Conor's Bandon Blog » Family

African Drumming Workshops Available

Conor O'Neill — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:36:38 +0000

Patrick Naughton has been in touch to tell me about African drumming workshops that he runs for community groups, schools and festivals in Cork and the surrounding areas.

If you know of any such group that are looking for workshops or entertainers then do get in contact with him on pat.naughton@yahoo.co.uk

Quote:

Full Circles African Drumming workshops are an exciting, fun, addition to any festival or gathering that you have planned. We cater for both childrens and adults workshops on the day. In the childrens workshops we encourage parents to participate as well, especially in the case of very young members.

We are fully mobile and can provide up to 40 drums on the day with a variety of shakers bells, and African xylophones. Children and adults learn how to create their own rhythm, sing songs and chants, dance and listen to tales from Africa. Within five minutes we have people playing the drum, grooving, dancing and clapping to an energetic beat.

We cater to your requirements and needs on the day and can arrange a timetable to suit. We have done such festivals as the Dun laoghaire ‘Festival of World Cultures’ 2006 Terriglas Festival Tipperary 2007, Green Gathering 2008, Roundstone Summer Festival 2009, Feile Lispoil Dingle 2009. Bere Island Summer Fest 2008, Belvedere house Mullingar 2010 and all the major Cork Community festivals.Included are a list of schools and centres Full Circle has worked in including references from school.

Enquires are very welcome. As the summer period is a very busy period for us please book early to avoid dissapointment. Full Circle is covered under public liability insurance. Should you also wish to book a performance based percussion group playing and dancing to traditional rhythms from West Africa then contact us on 087 2176460 or e mail. For a preview check out YouTube ‘Nankama Ireland‘ or alternatively ‘Nankama drummers with ark vg dancers cork city‘

Rosmini Community Event Needs Your Help

Conor O'Neill — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:08:57 +0000

I’ll keep it short and sweet. If you know of any family-friendly comedians or mind-trick guys who would be able to perform on March 26th in Bandon, can you get in touch with me and I’ll pass it on to the Rosmini Centre people? They do have some budget for it, so pro or semi-pro is fine.

Also the dog owned by one of the kids who was going to perform has gone missing. Please keep an eye out for a sheepdog in the Crossbarry area. If the same happens to you, I encourage you to post it on LostandFound.ie.

In a choir? Available to sing in Bandon on Jan 29th?

Conor O'Neill — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:33:41 +0000

I’ve just been contacted by a someone organising a lovely local event. They are looking for a folk choir or an upbeat church choir to get involved.

It’s on 29th Jan 2010 in Bandon.

They also need an audio system if you know of anyone willing to loan for the night.

Mail me on conor@loudervoice.com if you want to help out and I’ll pass on your details.

BEST….MOVIE….IDEA….EVER And in Bandon!

Conor O'Neill — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:51:50 +0000

Catherine FitzMaurice from Kilbrogan House just contacted me about an awesome night that is happening as part of the Engage Arts festival over the weekend of Sep 25th.

They are showing the 1925 version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with, and this is the genius bit, live organ accompaniment by Dr Eric Sweeney who is head of Music at Waterford School of Technology. Not only that, but they are showing it in a church. The atmosphere should be amazing!

It’s on in St Peter’s Church, Bandon on Friday, 25th September at 9pm. The film runs for 90mins. Tickets are only €10 and I think they are going to sell out well before time. Call the office on 087-1205022 or Film Society on 086-3689939.

Check it:

1911 Census full of gems

Conor O'Neill — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:11:23 +0000

Margaret Jordan pointed out on Friday in Facebook that the 1911 Census data is now online. Ever since, a bunch of us have been searching and learning. I’ve been looking up O’Neill, ONeill, Neill, Flynn, Meaney, Foley, Doran, Wall and Walls to see which of my ancestors I could identify and send them on to my Mum and Dad.

I was thrilled to find this record of my Granny Mary, her parents and siblings. The first thing that jumped out at me was that my Grandaunt Dora was born Hanora. I wonder when it changed?

The census covers all 32 countries (obviously) and if you have any interest in history at all, you’ll spend hours digging into the data.

