Mallow Archaeological & Historical Society
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Mallow Archaeological
& Historical Society
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Copyright © 1987 - 2002 The Irish Emigrant Ltd.
Editor: Liam Ferrie
The Irish Emigrant is a weekly digest of local and national news from Ireland that has been emailed to
subscribers around the world since 1987. The following mentions of Mallow have been downloaded from
their online
archives. Click on the date of a news item to view the complete issue
for that week.
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1987
The Gardaí looked a bit foolish after letting the kidnappers of
John O'Grady escape on Monday. The story we were eventually
given was as follows: Someone phoned the Gardaí in Midleton
about midday on Monday to say that they had seen a man drinking
tea in a field; not the sort of thing you expect to see in late
October here in Ireland. Gardaí arrived to investigate and found
a fifteen foot steel container in the field. It was locked and
they could not find the owner. While they were doing this it is
now thought that they were being watched by the kidnappers who
were camping in an overgrown hedge nearby. The Gardaí went back
for reinforcements and army support. In the meantime the
kidnappers removed Mr O'Grady from the container and started
moving off. By the time the Gardaí began to surround the area
the kidnappers were two fields away from where the Gardaí
expected them. They had time to hi-jack a car and get away.
Shots were fired at them and it is believed one was hit.
On Tuesday it was learned that they got as far as Mallow where
they called at an isolated farm and tied up the owners. They
first asked for bandages and a Bible. They stayed in that
house for some time before taking one of the family's cars and
driving off. The occupants were warned not to contact the Gardaí
until morning. The stolen car was found in Dundalk and it was
established that it arrived there at 1:30am. The Gardaí are now
in a quandary as to whether Mr. O'Grady was taken to Dundalk or
is still in Co.Cork. To add to the confusion, two vans were
stolen in Dundalk shortly after the stolen car arrived there.
One was later found burned out north of the Border and the other
has not been traced.
At midnight on Wednesday a passing motorist reported seeing three
men drag another across the main Cork to Mallow road at Rathduff.
This caused a widespread Garda search which yielded nothing. The
Gardaí seem to know the names of all involved from forensic
examination of the material found at the Midleton hide out. One
man was recognised as he made his getaway.
The Sunday Tribune had a major report of a phone call it received
from a man claiming to be Dessie O'Hare (the Border Fox). He
admitted the kidnapping.
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1988
Torrential rain and high winds on Thursday night and Friday
caused severe flooding in parts of Cork, Kerry and Waterford.
Most severely hit were Mallow and Fermoy. Residents of Mallow
said that this was the worst flooding experienced in many years.
Most town centre shops were damaged and some business people
claimed that they may never open again. It was Sunday before
some roads were re-opened.
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1989
The Waterboys are playing four nights in the Olympia this week,
as I speak they are sold out. Their new single Bang on the
Ear, is in my opinion their best work since This is the Sea.
They also played a number of unannounced gigs in the Waterford
and Mallow region during the past week.
There was a rapturous homecoming for the victorious Cork
football team on Monday evening. An estimated 30,000 turned
out in the city centre to greet the team. Earlier they had
stopped at Mallow where a huge crowd also welcomed them.
Other news from Cork is that the road from Mallow to Cork is
still under construction. I have never travelled the road
without remembering it as mile after mile of half finished road
works.
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1990
Flooding was a major problem for many parts of the country during
the week. On Tuesday we saw television pictures of homes in Blarney
flooded to a depth of two feet. Mallow was also badly affected when the
Blackwater overflowed its banks. The main Tipperary road out of Limerick
was blocked with flood water under the railway bridge.
Fianna Fail TD, Ned O'Keeffe claims that he was kicked by Joe Sherlock TD
of the Workers' Party. Mr Sherlock denies this. What is not in dispute is
that there was a heated argument between the two over their respective
attempts to be associated with a campaign to have Mallow General Hospital
retained.
The Mitsumi Electric Company of Tokyo announced plans for a
£4m investment in Mallow which will lead to 254 jobs. The company
is a supplier to Apple and the fact that its headquarters are nearby
is said to be a major factor in the decision to locate in Mallow.
The Willie Clancy Summer School is over for another year. The
James Joyce version started at UCD last Monday. A new one is
the Joe Mooney School of Traditional Irish Music and Dance
which opened in Drumshanbo on the 22nd and finished yesterday.
Other festivals which started or finished during the week were
the Isles of Lough Key festival in Boyle, the Athy Funanza
Festival, the Mallow International Folk Festival and the South
Docks Festival in Dublin.
The former Fianna Fail TD, Gerry Cronin of Mallow, died on
Saturday at the age of 65. Mr Cronin was Minister for Defence
for a time and was later an MEP.
- Some of the country's anglers are not happy with the new
legislation replacing the infamous law which demanded licence
fees. Des Nolan of Annaghdown was vociferous in his opposition
to the new Bill. A few other Western anglers appeared to agree
with him. Down in Mallow it was a different story, with
anglers' representative Dick Willis saying he would urge his
members to cooperate fully in buying share certificates in the
new co-ops. Plans to bring the Bill into law before the Dail
rises for Christmas had to be abandoned. It will be late
January before it is put before the House again.
- The mail train from Mallow to Tralee failed to stop at its
destination at 6:00am of Friday. Instead it ended up blocking
the main Tralee to Listowel road. No one was injured.
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1991
The first round draw for the FAI Cup was made on Friday. The
big tie of the round is the meeting between St Pat's and Derry.
