'Ogham is older than Sean's bar'

Jean's Journal with Jean Farrell

Athlone is full of tourists these days, and they seem to assemble near The Docks area in town. The attractions here are the castle, the Viking boat and Sean’s Bar.

Sean’s Bar is famous for being ‘Ireland’s oldest pub,’ as you know.

The Bastion Gallery is nearby. I love this shop, which sells a selection of crafts, jewellery, books and souvenirs.

Some of the beautiful jewellery, on sale here, is inspired by the ancient Ogham alphabet. The owner of this shop, Katie McCay, designs and makes it herself.

A notice in the window amused me. It states that ‘Ogham is older than Sean’s Bar!’

I went into the shop to have a look around and to chat to Katie. We grew up on these streets together, so I know her well.

Katie informed me that Sean’s is only there since 900 AD. The Ogham alphabet dates from 400 AD.

Ogham is an early medieval alphabet which was used primarily to write the early Irish language. There are roughly 400 surviving inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland.

You can see the alphabet in the photograph, which I took that day, and an example of some of Katie’s work.

Do drop in if you happen to be passing or see her website at oghamtreasure.com. Her work is delicate, beautiful and very, very Irish.

Some readers’ comment. During the last year, the article that got the most response from readers was the piece I wrote about my brother, Paul. He, sadly, died as a result of being a drug addict. Many readers complimented me on being brave enough to write about it. All of them, from all classes of society, had their own stories of drug abuse to tell.

I wrote about processions recently. Readers enjoyed this. One woman told me that she was in Listowel, on the feast of Corpus Christi, a few weeks ago. A procession passed her, with ‘The full works’, she wrote. There were four men carrying a canopy, over a priest holding up a big golden monstrance. Lines of school children, some in their Communion outfits, followed behind, as well as many parishioners.

A reader, who was reared out in the country, was in touch. She said that I have been writing about the games my friends and I played on the streets, long ago, as well as exciting processions. She told me that they had none of these out in the country. “I was an only girl, with five much older brothers. There was no one to play with and no village nearby. I don’t remember any fun or processions, or indeed any distractions at all. Ye had a much happier childhood in town than I had.” Others who were reared in the country might disagree wholeheartedly.

I’m thinking of Alice Taylor, who wrote ‘To School Through The Fields.’ It’s an interesting point! (Personally, I’m very glad I was reared in town!)

A reader wrote to point out that things have changed so much in life because, “Religion used to be the opium of the people, now its football, Netflix and Instagram.”

This reminded me of a quote I’ve written previously.

“In all countries people start becoming less enthralled by religion once they have a stake in this world - rather than pinning all their hopes on the next.”

I wrote about the fact that our generation of mothers saw to it that their daughters went to secondary school. A male reader recalls an old uncle advising him that the women who makes the best wives are those, ‘who haven’t been ruined by education’.

Regarding women and education, it was not only the Catholic Church who considered that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote, a hundred years ago.

I wrote recently, that in 1909, a priest stated, “Allowing women to vote would fare ill with the passive, patience, meekness, forbearance and self-repression looked upon by the church as the special privilege of the female soul.”

In 1914, The New York Times published this quote from scientist William Sedgwick.

“Women should not vote because they were, quite literally, not made for it. Mental exertion could jeopardise reproductive health. Women could become infertile if they did too much thinking. No man would want to send his daughter, sister, or wife to college or the office—and certainly not to the ballot box.”

How did this scientist think that women were weak? He must never have met a nun!

I really really don’t mean to be returning to the theme of women’s lives again, but isn’t it very interesting to note just how much has changed in a mere 100 years. Thanks be to God it has!

When my two daughters were young, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the UK. I was very glad that they saw her, nightly, on television making important announcements and more. I feel that she was a great role model for them, as females.

This is my last column until September. However, my Jean’s Journal will continue during the summer months. I will be serialising ‘The Six Marys’ during July and August. ‘The Six Marys’ tells the story of six girls, called Mary, over six decades. I hope you enjoy reading about them, in each extract. I hope you will identify with much of what happened in their lives.

And I hope also, dear readers, that the sun shines on us all and that we have a drier summer than last year!