A busy Sunday morning in Boyle
This Sunday, the annual Curlieu Wheelers organised Lough Key Classic cycling sportive takes place once again in Boyle. Last year the cycle was crowned the ‘Sportive of the Year 2022’ by Connacht Cycling. Such is the esteem in in which the event is held by the cycling community, that the organisers anticipate an entry of over 200 cyclists who will participate in the 120k and 70k distances which take in a figure eight route around Boyle. This route facilitates a mid cycle food stop in the grounds of King House which will be at it’s busiest between 11am and 12 noon. In addition, over 60 marshals, Gardai, medical backup and catering crew will be in attendance on the day to ensure the smooth running of the sportive. The event HQ is in the Sports Complex where riders will commence and finish. If you are attending 11.30am Mass on Sunday and entering or exiting from the Abbeytown side, please be aware of cyclists on that section of roadway and also all around the town and area from 9am until approximately 3pm. In addition, please ensure your dog is not roaming free around the route which you can see here
A sight to behold in Boyle
Well done to the organisers of Boyle Darkness into Light last Saturday morning. The sight of nearly 600 participants walking down the Crescent at 4.15am on a dark, still morning was a sight to behold and thankfully Boyletoday.com was on hand to capture images of the crowd. Despite music beating out in the background before the start, it was a poignant event made more so by the amount of people in attendance holding tight, personal keep sakes of family members who lost their lives to suicide.
The event would not have been possible without the hard work of the organising committee and the large number of people who marshaled the route, put out jars with candles in them and brought refreshments to St. Joseph’s Hall after the event. And not forgetting our local Gardai with Community Policing Sergeant Deirdre Coleman leading out the event on her bicycle.
A few viewers have asked why Boyletoday.com did not attend in St. Joseph’s Hall to take photographs of the participants, despite being at the event. It has always been out policy to take general photographs only at Darkness into Light and not individual photographs of participants, who most likely have just got out of bed for a walk to raise funds for suicide prevention, and not to pose for photographs which was probably the last thing on their mind!
Boyle FRC is one of our many great assets
The blog has often spoke of the great asset the Family Resource Centre is to the town of Boyle. The Centre supports and enrich family life in its diverse forms along with affirming the value and uniqueness of each human being irrespective of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability or race. The Boyle Centre is recognised as one of the leading FRC’s in the country with it’s Manager Louise Moran the current Chairperson of the Family Resource Centre National Forum. In her capacity as Chairperson, Louise confidentially addressed a large gathering on Tuesday at the Forum’s 25th celebrations in the Mansion House in Dublin. Louise also launched the Forum’s Annual Report. Boyle FRC’s newest staff member Aine Cosgrove kept the Boyle flag flying reading correspondence from President Michael D Higgins. As a Gáeilgeoir, Áine was more than qualified to read some of the correspondence as Gaeilge. Well done to all.
Last minute road closure notices
On Wednesday last Roscommon County Council published a notice on their website to say that they intended to close a number of roads around the Boyle area on the same day as the closure notice was published! One wonders why the local authority could not have provided some more advance notice of the closures. Indeed, chances are members of the public would not have been aware of the closures if this website did not see the notice and publish it on Boyletoday Facebook page. For reference, the roads that are closed for one week are: L10136 Tintagh- No Diversions Required. L1008 Derreenine- Diversions via R285 AND L5026. Cartron, L10323 Erris- No Diversions Required. L1021 Kiltycreighton- Diversions via R294 and Carrigeenagowna.
And while on the subject of road closures, the temporary Road Closure on N5 in Tulsk to junction with R361 Greatmeadow (Boyle) has been extended by 2 weeks until 26th May 2023
Snippets from around Boyle
Great idea by King House Tea Rooms who commence their first ‘Sunday Brunch’ music session this Sunday with jazz musician Phil Robson………The first meeting of the Ballinameen/Elphin Women’s Shed Group will be held next Wednesday (17th) at 8.30pm in Elphin Community Hall………Boyle’s Lough Key Forest Park got a great 2 page spread in last weekend’s Mail on Sunday newspaper which featured details of all the Park has on offer for those attending the upcoming Night and Day Festival………..An iconic landmark in Boyle is ‘Sloan’s on Main Street’. This year the highly respected business celebrates it’s 160th year and 2023 marks 35 years since Tom and Theresa Cunningham purchased and re-opened Sloans……..The National Treasury Asset Agency has confirmed that there is currently €33,737 in unclaimed prize bonds circulating in County Roscommon,. time to check those tickets you got as a present many years ago………Well done to Buffalo Boy in Carrick on Shannon, where there are strong Boyle connections – for being named best Steakhouse in Connacht 2023 by YesChef at an awards ceremony this week….. Roscommon Solstice Choir are performing in St. Michael’s Church, Cootehall tonight (Friday) at 8pm……..It’s great to see a new business opening on Main Street in Boyle. Greenrock Convenience Store will soon open in Cuirt na Ri building……..A viewer in Boyle has asked us to make the public aware of yet another scam doing the rounds. People are being contacted, allegedly by ‘ElectricIreland’ (This is the give away – no space between the words!) informing them “Your last payment didn’t go through. To avoid disconnection visit electricireland-service.com to update your account”. This is a scam so if you receive a similar message, please do not do as instructed.
And finally….!
A man had two of the best tickets for the All Ireland Final.
As he sits down, another man comes along and asks if anyone is sitting in the seat next to him.
“No”, he says, “the seat is empty.”
“This is incredible!” said the man, “who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the All Ireland, one of the biggest sporting event of the year, and not use it?”
He says, “Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. My wife was supposed to come with me, but she passed away. This is the first Final we haven’t been to together since we got married.”
“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that. That’s terrible. I guess you couldn’t find someone else, a friend or relative or even a neighbour to take the seat?”
The man shakes his head…
….”No. They’re all at the funeral.”
