Failte 18july2024

This program is kindly sponsored by Letter Frack Country Shop, 095-418-50. This program is kindly sponsored by Letter Frack Country Shop, 095-418-50. Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's show. This week's show is about everything that's going on in the country. I'm Carmel Murray, and James is on the desk with me today. And we're on air every day at 8.7 until 6.00 pm. And on the internet we're at www.connemarafm.com Good evening listeners, you're very welcome to another edition of our Tourism Program. We're broadcasting as always on 87.8 and 106.1 FM. And on the internet, as you can get us any time, we're on www.connemarafm.com. And if you want to phone us in any time during the week, our phone number here is 095-416-16. Leave a message any time and we'll get back to you. I hope you'll enjoy our program this evening. It's a patch program, and I hope there'll be something for all our listeners in it. Now, just before that, there's very little news except all the things that are happening, all the events that have been put on by local volunteers all around the place. I mean, tomorrow, Saturday morning, you have the Cut It Off car boot sale. And that will be interesting because there's more than a car boot sale. It's in the town hall, in the Cut It Off hall, with loads and loads of stuff. Something for everybody. Now, Roundstone regattas, and we talked about the pony show last week, but the regatta is coming on this weekend. And I'm told also as well that there are small races which were due to be, and this week are now happening on Saturday the 28th, because they didn't want to clash with the Galway-Dunegal match. So there's lots more happening. If you want to let us know what's happening, give us a ring in here, and we'll always advertise it for you. Now, my guests today, I have a fairly comprehensive program. Joining me first is Mr. David Martin, who is the Senior Media Relations Manager with the Road Safety Authority. Then I'll be talking to Danica Foley, who is the Development Manager with the Galway Volunteer Centre. Next, Giles Hilson is a tour guide with Dockendore Castle. And last but not least, I'll be talking to Alton Moran, who is a Heritage Officer with the Dublin Cemetery Trust. And he'll tell us all about the O'Connell Tower. You're probably wondering why I'm going to talk about Dublin Cemetery. He'll tell us all about the O'Connell Tower restoration. But right on the ball, joining me, is Mr. David Martin. Good evening, David. Hello, David. Hello. Hello, David. Sorry, we did have David on the line, but we seem to have lost him for the minute. But no doubt he's probably on there. James will work to get him back. But in the meantime, his line has broken down, actually, so we'll see what happens. In the meantime, as I said, don't forget to tell your guests. You know your guests don't really know what's on. And there are so many things on for different groups, different interests. And I forgot to mention the bingos, of course, the two bingos. And what I always forget to mention is there's bridge every Tuesday night in the Station House. And that's open to all. It is a club, but in summertime we have what we call a summer club. And everybody is welcome, just to let the hotelers let us know by 7 o'clock on a Tuesday evening. And you'll all be very, very welcome. And Isla, who runs the game there, is an absolute tab hand at it. And she'll be delighted to have you to join with us in what is an enjoyable game. And even though it's summertime, you might want to come in at 7. Well, you know, once you're in, you kind of forget about the outside world and enjoy your game. And what else is on? There's probably other races and, you know, sports on. Last week we had the MacDara Festival, and I do believe that it was a real success. From having watched some of it, I thought I'd get down to it, but unfortunately I didn't get down, you know. But maybe we'll have our first song. And while it's playing, we'll get back to, we'll see if we can get David Moore and Martin back. Because we did have them on the line. So we'll have a bit of music by James Canavan, maybe? No, James has the music lined up, so we'll take whatever James has lined up, and then we'll be back to you. Well, that tune there, that was the Cherished Lady playing that lovely tune, composed and all by Joni Madden, and it's called The Trip to Botfan, and it was, I think, their first trip in there, and she composed that lovely tune, which is really enjoyable. Now, I just want to remind you, while we're having another go at trying to get David Martin, about the water situation. Now, I do know that Ishgarden sent us out the letter last week, and I still have it with me here, and it advised that the Clayton-Cleddoch water supply continues to meet regulatory standards. But I did hear on the grapevine, as I said, that the water still, you know, it doesn't smell as safe as it would. So I'll just read just a little bit of their, you know, a paragraph from their statement last week. Because they did, they said they did have several calls of complaint from people in that area, and that's the Clayton-Cleddoch public water supply that we're talking about. Now, they did say