Limerick have the privilege of travelling to Carndonagh, while
Athlone go to Mallow, Bray to Midleton and Sligo play a team
called Edenmore.
Cork City is losing its only independent radio station as 96FM
is being taken over and amalgamated with County Sound which
operates out of Mallow.
At this stage of the FAI Cup I usually just report the
highlights but as there were a number of intriguing encounters
and outcomes I have decided to give all the results.
FAI Cup: Carndonagh 0 Limerick 0
Cork 2 Bohemians 3
Drogheda 4 Park Villa 1
Dundalk 0 Ashtown Villa 1
Edenmore 1 Sligo 2
Galway 3 Cobh 1
Longford 1 Shelbourne 3
Mallow 0 Athlone 1
Midleton 2 Bray 0
Monaghan 1 Elm Rovers 2
Portlaoise 3 Home Farm 1
Shamrock R. 4 Finn Harps 3
St Pats 0 Derry 0
UCD 1 Kilkenny 1
Waterford 2 St Joseph's Boys 1
Wayside Celtic 0 St James' Gate 2
A seminar organised by Eolas heard a proposal that underground
water reservoirs be used to help heat large office blocks in
Dublin. An EC funded project established the feasibility of
the idea and some Trinity College buildings are being heated
using this method. It was also suggested that many towns
around the country have the same opportunity and projects to
heat the swimming pools in Tuam and Mallow have proved
successful.
Two men from Burnfoot, Mallow and one from Drimoleague were
charged in Co.Cork courts of conspiring to defraud the Revenue
Commissioners of �743k in VAT and excise duty. It is alleged
that the three processed an alcohol-based animal rub and sold
it as vodka and whiskey.
A Limerick-based Garda, Denis Kelly (28) of Mallow, was charged
on Sunday with contravening the Official Secrets Act. He is
accused of passing garda information to another person. The
court was told that he was also suspected of being a member of
the IRA. On Friday he and another Garda along, with two women,
were arrested in Limerick and detained for questioning under
the Offences Against the State Act. The arrests arose from
investigations into IRA activities in the Limerick area. The
other three were released without charge. Another man who was
arrested later is still being questioned.
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1992
Former garda Denis Kelly (28) of Mallow pleaded guilty to a
charge under the Official Secrets Act. When he was arrested in
Limerick last September he was found to have an official
document detailing plans for action against suspected members
of the IRA. Mr Kelly was released on £30,000 bail while
awaiting sentence.
Former garda Denis Kelly (28) was sentenced to five years
imprisonment for passing official information to members of the
IRA. The convicted man is a native of Mallow and was stationed
in Limerick at the time of his arrest.
A full-scale murder hunt has been launched in Cork following
the discovery of the body of John Crowley (38) of Bweeng, near
Mallow. Mr Crowley was reported missing last Monday and it was
Saturday before his body was discovered in undergrowth half a
mile from his home. He had been shot.
John O'Riordan (74), of Bweeng near Mallow, has been charged
with the murder of his neighbour John Crowley, whose body was
found on August 1. A week after the discovery of Mr Crowley's
body, the body of John Walsh (49) was found hanging in a
disused farmhouse a mile away. Gardai are not looking for
anyone else in connection with this death and the media
appeared to imply that investigations into the death of Mr
Crowley might be closed. However, by Thursday gardai were
questioning a man and a woman about the murder, and charged Mr.
O'Riordan the following day.
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1993
Dermot O'Connell (46) of Kildorrery, Co.Cork admitted to
shooting a young woman with intent to cause her grievous bodily
harm. Margaret Coakley is a neighbour of O'Connell's parents
near Mallow. The shooting occurred when O'Connell became
convinced that Ms Coakley, her sister and brother, were
attempting to block a right of way. Ms Coakley took the full
blast from a shotgun on her right hand which was across her
stomach.
Dermot O'Connell (46), of Kildorrery, Co.Cork, was jailed for
five years for shooting and injuring Margaret Coakley of
Burnfoot, Mallow, over what he saw as an attempt to impede his
use of a right of way. Half the sentence was suspended.
Captain Harry Freeman-Jackson, a member of the Irish equestrian
team in four Olympics games, died at the age of 82. He lived
in Mallow and was the oldest member of the Duhallow Hunt.
Twenty people received minor injuries when a train was derailed at
Ballyseedy on the Tralee-Mallow line.
The owners of Maudie Macs bar in Mallow were brought to the High
Court by Irish Distillers Ltd. IDL did not like the idea of the
pub's customers being served with an unknown spirit from a bottle
carrying the "Paddy" label. Certain undertakings were given and the
court was not required to deliver a judgement.
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1994
William Murphy (25), of Mallow, died in an avalanche in Scotland on
Thursday. He was climbing in the Glencoe area with David Gaughran of
Ballinteer. The two men had decided that it was unsafe to continue
their climb and were making their descent when the accident occurred.
Damien Salmon (23), of Abbeyshrule, Co.Longford, was killed when struck by a
car as he walked home late on Sunday night. At about the same time
Robert Keane (60), of Boherbue, near Mallow, died in a similar
accident near his home.
The body of Kieran O'Connor (15) was found under trees in a park near
his home in Mallow. He had a gash on the back of his head but gardai
did not say how he died, although they did rule out foul play.
Mark Healy (16) of Mallow was swimming with friends in the River
Blackwater on Thursday when he got into difficulties and drowned.
