Edited by The Demon. All comments and queries should be addressed to DROMAHAIRDIARY@GMAIL.COM

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Another Party!






After the tremendous success of the Demons Festival Children's Hallowe'en Party in the Blue Devon last Monday, where a fabulous time was enjoyed by all manner of witches, ghouls, ghosts, skeletons and pumpkins, it's time for the grown-ups to don their costumes and turn out for the Demon's Ball......

See you there!

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Flower Arranging Demonstration


The Diary recently received this notice from the parishioners of Drumlease;



We the parishioners of Drumlease parish church have tickets on sale at the moment for a flower arranging demonstration by the renowned Timothy Elliott to be held in the Bee Park Centre on Tuesday 6th November at 8pm. The tickets are available from Gillmor's shop and from all parishioners.  We would deeply appreciate if you could buy a ticket at €10 please.  We are trying to defray some of the cost of a recent refurbishment job done on our church.  We apologise for the timing but arranged this a long time ago .  There will be raffles and refreshments on the night also.  Thank you in anticipation - Drumlease Select Vestry.

G.R.A.S.P. Life


Local woman Mary McTernan this week launched a new website for her G.R.A.S.P. Life Foundation, which offers support and counselling to those affected by suicide, or having suicidal thoughts. Mary lost her son, Garry, to suicide in 2004 and has worked tirelessly in the intervening years to try to reduce the incidence of suicide in the North West. Unfortunately, as recent events show, the need for a service such as this is greater than ever.



www.grasplife.ie   

Tel: 087-4188053 or 086-6824760



Wednesday, 24 October 2012

Active Flag Raising


Some pictures from the recent Active Flag raising ceremony at Drumlease National School. One of only three schools in Leitrim to qualify, Drumlease NS was delighted to have Olympian Colin Griffin to assist in the raising of the flag.








Monday, 15 October 2012

Make your bed (but you don't have to lie in it)


The evenings are starting to draw in. I really love this time of the year, a time for contemplating what was good in the garden this year, what didn’t work and what you would like to do next year.  The seed catalogues will be coming out soon and we can sit by the heat of a crackling fire choosing the varieties of flowers, herbs and vegetables we would like to grow next season.

There is still much to do in the garden.  This week I have been tidying up the vegetable garden and making space for my autumn sown onion sets and garlic, I like to have them all in by the end of this month, but you can still plant garlic depending on variety up to the end of February.

I am basically very lazy, so like to make my life as easy as possible. I don’t enjoy weeding so there are methods I use to keep weeds to an absolute minimum in the garden, it may seem like a bit of work in the beginning, but it really does pay off in the long run.  I have my vegetable garden put down to beds, so it makes life a lot simpler.


I start by clearing the area of any weeds. There aren’t usually many so it doesn’t take long do this part. If the soil is a bit compacted, I stick the fork in and just loosen the soil, I don’t dig it or turn it.  Two or three wheelbarrows of my home made compost are then applied and spread out on the surface. 


Next get some newspapers or paper feed sacks (cut off the ends and flatten them out), you will need to dunk them in the water butt for about 30 seconds, this helps to stop them blowing away and makes it easier to dib through.  Put a layer of newspaper (2 sheets thick) or a single sheet of feed sack down until the area is neatly covered, then cover the paper with a layer of  either grass mowings, spoiled hay or silage or a bit more compost, it just keeps the paper in place so it doesn’t need to be too thick.


You are now ready to plant through the ‘mulch’ you have created.  Using a dibber or stick, you can make planting holes through the damp paper.  Autumn sown onions are very useful, they can be pulled next year when they have bulked up a bit and used in cooking or you could leave them to mature and they will be ready a good six or eight weeks before the main crop ones.  You can find onion sets in the shops now; look out for Radar, senshyu yellow and electric red. 


When planting onion sets, they only need to be put in a very shallow hole, you need to plant them with the blunt end downward otherwise they will grow upside down.  The correct depth is that you should be able to see the pointed top sticking out of the ground.  You may need to cover them with a net or fleece if you find birds are pulling them out, I have to cover everything up as the rooks destroy whatever I put in the ground.  Plant 3-4 inches (7-10cm) apart in all directions, when using beds there is no need to plant in rows so use equidistant spacing.

You can buy garlic now for planting.  Separate the bulb into cloves and plant them nice and deep, I try and put mine in at least 3-4” (7-10cm) deep again, I use equidistant spacing of 4 inches (10cm) in all directions.

Autumn leaves are falling and are a great resource for the garden.  Bang four posts into the ground and put wire round to make a container or you could collect them and put into the big bags you get stone and other aggregate delivered in.  If you can break the leaves up a bit all the better, pick them up with the lawn mower or get the children to jump around on them, this helps to make more edges for fungi to get going on.  Do not be tempted to put autumn leaves into the compost bin as they will not break down in this environment, compost is broken down by bacteria and dead leaves by the action of wet and fungi.  It is worth knowing that burning autumn leaves is very toxic to human health and can be tens of times more carcinogenic (cancer causing) than smoking.  When the leaves have broken down, they are a great addition to potting compost and a good source of humus for the soil.



You can contact me, Nelly Dean on cottagegardenerdromahair@gmail.com if you have any tips questions or comments

Friday, 12 October 2012

Demons Festival Halloween Events




Demons Festival Kids Halloween Party

Calling all Dromahair children!
Get dressed up and win prizes, dance at the devilish disco and grab a gonnie goody bag on Bank Holiday Monday (29th October) at the Blue Devon 4 - 5.30pm. Entrance fee €3 per child, includes goodie bag.

Demons Ball and Horror Quiz

Dromahair Adults Demons Ball at the Blue Devon, Saturday November 3rd, 9pm till late. Fancy dress ball to include Horror Pub Quiz from 9 - 11pm, followed by disco. Entrance fee €5 per person. 4 people per team for pub quiz.


Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Tea Party for Action Breast Cancer




It's that time of year again folks. Niamh McGowan is holding her 3rd annual Tea Party in aid of Action Breast Cancer in the Depot on Sunday at 12 noon. There will be tea, coffee and baked goodies for all, with a kiddies table to entertain the little ones. There is also a raffle with lots of prizes. So why not pop down for a cuppa and a chat in aid of this most worthy cause. See you there!

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

10 Years on the Road


Cinema North West are celebrating 10 years of Mobile Cinema with a packed programme of events, including the wonderful Adaptation Festival. This year's subject is the legendary John Huston. Don't miss it!


Monday, 8 October 2012

Supporting Young People Following Suicide



You are invited to an information session to help you in your work with young people who may be affected by suicide.  This information session will be given by Mike Rainsford, HSE Mental Health Promotion / Suicide Resource Officer.  It will help you to:
  • support grieving
  • reduce risk
  • identify sources of support for young people who may be struggling with feelings of grief following a death of a friend by suicide.
 Details of the session are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 10th October 2012
Time: 11.30am - 1pm
Venue:  NCYCS Youth Cafe, Hill Road, Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim

If you would like to attend this session, please reply by email to tsweetman@sligovec.ie so that numbers can be confirmed.



Thursday, 4 October 2012

Town Trail: Stop No. 9

Villiers' Castle    (words courtesy of Mary Weir)

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

Villiers' Castle at the entrance to Dromahair village was to be the intended Irish home for George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Though only the son of a small Leicestershire landowner, George Villiers had a meteoric rise in society to become the first Duke in a hundred years who was not of royal lineage. His widowed but ambitious mother had sent her handsome son, aged sixteen, to France, where he learned all the skills of a courtier; music, dancing and fencing. When he was introduced at the Court of James I in 1614, he was an instant hit, quickly becoming the favourite of the King, who showered him with titles before finally creating him a Duke. He was a dashing figure and much later Alexander Dumas used him as a model for one of his Three Musketeers.

At Court, he was in a position of great power, and used his influence with the King to secure promotion for his relations. His nephew, George St. John, became commander of the fort at Carrick-on-Shannon, while another became Governor of Athlone. James wished to settle his favourite comfortably so when the Plantation of Leitrim got underway in the 1620s it was obvious that George Villiers would benefit. The rightful heir, Brian O'Rourke, was at the time incarcerated in prison in London. In spite of opposition from a jealous Court, George was granted 6,500 acres of good land and 1,500 acres of bog in "O'Rourke  country". One of the provisions stated that there was no obligation to reside on the estate as long as an agent stayed there as caretaker. There must also be two weekly markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the "Manor of Dromahere" as well as two fairs yearly on 20th July and October.

The future seemed rosy for George Villiers but grim fate  intervened. His high position with the King had created enemies. There was a wave of hostility against him which escalated into fierce antagonism, before finally culminating in his assassination by one John Fenton. Villiers had gone to Portsmouth to take command of the Fleet and Fenton was an unpaid sailor who stabbed him with a butcher's knife. Villiers shouted "Villain!" as he fell dead.


The estate at Dromahair passed to his half-brother William. The building of Villiers' Castle commenced. It was of an unusual design, based on a U-plan with stairs on the inside corners and with seven chimneys. It is believed to have been designed by John Johnson, who had been appointed at that time to the vicarage at Dromahair. He was both a cleric and an engineer and was involved in many architectural undertakings. He lived in a "Tymber house" in his parish of Killery. Built on the site of O'Rourke's castle, it is likely that the stones from this were used in the construction of Villiers' Castle.

A year after the assassination the most rapacious and notorious of the planters who received lands, Sir Frederick Hamilton, made an attempt to acquire the estate at Dromahair for 4,000 pounds. William Villiers initially agreed, but had second thoughts and offered 100 pounds to be released from the deal, which Sir Frederick rejected. He brought a lawsuit and hounded the now gravely ill Sir William, until the King intervened, much to Sir Frederick's disgust. Later he would cast his eye on the lands at Parke's Castle. William Villiers died just a year after his brother, and George's son, an infant also called George, inherited the castle and became the 2nd Duke of Buckingham.


During the 1641 rebellions Sir Charles Coote used Villiers' Castle to quarter his troops. In April 1646 a worried George Villiers wrote to the King about his "valuable and strong house in Leitrim at Dromahair". Sir Charles had withdrawn his garrison and he feared "that the rebels may occupy it.....he prays that Philip Taylor may be commissioned to raise a company of dragoons or firelocks and that half of them may be ordered to remain at Dromahair where he will provide for them". During the period mid-1640s to mid-1650s, which saw the destruction of Manorhamilton Castle and the breaching of the walls at Jamestown, it is likely that Villiers' Castle was also under attack. The Villiers family remained absent and the edifice gradually fell into ruin. In 1710 the whole estate was sold by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham to George Lane, Viscount Lanesborough of Rathcline Castle, Tulsk, Co. Roscommon. Today Villiers' Castle remains an impressive ruin.


Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Leitrim Animal Welfare Table Quiz



The Blue Devon is hosting a Table Quiz on Friday next, 5th October at 8.30pm in aid of the Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre. Cost is €5 per head and there will be prizes and a raffle. 

Leitrim Animal Welfare is one of the largest rescue centres in Ireland, housing up to 100 dogs at any one time at their Drumkeerin base. The centre has a 95% success rate in re-homing dogs and operates a no-kill policy, meaning that healthy animals stay put until new homes are found for them. Cats, of course, are also cared for and re-homed where possible.

Please come along and support this fantastic work, and have some fun too!