Youghal Arts Network have put together a varied programme of events for Youghal  for the summer months, and all have been very successful to date.   On Friday night last, a most unusual ‘Beach Party’ was organised for the Marine Hotel, and Youghal Arts Network nominated the Temple Street Children’s Hospital as the recipients of monies raised.
Denise FitzGerald Reports – Picture/Graphic Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

To coincide with the name of the event, Shorts and Shades, the rain poured out of the heavens on Friday night.   East Cork Journal went along to the Marine Bar to suss things out, and made a dash through the torrential downpour to the open doors of the hotel.   Ricky Devereaux was waiting at the door with a big smile of welcome on her face.   Amidst the jollity and merriment emanating from the bar area Ricky, who has been happily living in Youghal for the past 6/7 years, told how she was entered for the New York Marathon due to take place on November 1st next and will be running for the Temple Street Children’s Hospital.   This will be Ricky’s third marathon, the first being the Dublin Marathon, with monies to the Children’s Leukaemia Fund Cork Mercy Hospital.   The second was the Cork Marathon and Ricky donated all proceeds to the Cork Daisy Chain Foundation, which provides respite care for families with children with disabilities.

Ricky Devereaux is a kind, caring person who likes to run.   She combines her hobby with her efforts to help others in need, and is lucky that her partner, Stephen, is of like mind.  Stephen will be running the Dublin Marathon on the October Bank Holiday Monday, after which he and Ricky will be departing for the big New York run.

Well done to the Youghal Arts Network for organising such an innovative fundraising event for Ricky and the Temple Street Children’s Hospital.   The rain lashing down did not in any way dampen the spirits of those who came along to support this event, and Ricky told East Cork Journal that she is very grateful to all for their support.

For anyone who may wish to donate, please log onto http://www.mycharity.ie/event/richella_ryans_event/ Good luck with your Marathon, Ricky.   We know you will run your best for the Children of Temple Street Hospital.
Click on image to see who was at the party

Youghal based artist Martha Cashman looking forward to the exhibition which will feature her work at the National Botanic Gardens in September. Report/Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Sculpture in Context 2009 will showcase Ireland’s finest sculpture by leading Irish and international artists at the National Botanic Gardens in September. The grounds of the National Botanic Gardens, a stunning haven of peace and tranquility, have been home to this unique exhibition for the past seven years.  Over one hundred sculptures in a large range of materials will be displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great Palm House, and Curvilinear Range, with the smaller works exhibited in the gallery above the visitors’ centre.

Sculpture in Context was established in 1985 by sculptors whose aim was to work on behalf of fellow sculptors to provide space for exhibiting work of sculptors in venues outside of the normal gallery context. It has been successful in that aim over the years and has staged highly acclaimed shows each year at venues such as Fernhill Gardens, the Conrad Hotel, Kilmainham Gaol, the Irish Management Institute, Dublin Castle, Farmleigh House and the National Botanic Gardens. Each year a different panel of selectors is invited to adjudicate this open exhibition, leading to an exciting mix of mediums and styles.
Participating Artists this year include Susan Cuffe, Cliodna Cussen, Seamus Gill, Katy Goodhue, Leo Higgins, Noel Hoare, Petr Holecek, Pieter Koning, Frances Lambe, Sonja Landweer, Liz Nilsson, Isabelle Peyrat, Fred Rochford, Mark Ryan,  Bob Quinn, Deirdre Rogers, Martha Cashman and Alex Scott.
This year Daria Chapkovskaya, Senior Art Lecturer in Moscow State University will present a lecture on Russian Art: Contemporary Russian Art from Conceptualism of the Sixties to Present Day Movements, which will be held on Wednesday 9th September at 3pm, in the Auditorium at the gardens.

