technology and person- centred care to initially support the lives and long- term living requirements of 3-5 persons who have acquired a severe brain injury.

Finally, after many delays, the Foundation will open its Day Facility doors to clients in midSeptember 2019.

Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly T.D., recently officially launch of a multi-million-euro private investment plan to develop a ‘pioneering’ Memory Care Village at Oaklodge Nursing Home in Cloyne, Co. Cork.

The family-owned and run facility, which recently received a 100 per cent full compliance rating from HIQA, is set to more than double in size and capacity from 24,000 sq ft to 56,000 sq ft, increasing from 65 beds to 120 beds when it opens in 2020, providing 55 new jobs for the region.

The new Memory Care Village, which will be situated adjacent to the existing nursing home, will have 8 independent houses and all residents will have their own private gardens and front door, giving an even greater sense of independence. Each home will be shared by 6-7 residents, all with private rooms. These pioneering efforts to provide improved private care facilities are being made in response to the Government’s call earlier this year to develop more independent living spaces for older people living in care.

The village, which was designed by Scott Tallon Walker Architects and is inspired by the Blasket Islands, will also have a gym, spa, hair salon, shop, post office, art studio, and chapel, making it the largest dementia care village of its scale and kind in Ireland.

For more information visit www.oaklodgenursinghome.ie .

Number of people aged 50 and over has increased by 330,000 in the past decade - SOLAS The number of people aged 50 years or over resident in Ireland has increased by 330,000 over a ten-year period since 2008. That’s according to SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority, who has launched a report by their Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) into the labour market of older workers. Older workers are classified here as people aged 50 years and over.

The report looked into the education levels of older workers. Findings from the report include: • Of the 425,000 persons employed aged 50 to 59, 41% had an upper secondary education; and • Of those in employment with a third level qualification, two thirds had gained their qualification before 2000. #The report also looked into those aged 60 and older. Of this age group, 22 per cent of the population were in employment in 2018. Breaking this down further: • 61 per cent were male; • Just over 38 per cent were self-employed; • Agriculture, health and wholesale/retail were the sectors with the most people in employment aged over 60.

Further information on SOLAS can be found here: www.SOLAS.ie.

The Dublin Mint Office celebrates 50 years of ‘one giant leap for mankind’

The sets bear unique designs celebrating one of the most historic and iconic achievements in modern history. The coins and ingots were produced by the United States Mint and are limited to just 500 issues each.

The Magnificent Desolation 50th Anniversary Gold Set includes a ¼ ounce gold

$5 coin and a 5 gram gold ingot. The Giant Leap for Mankind 50th Anniversary Set includes a silver 5 ounce $1 coin and a 2.5 gram gold ingot.

The Dublin Mint Office has launched two limited edition coin and ingot sets to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, which took place on 20th July 1969. The sets bear unique designs celebrating one of the most historic and iconic achievements in modern history. The coins and ingots were produced by the United States Mint and are limited to just 500 issues each.

The Magnificent Desolation 50th Anniversary Gold Set includes a ¼ ounce gold $5 coin and a 5 gram gold ingot. The Giant Leap for Mankind 50th Anniversary Set includes a silver 5 ounce $1 coin and a 2.5 gram gold ingot.

4 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

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History

Jack

of all trades

Lorna Hogg traces the historical background to the characters and places associated with the BBC TV’s phenomenally successful series Gentleman Jack

Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) with her long-time lover Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle)

No fragile charms here - the latest TV heroine is a reality based nineteenth century landowner, who, as the first acknowledged modern lesbian, dressed androgynously in severe black, was a mine owner, social snob, ‘inventive’ political campaigner and staunch Tory. She was also a predatory and manipulative seducer, very interested in money, who often ‘loved where money was.’ Niche viewing, you might think. Yet Gentleman Jack, has achieved considerable international fame - and equal increases in location tourism Anne Lister has become famed for her diaries.

Their four million words record full details of family life, contemporary social, political and business life – and also the encoded full, frank and intimate details of taboo (to her) subjects - her sex life, money and clothes.

Anne was born on 3rd April 1791, In Halifax, Yorkshire, the second child and eldest daugh-

ter of Jeremy, a retired military officer, and Rebecca Lister. Of the family of seven children, Anne and her sister Marian were the only survivors to make it beyond twenty years of age.

They first lived at Skelfler House in the Yorkshire wolds, but regularly visited their uncle James and aunt Anne at fifteenth century Shibden Hall, in nearby Calderdale, which Anne grew to love. A natural tomboy, educated at home, and at the local vicarage, she was an enthusiastic scholar. Her exasperated mother finally sent her to the Manor House school in York, where she met her first love, a beautiful Anglo - Indian girl, Eliza Raine. The two shared a bedroom, but after a year Anne was asked to leave. The extent of their relationship is unknown. Eliza ended her days in an asylum – and Anne continued to ‘love, and only love, the fairer sex..’

A wide ranging education had expanded her

6 Senior Times l September - Octobert 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

increasingly diverse interests, ranging from music Classics to philosophy and anatomy studies.She also proved to be a good estate manager and in a family noted for bad money management, became her uncle James’s heir.

Her diaries reveal, however, that she wasn’t as confident as she liked to appear. Anne was physically courageous. She loved travel, then risky and very uncomfortable. She climbed mountains, including Mounts Perdito, and Vignemale and travelled on one of the early trains. She was a good horsewoman, and later endured treatment for venereal diseases.

However, she often felt a failure in life. She also noted that ‘I was not born to live alone,’ and continuously hankered for a loving relationship with another woman. Social position and money played a part in her choices.

Anne’s social position undoubtedly protected her from much adverse reaction to her sexual

Sutton Park appearing as Ann Walker’s home, is about 8 miles from York. It is privately owned, but open to the public in summer and on certain days

Shibden Hall, Anne Lister’s real as well as screen home, dating from the fifteenth century, is now a museum.

and lifestyle choices. Social response then ranged from incredulity that lesbianism could even exist, to nicknames such as `Gentleman Jack,’ and occasional attempted attacks.

The number of Anne’s lovers suggest that it was not uncommon. However, her assertive personal style and dress, drew attention in an age of demure femininity – and socially embarrassed some of her lovers.

Mariana Belcombe was one such. She met Anne in 1813, but three years later married a wealthy land owner, Charles Lawton. However Mariana and their relationship, would remain in Anne’s life. She joined the married pair on several tours. One was to Dublin in 1826, where they all admired the fine buildings and `delicious’ food.

In 1826 Anne inherited Shibden on the death of her uncle. However, income still had to be paid to her father, aunt Anne, and sister Marian.

Her father also decided to take on the ‘role’ of lord of manor, and tact was necesssary over financial decisions.

Travel gave Anne a taste for aristocratic style - and another lover, Vere Hobart. However, the ambitious and socially aware Vere also left Anne to marry. The latter returned to Shibden in 1832, discovering that her young neighbour Ann Walker, whom she had first met some years previously, had become an heiress – albeit from ‘new money.’ A carefully planned seduction followed, but the unsure Walker ended their relationship, due to concern about the social consequences of a public choice to be with Anne. The latter, in typical style, dealt with her pain by more travel.

Drawing on some new aristocratic friends, Anne travelled to European cities, including Copenhagen. Following up on contacts and introductions, she enjoyed a range of social

events in the city, receiving an invitation to a royal presentation.

On her return, due to life threatening illness of her much loved aunt, she and Ann Walker were reunited, and decided to commit to each other. They privately celebrated their ‘union’ on February 10th 1834, at Holy Trinity Church Goodramgate in York. The honeymoon was typical Anne - Paris, Switzerland, with the Great St. Bernard Pass, the Rhone Valley,Belgium, Germany and even the Pyrenees.

On their return, life’s realities awaited them.

The two moved into Shibden, where Anne’s sister Marian announced she was considering marriage. This would threaten Anne’s propects if children were born, and she started to pressure Ann over money. Lawyers started work on financial positions, and the pair also started to disagree even over domestic spending.

There was also some public comment on the

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 7

History

The Lister family from left: Anne, Suranne Jones, Mrs Lister, Gemma Jones, Mr Lister, Timothy West, sister Marian Lister, Gemma Whelan relationship – an ‘announcement’ of the marriage between Ann and a Captain Tom Lister appeared in the local paper.

On April 3rd, 1836, Anne’s forty fifth birthday, her father Jeremy died. After the funeral, Marian left the house, and Anne started alterations at once. She planned modernisation, and a new tower to house her library. The new colliery also needed investment. Despite now receiving her father’s income, Anne needed more money - and pressured Ann. Atttempts to create inclusion in the latter’s will led to rows and increasing relationship problems. The pair tried a fresh start – a long trip, out to France, where Anne climbed Mt. Vignemale in the Pyrenees In June 1839, they set out on another long trip, to Denmark, Sweden and Norway, then Finland, St. Petersburg and Moscow, with plenty of splendid invitations. Anne was, however, determined to visit the Caucasus mountains, and in February 1840 they set off, following the Volga river to arrive at Tiblisi. Kutaisi in Georgia came next, and they visited Jgali on 11th August 1840, as Anne noted in her diary.

It was her last entry. She died of a presumed fever - typhus, or malaria after an insect bite, on September 22nd, 1840.

Ann brought her wife’s embalmed body home, on a journey of over 1200 miles, to be buried in Halifax on 29th April 1841, in the family crypt.

When she saw the debts and accounts of spending, Ann must surely have wondered if she had been married for her money. Her weakening mental state led to her being sent to the York asylum –ironically, the place where Anne’s first lover Maria was held. However, an elderly aunt took pity on Ann and gave her a home, until her 1854 death. Shibden Hall remained in the family until 1923, becoming a museum in 1934.

The cracking of the code of Anne Lister’s

Timothy West plays Anne’s long suffering and patient father

diaries is a drama in itself - involving a century of family outrage, hidden manuscripts, code breaking, cover-ups, censorship and finally, social acceptance of female sexuality. The diaries cover a wide range of areas – Anne’s observations on local and political life, scientific discoveries, her travels, but the top public interest has been in the detailing of lesbian sexuality.

However, she decided to leave the lesbian aspects out of her publications.

In 1855, John Lister Senior, from the Welsh branch of the family, inherited Shibden Hall. His son John was brought up there, and as a child he loved to examine the old curling papers and manuscripts of earlier generations. He grew especially inerested in the calf bound diaries of `Mrs. Lister.’ When he inherited Shibden, his curiosity about the encoded sections led him to ask a noted antiquarian and friend, Arthur Burrell for help. One night, they cracked the code and found ‘an intimate account of homosexual practices among Miss Lister and her many `friends’. Hardly any one of them escaped her. Greek, Zodiac and mathematical signs and symbols were used by Anne to candidly record - and rate, her sexual encounters.

In 1984, a mature student, Helena Whitbread, was looking for a research project at the library when she was told of the diaries – and the existence of a code. Her published works, 1988 and 1992, using some uncensored passages, caused shock and claims of forgery. In 2010 the BBC screened a romantic rather than sexualised drama of Lister’s relationships – The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister

A horrified Burrell told Lister to burn the diaries at once. However, Lister hesitated, knowing that they were social documentation. Instead, he hid them behind some carefully removed panelling at Anne’s study at Shibden – which he then replaced. Wood panelling was placed to cover the door. However, intriguingly, Lister left the window in place – perhaps so that future generations would notice it, and explore to find the room?

He died in 1933, and left Shibden to Halifax Corporation. As he had perhaps intended, the diaries were found during initial clear-outs. The Municipal Librarian, Edward Green tracked down the elderly Burrell, who gave him the code. It was then passed to the Librarian’s daughter Muriel Green in 1933,who was next to examine the enormous amount of material.

8 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Vivien Ingham discovered the diaries in the 1940s, and worked on them with a friend, Phyllis Ramsden. However, the two also vehemently disagreed over what should be revealed, and Ingham’s 1985 death meant that the full version of Anne Lister’s diaries remained unknown.

Muriel Greene, by now 83, then published a reduced version of her earlier work in 1992.

Next came social historian Jill Liddington, who transcribed and digitalised the entire diary – which she estimated to have been round four million words. She has published books (1998 and 2003) and numerous articles, and concentrated on Lister’s relationship with Ann Walker – as well as her political and entrepreneurial activities.

The characters..

Viewers who enjoy identifying familiar screen faces have plenty to enjoy in Gentleman Jack - and Coronation Street regulars have more than most. A surprising number of the cast has appeared on The Street – but are such good actors that it may take the eagle eyed to spot them. Don’t forget the ultimate Coronation Street connection, however. Gentleman Jack’s TV creator, Sally Wainwright, developed her writing skills on The Street.

Suranne Jones, who plays Anne Lister, recently achieved TV acclaim in Scott and

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History Bailey, and as Dr. Foster. However, she will also be familiar to Street fans from her role as Karen McDonald, Steve’s ex-wife, with emotional scenes and memorable fights in Rover’s Return.

Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York where Anne Lister and Ann Walker celebrated their ‘union’

Sophie Rundle plays Ann Walker, Anne Lister’s ‘compantion’. She has appeared in Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley and The Bletchley Circle Amelia Bullmore plays Eliza Priestly, the wife of Ann Walker’s cousin William. She became a popular Street character in her role as Steph Barnes.

Amy-James Kelly,The Northern Irish actress, plays Suzannah Washington, the girlfriend of ` nice guy’ farmer Thomas Sowden, who exacted revenge for bullying by his father. In Coronation Street, Amy played Sophy Webster’s girlfriend Maddie.

Stephanie Cole takes on the role of Aunt Ann Walker, whose role is to guard Ann from fortune hunters. A long established English actress, she found recent fame in her Street role as Roy Cropper’s unsympathetic mother .

Shaun Dooley appears as Jeremiah Lawson, brother to Anne’s crafty business rival, Christopher. He achieved fame in the Street for his portrayal of the estranged husband of Samantha Failsworth.

Katherine Kelly plays Ann Walker’s sister Elizabeth. She also gave a superb performance as Coronation Street’s Becky, yet another of Steve McDonald’s love interests.

Timothy West plays Anne’s long suffering and patient father. He adds to his reputation for versatility, ranging from classical stage roles to his TV series on canal trips with wife Prunella Scales.

Gentleman Jack – the Irish inspiration?

Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) was born into the wealthy and powerful Butler family, the Earls and later, Dukes of Ormond, whose seat was Kilkenny Castle. Yet the life which awaited her as ‘an overeducated bookworm,’ after an education in a French convent, did not appeal. Fifteen miles away, near Woodstock, lived Sarah Ponsonby (1755 -1831.) She was related to the 3rd Earl of Bessborough – Lady Caroline Lamb was a family member. Eleanor and Sarah met in 1768, and quickly formed a friendship. One thing they had in common was the probability that both faced a likely unwanted marriage, to a ‘suitable’ man Both families were horrified when in 1778, the two decided to run away together, and set up a rural retreat. They were tracked down and brought home. Yet neither would change their

minds. Their families eventually gave in and the two departed for Wales, with a family servant, Mary Caryll, who lived with them.

Their travels took them to Wales, where in 1780, they eventually settled in rural Denbighshire, at Llangollen, with nothing but a very small allowance from their families. They purchased a small cottage, which they called Plas Newydd, and proceeded to upgrade it with Gothic touches, and surrounded it with a splendid garden. Both had the tastes of their background, and were soon in debt.

The fame of ‘The Ladies’ spread, in part because in those days, ladies simply did not live independently. They attracted visitors, many on the Dublin to London trail – ranging from Wordsworth and Shelley to Sir Walter Scott, Josiah Wedgwood and Lady Caroline Lamb. Queen Charlotte and Byron were penfriends, and the former was so taken with them that she persuaded the King to give them a pension.

The two happily lived a ‘rather unexciting life’ involved in literature and language studies – and developing Plas Newydd. In their older years, they dressed in black riding habits, with top hats. This was noted by Anne Lister, who visited in July 1822. It is said that she was inspired enough by their relationship and lifestyle to consider living with her lover. She was also inspired by their garden, and modelled aspects of Shibden’s gardens on Plas Newydd.

Eleanor Butler died in 1829, and Sarah Ponsonby in 1831. They are buried, along with Mary Caryll, in St. Collen’s Church, Llangollen in Denbighshire. www.denbighshire.gov.uk

Visit the locations..

Gentleman Jack is unusual in that the original setting and filming were both based in Yorkshire, in the beautiful Calderdale countryside.

The good news for visitors is that much of it which is within easy reach of Leeds. The West Yorkshire Metro transport system provides good access to a wide variety of the film locations.

10 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Shibden Hall: Anne Lister’s real as well as screen home, dating from the fifteenth century, is now a museum. It can be reached by bus or train from Huddersfield or Bradford, both of which are on the West Yorkshire Metro line.

Sowerby Bridge: The countryside in the vicinity was used in filming of Anne’s coal mine.

St Peter’s Church was used in filming of the scenes of the marriage of Mariana. It can be reached from Leeds, on the Metro line.

Halifax: town centre was also used in filming go by Metro line.

Bradford: The Little Germany area was used for filming.

Huddersfield: Lawrence Batley Theatre, doubled as the solicitors’ offices, and appears in some stormy encounters involving Anne.

York: was a major filming site for the production. The ancient Fairfax House, (now a museum) Gray’s Court (a hotel) and The Treasurer’s House (National Trust) all appeared. One of the most important scenes - the vows taken between Anne and Ann Walker, was filmed in the ancient Holy Trinity Church in Goodramgate. York can be easily reached from Leeds on the Metro line.

Sutton Park: , appearing as Ann Walker’s home, is about 8 miles from York. It is privately owned, but open to the public in summer and on certain days. Group visits can also be arranged. Check West Yorkshire Metro service for buses.

Other houses used in filming include the beautiful Oakwell Hall ,out in Birstall, is open to the public, and accessible from Skipton. Newby is near the pretty market town of Ripon. https://www.yorkshire.com/ https//:museums.calderdale.gov.uk https://www.historichouses.org htpps/:www.wymetro.com

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History

John Henry Newman was viewed as an arch-betrayer by his erstwhile co-religionists, while simultaneously being viewed with suspicion by his new-found Roman Catholic colleagues.

Tipping Point Eamonn Lynskey on the Conversion of John Henry Newman, founder of University College, Dublin This October will see the canonisation of John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890). The journey of this respected and influential churchman from being an Anglican divine to becoming a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and now to sainthood, has taken many years. His conversion was not a dramatic experience like that of Paul on the road to Damascus; yet there is some similarity in the way that there was a particular moment at which he knew that his commitment to his Anglican Church had come to an end.

Newman was ordained deacon and appointed curate of St. Clements, Oxford in 1824 at the relatively young age of twenty-three. He became an Anglican priest the following year. A deeply religious man, he was much given to the close examination of the teachings of his Church, with the object of strengthening his own faith and advancing the Anglican cause in its earthly mission of prescribing Christian behaviour and saving souls. Ironically, it was this same uncompromising examination of Church doctrine that led to his eventual conversion.

In 1840s England, Newman’s move from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism caused more than religious disquiet. History had ensured that both religions had by then acquired a strong political dimension which underwrote their respective positions in English society. Anglicanism, pre-eminently among Protestantism, had by Newman’s time come to represent ‘English’ values, while Roman Catholicism was seen as the agent of a foreign power, a mendacious institution continually endeavouring to subvert English national sovereignty. To be a Roman Catholic was to be a ‘papist’, a position which was seen to be as heavily political and anti-English as it was religious. In the light of this political dimension, Newman’s departure from Anglicanism was not merely perceived to be just another case of a priest swapping one set of beliefs for another, but as something of a betrayal of English values amounting almost to treason.

It is not the purpose of this essay to call into question the sincerely-held beliefs of Anglicans, then or now, but it can be said that Newman stood starkly out among many of the Religious of his day where, in the words 12 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Newman was vicar of St Mary’s at Oxford’s University Church by 1828 and his fame as a prolific investigator and defender of the tenets of his Church was well established.

of the English essayist Lytton Strachey writing in his ‘Eminent Victorians’ (1918): ‘For many generations the Church of England had slept the sleep of the comfortable’. Newman was himself a product of that ‘comfortable’ class of society. He was vicar of St Mary’s at Oxford’s University Church by1828 and his fame as a prolific investigator and defender of the tenets of his Church was well established. What was it then that led such a man, so embedded in Anglicanism and its doctrines and traditions, to take the drastic step of conversion to another faith?

Newman offers an answer in his ‘Apologia Pro Vita Sua’ (‘A Justification of My Life’) written some eighteen years after he was received into the Catholic Church in 1845. This ‘Apologia’ provides an explanation for his journey from being one of the foremost Anglican divines to his becom-

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History

ing a Roman Catholic priest; and it demonstrates the extreme lengths to which he was prepared to go in order to get at the exact truth of his inherited attitudes and beliefs. His is a type of religious/philosophical thinking which will have nothing to do with complacent acceptance. In his Apologia we read that the moment at which he found he could no longer remain within his Church came at about the end of August 1839.

This change of mind was a direct result of his study of Athanasius, the fourth century Bishop of Alexandria, who had campaigned against the followers of the schismatic Arian Heresy. Newman had previously published a book on this subject (‘The Arians of the First Century’, 1832) where he dealt with the historical and theological aspects of the events, but these later studies led him to conclude that if the departure of the Arians from the teachings of the early church was a schism, then the later departure of the Anglican Church must also be a schism. In his Apologia he writes: ‘It was during this course of reading that a doubt came upon me of the tenableness of Anglicanism I recollect on the 30th of July mentioning to a friend how remarkable the history was; but by the end of August I was seriously alarmed My stronghold was Antiquity; now here, in the middle of the fifth century, I found, as it seemed to me, Christendom of the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries reflected...’

For Newman this revelation (as he saw it) was something of an intellectual earthquake, and was made all the worse because it was his view that church teachings and tradition should cleave as closely as possible to the teachings of the early Christian church, the ‘primitive’ church, which he regarded as being nearest to the original teachings of Jesus. Any ‘breaking away’ was a serious matter for him, not least because he was now coming around to the view that the Roman Catholic Church was the one that derived directly from that early church and had kept the line of doctrinal succession intact over the centuries.

Needless to say, Newman’s subsequent entry into the Roman church was not well received by his co-religionists. However, it was not until 1864 that he was stung into writing his Apologia. In that year, Charles Kingsley, an Anglican theologian, wrote that in fact Newman had been long a covert Catholic while still professing to be an Anglican; that he had been working all the while to subvert Anglicanism. While it is was true that Newman while still an Anglican had doubts – and was not quiet about them – the charge that he had been dishonestly working to harm his (then) Church hurt him very much and denigrated the intellectual honesty that had led to his conversion.

