Underdog Marcel is overall winner
Golden Retriever Marcel was once the underdog - but now he's the overall winner of a major national competition hosted by the Irish Kennel Club.
The six-year-old guide dog lives with Anne and Gerry O’Riordan, volunteer puppy raisers with Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, who brought him up at their home in Tralee.
When Marcel was 14 months old it was time to complete his training at the Guide Dog Centre for Training - but when he couldn't wear a harness or a working vest because of a body condition, it looked like the little puppy would never make the grade as a guide.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
What happened in Kerry this week
She should be getting ready to walk down the aisle on New Year’s Eve – instead young mom Edel O’Sullivan has to learn to walk and speak again, after being struck down with a rare brain tumour that has left her fighting for her life. Edel's family are now fundraising to get her all the specialist care she needs. You can donate by visiting www.gofundme and searching for: Edel’s Road to Recovery or go to https://gofund.me/89a43a56.
Read Edel’s story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Love of family and a broken boat meant that Kerry adventurer Pat Lawless had no option but to make a decision for health and safety reasons to call time on his participation in the Golden Globe Around the World yacht race.
Read Pat’s story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Kerry County Council is set to work in tandem with the Office of Public Works to repair and restore the original stonework of a 19th century wall adjacent to Ardfert Cathedral that collapsed due to heavy rainfall over three weeks ago.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Construction of 27 new council apartments on the Island of Geese – which was gifted to the people of Tralee – is due to begin by March 2024, with the first of the new residents expected to be living in the building by October 2025.
Read more in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Just 8,000 calories a day and the ability to lift the equivalent of about three or four fully-grown men - that's what it takes to become a powerlifting champion like Tralee’s own Lenny O’Sullivan, who has just become the first ever local to win the prestigious ABS Series Pro competition.
Read Lenny’s story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Golden Retriever Marcel was once the underdog - but now he's the overall winner of a major national competition hosted by the Irish Kennel Club. The six-year-old guide dog lives with Anne and Gerry O’Riordan, volunteer puppy raisers with Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, who brought him up at their home in Tralee.
Read their story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
In this week’s Kerry’s Eye we’ve got Other Voices tickets to give-away to two of our lucky readers. Pick up a copy of tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye to find out how you can win.
Fire closes Listowel Centre
EFFORTS ARE underway in Listowel to get part of the community centre in the town open again ‘as soon as possible’, following a devastating fire that gutted the upstairs of the building in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
by Majella O’Sullivan
Units of the Fire Service from Listowel, Tralee, Ballybunion and Castleisland battled through the night to bring the blaze under control that appears to have started in the weights room upstairs in the building some time before 1am.
The alarm was raised when the smoke alarms in the building were set off, prompting the quick response from the emergency services.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Kerry scores big with FAI bid
THE COST of bringing senior League of Ireland football to the Kingdom for the first time could involve an initial investment of up to €500,000 by the backers of the Kerry FC club that will compete in the Airtricity First Division League in 2023.
While stopping short of giving full details of the financial outlay involved, Kerry FC chief executive Brian Ainscough has told Kerry’s Eye that in order to secure the licence to compete in the League of Ireland from the Football Association of Ireland, key criteria relating to money being put up front had to be met.
“It is significant,” he said. “On the financial end, €250,000, €500,000 — I don’t really want to say exactly what we put in.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Brave Edel begins road to recovery
She should be getting ready to walk down the aisle to say her vows on New Year’s Eve – instead young mom Edel O’Sullivan has to learn to walk and speak again.
The Valentia Island native was struck down with a rare brain tumour that has left her fighting for her life and her family are now fundraising to get her all the specialist care she needs.
A primary school teacher and a much loved daughter, sister, mother, fiancée and friend, who was always so full of energy, Edel began suffering from severe headaches last April.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Pat turns back - for love of family
LOVE Of family and a broken boat meant that Kerry adventurer Pat Lawless had no option but to make a decision for health and safety reasons to call time on his participation in the Golden Globe Around the World yacht race.
Speaking to Kerry’s Eye from Cape Town ahead of his long journey back to Kerry, Pat admitted it was “heartbreaking” that his ambition of becoming the first Irishman to complete the 30k Golden Globe race came to a premature end, but that he has come to terms with the fact that his dream is over for now.
