Monday, February 21, 2022

A copy of an article printed in Irish Central for Valentine´s Day.

 Uploading a week after Valintine´s Day:

A sneaky St. Patrick's Day matchmaking plot ends happily ever after

Rosaleen Crotty proudly shares the St. Patrick's Day matchmaking plot she worked on to get Julie and Pat to their happily ever after.  https://www.irishcentral.com/

Love bloomed for one couple at St. Patrick\'s Day party in New York City - thanks to a bit of hard work!
Love bloomed for one couple at St. Patrick's Day party in New York City - thanks to a bit of hard work! Getty Images

Thinking about Pat and Julie and their two beautiful and not unintelligent daughters now, it all seems so normal.  It is as if Julie and Pat´s meeting and subsequent marriage in 2012 and then adopting their daughters as pre-teens some three years later all just happened, as if it was all destined by fate.

Well, at least where the meeting up part is concerned, it was most certainly not just destined by fate - it was hard work. Darn hard work.

Getting Pat and Julie to pair up required a lot of planning, intrigue, and effort from 11 people. And now I myself freely take 89% of the credit for this happy union.

It all started on the evening of August 14, 2003. No, Pat and Julie did not meet then. But that was when I met Julie for the first time, in Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City, New York.

Alert readers will note that August 14, 2003 was the date of what I call the "Happy Black Out" in New York City. New York citizenry, discovering it was only an abundance of technical and human error and not anything more sinister that caused the blackout, all sighed a collective sigh of relief and went into party mode for the duration of the blackout. Self included.

So that evening, I strolled down to Gantry Park to enjoy the rare view of Manhattan in total darkness. A pleasant woman nearby, down in the park for the same reason, stuck up a conversation with me. After some minutes of bla-bla with the stranger, I turned to go home.

As I was leaving, the stranger called out: "Nice to talk to you, my name is Julie, Julie Crotty." Well, I did a double-quick turn for my name is Rosaleen Crotty and I had never met another Crotty in this world that was not a cousin of mine.

A friendship was struck up quickly, helped by the fact it was hurling final season. I invited Julie to join me to watch matches live at some local Irish pubs. Between games, I learned that Julie was from Chicago, worked in New York, lived in Long Island City, was lesbian, studied law, and worked as a lawyer. And, no, at that time, she was not dating anyone. All that information was stored in my head.

Sometime shortly before Christmas, I was meeting with Susan and Renee, two fellow members of the local community gardening group, as I was wont to do. In the course of these chats the two women, who were a couple, referred on occasion to one Pat with whom I was acquainted and who lived in the same building we three lived in in Long Island City. Pat was not in the gardening group.

Finally, it dawned on me….

"Is Pat lesbian?" I asked.

"Yes," was the reply.

"She´s a lawyer right?" I asked.

"Right," was the reply.

"Is she in a relationship?" I asked.

"No, but she is not interested. She´s just got out of a relationship and wants to focus on work for now," was the reply.

"Nonsense," says I, "I know a very nice woman who is not in a relationship. I think they would make a very good pair," says I again.

"No, Pat is really not interested, we tried to set her up, but she is just too busy," was the reply.

"But 'my person' is very busy too," I protested, "so if they are both busy people it would be ideal; they would never have enough time together to argue. This could indeed be the perfect relationship," says I again.

The gardening group ladies both agreed that this was indeed a valid argument. However, they said they knew Pat would not be cajoled into a blind date or anything like that, so it would have to be a "spontaneous meeting."

So the plotting started to create "the spontaneous" meet-up. And the plotting went on. And on. And on.

But nothing happened to bring Pat and Julie together; one or the other was always too busy to turn up at whatever event was planned to have them meet each other.

St. Patrick´s Day 2004 was nearly upon us and still, there had been no success in even getting them to meet. Urgent action was needed before one of the women got involved in a relationship with someone else. (That was bound to happen as both women just happened to be very nice members of the human race. Oh, did I say fine looking successful women too!)

