Latest news with #Fergus
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
August Bank Holiday in Kerry: Here's some of what's happening around the county next weekend
If we missed anything and you want it added in, email Fergus at Banna 10k/5k Run: All roads lead to Banna this coming August 3 when the annual Banna 5km/10km run – hosted by St Brendan'a Athletics Club (AC) in Ardfert – will take place. It's an event that is one of the club's main fundraisers and organisers have said in advance that they will be extremely grateful for any and all support they can get on the day. The route is relatively flat, perfect for those out there chasing those PB's and all finishers on the day will get a medal to take away with them. Tasty home treats will be available after the race and is enjoyed by all each year. The price of the event is as follows : - 10k - €23 (AAI Member) - 10k - €25 (Non AAI Member) - 5k - €15 (AAI Member) - 5k - €17 (Non AAI Member) - 5k - €9 (Student rate / Aged 13-19 yrs on day of event for AAI Members) - 5k - €11 (Student rate / Aged 13-19 yrs on day of event - Non AAI Members) Online registrations are available until the event sells out and walkers are also very welcome to take part The start of the 5k and 10k is 750m approximately from the Banna Sea Rescue. Register for the run through the link here: ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Ballylongford Oyster Festival From adrenaline-fuelled oyster-swallowing contests and welly-drag races to the ever-popular raft race launching from Saleen Pier, this year's Ballylongford Oyster Festival promises to be one of the most memorable in the event's 33-year history. The festivities will run from Friday, August 1 to Sunday, August 3, featuring a packed programme that also includes a sumptuous seafood buffet, bar staff races, and guided historic walks through the area's rich cultural landscape. With something for everyone, the 2025 festival is shaping up to be a highlight of the summer calendar. See the Ballylongford Oyster Festival Facebook page for all details. Sean McCarthy Festival, Finuge A weekend of storytelling, song and dance awaits anyone who heads out to Finuge this coming August Bank Holiday weekend where the annual and ever popular Sean McCarthy Memorial Festival will be taking place. Friday August 1 to Monday August 4 are the dates to mark in your calendar. Sean McCarthy was, of course, renowned as one of the best loved storytellers and songwriters that Kerry has ever seen and this event every succeeds in keeping his memory and legacy alive. Highlights over the weekend will include Meadhbh Walsh in concert at Teach Siamsa on the Friday night from 8.30pm onwards while the Junior Rambling House in the same location on Saturday from 1.30pm to 3pm should also be great craic. The Sunday will see the final of the Mick McCarthy storytelling competition taking place at 8pm in Teach Siamsa while there will be sessions galore at McCarthy's Bar & Beer Gardens throughout the entire weekend. See the festival's Facebook page for more. Dan Paddy Andy Festival, Lyreacrompane If it's Lyreacrompane you find yourself in over the Bank Holiday, then you'll be kept well entertained by the annual Dan Paddy Andy Festival taking place there from Friday August 1 to Monday August 4. Highlights from these few days will include Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones playing in the festival marquee at 9pm on the Friday night while on the Saturday there will be a bog walk, a tractor run and dancing taking place. The Honda 50 run will take place from 11am onwards on the Sunday while the music of Mike Condon, Ger Healy and Declan Nerney will keep people entertained that night. On the Monday, a 5k run/walk and a 10k run will take place with medals for all finishers. See the Dan Paddy Andy Facebook page for all times and locations. Cahersiveen Music & Arts Festival The Cahersiveen Music & Arts Festival (CMAF) returns this August Bank Holiday with a jam-packed schedule that will run from Friday August 1 to Monday August 4. Highlights from the few days will include Clíona Hagan playing on the main festival stage on the Friday night, the Killorglin Pipe Band Parade on the Saturday, Kíla on the main stage on the Sunday as well as live music in pubs all across the town every single night. On the family friendly side of things, there will be balloon modelling, a soccer competition, storytelling, funfair and rides, a children's fancy dress parade and a fireworks display to name just a few things. See the festival's Facebook page for a full list of everything that will be taking place.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Author interview: Untold story of Irishman who survived a slave labour camp