that they had calls, so they said we're currently investigating the source of the intermittent taste and odor issues, and we continue to test the water to find the root cause. But I'll read this word for word, because it's important. Protecting public health is a top priority for Ishgarden, and we would like to advise customers that the water supply to customers in Clayton is compliant with regulatory standards and is safe to drink once it is running clear. Ishgarden advises customers not to drink discolored water. In the event of discoloration, running the tap for several minutes will usually restore water to a clear color. The water is safe to drink once running clear. And if the issue remains unresolved, we encourage customers to contact us directly. Well, now, somebody contacted me directly during the week about their water, that even though I had read this out last week, they had said that it wasn't safe to drink, and they didn't want to drink it. So I'm just reading, this is Ishgarden, but the advice for everybody, if you have any problems with your water, especially public water supplies that Ishgarden are responsible for, the number to ring is, it's a 24-7 helpline, and it's 1-800-278-278. 1-800-278-278. Now, we're still trying to get David Martin back on the line. He did tell James that he was driving, but I presume that he was going to stop somewhere along the line. But the mobile coverage isn't always perfect in all the areas. So we'll get him as soon as we can get him. So, will we have another piece of music, James, and then we'll keep trying, and we'll be back to you. Met a girl from Cannes, A man of her whistle's always sung. Her blue eyes, they were beautiful, And her red hair flowing down. She lives among those mountains Where that wild, wild heather grows. And her name is Kate O'Hara, She's my comrade-in-arms. Oh, I knew when first I saw her, On that road to Prague, That somehow, someday, someway, She was the tenant of my heart. She smiled at me so sweetly As a stream beside her flowed. And from that day on, I'll never forget My comrade-in-arms. Oh, it seems like endless time, Came and by, and again I saw her face. But the memory of her love Sustained as I walked that lonely mile. She was waiting as she promised, As I came back to propose. And to ask her father for The hand of my comrade-in-arms. Oh, she comes from Connemara, Far west of Galway town. Her blue eyes, they were beautiful, And her red hair flowing down. She lives among those mountains Where that wild, wild heather grows. And her name is Kate O'Hara, Kate O'Hara is my comrade-in-arms. Now, tomorrow we will walk The island that little church that man. And there we'll shake the bows for life, For to live and work as one. Our children will grow to manhood For that wild, wild heather grows. And I hope that they'll be proud like me Of my comrade-in-arms. Oh, she comes from Connemara, Far west of Galway town. Her blue eyes, they were beautiful, And her red hair flowing down. She lives among those mountains Where that wild, wild heather grows. And her name is Kate O'Hara, Kate O'Hara is my comrade-in-arms. www.connemarafm.com Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to me. I'm broadcasting live from the Isle of Ní Spígo. That was a great tune by Fairport Convention. A nice, comoly bit of ceilidh going on there. We're happy dancing around the kitchen. And I feel that they'll be proud of the music tonight. And I feel that they'll be able to come back to Connemara. Hello everyone, hope you're doing well. You're listening to Connemara Community Radio. We'd like to thank you for being here tonight. I'm sure you know how to say thank you. Well, there was a time. We'd have to spend it, James, tonight. You can also listen to us from outside the Connemara area on our website, www.connemarafm.com Hope you're all well. Tonight's featured artists have been around from the 60s, sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling artists of all time. So that's it for tonight. I'd like to thank you all for listening. And hope that you will tune in again next week. Connemara Community Radio, thank you very much for listening. And I hope you enjoyed all of the music. Welcome back to the programme. And indeed, welcome back, David Merkin. We did. We did. Apologies for that. It's all right. We have you now. And you have some quite interesting news for us. Now, first of all, as I said, we're talking about the Road Safety Authority, David. And you have a new tourism campaign. I know you launch an annual tourism campaign, but you have a new one this year. And it's, you know, it's starting road safety intervention at Dublin Airport, which to me sounds like a very sensible start. But firstly, David, what are you doing? What kind of a campaign are you running this year? Well, we have a couple of campaigns, and you're right. You picked up on one that we're running at Dublin Airport, and that's very much focused on two things, really. And anybody travelling through Dublin Airport would see it on that big walkway from the gates back to the main terminal. And that's focusing, like, a lot of visitors, reminding them that they have to drive on the left. And the other thing really addresses