So I, for whom inviting someone for a cup of tea and a bun was a big deal, decided I was going to do something drastic: I would host a St. Patrick´s Day Party for the sole reason of getting the two to meet. So back to the two women in the gardening group to plot.

The date was set; no invitations were sent out, but a group of 25 people was specifically picked to come to the party with our secret task in mind; just seven of the chosen guests were advised of the ruse. These seven were told to try and draw Pat and Julie together in conversation, then they were to withdraw if they saw Pat and Julie actually getting into a conversation.

So the stage was set, the party proceeded. All key players did what was expected of them. Julie and Pat were introduced!

However, nothing seemed to be clicking between them. The evening went on. (And, if I may say so, a nice evening it was too.)

Eventually, my two friends from the gardening group left with Pat and Julie and three or four other women. Off to play Balderdash together, they were. "Good," I thought, " a modicum of success at last."

A report from the gardening ladies the next day - Great fun but nothing tangible happened between Julie and Pat as far as anyone could surmise.

"What now! Was that all for naught?" I sighed.

Some weeks later, Julie invited me to her birthday party.

"Delighted to come," says I.

"Perhaps Pat, the woman in your building that I met at your party, might like to come too," says she.

"I can ask and that would be great, as it would mean I would have a lift too," says I, delighted, for we finally had something – though what we had, I was not sure what.

Pat agreed to come. I pointed out she could not change her mind, as I would have no other lift home from the party arranged.

We arrived; apart from polite courtesies, I could see no connection between the two. I met Julie´s sister at the party.

"Hello," says I. "My name is Rosaleen, sorry for being so up front here, but I do need your help. A lot of us have put in a lot of effort to hook your sister up with Pat X, the woman who drove me here. Nothing is happening, have you any suggestions?"

Déjà vu all over again! Julie´s sister furtively told a few of the guests to try and get Pat and Julie talking to each other. Three hours and lots of fun later, there was still no sign of a connection.

Pat suggested it was time for us to go home. Julie, gracious host that she was, guided us to the door. Alas no success – again. Dejected, I went to the bedroom to get my coat. Coming out, I saw Pat and Julie in conversation as they waited for me – they were talking about the life size cut out of Xena the Warrior Princess just behind the door of the apartment. Oh joy oh joy, they were talking, and most animated.

Oh panic, how can I keep this going? So I "lost" my front door key. As a few people helped me look for my key the two kept talking and talking. A connection at last. Oh joy, again.

Pat said nothing about Julie going home in the car. Perhaps I had misunderstood.

A few weeks later, I met the pair from the community garden group to tell them about my second failed attempt.

"No you are wrong," says one of the women, "they did connect!"

"How do you know, did Pat tell you?" says I.

"No," says she again, "but we haven´t seen or heard from Pat for weeks. That means only one thing, she is meeting someone and is not ready to talk about it yet. And we think that someone is Julie,"  says she again.

They were right.

A few weeks later, Pat told the gardening ladies that she had started dating the woman she first met at the St. Patrick's Day party. The ladies smiled demurely at her and said. "Oh, that´s nice."

A short time later, Julie told me that she was dating Pat. I smiled demurely and said, "Oh that´s nice."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

*Thanks to Rosaleen Crotty for sharing this love story ahead of both Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Kilmallock Abú! A draft... .come back in a week!

Dear Readers,

The writing of my January Blogposting will run into March; lots of facts to be checked and I have got way laid down other roads while double checking my facts.  

As ever at such times I offer a nod of respect to all journalists who get ´print´out to daily or weekly deadlines.... I need a cup of tea just thinking of the stress that would bring on me.   So do come back ´at a later date´.  Please.

 

Well gentle Readers,

An interesting posting for you today; I had the great good fortune to be able to visit a kind  friend, Eiley, in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick for a few days recently.    

For those not in the know Kilmallock is a small town some 35km south of Limerick. 