It is not difficult to see why Kingsley had such hostile views. Newman had always been a controversial figure, even as he had argued and preached on behalf of his Anglican faith. He had caused a great deal of consternation with his ‘Tracts for the Times’ (1833-41), a series of publications which called into discussion many accepted beliefs and practices of Anglicanism. Clearly, these doubts were leading him only one way, but the discovery, as it appeared to him in his researches on Athanasius, that his lifelong faith was schismatic was the moment that focused all his previous uneasiness and reservations under the one roof, so to speak.

It was, to use a modern phrase, the ‘tipping point’ that finally rendered his continuing as an Anglican priest impossible.

As is the fate of many apostates, Newman paid a high price for his conversion. His subsequent career as a Catholic priest disappointed him. He had perhaps expected to become as important a figure in the Roman Catholic world as he had been in Anglicanism where his views and his writings had counted for much. Instead, his conversion meant the sacrifice of a well-established, successful and respected career for another far less promising one. He was viewed as an arch-betrayer by his erstwhile co-religionists, while simultaneously being viewed with suspicion by his new-found Roman Catholic colleagues.

14 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

In 1864, Charles Kingsley, an Anglican theologian, wrote that Newman had been long a covert Catholic while still professing to be an Anglican and that he had been working all the while to subvert Anglicanism.

In addition, his restless and independent frame of mind sometimes got him into trouble several times with those new colleagues. One instance was his narrow brush with the Vatican’s College of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda over an article he wrote entitled ‘On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine’. A biographer, Brian Martin, in his ‘John Henry Newman, His life and work’ (2000), comments on the irony that a hundred years later the views canvassed by Newman in that article are to be found in the decrees of the second Vatican Council of 1962.

Aged 78, he was elevated to Cardinal in 1879. This was something of an ‘honorary title’ conferred on a ‘Grand Old Man’ of the Church who had ’come over’ to Rome. It was nevertheless a great consolation at the end of a long life and was some recompense for the neglect he had felt in the years after his conversion; a neglect mitigated by his humility, a lifelong trait that had shielded his sensitive nature more than once. And although his scruples regarding schisms and interpretations of doctrine may seem rather arcane today, his ‘Apologia Pro Vita Sua’, and his essays such as ‘The Idea of a University’ are still valued as examples of lucid argument conveyed in clear, elegant English.

His canonisation this month is the greatest honour the Church can bestow on a man whose life reminds us that we must be prepared to enquire into our most cherished beliefs and have the courage to follow where those enquiries lead us.

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Reflections

Reeling back the years Author and award-winning travel writer Muriel Bolger reflects on growing up with a ‘film director’ dad, parenthood and writing

When my own eldest child was a terrible teen I used to say to him, ‘I hope I live long enough to see you with teenagers of you own.’ And I have! Recently my eldest grandson finished school and I found myself wondering where the time had gone. As his boy headed for his post-leaving cert adventures in Magaluf, my son asked me how it felt to have my wish come true? And I answered truthfully. ‘It’s terrifying!’

And it is on so many levels. He hasn't an idea what he’d like to do in the future and the pressure is enormous. Not only from peers, but from himself, and I try to find the right words to say, ‘it’ll all work out in the end if you’re open to opportunities, and you never know where they’ll pop up.’

But it’s hard to impart that wisdom to the young.

On mature reflection I know that inspiration and ambition can be sparked off in the most unlikely places and from the most unlikely sources, and often its only years later you can trace their origins. There were the teachers who praised and encouraged me, sometimes reading a passage of an essay I’d written to the class. Was it those moments that made me eventually turn to writing?

I just know I never had a book out of my hand when I was growing up. I read every title in the three nearest libraries from where I lived before I was eligible for my adult membership. I certainly didn’t have ambitions in that direction back then, yet here I am, I’ve made my living out of writing.

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I always loved words, especially unusual ones, ones that don't fit in too easily to daily conversation – words like ratchet, plumb-bob, bradawl and annealing. Those I learnt from my Dad. He died at the early age of 65, from liver failure. Ironic that. He wore his Pioneer pin with pride, and never had an alcoholic drink in his life.

My love of travel started much earlier. I was eleven when one of our nuns, a Mother Auxilia, (yes, they did have names like that), taught us a poem by Clinton Scollard. As I Came Down from Lebanon. It spoke of mosques, minarets and bazaars, and I remember thinking some days I’ll see those things for myself. And I’m happy to say that I have.

Another nun had spent most of her life in Mauritius, and she constantly transported us there, painting word pictures of the coral reefs, vibrant flowers, aloe vera plants and the exotic variety of the birds. Once some of her former pupils from that far off island came to visit her and they showed us how they wrapped and wore their jewel-coloured saris.

I was already creating a bucket – list without knowing what that was.

Radio was the only home entertainment device available in the fifties and we had ours in a specially created recess in the kitchen. Around the

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www.flexiseq.ie Available at you r l oc a l pha r ma c y Senior Times l July - August 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 17

Reflections She was a wizard on her Singer machine and I loved watching her make me new clothes through the years. I bought my own own when I married and followed in her footsteps, and running up the latest fashions for my daughter and me. Again, I hadn’t realised how much I was learning from her at the time. She died in 2002 and her Singer has pride of place in my home.

As my dad’s camera skills broadened he felt his hobby needed a more professional approach. He created a proscenium! Mum made the sumptuous curtains that were illuminated from below with coloured lights.

Synchronised, they opened and closed as the shows began.

Dad joined the Dublin Amateur Cinematic Society, which met every Wednesday night in a basement somewhere in Harcourt Street and, if I had my homework done, he took me with him.

fire we listened en famille to this, every evening. We lived with the interference and crackling that frequently interrupted the broadcasts, and tried to retune the receiver by twiddling the knobs between Hilversum, Munich, Strasburg, London, Luxemburg, Tromso, Budapest etc.

Did those place names prompt me to visit them later? I don't know.

My father didn't live to see us with, personal computers, Kindles, digital cameras, iPods or smart phones, but in this day he was a technophile of the highest order.

Before we had even seen a television we had his films! He was an amateur movie-maker – single eight, not super eight, that came later, but he still managed to make movies with sound tracks. He brought the magic of the small screen alive for his three children and all of our cousins and friends.

We still talk about evenings spent watching ‘pictures’ and cartoons, that had been hired for two shillings (10c to-day) from Hamilton Long Chemists on O’Connell Street. Of course these were silent – the sort where the tension of a scene was highlighted by the appearance of ‘Help!’ or “Someone save me – please!’ on the screen, as a train trundled along a track where the heroine was invariably stuck at a crossing in her car.

Then the Zeiss Ikon movie camera arrived. This was no point and click affair as modern day videos are. It required precision, knowledge about apertures, colour temperature, composition and such like. Bit by bit other essentials joined it in the compartmentalised pigskin camera bag. These included a telephoto lens, filter and a light meter. The tripod had its own case and with that lot, sure he was ready to take on Hollywood! And my vocabulary was greatly enriched.

Sunday mornings saw us head for the Botanic Gardens, Blackrock Park or Glendalough to shoot the latest in the cataloguing of our awkward, spotty, gawky years. Everything was recorded.

Of course, there was no point in having a state of the art cine camera without the support systems. So he acquired a projector, and a screen, which he had lovingly treated with matt white paint, and a matt black surround, for optimum presentation.

These reels of film, which were only 50 feet long, and ran for about two and half minutes, had to be sent to England for processing. If they fell thought the letterbox before we left for school in the morning there was an impromptu showing, the screen propped up on the window ledge.

My mother was not left out either. In fact, she was probably his greatest back-up support. She had been designated to make a ‘changing bag’ for the film – made from blackout, lint-free fabric, with two sleeves for the hands to go through. This was an essential accessory because those reels had to be taken out of the camera halfway through and changed around Any fluff or light exposure and the whole reel could be ruined.

18 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

He was artistic anyway and this new interest gave him further scope to express his talents. He used to make animated titles and credits for his films and then select music to go with them. Often he had me help write and speak the commentary for his travelogues and he recorded these on large Philips’ reel-to-reel recorders. That was where I learned about syncing, splicing and editing.

His ambitions as a closet cinematographer director/producer reached new echelons when he made a ‘short’ with me, and my non-existent twin, handing a head cabbage from one to the other. (The props department must have been closed that evening.) Using this split screen technique Hayley Mills later starred in Walt Disney’s The Parent Trap, alongside her non-existent twin.

It was an intricate process. It meant masking off half the lens and positioning me accurately on the right hand handing the object to the non-existent me. The then film was rolled back and I changed chairs and graciously accepted the proffered cabbage when the other half of the screen was blacked out. Somehow, having survived this experiment, I was never quite convinced by special effects. I’m always looking for wires and tell tale evidence of duplicity!

A few years later a summer job saw me working in Eason on O’Connell Street in the book department, and yes, you've guessed it...

It was there I wondered what it would feel like to see my name on the spine of a row of colourful paperbacks and watch people actually choose to buy one of my titles, never mind get some of them on to the best seller list.

Then I grew up and left school and real life came along, packaged as a family of husband and three kids. I did lots in between then and becoming a full-time writer, but it’s only now I can fully appreciate the little things which led me inevitably to where I am in life at this stage.

That’s the message I’d like to get across to my grandchildren.

A Degree of Truth

(Hachette) is Muriel Bolger’s latest novel and is available in all good bookshops nationwide and from Amazon.co.uk

Culture

Maretta Dillon previews what’s on in the arts around the country in the next few months

The White Boat, JĂĄvea), 1905

Let there be light Tipos de Lagartera o Novia Lagarterana, 1912. Museo Sorolla

Couple from Salamanca, 1912. Museo Sorolla

A busy time for the Arts as we head into the Autumn. If you still need some sun, then check out Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light at the National Gallery.

Impressionist Sorolla earned the sobriquet Master of Light from fellow artist Claude Monet who admired his technical skill in depicting water and light. He travelled widely throughout Spain, but his breezy and vivid beach scenes of children, bathers, fisherfolk and workers remain wonderfully evocative of the Mediterranean. An extensive learning programme accompanies the exhibition. See nationalgallery.ie for more.

Culture

Renée Zellweger takes on the title role of Judy Garland in Judy.

Sculpture in Context at the National Botanic Gardens is something of a win-win for both parties. Over 140 sculptures, from the surreal and straightforward to the fantastical and whimsical, will be found nestling in the shrubberies and standing in the shade of the trees throughout the gardens, as well as in and out of the ponds, Great Palm House, and Curvilinear Range. Smaller indoor works will be shown in the Gallery in the Visitor Centre. From Sept 7 at botanicgardens.ie

Hecuba, a new play from Rough Magic which re-imagines of the aftermath of the Trojan War.

Four leading traditional musicians, Tara Breen, Laoise Kelly, Josephine Marsh and Nell Ní Chróinín, pool their considerable talents in the opening concert series from Music Network. (musicnetwork.ie for details) September signals that it is time once again for the Dublin Theatre Festival. As usual, there is a dizzying array of theatrical goodies on offer.

Among these is Hecuba, a new play from Rough Magic which re-imagines of the aftermath of the Trojan War and the events surrounding its iconic characters. While in The Playboy of the Western World, an all-female creative team promise a fresh new take on a classic. International work is not forgotten with the revisit of OBIE Award-winning Nilaja Sun and her one-woman show, Pike St. fresh from critical acclaim in the U.S. Delve deeper at dublintheatrefestival.ie Downton Abbey hits cinemas on Sept 13 – you’re either a fan or not, but you won’t be able to ignore it. Irish film director John Crowley of Brooklyn fame has a new film, The Goldfinch, based on the book of the same name by Donna Tartt on release on Sept 27. While Renée Zellweger, no slouch in the singing department, takes on the title role of Judy Garland in Judy. Oscar-winner Zellweger delivers a note-perfect performance as Garland during the last year of her life in the moving adaptation of the stage play End of the Rainbow. Music biopics have proved very popular of late, and anticipation is high for this one - October 4 everywhere.

20 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Finally, Culture Night is back on September 20 - bigger, better, and pretty much everywhere (culturenight.ie).

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Culture

Four leading traditional musicians, Tara Breen, Laoise Kelly, Josephine Marsh and Nell Ní Chróinín, pool their considerable talents in the opening concert series from Music Network.

Events around the Country September/ October 2019 SOROLLA: SPANISH MASTER OF LIGHT Visual Arts Impressionist Joanquín Sorolla’s life and work are celebrated in this stunning exhibition.

Gorgeous.

Until Nov 3 / National Gallery of Ireland Information and booking: nationalgallery.ie SCULPTURE IN CONTEXT Sculpture A thought-provoking collection of work that bridges the gap between art and nature in an outside setting.

Sept 5- Oct 18 / National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 Information: botanicgardens.ie VAGABONES Opera Raymond Deane’s new opera based on Emma Donoghue’s play about a witch trial in Youghal, Co. Cork in 1661.

Sept 6-13/ Civic Theatre, Tallaght and tours to other venues Information + booking: operacollectiveireland.com ARÁN & IM Theatre Manchán Magan celebrates the Irish language using sourdough bread and home-churned butter.

Sept 7 / as part of Garter Lane Arts centre’s Harvest festival and then touring Information + booking: garterlane.ie / manchan.com SPOTLIGHT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL Music These four concerts showcase an eclectic range of repertoire and a wide variety of instrumental formations.

Sept 7, Oct 5, Nov 23, Dec 14 / Triskel Arts Centre, Cork city.

Information and booking: triskelartscentre.ie

TARA BREEN, LAOISE KELLY, JOSEPHINE MARSH AND NELL NÍ CHRÓINÍN Music Four traditional musicians who have been setting the bar high both at home and around the globe.

Sept 11-23 / island wide tour Information + booking: musicnetwork.ie CULTURE NIGHT Festival Wrap up in culture, as heaps of places and spaces host a programme of free late-night entertainment.

Sept 20 / island wide Information: culturenight.ie DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL Festival Rough Magic presents Marina Carr’s play Hecuba, a passionate re-imaging of the aftermath of the Trojan War. Sept 26- Oct 13 / part of Dublin Theatre Festival in various venues.

Information: dublintheatrefestival.ie

22 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

THE GOLDFISH Film Irish director, John Crowley directs the adaptation of Donna Tartt’s book set in the world of art forgery.

Sept 27 / island wide DUBRAY STORYFEST Festival A fun-filled, creative festival for children aged 0-12 and their families. If you like stories, it’s the place to be!

Sept 28/ Airfield Estate, Dundrum, Dublin 14 Information + booking: dubraybooks.ie/storyfest JUDY Film Garland travelled to London in 1969 for a series of sell-out concerts. Renée Zellweger is super as Judy.

Oct 4/ islandwide.

WEXFORD SPIEGELTENT FESTIVAL Festival The 2019 programme includes musicians Jools Holland, Sinead O’Connor as well as comedian John Bishop.

Oct 11-28 / Wexford Information and booking: wexfordspiegeltent.com

Finally, if you would like your event to feature in our list of What’s On please email: events.country@gmail.com

Mary’s Musings In her latest observations Mary discusses Daniel O’Connell, Noel Whelan, Edna O’Brien, Leo Varadkar, Christine Lagarde and much else.

The boat to Skellig Island leaves from in front of where we stay in The Moorings in Portmagee.

Hello to all the readers of this lovely Senior Times magazine Two months is a long time. It is two months since we spoke together and in that time, I am sure, in each of our readers’ lives there have been changes – some good, some bad – as is the same with mine. That is the way with life; it moves on and it is sometimes difficult to catch up on everything after what seems a long time but in reality is only a pause of two months.

There was a lovely highlight of the summer just gone by. On a beautiful day, a day of high summer, Senior Times ran its 50 Plus Expo in the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone. It was a wonderful success – huge crowds, long uninterrupted hours of sunshine, and coming and going of people who moved in and out of the Hodson Bay easily and readily and enjoyed all that was on offer. There was a terrific range of stands, and there were also some excellent speakers such as Conor Pope, the BBC

Antiques Roadshow representative, this writer, and many others. All in all, it was a highlight of the summer for those who participated in it and were lucky enough to enjoy those wonderful two days in the Hodson Bay Hotel.

Now by the time this magazine hits the bookstands, we will have had a repeat of this event, in early September, in the Galmont Hotel in Galway. It is the renamed Radisson Hotel. I have been there before and it is really lovely. I hope the two days are as productive and as enjoyable as were the Midlands experience.

I am looking forward to attending, meeting as many of you as possible, and hopefully talking a lot, as is my wont.

By the time you get to read this, I will have been to Kerry and back for my week in Valentia Island with my lovely niece Anita Lenihan. I am so looking forward to the break. I’ve been there many times before but Anita has not, and so she will be the driver and I will be the

24 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

guide as we drive around this lovely part of south Kerry. Anita has booked her place to go on the trip to the Skellig Island, which boat leaves from in front of where we are staying in The Moorings in Portmagee. Years ago (when I was of course younger) I scaled the Skellig rock. I wouldn’t do it now, but Anita is at the stage that I was when I did it, so away with her and I’m sure she will both enjoy and savour the experience.

We will make a visit to Derrynane to the home of Daniel O’Connell – Derrynane House which is situated on the beautiful Derrynane Beach.

Years ago Enda and I loved our day there.

Now we all have had the experience of watching Olivia O’Leary’s two-part documentary on Daniel O’Connell. It will make for an interesting visit and discussion. Many years ago when I was a second level teacher, I taught all about that period, about Daniel O’Connell, and I was always endlessly fascinated by him: his intelli-

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Mary’s Musings

I was always endlessly fascinated by Daniel O’Connell : his intelligence, his wit, his international status, his fight for Catholic Emancipation . I have visited his house Derrynane many times

gence, his wit, his international status, his fight for Catholic Emancipation (without violence), and above all how he imbued always in his personality, whether speaking in the House of Commons or advocating in the highest courts on behalf of his clients, that sense of fairness and justice. It was good to see Olivia O’Leary in full form again in that two-part documentary.

Over the last few months, there have been so many joyful events and so many sad events. I was particularly struck by the death of a great friend of mine, Noel Whelan, who had just turned 50 years of age.

anyone else to write, she wanted to write the accolade to Brian herself.

Some years ago when Brian Lenihan Jr died, in 2011, Noel Whelan invited Dr Brian Murphy (a noted young historian) and myself together with him, and we were the three co-editors of a book on Brian Lenihan called In Calm and Crisis.

Noel Whelan was a great intellectual, but also a great person for dealing with people in a one-to-one capacity. He had so much of his life to live, and I expressed at his Mass and since to his wife and lovely son my deepest and personal sympathy. When his funeral Mass ended in Dublin, a lone piper played in the church the haunting Boolavogue, the song forever associated with the Uprising of ’98 and the people of Wexford. God rest your noble soul, Noel.

The book went on to be a bestseller. In it, we invited 20 people who knew Brian well and worked with him in his short political career to contribute to the book in the way they knew best about Brian. It worked out very satisfactorily.

Each of us took charge of six to seven people to contact, and one of mine was Madame Christine Lagarde who had worked with Brian as part of the bailout Troika. Now all of that seems a long time ago, but really it was only over a decade ago. She was slow in replying, and I telephoned her office in Paris to speak to her lovely personal assistant. She told me that yes, the email from me was on Madame Lagarde’s desk, but she wouldn’t give it to

So thus it came in, and it was truly good. I’ll quote here a short piece from it: ‘Once in a while, a true leader emerges from the ashes of economic calamity. Brian was one of those beacons in that dark night.’

What wonderful words. Christine Lagarde has now been appointed head of the European Bank, and I am sure her career will continue its stellar rise.

We have had the Leaving Certificate results, and as an ex-teacher myself I am so pleased to see that there has been a renewed and quite vivid take-up of the STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The future is in those subjects, and it is good to see both here, and similarly in the UK, the renewed take-up of such important subjects in a young person’s life.

Keeping with the Wexford theme, the first week in September sees the Kennedy School blossom again in New Ross. This year I hope

26 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

to attend for two of the days, and I am happy to have been invited to the gala lunch on the Thursday at which Micheál Martin will be the guest speaker. Last year it was Phil Hogan, the European Commissioner. By the way, Noel Whelan was one of the founders of the Kennedy School, and I am sure there will be many tributes to him during these few days.

I am looking forward to attending an open interview with the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and hope to participate in the question and answer session with him.

Of course there are the Kennedy tragedies too, as there are everywhere. The family has an enduring interest for the Irish people.

Last year I had just begun to write for this magazine when I went to Wexford, and was glad to meet with many of the readers in an informal sense at that time. I hope I have the same experience on this occasion.

How is your reading going? I thought I would get many books read this summer, but in the

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Mary’s Musings

‘Once in a while, a true leader emerges from the ashes of economic calamity. Brian was one of those beacons in that dark night.’

For the book I co-edited, In Calm and Crisis, Madame Christine Lagarde sent me this tribute on my nephew Brian Lenihan

Noel Whelan was a great intellectual, but also a great person for dealing with people in a one-to-one capacity. He had so much of his life to live, and I expressed at his Mass and since to his wife and lovely son my deepest and personal sympathy.

end the month of July was such a wonderfully sunny month that it made for getting out and about, so that my reading somewhat languished. However I am looking forward very

much to Edna O’Brien’s new book, entitled Girl, which will issue on September 5.

Like many of readers of this magazine, I have

28 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

I am looking forward to attending an open interview with the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Kennedy School in New Ross, and hope to participate in the question and answer session with him.

always been fascinated by Edna O’Brien, and we are all familiar with her many books – The Country Girls, August is a Wicked Month – and although she is now a ‘young’ 88, she is as

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Mary’s Musings

Like many of readers of this magazine, I have always been fascinated by Edna O’Brien, and we are all familiar with her many books – The Country Girls, August is a Wicked Month – and although she is now a ‘young’ 88, she is as prolific as ever.

prolific as ever. Girl is the story of one of the Nigerian Chibok girls who were captured from a girls’ boarding school in Nigeria by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram in 2014. It concerns the life of one of those girls. Edna O’Brien travelled to Nigeria and did endless research for this book, so I am sure it will be a riveting read. Edna O’Brien really is an icon.

We’ve had a good summer. The month of July was a sunny oasis from beginning to end. Yes in August we’ve had those torrential showers, but indeed I think the earth needed much of the rain that fell. And now we are facing into the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” which I always think is a wonderful time of the year.

So much to look back on; so much to look forward to – grandchildren going back to school with all of the various tales which will unfold and which I will enjoy hearing. The exuberance of life is terrific; let’s enjoy it while we can.

Talk with you all, I hope, in two months’ time. In the meantime, go safely.

