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Irish Times
4 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
More than a million who died at battle of Somme are remembered at Islandbridge commemoration
The battle of the Somme began on July 1st, 2016, and was '141 days of unrelenting horror that would claim over one million lives and scar a generation'. The bloodshed was for a gain of 10km, historian Nikki Carter told the annual National War Memorial Gardens commemoration at Islandbridge, Dublin, to mark the first World War battle. About 200,000 soldiers from the island of Ireland served over the course of the war, most of them volunteers. In all, 4,435 dead are listed in Ireland's memorial records, while the Imperial War Museum puts the figure at between 35,000 and 40,000. READ MORE 'As we remember the men of the Somme, the Ulstermen, the southern volunteers, and all those who gave everything, let us honour not just their courage, but the complexity of the world they came from and the legacy that they left behind,' Dr Carter told Saturday's gathering of about 650 people including military veterans, serving personnel, politicians and members of the diplomatic corps. This year's ceremony also marked the 100th anniversary of the Royal British Legion in Ireland, which organises the event. District chairman of the legion Paul Stephenson, who presided over the ceremony, said that since its foundation 'despite adversity and challenge, the legion has persevered through changing times'. 'As we have for a century, we pay tribute to those who served, ensuring that their legacy endures,' he said. Among veterans in attendance were Pat Whelan (89) from Irishtown, Dublin, who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the 1950s and the Defence Forces Reserve for 33 years, and Harry Daly (91) from Ballyfermot, also Dublin, who served in the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1954 to 1960. 'I joined the Defence Forces Reserve at 16-and-a-half and at 18 went to Belfast and joined the Royal Air Force,' Mr Whelan said. He served in Egypt and spent time in Aden, Yemen. His last posting was in Anglesey, north Wales, 'and I was able to go home every weekend from Holyhead'. Mr Daly was living in England and was called up for national service in 1954 and, wanting to serve with an Irish regiment, joined the Royal Ulster Rifles. Michael Dempsey laid a wreath on behalf of the French Foreign Legion Association Michael Dempsey, a former member of the French Foreign Legion from 1983 to 1990, laid an ivy wreath at the commemoration on behalf of the Foreign Legion association. Now a schoolbus driver in Kilkenny, he joined the legion for 'adventure'. He served in Djibouti in Africa, French Guiana in South America, Mururoa Atoll, south Pacific and in Corsica briefly with the Parachute Regiment and in France. 'I think it is very important to be here to remember those who lost their lives at the Somme,' he said. 'They were many and they were everybody, many nationalities including Germans.' During the ceremony Rev Peter Rutherford, chaplain to the Royal British Legion in Ireland, and Fr Paschal Hanrahan, Defence Forces head chaplain, led the dedication of a new replica of the Ginchy oak cross built by the 16th Irish division and originally erected on the Somme. The original will go on display in the National Museum of Ireland . During the moving ceremony, the traditional remembrance was read by Lt Col Ken Martin, beginning: 'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.' The Last Post was played and two minutes' silence observed before the wreath-laying ceremony. The first wreaths were laid by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ray McAdam, and High Sheriff of Belfast, Fiona McAteer. Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless laid a wreath on behalf of the Government. Northern First Minister Michelle O'Neill was represented by junior minister Aisling Reilly. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly was represented by junior minister Pam Cameron. Wreaths were also laid by the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána , members of the Diplomatic corps, the Royal British Legion and other veterans' associations.
Irish Examiner
21-06-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
The Menu: Get your teeth into making the most of meat
Presuming you're a meat eater, when was the last time you went to the butcher's? Note, I didn't ask, when was the last time you ate meat as, these days, the bulk of the nation's meat for home consumption is now purchased in the supermarket. Whereas our grandparents were so familiar with the inside of a butcher's shop — or multiple butchers' shops, when 'shopping around' was de rigueur — they could probably reassemble an entire carcass from the constituent cuts laid out at the counter, most of us now buy our meat in the supermarket; the supermarkets, in turn, mostly buy it in already shrink-wrapped from the processor. Many younger consumers can only tell what part of what animal they are purchasing by the package label detailing both creature and cut. That ever-growing ignorance around food we eat is a consequence of a decades-old trade-off when generations of knowledge around food, its provenance, sourcing, and cooking, was exchanged for the convenience of shopping in then-emerging supermarkets. Back when larger families were the norm and dishwashers and tumble dryers were still future shock stuff of BBC TV show Tomorrow's World, it was a blameless choice for the woman of the house, the concept of 'house husbands' too outlandish for even Tomorrow's World to contemplate. (By all accounts, current 'prototypes' are still relatively scarce and often pretty 'glitchy'.) I'm a firm believer in eating less meat but always ensuring it is premium Irish meat and the independent craft butcher is unsurpassable when it comes to sourcing the very finest. But they are struggling, echoing the fate of the independent fruit and veg grocers. In 1990, there were roughly 2,300 independent butchers' shops in Ireland. Today there are less than 550. Whereas an independent craft butcher needs to be making a profit of at least 35% to cover costs, supermarkets are often happy with 2-3% profit or even to use meat as a loss leader to draw in customers. As ever, I'll never spoil your brekkie with a 'bad news' story unless there is some chink of light to cast a more positive glow and Munster Technological University's highly intriguing new BA in Sustainable Butchery and Gastronomy has the potential to do just that. What began as an inspired notion from butcher Pat Whelan has evolved into a two-year degree course commencing next January, joining the dots between culinary arts, agriculture, and business, with