A personal story of Irish army peacekeeping with John Blehein

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The Ramblers were informatively entertained on Thursday night by an insightful introduction to, and observations of, Irish army life in New York. It's origins stretch back to the Young Irelander's failed rebellion of 1848. Thank you to our guest speaker, local United Nations veteran peacekeeper, John Blehein, for sharing his enthusiasm about representing Ireland and Moygownagh, by marching in the recent 2024 New York St. Patrick's Day parade, he shared many photographs of the event. John also spoke briefly about his experiences of overseas missions to various UN peace keeping deployments he participated in, throughout the Middle East. Although Ireland's military are not activaly involved in open warfare, their considerable contributions to peacekeeping can be met with danger, through sniper fire, aggression, or the untimely explosion of landmines. It is a sobering thought, that not all army personnel make a safe return journey home to share their stories.

Author: Pauline Mahon

John Blehein (far left) at the 1916 Commemoration held in Carn NS on 22 January 2016

Welcoming new members with tea, tasty treats and music!

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Blending in with our regular musicians and singers, Thursday night last, saw the repertoire of musical instruments expand, as we welcomed three new Ramblers, who entertained us with their songs, accordion, guitar and uilleann pipe music. Poetry and acting, combined with our usual supply of homemade tasty treats brought our session to a memorable conclusion. April Rambling House dates are Thursday 4th and Thursday 18th. Happy Easter to everyone.

Author: Pauline Mahon

Knit Night now a regular fortnightly event (Thursday Evenings)

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Our Rambling House guest speaker expressed her interest in establishing a Knit-Night, operating on a regular basis from Moygownagh’s Learning Forum. If interested please contact Jamie on 0851891777 for further details. Pomes, Prose, Music, and Song, together with the surprise of having our group photograph taken, added to the Ramblers enjoyment. Thank you to P. J. Hughes, Crossmolina, for the photo opportunity and Moygownagh GAA for posting it on their Facebook page. Our night concluded with the much-anticipated home bakes and tea! Rambling House Dates for March are Thursday 7th and Thursday 21st.

Author: Pauline Mahon