And well worth a visit.

Like many Irish towns and villages, Kilmallock started out as a small monastic settlement, founded in the 7th century by  a monk going by the name of Moceallóg.
 
Over the centuries Moceallóg morphed into  - mallock. So Cill Moceallóg evolved into Kilmallock.
 
The Kill bit comes from one of two Irish words.  “Kil/Kill” stems from either “coill” meaning “wood” or “cill” meaning “church.  This - and more info on Irish place names can be perused on an informative piece in the Irish Central : in https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/guide-understanding-irish-place-names.
 
 
 



 The cute little red house called Tigh an Fhile, in English House of the Poet  is so called because a local poet Andria Mac Craith died there in the 1700´s.

 

Common with the lay out of many Irish towns, there is one main street with smaller streets going off the main artery.  The houses are from different styles and eras.   

As is wont to be the case all over Ireland these days,  the town has many fine and well maintained houses all over the place.  Then there are some properties, alas, even on the main street that have been unused for several years. - Let us hope the Irish Government´s new and way over due policies to encourage the repair and restoration of these gems for much needed homes for first time buyers. 

 

Another fun feature of Irish towns is seen here in Kilmallock:  The public house that doubles as an undertakers.  But Daffys Bar Lounge and Undertakers in Kilmallock goes one further....

 

Used car sales!   Well is that not a business plan worthy of review on a MBA college course:  Your man is dead, and buried, now we can help you sell his car!


 



 

 

 

 

 

But I digress.  Let me go back a few centuries....  

The  Successful Building Projects Started by the ´Failed King`.

Kilmallock has the remains of town walls, a collegiate church, and a  monestary*   Now here is a fierce interesting fact, I only found out when I was writing this blog posting.  Here in Kilmallock as with many other towns around Ireland, these building projects would have been started as a result King John of England´s 2nd visit to Ireland between June - August 1210.   

I kid you not!   Many old buildings or remains of buildings you see around Ireland today were instigated during these three months.  Or as in the case of the walls of this town, replacements of, or improvements on building projects instigated on King John´s beat.

In addition King John set up the boundries out the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Louth, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Kerry. 

- Not a bad days work in three months for a man who many historians identify as a ´failed king´.   The aforementioned King John certainly did not fail in the progeny department either; he had eight children with his second wife Isabella of Angouleme, and at least as many with women who were not named Isabella of Angoulême!

Now for the sake of clarity, it must be added that John did not go out get all those buildings built in the summer of 1210, rather his Lord Justice in Ireland John de Gray, keep the building plan on course. - One of the few lord justices who made such a postitive impact over the centuries I would suggest.  

Indeed for the remaining six years after King John´s visit to Ireland until his death in 1216, Ireland was in relative peace.  ... Sur how could anyone have time to fight says you when they were building all those fine edifices all over the place. 

Collegiate Church SS. Peter and Paul.   Completed in 1241.











S.S. Peter and Paul Collegiate Church is my favorite building in Kilmallock. 

A half alert eye will observe the Collegiate church  incorporates the base of a round tower. 

So clearly the site where the chuch was built would have been connected to Moceallóg´s monestery from years back.

 Back in the day S.S. Peter and Paul Colliegiate Church would have been the centre of the local community. 

Any local man of means in the middle ages who wanted to get into the good books of God, or his representatives on earth, would have contributed to the chuch so it was well endowed and expanded throughout history.

Some parts of the Collegiate Church were used in later years as a house of prayer by the Church of Ireland community in Kilmallock. 

That was until 1935 when it was burned down.  

So to think the church was in continious use for 694 years from 1241 until Monday the 22nd of July 1935. 

 

T

 

 

That sad fact and the events happening that summer all over Ireland that resulted in the  Collegiate Church in Kilmallock being burned down, you can read about here. https://www.theirishstory.com/2013/01/07/july-1935-remember-belfast-boycott-the-orangemen/     But a warning, not a happy read.   And certainly not Ireland´s finest hour either.  