Slán tamall, Mary O’Rourke

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Creative Writing Eileen Casey

Festivals fever moves into the autumn

Eileen Casey is run off her feet to keep pace

It’s been quite a summer and for yours truly, a peripatetic one. Early July saw me complete a residency in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, near Newbliss, County Monaghan. It’s without doubt one of the most restful landscapes, gorgeous gardens, wild meadows, a lake, drumlins, delicious food and very lovely people there to look after residents.

While there, I met poets, artists, playwrights, novelists and one composer (who entertained us on one of our evenings), each trying to do their creative thing. Since first opening its doors in October, 1981, the house and lands, donated

by Theatre Director Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (1971), has since been a haven for artists wishing to have time out to make art. The Centre belongs to the Irish State and so, the grounds and the house are maintained by the Office of Public Works, a guarantee that it will continue to thrive. Such is its unique atmosphere that artists from all over Ireland and all over the world visit there.

The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a residential workplace for artists of all disciplines. The ‘Big House’ as it is affectionately known, accommodates up to eleven residents in comfortable rooms. Eight studio spaces are also available, together with farmyard cottages which provide self-catering for six additional residents. There are many bursary opportunities available which are well worth checking out. Local County Councils are especially generous when it comes to nurturing writers and artists in their counties. The only stipulation for staying in the ‘Big House’ is attendance at the evening meal so that while an artist may be solitary throughout the day, a lively evening in good company with fine food is to be desired.

Although I’ve been to Annaghmakerrig on several occasions, each one is uniquely different, mainly due to whoever turns up. I’ve made lasting friendships around that evening table.

I’ve visited in various seasons too, finding the darker end of the year a little more morose (all to do with light) than the summer one. Spotting a hare peering up at me on one of my mornings when I opened the shutters in what was once Lady Guthrie’s bedroom, provided me with a glow for the whole week. Hares are magical, shape-shifters and I’d never really seen one close up. We eye-balled each other for a few minutes and I’m convinced a ‘connection’ was made. Enough for me to set too and write a

The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a residential workplace for artists of all disciplines. The ‘Big House’ as it is affectionately known, accommodates up to eleven residents in comfortable rooms.

new poem, appropriately titled ‘Hare’. Swimming in the lake was part of the fun also (not for me however, I was the ‘official’ photographer).

There’s a walk route around the lake also for those with itchy feet and nearby towns such as Cootehill and Newbliss to explore.

The Sixtieth Yeats International Summer School I was scarcely home from The Tyrone Guthrie Centre when Sligo and The Yeats International Summer School beckoned. Thanks to the generosity of Poetry Ireland, I boarded the train for Sligo and was met there by Eunjoo, a lovely Korean lady who was to be my host. It’s been literally years since I visited Sligo, remembering it as a bustling place with the Garavogue River flowing through. (listed as one of the seven Royal Rivers of Ireland in the 9th century AD). The Irish for Sligo is Sligeach, meaning ‘abounding in shells’ or ‘shelly place’, referring to the abundance of shellfish in the river and its estuary. Although it’s also a shopper’s delight (so many colourful outlets and shopping malls), I was there to celebrate one of the greatest poets in the English Canon of Literature.

The first Yeats School was set up in August 1960, an enterprise clearly obvious at the time

32 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

to scholar Dr TR Henn, teaching at S Catherine’s College, Cambridge. He knew what a visit to the birthplace of the Nobel Literature Prize poet (1923) would mean to students. For them to see the landscape which inspired and nurtured Yeats would act as a life changing moment for them. The sixtieth anniversary programme was both stunning and challenging. So much to do, so many lectures, evening events. Not to mention Boat Trip (The Lake Isle of Innisfree), exhibitions, Open Mic Poetry, afternoon walks around the town and sea trails..endless diversion. The influence Yeats wields on Sligo is clearly evident everywhere.

Statues, plaques, snatches of poetry quoted on commercial signs. It’s mind boggling really but super nice.

For me, with energy levels to juggle, I decided to limit my input. After all, I’m an early riser and while others snoozed on in blissful communion with their dreaming worlds, I was out on the street, greeting the road sweepers, the window cleaners and the fishermen at the Garavogue who surely know that the early bird definitely catches the fish. But even those early strolls were wonderful. I took some great photographs (personal ones) out of which I’m sure some more new poems will emerge. Early morning is a very special time and although

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Creative Writing Highlights of the evening at the Yeats Summer Sschool was being in the presence of Marie Heaney and the Heaney family on one side of theroom while on the other, sat the grand-daughters of WB Yeats.

being an early riser can knock you back later, it’s still magical in my view. One of the events I was determined to attend was the ‘Salute to Seamus Heaney’. Now that truly was a magnificent occasion, hosted by native of the town Tommie Gorman (who performed his responsibilities admirably). Highlights of the evening were being in the presence of Marie Heaney and the Heaney family on one side of the room while on the other, sat the grand-daughters of WB Yeats. Readers on the night celebrated the poetry of Heaney and Yeats, two Nobel Laureates (Heaney in 1995), the poetry from both poets exquisite. What was pleasing also was that Thom Moore, singer songwriter who passed away in 2018 (aged 74), was celebrated. I met Thom at the Oliver Goldsmith Awards (documented in Senior Times) and was happy to count him as a friend in Tallaght where he spent the last years of his life. However, Sligo was his spiritual home for more than forty years and it was there his ashes were scattered from the top of Knocknarea Mountain. Although Thom Moore has sadly passed away, his music is eternal. ‘Carolina Ruaidh’ (absolutely wonderful and a personal favourite), ‘Saw You Running’, ‘The Navigator’ and ‘Cavan Girl’ among them. His songs were recorded by Mary Black, Nathan Carter, Maura O’Connell, The Dubliners, The High Kings. And of course, he was no mean singer himself, delighting the members of Platform One Writers in Tallaght by renditions of his songs when he’d come along to our gatherings in Rua Red Arts Centre, Tallaght.

Another event I simply have to mention and which was stunning is ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ performed by Onur Turkman & The Yurodny Ensemble. This musical treat was composed especially for the Sixtieth anniversary, a major work by Turkish Composer Turkman. The piece focuses on Irish poet WB Yeats and Turkish poet Ahmet Hasim. Born in different places during the same period of upheaval, both poets lived to see their nation’s fight for independence. The musicians were without par

I also attended award winning poet Catríona O’Reilly’s poetry workshop (held over two days). It was one of the best workshops I’ve ever had the privilege of being part of.

Although Thom Moore has sadly passed away, his music is eternal.

‘Carolina Ruaidh’ (absolutely wonderful and a personal favourite), ‘Saw You Running’, ‘The Navigator’ and ‘Cavan Girl’ among them.

allel and the evening included songs in Turkish and English, the overall effect of the music was to create the mirage of ‘sailing’, the rhythms of the sea, the rippling effect of water, the images of swans flashed on the screen. It was experimental theatre at its very best and an absolute joy to have heard and seen it. Founded in 2007

34 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

by saxophonist and composer Nick Roth, the Yurodny Ensemble perform contemporary interpretations of traditional music from around the world alongside new work by composers inspired by these traditions. The Ensemble consists of violin, viola, cello, saxophone, keyboards, percussion, double bass, drums. A

It’s been literally years since I visited Sligo, remembering it as a bustling place with the Garavogue River flowing through.

night to remember and savour.

As if all that wasn’t enough, I also attended award winning poet Catríona O’Reilly’s poetry workshop (held over two days). It was one of the best workshops I’ve ever had the privilege of being part of. Catríona’s preparation and delivery ensured that all present were stimulated and inspired throughout. An experience I hope to repeat. Soon, I hope to be in the driving seat myself. This time in The Irish Writers Centre, facilitating an Age & Opportunity series of creative writing sessions. From 17th September – 19th November (Tuesdays), 2pm – 4pm, participants can enjoy a relaxed, informal yet informative atmosphere, in my capable and experienced hands. The course will run for ten weeks, each component spread over two units, priced at E5 each, E10 for two.

Founded in 2007 the Yurodny Ensemble perform contemporary interpretations of traditional music from around the world .

Participants are free to pick and choose sessions or take on all of them. It’s true. Everyone has a story to tell and finding out the best way to tell that story means engaging with form. It makes sense, otherwise words are thrown out careless onto the page, the scrambling effect.

These varied and vibrant workshops will hone skills and make possible completed works.

The fun element cannot be discounted either.

Being able to write with humour is a tremendous talent and I know that there are folk who can be really funny on the page, with little effort.

Who knows what might happen? The concluding Open Mic Showcase is not compulsory but it will be lovely to hear the results of the sessions and I bet those who come along will be chomping on the bit to read their work. It’s the nature of the beast! Details of the courses, information re the Irish Writers Centre can be

found on the link included here. As indeed are the details for The Yurodny Ensemble and The Tyrone Guthrie Centre.

Useful Links: The Irish Writers Centre Age & Opportunity Courses: https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collections/ all-courses/products/age-opportunityfind-your-form-with-eileen-casey The Yurodny Ensemble: http://www.yurodny.com/ The Tyrone Guthrie Centre: Info@tyroneguthriecentre.ie

The Emerald Dress by Vivienne Kearns from Poolbeg The Emerald Dress, a debut from South Dublin Writer Vivienne Kearns, is a welcome addition to Poolbeg’s historical fiction genre. The novel occupies present day time but dwells mostly in the period three hundred years ago, Dublin in 1719. Through perceptive observations and great storytelling abilities, Vivienne Kearns gives vivid glimpses of Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift’s city. The narrative follows the journey of Abigail Harton, daughter of a medical doctor, trained by her grandfather as a silk designer. When Abigail accepts a commission to design an emerald silk damask for weaver Hugh Gavin, she sets off a chain of events that will change her life forever.

The Emerald Dress gives insights into what life was life for women of that earlier, less egalitarian era. It also explores the medical practices of that time, an absorbing element of the novel most discerning readers of historical fiction will delight in. For instance, a substance known as Dragon’s Blood, which was a tree resin, might have been used to cure haemorrhoids. An apothecary may also have sold the ingredients for chocolate paste and cinnamon

spice to treat an upset stomach. The Emerald Dress gives a fascinating overview of the impact on local weavers due to the aristocracy buying their luxury cloth in London, Paris, Lyons instead of purchasing nearer to home. What’s really intriguing about this novel is that it began life arising from research on Rathfarnham Castle, a setting that features in the novel as the site of a grand ball for which Abigail’s expertise is commissioned to embroider a unique design onto the ‘stomacher’ or front section of the emerald dress that has been commissioned for the ball.

Suffice to say that in the deft hands of this exciting new novelist, Vivienne Kearns, The Emerald Dress is a vibrant mix of mystery, gorgeous fabric, the moirés of class, secrets and discoveries. The closing stages of the novel bring the reader into present day Dublin where past and present converge in a seamless and satisfying ending which makes this one of the must read novels of 2019.

The Emerald Dress is available from all good bookshops or contact Poolbeg direct at info@poolbeg.com

For more infor

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Golf

Philip’s memories of the 1951 Open were featured in Golf Quarterly

Arnold Palmer

Signature scrawls

‘My earliest winner is Joyce Wethered, who thanked me for reminding her of a pleasant visit to Portrush, where she won one of her championships’

Dermot Gilleece contacts an old friend with a treasure trove of golfing memorabilia As a delightful surprise, I recently renewed acquaintanceship with a Belfast golf enthusiast for the first time in about 25 years. He was the one who, with child-like innocence, discovered how to land autographs of the great and the good from the world professional game.

I had wondered if Philip Donald was still in the land of the living, when the answer came to me during a visit to Royal Co Down GC. There, on a table in the lounge, sat the club’s current copy of the charming British magazine Golf Quarterly, within whose covers was ‘Memories of the 1951 Open’, by the bold Philip.

Through a few e-mails and phone-calls, I was soon back in touch with the man who, for reasons he can no longer recall, decided back in 1980 that he would like to have Arnold Palmer's autograph. It had become something of a problem, given that he didn't frequent the major golf championships. The search and subsequent success, however, led him into a consuming passion which became the subject of another charming article, this time for the journal of the British Golf Collectors' Society.

Now retired and a long-time member of Knock GC, Donald had an auspicious introduction to famous players when his father brought him to the 1951 Open Championship. On taking with him the obligatory schoolboy's autograph book, he was rewarded with the signatures of such notables as Alf Padgham, Bobby Locke, Henry Cotton and, of course, the winner, Max Faulkner.

That, however, was no more than a boyhood whim: he was to become captive to the serious stuff many years later, as I’ve indicated. How to reach Arnold Palmer? ‘I needed an address and some US stamps so I could send a stamped-addressed envelope for the reply,’ he recalled. ‘A colleague on holiday in the USA brought me the stamps and purely by chance, I found a Who's Who in America in our local library.

38 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Sam Snead ‘I had addresses for Palmer, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino. I wrote to them all and a month later and to my amazement and pleasure, I had five replies.

‘Within 10 minutes, I had addresses for Palmer, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino. I wrote to them all and a month later and to my amazement and pleasure, I had five replies.

Thus a collection was born. My albums now contain signatures, letters, signed photographs, signed first-day covers, together with signed books from the winners of over 250 major championships, men and women, professional and amateur.’

He went on: ‘Max Faulkner and David Graham wrote personal letters on their very distinctive notepaper; Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen and several others sent large signed autographs. Walter Hagen's son, Walter Jnr, sent me a signature of his father's, cut from a hole-in-one certificate.

Larry Mize replied after two years. The worst writer is Curtis Strange; the most attractive writer is Ken Venturi.’

Remarkably, of all of the champions who have communicated with him, the only ones he met in the flesh were Jose-Maria Olazabal, Tom

Golf

Jack Niklaus

Ben Hogan

Weiskopf, Mark Calcavecchia and Ulster's own Fred Daly, who lived ‘a dog-leg par four from me.’

‘The ladies generally responded by saying they were flattered to be included in such a collection,’he added. ‘My earliest winner is Joyce Wethered, who thanked me for reminding her of a pleasant visit to Portrush, where she won one of her championships. Her great rival of the 1920s, Glenna Collett-Vare, died the week I wrote to her but her brother subsequently sent me one of her cancelled cheques -a sure way of knowing the signature is genuine.’

Byron Nelson

Lee Trevino

Mark Calcavecchia was one of the few golfers Philip Donald had met in the flesh

All of this arose from a letter Philip wrote to me when I was golf correspondent of The Irish Times. Naturally it was in search of an autograph.

His latest target was Alan Shepard who famously became the only man to hit golf balls on the moon.

Meanwhile, his relentless pursuit of champions during the 1990s, brought Donald in contact with Richard Davies, the surprise winner of the 1962 British Amateur Championship at Hoylake. The fascinating response of the Californian native, began: ‘I am in receipt of your welcome letter and request, same having been forwarded to me from my brother Arthur in Olympia, Washington. I am assuming you obtained this address from the office of the Masters in Augusta [where Davies played four times, from 1963 to 1966]. The postmark indicating thus.’

The American, who claimed to be a great admirer of Joe Carr’s and Christy O’Connor Snr, then proceeded to inform Donald about the remarkable events which followed the 1954 British Amateur at Muirfield, where he lost in the quarter-finals to the eventual winner, Doug Bachli of Australia. A week previously, he had seen Babe Zaharias win the British Women’s at Gullane.

The Davies story actually began two years earlier still, in Phoenix, Arizona where he met the notorious British playboy, John de Forest, in the semi-finals of a high-stakes, amateur tournament. ‘I could have crushed him,’ he recalled. ‘He was eight down on the front side but I relented, not wishing a guest from abroad to go home with a 9 and 8 loss, particularly knowing that he was British Amateur champion in 1932.’

tative, Harry Bentley, driving a car from his father’s famous company, naturally.

Davies, who had to wait patiently for Count de Bendern at St Germain in the company of a female French caddie, took up the story: ‘Finally, as I was looking the other way, some heels clicked behind me and John introduced me to my golfing partner for the round .. HRH Prince of Wales, Edward Duke of Windsor. I thought I might wet my pants.’ On the first hole, measuring little more than 300 yards, Davies drove the green with a three-wood and had a two-putt birdie from 10 feet. ‘Good half .. nice four,’ said the Duke, who was apparently more interested in the female caddies than his partner's golf.

‘A voice called down to me from the first-class section,’ he went on. ‘It was John who insisted I join him, while ordering a lavish meal and wine to boot. And he introduced me to his wife, a Spanish contessa. John de Forest was now Count John de Bendern. Spanish nobility no less.’ But that was only the start of it.

When the match was over, the Duke invited Davies to join him for tea, as you would to a new golfing friend. This, however, entailed going to the car-park where his butler, in tails, was waiting in a 1948 Buick.

Davies concluded: ‘He brought out this big silver tray with a silver teapot and fine china and silverware; prepared the tea and stepped aside.

The Prince and the pauper sat down and had tea. And I told him about my deceased grandmother, Elizabeth Victoria Thomas Jones, and the Welsh coal-mining village of her birth. And how, in her kitchen in Pasadena, she always had on her wall, a picture of George VI, his younger brother. The prince and myself became fast friends.’ In the course of his recent letter, Donald informed me: ‘I have ceased writing to players, as none reply. eBay has destroyed the hobby and none of them sign their name clearly.’

On their arrival in Paris, the count invited Davies to join him in a game of golf at St Germain. There, he was met by former Walker Cup represen

Which was only to confirm what we already knew, while making us hanker after gentler, more caring times.

In the event, Davies coasted on the back nine in Phoenix, allowing his opponent to escape with a face-saving, 3 and 2 defeat. ‘He thanked me afterwards for being a good sport and we became friends,’ said the American. So it was that two years later, when Davies was travelling steerage, flat broke, on a circuitous route home from Muirfield, fate intervened on the boat train from Italy to France.

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 39

Dublin Dossier Pat Keenan on happenings in and around the capital

Bram Stoker: he spent most of the first seven years of his life laid up in bed, an unknown illness he later recalled as his ‘thoughtful’ years.

Sink your teeth into The Bram Stoker Festival There’s something to sink your teeth into in October when Dublin once again resurrects Dracula. The Bram Stoker Festival takes place on the October Bank Holiday Weekend, October 25-28, family-friendly by day, face painting and dressing up fun for the children, and dark excitement by night, Bram Stoker’s tales stalk the capital in a multitude of venues and gatherings.

Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker, best known for his novel Dracula, was born at 15 Marino Crescent, Fairview and baptised at St.John the Baptist Church, Clontarf (an event which undeniably would protect him in later years from the undead!). His father was a senior civil servant working in Dublin Castle, his mother was from Sligo.

He spent most of the first seven years of his life laid up in bed, an unknown illnessh he later recalled as his ‘thoughtful’ years. His mother regaled him with many stories of sad times in the west of Ireland; tales of the potato famine; the devastating 1832 cholera epidemic in Sligo, so rampant that they ran out of wood for coffins, the dead had to be wrapped in rags and rolled into mass graves - so many died so fast that stories were told of people being buried in such haste that many were possibly

still alive. It’s interesting to recall the words of historian Dennis McIntyre, who like Stoker’s mother came from the west, speaking on a BBC programme on Dracula pointed out that in the west there is a common phrase that goes: “there was droch ola there”. 'Droch Ola' in Irish means bad blood and may be how Stoker got the name ‘Dracula’.

While looking up on Bram Stoker, memories came back of times past when Dublin had three evening newspapers. “Herald or Mail or Press” the news boys would yell alone the city streets. The Evening Mail was especially Dublin based, originally it was actually called the Dublin Evening Mail. Bram Stoker was their theatre critic and might have known one of the papers owners, Sheridan le Fanu, also a writer of Gothic and vampire tales.

There will be two great days of free events called Stokerland in St.Patrick’s Park, beside St.Patrick’s Cathedral (Sat 26 Oct & Sun 27 Oct, 11am – 4.30pm). Complete with a food village, olde-worlde games, face-painting and more, this family-friendly fun-day is the perfect way to entertain children, 12 and under, this Hallowe’en Bank Holiday weekend - the little monsters will love it.

Séance in a shipping container This year the Irish premiere of Séance takes place in a completely dark shipping container.

Very strange and weird, it is rooted in Victorian

40 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Stokerland last year in St. Patrick's Park

and supernatural séance traditions, and I’m not surprised it has already chilled audiences around the world- it will take place throughout the Bram Stoker weekend on Smithfield Square, Dublin7.

‘Creepy and manipulative - makes you question not just your senses but what you actually believe’ said The Guardian newspaper.

(1pm-10pm daily) Another first is the world premiere of Sounds of Wood on Muscle, in which some of Ireland’s funniest and provocative theatre makers will reinterpret the radio recording of Orson Welles’ Dracula, live in St. Ann’s Church, Dawson St, Dublin 2, where Stoker married Florence Balcombe in 1878. When first broadcast by Welles’ celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company in 1938, the production struggled to create the correct noise to demonstrate the sound of a wooden stake impaling a human heart. The only problem in this production, will be when things start to sound a bit too real. I’m informed it will be both disconcerting and funny.

(Fri. 25th October, 9:00pm. Sat. 26th October, 6:00pm and 8:30pm.) Tickets are available for all these featured shows at www.bramstokerfestival.com Don’t let the the hairs on the back of necks settle. You’ll have the next best thing to a real meeting with Bram Stoker visiting at Vaults Live, John's Lane West, Dublin 8, where you’ll find yourself right in the middle of the action with actors who will take you room to room into six great stories. Apart from Bram you will meet a pillaging and plundering Viking, one of Dublin’s founders; one of Oliver Cromwell’s top tortur-

Dublin Dossier

Cromwellian torturer at Vaults Live Lucian Freud double portrait at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art)

ers, it’s hell or Connacht! or worse, the fields of Athenry !; its not much better in a 1890’s Bandon court in front of a short tempered judge where more likely than not you’ll wind up on the wrong side of the law; but some help might be at hand from Sister Brigid in her alchemist room with nettles and other cures for all ailments; the better bet might be take yourself down to Monto and join in with Molly singing ‘cockles and Mussels alive, alive-oh!’

When Yeats didn’t meet Freud ‘The Life above Everything’ exhibition, at the IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art), Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Military Rd, Dublin 8 until

January 2020, brings together the work of two artists, Lucian Freud and Jack B Yeats. As far as we know they never met but Freud apparently had had a deep admiration for Yeats’s work - a pen and ink drawing ‘The Dancing Stevedores’ by Yeats sat beside Freud’s bed for over 20 years.

Apart from this exhibition the IMMA has the Freud Project, a five-year loan of 52 paintings

by Lucian Freud which ends in 2021.

IMMA admission is free, but special exhibitions as this one carry an entrance fee of E8.

Seniors E5. Closed on Mondays - checkout opening times at www.imma.ie

On view are 33 oil paintings by Freud and 24

by Yeats, including five new Freud works on loan to the museum’s Freud Project collection. Seven of the paintings by Yeats were actually selected by Freud himself for a close friend, advising him on works to acquire.