The National Botanic Gardens are located 3 Kilometres North of Dublin city centre, 10 minutes by bus from O’Connell Street (Nos.13 and 19)
Hours:
Monday to Sunday 9am – 6pm

Admission Free,
Car Park €2
For further information please contact:
Ana Duncan
Sculpture in Context, PO Box 10054, Dublin 16
Tel:       087 6258258
email:  info@scullptureincontext.com

The Walter Raleigh Hotel – Entertainment schedule for August 2009
Contact the hotel on 024  92011 info@walterraleighhotel.com

Blood Transfusion Clinic
Monday 17th   5-8pm   &
Tuesday 18th August   3-5pm & 7-9pm
NOTE: different times each day

Community Radio Youghal
Music with Paddy O’Brien Band
Friday 21st…doors open at 9.15pm

Hotel Walter Disco
Friday 28th August
ID required

Don’t miss out on your favourite Sporting Games
Sky Sports shown, Beer Garden,
Large 7’ x 4’ Pool Table & Games Room
Extensive Bar Food Menu

“Sir Walter Raleigh”
Famous for bringing the potato and tobacco to Ireland
View photos and his life’s history around the Walter Raleigh Hotel Reception Area & Bar

Walter Bar Music
Starts 10.00pm approx. every Saturday night…great nights assured!

Saturday 15th August Phantom Sound

Saturday 22nd August Batty

Saturday 29th Phantom Sound

Saturday 5th September  Batty

Contact the hotel on 024  92011
info@walterraleighhotel.com

A successful night of pub entertainment spun on a novel axis at the Gate in Youghal when the venue delivered an inaugural open mic night. Amongst a variety of performers who emerged to display their talents were singer/guitarists, a burgeoning stand-up comic and a young female san-nos singer. Not least innovative amongst the unexpected turns was a gentleman called Mohammed, who commandeered the jukebox and pool table to display his claim to be Michael Jackson’s natural successor! By Youghalonline.com reporter

Dungarvan Observer writer Christy Parker mc’d the occasion amidst contributions from his self-penned poetry and verse collection. Three members of Cork’s O’Bheal poetry group also flavoured the occasion, while local musician Dave Scully skilfully wove tunes to link the performances. Another open mic night is intended later this month.

Click on gallery

Much has been said and written about Ireland’s and Munster’s achievements at international rugby in recent years. Widely unheralded has been the part played by a Youghal man amidst the good, the bad and the glory of both sides. David Revins has been physical therapist to Munster and Ireland for the past six years. It’s a role that has brought the boy who first learned to catch a ball on Youghal waste ground on a proud and fulfilling journey to the world’s finest sporting arenas. En route he has rubbed shoulders with and of, Irish rugby’s most legendary names. By Christy Parker-Picture courtesy www.irishrugby.ie

At 52, David is the eldest of three boys and three girls born to the late Sammy and Philomena (Meena) Revins of Cork Hill. The family moved to Raheen Park when he was 17. Meanwhile David had attended Youghal CBS before enrolling at the old VEC technical school. Subsequent employment brought him brief stints at Murray Kitchens, Blackwater Cottons and Seafield Fabrics, followed by a short but enjoyable apprenticeship as a fitters mate to his father during periods when Sammy was not abroad on oil rigs.

In 1977 David downed tools for employment as a care assistant at Cork’s Sarfield’s Court Psychiatric Centre. ‘In those days getting a good job could depend on whom you knew,’ he smiles. He remained in the psychiatric care profession until his parallel career in physical care surpassed his expectations in recent years.

Having approached through the pathway of sport, he was to pedal his way into physical therapy through an unexpected gateway. As a teenager he had starred as a goalkeeper and corner back for Youghal GAA football and hurling teams respectively. He collected East Cork and County medals up to Under-21 level and also net-minded for the local soccer side. Rugby, he recalls, was limited to a short dalliance as a child before the GAA clutched him to its proud bosom. Then, for some reason, Revins the adolescent got on his bike. He raced for the Youghal Cycling Club. ‘We had great cyclists like Tom Fitzgerald, Pierce Hennessy Snr. and Dennis McCarthy,’ he muses nostalgically.