During the Second World War, Fergus Kennedy's father Don was a prisoner in a Japanese camp in Thailand. A slave labourer working on the River Kwai railway, commonly known as the death railway, he was extremely lucky to survive. But how did the accountant from Ireland — a neutral country — end up being captured in the first place? It all began on holiday in Ballybunion. Don fell in love with Nora Ring, becoming engaged in early 1940. Recently qualified from University College Dublin, there were no jobs for accountants in Ireland. And that's how Don ended up in Singapore. The plan was for Nora to join him a year later, but by then it wasn't safe to travel. And while Don was captured, suffering untold trauma and deprivation, the love of his life neither knew where he was, nor whether he was alive or dead. 'All my father had wanted was to get married, start a family and have an income,' says Fergus, on zoom from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. And he ended up in a prisoner of war camp. His is an extraordinary story. It's one that Don and Nora's seven children, brought up in Co Waterford, were barely aware of. 'The prescription given to men at the end of the war, was 'shut up! Don't talk about it. Drink yourself into oblivion if you have to'. 'So many men ended up with alcoholism and marriage breakdown, depression, and suicide. 'But Dad was fortunate. He had a strong faith and a good woman by his side. 'This book is also my mum's story,' he says. 'And it would not have happened without the stories she told me.' Don, Fergus says, was a gentle person who was highly respected in the community. He was fair, and scrupulously honest. And he was a wonderful father. 'In a way, he was ahead of his time,' says Don. 'He recognised that seven children was a bit of a challenge for my mum, and he would take us off on these trips to a path in the mountains or the beach so that she could have a well-earned rest.' And returning from work, he was always interested in how our day had gone. Don had suffered from terrible nightmares on his return, and, with no counselling available, he shared his experience with his wife. 'If we asked him about the war, he said, 'let's talk about something else'. He wanted to forgive and forget and to never be angry or mean. 'He was successful in compartmentalising his life,' says Fergus. 'But he never bought a Japanese car, I guess.' After Don's death in 1989, Nora, an excellent storyteller, felt able to share her husband's stories with her children. And, as the family historian, Fergus wrote them all down. Over the past 40 years he's been reading and researching the background of his father's war. The resulting memoir makes for an extraordinary and engrossing read. Largely starved, overworked, and enduring quite appalling conditions, it's something of a miracle that Don survived. When cholera hit the camp, Don had to bury 11 of his colleagues in a single day. That, surely, must be tattooed on his brain forever. That he didn't die is due in part to a few extraordinary human beings. People like Dr Pavillard, who was resourceful in gaining supplies for his patients — and who was prepared to stand up to the Japanese authorities. 'He got slapped around for his insolence, but when you look at his figures, far fewer deaths happened under his watch compared to those under any other medical officer. 'There were several people like that,' says Fergus, 'like Boonpong, a Thai trader who helped with supplies to the prisoners, and the Swiss consul, Walter Siegenthaler. They did heroic things behind the scenes.' There was one memorable time when Don was saved by sheer good luck. He was suffering with a severe case of beriberi, and confined to a hut with other sick prisoners, came up with a plan to pass the time. Every day, each of the men would entertain the others for five to 10 minutes. They could tell a joke, sing, recite a poem, or tell a story. 'Here they were getting basically no medical attention because the medical officers were dealing with more life-threatening illnesses, and doing amputations on infected ulcers, so they had to come up with some way of maintaining morale.' Life saved by Ballybunion One day, Don told of his love for Ballybunion, extolling the natural beauty of the Co Kerry town, when a stranger who'd arrived, accompanied by a Japanese guard, stopped at the bottom of his bed. He turned out to be an Irish doctor who was carrying out an inspection for the International Committee of the Red Cross — the first of its kind. 'He'd heard the Irish accent, and the mention of Ballybunion, which he knew well.' They spoke for some time, and when, leaving, the doctor shook Don's hand, he slipped him some Vitamin B1 tablets. 'That mention of Ballybunion was possibly the difference between life and death for my father,' says Fergus. 'He had advanced beriberi and would most likely have deteriorated further without the vitamins.' Don had suffered from malaria and dysentery too — and ended the war malnourished and emaciated. And as the allied troops advanced, the news that a local Japanese commander had been ordered to shoot the prisoners in the case of an allied attack must have caused much anguish. But Don survived. If he'd expected a warm welcome in Ireland, he was to be sadly disappointed. 'When he stopped at other ports on the way home, like Liverpool, there were great celebrations for the prisoners. There were marching bands. 