one of the key dangerous behaviours, and that's the use of mobile phones, and we're telling people to put it away. And there's quite a big visual, so everybody arriving in Dublin Airport will see those adverts. And it coincides with a very major campaign that we launched last week. And this is a radio campaign, and that's very much focusing on dangerous behaviours that we see, especially throughout the summer months. Many of your listeners may not be aware, maybe people sort of intuitively think that the winter months are perhaps more dangerous on the roads, you know, the shorter days and the bad weather, but in fact, it's not. You're right. The summer months are more dangerous. So what we're doing, we are calling out the five key dangerous behaviours in these radio ads, and they launched last week. The first one is speeding, and then there's another ad for drink driving, another for drug driving, another for distracted driving, and really that's all about the use of mobile phones, which is a big concern at the moment. And also the last one is telling people to use their seatbelts. Not everybody does. You know, it's kind of assumed that everybody does, but not everybody does, particularly rear seat passengers don't. So that's a very, very big campaign focusing on those bad behaviours, those dangerous behaviours. We have the Right to Tourism campaign, and just today we're launching a TV campaign so your listeners may be able to see it over the coming weeks on TV if they're watching television, and that's really tackling fatalities on the road. So there's a number of strings to our bow, as it were, in terms of communications campaigns at the moment. Great. Now, as we all know from listening to the news, and unfortunately, again last night, and other two people, the figure yesterday was 101 fatalities on Irish roads. It's actually gone up, I hate to tell you. It's 109 as of this morning, and it's 17 more. Yesterday was a bad day. We lost four people on the roads yesterday. So it's turning out to be a very bad year this year. Yeah, yeah. Now, as you said, you're launching a television ad. Would you stick with the audio campaign for the moment? Sure, sure. Because I think, especially the one that's done Ask Gaeilge, the Irish, I think that's very, very striking. It hits home to people, the need to be careful on the roads. Absolutely. And one thing, in your press release, you did mention that you were tackling the people, and they're most probably local people, you know, Irish people, who drive too fast because they know the road. Is this a common mistake? Absolutely, absolutely is. And so look, what we know is that most fatalities occur on rural roads. Yeah. A disproportionate number of people involved are young. So this year it's running at over a quarter, ages 16 to 25, and there's twice as likely to be a male than female. So it's young males on rural roads. They're the ones that we're really trying to communicate with here. So we did some focus groups, and we did some research into this, and how can we communicate to these people? Because a lot of the time they don't watch TV. They're younger cohorts, you know, they're not. And they're kind of inured to some of the shock ads. So what we're trying to do is, you know, tackle what they're thinking. So the feedback we got for them, they're saying, look, we know the roads. I know I can go fast on this road. And so, as you rightly point out, there's a specific ad aimed at that young male driver on a rural road, and letting them know that they may think they know the road, but the person coming the other way doesn't. Which I think is huge. And they'd be looking at his or her phone, and you do not know. So we're trying to tackle and address that, you know, arrogance almost of the young male driver who really thinks he's infallible. Well, yeah, you know, the old story. When you're young, you know, you always think, it'll never happen to me. Absolutely. Yeah, that's it, you know, unfortunately. Too often, yeah, the opposite happens. But that's the audio campaign. That's part of it. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and that's a big focus for us. Yeah, and we're investing an awful lot of time and resources in that audio. So it'll be running until, I think, late August. And it's focused, as I said, on speeding, on drink and drug driving, people using their mobile phones and not using seatbelts. Fatalities occur because people make mistakes, because they do the wrong thing. And those dangerous behaviors are the ones that cause people to do the wrong thing. So we can tackle that. We can tackle the problem of death on the road. Yeah. When is the ad started now, and it's running until when? I think it's the end of August that the radio ad will be running. And how many hours? How many hours a day? I don't know what the media spend is on that, but it's running across all the radio stations. And also it'll be on digital audio as well, so people will be picking up on the podcast. At any time. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So all your listeners should be hearing it over the coming days and weeks. Right. So you mentioned there, like, you've done the part of the intervention, the Road Safety Intervention at Dublin Airport, as part of this year's tourism campaign. That's right. Is it a fact, David, that, you know, I don't know how to phrase this so as not to offend anybody, but car rental companies, can they do more to inform tourists of the road rules and the speeds and left driving, et cetera? They do have a role. There's no question about that. And you will see it if you're ever in a rental car, there's a reminder to drive on the left-hand side and the speed limits and all that that are there. But ultimately, you know, it's the role of the road safety authority and the government as well to make sure that, you know, everybody is fully aware of what the rules are and what the speed limits might be and what the safe driving habits should be. So it's a whole of society approach. We work very closely with the Garda Síochána and with the government and, of course, the car rental companies have a role to play there as well. They have, yeah. What is your opinion on, I mean, the Garda Síochána do a fantastic job in policing the roads and trying to make them as safe as they can for everybody. Do you think, in the road safety authority, do you think that, I mean, Liz O'Donnell has often said that, you know, the number of fatalities on the roads and that, you know, they're not acceptable. But do you think the fines, the penalties, like the points and the financial penalties are sufficient to slow down the driver who may not be thinking too clearly about what would happen if he breaks these rules? That's a very good point. One of the things that came back from that research and the feedback we got from the focus groups with the younger drivers that we did earlier this year is loss, or potential loss of your license is a major deterrent. And on a number of levels, people would be embarrassed to admit that they haven't got a car. It's hugely inconvenient, particularly in rural areas because people are more dependent on cars. So a corresponding, an increase in penalty points would be, I believe, a deterrent to people driving too fast or driving, you know, with alcohol on them or looking at their phones. It definitely would be something well worth looking at and we certainly would be very keen to talk to the government about potentially increasing points for some of these dangerous behaviours. Great. And, David, finally, people who exceed, again, it's back to points and that, who exceed the limits. There are new 60-kilometre limits coming into smaller towns and that now. What's your opinion on that? Is it sufficient? Well, we think it's a very good move. So the default speed limit on national secondary roads, which is 100 at the moment, will be coming down to 80. And the local and rural roads will go from 80 to 60. And then urban roads, around housing estates and cities, will go down to 30. So we strongly welcome this. We think it's a very, very good move. The World Health Organization estimates, and they've done a lot of work on this, they say a 5% reduction in general speed will result in a 30% decrease in deaths. So there is a precise correlation between speed and deaths. So if we get the speed down, the deaths will come down. And there's another statistic that I always find fascinating, and the research team told me about this some time ago. They said if you're hit by a vehicle travelling at 80 kilometres an hour, there's a 90% chance you're going to die. At 60, it'll be a 50% chance of dying. However, if you're hit at 30, you've a 95% chance of surviving. Just 5% will be killed. So reduce the speed, you will increase the safety on the roads, no question. I really think those figures should be highlighted in your TV campaign that you're launching as well. I think the figures sort of bounce out at people when you see the actual effects. So it's a good idea if they're interested. David Martin, Senior Media Relations Manager with the Road Safety Authority. Thank you indeed for bringing us all that information on your campaigns. We wish you, everybody, the best of luck with it, and we wish everybody on the roads this summer, day, night and always, safe journeys and please do take care. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. Now, we may get our second interviewee, Donnacha Foley is a Development Manager with Galway Volunteer Centre. But if we don't, we'll try again after a while, whatever, and I'll read a bit of what they have sent to us, you know. Now, our next interviewee, we have a bit of music lined up. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. Donnacha Foley is a Development Manager with Galway Volunteer Centre. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. So here goes his next choice. James is on the ball here today, picking all nice music that I hope you'll like. You have a scheme, you have a new project, a folklore project being run at the moment, you have started running at the moment, preserving lost memories of the site at the castle. Maybe tell us a bit about that, what do you plan to do with it? Well, what's happening is that this is a celebration of Ochnonur's 50th anniversary of being open to the public. And we have been delving into archives looking for missing pieces of information on Ochnonur and the O'Flahertys who occupied the castle, and the controlled Eir Connacht, which is Connemara and the area between the same with Column and Spittle. And they occupied that for 150 years. It's an area of about a quarter of a million acres. In that stretch of time, and in that space, this huge space, lots must have happened, but there are only a few snippets recording. And what we're hoping is, rather like the book project, the school book project of the 1930s, if we ask people within the Connemara region for memories, photographs, maybe a story about the O'Flahertys, a song perhaps that remains, all of these snippets will help build up a bigger picture. And that's what we're looking for, so it has the potential to significantly enrich the current understanding of the site for the public. Were the O'Flaherty clan, were they the original owners, did they build it, or who built it, when was it built? It was built, we believe, around about 1490 by the O'Flahertys. I see. But they had already been on the site there for about 150 years. Oh, really? They had made their name, they had made it their own? They had engines. Yeah, go on, sorry. I was about to say that they came over to Eirconacht around about 1250. I see. After increasing pressure, pressure, weed, ethnic cleansing from the Anglo-Normans. But quite how they made it their own, that's another thing that we're looking out for any snippet of. Right. Yeah, there was probably many the battle that managed eventually to get them to claim ownership or to deserve or to acquire ownership of it. Now, in the castle itself, there's lots of stories, as you said, associated with the Gaelic Tower House. Well, we seem to have lost Giles Hilson, our tour guide with Auchenor Castle. It's just not happening for us today, or it is happening. And he was just about to tell us about what has happened about the Tower House and where it was built. Because I really did want to ask him, because there's a story that there was a dungeon level down below under the curtain ground floors. And that would be interesting to find out why, why that was built, why they needed it and what. But James... I'll put you back on the desk once I get up. Ah, there we are. Back again, James. You can hear me all right? Or Giles, I mean. I can indeed, Carmen. Don't know what happened there. It just dropped out. Oh, just yes. Sometimes the internet isn't great. But I wanted to ask you about that. I'm sorry to have lost you, because we were talking about the Tower House. But under the castle, under the Tower House, once had a dungeon level below it, under the ground floor. Why would they have that, and what would it have been used for? Well, in fact, we've only just discovered this underground dungeon through, again, through talking to people. Well, I'm sorry, listeners, but we have lost Giles Hilson again. So I think at this stage, we just have to give up and try maybe next week to continue the conversation there. Because it's interesting, but what I just want to read from it, like, is that they want people to send in any photographs, memories they have of visiting the castle. And, you know, as he said, you know, to emulate what they did in the 1930s when they collected the school book project, that they'd like to sort of to do something like that. And you can all send them to Auchinnoor Castle, Uxbridge County, Galway. Or if you want to go in on the website, it's Auchinnoor Castle at opw.ie. That's the Office of Public Works, Auchinnoor, A-U-G-H-N-A-N-U-R-E, castle.ie. And there's a whole long number, a name, a number address, but I won't give you that. But no doubt, if you just Google Auchinnoor Castle, Uxbridge County, Galway, from wherever you're listening or coming to it, you'll get all the details there. Now, just, I did mention at the beginning of the program, the Roundstone Regatta. Now, Roundstone Regatta is on this weekend, and it's just the 20th and the 21st of July. And it's always a fantastic day, and with the weather we're having, and the forecast is very good as well. So if you need to see, you know, a spectacle of the Roundstone Regatta, of the racing, all the different boats and corrupts and all the rest of it, you can just, you know, the 20th and the 21st of July, 2024, that's this weekend, it'll be interesting. And I did mention earlier on as well that the Aerosmo races will now be held on Saturday the 27th, due to Galway being in the All-Ireland Final, which we're all so excited about. That's on Sunday the 28th. But, you know, they don't want to, you know, to lose sort of the crowd or whatever. So they've deferred what they would have had on this week to next Saturday, so we can have the best of both worlds. You can have your Matching Comfort this week and your Aerosmo races next. And Aerosmo races, I'm sure they're, you can correct me if you like, I think they're one of the oldest races in the area, and they do the whole shebang. They have the horse race, and they always had a donkey derby, which was always so interesting. I'm not sure if they still have it, so don't, you can correct me on it, but if it's a fine day, I mean, go out to Aerosmo on a Saturday. There's nothing like it. It's beautiful. Now, when I was talking about