The Government announced details of a new urban renewal scheme. It
offers a variety of tax and rate reliefs to developers in designated
urban areas. One new aspect of the scheme is to encourage the use of
property above shops as residential accommodation. That applies to
the main shopping streets of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and
Waterford. An additional 12 towns have been included in the basic
scheme. These are Ballinasloe, Dungarvan, Enniscorthy, Killarney,
Mallow, Monaghan, Mullingar, Navan, Nenagh, Newbridge, Roscommon, and
Wicklow.
A relatively low-key controversy surrounds the closure of a few rural
sub-post offices, one at Carracastle, Co.Mayo, and the others in the
Mallow area. A few years ago An Post created a huge outcry when it
announced a plan to close 550 sub-post offices around the country.
Such was the criticism that the plan was quietly shelved. These
latest closures are seen as the original plan being implemented
surreptitiously.
- John O'Riordan (76), a farmer from Bweeng, near Mallow, Co.Cork, is
currently being tried for the murder of his son-in-law, John Crowley
(38). Mr Crowley disappeared in July 1992 and his body was found
hidden in undergrowth, half a mile from his home, a week later. He
had died from a shotgun blast to the back. The court was told that
Mr O'Riordan had signed the family farm over to his daughter after
her marriage to Mr Crowley, but over the next few years disputes
broke out between the two men over farming methods and Mr Crowley's
drinking habits. The court also heard that the cartridges used by Mr
O'Riordan were given to him by a neighbour, John Walsh (49), who was
found hanging in a disused farmhouse a few days after the killing.
- A head-on collision between two cars on the Cork-Mallow road claimed
two lives early on Monday. The dead were named as Denis Walsh (35)
of Mallow and John Burke (50) of Blarney. Both were passengers in
the cars and the two drivers were uninjured.
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1995
The many thousands of Irish people who travelled to Cheltenham for
the races seemed to enjoy themselves. Their week got off to a great
start with Irish horses finishing first and second in the first two
races. [deleted] It
was a big week for Mallow jockey Norman Williamson as he rode the
winners of the Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle.
Gardai gave chase when a car crashed through a routine checkpoint
near the village of Nad, between Macroom and Mallow, on Friday. The
vehicle was abandoned about a mile away and was found to contain
cannabis and ecstasy tablets worth about £900k. Less than a week
earlier two separate hauls of cannabis were discovered in the
Inishannon area of Co.Cork. These were said to be worth £300k. Also
on Friday a large quantity of ecstasy was recovered when gardai
stopped a car in Limerick city. In this case a man was arrested and
has since appeared in court.
For the second successive week a slurry spill in the Cork area
disrupted domestic water supplies. Water was cut off in Castlemartyr
and neighbouring villages in east Cork after slurry overflowed into
the River Kiltha. A few days later there was a fish kill from silage
effluent on a two-mile stretch of the Awbeg River, a tributary of the
Blackwater, upstream from Mallow. The Cork county manager, Noel
Dillon, insists that the farmers on whose land the spills occurred
will be required to pay the total cost of the clean up, including the
restocking of rivers with fish and the delivery of water to houses by
tanker.
£10k was taken in an armed raid on the Bank of Ireland's main branch
in Mallow on Monday. A day later a similar raid was carried out on
the bank's branch in nearby Doneraile. This time £12k was taken.
A drowning in totally different circumstances shocked the small
community of Ballyclough, near Mallow. Eight-year-old Barbara Browne
was swimming with other children in Mallow swimming pool last Sunday
afternoon. When her friends assembled in the changing room they
noticed that Barbara was missing. The alarm was raised and her body
was found in the deep end of the pool. A life-guard was on duty at
the time but no one saw what happened.
Work has started on a £7m development at Mallow Race Course. The
Government is making an initial grant of £1.5m.
Two north Cork brothers received a letter purporting to come from the
Department of Social Welfare asking them to come in to the office in
Mallow on Monday. When they arrived officials told them that the
letter was a forgery. On returning home they discovered that their
house had been burgled and a quantity of cash stolen.
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1996
Councillor John Joe Kelleher of Mallow Urban District Council was
cleared at Cork Circuit Court on the instructions of a judge when he
appeared on a charge of receiving stolen cigarettes. Kelleher told
the court that when he bought 7,000 cigarettes from Michael O'Shea at
£15 a carton he thought they were duty free. When he later looked at
the packaging he realised that this wasn't the case but was afraid to
report the matter to the gardai because he feared for the safety of
his family. The cigarettes had been stolen during a break-in at a
shop in Kanturk.
Robert Nagle,
originally from Mallow but now based in Boston, took
second place in the recent Western Isles Challenge. For three days
competitors raced from the southernmost tip of the islands to the
northernmost point (for 10-14 hours a day). Between the islands they
kayaked, while on land they had to race up and down several mountains
each day, biking between these mountains.
A 14 ft-high
bronze statue
of an Irish elk overlooking the new main
Cork-Mallow Road has been damaged by a vandal. Someone had to go to
a great deal of trouble to remove the genitalia from the £20k Kevin
Holland sculpture, due to the toughness of the material used in its
construction.
The LP Plastics factory near Mallow was totally destroyed by fire on
Wednesday. More than 80 fire-fighters fought the blaze for 18 hours.
On Friday,
Patrick Corcoran (35), of Gurranbraher, Cork, died in a four-car
crash at Rathduff on the Mallow-Cork road.
Pat Burke (32) of Mallow, drowned in a diving accident at Renvyle,
Co. Galway, last weekend. Mr Burke got into difficulties while
diving with an instructor and other trainee divers.