'But arriving in Dun Laoghaire there was no fanfare. Just their loved ones there to meet them.' Some of his colleagues, returning home, found themselves without their girlfriends or wives. 'They called themselves the jilted lovers club,' says Fergus, explaining that his mother had had a few potential admirers. 'But she would show them her engagement ring to quieten them down,' he says. The economic situation hadn't improved since Don had originally left Ireland, so after marriage the newlyweds returned to Malaya — staying there until 1950, when they returned from Kuala Lumpur with their first two children to settle down to life in Ireland, where jobs were then more plentiful. A pathway to medicine Many of Don's siblings had gone into medicine, and this was the path chosen by Fergus. Graduating from UCD, then gaining his qualifications to become a GP, he travelled to Canada with his wife, Maggie, settling in practice first in Alberta, in a town in the Rocky Mountains, and then, fed up with the long cold winters, on Vancouver Island. 'I loved what I did,' he says, explaining that, along with normal general practice, he also took part in emergency work. 'I delivered nearly 600 babies in 10 years,' he says, 'and after that there was a lot of challenging work.' It was after he retired that he decided to turn his research on his father's war into a book. 'Initially I wrote it for my grandchildren, and hopefully future great-grandchildren, to keep the story alive, but thinking it might be of general interest, I sent it out, and this is the result. I'm over the moon about it.' The book launch back in Waterford was intensely emotional. 'Over 100 people came, and so many of them had known my mum and dad. 'Some were in their late 80s and 90s and came up to say what a wonderful mum and dad I had. That was so moving to me — but none of them knew this story.'
CTV News
7 days ago
- CTV News
Police investigating break-ins into multiple storage units in Fergus
The Ontario Provincial Police released these images of two suspects in storage unit break ins in Fergus, Ont. (Courtesy: Ontario Provincial Police) Ontario Provincial Police are looking for two people who broke into multiple storage units in Fergus. Police were called to a break and enter at a business on Gartshore Street on Sunday around 10 a.m. They determined two suspects entered at least three storage units sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. and took several items, including tires and an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The ATV was later abandoned in a nearby field. Fergus storage unit break in Gartshore Street The Ontario Provincial Police released these images of two suspects in storage unit break ins in Fergus, Ont. (Courtesy: Ontario Provincial Police) Police said the suspects were driving an older model grey Nissan X-Trail with a Ontario licence plate reading CCHZ325. The plate was not registered to that vehicle. The Nissan also had blue LED lights inside the rear hatchback door. Fergus storage unit break in Gartshore Street The Ontario Provincial Police released these images of two suspects in storage unit break ins in Fergus, Ont. (Courtesy: Ontario Provincial Police) The first suspect was described as a white man with brown hair and a thin build. He was wearing a black baseball hat with a white logo, a black or dark blue hoodie, blue jeans, black gloves, and black and white Nike running shoes. Fergus storage unit break in Gartshore Street The Ontario Provincial Police released these images of two suspects in storage unit break ins in Fergus, Ont. (Courtesy: Ontario Provincial Police) The second suspect was described as a white man with short brown hair and a thin build. He may have had a thin moustache and high cheekbones. He was wearing a dark baseball hat with a small white logo, a dark hoodie with a large white logo on the front, dark coloured jeans, black and white mechanic's gloves and block boots with orange-coloured soles.
CTV News
16-07-2025
- CTV News
Fergus bar's liquor licence revoked following owner's sex assault conviction
The Goofie Newfie in Fergus, Ont. on July 16, 2025. (Dave Pettitt/CTV News) The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is taking steps to 'immediately' revoke the liquor license of a Fergus bar. An order was issued on July 15 to stop liquor sales at The Goofie Newfie, located at 105 Queen Street West, in response to a recent ruling by the Ontario Court of Justice. The Goofie Newfie Fergus bar The Goofie Newfie in Fergus, Ont. on July 16, 2025. (Dave Pettitt/CTV News) The AGCO said one of the bar's owners, Robert O'Brien, was convicted on two counts of sexual assault. They also cited the Liquor Licence and Control Act. 'Individuals are not eligible to hold a liquor licence where there are reasonable grounds to believe the applicant will not carry on business in accordance with the law and with integrity and honesty,' a media release said. 'The court's findings provide sufficient evidence to sustain those concerns.' The Goofie Newfie can appeal their Notice of Proposal with the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), which is independent of the AGCO, within 15 days.