Roundstone as well, and I was mentioning the Regatta, there's what is called a Floating Wreath Ceremony, and that's to commemorate all souls lost at sea. And that, I'm sure, will be before the Regatta, or on the day of the Regatta. It's going to happen after the Archbishop's Mass, which is on that day. And it's part of the Roundstone Regatta weekend. And as you all know, this is Roundstone 200. We were celebrating last week the 100th years of the pony, the Connemara Pony Show, because it was first ran in 19, 19, what was it, 1924. And at 2024, it was 100 years. But Roundstone Village itself is 200 years old, and we do intend going to Roundstone and getting some of the information on the village itself, its origins, and who founded by, and who can remember what happened there, and all of that. So that's the Roundstone Ceremony. Now, there's one more thing that I want to read for you. And this is good news. We did listen to Karen Manning the other night, bringing us up to date on Forum Connemara and all the projects that they have running and what's happening. But I'll just read this out for you. Clifton has received official state recognition as a Gaelic service town and the community as a development organisation. Forum Connemara and its partner in this project, Connemara Chamber of Commerce, has announced the commencement of a language plan for the community as part of its recognition. Minister of State Tomas O'Brien of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaelic, Sport and Media Equality and Department of Education will launch the plan on Monday the 29th of July at 1pm in the Connemara Chamber of Commerce rooms. And, you know, that is in Clifton, just at the Station House Hotel. Just before you enter the Station House Hotel, it's back to back with the Clifton Tourist Office. And the Clifton Tourist Office is open now, listeners, with lots of information on everything that's on, what's on and where to go and where to send people what they want. So that's the news on Clifton. We did get this about a year ago, that Clifton had applied for official state recognition as a Gaelic service town. But this is confirming it and Forum and the Chamber of Commerce indeed have done a great job in promoting this. And I know that over the last year or two, there has been efforts to improve the amount of Irish speakers in Clifton, an area, by getting people in groups and Bryndon O'Scannell indeed is instrumental in that, because they have these groups around, you know, in different places in town, just casual groups getting together to speak the Cúpla fócal and to make the Cúpla fócal a bit more than Cúpla. Make it to, you know, a little bit níos líofe. So that's it now. And my last guest today is Mr. Alton Moran. And we do have, because before I came on here, the Gremlins were not in the works at that stage. Everything was working very smoothly. And I did speak to Alton Moran, the Heritage Officer with the Dublin Cemeteries Trust. And he'll tell us all about the historic O'Connell Tower in Glasnevin Cemetery. Good evening, Alton. And you're very welcome to the tourism program on Connemara Community Radio. Alton, I haven't spoken to you before, but I was watching Nationwide during the week and the fantastic relaunch of the tower following enhancements. But before, can you hear me? I can indeed, yeah, absolutely, yeah. Yeah, there's some rattling in the background. Sorry about that. But, yeah, when was it, it's the Daniel O'Connell Tower in Glasnevin Cemetery. When was the tower originally built, Alton? So it was originally built for Daniel O'Connell back in 1855. So Daniel himself, he passed away in Genoa in Italy in 1847. And they brought his body back home. And it did take a few years, of course, to build the tower. And then once it was completed in 1855, arrangements were made. And then he was buried beneath it a few years later in 1869. Yeah, the crypt, the crypt is there, I suppose, Daniel O'Connell's crypt is there as part of the tour, isn't it? It is, yeah. So you actually have to walk through, yeah. You walk through the crypt of O'Connell in order to get to the staircase. So it's a, you know, beautiful, beautiful place. You know, it's too fit for a king in a lot of ways, you know. Okay, yeah, right. 20 questions coming, Alton, now. How tall is the building? So it's 65 metres tall. So I think that would work out at around 180 feet high. So, yeah, so it's one of the tallest in Dublin, even now, as it was when it was first built. Yeah, it's one of the tallest, and I suppose one of the panoramic views of Dublin, I can just imagine, yeah. Oh, yes, yeah, absolutely. Now, it's not for the weak, weak bodies, because you have 198 steps altogether to climb it, is that right? That's absolutely right, yeah, 198 steps. But, you know, some people would hear that and think, oh, God, that's a lot of steps, because it is 198 down as well as up. But, you know, there's quite a few landings as well, so you're never really looking down the whole way, which is what people are often a bit worried about, you know. Ah, yeah, yeah. But, no, there are always those landings there, and people can read the exhibition now that's new, and they can take their time with it. So