“When my self-steering went, I managed to sort it out for a while, but then it got worse,” he revealed.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Repairs planned after Ardfert collapse
KERRY COUNTY Council is set to work in tandem with the Office of Public Works to repair and restore the original stonework on a wall adjacent to Ardfert Cathedral and the adjoining graveyard that has collapsed due to heavy rainfall over three weeks ago.
On Halloween night, October 31, a 50ft section of the wall that is believed to date from the late 19th century completely collapsed into an adjacent field, which is known locally as the Rock Field.
According to the local authority, it is hoped to do the restoration work as soon as possible, but it is believed that due to the nature of the job and its size it could take a significant amount of time to put all the original stonework back in place.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
€20m 'College of the Future' for Killarney
A €20m redevelopment is set to transform the former Pretty Polly site in Killarney into a 'College of the Future' that could be open by 2025.
Kerry Education and Training Board has been given the green light to progress to the next stage in developing a centre of excellence for the hospitality and renewable energy sectors.
The development is expected to take between three and four years to complete, and will also incorporate a further education and training centre for lifelong learning.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Laura swaps school books for ballet
Ballymac dancer Laura Daly was torn between pursuing a career in dance or becoming a school teacher but as a student teacher in Presentation Listowel she’s found the best of both worlds, teaching English and Religion in the classroom while also keeping young students in step with the latest moves at her new dance classes.
A Third Year student in Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Laura is training to become an English and Religion teacher – but her dream was always to dance full-time.
Recently, another dream came true when she was accepted onto a five-day workshop with renowned British dancer Dane Bates, whose career and skills Laura has followed passionately over the years.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Now David’s targeting another goal
ALL-STAR David Clifford has more in common with former Kerry great Jimmy Deenihan than his All-Ireland senior football medal – he has also signed up for the GOAL Mile this December and has encouraged others to take part in what has become a Christmas tradition.
The Fossa man has registered to take part in the GOAL Mile in Killarney and hopes this will inspire others to take part in the event which is also taking place in Castleisland, Killorglin, Kenmare and Listowel this Christmas.
He helped launch the charity event at St Brendan’s College in Killarney at the weekend along with Olympic rower Monika Dukarska and five times All-Ireland winner, former Arts Minister and current GOAL board member Jimmy Deenihan.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Juniors’ joy on D-Day
It was a bit of a wait, but D-Day finally arrived for 1,955 students in Kerry as their Junior Cycle exam results were finally delivered to much delight, surprise and pride after a long five-month delay.
Students all over the county were breathing a sigh of relief as the long awaited results were revealed from early morning on Wednesday.
In Tralee’s Mounthawk Secondary School the students were very pleased with their results – some were pleasantly surprised while others were overjoyed that all their hard work paid off.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Lixnaw initiatives raise funds for palliative care
Thanks to some great local support for a range of novel fundraising initiatives, the Lixnaw Hospice Group were delighted to present a cheque donation last week of €1,555 towards vital palliative care in the county.
The Lixnaw Hospice Group have been hosting a coffee morning for the past eight years to raise much needed funds to support palliative care services in Kerry. The group also enlist the help of two local primary schools and Tina’s Day Care in Lixnaw to support their fundraising efforts. Pupils of both schools along with the children at the day care centre donate €2 each to the fundraiser and for their good deeds each child donating gets a treat bag in return.
Chairperson of the Group Patricia Heffernan said that their most recent coffee morning fundraiser, which was held in the lounge of JJ Walsh’s Bar on October 8, was a great success.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye
Kelliher’s launch toy voucher for Adapt Refuge
This year you can help to make Christmas special for children fleeing violence in their homes by buying a toy voucher from Kelliher’s Toys Upstairs in Tralee for Kerry Adapt Women and Children’s Refuge.
The Christmas Toy Appeal at Kelliher’s Toys Upstairs is getting underway and the staff are ready and waiting to make the magic of Christmas happen for children who really need a boost for the festive season.
Kerry Adapt Refuge featured prominently in an eye opening RTÉ documentary, ‘Domestic abuse in Ireland - a year in crisis’, earlier this year, which highlighted to the public the greater need for support for women and their children who have been experiencing violence in their own homes.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Kerry’s Eye