David Dawson, artist and Freud’s long-time studio assistant, was involved in the selection on display, bringing his unique knowledge of Freud’s interest in Yeats.

By the way IMMA also have a great programme called Azure, for people living with dementia. Azure Tours are monthly and specifically designed to support people living with dementia and their family, friends or professional carers, to engage with their exhibitions. They are free and led by specially trained guides and include complimentary refreshments.

Senior Times l May - June 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 41

Dublin Dossier

Carluccio’s on the corner of Dawson Street. (Inset the Aperitivo Bar)

Carluccio’s back with an Aperitivo Bar There is an Italian observance that maybe even supersedes football. It’s the aperitivo, a drink/light meal at the end of the working day, a sort of warm up to dinner. Think: focaccia, olives, Parmigiano Reggiano and mortadella.

Dubliners will have noticed that Carluccio’s at the corner of Dawson Street and Duke Street was closed for a time last year but it reopened earlier this year bringing back some cheer to that corner in the heart of Dublin’s shopping district. After a E250,000 refurbishment it was back and with, yea! an Aperitivo Bar, open every day between 5.00 and 7.00pm. Also a new bar food menu featuring small plates offerings of polenta chips, fritto misto and fennel sausage as well as sharing boards laden with delicious Italian ingredients from hams and salamis through to roasted peppers, baby peppers with pesto, artichokes, balsamic onions, caponata and caperberries.

Founded in 1999 by the late Antonio Carluccio, ‘the godfather of Italian gastronomy.’

Carluccio’s serves real Italian food at reasonable prices.

Antonio was perhaps best known for his television partnership with fellow Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo in the BBC television series Two Greedy Italians. Antonio died in November 2017 but his shops and restaurants still keep to his mantra: ‘MOF’ - minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour.

Carluccio’s food shop and deli offers a range

Breakfast at Staunton’s has become legendary

of goods, all sourced from small Italian artisan producers. From larder ingredients like sundried tomatoes from Calabria, Sicilian olive oils and the finest pasta, pesto and sauces through to chocolate, wine and biscuits, all you need to prepare quality Italian food at home.

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7.30am-10.30pm / Sat 8am-10.30pm. Carluccio’s, Dawson Street, Dublin 2, D02 Y594 www.carluccios.com

Stauntons, an appealing alternative in Dublin Another refurbishment, Stauntons on the Green, 82-84 St. Stephen’s Green, is a more affordable centre city place to stay when visiting Dublin; full of rich literary and cultural history. It has just undergone an extensive two year, multi-million Euro renovation that has seen many of the building’s original features painstakingly restored to their former glory. All 63 bedrooms have been tastefully redecorated in a manner sensitive to the surroundings.

Furniture has been carefully selected to provide comfort while complementing the Georgian architecture. Guest amenities include a library of Irish literature, honesty bar and all day snack menu. And let’s not forget the Stauntons on the Green’s breakfast which is legendary.

We celebrated the relaunch in the normally tranquil rear garden, lovingly re-landscaped.

We had a sneaky look at the newly renovated rooms and the new garden-level lodgings with their own sun-trap terraces. The garden in turn, has exclusive access to the Iveagh Gardens.

These Georgian townhouses have been here

42 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

for over 250 years. In 1989 they were turned into an elegant hotel by Jim Staunton- hence the name.

Staunton sold out in 2017, the new owner is Richard Driehaus, an Irish-American philanthropist from Chicago. Before that it was home to some of Ireland’s most famous leaders; Henry Grattan retired to these rooms during the struggle for Irish parliamentary independence which led to the establishment Grattan’s Parliament, now the Bank of Ireland building in College Green; John Henry Newman who converted from Anglicanism to become a Catholic Cardinal and possibly a saint, lived here while he founded the Catholic University of Ireland next door in Newman House and the poet/ Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins lived here while he was professor of Greek and Latin at University College and spent his final years here writing many of his most famous sonnets.

Museum of Modern Literature about to open Another widely anticipated event happens next door at Newman House when the new Museum of Modern Literature Ireland (MoLI) will open to the public at 5pm on Culture Night, Friday 20 September. In November it will host ‘Revolutionary Readers: 1919 and Beyond’ which will reflect on: ‘in a time of political upheaval, does literature matter?’ This will be a joint event organised by the Museum of Literature Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, and UCD. For more, visit their new website: www.moli.ie

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Reflections

A class apart Colette Sheridan talks to Colbert Kearney who has recently published a memoir of working class Dublin from the 1940s.

Children in Cumberland Street in Dublin’s inner city in the 1940’s

Colbert Kearney excelled at English and Irish. He was also a student of the classics.

At UCD, where he also won a scholarship, he studied Greek and Latin in first year

What started out as an account of Colbert Kearney's working class life in Dublin, aimed at his three daughters and grandchildren, has turned into a witty social history of his native city from the 1940s onwards entitled Down by the Liffeyside.

Colbert, who retired from his post as Professor of Modern English at UCC in 2008, honours his beloved parents, Con and Maisie, in this expansive book. It also includes material about his grandfather, Peadar Kearney, a strident nationalist who took part in the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence. Among the many songs he penned was The Soldier's Song which became the national anthem. Brendan Behan is in there too. He was a cousin of Colbert's father. While he was on the dry for a year, Brendan was great company for the then fourteen year-old Colbert.

The pair went to the races and enjoyed ‘slap-up meals’ afterwards. ‘When he was on form and on the dry, his company was incomparable,’ says Colbert. ‘Once, he took me into a bank on Baggot Street, put me up on the counter and said that I was the only one of race, kind and generation to attend a secondary school other than a Borstal institution.’

Cork-based Colbert was very much a scholarship boy whose academic achievements were a source of great pride for his parents who val

ued education. At national school, a champion of Colbert's was the teacher and writer, Eoghan O Tuarisc. He approached Con Kearney saying that his son was scholarship material. And so, Colbert sat exams and was accepted into St Joseph's Garbally College, Ballinasloe, where he boarded.

everyone's nose was twitching. There was a rule in this place that you couldn't have food there apart from what was being served. But there was no way my mother was going to let my father have cream tea. She produced a cold chicken at the table. Everybody was looking at us, smelling the chicken.’

The eldest of four, with three sisters, Colbert excelled at English and Irish. He was also a student of the classics. At UCD, where he also won a scholarship, he studied Greek and Latin in first year. But at the end of that year, he switched to studying English with Greek. He went on to Cambridge in 1968 where he had ‘the time of my life. The sixties were in full flow there.’

Colbert's parents always managed to put food on the table. Maisie was a stay-at-home mother who first met Con when she was working as an usherette at Queen's Theatre in Dublin. Con worked there as a projectionist.

He went on to have various jobs, sometimes working overtime to provide for his family. He had known poverty as Peadar, his father, was sometimes unemployed and drank when he could, suffering from what Colbert says was probably post traumatic stress disorder after the War of Independence. The cause of Irish freedom was Peadar's priority while Con's apparent purpose in life was to be a loving and attentive father.

For a lad brought up in Inchicore and Finglas, the hallowed halls of Cambridge University were a far cry from what he was used to. But Colbert, a low-key urbane man, took it all in his stride. He laughs when he recalls the time his parents visited him at Cambridge for his graduation. The trio went punting on the river ‘in style’.

‘Then we went to this place out in the country called Grantchester where there was a tea garden. You had cream tea there. Before we went there, my mother said to my father and me to go off and have a pint while she went looking at the shops. So we did and then we went up the river and arrived in Grantchester, sitting with all the beautiful people. Suddenly,

44 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

While at one stage, around the age of five, Colbert shared a bedroom with his sister and parents in his 'nana's house', he says he didn't know poverty. His grandmother had the second bedroom in the house to herself.

‘I didn't mind. I didn't know anything else. I had a very loving family. I was never conscious of any deprivation.’

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Reflections

However, Colbert's daughters, who, when shown the modest Inchicore house where their father first lived, said: ‘You can't be serious.'

They couldn't envisage a life there.

Colbert was particularly close to his father.

‘It's not as if we spent a long time discussing John Keats's poetry (Colbert specialised in the Romantic poetry movement). But we remained best friends and we were always very easy in each other's company. We shared an interest in Dublin football. My father would have felt that my talents were best suited to the classroom rather than the real world. But there was total admiration there from both sides.’

Colbert's mother had ‘emotional intelligence.’

She also had a way with words. ‘My sisters and myself still quote her. Nick-naming and language and sayings from a very old oral tradition were things she had to a much greater extent than my father. One day, my father came home and was saying that someone had been rude to him though not seriously. The

person was of limited stature. So my mother said: 'Jesus, he'd want to stand up on a butter box before he'd say that to me.' Ever after that, the person was known as Butter Box. Anyone can make up nick-names. But my mother had the ability to make them stick.’

Peadar Kearney looms large in the book, although he died a few years before Colbert was born. ‘I didn't intend to have him loom large but the more I thought about him, the more I realised he was a dominant presence in the family. As a father, he was quite Victorian in his strictness. Before I was even five, I had a childish awareness that when my daddy spoke of his daddy, it was with enormous respect and admiration but there was little sense of warmth.’

46 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Down by the Liffeyside by Colbert Kearney is published by Somerville Press at E17.

While Colbert and family were always led to believe that Peadar Kearney had taken the republican side in the Civil War, ‘he actually took the Free State side and was very close to Michael Collins. He was an interesting character.’Colbert's book is full of family lore set against the backdrop of politics and working class life in Dublin. His daughters should be proud.

370.

Smarter Living

Senior Times l July - August 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 47

Golf

Golf no handicap

The Royal Course at Bendinat

Pat Keenan hacks his way around two championship courses in Mallorca disappear into the distance and was never seen again. I expect it’s still up there.

I should confront my fears and failures. I am what you may say retired and many of my friends play golf. I would like to join them but out of concern for their health and welfare I decided I would inflict my opening learning trials on some foreigners, people I might never see again. I would go overseas. I picked on Mallorca the largest of the Spanish Balearic Islands - more space to swing.. and anonymity. And I reasoned that if all this collapsed in failure I would have a sunny and luxurious fallback. I would inflict myself on the wellness community of a spa, laze in the sun between meals and visit vineyards, become a proper wine connoisseur - my friends at home would appreciate that.

I just returned from a golf break in Mallorca. My biggest handicap was not being a golfer. I did try once, maybe forty years ago at the Rosapenna Hotel in Donegal and the embarrassment still haunts me, I can still see the gathering queue behind me at the first tee as they watched my every swing and miss and the ball stubbornly stuck on the small red tee peg. The problem starts with that extraordinarily small ball and you are required to dispatch it with a long driving club at the end of which is a corresponding small head. After what seemed to me a considerably long time the small ball finally did 48 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Nikolay Draganov at work in his popular Niko’s Place

I arrived at the Lindner. Tomorrow I would golf but for now in the hotel I infiltrated some unsuspecting golfers from all over Europe innocent-

Cartoons by Paul Steele

I selected Lindner Golf & Wellness Resort Portals Nous, on the Royal Golf Course of Bendinat and only a few minutes from Palma and research further told me a second course, T-Golf & Country Club Poniente was just a short distance away and serviced by a shuttle service from the hotel.

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Golf

Apres-golf at the poolside

ly enjoying eats and drinks in Niko‘s Place. I had some help from none other than Niko himself. Nikolay Draganov knows quite a bit, golf, food, wine, cocktails - he’s been here for over twelve years--Lindner even named the place after him. If you need to know anything about local wines from the island, no better man. I followed his advice on his favourite Obac and Veran wines, both reds from the nearby Binissalem region, which on his further advice I planned to visit. Wine fuelled, I tell my potential fellow golfers that it’s been twenty years or more since I last golfed (true - sort of) and warned that I just might be a bit rusty.

Thankfully a driving range and a putting green are included within Bendinat. These were also available when we visited T-Golf & Country Club Poniente the following day. I could practice my putting, those driving swings but more importantly actually at least manage to hit the ball. And I wouldn’t have to worry about a queue building up behind me.

Big surprise, I hit the ball - how could my game have improved after not playing all those years, now all I had to do was concentrate on which direction I wanted the ball to move. As luck would have it some of my fellow golfers were offering each other advise, thankfully some of them turned out to be a tad rusty as well.

The course is 18 holes in a picturesque setting, a wooded valley with great views out over the Bay of Palma. It is hilly so this meant raised tee areas, and a need for some accuracy. ‘ Your ball had a tendency to either fall short or run away’ advised one golfer trying to be helpful.

It was becoming clear that we had two groups, the more serious players and the one I joined - not too serious, sometimes allowing the retaking of fluffed shots, relaxed enough to loose a ball or two, sometimes congratulate but more often, laugh.

Showing an almost total ignorance of modern golfing practice and a slight hint of jest I asked about caddies. ‘No’, I was told, ‘we don’t normally supply caddies.’ It appears most players now commonly 50 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

carry or pull their own bags. And that smart Mark Twain quote about golf being a good walk spoiled no longer applies either - most golfers and their bags now motor around in buggies complete with sat nav screens that map each hole, guide your play, and even warn in an agitated metallic pitch when you wander too far from the pathways system for buggy use. ‘A good buggy ride spoilt’ doesn’t quite make it.

Between golf I found time for a wine/tapas tasting at The Biniagual Winery in the small village of Binigual, 14 houses, a chapel, and a vinyard (www.bodegabiniagual.com); went for a few visits to Palma, to La Seu - the massive gothic cathedral, to Es Baluard - the contem

Golf

The Biniagual Winery

Autumn/winter golf offer The Lindner Golf Resort Portals Nous is a year-round sunny mecca for golfers, available from 17 Nov. - 26Dec.2019. Classic Class Double Room incl. breakfast for 2 persons: from E177.65 per night Green Fee package: Santa Ponsa + Son Vida + Andratx: E270.

Green fee Bendinat for hotel guests: E68. Includes: • Free shuttle to Golf Bendinat • Free push trolley • Free golf lesson (trial) • Golf Service Center for reduced Green Fees, packages etc.

Es Baluard art museum

porary art museum and the Miró Foundation; took many walks along the seafront and the narrow cobbled lanes of the Casco Antiguo (Old Town); took some wellness treatments and lazed in the sun between wining and dining at the poolside.

All in all, my plan worked, I met new friends, I didn’t win either game but enjoyed the camaraderie, the open air, the views and finally came to the conclusion that I’m never going to be a Tiger or a Rory, but if I can find friends that don’t take their golf too earnestly, we could enjoy a round or 18 (in a buggy of course).

The Lindner Golf Resort Portals Nous has full sets of new, highquality clubs for rental. Your clubs will be waiting in your room when you arrive. They have rental sets of branded clubs made by Cleveland Golf and Callaway. The golf set includes a bag, 5-9 irons, SW, PW, driver, fairway wood, rescue club and putter. You can order your rental clubs by email prior to arrival, as an additional item during the booking process, or directly at our reception desk.

Pat Keenan flew Aer Lingus to Palma and Ryanair on the return to Dublin he stayed at Lindner Golf Resort Portals Nous, C/ Arquitecto Francisco Casas, 18 07181 Portals Nous, Mallorca.

Phone: +34 971 707 777 (www.lindner.de/en/majorca-portals-nous-golf-wellnessresort/) Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 51

Alpine trekking

Up ‘the staircase’ down under

The blue lake

72 year old Greg Butler tackles the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, one of New Zealand’s most challenging one day hikes.

The warning sign at The Devil’s Staircase confirmed this was a serious hike:

than were mainly international back packers in their twenties, or early thirties!

STOP: Are you really prepared to continue? Have you considered the weather, your equipment, and your fitness?

I took the 5.30am shuttle bus from Taupo to the starting point of the trek. There was an air of excitement as my fellow trekkers set off at a brisk pace. Several of them were poorly equipped for an alpine environment, where changeable weather could bring wind, rain and cold throughout the day. Tee shirts, shorts and trainers were common...but youth was on their side! I had packed for all conditions, and throughout the day I went from woolly hat, gloves and three layers of clothing, to shorts and tee shirt.

I was about 90 minutes into The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and the 20km, 9 hour trek was about to get difficult. My excitement about the possibility of completing this Bucket List goal was tempered by apprehension and uncertainty about what lay ahead.

Before leaving Ireland for New Zealand, I had questioned my ability to complete this trek. I emailed two companies who arrange guided walks. I felt the need to tell them that, though I was an experienced trekker, I was 72 and a slow downhill walker.

I received the following replies: ‘As a self-professed slower person it is advisable to book a private guided trip, slowing down others on the downhill can be especially frustrating.’

The second reply was more encouraging, and the one I opted for: ‘You do not need a guide, the track is very well marked, and you sound more experienced and fitter than many who complete this hike.’

What they didn’t mention was the ‘many’ I was more experienced 52 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Sympathy and admiration My slow steady pace meant that many people passed me, greeting me with a mixture of sympathy and admiration. I knew from experience that I would meet several of them later, as they tired, and the trail got more difficult.

The first hour was a relatively easy walk up gently rolling hills through the glaciated Mangatepopo Valley, bounded by a lateral moraine. I was immediately struck by the loveliness of the landscape, a flower garden of colourful alpine plants, with clumps of tussock grasses, large mountain daisies and mosses, delicate plants flourishing in a harsh environment.

The sun rising over Mt Ngaruahoe dominated the skyline-Mt Doom to Lord of the Rings fans.

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Alpine trekking

Mangatepopo Valley

The trek became more challenging approaching the ‘Devil’s staircase’--a steep climb of 370 steps-to the South Crater. Plant life was limited on rough tracks of ancient and modern lava flows. It was encouraging to look back down the Mangatepopo valley to see how far I had come.

Red Crater Ridge The scramble up the Red Crater Ridge was the most strenuous part of the trek, and turning back was not an option. I recalled the advice of my mentor...slow, short, steady steps, and no stopping. The ridge was steep and narrow, exposed to high winds, with vertigo inducing drops on either side. The trail was not well formed, with loose rocks and gravel underfoot. I saw some very nervous walkers hanging on grimly to a steel support chain to avoid slipping. No one was passing me on that section!

A young Indian lady offered me her hand on a particularly tricky bit, and though I could have managed fine, I gladly accepted her kindness.

The climb to the summit left me momentarily breathless, and I was rewarded by a sight I shall remember as one of the most breathtaking I have ever seen on a mountain. An unobstructed view that included the Red Crater, the Oturere valley to the East, the Emerald Lakes below, and beyond them the shimmering Blue Lake above the Central Crater.

The calm cool blue-green lake waters belied the explosive violent eruptions which created them. I imagined this was the scene which enthused National Geographic to rate Tongariro Alpine Crossing as one of the top ten one day hikes in the world.

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Hazardous descent There was a short difficult descent to the Emerald lakes and Central Crater on loose rocks and scree. Here people were slipping and sliding, with the odd person taking a tumble and hurting their pride. The steam rising from the ground in many places, and the sulphurous smell of rotten eggs, indicated that I was in an active volcanic part of the trail.

I stopped for a rest, a snack, and photographs, but not for too long, as I was only at the half way point, and I was worried about the 4pm deadline to catch the return bus. I crossed the Central Crater before climbing to the Blue Lake. This lake is Tapu (sacred) to the Maori people and it is disrespectful to touch, eat or drink around its shores. Looking back at the hazardous descent from the Red Crater summit brought a smile at my achievement in negotiating it without incident.

Volcanic eruption The trail wound around the walls of the Central Crater and I began the long zig zag decent down the Rotopaunga Valley, passing the Ketetahi shelter. The hut is no longer used for overnight accommodation following damage from the 2012 volcanic eruption at Te Maari crater, which spewed ash kilometres into the sky, and rained rocks down on the shelter. This is an active Volcanic Hazard Zone, with billowing funnels of steam venting from the crater, and a warning sign advising quick movement through this section of the trail. Lake Taupo in the distance fills the caldera left by a massive volcanic eruption 26,500 years ago, when the effect on the skies were seen from Rome to China. Tongariro’s dynamic landscape, combining beauty and violence in the same place, is a

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Alpine trekking

The Red Crater

Greg Butler at the summit of Mount Doom

reminder that nature’s cataclysmic events could happen again.

As I continued the steep decent there was a notable change in vegetation from volcanic gravel to lush mountain plants and grassy hillsides, down to bush and forest at the end of the crossing.

New Zealand’s best one day hike When I read the Tongariro Alpine Crossing described as ‘New Zealand’s best one day hike’, I had high expectations. And I wasn’t disappointed.

There was an added sense of achievement in doing it alone, which allowed more time for reflection on how lucky I was to be in this wondrous place. There was also a sense of camaraderie and fun, with the occasional words of support and sympathetic glances from strangers.

Including a round of applause from a group of five Asians upon my arrival at the Red Crater summit!

Why did I do it? Because it’s hard, and to hold back ‘bent old age’ a little longer! Once started, I never really doubted my ability to complete the trek, though as a ‘self professed slower walker’ I had some concerns about 4pm return bus deadline, which I made with minutes to spare.

The best reason of all for doing it was..the sheer joy of it!

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Greg Butler began hill walking in Ireland in his early fifties. On turning 65 he turned his attention to high altitude long distance trekking. He has been to Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, Mt Elbrus, Annapurna Base Camp, and most recently the Tongariro Alpine Crossing New Zealand.

Hill walking and travel have been his main retirement hobbies. He lives in Cork and was in NZ to visit his daughter. You can read about some of his other adventures on http://www.retirement-stories.com/ senior-travel.html The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is in the North Island New Zealand. Greg flew to Auckland and drove to Taupo https://www.lovetaupo.com/.

This is a convenient town from which there are lots of shuttle companies offering transport to the start of the trail, and collection at the end. I used www.tongariroexpeditions.com He did not use a guide, as he’s a reasonably experienced hill walker, and the trail is well marked. If a guided trek is preferred consider www. adventureoutdoors.co.nz

Technology

Senior Technology for Health

By Toni Bunting

There’s no doubt technology can improve our daily lives. From keeping us safer, healthier and more engaged, there’s never been a better time to benefit from the range of health and wellbeing tech out there.

those disturbing blue light emissions to softer colours. Or check your device, as most now have this option as a built-in feature.

Here’s our top 5 list of technologies for the Senior Times Autumn edition, designed for everyone who loves the good life.

Blue Light Blocking Glasses are another great way to block this kind of light. Blue light blocking glasses are one way to block blue light, which can disturb sleep

1. Sleep soundly

2. Smart Alarm Clocks That Wake You Gently Gone are the days when you had to wake up to a loud, jarring alarm beside you bedside.

Today’s alarm clocks can wake you gradually, such as with a gradual increase in light, simulating a morning sunrise.