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1997
Sheila Crean (70), of Mourneabbey, Co. Cork, was killed last Sunday
night when she was hit while crossing the main Mallow-Killarney road.
[recently reported] deaths again demonstrated the need for at least one
deputy state pathologist. The body of James Healy lay where it was found
for more than 24 hours until State pathologist Dr John Harbison arrived
from Dublin. A pathologist from Galway carried out a preliminary
examination of Mrs Morgan's body.
Press coverage of the murder in Tralee was criticised in the Dail. I
think this was a reference to the decision by at least one tabloid to
carry a photograph of the body lying on the ground. After the
criticism The Kerryman still went ahead with a photograph spanning nine
columns, although this did not appear in later editions.
Margaret Bolster, a lecturer in forensic medicine at UCC, had been
acting deputy state pathologist and was considered to be more than
capable but she was not prepared to move from Mallow and the Government
insists that the job-holder be based in Dublin.
Gardaí in Mallow have been investigating what appears to be a major
racket in stolen cars and have so far confiscated 20 vehicles which
it is believed were stolen in Britain. Most of the vehicles are less
than two years old and are of up-market models. The purchasers, who
bought the cars in good faith, will have to bear the loss.
The Eco-Challenge of 1996, which was won by the Eco-Internet team led
by Mallow man
Robert Nagle,
is the subject of a five-part documentary
starting today on the Discovery Channel.
- Mallow man
Robert Nagle
led the Eco-Internet team to victory once again in the 1997 Eco-Challenge in
Queensland, Australia. They beat 47 other teams from 15 countries in 5
days and 19 hours of racing over rough terrain.
- Jeremiah Burke (77) and Abina O'Donoghue (60), both of
Carrignavar, Co. Cork, died when the car in which they were
travelling went out of control at Burnfoot Bridge near Mallow. The
car, driven by Mr Burke, landed on its roof in the bed of a shallow
river, but another passenger, Lily Cahill, managed to scramble clear
and raise the alarm. She is now in intensive care. The three were
coming home from a 45-card drive in Mourneabbey Community Hall, late
on Wednesday night.
Over 500 workers at Irish Sugar, a subsidiary of Greencore, have
started a strike for higher pay. SIPTU is understood to be demanding
a wage increase of between 27% and 32%, which the company claims it
cannot afford. Employees in Carlow, Mallow, Thurles and Tuam
commenced their action on Tuesday. Their counterparts in Erin Foods,
another Greencore subsidiary, have joined them in ceasing all
production.
The new Cork Racecourse was officially opened by Minister for
Agriculture Ivan Yates last weekend. The ultra modern complex is
built on the old Mallow race track and cost �6m to complete.
A young English couple were killed when their motorcycle collided
with a car outside the village of Barraduff on the Killarney to
Mallow road on Thursday evening. They were both in their early
twenties and from Norwich.
- Just as in years past the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor
General
highlighted a wide range of problems in the way in which taxpayers'
money is utilised. As before there is no indication that anyone is
ever held responsible for the waste of millions, expect where blatant
fraud takes place.
Four swimming pools which were expected to cost a total of £1.78m
eventually cost almost £6m. An example was the pool in Mallow which
had an estimate of IR300k and ended up costing £1.85m.
- The Cork coroner who demanded that a senior hospital doctor attend
the inquest into the death of a new born baby concluded the hearing
on Wednesday. The inquest heard that a blood sample taken from the
scalp of Denis McMahon while still in the womb, could not be tested
due to a malfunctioning machine. Dr Fani Langdana said that at a
later stage in the delivery he decided that an analysis of the baby's
blood was required and, as the machine was again functioning, he took
another sample. This time the safety stop on the needle failed to
prevent a deeper than necessary penetration of the scalp and a vein
was torn. Despite performing an emergency caesarean section and
placing the baby in the care of a consultant paediatrician, Denis
died a few hours later. Death was due to shock from bleeding.
Coroner Dr Cornelius Riordan said all the proper procedures were
performed during the birth and added that the malfunctioning machine
played a part in the death of the baby. The parents of the dead
child, Tadhg and Bernadette McMahon of Mallow, said that they bore no
ill will against any member of the hospital team. A day later, on
schedule, Mrs McMahon was back in St Finbarr's Hospital where she
gave birth to a daughter, Cliona Marie, by caesarean section.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard on Thursday that Eric Lonergan,
Buttevant had smoked two "reefers" before meeting Elaine O'Mahony at
the Bull Walk, Mallow, as she walked home from a friend's house last
July. After knifing her four times in the neck as she lay on the
ground, Lonergan (25) told her he would have to kill her. Eventually
he left and she was taken to hospital where it was discovered that
one wound had narrowly missed an artery. Judge Patrick Moran, in
sentencing Lonergan to five years in prison, said he subjected Ms
O'Mahony to an appalling attack.
Around the 32 Counties
Week ending, Saturday, November 15, 1997
Ceremonies in Castlemagner last week commemorated the 350th
anniversary of the Battle of Knocknanuss, the largest to take place
in the province, and which saw the deaths of between 3,500 and
5,000 soldiers. Present at the ceremony were Lord Inchiquin of
Dromoland, Co Clare, and Count MacDonald of the Glens in Scotland,
whose ancestors led the opposing armies. A memorial to the battle
and those who died there was jointly unveiled by the Rector of
Mallow, Rev. Tony Whiting and Fr Stephen O'Mahony, parish priest of
Castlemagner.