Phew, nearly missed July

Conor O'Neill — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:30:18 +0000

It’s been said by many others too but Twitter is seriously denting my blogging. Why write an entire post when most of the time 140 chars will do?

But what will be remembered and found in years to come? Watching Chris Moyles on “Who Do You Think You Are?” really drove home the importance of historical records. My mother ran into a brick wall with her genealogy research a few years ago once she got into the 19th Century.

It’d be nice if in 100 years there is still something resembling the internet and all of this “stuff” that we are all generating on Blogs, Twitter, Facebook etc etc can be found and read by our descendants so they can realise what a bunch of weirdos and wackos they share their genes with.

And on a completely different subject, here are some pics of the veg plot. Total effort expended in weeding and planting this year? Approx 8 hours.

Creativity and Education

Conor O'Neill — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:38:39 +0000

What started off as a throwaway comment on Twitter today led me to one of the most inspirational talks I have seen since Hans Rosling at Le Web.

Sir Ken Robinson talks at TED about how the current education system kills creativity and continues to take the 19th Century approach of generating people trained for industry.

It’s 20 minutes long and I encourage you to watch every minute. It isn’t just thought provoking, it is also hilarious.

Thanks to Des Traynor for making my week.

The Annual Slow Food West Cork Lough Hyne Picnic

Conor O'Neill — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:16:02 +0000

I just got a note from Anthony Creswell of Ummera Smokehouse to let me know about the annual Slow Food picnic. It is on this Sunday August 17th.

Climb up Lough Hyne and treat yourself to a scrumptious picnic while gazing at the spectacular view. Meet at bottom of Lough Hyne to collect your pre-ordered picnic at 1:00pm. They aim to start the climb at 1:30pm

Packed picnics by Stephen Canty of Food for Thought Catering

LOCAL SMOKEHOUSE PICNIC · WEST CORK CHEESE PICNIC
SCHULL CHARCUTERIE PICNIC · SPECIAL CHILDREN’S CHOICE

Complete Picnic Menu and Order Form PDF

Menu details also available at Urru Culinary Store Bandon, and Food For Thought Catering

Each picnic includes salads, dessert and ¼ bottle wine. Children’s picnics include fresh fruit juice.

Adults €20. Children €8, €15 for 2, €22 for 3

Book on 087 752 8940 or to stephen@foodforthoughtwestcork.com

Note that you need to book your picnic by this wednesday.

Bobby Walls, a life enjoyed

Conor O'Neill — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:13:31 +0000

On June 9th, my uncle Bobby Walls, passed away suddenly. He had been suffering from cardiomyopathy for several years and left us too young at the age of 56.

I probably hadn’t seen Bobby since the last funeral I attended in Ratoath. The line about Irish families only meeting at baptisms, weddings and funerals is so true. However, as with all my uncles and aunts, I was incredibly fond of him, having spent many summers in my Granny’s house as a kid.

Bobby led a simple life. He loved his family, horses, having his few pints, local sport, Man United and laughing. For many years he worked in Woodpark Stud. I remember my mum telling me that he worked in an office until my Grandad died because Grandad wanted him to have more opportunities than he had. But horses and the outdoors were his love and the draw was obviously too strong.

Bobby lived in the house at the junction of Glascairn lane and Fairyhouse Road with his two brothers Frank and Martin. Since my Granny died, he ran the house and made sure that my uncle Martin, who has been crippled by mental illness for many years, was ok.

He died just as he was about to head off and watch one of the syndicate horses run in Roscommon. As the priest put it, in a line Bobby would have loved, “I believe it is still running”.

The funeral for this man who never married, never had kids and lived in the same house most of his life was packed. So many people wanted to carry his coffin, we had to do it in relays down to the graveyard. The overwhelming upset of my younger cousins reminded me of how much Bobby was loved.

I’ve been meaning to write about him since the day he passed. What finally got me to do it was the death of Randy Pausch the other day. For those of you unfamiliar with Randy, he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer last year and given 6 months to live. He gave a “final lecture” to his students at CMU which has become famous and resulted in a great book too. If you or your family is dealing with mortality, this life-affirming talk may prove to be great comfort to you. Randy’s talk is about living not dying.

