New publication from Offaly Lions club would make ideal Christmas gift
The future development of the town; sporting achievements of young athletes, the town’s internationally known digital artist and the success of the new women’s shed are just some of the interesting and visionary stories related in the 160 paged 2023 Tullamore Annual on sale now.
Honorary editor, Frank Ryan explained that the editorial committee focused on ensuring that as many of the town’s achievements, personal stories and future plans were included in this year’s publication.
“We have received a lot of valuable feedback from our readers over the years, so we know what they like to read and we bear that in mind in sourcing content: we trust we have succeeded”.
Fergal MacCabe is passionate about the importance of preserving all that makes his native town the attractive place we know it to be. He is equally passionate about realising the potential of the town to retain and enhance its status as one of Ireland’s most attractive county towns. Courtesy of Offaly History, the Annual contains a number of articles by Mr. MacCabe that are informative, challenging and valuable when considering of how our town can realise its potential.
The Annual contains some surprises. For example, did you know that a twelve-year-old Tullamore schoolboy won a silver medal at the world championships of his sport and who has set his sights on winning an Olympic gold medal?
The Annual records the remarkable sporting achievements of many young people from the area and about whom we expect to hear a great deal more of in the years ahead. To mention just two, Ella Cantwell and Evan Monaghan are high achievers in the highly competitive sport of golf. Older sportspeople are not neglected either. There is a nice article on soccer referee, Michael (Mickey) Flanagan. Then, there is richly deserved coverage of the Offaly 1982 Football Heroes celebration of that great achievement.
The tragic death of Ashling Murphy this year devastated her family and our community. Declan Mc Sweeney has contributed a thoughtful piece on how that tragedy in our small community, in the centre of this island, resonated with communities across the globe.
Alan Bolton, is a young Tullamore man who is now well known internationally as a successful and much sought after digital artist. His interview in the Annual is interesting and enlightening in relation to a creative modern art medium many of us are not familiar with.
An article on Geashill’s success in the National Tidy Towns Competition records how a long journey, involving sustained hard work in pursuit of a goal eventually met with success.
The Women’s Shed is a thriving new initiative that is well described in the Annual.
Sadly, some our hard working and greatly respected people passed away during the past year. There are tributes to Delores Kelly, Albert Fitzgerald. Aidan Marsden, Frank Mc Evoy, Donal Beatty and a number of others included In the Annual.
Father Luke Ohiemi was a much-loved priest in Tullamore for a number of years. Tullamore’s loss is Clara/Tubber’s gain. The piece in the Annual conveys a sense of why he is universally liked.
The foregoing is intended to convey a sense of the great variety of the articles contained in the 160 pages in the new edition of the Annual. It is an especially good source of an interesting read over Christmas and will, as always, be appreciated by Tullamore area natives living elsewhere now but who never lose their grá for their home place.
The Annual is now on sale and can be purchased at many outlets in Tullamore and surrounding areas. The price of the annual is still only €15, the same as it cost back in 2012.
A really good account of the events and happenings in the Tullamore area over the past year – and a great Christmas present.