Blogs

At approximately 1am on the morning of 8th January 1979 a huge explosion rocked the surrounds and lit the winter skies of Bantry Bay  (Irish: Cuan Baoi ) in the south-west of Ireland. On January 4th, 1979, the 121,000 tonne oil tanker Betelgeuse, which was owned by French company Total SA, had arrived in Bantry Bay from Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf with a cargo of crude oil. On 6th January having berthed at the offshore jetty for the oil terminal at Widdy Island (Oileán Faoide), discharging the 114,000 tonnes of mixed Arabian crude oil began.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have rescued a rare black seal pup from the beach in Eyemouth in south-east Scotland. Eyemouth is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders (Scottish Gaelic: Crìochan na h-Alba).  The Scottish SPCA is an animal welfare charity, which responded to a call from a member of the public who discovered the pup on December 17 and they took her to their National Wildlife Centre in Fishcross.

The much loved, annual Mollag Ghennal, which has its roots in the Garden Room of the old Villa Marina, before the Mollag Band took over the baton from the Calor Gas Ceili Band in 1993, celebrated its twenty fifth anniversary during the festive season.

It has been announced that the excavation of a site at the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam in Co Galway is set to begin in the latter stages of 2019. The Tuam mother-and-baby home operated from 1925 to 1961 and was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Roman Catholic nuns, Unwed pregnant women were sent to the Home to give birth. It is thought that hundreds of babies are buried at the site after significant quantities of human remains were discovered there in 2016 and 2017.

It's a busy time for those keeping Manx traditions in the spotlight on the Isle of Man when St Stephen's Day (Boxing Day) dawns, with a surge of interest in events this year providing a welcome boost for the future of these important occasions.

Ireland is to open a consulate in Cardiff in summer 2019. Part of the reason is maintaining future ties after Brexit. It is anticipated that the Consulate General would have an economic and political focus. The consulate is seen as an important  part of Ireland's political and economic ties with Wales and sustaining those links after Britain leaves the European Union. Ireland is Wales’ fourth largest trading partner, with about 85 Irish companies with a presence in Wales, employing just over 5,500 people.

Illiam Dhone (14 April 1608 - 02 January 1663) also known as William Christian was a Manx politician and patriot. For his part in the Manx rising of 1651 he was executed by firing squad at Hango Hill in the Isle of Man on 2nd January 1663. Every year on 2nd January there is a commemoration held at Hango Hill, which is an ancient place of execution. The ceremony is jointly organised by Mec Vannin (the Manx Nationalist Party) and the Mannin Branch of the Celtic League.

Fishing baskets, thought to date back to the 14th Century have been discovered by two brothers walking on the Severn Estuary (Welsh: Môr Hafren), off the coast of Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) in south-east Wales. The baskets were uncovered by recent storms having been buried under silt and clay for hundreds of years. The four baskets were found by Martin and Richard Morgan, members of Black Rock Lave Net Fishermen group. Lave Net Fishing is a traditional method of fishing practised for thousands of years.

This new book, which charts the success of the revolutionary Cunningham's Young Men's Holiday Camp on the Island, is not only informative and revealing, but proves beyond doubt that the concept of the holiday camp began on the Isle of Man.

Celtic Connections festival will be on from 17th to 3rd February, 2019. Celtic Connections, which started in 1994 in the Scottish city of Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu) been held every January since then. Featuring concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international folk and world music artists. This years event will also feature Scotland’s links with the German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 – 1827).