meat as the common thread. The comprehensive course appears especially suited to butchers seeking to develop skills in leadership and innovation (including new product development) but it is also open to others working in the meat sector. The course examines how meat is produced, butchered, cooked, and eaten around the world, digging down deep into breeds (10 or 15 years ago, we ate 'beef'; increasingly we seek out Angus, Hereford, Dexter, and, so on) and the impact of various gastronomical approaches. It covers agricultural production and the 'science' of beef, including anatomy, nutrition, and factors that affect taste, texture, and overall quality; there is even a 'beef sommelier' module, the result of a link with Buenos Aires University, in Argentina, Ireland's main rival as a premium beef producer. I appreciate most readers won't skip from savouring a breakfast sausage to suddenly signing up but you can still elevate standards on your own plate, and celebrate world-class Irish beef and lamb as a premium foodstuff of extraordinary quality. Say sayonara to supermarket meat-shopping and seek out an Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland member to act as your guide. Buy good meat cookbooks, starting with Irish classics, Pat Whelan's The Irish Beef Book, and And For Mains, by Gaz Smith and Rick Higgins, and best of all, The Book of St John, by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver, from the globally renowned London restaurant that brought nose-to-tail meat cooking to the fine dining table, showing how cheap cuts can be priceless on the plate and that offal means the very opposite of awful. TABLE TALK Sandwich guru Barry Enderwick ( dives into his Sandwiches of History: The Cookbook with a live Dublin show (July 18) featuring special guest stars, live sandwich making and tasting with audience-suggested ad-ons, audience Q&A, trivia games and more. When it comes to cooking with fresh Irish produce, few culinary courses can surpass those at Lettercollum House, in West Cork, one of Ireland's great market gardens and where Karen Austin with her summer series of classes covering Lebanese, Spanish, Mediterranean and South East Asian cuisines. Today (June 21) being World Martini Day, I'd advise a trip this week to No 27 Bar at Dublin's Shelbourne to sample their four flights of ice-cold hand-batched martinis available until June 27, because a good martini fixes everything! TODAY'S SPECIAL "I approached Mór Taste compote-like preserves with interest, as they shun the traditional 50-50 fruit to sugar ratio of traditional jams for a 70% reduction in sugar, and incorporating 85% fruit." Always open to reducing sugar intake, I approached Mór Taste compote-like preserves with interest, as they shun the traditional 50-50 fruit to sugar ratio of traditional jams for a 70% reduction in sugar, and incorporating 85% fruit. Raspberry was a challenge for one raised on the traditional sweeter version since childhood until I paired it with natural yogurt and grilled peach but it was Cherry that really knocked my socks off, the reduction in sugar emphasising the tart, almond-adjacent flavours and if I then tried it with crème fraîcheon sweet toasted brioche … well, that's just the way this Sugar Daddy rolls!
Irish Independent
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Ballycogley Drama Group set to perform extra shows ahead of All Ireland finals in Athlone
Today at 22:00 What a year for Ballycogley players as their 50th anniversary celebrations are rocketed to a fantastic start with the group having qualified for the RTE All Ireland Open Finals in Athlone. At last week's draw for performance slots team Ballycogley were drawn to perform their much loved play 'Lend Me A Tenor' on opening night of the festival. Ahead of this the group, having already sold out the O' Reilly Theatre at the National Opera House, have released their final pre All Ireland performance dates in Gorey Little Theatre on Thursday May 1 and in the Jerme Hynes Theatre at the National Opera House on Monday and Tuesday May 5 and 6. Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig is a fast-paced madcap comedy set in 1934 Cleveland. The plot revolves around a world-famous Italian opera singer, Tito Merelli who is scheduled to perform in a production of Pagliacci. When their star tenor unexpectedly goes missing, a timid assistant in the company, Max is thrust into the spotlight as his unlikely replacement after he is coerced into impersonating Tito to save the show. What follows is a whirlwind of mistaken identities, romantic misunderstandings, and hilarious chaos behind the scenes. Full of fast-paced action and over-the-top characters, the play is a delightful farce that keeps audiences laughing from start to finish. To qualify for the All-Ireland Finals the group have contested preliminary qualifying festivals all over the country and having travelled to Kilmuckridge, Castleblayney, West Clare, West Waterford, South Leinster New Ross, Shercock and Wexford drama festivals the group secured maximum marks seeing them qualify alongside eight other groups from around Ireland, including two others from Co. Wexford. The play, directed by Pat Whelan, stars Sean Carthy, Catherine Stafford, Edward Hayden, Chris Maddock, Trish Boyce, Catherine Murphy, Fr. Pat Mernagh, Siobhan Murphy and is stage managed by Celine Tracey. Nick Hayes, Cian Cassidy, and Eddie Milbourne look after the lighting for the production with the sound scape in the capable hands of Laura Hayes and Nick Whelan. Costumes, hair and set design are all curated by Catherine Stafford. Many other stalwart group members are ably leading front of house, set building and backstage to support the production. Speaking about the production, Sean Carthy, Chairperson of the Ballycogley Players, said: 'It's an immense honour for Ballycogley Players to be heading back to the RTE All Ireland finals for a second consecutive year and is testament to the work invested in this production by our fantastic director Pat Whelan and the very hard working cast and crew. ADVERTISEMENT It's been a labour of love to bring this production to life, and as chairperson I, and the entire committee, are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication shown by the entire group 'The play has been polished, tweaked and is now ready for its final outings in Gorey and Wexford and we would love your support for what is a very special occasion for our group, especially in our 50th year of bringing drama to the community' Tickets for Lend Me A Tenor at Gorey Little Theatre are available now online on Tickets for Lend Me A Tenor at the Jerome Hynes Theatre are available now through the National Opera House box office (053-9122144) and online on