Couple that with sounds of the rainforest or a river, and you’ll be more than ready to awaken for your day ahead!

If you want to stop waking up feeling groggy, a great way to start is by eliminating distractions. You may have heard that the blue light emitted from cell phones, tablets and computers, has been shown to reduce melatonin levels and disrupt your ability to fall asleep. For this reason, it’s recommended that screen use is discontinued an hour or two before bedtime. One way to overcome this, is by downloading an app to switch

An attractive wood grain gradual sunrise alarm clock by COULAX includes 7 gentle wake-up sounds to choose from.

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Technology

3. Day & Night, Safety at Home

mood and relieving stress! There’s one to suit every home with a range of elegant compact & stylish designs, for those people who love life.

A simple way to keep ourselves safe as we get older, is by wearing a discreet personal monitored alarm button. The latest alarm buttons are ergonomically designed, slim, and comfortable to wear, as a wristband or pendant. Many now transmit up to 300m from the alarm base unit, meaning you can relax, knowing 24/7 help will be there, even while doing your gardening.

These alarms can suit anyone who wants extra security at home and are now available to order online.

Toni is Editor of Telecare.ie, Ireland’s pendant alarm and telecare magazine, & also works for Ireland’s longest established telecare company, TASK Community Care. Toni’s special area of interest is technology for senior health & wellbeing.

The new ergonomically designed pendant alarms are slim, comfortable and discreet.

4. Robot Cleaners If you wish that the vacuuming could just do itself, your wish may have been granted. Robotic vacuum cleaners are now a thing! According to iRobot, the company that manufactures the Rooomba (probably the best known Robot Vac) sensors recognise concentrated areas of dirt around your home, and prompt the robot to clean them more thoroughly.

Nice!

The Roomba Vacumn does the work for you.

5. Relax with an Essential Oil Aromatherapy Diffusers Candles are no longer needed, to enjoy your favourite aromatherapy scents. Oil diffusers can ionize essential oils into an ultra-fine mist to humidify and refresh the air around your home. Perfect for soothing your 58 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie Servisource QP.indd 1

19/10/2016 10:01

Home Instead Senior Care offering free support and advice for families living with dementia Families and their loved ones living with dementia can get free support and advice by attending a series of local workshops across the country during World Alzheimer’s Month this September.

relatives who are living with dementia.

Home Instead Senior Care has built up vast resources on Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care, which it will share with the public at the free workshops.

The workshops, which are hosted by Home Instead Senior Care, take place at various locations across the country, and are aimed at giving family carers the ‘Confidence to Care’ for their loved ones living with dementia.

The care company hopes its workshops will help people understand the causes and management of Alzheimer’s and dementia, and ultimately play a part in eliminating the stigma around the condition.

The number of people living with dementia is growing rapidly, but understanding and awareness of the condition remains low among the public. Even those who are living with dementia, and family members who care for them, are often unaware of the latest thinking and best practice in dementia care.

Details of all workshops and locations are available in the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care section of their website, HomeInstead. ie. You can reserve a place by visiting the website and booking online, or by phoning the local office in your locality.

Home Instead Senior Care has lots of experience in the field of Alzheimer’s and dementia care, and it is committed to helping family carers get a better understanding of the latest information and care management practice, so that they can provide the best care for their

excellence in dementia care, and get practical tips from our CARE programme to help you care for your loved one.

Resources: Find out how to access our vast bank of resources, including the ‘Confidence to Care at Home Kit’, ‘Dementia Care at Home’, Memory Clinics in Ireland, ‘Dementia and Primary Care’, and more.

Videos: Browse a series of Freedem films, developed by the NEIL Programme at Trinity College Dublin, to address fears about memory loss and dementia and provide practical advice about brain health.

Come along on the day, or visit the website, to access:

Books: Buy ‘Confidence to Care – A Resource for Family Caregivers Providing Alzheimer’s Disease of Other Dementias Care at Home’. All profits from this book are donated to dementia-related organisations and causes.

Advice: Learn how Home Instead’s CARE (Changing Ageing through Research and Education) training approach gives our professional CAREGivers the expertise to deliver

Other Supports: Find out how Home Instead Senior Care can provide care for your loved one living with dementia, or respite cover for you.

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 57

Fit The indoor & outdoor activities supplement

Edited by Conor O’Hagan

Fitness

The cycle of life

When you want to be somewhere else, cycling is where it’s at.

Conor O’Hagan explains

Staying active as you age isn’t easy, no matter what they tell you – or even what I may have told you. Things ache, recovery takes longer and the rewards that came with the effort thirty years ago seem much harder won when your body isn’t really interested in age-inappropriate things like sprouting muscle or shedding fat.

Motivation can be hard to find.

career and life’s rich tapestry that it’s pretty academic. Being in good shape, if it’s a concern at all, gives way to being in good shape for our age, and while our capacity to build muscle, and our maximum cardiovascular performance thresholds may be in decline, we’re operating so far within our limits that we scarcely notice. Only much later do we discover that age takes away something we can’t get back.

Choosing the right ‘vehicle’ for your efforts is probably more important now than ever before, and a few activities stand out as strong candidates.

A fascinating study published last year revealed that cycling can hold back the effects of ageing and rejuvenate the immune system.

Cycling is one of them. It helps you work your cardiovascular system and keep your heart healthy. Because it’s a low-impact sport, it reduces strain on the joints – a major consideration at a time in life when joint pain can compromise everything from putting on your socks to getting out of the car. Many studies show that biking can actually slow down the ageing process in a variety of ways.

Most of us pass our physical peak without even noticing it. By 35 it’s all over in terms of personal bests, but by then we’re so locked into family,

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Scientists carried out tests on 125 amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79 and compared them with healthy adults from a wide age group who did not exercise regularly.

The findings showed that the cyclists preserved muscle mass and strength with age while maintaining stable levels of body fat and cholesterol. In men, testosterone levels remained high.

More surprisingly, the anti-ageing effects of cycling appeared to extend to the immune system.

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Fitness

Commenting on the findings in The Guardian, Prof Janet Lord, director of the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘Hippocrates in 400BC said that exercise is man’s best medicine, but his message has been lost over time and we are an increasingly sedentary society’.

‘However, importantly, our findings debunk the assumption that ageing automatically makes us more frail. Our research means we now have strong evidence that encouraging people to commit to regular exercise throughout their lives is a viable solution to the problem that we are living longer but not healthier.”

Other recent studies found that regular cycling cut the risk of death from all causes by more than 40%, and cut the risk of cancer and heart disease by 45%.

Experts also believe cycling boosts riders’ mental health, with multiple studies finding that those who commute by bicycle are happier and less prone to depression than those who use any other form of transport.

Another report also found that cycling does not just benefit an individual’s health but that of society as a whole, estimating that if Britain were to reach government targets for walking and cycling, the country would save about £9.3bn and reduce deaths from air pollution by more than 13,000 over the next decade; leading some observers to label cycling a potential saviour of Britain’s NHS! And it’s not just in the legs Yet more research has found that reported that people who did 30

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minutes of steady exercise on a stationary bicycle were better able to remember things, use reasoning and ‘strategise’ after working out.

Researchers conducted tests before and after cycling to get a baseline and record the results. Participants even spent less time on the tests after they exercised than they did before getting active.

It’s considered normal to experience a reduction in processing speed, memory and reasoning with age. These skills are not derived from experience, repetition or learning; they are related to the connections between neurons in the brain. But those connections have been shown to diminish as you get older – even without the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia. It has been found that aerobic exercise may increase brain mass, especially in the parts of the brain responsible for executive control functions and memory. It may also improve the growth of neurons, which affects the ability to learn.

Cycling outdoors can enhance those benefits. Scientists have tested that theory by having cyclists watch a screen that showed a green, leafy environment while participants were riding a stationary bike. This was demonstrated to improve participants’ moods. It also made them feel like the exercise was easier than when they viewed other images on the screen.

Any type of moderate exercise improves blood flow to the brain. Simply walking for 30 to 55 minutes a day a few times a week can increase blood flow by up to 15 percent. In many seniors, however, walking or jogging can stress the joints. Cycling provides a lower impact form of aerobic activity.

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Fitness

Fit for Fitness

Keeping it optimal

Bikes aren’t what they used to be; they’re better in almost every way.

The huge upswing in cycling’s popularity over recent decades has led to safer, lighter, more comfortable bikes that are a joy to ride, whether you’re a road-only, trail or bit-of-both rider, while the much-maligned Lycra is only one element in a vast array of purpose-designed gear that makes cycling a gear freak’s heaven, if that’s where you’re at.

Cycling is inherently low-impact; after all, the bicycle is a machine optimised for the efficient use of human muscle power for motion, without the compromises inherent in, say, running. This is particularly important with age, when conditions such as arthritis can compromise our mobility.

Cycling confers maximum benefit to heart and lungs with minimum wear and tear on the body.

At the same time, there’s a world of expertise in maintaining and fitting bikes that simply wasn’t there as recently as 20 years ago. Cycling is now a cross-generational lifestyle, served by countless clubs, societies and specialist retailers – all of them welcoming new members, customers and fellow-enthusiasts at any level. Use their knowledge and feed off their enthusiasm.

Good form on the bike is important and easily achieved. In essence, it’s about keeping all your movement in one plane. No lateral movement of your legs means your knees stay stable throughout, with your kneecap gliding smoothly. If you’re not sure you’re doing it right, a visit to a bike fitting specialist (just Google ‘bike fitting’) is something you won’t regret.

Try an electric bike

There’s a whole bunch of good reasons for cycling in company; safety, motivation, conversation, education and just plain enjoyment. Social interaction is what we’re designed for, and doing it improves mental health. If you can’t muster a cycling group amongst your existing friends, find a ready-made one by joining a Cycling Club. Ireland is full of them, and they’re full of brilliant people who understand exactly where you’re coming from.

E-bikes aren’t a cop-out, they’re a major contribution to the Gaiety of Nations, making cycling – and its fitness benefits – more accessible and in many cases more practical. You don’t have to think of electrical assistance as a destination – for many riders of all ages they have been a gateway to the wider world of cycling.

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Do it with Friends

Fitness

Take It easy

Fuel your body

Don’t push yourself too hard while you’re cycling. Choose a route that’s not too strenuous, and don’t ignore the pain. You can improve your endurance and skill by listening to your body and gradually increasing your distance, effort and speed. Check with your doctor if you’re not sure whether cycling is safe for your health.

Don’t benchmark your fitness or your rides against either your own former glories or what anyone else is doing. There are so many variables contributing to your capabilities that you really are a law unto yourself.

Get to know what you’re able for by trial and error, but always with caution. One iron-clad law that you won’t escape is that recovery takes longer – and recovery from injury takes more time than you can spare, so avoid over-stressing yourself.

Stay cautious In general, I believe that we get smarter as we get older. Maybe it’s just natural selection – if we kept making the same mistakes, we wouldn’t last long. But one area in which ‘older adults’ can be shamefully daft is in recognising their failing eyesight. Can’t read documents on your smartphone? Try glasses. Can’t read road signs? Get off the road. And if your glasses aren’t suitable for riding, get some that are. Consider prescription sports sunglasses – the difference is embarrassing.

Hopefully, at your age and stage in life you won’t feel temperamentally obliged to ignore red traffic lights, you’ll follow the rules of the road and look out for drivers and obstacles.

You’ll be sensible about lighting when appropriate and you’ll give due consideration to wearing one of those hideous high-viz tabards – which thankfully are at least available in more cycle-friendly versions if we really must wear them. And of course you won’t even think about riding without a helmet.

You’ll also appreciate and make use of cycle lanes where provided – even when your local authority doesn’t have the decency to maintain them, when they’re a constant source of punctures and when the legal proscription against parking on them seems to have the status of a dead letter.

Make allowances for the ways your metabolism may have changed. For instance, in the way you respond to fuelling. Once upon a time, you may have preferred to exercise on an empty stomach, whereas now you may not be able to without feeling lightheaded.

Long cycle rides can be incredibly demanding of calories. That’s one of the joys of cycling, but it means you need to fuel appropriately, before, during and after. Eating as you go can make a huge difference to your endurance – and your enjoyment of long rides. If you don’t already, learn to love the banana!

In these hydration-obsessed times, it should also go without saying that water is the sine qua non of cycling. Carry it, drink it. You know the rest.

Sleep it off To judge by the attention it gets these days, you’d think humanity had only just discovered sleep. But perhaps that’s just a measure of how much we have undervalued it. Sleep is the passport to recovery, and in my experience it’s the single most important variable in a successful active lifestyle. There’s only one mantra: Get More. Turn off the TV, go to bed and you’ll get fitter, quicker. On the bike, you’ll be stronger, faster and safer.

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Wine World

Has wine a future?

Mairead Robinson attended the international Wine Summit in Portugal this summer.

Only a short drive from Lisbon, Cascais is a great place for a relaxing gourmet break.

When different ideas come together they ferment something great – the future. So predicts the organisers of MUST – the wine summit held in the beautiful seaside town of Cascais this summer. And with speakers from all around the globe, Masters of Wine and renowned wine makers of international repute, this was indeed an event of major importance to the world of wine. And indeed to all of us who enjoy a glass or two of the fruit of the grape.

We are hearing a lot about global warming these days, and the impact this is having on the environment, on nature and agriculture particularly. This is very evident in the vineyard, where grape ripening and harvest times are closely watched and have changed quite dramatically over the past few years. One man who began looking at the effect of climate change and its

impact on the vineyard some years ago, is Miguel Torres, who presentation entitled Drought and Water Management in the Vineyard was particularly alarming. His research has looked at temperature changes through the millennia and how deforestation has had a huge effect causing fires and frost in the vineyards leading to huge crop losses in recent years. He is extremely passionate about the effect of climate change, and I have witnessed the work he has been doing at the winery in Catalonia where he has invested millions of euro in recent years.

His solution? We need to get governments more engaged and further investment is needed to rebalance the situation.

Gaia Gaja from Italy also spoke on the effects of climate change with grapes producing more sugar and less acidity due to highly unpredict

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One man who began looking at the effect of climate change and its impact on the vineyard some years ago, is Miguel Torres, who presentation entitled Drought and Water Management in the Vineyard was particularly alarming.

Wine World

The Congress Centre in Estoril, venue for MUST

able weather changes. In 2018 their vineyard saw constant days of rain causing mildew forming in the vineyard with no opportunity to get in the spray against it. 2017 conversely saw a very long hot dry spell causing other problems. Her solution is to move away from harmful chemicals like sulphur and copper and improve soil quality so that it can fight the challenges of climate change. ‘Insect Hotels’ and biodiversity are the tools they are using to give lift to the soil. They planted Cyprus trees to encourage birds, brought in bees, wasps and bumblebees to pollinate and planted different grasses, such as mustard with deeper roots.

They also make compost with cow manure which is full of micro organisms and worms. All of these methods have increased the strength of the soil to fight the problems caused by an unpredictable climate. This was inspiring work indeed and brought us to the topic of organic and natural wines with another presentation from Isabelle Legeron.

As a French Master of Wine, she is well familiar with the huge increase in the use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides in recent years with soil erosion and ground burnt by weed killers.

She drew parallels between the carbon footprint of an organic bottle of wine compared to a conventional wine, and the health concerns associated with use of sulphites. The natural wine scene is a worldwide explosion, with the younger wine drinker in particular – under 35 – wanting to drink a low intervention wine and the

rise of the craft movement due to the demand for honesty, authenticity and transparency.

Biodiversity is key to bringing resilience to disease, and this was also outlined by Antonia Graca who outlined the project to conserve the genetic biodiversity of the Portuguese grapevine. While there are five thousand varieties recognised around the world, only one percent of that number is cultivated worldwide.

In Portugal there were one hundred and fifty varieties identified in 1973, and today there are 341. And so the work continues to bring new grape varieties to the international market that have not been seen previously. Once again diversity is proving to be a big factor in the future of wine production.

And successful wine makers are always looking for new territories to cultivate wine and discover a region where the terroir turns out to be exciting. Well known Lenz Moser from Austria told a fascinating tale of how he fell in love with China fifteen years ago where interest in wine has grown from the thousands of young Chinese people who travel and bring back a thirst for the lifestyle that goes with enjoying wine. Having to wade this way through the cultural and linguistic differences, Lenz admitted that the first ten years of his efforts were not so successful, but he persevered and the past five years he has made great strides and his wine is now the number one premium wine in China. He makes four wines from Cabernet Sauvignon and every bottle is produced

Gaia Gaja from Italy also spoke on the effects of climate change with grapes producing more sugar and less acidity due to highly unpredictable weather changes.

and bottled at the chateau, with a picture of the chateau on every label. He has not had so much success with export yet, but that the next challenge he is facing.

And finally an important aspect of the continued success of wineries worldwide, is the growth of wine tourism. This topic was discussed in detail, as were the relevance of scores and awards, new technologies, old techniques, and a host of other aspects of the international wine industry over the three days of the summit. According to Minister of State for Tourism, Ana Mendes Gordino, Portugal is keen to grow wine tourism and is planning an international tourism conference to take place there in 2020. This was the third year of MUST and the fact that it was held in the Congress Centre in Estoril, beside the gorgeous seaside town on Cascais totally added to the experience. There are an abundance of great restaurants and places to visit, as well as enjoying the beach and hospitality of the region.

Only a short drive from Lisbon, Cascais is a great place for a relaxing gourmet break.

Visit www.visitcascais.com for ideas.

And if you want to know more about the wine conference and the inspiring speakers and presentations, you should visit www.mustfermentingideas.com

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 67

Improve your mental health, boost your mood and live a longer, healthier life with the new Mediterranean Mood Food cookbook

Spinach, feta and egg bake A handy little brunch for the weekend, this egg bake is a great way to use up any leftover roasted vegetables, sweet potatoes, beans or cheese ends. You can make it in one ovenproof dish if you haven’t got individual Nothing beats a good bowl of stirabout. Oats are super versatile whole ones. Olives contain a phenolic compound called oleocanthal that has strong anti-inflammatory properties. The olives also contain essential grains that are low in saturated fat and high in gut-protective soluble omega-3 fatty acids, which our bodies can’t make so we need to eat them. fibre. Oats contain no added sugar or salt, so you can dress them up Luckily, olives are a delicious way to include omega-3 in recipes. with some natural sweetness, such as dried apricots or a fruit of your choice. Walnuts make a nice brain-sustaining topping that’s rich in omega-3, but you can use macadamia nuts, linseeds or chia seeds too. Serves 4 100g spinach 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes 100g feta cheese, cubed 10 pitted black olives, sliced (optional) Serves 2 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp chilli flakes 100g Irish steel cut porridge oats (or any porridge oats you like) 1 tsp dried oregano Lots of freshly ground black pepper 4 dried apricots, chopped (or 2 chopped plums or 1 chopped 4 eggs Toasted sourdough bread, to serve nectarine), plus extra to serve 100ml cow’s or almond milk 100ml or so of water, to your liking Garlic-infused olive oil, to serve Drizzle of natural or Greek yogurt Drizzle of local honey Preheat the oven to 180 ˚ C. Place the spinach in a colander set in the sink 2 tbsp chopped walnuts and pour a kettle of boiling water over it. Squeeze the excess water out of the wilted leaves, then divide it between four small individual ovenproof Soak the steel cut oats and dried apricots overnight in the milk and dishes. Put the tomatoes, feta, olives (if using), garlic, chilli flakes, oregano water. and seasoning in a bowl and mix it all up, then add to the dishes with the Heat and divide between two bowls the following morning.

Drizzle with a little natural or Greek yogurt and local honey, then scatter spinach. Make a well in the centre of each and crack in an egg. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or more, until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve over the walnuts and extra chopped dried apricots. with sourdough toast brushed with garlic-infused olive oil.

Apricot and walnut steel cut oatmeal

Vegetable and lentil soup Lentils are a high-protein, high-fibre member of the legume family. Like a mini version of a bean, lentils grow in pods and come in red, brown, black and green varieties. They are relatively inexpensive, quick and easy to prepare compared to dried beans and they don’t have to be soaked overnight. Lentils are a good natural source of selenium and folate, which are important nutrients for brain health.

Serves 2 1 onion 2 large carrots 2 celery sticks 1 large courgette 1 red pepper 2 garlic cloves 1 tbsp olive oil 1 litre vegetable stock 50g dried red lentils Freshly ground black pepper, Chopped fresh parsley,to garnish Chop all the vegetables into similar small bite-sized pieces and crush the garlic cloves. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir well to coat with the oil. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until all the vegetables have softened. Meanwhile, rinse the lentils in a sieve. When the vegetables are almost cooked, add the lentils and cook for a further 15 minutes. Blend half or all of the soup with a hand-held blender or in a food processor.

Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Serve piping hot in your favourite mug and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

68 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

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Salmon with sweet potato mash This dish is a good source of anti-inflammatory essential omega-3 fatty acids and is low in saturated fat.

Lamb tagine with apricots, almonds and mint You don’t need to travel any further than your local supermarket to discover the delicious flavours and fresh foods associated with the traditional Mediterranean diet. It’s not that difficult to bring the remarkable health benefits to your kitchen cupboards, fridge and table every day.

Growing your own fresh garden herbs like mint, thyme and rosemary in patio planters can save you considerable amounts of money annually.

Mint is thought to increase bile secretion and encourage bile flow, which helps to speed and ease digestion.

Serves 4 2 tbsp olive oil 400g lean lamb (leg or chump), cubed 1 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 500ml lamb or chicken stock Zest and juice of 1 orange 1 cinnamon stick 1 tsp honey Salt and freshly ground black pepper 175g ready-to-eat dried apricots 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint 25g ground almonds 25g toasted flaked almonds Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish Pomegranate seeds, to garnish Couscous (50g uncooked weight per person), to serve Steamed tenderstem broccoli, to serve Heat the oil in a large casserole. Add the lamb and cook over a medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes, until evenly browned, stirring often. Remove the lamb to a plate using a slotted spoon. Reduce the heat to medium, then add the onion and garlic to the casserole and cook gently for 5 minutes, until softened. Return the lamb to the casserole. Add the stock, orange zest and juice, cinnamon stick, honey and some salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for 1 hour.

Add the apricots and two-thirds of the mint and cook for 30 minutes, until the lamb is tender. Stir in the ground almonds to thicken the sauce. Scatter the remaining mint and the toasted flaked almonds over the top along with a few fresh coriander leaves and some pomegranate seeds. Serve with couscous and broccoli on the side.

What if you could improve your mental health, boost your mood and reduce symptoms of depression by altering the way you eat? Focusing on the link between food, mood and mental health, in her latest book, Mediterranean Mood Food, what to eat to beat depression and live a longer, healthier life, author and dietitian Paula Mee outlines how a Mediterranean food plan can do just that.