On Monday morning Ann O'Keeffe of Rathduff, Co. Cork, was killed when
she was involved in a three-car collision on the Mallow-Cork road
near Blarney. Mrs O'Keeffe's husband, Eugene, lost his life in a
traffic accident on the old Mallow-Cork road six years ago.
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1998
- Job creation will have to be on a significant scale over the next
couple of months if it is to offset the Seagate and AST redundancies,
and the spate of job losses announced in the last few days. In
Mallow 40 of the 50 staff at Mitsumi, a manufacturer of computer
parts, are to be made redundant.
- Anthony Finn (30), of Carrigaline, Co. Cork, was killed early last
Sunday when his car crashed on the Cork-Mallow road about two miles
from Mallow.
Four teenagers went on the rampage in the Mallow area of Co. Cork on
Friday morning. Three girls, two aged 17 and one 18, and a
17-year-old boy first broke into Foley's supermarket in Mallow and
took drink worth IR100. They later stole a truck which they used to
reverse into Twomey's supermarket in the nearby village of Dromahane.
The supermarket owner alerted gardai who arrested two of the culprits
in the truck, which by this time had crashed, and the other two were
arrested in a stolen car. All four were released after questioning
and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
Criminals have adopted a new tack in trying to carry out burglaries
in houses with telephone alarm systems. In the early hours of last
Monday morning a gang broke into a small Telecom Eireann exchange at
Boherbue, near Mallow, Co. Cork, and proceeded to smash up all the
equipment, leaving 500 homes without a telephone service. It is
believed that they then planned to carry out a series of robberies in
the vicinity, in the belief that they had disconnected houses
subscribing to Telecom's "Home Watch" system. Their activities,
however, set off an alarm in the local garda station and a squad car
was dispatched. The gang made off in a stolen car pursued by gardai,
stopping twice to throw heavy metal objects at the window of the
garda car and injuring a woman officer. The gang eventually crashed
through a garda checkpoint and escaped in the direction of Limerick.
A man who is confined to a wheelchair as a result of a road accident is
to receive what is understood to be around IR100k, after insurance
companies agreed to settle before involving the courts. What was
unusual about the case was that the man was extremely drunk when he
crashed his vehicle and injured himself. He now blames his condition
on those who sold him the drink. The first culprit was said to be Kay
Napier who, with her husband, runs the Roundabout Tavern in Mallow. On
a wet evening in August 1990 Mrs Napier offered to drive a number of
customers to Mallow Race Course where they had parked their cars to
attend a meeting of the local farmers' co-op. Among those who availed
of the offer was Denis Murphy (55), of Clonbanin, Mallow. Sometime
later Mr Murphy called at the Duhallow Lodge Hotel, Kanturk, where
initially he was refused drink but later managed to be served. Shortly
after leaving the hotel he was involved in a serious accident which
left him paralysed from the neck down.
Kay Napier, while being sympathetic to the plight of Mr Murphy, was
furious that the insurance companies should settle out of court. She
wanted to fight the case all the way as she insisted that Mr Murphy was
sober when she deposited him at his car. Mrs Napier also wanted to
know where the injured man had been in the 2.5 hours which elapsed
between leaving her and the accident taking place. She saved her
strongest criticism for the solicitors and barristers involved in the
case, saying that they were the only ones to benefit financially as
legal fees would account for the bulk of the award. The then owners of
the Duhallow Lodge, Edward and Mary Canny, do not appear to have made
any comment on the case.
As the case was settled out of court it has not set any legal
precedents, but it is expected to cause publicans to review their
practices and has no doubt alerted the legal profession to a whole new
set of possibilities.
- The good news is that German company Kostal, which currently employs
more than 1,100 people in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick, is to create 850
jobs in a new plant in Mallow over the next seven years. Kostal
manufactures electronic components for the automotive industry.
- On Thursday Catherine Morrissey (22), from Lombardstown, near Mallow,
was killed when her car crashed into a telegraph pole on the Macroom to
Millstreet road. On Saturday a driver attempted to avoid flood water on
the road at Gurteen, Kanturk, Co. Cork, and crashed into a wall, killing a
2.5-year-old girl who was a passenger in the car.
The two road accident victims who hadn't been named when last week's
edition was published were Rachel Hurley (2), from Rathcoole, near
Millstreet, who was killed near Kanturk, Co. Cork,
Around the 32 Counties - week of December 20, 1998
A major garden festival planned for the racecourse in Mallow is
expected to cover some 70 acres and hopes to attract more than 100,000
visitors from home and abroad. The event is being supported by An Bord
Glas and communications manager John Magee has expressed the hope that
some of the exhibits will become permanent features of the racecourse.
The festival will include a large number of gardening exhibits and
horticultural trade displays, as well as a competition for the Best
Designed Large Garden.
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1999
The forecasters correctly predicted that the country would experience
another storm on Tuesday and that it would not be quite as severe as
the St Stephen's Day hurricane. This time the maximum wind speeds were
put at around 70mph and were at their strongest in the southern half of
the country. Torrential rain accompanied this storm, resulting in the
River Blackwater bursting it banks and flooding the towns of Fermoy and
Mallow. Houses and businesses in both towns were damaged by flood
waters which is some cases came up to the top of windows. Cork
Racecourse outside Mallow was under six feet of water which put an end
to plans for a race meeting on Wednesday. Travellers between Cork and
Dublin were diverted away from Fermoy and the alternative was to drive
along a series of narrow country roads which caused major problems when
trucks met.