I cannot think of two less similar people than Bobby and Randy but so much of what Randy said applied to my uncle. Most importantly of all:

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand”.

Anthony “Bobby” Walls, RIP.

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Conor O'Neill — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:00:58 +0000

Deasy’s Harbour Bar,

Ring,

Co Cork,

Ireland

A last minute decision to pop down here for Sunday lunch turned out to be a total success. Fantastic seafood in a relaxed atmosphere with serene views of Clonakilty Bay. If they could just do something about parking, it would be perfect.

I’ve eaten in Deasy’s once before and thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason they popped into my head this morning and I hopped into the car with four of the five monsters to see if they were still doing Sunday Lunch. The usual crawl to Clon ensued followed by the twisty road to Ring.

I knew the parking had been bad but time had dulled my memory. It’s brutal. Four spaces in front of the pub and then you have to travel a few hundred yards to find a roadside spot. Fine as an adult, a total pain (and dangerous) if you have kids. I had to circle three times before parking. Just in case, I ran down and discovered that they didn’t open for lunch until 1. So we headed over to the newly revamped playground in Clon. This looks great but now seems much more oriented towards older kids. My middle-uns were scared to climb the ladders to the slides.

Back we trotted to Ring and luckily one of the four spaces was free and we parked right at the door. It was still pretty quiet at 1pm but people arrived bit by bit over the following hour. We were seated towards the back which made sense from a safety perspective. The staff and owner were very friendly throughout. The lack of a baby-seat was a bit of a pain but not the end of the world. After seeing the usual stroppiness of our four demons, they gave us some crayons and colouring sheets which calmed everyone down.

The menu is a big step above what you’d expect from a rural Irish pub. The three course lunch menu is €30 and looks great value to me. However, as our family meals are all about speed, I went straight to the main courses. Initially I was concerned that there was nothing very child-friendly on the menu but then I copped myself on and realised they should be eating the same stuff as me.

So I ordered three half portions of Monkfish and Fennel Risotto with puttanesca salsa for them and a Hake with Lemon Butter and Swiss Chard for me. They arrived reasonably quickly on adult stopwatches but an eternity in kid-time. I tried to explain “cooking on demand” to the kids but failed.

Of course all them said “yeuch, I’m not eating that” as soon as the plates were put on the table. Rather than get hassled, I let them be and started on my hake. Never ones to miss an opportunity to annoy me, two of them asked to taste the hake and both decided they loved it, the little sods. I split mine between them and then took over their plates of risotto. Dishes of lovely baby spuds and one of the best selections of vegetables I’ve ever seen in an Irish restaurant appeared too.

Myself and the two middlers had a bit of everything. Baby would eat nothing. 2 year old wouldn’t touch anything until near the end, at which point he let me feed him a mix of fish, risotto, carrots and spuds.

Oh, I nearly forgot to say, the food was fantastic. The fish perfectly cooked, the flavours subtle and not overpowering, the vegetables beautiful. Apologies for the lack of pics and menu details but I really had my hands full.

The two boys began messing too loudly so it was time to go. The bill for the food plus three 7-ups and a Ballygowan came to a refreshingly low €53. We’ll be back very soon avec wife and fifth child so I can sample more and have both hands available to eat with.

Rated 4/5 on Jun 29 2008

Vote on Conor O'Neill‘s reviews at LouderVoice

LouderVoice review tags: fish, seafood, local, irish, food, ireland, cork, restaurant, pub

Bandon Music Festival

Conor O'Neill — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:05:06 +0000

The annual festival is on this weekend, starting tomorrow and ending Sunday. Manic Mammy has put together a list of videos from some of the acts. Fingers crossed for good weather!

Review of Clonakilty Model Railway Village

Conor O'Neill — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:25:48 +0000

Clonakilty Model Railway Village

I love finding something great almost on your doorstep that you’ve ignored for years. We finally took a trip to the Model Railway village last weekend and it was a resounding success. Kids, young and old will have some fun here.

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve said we must pop in for a look. The closest we got was some of the kids taking the road-train around Clon with their Granny last year. I decided to be brave and take all 5 with me to check it out properly.