One day, the club wanted someone to attend a masseur course in Cork that was being orchestrated by two of the country’s top exponents. Amidst a general reluctance, David entered the breach. ‘I loved it. I was hooked,’ he says. He subsequently progressed onto massage, reflexology and sports injuries studies, before culminating in a Physical Therapist qualification at the Natural Healing Centre in Cork.

In cycling parlance he has been freewheeling since. As he hones his skills on family and friends, he got better -as indeed did they! He converted his home garage in Glanmire to ‘The Natural Therapy Clinic’ and built up a vibrant practice. He recalls an elderly woman whom he treated informing him that, ‘God has given you gifted hands.’ He concurs somewhat, believing this was a calling in waiting throughout his life. ‘I do think I am doing what I was meant to be doing,’ he affirms.

Youghal GAA would recall him and he spent the early years of this decade providing therapy service to the club. In 2003 Irish international sailor Maria Coleman recruited him to Sardinia where he assisted her participation in the World Championships and her preparations for the Olympics.

Then one day another girl arrived for treatment at his clinic. She was a friend of the Munster rugby team’s physiotherapist. Under Alan Gaffney, ‘they were looking for masseurs and physical therapists and she recommended me,’ David recalls. He went on trial with six others. The likes of Ronan O’Gara went from appearing on his television to knocking on his door. Suffice to say David Revins subsequently became official Physical Therapist to the Munster rugby team. His life was about to change be enhanced dramatically.

Suddenly the Youghal man’s fear of flying had to take a back seat as journeys to Britain and mainland Europe formed part of his working schedule. ‘That’s not to say Peter Stringer doesn’t still scare the sh** out of me by shaking the daylights out of my seat on take-offs!’ he laughs.

His duties with the players include their regular visits to his clinic amidst the high-octave sojourns abroad. Its not, he insists, all fun. ‘Far from it. You arrive at a hotel and, because the players may be stiff and sore from travelling, you start treating them before you even get to throw your bags into your room. Afterwards, it’s home and up early next morning to treat the injuries picked up during the game. ‘Generally speaking I usually work from the 10 in the morning to 7 at night,’ he elaborates. A non-drinker or smoker, he enjoys mild social interaction with the players while reflecting that, ‘the entire camp is like one big family. Everyone made is made feel an equal part of it..’

In 2005, on the recommendation of senior players, he was appointed equivalently to the national team. Suddenly Youghal had two men in the line out! ‘I remember Eddie O’Sullivan coming up to me at a meeting and not recognising me at first,’ says the shaven-headed physio, ‘although we had known each other well growing up in Youghal.’

Ireland’s calling comes at a different pitch to that of Munster’s. ‘I can be away for up to two months at a time,’ he says, ‘plus a lot of brief training camps and so on.’ Amongst his initial experiences with Ireland was the ill-fated World Cup campaign in France in 2006. He recalls a ‘fairly gloomy’ atmosphere as disaster unfolded and attributes much of the failure to inadequate pre-tournament preparation and ‘being located in a Bordeaux industrial estate for four weeks.’ On a lighter note, he had the rare experience of being mistaken for Peter Stringer by an Irish woman seeking his autograph at a French airport!

Since the World Cup plummet, he has been carried exultantly on the wings of Ireland’s revitalisation. Unsurprisingly, he cites last seasons Grand Slam as the pinnacle of fulfilment in that camp. Alongside that, there is his obvious excitement at having ‘travelled the world’ with the team. With almost boyish joy, he reels off the destinations, ‘Australia, New Zealand, France, Portugal, Argentina…..’ Yeah and Wales too!

For all that, one senses a slightly softer touch for Munster. ‘Maybe. I’ve been with them longer and they are probably a little more of a tight unit,’ he concedes. Nothing bonds like success and he places the 2006 and 2008 Heineken Cup winds as copper-fastening team identity and pinnacles of his life.