 

That said it is a beautiful old church; as you wander around the church grounds, one senses the centuries of prayer and peace and community that were once lived inside these chuches walls.


 

 

 

Kilmallock´s Favorite - The Domican Priory


 

 

 

 

 

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 Talk to any Kilmallock native about their town, and they will always mention with (justifyable) pride the Domican Priory.   On the wet old day I was wandering around Kilmallock, I could not get any photos do to justice to this lovely building. But I hope my story (ie juicy gossip or rather juicy conjecture) on the monestery to follow will make up for my paltry sampling of photos.

The priory was established by Gilbert Fitzgerald of the White Knights in 1291.  After the priory was built the aforemention White Knight then invited the Dominicans to man the monestary so to speak.  

 who then invited the Dominicans to the monastery, where his clan remained the key benefactors. Maurice Fitzgerald was the main patron of the friary when it was enlarged in 1320. Its community both grew and dwindled over the centuries, mainly due to changing land laws and wars, with friars eventually abandoning the venerable building for good in 1790.

  The priory was build in 1291.  It is only built a stone´s throw away from the Collegiate Church, completed some 50 years later.   which was completed   accross the River Loobagh from the Collegiate which 1291Collegiate  1251








 

















S.S. Peter and Paul

For a small town Kilmallock has a very fine Catholic church, SS.  Peter and Paul.  -  As you read on you will see that the Saints Peter and Paul are fierce popular in Kilmallock!  

The Catholic church designed in what´s known as Gothic Revival was built between 1879-1889.   Architect was one J.J. McCarthy. https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/2

After the above mentioned Mr. McCarthy popped his clogs, RIP in 1884, work on the church continued under the direction of architect George Ashlin.  Mr. Ashlin was responsible for the installation of the beautiful mosaic decoration around the altar created from Venician glass. 

Something I found very interesting as I went looking for information on these buildings - these architects and artisans were designing and building churches all over Ireland around the same time. 

Planning for these churches all seem to started around the 1830´s - which clearly is a follow on from the removal of the worst of the penal laws by 1829. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_Laws 

Did these men sleep - I ask? 

Might I suggest dear reader you peruse through the Wiki info here to get a glance at what these men were up to.  And I wager if you have an Irish connection, you will note Messers McCarthy, Ashlin, Mayer and Earley built something somewhere in your neck of the woods.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joseph_McCarthy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ashlin

That said, the German company Mayer of Munich who designed and created most of the stain glass windows in the church, took the biscuit for productivity.  The company was producing work not only for Ireland and England but the world over.   But never mind sleep how did Franzy boy Mayers have time left over to make baby Mayers.   I mean the company was working on big detailed commissions in places as far afield as the U.S., Canada, Australia and of course other parts of Europe.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Mayer_of_Munich

Mayer of Munich were clearly in the business of stain glass windows, not the art of stain glass.  But you can´t sneer at that -  for the company is still in business today. God bless and all respect to them!  https://mayersche-hofkunst.de/en

Irish Company Earley and Co. founded in 1861, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earley_and_Company  also contributed windows to the Catholic S.S. Peter and Paul in Kilmallock.  But my favorite stain glass in the church are these windows created by father Joshua or son Harry Clarke.  (Sorry folks, I can´t get confirmation on which of them created the window.  Which or whether, there is a link to the aforementioned multi-tasker Franzy Mayer.  Joshus Clarke was Franzy´s company rep. in Ireland.   


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

or centuries, the choir and chancel of the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul served as the Church of Ireland parish church in Kilmallock. But, during a wave of sectarian attacks that swept across Ireland in the summer of 1935, the Church of Ireland parish church was destroyed in an arson attack on the 22 July 1935.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1897, 1918, 1921, 1934, 1936, 1940, 1973, 2018, 2020, 2021



 

 

 


S.S. Peter and Paul

After the above mentioned Mr. McCarthy popped his clogs, RIP in 1884, work on the church continued under the direction of architect George Ashlin.  Mr. Ashlin was responsible for the installation of the beautiful mosaic decoration around the altar created from Venician glass. 