New York Times
16-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Open Championship betting: Centuries-old traditions, the 5 stages of Rory McIlroy and more
Imagine the scene: Scotland, 1457. A couple of local lads — let's call 'em Angus and Fergus — have heard about this new game amongst the townspeople. They decide to try it themselves, using a shepherd's crook to hit a feather into a rabbit hole. Just as Angus is about to swing, though, Fergus decides to increase the stakes. Advertisement 'Five pence says I can do it in fewer tries than you,' he boasts. Spoiler alert: Fergus won, Angus pressed and the ritual of golf betting was born. Fast forward more than a half-millennium, and here we are, staring down the windswept fairways of Royal Portrush in advance of the 153rd Open Championship, wondering not just which player will lift the Claret Jug, but who will cash a top-10 ticket at 12-to-1 odds. If this major is all about tradition — and it undoubtedly is, from the links courses featured in the rota to pot bunkers conceived by the most devious of golf gods to thrashing rain coming down sideways, which the locals categorize as 'a wee mist' — then few traditions have persevered like wagering on the outcome. Even a simple internet search suggests that the initial edition of this event in 1860, despite being a stroke-play endeavor rather than the more gambling-friendly match-play format, included plenty of side action, with eventual winners correctly predicting victory for Willie Park Sr. over Old Tom Morris at Prestwick. They say the more things change, the more they stay the same — and there are few better examples than this, even if the particulars have evolved dramatically. There used to be a time when buddies would bet a pint at the local 19th hole on Arnie over Jack at this event. Now, some guy in Des Moines is using an odds boost to bet $51.39 that Nicolai Højgaard will hit more than 11.5 greens in regulation during the opening round. Those Old Tom backers probably wouldn't recognize modern golf betting — the apps, the analytics, the idea of live-betting a matchup parlay from your couch half a world away. But know this: They'd respect the hustle. We can now wager on the result of every shot, not to mention uber-specific and 'interesting'-sounding categories like Top Left-handed Amateur and Low Estonian, but the general theme remains: We collectively enjoy a little personal investment with our golf, whether we're watching or playing. Advertisement Those with plans to wake up at 3:45 a.m. this Thursday to sweat a first-round leader bet are already nodding vigorously at the prospect of cashing a ticket before the first coffee even kicks in. The last time the Open Championship came to Portrush, six years ago, half the locals could have buried their hard-earned cash next to Rory McIlroy's opening tee shot, which sailed forlornly out of bounds and left Irish eyes anything but smiling. The other half, though, celebrated their Shane Lowry winnings long into Sunday evening, proving that betting with your heart can sometimes pay off. Speaking of McIlroy, who returns to his native Northern Ireland as a Masters champion this week, those backing him very well might again experience the five emotional stages of Rory wagering: 1. Optimism (Thursday 10:10 a.m. ET tee time) 2. Euphoria (Friday night leading by two) 3. Mild Concern (Saturday back-nine bogey train) 4. Existential Crisis (Sunday missed putt from six feet) 5. 'I'm never betting on him again' (until next week) Bettors will insist they abhor riding that temperamental roller coaster, but the thrill of the chase is often as enthralling as the potential return on investment. It's what'll have us pumping a fist at the TV this week when a Jordan Spieth tee shot appears headed for a gorse bush, only to inexplicably pop out to a playable lie. It's why we'll break a toe kicking a table leg when a contending Tommy Fleetwood invariably leaves a third-straight putt short of the hole. In a world where everything that happened more than five minutes ago has been long forgotten already, when our next dopamine rush is just a Tik Tok swipe away, it's important to remember that firing a few bucks on Marco Penge to make the cut is essentially a paean to our ancestors, those who had the foresight to invent the game of golf, then immediately start betting on it. Advertisement Back then, it was all about the winner. Today, it's still about finding a winner, but it's also about finding an edge on the total number of birdies in Group H. As you watch the Open Championship this week and experience the unmitigated joy of seeing your 500-to-1 long-shot bet climb the leaderboard, only to minutes later endure the heartache of his triple-bogey decline, remember one thing: You can always open another bet, as Angus already understood hundreds of years ago. (Photo of Rory McIlroy: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