The flooding was described as the worst in north Cork in almost 20
years but, while damage was widespread, there were no reports of death
or injuries. Some people had narrow escapes. A farmer had to be
rescued from his tractor as the flood waters rose around him and a
quick-witted man tied a stalled car to a post, as it was about to be
washed away, until he found help to get the two elderly occupants to
safety. While flooding was at its worst along the River Blackwater,
Clonmel also had problems although not as severe as it experienced on a
number of occasions in recent years.
We had a short-lived political row about a recent consultant's report
on rail safety. Fine Gael's Ivan Yates claimed that the Department
of Public Enterprise had successfully persuaded International Risk
Management Services to tone down some of the language used in its
preliminary report. It was his contention that the consultants had
planned to state that three stretches of line should be closed as
they are too dangerous to carry passenger trains. The track in
question is that between Mallow and Tralee, Waterford and Limerick
Junction, and Athlone and Claremorris. Minister for Public
Enterprise Mary O'Rourke rejected the accusation and, when contacted
by the Irish Times, a director of the consultancy firm was just as
emphatic in denying that any pressure had been brought to bear.
Last weekend's funeral of Oliver Reed, near his adopted home in
Churchtown in north Cork, brought in celebrities from around the
world. The Church of St James in Mallow was packed and hundreds
gathered outside. After the burial mourners adjourned to the late
actor's home at Castle McCarthy where a marquee had been erected to
house a party which continued for 24 hours. The most photographed
personality was Belfast's former world snooker champion, Alex
Higgins, who looked extremely frail as a result of his fight against
cancer.
Gardai in Co. Clare set up roadblocks when they received reports that
attempts had been made to abduct two children. In the first
incident, in Tulla, a seven-year-old girl ran off when two men in a
black jeep tried to grab her. Some two hours later, in Doonbeg, two
men asked a seven-year-old boy to get into a black car or jeep and
lead them to the garda station. He too ran off. Three similar
incidents were reported in different parts of the county earlier in
the month. On Thursday gardai in Charleville, Co. Cork, arrested two
men from Britain who were driving a black jeep and brought them to
Mallow Garda Station for questioning but they were released after a
few hours.
Shortly after 7:00am on Thursday Paddy Harty
(26), from Liscarrol, Co. Cork, died when his car collided with a van
near Charleville, on the road to Mallow.
Three people died
at around 9:30pm on Friday when a car and a van were involved in a
head-on collision on the Cork-Mallow road, near Rathduff. The
victims were named as John Mullane (26) and Jacinta Magnier (19),
both from Mallow, and the van driver, John Madden (20), from Douglas
Rd in Cork city. [see also November 26, 2001]
Early on
Saturday the body of Kieran O'Flynn (23) was found on the roadside,
300 yards from his home at Lavally near Mallow. He is believed to
have been walking home from a concert in Castletownroche when he was
struck by a vehicle which failed to stop.
Gardai are confident that they have traced the hit-and-run driver of
the car which killed Kieran O'Flynn (23), near his home at Lavally,
Co. Cork two weeks ago. Initially gardai could only say that they
were looking for the driver of a blue car, but fragments found at the
scene helped identify the type of car. A man has since been
questioned and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
A fund has been established in Cork to send four-year-old Ann Marie
Kelleher to Miami, to be treated by a doctor who puts his patients in
the sea to swim with dolphins. Ann Marie, the daughter of Tom and
Bernie Kelleher, of Killavullen, in north Cork, suffers from Retts
Syndrome. She developed normally until she was 16 months but then
stopped communicating and can no longer co-ordinate her movements.
Donations can be made to Bank of Ireland, Mallow - Account 63223674 -
Sort code 90 28 80.
Cork hurlers received a huge welcome when they arrived back in the
county on Monday night. They were given a taste of things to come
when their train first stopped at Mallow. This inevitably meant that
their scheduled arrival in Cork would be long overdue. An estimated
50,000 people were on the streets of the southern capital when their
heroes left the train and made their way to Grand Parade for a
triumphant reception.
Four people were killed in a horror crash on the main Cork to
Limerick road near Charleville on Wednesday evening. The four were
17-year old Anita O'Herlihy and her 20-year old sister Niamh; their
friend Carol Conroy (21) and her baby daughter Emma. The four were
all from Churchtown near Mallow. They were part of a band named
"Nivita" and they were believed to be on their way to a practice in
Limerick.
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At Blarney District Court Patrick Carroll (34) of Mallow, Co. Cork,
was fined IR100 and disqualified for three years for failing to
remain at the scene of an accident in which three people died. The
court was told that Carroll had been receiving constant psychiatric
treatment since the accident last summer although he was entirely
blameless. Carroll was driving a car at Rathduff on the Cork-Mallow
road when his passenger pushed the steering wheel, forcing a van
behind them to take evasive action and causing it to collide with an
oncoming car. The van driver and two young people in the car were
all killed. Carroll was urged by his passenger to keep driving but
as soon as he heard radio reports of the deaths of three people he
went straight to the home of a local garda. The passenger faces
three counts of manslaughter.
At around 9.00am on
Saturday the body of a 25-year-old man was found in an overturned car
in a field at Mountbolus, near Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Shortly after
noon Danny Forde (28), from Cullen, near Mallow, died when his car
collided with a milk tanker near Kanturk in north Cork.
Mark Crowley (21), of Mayfield in Cork, died on Wednesday when his
car was in collision with a truck on the Mallow-Killarney road.