For many years we have known that the traditional Mediterranean diet has numerous physical health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Now, new evidence suggests that this pattern of eating can substantially reduce

Serves 4 Vegetables of your choice, e.g. red, orange and yellow peppers, red onions, courgettes, parsnips, carrots, celery, chopped olives or capers 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp runny honey 2 garlic cloves, crushed A few sprigs of fresh rosemary 4 salmon steaks Squeeze of lemon or lime juice Chilli flakes, to taste Freshly ground black pepper 2 sweet potatoes 1 tbsp natural yogurt Fresh thyme leaves, to garnish This dish is a good source of anti-inflammatory essential omega-3 fatty acids and is low in saturated fat.

Preheat the oven to 180 ˚ C. Choose your winter vegetables from the fridge, chop them up and throw them into a roasting tin in a single layer. Mix the oil with the honey and drizzle it over the vegetables. Add the garlic and a few sprigs of rosemary to the tin.

Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes. Give the veg a quick shake on the tray halfway through the cooking time and add a little more olive oil if necessary. Meanwhile, wrap four salmon steaks in individual foil parcels with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice, some chilli flakes and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Put in the oven 10 minutes after your roasted vegetables and cook for 20 minutes. While the vegetables are roasting, peel and steam the sweet potatoes until tender.

Mash with a little natural yogurt to give it extra creaminess.

Serve the roasted vegetables with a dollop of the rich, creamy sweet potato mash and a salmon steak alongside.

Garnish with another pinch of chilli flakes and a few fresh thyme leaves.

the risk of depression, with growing research showing that following a Mediterranean based diet is associated with better gut health and subsequently mental health.

Mediterranean Mood Food; What to eat to beat depression and live a longer, healthier life is published by Gill Books at E19.99. and is available in all bookshops and online.

Inspired by this fascinating new research, in her latest book Mediterranean Mood Food, Paula Mee pinpoints the beneficial traits of a traditional way of eating and presents a straightforward Mediterranean Mood Food Plan (MMFP), with over 70 easy-to-prepare recipes - rich in healthy fats, wholegrain, unrefined carbs, and proteins, including spinach, feta and egg bake, lamb meatballs, mushroom bourguignonn and easy bake pears.

Four copies of Mediterranean Mood Food to be won!

70 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Senior Times, in association with Gill Books, is offering four copies of Mediterranean Mood Food in this competition. To enter simply answer this question: What does MMFP mean?

Send your answer to Senior Times, Unit 1, 15 Oxford Lane, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Or email john@slp.ie Deadline for receipt of entries is 6 October 2019.

A true friend, leaves paw prints on your heart.

The Irish Blue Cross is an animal welfare charity well known for providing charitable veterinary services in the greater Dublin area. The charity operates from its small animal clinic in Inchicore, Dublin 8 and this is complemented by mobile veterinary clinics operating in Cabra, Tallaght, Blanchardstown, Crumlin, Ballyfermot, Ballybrack, Smithfield, Walkinstown, Finglas and Whitehall. Out on the road each week-day evening, these mobile clinics provide essential frontline services and treatments for thousands of pets every year. Where pets require more comprehensive clinical examinations and treatments, they are referred to the Inchicore clinic veterinary team.

Veterinary care from The Irish Blue Cross is available to pets whose owners are in receipt of certain mean-tested benefits and who live within a defined catchment area of the clinic in Inchicore. Veterinary care is not free but the charity charge more affordable fees which cover the basic cost of treatment. The support provided makes an immeasurable difference to so many communities in Dublin and without the support of The Irish Blue Cross, many families would struggle with accessing necessary veterinary care for their pets.

A practical and caring approach is at the heart of The Irish Blue Cross clinical work and the veterinary team also support pet families by educating them on how to be responsible pet owners, ensuring their precious pet has a happy and healthy life. Since the charity’s foundation in 1945, well over half a million family pets have been treated and demand for affordable veterinary care continues to grow every year. In 2018, the clinical teams had 19,801 pet visits covering all aspects of veterinary care including health-checks, x-rays, blood tests, microchipping, neutering and other surgical procedures. The charity strongly advocates preventative healthcare, in particular parasite treatments and vaccinations. Vaccines can protect our furry friends from contracting a variety of illnesses, some of which can be fatal.

Neutering is another preventative healthcare measure the charity strongly recommends. The Irish Blue Cross has a neutering policy which is not only important for reducing the number of healthy dogs and cats destroyed in Ireland each year - it also provides many health benefits for pets. The charity offers low cost neutering, with generously reduced costs ranging from€35 to €115, depending on the size of the animal.

In addition to their small animal work, the charity operates a horse ambulance service that attends all Irish racecourses, working closely with racecourse veterinary surgeons to assist and save injured racehorses.

The Irish Blue Cross rely heavily on donations from the public and the goodwill of supporters to continue its work. With the loyal support of many committed and enthusiastic volunteers, the charity hosts an action-packed calendar of fundraising events each year including the very popular Bark in the Park™ sponsored dog walks, flag days, collections and appeals.

Pets need our help. So we need yours too.

All donations towards The Irish Blue Cross’ on-going work are always welcome. To find out how you can support, call 01-4163032 or email paul.halpin@bluecross.ie

‘To the small animals in need, I leave..’

Remembering a charity in your will is a kind and generous gesture that costs you nothing in your lifetime. But your kindness will make a difference forever. Once loved ones are looked after in your will, consider how else you can help.

Create your legacy and make your love for pets live on.

For more information on how you can make a lasting difference, contact us today.

15A Goldenbridge Industrial Estate, Inchicore, Dublin 8 Tel: +353 1 4163032 www.bluecross.ie

Motoring

New Audi A1 Compact Super-Hero

Breda Corrigan tests the new Audi A1

Audi’s proud history of small hatchback’s is not particularly well-known.

The ultra-light, fun-to-drive Audi 50 of 1974 was so good that the Volkswagen mothership grabbed its concept, called it the VW Polo, and killed off the Audi 50 a few years later. The 1999 Audi A2, with its aerodynamic full-aluminum body, was another marvel of light-weight technology, but it was overpriced and underpowered. But the Audi A1, launched in 2010, can be considered an all-round success.

Second Generation Now Audi has launched the second generation of the A1, and have really pushed the boat out in terms of refinement, ride quality, comfort, composure and cutting-edge technology & infotainment. The new model has eliminated the three-door version of its predecessor, there is no more diesel power, and there will be no S1 hot-hatch. That said, the new A1 stands on a superior architecture. It shares its underpinnings with other MQB models like the new VW Polo, which brings with it a number of advantages. It is lighter, and offers the chance to include cutting-edge infotainment and assistance systems. As a result, this is where the new 72 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

A1 shines brightly. The A1 can be fitted with an array of ultrasonic-, radarand camera-based assistance systems, including an adaptive cruise control system with a stop-and-go function. A digital instrument cluster is standard, and brings the new A1 right up-to-the-minute in terms of desirability and connectivity.

Trim Levels There are 3 trim levels available in the new Audi A1 – Attraction, SE, and S Line, with an array of 8 colours to choose from. Multiple customisation options are available too, including the option to pick a contrasting

Motoring

colour for the roof, front spoiler lip and side sills. Standard equipment levels across the new Audi A1 range are generous, with the entry-level Attraction model coming with such standard items as, multiple airbags, Electronic Stability Programme (including ABS, EBD, ASR and EDL), adaptive brake light, remote central locking, engine immobiliser, TPMS, Audi Pre Sense Front, Lane Departure Warning, Hill Hold Assist, Audi eCall, electric front and rear windows, front and rear floor mats, heated mirrors, air-conditioning, split folding rear seats, ISOFIX, and a front centre armrest.

Engine & Transmission Options In keeping with the growing trend in this class of car, there are no diesel engine options available in the new Audi A1. However, the petrol engine line-up consists of a 1.0-litre with 116bhp (30 TFSI), a 1.4-litre with 150bhp (35 TFSI), and a 2.0-litre with an impressive 200bhp (40 TFSI). A choice of either a six-speed manual, or a 7-speed S-Tronic (automatic) gearbox is available with the first two engines, with the 2.0-litre available only in S-Tronic format.

to sprint from 0-100km/h in just 9.5-seconds, on its way to a top speed of 203km/h (where permitted). This wonderful engine is capable of fuel consumption as low as 4.2l/100km, while annual road tax is just E270.

Driving Pleasure The new A1 is a pleasure to drive, thanks in no small part to crisp handling characteristics, dynamic chassis control, and exceptional refinement. The cabin of the car is of the highest quality, with logically placed switch-gear, excellent driver’s seat & steering wheel adjustment, and premium-quality materials used throughout.

Pricing; The new Audi A1 is priced from just E24,650 (ex-works), with my testcar specification starting from E26,550 (ex-works). The new Audi A1 is covered by Audi’s comprehensive 3-Year/100,000km warranty, and is on sale now.

Fact Box

Test Car My test car was an Audi A1 SE 30 TFSI (1.0-litre) finished in Mythos Black metallic paint, and fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox. Over and above the entry-level model, this mid-range model benefits from the addition of 16” alloy wheels, leather multi-function steering wheel, leather gear knob & handbrake, aluminium scuff plates, rear parking sensors, cruise control and more. The punchy, sweet-revving 1.0-litre engine produces 116bhp and 200Nm of torque, allowing the front-wheel-drive A1

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Stylish, Premium Hatchback Latest Technology Three Trim Levels Choice of Petrol Engines Priced From Just E24,650 (ex-works)

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 73

Western Ways George Keegan on happenings along the Western Seaboard in travel , the arts, food and entertainment

Domestic appliances from the forties and fifties feature in the exhibition

Power to the women A new exhibition Kitchen Power: Women’s Experiences of Rural Electrification opened recently at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life in Turlough Park, Castlebar. The exhibition was developed in partnership with Kingston University London and the Arts & Humanities Research Council. It was co-curated by Noel Campbell (National Museum of Ireland) and Dr. Sorcha O’Brien (Kingston University) .Their aim was to evoke the periods of the 1950s and 1960s in Ireland and explore how electrical products were advertised and promoted as part of a ‘modern lifestyle’, from traditional hearth to the fitted kitchen. The exhibition is set on three floors, but there are lifts for anyone with a mobile disability and toilets on each floor.

Included are a range of ESB archives from television adverts, footage of their stand at the 1962 Ideal Homes Exhibition in the Mansion House, to marketing material from their showrooms around the country. There are also objects from the museum’s archives, Irish Agricultural Museum and private collectors. Alongside these fascinating artefacts are more than 60 oral history recordings (given by members of the ICA). Another special section is the ‘Electric Irish Homes Textile Art Project’ commissioned by Age & Opportunity as part of the Bealtaine Festival who 74 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

National Museum of Ireland - Country Life in Turlough Park, Castlebar.

engaged Sligo artist Anna Spearman to work with women around Co Mayo to respond creatively to the exhibition.

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Western Ways

Welcome to Newport

ESB poster from the 1930s

Speaking to Senior Times co-curator Noel Campbell said one of the most important aspects of this exhibition is the opportunity to accumulate memories from people who lived during the period. ‘We place sheets at a table each day for visitors to write their own special memories and stories related to rural electrification in Ireland and the response has been great with more than 60 forms filled in most days’.

While driving along the Wild Atlantic Way you will pass though the small, picturesque heritage town of Newport. It would be a shame however just to drive through en route to somewhere without spending at least 24 hours to discover and explore some of the interesting places it has to offer. While many rural towns and villages around the country are struggling the first impression on entering Newport is an air of optimism and vibrancy. This is due to a very active community spirit. A group of 25 residents and business people from the town and its environs formed a local community development group almost 20 years ago. The aim was not only to attract visitors but make the town a better place to live and work. As each new development is completed other projects are already in the pipeline.

Examples include the fine information office on Georges Street run on a voluntary basis (with assistance from Failte Ireland) and last May close to E100,000 was spent on upgrading the towns playground which now has the longest zip line in Mayo plus up to the minute sensory equipment for those with any form of disability. There is also bicycle parking for children using the Greenway.

One very interesting exhibit is the touch screen monitor where you can select an area anywhere in Ireland and get details of homes, dates when connected to the grid, number of poles used and how many kilometres of cable were used. There are apparently 700 districts around Ireland. Also worth seeing is the reconstruction of a 1950 model kitchen by a student from GMIT, Letterfrack campus.

The exhibition received support from the ESB, Irish Farmers Journal, Age & Opportunity and GMT Letterfrack. Museum opening times are: Sun/Mon 1pm-5pm and Tues/Sat 10am-5pm. ‘Kitchen Power-Women’s Experiences of Rural Electrification’ continues until July of next year. It’s unlikely it will travel on a nationwide tour so catch it while you can in the West.

The National Museum of Ireland Country Life is the home of the National Folklore Collection and has won many awards. Collections on display include everyday objects used by the people of Ireland during the period from the end of the Great Famine to the middle of the 20th century.

Admission is free. www.museum.ie

76 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Fiona Hopkins manager of the local tourist office and festival director for the Dark Sky Festival says there is a wonderful community spirit and points to the local primary school opening its gates for summer visitors to park their cars. She points out that the town attracts a large number of active retirement people taking in the Greenway and other outdoor pursuits. Activities on offer include several interesting Loop walks, hiking trails, the Great Western Greenway, plus river and sea angling. A local company Clew Bay Charters, run sightseeing excursions on Clew Bay. From a business point of view Newport has two fine hotels and several B&Bs. There are two award winning

Have you seen the

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A cover-to-cover re-fit of the design of the magazine has been carried out, retaining all your favourite articles, with new features and travel abroad.

The Irish Garden is Ireland's best-selling gardening magazine, packed with timely information, written by Irish gardeners for Irish gardeners!

Western Ways

Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier at Newport House Harry Clarke’s stained glass window, The Last Judgement, in St Patrick’s Church, Newport.

butcher shops on Main Street – Kelly’s a name famous throughout Ireland and beyond and Keane’s, noted throughout County Mayo. Kellys run an excellent café next door as do The Blue Bicycle Tea Rooms across the street with a delightful garden patio at the rear.

Attractions Carrickahowley a famous castle with 16thC Gaelic Tower House, the unique Victorian railway viaduct crossing the Black Oak river at the edge of town, Burrishoole Abbey, Letterkeen Wood Ringfort and St Patrick’s Church containing the last stained glass window designed by Harry Clarke called ‘The Last Judgement’. Not to be forgotten either is the ancestral home just out the road of Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly), now sadly a ruin.

The Grace Kelly Connection - the paternal grandfather of Grace Kelly was John whose original home a small thatched cottage was in the townland of Drimurla, a couple of kilometres from the town. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1887 and founded a major construction company.

On becoming Princess Grace of Monaco the former Hollywood star made several visits to Newport in the 1960s and 1970s.Photos are on display in the Information office.

St. Patricks Church- an impressive church designed by architect R.M.Butler who also worked on buildings along the street where the National Concert Hall is in Dublin. The 3 light stained glass windows (1930) attract very many visitors. www.newportmayo.ie .

Upcoming festivals in the West Food Festivals Galore during next two months: September: 3rd Mayo Food Festival, Castlebar (8th Sept) Cromane SeaFest, Kerry (new) 14th/15th; Bundoran Food Festival 20th/22nd; Galway International Oyster Sea Food Festival 27th/29th;

Kinsale Gourmet 11th/13th;

Foxford Mussel Festival (new) 26th/28th.

Plus: Matchmaking Festival: Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare (month of September).

Connemara Green Festival, Letterfrack 11th/13th,

Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 24th-28th October.

October:

78 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Mayo Dark Sky: 1st-3rd November with two very special guests this year, Bob Thirsk, Canadian astronaut (spent 6 months on International Space Station) and Norah Patten Irish faculty member of International Space University and citizen scientist astronaut with Project PoSSUM. www.discoverireland.ie/whats-on .

Could this nutrient be the key to slower ageing?

Health

Italian scientists have observed that levels of the vitamin-like compound called coenzyme Q10 decrease, as we grow older. The nutrient, which all cells need to generate energy, is known to give failing hearts a boost.

Science has always been obsessed with trying to explain how and why the body ages. There are many factors involved in the process, but one thing that has caught the attention of Italian researchers is that levels of a natural compound called coenzyme Q10 – or simply Q10 – appear to decrease, as we grow older. Their findings are reported in the January issue of European Research Journal.

Q10 and human health The team of researchers reviewed scientific data from eighty studies, the majority of which were clinical trials of Q10 supplementation and human health. The scientists point to therapeutic benefits from Q10 supplementation in connection with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease, but the nutrient may also be useful in several age-related clinical conditions such as heart disease.

54% percent lower death rate In fact, one of the studies that the scientists had particular focus on was the KiSel-10 study, which is carried out on 443 elderly men and women in Sweden, and which has made headlines worldwide ever since its publication in 2013. The subjects were randomly assigned to a regimen of 200 mg of high-quality Q10 (Bio-Quinone Q10 from Pharma Nord) and a selenium yeast supplement, or matching placebo. After four years of supplementation, the Swedish scientists observed that the cardiovascular death rate had decreased by 54% in the supplemented group, and participants also showed clear signs of improved functioning of the cardiac muscle.

Helped heart failure patients

Similar results were seen in another study (Q-Symbio), in which daily supplementation with 300 mg of Q10 as an adjuvant for conventional heart drugs lowered the mortality rate by 43% in a study of 420 heart failure patients. Half the patients got Q10, the other half got a placebo.

Besides a lower mortality rate, the Q10-supplemented group obtained significant improvements of the heart muscle performance.

Do we need supplements?

We all get a small amount of Q10 from the food we eat, but we produce most of the substance ourselves. Q10 is synthesized in the liver, and science has discovered that the endogenous production of Q10 peaks in our early twenties and continues to decrease from that point onward.

So, the Million Dollar Question is: does it make sense to start taking a supplement of the compound, when we reach a certain age?

Difficult to absorb The Italian science team thinks so and actually recommends it.

However, the researchers point to the fact that the poor bioavailability of Q10 is a limiting factor. In other words, it is difficult for the body to absorb Q10 from supplements, unless the preparations are manufactured in a way that makes them more assimilable to the digestive system.

Unique Q10 formula What happens with Q10 molecules is that they aggregate and form large, insoluble crystals that are unable to pass through the intestinal wall and enter the bloodstream. With a unique formula, however, that involves mixing Q10 with special oils and subjecting the mixture to a heating process, it is possible to prevent the formation of these solid crystals. The result is a highly bioavailable Q10 formula with free and unattached Q10 molecules that can easily reach the blood and cells.

It was this specific formulation that was used in the above-mentioned KiSel-10 study.

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 79

Retirement One of the unique features of the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland (RPCI) is that of free lifetime support. Once you have completed a course, you can contact the course leaders at any time afterwards if you have a specific issue relating to your own retirement. RPCI go a bit further. They want to ‘get together’ with past attendees.

Derek Bell, Chief Operations Officer at RPCI, explains what the ‘get together’ initiative is all about. ‘It’s a way for the organisation to continue contact with people who have attended our courses. We want to check in with them in their retirement. We want to see what's working for them and what isn't.’

Checking in with past attendees is part of the RPCI’s overall ethos and as such the ‘get togethers’ are a key element. Derek explains that these meetings are, ‘a way of ensuring retirees are not isolated as well as a feedback loop to continuously improve the quality and relevance of the training we're delivering.

Throughout the country we would train about 3,000 people a year.’ While not all the training happens in Dublin, so far, the ‘get togethers’ have only been in the capital.

Derek is happy to outline what a session looks like, ‘’get togethers’ are usually at lunchtime or an up to lunchtime kind of thing so typically, eleven to one. It's very informal; we have a cup of tea: have a chat; have a sit down. We have had about 100 people in total attend so far.

Sometimes people like to bring a partner who hasn't done the training course. We're very open to partners coming along. It's been very social.’

In addition, there is a short talk on a topic of interest to those who have retired. At an early session, the talk was about diet and maintaining a healthy weight. Last time, volunteering in retirement was considered with short presentations from charities and groups who welcome volunteers. Derek thinks that a chat about the implications of changes to the Nursing Home Support Scheme (known as the Fair Deal scheme); wills or issues around enduring power of attorney might be the next topic.

‘So, it’s one hour of input with questions and answers and one hour of informal chat and a cuppa,’ adds Derek.

He explains that, ‘anybody who's been through the course, we target them one year out. We invite them back. We'll do more “get togethers” if the demand is there. So, at the moment, we're doing about two a year in Dublin and we plan to do Cork and Galway as well’.

RPCI also have plenty of other ways of keeping in contact with past attendees. They recently revamped their website to make it more useful. Their blog is updated regularly with news and information. They trawl through press and media sites to pick out articles and stories that those who have attended or are

RCPCI ‘Get togethers’ provide lifetime support for course participants Maretta Dillon talks to Derek Bell, Chief Operations Officer at the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland about this new initiative planning on attending will find helpful.

The website also highlights personal stories about people who have completed courses with the RPCI. They give some insight about what they found useful and how attending a course changed or improved their approach to retirement.

Unlike others who might find the idea of people ringing or emailing with queries as something of a nuisance, Derek insists, ‘we at RPCI welcome it.’ He had thought about using the term alumni or even network to describe what is planned but for the moment, a “Get Together” seems the most accurate description. You just have to do a course to find out more!

Retirement is not just about stopping - often it’s about starting. RPCI also offer courses on related topics including: working on in retirement; genealogy and family history; start your own business; get fit, get moving. One of the best features on the website is a database which includes information on a wide variety of topics and areas particularly around lifelong learning which is hopefully something that may spark off a few new ideas.

Planning for Retirement courses and options for the soon-to-be-retiree are still the RPCI’s bread and butter. These are open courses with a maximum of 24 attendees and 1:1 (1:2 if the spouse/partner attends). A recent new initiative that they are keen to promote is the retirement planning weekend. They partnered with Hotel Westport and the next weekend is planned for 15th/ 17th November. Running from Friday evening through to Sunday lunchtime they are informative, social and fun! The weekends are open to couples and individuals looking to consider the changes that retirement brings, along with making a clear plan for the next stage of living. The weekend courses are somewhat shorter than the normal planning for retirement course - but they still cover the essentials. Sessions will include changes in retirement (identity, routine, relationships); healthy living (diet, exercise, mental health); legal (wills and power of attorney); social welfare entitlements including pension rights & contributory pensions and time planning.

80 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Derek Bell: ‘We want to see what's working for them and what isn't.’