It is tempting to argue that viewed from beyond that life, the career of a professional sports player is one of over-pampered indulgence. ‘Not in rugby anyway,’ he counters. ‘It is a very tough and demanding sport. The players have to be constantly high-tuned because there is always someone waiting in the wings to take tour place.  They are treated as is necessary.’

Neither, by his testimony, do the top players exude grandeur. ‘Not at all. At another level they have to operate as human being like the rest of us. They pay bills, keep appointments and so on. They are all basically well-grounded, ordinary people off the field. I certainly treat them as such, in every regard. They also tend to be conscious of their roots and they often give time to their home towns.’

Off the field, David Revins has many other ordinary people to treat in his life. A thoughtful, intelligent individual who is reluctant at self-promotion, he reveals an insight into health care that only experience can garner. ‘A lot of non-sports people especially, who come to me, want to talk. They have problems in their lives that have become manifest physically. So many start to feel better simply after having someone listen to them.’ He proceeds, ‘I was always worried about my health, where aches were coming from and so on. I’d attend doctors but eventually through self-help books I learned that so much of it was about understanding myself.’

As a listener, David reflects on a time in his life when there were very few ears to hear his own cries and the memories have been signposts on his road to success. He explains, with an admirable dearth of rancour: ‘When I was at school, I was unaware I was dyslexic. So were the teachers. I would cry into my books at night and get leathered in school for being a failure. I was told I would be useless and never succeed in life. It makes me feel very fulfilled today to have proved people wrong and it makes me realise how important it is to listen.’ As a young adult, and officially diagnosed as dyslexic, he returned to education and acquire the basic qualifications denied him. He remains, he adds, ‘somewhat dyslexic.’

Though admirably self-achieving, he repeatedly pays tribute to the roles of his wife and family in his success. He met wife Catherine, from Watergrashill, in the Hilltop Hotel in Youghal, through her friendship with Marion Doyle (nee O’Connell) of Colin and JD’s. It was a long time ago. Married 29 years this August, they have three children ‘Ciara 24, Ian 21 and Aoife 16.  ‘I am absolutely blessed with them,’ he states.

It was the solidity of his wife and family that saw him turn personal uncertainties that could have sabotaged his life, into positive outcomes. ‘I was unsure of lots of things in my life, including establishing my clinic. But I could not have had better support or encouragement than they gave me,’ he stresses. ‘I owe my family so much.’

The other great love in his life is Youghal. ‘I’ve lived in Cork for over 30 years but I always say I’m from Youghal,’ he vows. ‘I come down here most weekends and I just love the beach. It will always be home and I’m presently contemplating getting a small holding here.’

The shortest paragraph in the David Revins story centres on ‘bad memories as a rugby physical therapist’. ‘None’, he says pointedly. Inquiries as to the future elicit a slightly longer retort: ‘Just to keep doing this as long as I can.’ Munster and Ireland rugby fans will hope for a lengthy period of extra time.

David Revins, The Natural Therapy Clinic Glanmire is on (021) 4822258; 087-2835322

A feasibility study into the potential for Youghal’s Clock Gate suggests it should be adapted for multi-purpose uses. The study, conducted by consultants KPMG for the Heritage Council (of Ireland), in conjunction with the Irish Walled Towns Network, suggests the listed building’s four floors be utilised for disparate purposes as follows:
Report: Christy Parker – Photo: Kieran McCarthy www.youghalonline.com

Floor 1: Interpretive heritage centre
Floor 2: Display of local crafts and wares
Floor 3: Recreation of original tower use as a jail
Floor 4: Virtual observation desk
The roof was deemed a commercially unviable due to the bell tower limiting safe access space to only 2-3 people.

Read more

RedTV.ie presents: The Grip – The Reunion Gig
It’s been over 18 years since these local musicians have performed together. Back in the early 90′s The Grip were a hugely popular band with a unique style, covering popular classics while making them their own.

A lot of sweat and convincing brings them back together for this one off event!