A London born gynaecologist, who was barred from practicing by the
British General Medical Council in 1998, became the focus of extreme
media interest last weekend in Co Cork. Mr Rodney Ledward, who is
now living in the village of Dromohane, near Mallow, Co Cork has
stated that he intends to remain living there. A report published on
last Friday week alleged that almost 200 charges of malpractice had
been made against the disbarred doctor. The report led to front-page
headlines in the English press and a siege of the man's home in the
Cork village by reporters. Mr Ledward has complained to the Gardai
that the reporters are invading his privacy. Although Mr Ledward has
been barred from practicing in Britain he is not wanted there on any
charges.
Edmond Fitzgerald (30), of Turner's Cross in Cork, received a
three-year suspended jail sentence and was ordered to pay IR2.5k to
the St Vincent de Paul Society after he pleaded guilty to issuing
bogus driving licences. That left the former Cork County Council
employee with a profit of IR2.5k as it was estimated that he made
IR5k by issuing licences to people who had not passed the driving
test. At the same hearing Jeremiah Falvey (39), of Mallow, and John
Cody (32), of Killeagh, both of whom purchased bogus licences for
friends and family but did not make any profit, were each fined
IR2.5k.
Bottlehill has been chosen as the location for the IR20m superdump to
be used by Cork city and county for the next 20 years. The site is
located about two miles east of the Mallow-Cork road and 13.5 miles
from the city. Local residents, who have been fighting against the
dump for some time, were bitterly disappointed and have vowed to
continue their battle. Planning permission has still to be obtained
and the Environmental Protection Agency must issue a licence. In
selecting Bottlehill, councillors were accepting the advice of the
consultants who were engaged to advise on the location. Grenagh and
Watergrasshill were the other options.
The severe weather conditions in the early part of the week claimed two
lives. Philomena Barry (68), of Sugarstown, Co. Kilkenny, died on
Monday when a gust of wind blew a farmyard gate against her. On
Tuesday Michael Boyle (66), was swept into a swollen river close to his
home at Ballinderry, near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. The bravery of Second
Lieut. William O'Meara (22), from Mallow, prevented the loss of a
third life. Truck driver Chris Slattery found himself stranded in
flood water near the River Blackwater outside Mallow and decided that
he would have to abandon his vehicle. However, he was immediately
swept away in the strong current and Lieut. O'Meara jumped in and
managed to pull Mr Slattery to what had become a small island, from
which they were both rescued.
The torrential rain which started last Sunday continued to bring
devastation to a large part of the country for the following two days.
Water forced people from their homes in many towns and villages,
including areas in Dublin, Clonmel, Arklow, Enniscorthy, Mallow,
Fermoy, Lucan and Dunboyne.
Fermoy and Mallow suffered further flooding on Friday after more
heavy rain in the south of the country throughout the week. This was
the second time in a month that the Blackwater burst its banks and
damaged property in the two towns. It seems that conditions were
particularly severe across much of Munster on Thursday. Apart from
the flooding there were reports of trees being blown down and
electricity supplies being cut. At Portlaw, Co. Waterford, the
thatched roof was blown off a house in the 80mph wind.
Kirby Rubens (17) of Mallow, Co. Cork, is to receive compensation of
IR1.45m following a road accident in August of last year, which has
left her confined to a wheelchair.
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2001
- In Cork Circuit Court Judge John Clifford decided to accept the
collective recollection of a drunken youth and his two friends over
that of a garda, on events which took place in Buttevant on Christmas
Eve 1996. Terence Roche (23), of Mallow, admitted to having consumed
"five or six pints" of lager and to haranguing Garda Michael O'Connor
who was on his way to deal with a fight involving other youths.
Roche claimed that Garda O'Connor (48) struck him once above the eye
with his torch, and he was awarded IR1,500 in damages plus costs.
Garda O'Connor was not informed of the complaint until two years
after it was alleged to have taken place and said that all he could
recall was telling a group of youths outside a pub to stop
shouting.
- In June 1998 Anthony Moynihan, of Mallow, Co. Cork, died when his car
collided with a car being driven by Linda Eviston, from Fossa,
Killarney. Ms Eviston says that early in December of that year she
was told by gardai in Millstreet that the DPP had decided not to
prosecute her. Later in the same month she was informed that the DPP
had reviewed his decision and that she was to be charged with
dangerous driving and dangerous driving causing death. The review
followed the receipt of a letter from Mr Moynihan's father. Ms
Eviston's legal team is challenging the DPP's right to review
decisions once they are made. From comments made by Justice Nicholas
Kearns during the High Court hearing, it is difficult to see how he
can do other than uphold the appeal when he delivers his judgement in
a few weeks time.
Linda Eviston, of Killarney, will not have to face trial on a charge
of dangerous driving causing the death of Anthony Moynihan jnr, of
Mallow, Co. Cork. Her legal team had argued in the High Court that
the DPP was not at liberty to change his decision not to prosecute,
simply because the father of the deceased asked that he do so.
Justice Nicholas Kearns agreed.
By Thursday it was 30 days since the only case of Foot & Mouth Disease in the South was discovered at Proleek
in Co. Louth. This meant that as of midnight the Republic was once again officially clear of the
virus. After a break of seven weeks, horseracing resumed in the South on Monday with
meetings at Mallow and Leopardstown. Intense precautions were taken with the
widespread use of disinfectant on everything and everyone entering or leaving the courses.
Six-year-old Patrick Daly died on Saturday night after he fell through the roof of a college at
Summerhill, in Mallow, Co. Cork.
