Hello and welcome
to this week’s edition of Ireland’s Own

In this week’s cover story we are delighted to take you back to the 1960s, to a time when Ireland’s first boy band took the entertainment scene by storm. Henry Wymbs chats to Dec Cluskey of The Bachelors, officially recognised as Ireland’s first ‘boy band’ and the first Irish group to top the UK charts, who then went on to achieve international stardom.

Pauline Murphy marks the centenary of the death of Fenian and New York Supreme Court Judge John Goff in November, 1924. In ‘Remembering Niall Tóibín’, Sheila O’Kelly fondly remembers the famous comedian and actor who was born and died in the month of November. In her ‘Irish Myths and Legends’. Gemma Grant brings us part two of her four-part story, Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Drinking Horn of Death.

Con McGrath returns with his ‘Role of the Irish in WW2’ series, this week telling the story of Cork-born Major Mervyn Dennison, who was awarded the Military Cross at Arnhem. In ‘The Ballad Sheet’, Eugene Dunphy tells how a ballad from Ulster achieved international success, Maid of the Sweet Brown Knowe.

Francis K. Beirne brings us more fun from the heydey of the showband scene as he recalls some of the band members who pursued successful alternative careers. In ‘The Pacifist Patriot’, Harry Warren recalls one of the more tragic civilian casualties resulting from the Easter Rising, the murder in military custody of Francis Sheehy Skeffington.

Our original short story is ‘Buried Treasure’ by Catherine Mezzacappa. The GAA Year of 1998 is reviewed by Aidan Grennan. In ‘The Witness Statements: Stalwart of the Dublin Brigade – Part 1’, Eamonn Duggan continues his examination of the statement by Frank Henderson to the Bureau of Military History.

We have all this for you to enjoy alongside regular favourites such as Cassidy Says, Stranger Than Fiction, What’s In A Name?, Dan Conway, Pete’s Pets. Marjorie’s Kitchen, Song Words, Classic Films – The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Reflective Perspective, Irish Folklore with Eugene Daly, Readers’ Memories, Classic US TV Favourites – Cowboy In Africa, Waterways of Ireland – Park Canal, Limerick, Lilt of Irish Laughter, Pen Friends, Irish Wildlife – Fin Whale plus much more.

I hope that you enjoy this week’s issue and I will look forward to catching up with you all again next week, all being well.

 Best wishes, Seán Nolan, Editor, Ireland’s Own