Large variance in property price sales in Boyle
A glance at the Property Price Register shows that 113 residential properties sold in the general Boyle area between January and December 2023. The highest price paid was €836,200 in November for a “second hand dwelling house/apartment” in the Knockvicar area, while the lowest transaction was for €30,000 in August for a “second hand dwelling house/apartment” in Croghan and another €30,000 sale in October near Corrigeenroe. Closer to Boyle town, the lowest transaction was for €45,000 for a “second hand dwelling house/apartment’ in the town centre and the highest was €300,000 in July for a ‘second hand house/apartment’ just on the outskirts of town. The Register is compiled from data which is filed, for stamp duty purposes, with the Revenue Commissioners.
The Dinner Dance Scene in Boyle
The social scene in Boyle was a busy one in the months of January and February in the ’70’s/’80’s and ’90’s. During these months, the majority of Friday and Saturday nights were taken up by many attending local Dinner Dances. Held in either the Royal Hotel or the Forest Park Hotel, they were always enjoyable nights out. You had the Garda Dinner Dance, the Vintners Dinner Dance, Emmet Tyres Dinner Dance, the Town Commissioners Dinner Dance, the Chamber Dinner Dance, GAA and Soccer Dinner Dances and then nearly every business in Boyle had their own Dinner Dance – Nire, Candons, Feelys to name but a few. Looking back, the Garda and Vintners Dinner Dances were the among the most memorable for many. In the case of the Garda dance, businesses, especially those in the licensed trade, dropped bottles of spirits into the station in advance (for spot prizes of course). On dance night law abiding, and those not so law abiding, mixed with the legal profession and the men and women in blue in a night of celebration that continued into the small hours. In the case of the Vintners, the tables turned and the off duty Gardaí were out in force on the dance floor returning the compliment to the publicans of the town! The day after the Vintners dance was one of legend for many involved in the organistation of the event, as it provided a good excuse for some of the organising committee to have “the bills paid” and in reality, start the celebrations all over again! Some said the next day was better than the night before! All gone now, into distant but happy memories.
Time to plan your St. Patrick’s Day Float
With the decorations now firmly packed away and the Christmas Tree in the recycling depot (or the bottom of the garden!), thoughts move to St Patrick’s Day and our annual parade. This year St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday with Monday being the bank holiday. This will make for a long weekend for many. Now is the time to start planning your St. Patrick’s Day float. Our parade is only as good as the floats that participate and if it is to build on the success of other years, then total community involvement is required. More details of the parade will be available shortly.
Local businesses need our support
In the run up to Christmas there were calls, left, right and centre to shop local and support the small business, but now with Christmas a distant memory, one could contend that shopping local is more important at this time of year than it was in December. January is traditionally a quiet month as the bills for the Christmas shopping arrive and the January pay packed is awaited. Add to this the cold weather of late, which has seen trade drop off all over the country and you will see why we need to support our local shops now more than ever. So this weekend, and for the rest of January, why not make a special effort to support the shops, bars, restaurants and businesses in Boyle.
parkwalk on Saturday mornings
A novel new idea from the organisers of the hugely popular Saturday morning parkrun in Boyle’s Lough Key Forest Park: “We all LOVE parkrun but the clue is not really in the title as you’ve always been able to walk at parkrun. Lots of people have been reluctant to join us over the years because they can’t run yet or will never run (for many reasons, the simplest being they’d rather walk!) but that’s the beauty of it – you don’t have to run – you can WALK! We have 5 people this week who will be tail walking and park walking volunteers. They’re just lovely parkrunners who are up for a walk and a chat… would you like to go for a walk and a chat? Or just go for a walk without talking, they can do that too! So whether you want a chat or some solitude in the forest, come and join us Saturday morning at 9.15am and see what it’s all about. We know all the GAA clubs are doing the ‘Every Step Counts’ challenge so come and join us and get at least 6000 steps in. And remember, no body comes last! We have tail walkers to do that”.
News snippets from around Boyle
Isn’t it brilliant to see the lights on in what were previously three derelict buildings on the Crescent that are now home to progressive local company Procloud…………A number of people have been in touch with us to outline the problems they had once again over Christmas in Boyle getting a late night Taxi and Hackney. One person suggested the Government should act on the suggestion by a Fine Gael Senator in Tipperary that the National Transport Authority need to allow Uber to operate in rural Ireland…………Now is the time for a new committee to form and start immediately fund raising for the 2024 Christmas Lights and associated visit of Santa. If a call went in this early, Boyle might even be able to have a visit from the Coca Cola Christmas Truck which would be a massive coup. Interestingly, the final figure as of yesterday (Thursday) for the Boyle Christmas Lights appeal on GoFundMe was €7423 – €2600 short of the required figure………..Media releases carried here on Boyletoday.com concerning tragic events around Boyle in recent weeks all request people with information to contact Castlerea Garda Station. What a shame this is the situation when we have a modern Garda station in our town. It goes yet again to prove we need longer opening hours and more Gardai attached to Boyle Station…………Boyle Film Club are launching their first Season Film Programme with a FREE film event next Friday 19th January. The film will be “The Sapphires” ( 2012) rated PG, starring Boyle’s own Chris O’Dowd. Venue is Boyle Family Resource Centre and doors open at 7:30 pm…………A viewer has requested us to ask “Is anyone else having issues with the 3 mobile network in the Boyle area for several weeks now? E.g. no coverage, missing calls, calls not connecting. Have you been able to resolve it?”.
And finally….!
The career Naval Chief Petty Officer had one more task to complete before he could finally retire after being in the service since he was 17: his discharge medical exam.
The doctor gave him a thorough going over and was impressed. “You’re in excellent health,” he told the over-the-hill seaman. “Except one thing.”
“What’s that?” the CPO asked, looking a little nervous.
“You seem extraordinarily tense. We ruled out medical problems in the exam,” the doctor said, cautiously trying to probe the man’s psyche, “but I’ll have a guess: when was the last time you had sexual relations?”
“1945, Sir” came the reply.
“Well that just has to be it, then!” the astounded medic exclaimed.
“I don’t know why you’d think so, doc,” the CPO said, glancing at his watch. “Sure it’s only 0845 now….”