The woman who lost her life in a three-vehicle pile-up on the Cork-Mallow road last weekend
was named as Yvonne McCarthy, from Douglas in Cork city. Her six-year-old son was
injured in the accident.
Joe Lynch, the 76-year-old actor who played Dinny in Glenroe, died in
Spain on Wednesday. He will be cremated in Alicante, the site of his
holiday home. Many tributes were paid to the Mallow-born actor, who
appeared in numerous roles in television, film and theatre.
Although his acting career started while he was still at school, he
first came to the attention of the masses back in the 1950s as a singer
of Irish ballads. His later career saw him take part in widely varying
roles from Blazes Boylan in Strick's film of "Ulysses" to a taxi driver
in the British television series "Coronation Street". Probably his
biggest British success was in "Never mind the Quality, feel the
Width". Back in Ireland he became an instant hit in Bracken, which
spawned "Glenroe", a series with which he remained for 17 years.
The Irish Farmers Association is demanding a 10% increase in the
price of sugarbeet and has organised pickets outside Greencore's
processing plants in Carlow and Mallow, preventing deliveries since
Wednesday morning. One truck did get through but it had its
hydraulic cables cut subsequently. In offering the same price as
last year Greencore claims to be paying more for sugarbeet than its
rivals in Britain and France, which are selling sugar on the Irish
market. A spokesman for Greencore also claimed that the majority of
beet farmers acknowledge that beet is their most profitable crop and
are anxious to deliver to the factories but are afraid to do so. An
ultimatum from Greencore was ignored and the company has shut down
equipment in the Carlow factory. Operations in the Mallow plant are
expected to cease by Tuesday morning, creating uncertainty for the
ongoing employment of a total of about 600 workers at the two
sites.
On Monday the Irish Sugar subsidiary of Greencore was granted a High
Court injunction which was supposed to prevent farmers from taking
any steps which would result in the withdrawal of supplies of
sugarbeet from the processing plants. This development merely
prompted the IFA to bring more farmers to the gates of the factories
in Carlow and Mallow, ensuring that no beet could be delivered and,
of course, no one attempted to enforce the law. When farmers stopped
a truckload of beet from entering the Mallow plant on Tuesday
management officially closed the operation there and placed all 650
workers on protective notice with effect from December 1. Later in
the week the IFA failed in an attempt to have the injunction lifted
but that didn't make any difference on the ground and the pickets
remained in place. For the Government Noel Davern, Minister of State
at the Department of Agriculture, engaged in talks with both sides
but there is no indication that agreement is near.
Michael O'Shea (29), from Mallow, Co. Cork, received three five-year
sentences, to run consecutively, after he pleaded guilty to the
manslaughter of three young people who died in a road accident at
Rathduff, near Mallow, in July 1999. The court heard that, after a
bout of drinking, O'Shea pushed and pulled the steering wheel of a
car in which he was a passenger. His action forced a van across the
central white line and into the path of another car. The victims were
John Madden (21) and John Mullane (26) from Mallow and Jacinta Magner
(22) from nearby Killavullen. The car in which O'Shea had been
travelling failed to stop and he was arrested the following day. He
later absconded to England and had to be extradited from England to
stand trial.
A CHANGED SOCIETY
Gardai launched a murder hunt on Saturday evening, following the
discovery of the body of a 68-year-old nun in the grounds of the Sacred
Heart Convent in Ballybay, Co. Monaghan. Sister Philomena Lyons, a
native of Mallow, Co. Cork, had planned to visit her order's convent in
Dublin and left to catch the 8:30 bus on Saturday morning. She was
accompanied to the convent gate by a colleague. At lunchtime, when she
hadn't arrived in Dublin, enquiries were made and this resulted in a
search of the convent grounds. Sister Philomena's body was found that
evening and a post-mortem carried out on Sunday showed that she had
been strangled and sexually assaulted. For 30 years Sister Philomena,
a member of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, had taught
in the town where she was well-known and popular.
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Joseph Barry (37), a native of Mallow, Co. Cork, died from natural
causes in Limerick Prison during the week. In the early 1990s he was
convicted of killing a man in London and sentenced to 12 years in
prison. Four years ago he was repatriated to serve the remainder of
his sentence here. With his death gardai have closed the file on the
murder of an elderly woman in Mallow in 1985. Barry had been charged
with the murder of Madge Byrne but was acquitted by a jury.
The High Court approved a payment of 108k to Liam O'Herlihy of
Churchtown, Mallow, Co. Cork, and members of his family. This
settlement is in respect of the deaths of Mr O'Herlihy's daughters,
Niamh (20) and Anita (17), who died in a road accident in October
1999. The two women were members of a band called Nivita and the
third member, Carmel Conroy, also died in the accident along with her
two-year-old daughter. The case had been taken against the driver of
the other car, Elizabeth Corbett, also of Churchtown, Mallow.
July 21, 2002
Gardai launched a murder investigation after finding the body of Nora
Kiely (45) in her flat in Leitrim Street in Cork city shortly before
midnight on Monday. The discovery was made after an anonymous male
caller phoned the Garda Siochana. Ms Kiely was originally from Mallow
but had lived in the flat for some years. She had for a time been a
psychiatric patient. On Friday Brian Walsh (22), of no fixed abode,
was charged with murder. Later in the day, Thomas Penkert (18), a
neighbour of Ms Kiely's, was charged with the theft of jewellery, money
and other items from her home.
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