Search Results for 'Midwest'

I thought I was hearing things when I tuned into Midwest radio last Saturday evening to see how our minors were getting on against our bitter rivals Galway. I did not make it to the game because of the lure of what was on TV as I wanted to see how Roscommon would respond after their embarrassing defeat at the hands of Sligo. Mayo’s defeat to Galway by a whopping 17 points has to go down as one of the darkest days in Mayo football at minor level. I do not recall any Mayo minor team taking a pasting of that magnitude.

Oh to have a crystal ball to see what fortunes lie ahead for Mayo football in 2014. One thing for sure, one Mayo club — Kiltane have a superb chance to claim one of the early pieces of silverware when they take on Truagh of Monaghan in the All-Ireland intermediate final in Croke Park on February 9, a feat my own club Charlestown should have accomplished last season but for some calamitous decisions when they were coasting against eventual winners Cookstown of Tyrone in the All- Ireland semi final. Kiltane were simply brilliant last Sunday. If you were to tell me before the game that star attacker Mikey Sweeney and Tommy “Goals” Conroy were not going to score against Clyda Rovers, I would have re-mortgaged the house on Clyda.

FROM BUTCHERING to balladry might seem like an unusual career arc but it is one that Mayo-born, Galway based, songwriter Michael O’Connor has managed with aplomb.

TODAY SEES the launch of Baz Luhrmann’s much anticipated film adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby.

It is told that the then Nan Denning was in a world of her own, singing away as she made her way down McHale Road, Castlebar, at the ripe old age of 14, when she was overheard by Tony O’Grady from Manulla. He enquired if Nan would sing in his band which comprised John Lally on saxophone, Toddy Buckley from Knockthomas on drums, Gerald Ralph from Moneen on drums, and Tony himself on accordion. Nan’s first gig was at the Eclipse Ballroom in Ballyhaunis with her opening number “Buttons & Bows”. From there started a long and talented singing career which brought Nan from the dance halls of Mayo to the Castlebar pantomime stage.

This Sunday August 1, the documentary on Midwest Radio is The MacBrides. It features the story of Major John MacBride, his wife Maud Gonne, and their son Seán.

A retired psychoanalyst is seeking six people to take part in a free social experiment aimed at having money.

 The final programme in a Midwest Radio documentary series on rural Ireland of the past will be broadcast on Sunday next at 9am.