it isn't too bad, you know. It's not too bad. I know. Now, what can people learn? You said there are different landings. You know, of course, I presumed there's lighting all the way to the top. I see you've got new lighting now. That's right. So the lighting itself, that's in the equipment itself, which is, you know, recently it's been restored, and new lighting is very, very nice. But in the tower itself, it's the new exhibitions, which give you interesting facts about not only the tower, which has an interesting history, too, but about Daniel O'Connell himself, who, you know, a very, very famous figure in Irish history, but they kind of focus on, you know, some of the more, the facts that people might not know about him, but he was a very well-regarded man, not only here in Ireland, but around the world as well. Was he? A lot of respect for O'Connell. Yeah, yeah. Did he travel, or was it, I suppose he must have, as well, known around the world at that stage? Oh, yeah. So he was very much, if it was around today, we would call him a human rights activist and a humanitarian, because he was against slavery in the United States. He became a good friend to an abolitionist over there called Frederick Douglass, who was a former slave, and Douglass had a lot of respect for O'Connell, because O'Connell always believed in using peaceful means to achieve his goals. So, you know, he was a very inspirational figure to a lot of other leaders around the world. Now, I see in the press release that the tower itself was bombed in 1971. What was the reason for that? I mean, I suppose we should ask. Yeah. Well, no, it's a good question, because, well, to be honest, nobody ever came forward to say that we did it, and no particular group, although it's suspected, very much suspected, that the bombing took place in retaliation for a bombing, I'm sure a lot of your listeners would be familiar with, of Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street. 1966. Exactly, yeah, yeah. So, of course, the IRA had destroyed Nelson's Pillar, and so it's suspected, it's not confirmed, but it's suspected that, you know, loyalist paramilitaries active during the Troubles came to Glass Heaven to destroy a symbol of Irish nationalists and let the IRA destroy a symbol of British Unionism. In retribution, yeah. In retribution, yeah. Exactly, yeah. So it was closed since then until when? So, yeah, so it was closed from 1971 until the staircase was rebuilt back in 2018. So the new staircase was built very much using the designs of the original back in 1855, but as well as that, you know, you can actually see the one reminder that we have of that bomb that went off, and it doesn't put anyone off clocking it. I know. You'll notice if you climb it, there's a bit of a crack about halfway up on the exterior of the tower. It is the one bit of evidence that we still have today of that bomb that went off. The relic of it. It's the one bit of structural damage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I suppose one wouldn't feel the need to be reminded of that, but it is part of history, and it's part of the tour for them to see it, isn't it? It is. Yeah, well, it's very fortunate that nobody was injured in the bombing, because it was in the middle of the night and nobody was around, fortunately. And then by some miracle as well, the crypt itself, even though it was only a few meters away, it was undamaged by the bomb as well. So, you know, it would have very easily been a lot worse, you know? Yeah, I suppose, yeah. So the tower, the tour of the tower, I'm thinking of it from a tourist point of view, you know, whatever, I mean an Irish tourist or an international, the tour, the Irish history tour can be booked, which I'm sure is very, very interesting, because there are quite a few famous Irish people buried in Glasnevin itself, I suppose. You can probably see them from the tower. You can see the graves of Michael Carlins and Countess Markievicz and a few like that. Is there a huge interest in the history tour? Oh, there is, yeah, absolutely. There always is, as well, because it shows you that even, you know, now, that people are still incredibly interested in Irish history. And as you say, you know, people from Dublin come here, people from the rest of the country as well, people from all the cities as well, who are interested in Ireland and in our history, and they come here to learn about people like Nima de Valera and Parnell and Countess Markievicz. So many of them were buried here, you know. It's a great place if you're into your history to just walk around and, you know, think about our history and all of that, you know. I think there's a real, I think the present, the younger generations, that there's a sort of a, you know, a resurrection of interest in our history as it's, say, 100 years old and over 100 years old. They seem to be going back and, you know, really doing an awful lot of research into it. So I'd imagine for younger people and students, this must be really, you know, a goldmine for them, especially if they're studying. Oh, yes, absolutely. It's part of the curriculum now for kids to actually come out to the cemetery and go on one of our tours. You know, it is