A special one for me this week, I got the honour of interviewing my Dad, John. Dad grew up in a Bar and Grocery on the Main St., played in Barrach street, the Temp Hall, schooled in the Boys school on Piggot street before going to the De La Salle's where the County Council has its offices now. He moved to board in Garbally in 3rd year and spent 3 years there before returning to Loughrea. He loved hurling, dogs and horse racing. 

These are his memories 

Officially opened on Sunday May 29th 1977, St. Brendan’s Pitch development was over 5years in the making. Kevin McCormick, Sean Fahy and Baa Sweeney bring us through the story of how the opportunity came about, how the club raised the money, the marquee in the Fair Green, the acts that came to play there and the stages of development.

This week I had Mougie Maher in the studio, Shane Curley couldn't make it, both are Sleeping Out For Simon next Friday. I was at LARC's Culture Night on Friday and took some recordings, it was a brilliant night. Entertaining us that night was Padraig Connaughton and Tom Murphy with the Grey Lake Quartet. 

This week I catch up with Yvonne Fahy and talk about the sensation that is Trad on the Prom, with the season coming to an end it’s time to get tickets. Yvonne tells us about the show, how long its been running, what’s involved and we have a little chat about Michael Flatley!

Also I talk with Caroline O’Connor who works with Hand in Hand, a children’s cancer charity. They provide support for families with children who have cancer. The charity has recently opened up its head office in Loughrea. Caroline tells us of the incredible work they are doing, what services are on offer and also to highlight that September is Child Cancer awareness month and some buildings in town are lighting up in Gold to show their support.

Kevin McDonald has spent his life in war zones all over the world, originally from Castlebar he moved to Loughrea in 2002. He joined the Irish Army at the age of 22 and quickly moved onto the elite Rangers wing. Kevin spent years in the Middle East as a peacekeeper and then Africa. At the moment Kevin is working as a security officer with the UN in South Sudan.

Kevin has a passion for archaeology and has done an extensive study on the Loughrea lake and its surroundings, he will speak about "Living with the Lake, The Archaeology of Lake Settlement in Loughrea and the Surrounding Landscape” on Sunday afternoon 28th of August as part of The Medieval Festival “Discovering our Medieval Past”.

This week I go out to Loughrea Skateboarding Park and chat with Jake McNally and Jordan Muldoon on the reopening of the park after two years. Also I have Paddy Sweeney and Geraldine McNally from the Rugby Club, they’re installing lights and hope to be ready in a month or two, they got some funding but to get over the line they are giving people the opportunity to get their ‘Names in Lights’.

Thelma Sweeney dropped into the studio this week. Thelma grew up on Westbridge, her father was Dermot Sweeney, travel agent and her mother 'Sis' was the local midwife who assisted over 3000 local home births. Growing up in a Travel Agency it was no surprise that Thelma decided to travel, at first to England, then Europe before finally Australia where she met and married Chris. 

Thelma talks of School and University days, hitch-hiking about Europe, teaching in the Aran Islands, taking the slow boat to Australia and starting her teaching career in Australia. Thelma comes home as often as she can, usually once a year but with Covid restrictions, this is her first visit in a number of years. 

Thank you Chris and Thelma for coming in. 

Following on from last week's show about the Daycare Centre's continued closure, I was out and about at Friday's protest organized by Cllr Geraldine Donoghue. The protest was attended by a great crowd of very passionate people, including Cllr Declan Kelly, past-users of the service - Asastasia Ward and friends and family of past-users like Phil Mitchell and Orla Burke. All had stories to tell of how great the centre was and how it is so badly missed. All said how unhappy they are with the situation, that our older generation was being let down and people had to come out and show support. 

Following on from that I called into the Temperance Hall where the Rugby Club Bingo has returned, great crowd. Paddy and Gerry and the gang brought me through how they coped during Covid and how they were getting on since they returned, it was brilliant to see it back again. Well done lads.