Established in 1974, the RPCI is a Registered Charity, a not-for-profit organisation, wholly independent of all financial institutions and with a voluntary board of directors. RPCI is based at 14/15 Lower Camden Street, Dublin 2 Ph: 01 478 9471 / www.rpc.ie Courses are held in Dublin and around the country on a very regular basis. Please check the website for more details.

5 features that identify an

EFFECTIVE Q10 PREPARATION

Same quality as a medical drug

Scientifically documented effect A cheap Q10 preparation may turn out to be expensive, if it has no effect. You will have wasted your money. However, if the effect can be documented with scientific research that is published in an esteemed science journal, you are guaranteed an effective and safe product.

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Absorption AUC(%) compared to that for BioActive Q10 Gold

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Data to show absorption after ingestion of the product

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Guess the year The latest teaser from Gerry Perkins

In WORLD affairs, the European Union is formally established, via the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. Its formation closely follows its forerunner - the European Economic Community (EEC) - doing away with trade barriers by creating the European Single Market. Bill Clinton is sworn in as US President. Czechoslovakia splits as part of the so-called 'Velvet Divorce', creating the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot dead by police. Douglas Hurd becomes the first high ranking British political figure to visit Argentina since the Falklands War. Janet Reno becomes the US' first female Attorney General. Kim Campbell becomes Canada's first female Prime Minister, lasting just five months in office. Yugoslavian tennis player - and women's number one - Monica Seles is stabbed at a change of ends in a match in Hamburg.

The Euronews television channel is launched. The World Trade Centre is badly damaged by a car bomb in a domestic US terrorism attack. The first child abuse case against Michael Jackson is taken. Omar Bongo is re-elected President of Gabon. Russia completes its removal of troops from recently independent Lithuania. British Labour MP Roy Hattersley is famously represented by a tub of lard on BBC satirical television news quiz 'Have I Got News For You' after a third last-minute cancellation.

Taoiseach and leads a Fianna FĂĄil/Labour Party coalition. President Mary Robinson becomes the first Irish head of state to visit a British monarch when she visits Queen Elizabeth II. The GAA wins planning permission for the redevelopment of Croke Park. Pat Falvey and Dawson Stelfox become the first Irish climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Mother Teresa visits President Robinson. A new ÂŁ10 note with James Joyce's face printed on it is released. Roddy Doyle wins the Booker Prize for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha, Ha, Ha. The ongoing Troubles are noted by the Greysteel massacre and the Shankill Road bombing.

In SPORT the Republic of Ireland seals qualification for the World Cup after drawing an intense match with Northern Ireland in Belfast. Manchester United wins the Premier League. The US beats Europe 15-13 in the Ryder Cup. Nick Faldo wins the Irish Open, Bernhard Langer wins the Masters and Greg Norman wins the Open. The Zambian national football team perishes in an air crash en route to Senegal for a World Cup qualifying match. England World Cup winning captain and West Ham legend Bobby Moore dies. Shelbourne wins the FAI Cup and Cork City wins the League of Ireland. Kilkenny wins the All-Ireland Hurling Championship. Derry wins the Football for the first time.

In FILM, Irish director Neil Jordan wins an Oscar for best screenplay for his film The Crying Game. Clint Eastwood's re-boot of the Western, Unforgiven takes the best director and best film awards. Al Pacino wins best actor for his turn in Scent of a Woman. Jurassic Park is the year's main summer blockbuster but a busy year for film includes hits aplenty including Mrs Doubtfire, Schindler's List, Sleepless in Seattle, The Fugitive, The Snapper, The Firm, Philadelphia, and Indecent Proposal.

In MUSIC, Ireland retains the Eurovision Song Contest in Millstreet, with Niamh Kavanagh winning with the song In Your Eyes. It is the fifth Irish win.

The original line-up of Guns N'Roses splits. Bruce Dickinson leaves Iron Maiden. Michael Jackson performs the half-time show at the Superbowl, Nirvana releases its MTV Unplugged album and Prince changes his name to an unpronounceable symbol.

In IRELAND, homosexuality is decriminalised. Albert Reynolds becomes

Answer on page 89

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Northern

By Debbie Orme

Notes

Family comes first for best seller Cathy Published around the world and with millions of copies of her books in print, Belfast-born author, Cathy Kelly, is one of Ireland’s best-loved storytellers. But, as she tells Northern Notes, being with her family is her number one activity!

I've met Cathy Kelly several times over the last 20-odd years and have never ceased to be amazed at her boundless energy and enthusiasm for what she does, Cathy shows no signs of slowing down.

Originally born in Belfast, but raised in Dublin, the 52-year-old, five-foottall writer has produced 20 novels in practically as many years. She currently lives in County Wicklow with husband John Sheehan, twin sons, Dylan and Murray, and their three dogs and, for the past eleven years, has also worked as a UNICEF Ireland Ambassador. Phew!

How, I asked Cathy, does she manage to keep all of her plates spinning?

'I guess I've always been used to juggling,' she tells me with a laugh. 'I started out as a journalist with the Sunday World in Dublin, working in news and features, as well as acting as the paper's agony aunt and film critic! I also started writing fiction as a hobby, so I was busy - to put it mildly!'

Cathy's life was to change in 1997 when her first novel, Woman to Woman went straight to number one on the Irish Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists. Cathy’s trademark is warm Irish story-telling about modern life, but, while her books deal with themes ranging from relationships and marriage to depression and loss, there's always an uplifting message, sense of community and strong female characters at their heart. Cathy's storytelling style proved an immediate hit with her readers and, perhaps inevitably, produced instant comparison with one of her writing heroines: Maeve Binchy. A comparison which Cathy is happy to accept.

'Maeve was just incomparable,' she says. 'Her books still just make me happy with their kindness and warmth. Plus, she was the most wonderfully skilled writer: easy to read is very much not easy to write. She could nail a character in one line and that's a combination of both gift and huge skill.'

Cathy's style proved equally successful with her readers and, over the next four years, 'Woman to Woman' was followed by Someone Like You, What She Wants, Just Between U' and Best of Friends. It was at this point that she decided to finally leave the world of journalism behind and fully commit to her storytelling.

Twenty-two years - and 20 books - later, Cathy has now settled into the routine of writing a book a year: no mean feat when you consider that she is also a working mother and UNICEF Ireland ambassador: two roles which she relishes equally.

'Some authors manage to publish several titles in one year, but that's never been my style, mainly because writing is quite an intense process and I find that, between writing my next book, my short stories and the promotion of the new title – (Cathy’s latest book The Family Gift is due out in October) as well as being a mum to twin boys - it doesn't take long for twelve months to go by.

'I'm always aware of how fortunate I am to be in the position that I'm in.

84 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Cathy Kelly: ‘Being with my family is the major thing in my life which makes me happy’

There are few jobs that women today can do and still be home for their kids. Being with my family is the major thing in my life which makes me happy. As a working mother, the absolute best thing is that I can bring my sons to school, pick them up and help them with their homework although the maths is getting weird they do sums differently these days!

'As a writer, it’s a huge privilege to be your own boss and structure your day around your family, and I never forget how lucky I am to be in such as privileged position. I'm also lucky in that I find it easy to walk away from my writing if I have to and then and pick up where I left off. My journalistic training probably instilled that discipline in me. During the day, when the boys are at school, I make filter coffee, try not to add too much sugar (failing at that one!) and then reread whatever I wrote the day before. I spend ages editing before launching myself into writing something new.'

In 2005, Cathy was appointed a UNICEF Ireland Ambassador and travelled to Mozambique to highlight the impact that HIV/AIDS was having on children in sub-Saharan Africa. 'For me, being a mother is the most important part of my life. In Mozambique, I met mothers who face problems that I daren’t imagine. HIV-positive mothers desperately trying to get their beloved HIV-positive kids on the life-saving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) that can mean the difference between life and death.'

‘Seeing mothers in the hospitals as their children die from malaria is heartbreaking, but I love being able to offer support through my work and write articles that raise awareness and paint a picture of what life is like for these children who need our help.’

Cathy is currently at work on her new book but which subject, I wondered, would she ideally like to write about?

'OMG, where would I start.?' she laughs. 'Only kidding. I long to write a crime novel (when I finish writing a teenage one!). I know this is a pipe dream but I so love crime and that’s probably why I love the Becky Masterman novel so much – she has written about a female detective and I’d long to do that. I may be only five foot nothing but would love to learn how to flatten someone with Tae Kwan Do (like my fabulous niece, who is only a bit away from being a black belt). You’d need to know how to flatten someone in order to write about it, wouldn’t you?'

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Northern Notes

North West 200 volunteers honoured with highest accolade

The team of volunteers pictured at the special reception held in their honour.

NW200 Event Director Mervyn Whyte and Chief Marshal, Cathal Cunning received the award from Lord Lieutenant of Londonderry Alison Millar, with Mayor, Councillor Sean Bateson.

The North West 200 (NW 200) motorcycle event is one of the high points of the Northern Ireland sporting calendar.

Every year, thousands flock to the north coast to watch bikes pass at up to 200 miles an hour – an amazing sight!

But the event would not be possible if it wasn’t for the hundreds, who volunteer as stewards, marshalls and catering/bar staff.

Now, the Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has held a special reception for the volunteer team from this year’s NW 200, who were recently awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

The award was granted to 22 volunteer organisations across Northern Ireland.

86 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

‘This award is the highest form of recognition that can be granted to an organisation in recognition of the outstanding work of volunteers,’ Councillor Sean Bateson said as he welcomed the guests to Cloonavin.

‘My first civic engagement when I became Mayor was to attend the NW 200 and I was overwhelmed by the attention to detail and incredible dedication that the volunteers had in ensuring it was a seamless event. I wish them continued success and many more years of commitment to their community.’

‘The International North West 200 volunteers are deeply honoured to be nominated and achieve this very prestigious award,’ added Chief Marshall and Volunteer Coordinator, Cathal Cunning. ‘We have an incredible volunteer team who are passionate about the event celebrating its 90th anniversary. This award is in recognition of their exceptional voluntary contribution of which we are so proud!’

Lord Mayor launches Belfast International Arts Festival 2019 Belfast’s Lord Mayor, Councillor John Finucane, has launched the 57th Belfast International Arts Festival programme at the Black Box. The launch started with a showcase performance by one of the Festival’s signature artists, Cuban-born Parisian musician, La Dame Blanche, who will perform at the Belfast Empire on Saturday 19 October. La Dame Blanche, whose real name is Yaite Ramos Rodriguez, is the daughter of the Creative Director of the Buena Vista Social Club.

Looking ahead to the festival, Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor John Finucane said, “I'm delighted that Belfast City Council is continuing to invest in Belfast International Arts Festival.

It not only attracts fantastic world-renowned international acts, but it also showcases homegrown talent and helps to position Belfast as a must visit cultural destination. It’s fantastic to see the festival go from strength to strength each year. I'd encourage everyone to check out this year's impressive programme and wish everyone involved in the festival the very best of luck."

Belfast Lord Mayor, John Finucane, with La Dame Blanche

Festival Artistic Director, Richard Wakely unveiled the programme, which will this year feature over 200 events from the world of music, dance, film, visual arts, literature and theatre.

Northern Notes

The 2019 Belfast International Arts Festival will open on 15 October with the UK premiere of Median, a contemporary paring of choreography with digital projection and electronic sound from Japanese multi-disciplinary artist Hiroaki Umeda.

Among the highlights of the festival will be the first ever all-Ireland dance conference, Co-Motion, which is being run in partnership with Dance Ireland, Dance Resource Base and Queen’s University Belfast (25 and 26 October), performances by Shobana Jeyasingh Dance performing an Irish premiere of Staging Schiele (the story of radical Austrian nude artist and self-portraitist, Egon Schiele) and a breathtaking performance by a French all-female circus-arts troupe led by Chloe Moglia, called La Spire, which will take place in Belfast’s Botanic Gardens on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October.

Always seen as an important platform to profile some of Northern Ireland’s top artists, this year’s festival season will close with a tour-deforce UK and Ireland premiere of Lady Magma

by Belfast-born choreographer and dancer, Oona Doherty, who will travel to Belfast fresh from Edinburgh Festival, to perform this brand new ode to female strength and new femininity.

Mid and East Antrim has plenty on its plate Some of Ireland’s most respected food critics have been getting a bite of the action across Mid and East Antrim as the borough battles it out to become Ireland’s Top Foodie Destination 2019.

The area has been shortlisted as one of Ireland’s top ten Foodie Destinations for a second year running. The competition, organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), looks at which destinations lead the way with food festivals, gourmet trails or farmers markets, as well as great dining experiences for locals and visitors alike.

Judges Deirdre McGlone and Anthony O’Toole have decades of experience in the culinary world and on their journey across Mid and East Antrim have been sampling delights from Slemish Market Supper Club chef Rob Curley, The Dairy in Glenoe, traditional bakes by Bellahill Cookery School, The Bank House, The Old Tea House, Dancing Goat Cafe, Hillstown Beers, Glenarm Castle and even Ballygally and Galgorm Hotels.

‘We’re very proud to have been shortlisted for a second year running,’ Mid and East Antrim Mayor, Maureen Morrow said. ‘To make the top ten out of the whole of Ireland as a ‘must see’ foodie destination is testament to the fantastic produce we have on offer in the borough. We received a highly commended last year and are hoping to build on that success this year.

‘Not only does Mid and East Antrim boast a thriving food and drink net

From left: Foodie Destination Judge Deirdre McGlone; Toast the Coast Food Tour director, Portia Woods; Richard McGowan of Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort; Mayor Mid and East Antrim Council, Maureen Morrow; Ballygally Castle Manager, Norman McBride and Foodie Destination judge, Anthony O’Toole.

work, with the area home to a superb array of excellent food producers, chefs, hospitality providers and food retail businesses, but our uniquelocation is what sets us apart, to have such rich land based agricultural and coastal produce on our doorstep encompassing all types of food along the way, we’re very lucky. Winning this prestigious award would be a great boost for our local food tourism economy.’

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 87

Hands On At Home

Standing the heat

Paul Kavanagh on the dark arts of domestic management

For most of my adult life I had remained blissfully unaware of the dark arts of household management on the premise that a plea of incompetence in all things domestic would see the challenge pass to someone else. This defence strategy worked well until one fateful day when, due to an unfortunate accident to my wife of many years, I was forced to fall back on what is laughingly called my domestic expertise.

The jobs I had successfully avoided over the years reared their intimidating heads demanding hands-on attention. The hunter/gatherer was now faced with the stark reality that he could neither hunt nor gather.

Urgent upskilling was required.

As a first move I foraged for long-abandoned washing machine, dishwasher and electric cooker manuals which had languished at the bottom of dusty drawers for many years alongside untouched cookery books. Had it not been for my wife’s diligence in saving these books I would have been in real trouble. As it was, trying to make sense of the hybrid Japanese/English text used in the these manuals was a challenge in itself. For a non-trained male, being landed in a modern kitchen is akin to being stranded in a foreign country with no proficiency in its language or customs.

As the weeks passed I worked up a reasonable competency in kitchen skills. The array of gleaming white machines began to yield up their secrets. Operating the dishwasher involved more than simply loading the machine and pressing the start button. When my wife was fit enough to fill this role every saucer, cup, drinking glass and piece of cutlery was expertly placed each in its own compartment and when completed, the contents were a thing of symmetrically arranged beauty. Having conscientiously filled the salt, tablet, and rinse-aid section as to the manner born, I felt like a Leaving Certificate student who has just nailed a maths paper.

The modern washing machine has more controls than your average 88 Senior Times lSeptember - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Cape Canaveral rocket. White washes, coloured washes and mixed washes all require different temperature and time settings. In addition these are buttons marked speed perfect, eco perfect, reduced ironing and aqua plus all of which I ignored believing them to be the ramblings of some deranged Japanese engineer.

The electric cooker posed its own set of demands. At the start I grilled when I should have roasted and roasted when I should have grilled.

One day I took my courage in both hands and chanced cooking a joint of meat in the pressure cooker. At this point, a word of caution to firsttime users of pressure cookers. That high pitched hiss you hear after ten or fifteen minutes doesn’t mean that the piece is done. It is a signal, as I found out to my cost, that the pressure inside the pot has reached maximum power and the heat needs to be turned down immediately.

Astronomers, beware that what you thought you had identified as a rogue satellite is in fact my Lidl ham joint launched without fanfare from a Baldoyle kitchen.

When a novice male cook manages to produce the perfectly fried egg he expects nothing less than the Nobel prize for culinary arts, whereas your average haus-frau can rustle up a batch of scones, a Victoria sponge or a rhubarb tart at short notice and neither expect nor receive a tsunami of praise for her efforts.

Women have long since discovered how to remove the lid from a vacuum sealed jar of beetroot or marmalade without resorting to a controlled explosion, whereas we mortal males take a sharp kitchen knife to stab the offending jar with a vicious downward action allowing the compressed air to escape.

During this period I had a few run-ins with the clothes horse. Several trapped and bruised fingers later (the score currently stands at 3-2) to the clothes horse, but I’m working on it. I will tame those recalcitrant legs if its the last thing I do. I am old enough to remember the day of the

Competition winners from last issue

travelling window-cleaner who called at regular intervals to attend to our modest glass surfaces. Usually clad in jeans and sleeveless vest which showed off his tanned, muscular arms to perfection. His ladder was precariously balanced on an ancient push-bike with his bucket hooked aloft on one of the ladders’ feet. I now realise I should have paid more attention to the techniques of the professional. What magic chamois did he bring to bear on the glass that left it gleaming and smear-free? Try as I might to achieve the same result, using all the window cleaning detergents known to man, what I thought would turn out to be a professional finish was in fact a smear-daubed disaster.

Hitherto my admiration centred on the pianism of Oscar Peterson the tenor saxophone playing of Stan Getz, John McCormack’s peerless singing of Handel’s music, the pagan abandon of a Ceili band, and TG4’s weather girls (not necessarily in that order). But now all of the above were displaced by a new set of heroes i.e. the countless Irish women of this and previous generations who selflessly devoted their lives to the well-being of their homes and families and in many cases without even a cursory acknowledgment of their efforts. They combined the roles of educator, cook, accountant, chauffeur, paramedic, laundress, and hostess with a mastery of the various appliances essential for the modern home to function as silkily hitch-free as a German U-boat.

Mná na hEireann I take my apron off to you.

Crossword number 100 solution

Doro Smartphone Liam Hackett, Dublin

Two night break for two with dinner a The Falls Hotel, Ennistymon Justin O’Connell, Galway

Crossword – four pairs of tickets for EPIC Museum Deirdre Maloney, Nenagh, Co Tipperary Marie Porter, Buncrana, Co Donegal Francis McCall, Belfast Fidelma McCall, Dublin 24

Guessed The Year?

- 1993 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 89

Know Your Rights

Advice from the Citizens Information Service

I have a second property, which I would like to rent out to visitors for short stays? Are there any procedures I need to follow?

• Be the main carer of at least one relevant child that lives with you. OFP is not payable if parents have joint equal custody.

Yes, there are new regulations for short-term lettings that you may need to follow. These regulations came into effect on 1 July. They aim to bring properties used for short-term tourist lettings in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) back to the long-term rental market. The regulations cover people who let out property for short stays (less than 14 days) in RPZs, which are areas where rents are highest and rising quickly.

• Be habitually resident in Ireland (certain people, in particular EU nationals who are considered migrant workers, are exempt from the habitual residence condition).

The Residential Tenancies Board has a rent pressure zone calculator where you can check if your property is in an RPZ to see if the regulations apply to you.

If your property is in an RPZ and you want to let it out on a short-term basis for the first time, you will need to get planning permission so it can be used for tourism and short-term letting purposes. If you are already renting your property on a short-term basis, you will need to apply for retention permission. You apply for planning permission to the local planning authority, who will decide on your application within eight weeks.

However, it should be noted that in areas of high housing demand, where there is high rent inflation, insufficient supply and lots of applications, it is unlikely that permission will be granted.

• Not be living with a spouse, civil partner or cohabiting.

If you are separated, divorced or your civil partnership is dissolved, you must have been living apart from your spouse or civil partner for at least 3 months. This does not apply to cohabitants. You may need to make efforts to get maintenance from your former spouse or partner.

The maximum rate for OFP is E203 per week. If you are working, your gross earnings from insurable employment or self-employment cannot be more than E425 per week.

In general, you stop getting OFP when your child turns 7 (the exceptions are where you are caring for a child with a disability who is getting Domiciliary Care Allowance or if your partner has recently died). If you no longer qualify for OFP, you may qualify for the Jobseeker's Transitional payment. This is a payment for people parenting alone whose children are aged between 7 and 13.

The regulations do not apply if your property is outside an RPZ. They also do not apply if your property is a holiday home, or is used for longer-term flexible lettings, or is a normal letting used for longer stays of more than 14 days.

The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government website has an FAQ document about the regulations, which includes further information.

What is the One-Parent Family Payment?

The One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is a means-tested social welfare payment for men and women under 66 who are bringing children up without the support of a partner.

To qualify for OFP you must:

My Irish passport will expire at the end of the year. What is the easiest way to renew it?

• Be the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of a relevant child – generally this means a child under 7 but there are some exceptions.

You can renew your passport at any time but if you apply for a new passport before your current one has expired, your new passport will run from when you apply.

90 Senior Times lSeptember - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Know Your Rights The Passport office recommends that you use An Post's Passport Express service if you are short on time, otherwise you can renew your Irish passport online following the step-by-step instructions provided.

You can renew online from anywhere in the world, as long as your previous Irish passport is no more than 5 years out of date. This usually takes up to 15 working days. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides a Passport Reminder Service which will send you a reminder by email 3 months before your passport is due to expire but you need to register for this service.

The counter service at the Passport Office is mainly designed for people who need to renew their passports urgently, and don’t have enough time to apply in other ways. First-time applications can be made using the counter service, but they can’t be processed urgently. If you are applying in good time you should fill out form APS 1 (this form is available at Garda stations and at any Post Office). If you are an Irish citizen living in Northern Ireland or outside of Ireland, you should fill out form APS 2 (available from the Irish embassy or consulate in the country where you live, or the closest embassy or consulate). The Passport Express service and application forms are available through certain UK Post Office branches in Northern Ireland and two branches in Great Britain (Glasgow and Liverpool).

What is an emergency medical card?

An emergency medical card is a temporary medical card that is issued without a means test in certain emergency situations and is valid for 6 months. For example, you could be issued an emergency medical card in an acute medical crisis where you need urgent treatment that you cannot afford without a medical card.

Only a healthcare professional (for example, a doctor or consultant) can apply for an emergency medical card for you. They must include a detailed medical report with the application.

The application will be reviewed by a Health Service Executive (HSE) medical officer.

If your application is approved, it can take 7 to 10 days to get your emergency medical card in the post. However, your card will be active straight away so you can get the care you need.