It’s just on the edge of town past the GAA pitch on the way to Inchydoney. Lots of space in the car park which also acts as the start/end of the road-train. You are greeted by some lovely old carriages now doing duty as shop and cafe.

For the life of me I can’t remember how much it was in, but it wasn’t a hell of a lot. Baby got in for free. Our first stop was the indoor play area. Whilst very small (fitting into one single storey room), it’s ideal for wet days and all of ours had some fun there for 30 minutes or so. My only criticism is that with two doors, it’s too easy for a kid to sneak out. Maybe sliding bolts on half doors would make things a little bit more difficult for them.

We then headed outside and I was genuinely surprised by what I found. Lots of scale models of towns and train stations of the past in Cork. Bandon got pride of place and all were connected together by a long meandering electric model railway.

Each child found something different to occupy them. The 2 year old just ran around after the model trains. The baby checked out the models and the three eldest ran around, hiding, looking, and climbing.

The detailing on the model towns really is fantastic and it was a pleasure to see how The Shambles might have looked in the old days.

We finished off with a walk through the cafe and shop carriages and headed home happy after a good 1.5 hours of fun. All of the staff were extremely friendly and the whole place has a lovely feel to it. If you are in the area or just passing through, it’s a nice old fashioned relaxing way to hang out with your kids.

Rated 4/5 on Apr 13 2008

Vote on Conor O'Neill‘s reviews at LouderVoice

LouderVoice review tags: tourist, kids, history, train, railway, model, play, tourism, attraction

Two Tits and a Vote

Conor O'Neill — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:35:26 +0000

Sabrina Dent, a wonderful web designer based here in Cork, has launched an important web-site and initiative called “Two Tits and a Vote“.

Women’s voices count in politics. Two Tits and a Vote is an online Irish Women’s Health Campaign empowering you to advocate for better women’s healthcare in Ireland. You can be part of improving Irish women’s health care from the comfort of your very own chair. Learn how to take part now!

I think the name is superb and cuts through all the bullshit to get right to the heart of the matter. The time for politician’s weasel words and acceptance of the criminal incompetence of the HSE and Dept of Health has to end. I hope this effort by Sabrina and others plays a big role in that. Please sign-up on the site and support them.

Irish Yokels Go London

Conor O'Neill — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 23:38:08 +0000

In the next few months we’re coming up on the 10th wedding anniversary.

People gave us a week when we first started going out. Our eyes met across a power turbine in the Engineering building in Belfield. I fell for her shaggy perm, she fell for my wooly jumper and combats.

We’ve talked lots about what to do for our few days away (enabled by my fab parents). Paris maybe where last time we couldn’t fine Sacre Cour in the dark. Or Rome, which we chickened out of going to after my namesake’s wedding. We settled on London. She spent a summer working in the Cavendish, I’ve been there maybe four times in my life. Odd for someone who knows tons of Germany and lived in Sunnyvale for nearly six months, I have no clue of London. On a recent trip I spent the entire day saying “ooh I recognise that….off the telly”.

We have several aims:

To do many of the standard sights like London Eye, Imperial War, Tate Modern, Natural History, Victoria & Albert, Science Museum. We are both engineers after all
Stay somewhere nice. Not Holiday Inn, not The Savoy. Somewhere a bit special but not bank breaking
Eat in all the places we’ve promised ourselves over the past few years

So Bandon-Fans, I need your brains. We have no clue where to stay but we want it to be central so we can do lots by foot rather than tube. All recommendations for “boutique” hotels appreciated.

Food plan was originally to go for The Fat Duck in Bray. Some day we are doing that or El Bulli. But not this time. Our idea right now is:

Gordon Ramsey in Claridge’s. Lighter than main Ramsey restaurant
Nobu. Cos I adore Japanese food. Worked for Toshiba for too long
Locanda Locatelli. Cos Tony & Giorgio is still one of my favourite food programmes ever

We would love other restaurant recommendations. Happy to do high end cos it’ll be another ten years before we do it again. Hit us with your best material.

Tons of peaches and no salad

Conor O'Neill — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 10:21:06 +0000

I’ll admit I thought the wife was a bit mental when she bought a peach tree a few months back but I stuck it in the ground anyway. Yesterday she pointed this out to me:

I’m gobsmacked. Must get a lemon tree now!

