Community notes July 11th

Molaga Tidy Towns

Molaga Tidy Towns are continuing with their Meitheals on Tuesday nights. Last week the weather got the better of everyone but weather permitting the schedule continues. Anybody who has an hour to spare would be most welcome to report at the car-park behind the Medical Centre on Tuesday evenings at 7pm.

People might take note of a date for the phone. There will be a fundraising duck race on the Argideen river on Saturday September 12^th next. This will be part of a much larger family and community fun day. It is many years ago since a duck race was held on the river during the annual Timoleague Harvest Festival and it was always a very popular event. The funds raised will be put to good use by the Tidy Towns Association.

Donal Lucey RIP

The death and funeral service for Donal Lucey was an occasion that will be recalled for many a day by the large crowd who attended to bid farewell to a colourful character. One could say that his life completed a full 360 degrees and as with all lives, Donie’s was a complete mix of highs and lows during his sixty- seven years among us in this world. Donie was a ’53 baby born to Dan and Nellie at Mill Street Timoleague. He had two older brothers Michael and Con. They remained in the village for a short time before relocating to Inchybridge to The Railway Cottage on the banks of the Argideen which became home to the Lucey family.

He attended Timoleague national school and enriched the lives of fellow students with his bubbly personality, playful nature and his endless sense of fun and mischief. He enlisted in the Irish Naval Service and served four years at Haulbowline. The discipline of naval life was too confining for him and he headed for the bright lights of London. He worked with Timoleague native David Hurley in his construction company for some time. On his return home he was once more attracted to the sea and he worked on Japanese trawlers that fished out of Castletownbere. These large boats were often at sea for weeks on end and on return to port, Donie always had a plentiful wad of notes with which to enjoy the finer things of life.. Donie’s philosophy was, that life was for the present and the future would look after itself. He was a great worker and had a unique ability to turn his hand to anything and he mastered new work practices with ease. He was equally as content on a large construction site as he was at Inchybridge keeping a watchful eye on a salmon in The Strawberry Hole that would eventually depart the waters of the Argideen and would be on the table for dinner or sold on as the need arose. He also rescued a driver from his car by diving into the river, after the vehicle had left the road and careered into the Argideen near The Strawberry.

He had a fondness for nicknames and all of his school mates and friends were labelled with one. One of his most well- known ones was Quenchers. This was the name he gave to his friend Fergus O’Sullivan. It is true to say that Fergus is more readily known by his nickname than by his Christian name. They both blazed a trail on the bowling roads of West Cork for many years. So poignant then that Fergus returned from San Francisco to see his long- term friend some three weeks before he died.

Donie had a fondness for designer clothes and on meeting friends he delighted on revealing the label inside the coat that he wore. “Armani, Ned” was his introductory catch phrase when we met. He was also a great supporter of Argideen Rangers and was never far from the camera after a Timoleague victory. His father Dan was a great footballer in his day. Gambling was another of Donie’s passions. He won and lost countless sums of money on scores and matches. Money seemed to burn a hole in his pocket, he could never hold on to it.

Sadly, he waged a long battle against Bacchus and his quality of life was not great during his latter years. When one goes to war against that Roman God, eventually there is only going to be one winner and it is not the earthly being. Not even Donie could win that one.

The large crowd who gathered at his removal and burial at Timoleague in February were reminded of his colourful personality by his brother Con. He told it as it was, warts and all and some of the stories that he shared about his younger brother helped make the ceremony joyful rather than sorrowful, as Donie would have wished. The coffin bearing his remains left Foley’s Funeral Home as the sound of one of Frank Sinatra’s greats, “I Did It My Way” filled the air. It could be said, “he did it his way”.

To Con and the extended Lucey family, deepest sympathy is extended. Ar dheis De go raibh se.