GRANAGH's PIONEERS:

Photo - Granagh Pioneers, receiving their Silver Jubilee pins in the Community Centre in 1992 approx.

Back L-R; Sean Cagney, Kathleen Twomey, Chairperson, Maurice J. Sheehy(Rip), Kathleen Hartigan, Jerry O'Brien(Rip), Paddy O'Regan(Rip), Jimmy O'Carroll(Rip), Tommy O'Riordan, Margaret Houlihan,Secretary, & Jimmy Morrissey(Rip).

Front L-R; Eileen Daffy, Lil O'Brien Fr.McNamee(Rip), Mary Chawke(Rip), Unknown, Mary Cagney(Rip), Canon Lyons(Rip), May Houlihan(Rip), Nora O'Connor.

LISKENNETT WOOD: To all visitors of Liskennett Forest: Notice of Operations beginning Monday 24th May. Please be advised that there will be Telecom- related and Trail Construction works starting in the Liskennett property. Estimated duration of works is approximately four weeks, where sections of the walks will be closed and temporary diversions will be in place during that period. Please obey all health and safety signage. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Please bear in mind that these works will hopefully improve future broadband connectivity in the area. G/B CAMOGIE: Saturday 29th May, 11.30am in O'Gormans sportsfield. U6's 'Give it a Go' Training Day. This will be a fun session introducing your daughter to the game of camogie & a chance for you to meet some members of the club. COMMEMORATION VIDEO: Delighted to say that a video of the commemoration to mark the centenary of the shooting of Lt. Michéal O'Shea is now available on our website, www.granagh.com. You will find it on the home page, left-hand column, just click on the link. Many thanks to Emer Power for filming and editing the footage. It is wonderful to have this record on our web page for future generations. GRANAGH SEC: Sustainable energy Communities. It seems so long ago since we began this project encountering several delays along the way. We are at the stage now that the energy audits are beginning. The Hall has been done and the School audit will be carried out on 5th July. The energy audits for a number of private houses will begin on May 28th. When all these are completed, the results will feed into the Granagh Energy Masterplan. DID YOU KNOW: Why Whit Sunday is the unluckiest day of the year - tradition dictated that Irish people shouldn't leave the house to avoid all the dangers associated with this day. "Water was regarded to have "an evil spirit in it" at this time, so sailing, swimming, crossing water or even walking along the water's edge were advised against at this time". There were many strange beliefs around this day, which falls this year on May 23rd. In Ireland Halloween is the ghostliest time, and Bealtaine is the day when faery activity is at its height. But Whitsuntide was when it was believed that true evil was present on earth and true evil is best avoided. Until recent times, many interesting customs were practised, including the sprinkling of blood to appease evil spirits and counter-spells cast on infants born at this time. Whit Sunday, traditionally regarded in Ireland as that "fatal and unlucky time" and thought to be the unluckiest day of the year. The name "whit" is thought to be derived from "white" referring to the purity of Christ. Whit week runs from Whit Sunday until the day before Trinity Sunday. This was considered a highly threatening time of the year, when evil was at its most potent, a time for accidents and bad things to happen. How to avoid accidents; People therefore put counter measures in place to break any potential spells and to protect themselves. Any activity that might cause accidental harm was to be avoided at Whitsuntide. Setting out on a long journey or commencing a dangerous occupation was discouraged. Games such as hurling or football were not played on Whit Sunday in case of accidents. Boats were considered to be at risk of overturning. An old myth was that all of those who had died by drowning would come back on Whit Sunday to force the living to join them in the water. Anyone born at Whitsuntide was thought cursed and sure to cause harm to others in the course of their lives. They were known as "cingcíse" and it was foretold that those born at this time would grow up to kill another, known as the spell of "the wicked hand". If such a person injured another, even by accident, it would end fatally - the wound would take long to heal and potentially cause death. Sick people were not to be left alone at this time and certainly not left in the dark. To counteract this prophecy, the baby cingcíse would be made to crush and kill something small in its hand (such as a worm or a fly). Alternatively, a shallow "grave" was dug, in which the child was laid for a few moments to break the spell. Although cingcíse were considered to be contrary and difficult people, they also had some gifts, such as the ability to strike anything they aimed at. Animals born at this time were also considered to be cingcíse, and a foal or a calf was thought especially unlucky. To counteract this, a sod of earth would be ritually placed on the baby animal's head for a few moments. Farmers would resolve to try to sell such animals. Similarly, it was considered unlucky to hatch eggs during Whit week as it was thought the chickens would either be deformed or die. Sickness and Whitsuntide were interlinked. It was thought that a person would be sick for the entire year if they were sick on Whit Sunday. The sick were perceived to be particularly vulnerable and, if one took ill at this time, there was thought to be a great danger of death, as evil spirits were on the lookout to carry such defenseless people away. Sick people were not to be left alone at this time and certainly not left in the dark. Light was very important in guarding the sick against the evil spirits of Whitsuntide, as was fire. As evil spirits were thought to be about, holy water was sprinkled especially copiously at this time in the home, on the farm and on animals. Folklorist and author (and Oscar Wilde's mother) Lady Wilde believed that spirits were most likely to "bewitch the cattle, carry off the young children, come up from the sea to hold strange midnight revels, when they kill with their fairy darts the unhappy mortal who crosses their oaths and pries at their mysteries". A person who bathed on Whit Sunday would get ill and not recover, while a person who slept outdoors on Whit Sunday might become insane. In the more distant past, blood was poured out as an offering to the evil spirits. Some people made two bonfires and passed livestock and animals through them all in attempting to drive the evil of the day away. This article was compiled by Dr Marion McGarry who is an art historian, author, independent researcher and lecturer at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.