great as a tour guide, you know, particularly with the primary school kids, telling them about Irish history, and they all love it. You know, and if we try to make it a tour, you know, people might think, oh, the tour in a cemetery might be a bit morbid. But no, we try to keep it for people and, you know, all of that. Yeah, I think, and there's another one person mentioned there, I think, Brendan Behan. I think if you mention anything about Brendan Behan, it will certainly give them a smile and sort of lighten the tone a lot. Oh, yes, absolutely. In fact, I was down there yesterday at noon, and there were three pints of Guinness left on his grave. So that's a tradition that people have for him. Yeah, I heard that before, yeah. But now, we've talked about all the men that are there, but another important aspect of Glasnevin is the Women in History tour. Tell us about that, Elton. Yeah, so the Women in History tour, that's one of our more popular ones now. There are now the other tours as well. It's always booked out, which is great to see. It's on the last Sunday of every month. And so I did mention Countess Markievicz there. Now, she actually, funnily enough, you know, today is the anniversary of her burial here in Glasnevin. Oh, I didn't know that, yeah. In 1927, so that's when the Countess was buried. Oh. So she, of course, is very much a figure in the revolutionary movement. She fought alongside the men during the Easter Rising, and she was actually sentenced to death for her involvement in it. But ultimately, she wasn't there. And it wasn't for a big political reason. It was simply because she was a woman. And when she found out that that was the only reason why she wasn't to be executed, she was actually outraged. And she marched up to the British forces, and she said to them, I do wish you lot had the decency to shoot me. Because she fought just as hard as anyone else, and of course, given a different treatment. Apart, you know, the Countess is a very famous woman. Maud Gonne McBride. Maud Gonne, she was, you know. Conor McBride, yeah, that's right. That's right, yeah. WBS, of course, famously, Maud Gonne was his muse. She always refused him, though, when he proposed marriage. Five times, I reckon, she proposed marriage to Maud Gonne, but she always refused him. Yeah, who was that? WBS. Sorry, you're breaking up a little, Alton. Are you moving now? Sorry. Sorry, can you hear me now? Yeah, I can hear you now again. Sorry. Sorry. I'm just getting bits of the word. Yeah, WBS, he was madly in love with Maud Gonne, of course, but she always refused him. She said that the world should thank me, and that, you know, she was saying that, you know, poets should never marry, and that she would be depriving the world of his beautiful poetry if she married him. Ah, those were her excuses, yeah. Yeah, those were her excuses, all right. So, listen, Alton, I mean, we could talk about it all day, but unfortunately everything here is on a time scale, so can you just tell us, you know, to book all these tours or whatever, who do we go to? Is there a website for further information, or a phone book, or a phone number, or what? Oh, yeah, so whatever would suit people really. Yeah. I did tours, and I'd always recommend going on to our website, and you can even just Google Glasnevin Cemetery Tours, and our website is the person that comes up. So I just recommend booking for tours, because usually for the Tower, people can just come in whenever they like, and they can come up to the visitor centre here in Glasnevin and buy their tickets over the phone, or they can come in and buy them over the desk as well. And there are a number, by the way, to book over the phone. 0-1-882-6550. 0-1-882-6550. That's it. 0-1-882-6550. That's it. And then, of course, you're on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of that. Oh, yeah. If you just Google Glasnevin Cemetery, and you'll get it out. And the Tower tours and all of that is all on there. Absolutely, exactly. Yeah, it's all on there. Yeah, it is indeed. Alton Morton, Heritage Officer with the Dublin Cemetery Trust that you work with, thank you so much indeed for joining us today on the tourism programme on Connemara Community Radio. We have been really informed of everything that is to be seen, heard, and learned about in Glasnevin Cemetery and the Daniel O'Connell Tower. So, thank you indeed for joining us. Thank you very much. My pleasure, Carmel. Thank you. And bye-bye for today. That's it for this evening, listeners. Thank you indeed to all my guests. I hope you found the programme interesting, that there's lots of information there for everybody. And again, a reminder, go out and see what's on in your area and support it, and be sure and tell all your visitors about it. They don't know unless you give them the little bit of time to tell them. So, tell everybody what's on. It makes an awful lot of satisfaction for the volunteers who go out and organise all of this stuff. Thank you to James on the desk and to Karen who did all the research. Until I talk to you again, same time next Thursday, slán agus beannachtaibh go raibh maith agat. This programme was kindly sponsored by Letterfrack Country Shop, 095 018 50.