You will need to complete a means assessment before your emergency medical card expires. The HSE will write to you when you need to do this. The means assessment is for a full medical card for you and your family.

In some cases, the medical officer may recommend a terminal illness card. These are given to people who are getting ‘end of life’ treatment.

This means a prognosis of less than 12 months to live.

Maternal & Infant Mortality in Yemen: Ali’s Story Ali’s grandmother takes care of him after the death of his mother.

No mother should die giving birth to her baby, but that’s what happened to Ali’s mother, Khaizaran in Yemen.

Ali was loved long before he was born but his mother never got to hold him or nurse him. She never got to sing him a lullaby or tell him how much she loved him. When Khaizaran’s labour pains began last winter, there was no question of her going to the hospital to deliver her baby.

The nearest one was hours away and she and her husband couldn’t afford the taxi fare to get there. There was no one to help them in their village either. There was no trained midwife, no doctor’s surgery or health centre.

Khazarian laboured completely unassisted, without pain relief or medical intervention. After baby Ali was finally born, Khaizaran began to haemorrhage. Nothing could stop it.

Realising how dangerous the situation was, Yahya, Khazarian’s husband, lifted her onto his shoulders and rushed out into the freezing night to find help.

Despite Yahya’s desperate search for help, Khaizaran had lost too much blood and she died in his arms.

Women and babies in remote communities of Yemen are dying because they can’t reach help in time. Yet if more villages had a trained Community Midwife equipped with the proper tools to deliver babies safely, this tragedy would not have to happen at all.

In Ireland, every mother has the right to a hospital birth, where they, and their babies, will be cared for.

If you get a terminal illness card it will never be reviewed and will not expire.

A hospital delivery isn’t an option for most women in Yemen right now. In fact, only 3 out of every 10 babies there are born in a hospital or health facility.

Further information is available from the National Medical Card Unit on (051) 595 129, or Lo-call 1890 252 919, or from the Citizens Information Centre below.

For Ali, if he survives, every birthday will be a reminder of the day he lost his mother. Ali’s chances of survival are now greatly reduced, as 1 in 30 babies who’ve lost their mother die within the first month of life.

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.

You can help change the lives of mothers and babies in Yemen by ensuring they receive medical care during pregnancy and labour.

By donating E75, you’ll provide five delivery kits to five women, allowing them, and their child, to labour safely.

Please call UNICEF on 01 - 878 3000 to donate.

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 91

Meeting Place DELIGHTFUL LADY, MEATH AREA, late 60s cheerful disposition, caring, dignified, widow, family grown up, no ties, NS ND, WLTM refined gentleman of mature years 75/85, preferably a widower, for chats and friendship from Dublin and surrounding areas.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J1 GENT MID-70s, living alone in Dublin, with wife in care, but still very involved in his creative career, WLTM a younger, educated and lively woman for coffee and conversations at a location to suit in south Dublin, but close to city centre. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J2 SOUTH DUBLIN LADY 60s enjoys history, art, travelling, cinema, reading, history, WLTM respectable gentleman with similar interests for friendship/relationship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J3 FRANK, 63, NORTH DUBLIN, would like Ken, from Artane/Santry area, to contact him.’We met at Donnycarney and you brought me to Santry. It was a long time ago! Hope to hear from you soon’. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J4 CORK LADY, MID 60s, honest and considerate, SD, NS, GSOH, loves chats, travel, music, cinema, reading, WLTM kind gentleman 60s to 70s for friendship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMER J5 MIDLANDS LADY MID SIXTIES, retired, professional, young in outlook, genuine, kind and caring gent (Preferably midlands, Galway, Dublin). Good Health essential. Interests include walking, cycling, golf, gardening, travel, music and eating out etc.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J6.

SINGLE MIDLANDS GENT, 61, 6ft 4in, slim, athletic build, NS, ND, loves nature, driving, walking, eating out, outings, current affairs.

WLTM a pleasant, attractive Irish or foreign lady for friendship/relationship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J7 ATTRACTIVE NORTH MIDLANDS LADY, early 60s but looks much younger, slim, fit, GSOH. Enjoys walking, nature, travel, concerts and theatre. WLTM gentleman with similar interests. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J8 NORTH COUNTY DUBLIN LADY WLTM, genuine, romantic, caring gent aged 60s-70s.

Interests include nature, music, animals, romantic meetings etc.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J9 MID WEST LADY, new to area, down to earth, genuine, NS, WLTM single ladies late 50s-60s living in north Munster or Galway for coffee, cinema, concerts, walks, friendship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J10

REFINED, FIT, SOUTH DUBLIN LADY 70, WLTM educated, sincere, caring gent. Interests include tennis, golf, travel.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J11

LEINSTER LADY, LATE 70s, young at heart, widowed, varied interests. WLTM educated, refined gent to share coffee and conversation.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y6

IRISH LADY, NS, kind, attractive, WLTM practical, respectful, honest, interesting, kind, single NS gent early to mid-60s. Are you living in the north Munster area seeking soulmate for friendship/ companionship? Love gardening, trad music, reading, concerts etc.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J12

DUBLIN-BASED FOREIGN WIDOW, 63, medium build, young in outlook. Interests include nature, reading, travel, arts. WLTM honest, caring gent for relationship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y7

FRANK FROM DUBLIN would like Greg and Barbara from Bray to contact him. ‘We met outside the Royal Hotel in Bray a few years ago and you brought me to your home. So, I would love to visit you again’.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER J13 VERY YOUNG-LOOKING WIDOW WLTM a sincere gentleman, honest and kind of nice appearance, friendly and gentle. NS, SD, thoughtful and swell mannered, affectionate.

Would prefer a widower. Background in farming. Would love to meet that special gent.

Interested in friendship possible relationship.

REPLTY TO BOX NUMBER J14 WE ARE THE WEDNESDAY CLUB, South Dublin social group of widows, widowers and singles aged 55 up wards. We number 75. We are seeking new members and men would be especially welcome to improve our female/ male mix. Our activities include dining out, visiting interesting places, card games, concerts, holidays at home and abroad, theatre and much more. Interested?

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y1 MUNSTER GAY LADY 60s, WLTM a friend/ companion for chats/outings/holidays etc.

Must be NS REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y2 NORTHSIDE DUBLIN LADY MID 60s, NS, SD, WLTM nice ladies in the 65-75 age bracket for social outings and holidays at home and abroad.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y3 ROMANTIC NORTHSIDE DUBLIN GENT, 60s, never married, country origin, walker, DIY, artistic. Seeking female soulmate to share joy of living, wonders of the world. Lets daily celebrate each other with romance, kindness, support, motivation laughter, fun.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y4 RESPECTABLE MEATH LADY, WIDOW, family grown up, retired professional. WLTM reasonable, caring, interesting gent for friendship and companionship. Age range 75 upwards.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER Y5

92 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

CO GALWAY LADY MID 60s WLTM genuine gent for friendship, outings and perhaps more. Varied interests.

REPLY TO NOX NUMBER Y8 KILDARE WIDOWER, MID-60S, RETIRED loves country life, many interests, NS, SD, Likes to travel at home and abroad, particularly, South West, Kerry. WLTM lady for friendship/ relationship to enjoy life.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F1 NORTH WEST LADY WLTM others in the North West who are free to socialize and go out weekends. Interest include dancing, cycling, walking and country pursuits.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F2 DUBLIN GENT, MID 60s, YOUNG APPEARANCE, enjoys reading, walking, dining out, current affairs, WLTM lady for friendship/relationship. REPLY TO BOS NUMBER F3 GALWAY LADY, LATE 50s, WLTM a practical gentleman who is reliable and down to earth for companionship/romance. ND but no problem with someone someone who drinks in moderation. Not on social media. Free most weekends.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F4 NORTHSIDE DUBLIN GENT seeks lady for ballroom and latin dance practice and possibly to participate in competitions. Age not important.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F5 MONAGHAN WIDOW, 60s, looking for friendship with a genuine man from the North East area. Religion, or none, not important.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F6 YOUNG AT HEART LADY,70, WLTM other educated people, similar age group, for friendship and socializing. GSOH essential as honesty and sincerity. No materialist people.

REPLY TO BO NUMBER F7 ROMANTIC NORTH DUBLIN GENT, cheerful, kind, caring, considerate, respectful, never married, 60s, house, car. Interests include walking, art, DIY, documentaries. Seeks life partner for permanent relationship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F8

SOUTHSIDE DUBLIN GENT, 65, sincere, caring and romantic, great company, GSOH. ND, NS but likes to frequent pubs for social reasons. Interests include reading, writing, eating out, cinema, theatre. WLTM lady of similar age with similar interests.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F9 DUBLIN LADY, 65, relaxed outlook, would love to meet a gent to share the happy times with. Interests include dancing, cinema, eating out, theatre, genealogy etc.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER F10 SINCERE, CARING, TRUSTWORTHY, VIVACIOUS lady from North East, retired professional, young in outlook, nice disposition.

Interests include reading, theatre, walking, current affairs, seeks a warm, friendly gent for chats and friendship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H1 SOUTHSIDE DUBLIN MAN, 60, seeks pen friends of either sex. Interests include sport, reading, cycling, wildlife, music.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H2 SOUTH COUNTY DUBLIN WOMAN, 60s seeks male and female companions who like to travel by rail in Ireland, on short visits abroad and explore various cultural attractions in our cities.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H3 NORTH COUNTY DUBLIN GENT in his 80s but thinks and acts younger, well educated and travelled. NS, SD. Lives alone in a large house.

WLTM a lady that would fit into that background, Age, nationality and creed irrelevant but GSOH would be helpful. Initially for meals, chats and some travel, but who knows.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H4 YOUNG LOOKING SOUTH SIDE DUBLIN LADY, tall and elegant, late fifties, former model and Rose of Dublin. Interests include nature and animals, theatre, concerts, eating out.

WLTM a kind gent 55-60 common interests who is similarly seeking companionship and perhaps a lasting relationship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H5 GALWAY GENT, 55, WLTM lady aged from 50-75 for companionship and perhaps relationship. Interests include sport, keep fit, music and reading.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H6 SEMI RETIRED, PROFESSIONAL CORK LADY 60s, single, vivacious, sincere, thoughtful, good appearance and spiritual. Enjoys good conversion, sport, music, drama, history, exploring new cultures, the arts. WLTM educated, refined gent, single or widowed to share this wonderful life.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H7 TALL, FIT DUBLIN MALE, 69, no ties, NS, SD, GSOH. Would love to meet that special lady for friendship, relationship long term. ALA. Interests

include walking driving, cinema, theatre, dining out, and music. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H8 SOUTH EAST LADY, 60, enjoys classical concerts, reading, writing, crafting, crosswords.

Would enjoy the friendship of a gent who is caring, genuine and financially secure. Let’s see how it goes. NS, SD, GSOH. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H9 ATHLETIC, YOUNG BLACK GUY FROM GHANA, late thirties, living in England. NS, SD, GSOH. WLTM mature, hard-working, open minded lady for friendship and perhaps more.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H10 CLARE MAN, SINGLE, EARLY 60s, semi-retired, genuine, kind and caring. Loves traditional and country and western music.

SD, NS. WLTM single or widowed lady late 50s with same interests to share life in a loving relationship. Ideally from the Clare/Galway/ Limerick area.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H11 CHEERFUL LEINSTER MALE MID 50s, no ties, romantic and effervescent with a playful and fun frame of mind. A gent who enjoys life and is open to new ideas. Enjoy many sports, concerts, current affairs and much more.

WLTM a broadminded lady, 50s to 60s, with similar or other interests. Let’s see how it goes.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H12 CO MEATH ACTIVE, WIDOW, RETIRED TEACHER, 79, friendly amicable, GSOH seeks a gent, 70s/80s preferably from Leinster for friendship and companionship.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H13 HAPPY GO LUCKY VEGETARIAN DUBLIN GENT, interested in the holistic side of life, NS. Seeks lady for great adventures.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H14 MID 60s DUBLIN LADY WLTM man with a positive outlook for friendship/relationship.

Interests include travel, cinema, cooking, dining out. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H15 KILDARE LADY, 64, SLIM AND ATTRACTIVE WLTM kind man to share retirement years. Must be caring and enjoy life. I enjoy good movies, good banter and travel. GSOH. Life is better shared so lets bring a new journey to cross items off the bucket list!

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H16 SINGLE WOMAN NEVER MARRIED, 60s, lives near Dublin. WLTM genuine man for dining and possible travel. I’m tall, told I’m attractive.

NS REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H17 ACTIVE SOUTH DUBLIN WIDOWER, LATE 70s, refined, smart appearance, well-mannered, thoughtful, easy going. WLTM a lady of similar status for companionship, travel, car trips, dancing, soirees, nice wine, bridge and fun.

I am 5ft 10in, medium build with a happy outlook on life. Get in touch please.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H18

GENUINE GALWAY LADY LATE 50s, unmarried, amicable, considerate. Interests include choral singing, walking, personal development. WLTM kind, decent man of similar age for chats, laughs, romance. It could be you!

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER H19 UK MALE MID-60s, Irish descent and a regular visitor to Ireland. Semi-retired professional, single, never married, no children. Presentable, romantic, affectionate, positive outlook, GSOH, NS. Interests include travel, the great outdoors, current affairs and sport. WLTM lady for romance, travel and shared adventures. Any area, age or status – all replies answered.

REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E1 NORTH CO DUBLIN LADY, 65, widow, considered attractive, blonde, 5ft 5in, medium build.

WLTM nice gentleman of similar age and situation for friendship/relationship. Interests include reading, music, cinema, dining out occasionally and love walking. Caring with a positive attitude and GSOH. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER E2

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 7th October 2019.

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).

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 93

Win 3 pairs of FREE tickets to visit the Epic Museum EPIC is an entertaining, accessible and educational day of family fun for kids, adults and grandparents alike. The museum is highly interactive, with easy-to-use technology and filled with stories of Irish people who travelled the world highlighting their achievements in music, literature, sport, politics, fashion and science. Epic is located in the historic CHQ building which includes a fantastic choice of cafÊs, restaurants and shops Luas: Red line, George’s Dock stop DART: 5 minute walk from Connolly and Tara Street Station Dublin Bus: Multiple routes stopping both outside CHQ and in surrounding areas Dublin Bikes: Station no. 8, right outside the door Parking: IFSC ParkRite (3 min walk) discounted parking for up to 3 hours available For Group bookings call (0)1 906 0861 www.epicchq.com

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94 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

Send your entry to: Crossword Competition Senior Times magazine, Unit 1, 15 Oxford Lane Dublin 6 Alternatively : Take a picture of the completed crossword and email the image to dcronin@epicchq.com Closing date: 5th October 2019

Crossword Crossword Number 101 by Zoë Devlin

ACROSS 1 3 8 11 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 26 29 31 33 36 39 41 42 43 44 46 47 48 49 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 65 67 69 70 72 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 85 86 89 90 93 95 100 101 102 103 104 106 107 108 109

Secret scheme or small area of ground (4) Puccini’s opera set in Paris’s Latin Quarter (2,6) Banner county or poet, John ___ (5) He devised the centigrade thermometer (7) Short peg in the ground to hold golf ball (3) Small ovoid fruit, source of oil (5) Japanese form of wrestling (4) Commitment or religious zeal (8) One of the foot’s digits (3) Is there a tailor living in this Dublin 8 suburb (6) Acted in ‘On the waterfront’ __ Brando (6) Respect or regard highly (6) Opposite to despair (4) One of the months named after Roman emperors (6) Katie Taylor or Bernard Dunne (5) Danish archipelago colony in N.Atlantic (6) Landing strip for the unwary? (6) Quality of colour (3) Withdrawal of UK from EU (6) Milan’s opera house ‘La ___‘ (5) Scent or odour (5) Dickens’s miser in ‘A Christmas Carol’ (7) Extinct species AKA Giant Deer (5,3) Relating to the fair sex (8) Scottish founder of Presbyterianism, John ___ (4) Semi-aquatic salamander (4) Longest river in Ireland (7) Singer/songwriter in Boyzone, ___ Keating (5) Mettle, courage, spunk (5) Coarse beach gravel (7) Retired US tennis player, John ____ (7) Fragrance you can buy for cents? (5) I slog my way to this Connacht county (5) 17th c. Dutch painter of domestic scenes, Johannes ___ (7) ___ Head, peninsula and lighthouse in Co 8 Across (4) Coating resembling gold (4) Town overlooking Bay of Naples (8) Computer network (8) Split the cost equally (2,5) Simpson character with the blue beehive (5) English actor of ‘Zulu’ and ‘Alfie’, Michael ___ (5) Nonchalant .. informal (6) Feeling of wonder (3) Street in Dublin or district of NW London (6) Looks with fixed eyes (6) Twin brother of Romulus (5) Series of military posts guarding some place (6) Stopper in a bottle from Munster? (4) Sherlock Holmes assistant, Dr ___ (6) North Dublin suburb, close to Howth (6) Best known for ‘Tammie’, ___ Reynolds (6) Short form of address for man of the cloth (3) Menu with dishes priced individually (1,2,5) Prejudice or partiality (4) Residence or dwelling (5) International distress signal ...---... (1.1.1) Female aviator Amelia ___ (7) County town of 8 Across (5) Where the animals came in, two by two (4’1,3) O’Casey, Connery or Bean? (4)

DOWN 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 21 25 27 28 30 32 34 35 37 38 40 45 50 51 53 55 57 59 60 61 63 64 65 66 68 70 71 73 74 75 81 84 87 88 91 92 94 96 97 98 99 105

J.M.Barrie’s boy who never grew up (5,3) Drama set to music such as ‘Tosca’ (5) Song for solo voice as in 3 Across. (4) Cork’s is at Emmett Place, London’s at Covent Garden (5-5) Upright tripod for displaying artist’s canvas (5) Expensive white fur (6) Corps diplomatique or compact disc? (1.1.)

Could be taped for being skilled! (5) Run away secretly with beloved (5) Son of Adam and Eve (4) Short-tailed wildcat with tufted ears (4) Would an overt tailor like this this Verdi opera (2,9) Scandinavian kingdom (6) Between 45th and 47th? (5-5) Mafia noted this attack on person’s good name (10) Female sheep (3) Mural paintings done on wet plaster (8) Cross .. irate (5) Cause to sprout or begin to grow (9) Remove from existence or memory (5) Colourless gas, absorbs the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation (5) Ernest ___, Kildare-born Antarctic explorer (10) Brutal USSR dictator, Josef ___ (6) Robin Hood’s lady love (6) Insect such as deathwatch (6) Sharp turns that accompany zags (4) Irish daily broadsheet, launched 1859 (5,5) French couturier of the ‘New Look’ (4) Roman emperor who fiddled while Rome burned (4) Meaning ‘born’, used to indicate maiden name (3) Return on investment or Republic of Ireland (1.1.1) World’s largest island; in N. Atlantic & Arctic Ocean (9) Resort in Andalusian Spain (6) 12 days after Christmas or divine manifestation (8) Brecht’s play with music, ‘The ___ Opera’ (10) Preliminary drawing (6) Italian city built on 118 islands (6) Roster of names for performing duties (4) Roman drivel or song about the Mississippi? (3,3,5) Asian republic, President is Bashar al-Assad (5) Lightweight string (5) Steinbeck novel and James Dean film (4,2,4) Short composition for solo instrument (5) Dry light red wine drunk shortly after it is made (10) Danish fairy-tale author of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ (8) Tacky rubbish (3) Deficient in number compared with demand (6) Delegate or appoint a person to a post (6) Impure form of quartz used as gemstone (5) Smooth fabric of silk or rayon with glossy face (5) Puccini’s opera set in Rome, not Ascot! (5) City in northwestern Switzerland (5) Indonesian island south of Borneo (4) Aristocrat or son of 77 Across (4) Old World wild swine (4) Note appended to letter after signature (1.1.)

Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie 95

Crafts

Connie McEvoy shows you how to make an acorn and haws embroidery design

From little acorns..

Requirements: 1 piece of fine white linen measuring 11cms x 11cms + some lightweight wadding (size ditto). Anchor embroidery stranded cotton in the following colours: green no 269, no 843, and no 863, Beige-no 307and no 890, Red- no 47 + a small amount of grey.

Two fine crewel needles, a black pencil, scissors, adhesive and an iron. 1 red 3 fold craft card measuring 15cms x 10.5cms (aperture 8cms diameter), 1 green 3 fold craft card measuring 11.5cms x 9cms (aperture 6.5cms) and a frame of choice if desired.

Key: Green- no269

2 Strands

Beige- no890

2 Strands

Oak leaves- couching Oak leaves- 1 round couching

Green- no863

1 Strand

Oak leaves- stem stitch veins

Green-no843

1 Strand

Acorns- padded satin stitch

Beige-no307

1 Strand

Green and beige combined

Beige-no307

2strands

Acorn cups-french knots

Green-no 269

1 Strand

Bottom stem-satin stitch

Beige-no 890

1 Strand

Green and beige combined

Red- no 47

2 Strands

Haws- padded satin stitch

Green-no 843

1 Strand

Haw stems- backstitch overcast

Green-no 863

1 Strand

Green and green combined

Grey

1 Strand

Haw tops tiny straight stitches.

Begin by drawing the motif lightly freehand onto the right side of the linen using the pencil, as the sprig is simple it may not be necessary to draw an outline at all.

Work oak leaves first starting at the base of leaf, and from the outer edge utilising two strands of thread in both needles working from left to right. The outer row and all other rows are worked in green no 269 except for the second row which is worked in beige no 890, veins are worked in green no 863-one strand Stem stitch.

A degree of texture will now be evident, this will indicate the degree of depth that will need to be employed in padding the Acorns, (usually chain stitches worked in the area of the shape + some extra at the centre will suffice) before Satin stitch is worked on top . Thread the needle with equal lengths of green no 843 and Beige no 307. Work the acorn cups in beige no 307 French knots and the wee stems in 1 strand of 843 stem stitch.

96 Senior Times l September - October 2019 l www.seniortimes.ie

The bottom stem is worked in satin stitch combining one strand each of green no 269 and beige 890. Work the haws last-2 strands of red no 47 again in padded satin stitch and some tiny straight stitches worked in 1 strand of grey thread, finish by working the stems in one strand of green no 843 and green no 863 combined while working backstitch overcast.

Wash the finished work in a bowl of tepid suds, rinse and roll in a clean towel before pressing on several thicknesses of towel.

When completely dry position the wadding at the back of embroidered piece and secure with a few tiny stitches at each corner, smear a light film of adhesive around aperture edge of the green craft card and fix centrally on top of project (side panels will not be needed), fix the entire into the red craft card and frame if desired.

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