Something I found very interesting as I went looking for information on these buildings - these architects and artisans were designing and building churches all over Ireland around the same time. 

Planning for these churches all seem to started around the 1830´s - which clearly is a follow on from the removal of the worst of the penal laws by 1829. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_Laws 

Did these men sleep - I ask? 

Might I suggest dear reader you peruse through the Wiki info here to get a glance at what these men were up to.  And I wager if you have an Irish connection, you will note Messers McCarthy, Ashlin, Mayer and Earley built something somewhere in your neck of the woods.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joseph_McCarthy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ashlin

That said, the German company Mayer of Munich who designed and created most of the stain glass windows in the church, took the biscuit for productivity.  The company was producing work not only for Ireland and England but the world over.   But never mind sleep how did Franzy boy Mayers have time left over to make baby Mayers.   I mean the company was working on big detailed commissions in places as far afield as the U.S., Canada, Australia and of course other parts of Europe.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Mayer_of_Munich

Mayer of Munich were clearly in the business of stain glass windows, not the art of stain glass.  But you can´t sneer at that -  for the company is still in business today. God bless and all respect to them!  https://mayersche-hofkunst.de/en

Irish Company Earley and Co. founded in 1861, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earley_and_Company  also contributed windows to the Catholic S.S. Peter and Paul in Kilmallock.  But my favorite stain glass in the church are these windows created by father Joshua or son Harry Clarke.  (Sorry folks, I can´t get confirmation on which of them created the window.  Which or whether, there is a link to the aforementioned multi-tasker Franzy Mayer.  Joshus Clarke was Franzy´s company rep. in Ireland.   


 

An elaborate, monumental church of architectural importance, which was one of the later churches designed by the well known Gothic Revival architect, J.J. McCarthy. The contractor was Walsh from Foynes and the decoration was by Eugene Daly of Cork. The elaborate ornamentation belies its simple plan, having organ loft, nave and chancel beneath one continuous roof contrasting with the off-centre tower and spire. Very well maintained, the church presents an early aspect with most of the original features and fabric intact. There is rich internal carving and decoration, with ornate mosaics in the chancel, designed under the direction of George Ashlin, and stained glass by Mayer and Earley. 

 

 

Joseph Gabriel Meyer (1808-1883) established an Art Institute in Munich in 1847, with royal patronage. By the mid-1850s he was operating studios and workshops in the Maxvorstadt area of the city. His aim was to promote and produce Christian artwork (religious carvings, altars, painted works etc.) inspired by the medieval era. It was very much a family business: after Mayer's daughter Therese married, a new stained glass department opened in 1862, managed by her husband, Franz Xavier Zettler (1841-1916). Then, from as early as 1865, Mayer & Co. begun setting up foreign branches, including one that very year in London. Adverts with the address 70 Grosvenor Street, London, can be found later on. Some stained glass windows in Britain are signed "Mayer & Co. London." William Wailes studied under Mayer in Munich (see "Core details"), and W. F. Dixon designed for the firm, moving to Munich in 1894.  


In a six-story building in the city’s center, Michael and Petra Mayer run — and reside in — one of the world’s oldest and most celebrated architectural glass and mosaic studios.

 

and two tower houses - where taxes would have been collected*.  


Blossom Gate and Town Walls

The name Kilmallock is the anglised version of the Irish name Cill Mocheallóg-Church of St Moceallóg. The existing town walls at Kilmallock are thought to belong to the late 14th/early 15th century. These walls replaced earlier town defences. There is evidence, on the west side of the town walls, of an early fosse (ditch) and earthen bank. This bank was probably topped with a wooden palisade. At present there are 1100 metres, of the original 1700 metres of stone wall, still surviving.



One of two Tower Houses.