Apples coming along nicely:

Goosegogs are flying:

Strawberries not too bad:

But what in the name of god is going on with my veg patch?

I planted a ton of lettuces, scallions, rocket, radishes and carrots. Nothing, not one fecking thing grew. I’ve never had total failure like that. Strangely, weeds are thin on the ground too. When it was built they said they put in rotted manure in the base. Any chance that is to blame? Or are the birds + slugs + local cats able to destroy every seed I planted?

Yesterday I stuck in some squash plants, tomato plants, basil and broccoli that I had been growing in the shed. I actually did the seeds months ago but the lack of light has matched my lack of activity and they are just perfect now for planting. Maybe they’ll all die too. I also took all the half used packets of salad seeds and scattered them willy-nilly. The zero-effort guide to gardening continues.

Annnnnnd, the Bandon Show is on this Sunday

Conor O'Neill — Fri, 18 May 2007 10:10:53 +0000

It really is a fun day out. Most of the town seems to head up.

Fionn will love the animals, Sibéal will screech at the dogs and the eldest boys will demand ice-cream from the second they arrive.

I’ll take more pictures of huge cows which impress me every time. Hope to catch some show-jumping too.

Head towards Clon, turn right for Dunmanway/Recycling facility, right again about half a mile down and you hit it after another mile or two.

I’m playing GAA like Rooney

Conor O'Neill — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:50:13 +0000

So he is only five years old and this was his first ever GAA session.

He reported back that he played hurling and soccer. His Nana from Meath better have a word with him about Gaelic Football.

Next week we are sending him in Kilkenny gear to shake things up a bit

Bloody hell, now I have two hurlers in the house. Who would ever have thought?

Try voting for informed people

Conor O'Neill — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:24:14 +0000

Justin has done a great post on Patricia McKenna of the Green Party trying to justify non-vaccination of children on The Last Word radio show. The transcript shows what Cooper is capable of when he puts his mind to it. He slays the idiot and her nonsense.

If your child dies from the side-effects of measles, it’ll be due to you listening to uniformed clueless dimwits like her. Remember that when you are casting your vote. Oh and don’t drink the water, it’s CIA mind control.

UPDATE 1: On a related topic, the HSE have announced that all babies born in Cork from this October onwards will be routinely offered the BCG vaccine against TB. Welcome to the 20th century. Oh wait a sec, that’s over already. Wonder if there will be any civil suits taken against the individual bozos responsible for the current situation between now and then?

Not the way to lose your baby teeth

Conor O'Neill — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:05:40 +0000

Poor Oisín is terribly unlucky with his front teeth. When he was 2-ish he fell off a changing table and impacted one of his front teeth up into the bone and split the lip and gum. Nothing could be done except let it heal. That tooth was much shorter than the other one until yesterday. Then yesterday evening, he fell off a stool and did a repeat performance, this time knocking out his other tooth and making a mush of his upper lip again.

Once again, the advice from the doc was to do nothing and let it heal. He rang the dental hospital and they concurred particularly considering they are his baby teeth.

But we are worried about the full teeth and what the likelihood is that they’ll come down ok. Anyone else have kids where this happened? I’d hate for the poor mite to have to get implants at an early age. I know too many people with those already.

I hope he gets something nice in town with Catherine today. The tooth fairy gave him a tenner cos she felt so sorry for him.

Exciting reads for 7-year olds in Irish?

Conor O'Neill — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:57:32 +0000

Oscar is a bright kid who loves to read. His favourite novel is Le Catalogue d’Argos. In fact he loves the Horrid Henry series (and other similar ones). The only subject he is weak in is, surprise surprise, Irish. Unlike Oisín and Sibéal, he never went to Naoinra so started on it cold in junior infants. We’re hoping to get him into Irish as a bit of a challenge but the books have to engage him.

Anyone out there have recommendations for good exciting reads in Irish for kids aged around 7? Catherine found this site but most of those descriptions sound a bit boring e.g. where is Mamo’s tooth? Does something old fashioned like the equivalent of The Secret Seven or Famous Five even exist in Irish?

Technorati Tags: Irish, Books, Gaeilge, Adventure, Kids+Books