The line up is as follows:
Jason Byrne – Keyboards/Vocals
Paul McCarthy – Lead Guitar/Vocals
Brendan Clohessy – Bass Guitar
Kieran McCarthy – Drums
& guest vocalist John Davis aka Johnny Blue

Venue: Youghal Rugby Football Club Pavilion

Date: Saturday, August 22nd 2009

Time: 10:30pm till late

Admission: €7

Please support local live music!

Both of these short pieces will be performed on the two nights at Bru na Si, Youghal on the 11th and 12th of August. Tickets are €8 and are available from Cree’s Card Shop at 024 93899 or on the door. Refreshments will be served at the interval!
This is a two night only event so book now to avoid disappointment!

Two one act plays will be performed in Youghal this month. The first piece is the well known and much loved ‘First Confession’ by Cork man, the late Frank O’ Connor.
Picture Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

First Confession was to be recited by Mark O Shaughnessy. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, Mark is unable to perform the part of Jackie in First Confession. The part will now be played by Cork actor Brian Fenton. Brian, 20, trains at the Cork Arts Studio & Montfort College and recently received his Gold Medal in Acting from LAMDA. His recent work in theatre includes Michael Collins (Cork Opera House & Olympia Theatre, Dublin); Maximilian in Candide (Cork Opera House); Jordan in the recent critical sensation I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Cork Arts Theatre & Half Moon); Ulrika’s Servant in The Masked Ball (Cork Opera House & UCH Limerick); Thenardier in Les Miserables (Cork Opera House); David in Anne Frank and Me (Cork Arts Theatre); Dave Moss in Glengarry Glen Ross (Granary); James Joyce in James Joyce: A Dubliner In Cork, Charlie Bates in Oliver! (Everyman). Brian has been awarded numerous bursaries from Feis Maitiu Corcaigh. Aside from acting, Brian recently directed Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train for the Granary Theatre to great critical acclaim. The play subsequently toured to the Millenium Theatre, Limerick, where it received an ISDA award. Radio: Shamey in Series 1 of  ‘The Malleys’  (c103FM), which is to be aired from September 2009. Film: Becoming Jane, Three’s A Crowd; So That’s The Way It Is? Girl in the Golden Dress.

The second piece is the Irish Premiere of ‘Still Life’, written by Danusia Iwaszko and performed by well known Youghal performer Ruth Hayes. Ruth trained with the Montfort College of Performing Arts and received Bronze medal in Acting from LAMDA.  Ruth has appeared on the Youghal stage many times playing such roles as Eliza Doolittle in the Youghal Musical Society’s production of Read more

The Youghal Greyhound Track played host to a most glamorous and unique evening, the likes of which has never before been seen by anybody in Youghal, and an evening which delighted every punter who was lucky enough to be in Youghal Greyhound Track on the night.
Denise FitzGerald Reports – Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Anne Power, RIP, is known the length and breadth of every Greyhound Track in Ireland for her service to Bord na gCon for many years.   Her efficiency, knowledge and courtesy were her trademarks for 48years of service to Youghal Greyhound Track, and she will long be remembered by many.
Anne’s daughter, Finola Collins, who is now carrying on her mother’s work in Youghal Track, organised a Best Dressed Lady night in memory of the late Anne, on the occasion of her first Anniversary and the event also coincided with the running of the Hondo Black Southern Oak Stake which, coincidentally, is an all lady dog race.   Anne Power herself was a marvellous organiser, and her talents have most certainly been passed on to Read more

Excitement is beginning to mount as the countdown begins to the country’s largest Free Medieval Festival in Greenpark, Youghal on Sunday 23rd August 2009.  Events are planned to coincide with The Irish Walled Towns Network celebrations of National Heritage Week.

‘This event is all about bringing Heritage to Life.  Once again this is a free event, and we have worked at producing what we believe will be the biggest and best festival to date, said Catherine Desmond of the organising committee.   “The Medieval Quarter” will feature archery displays, medieval re-enactments, medieval cookery displays, and we Read more