Issue 25. I've never been so consulted.

GREENWAY, Mysterious House, Sunshine, Pints

October 18, 2024

Good Morning and Welcome,

To issue No.25 This week we, the public, of South Kerry, must get our consultee on, again. Also, a grand house which needs help from the hive mind, the pint poll keeps on polling & everything else strange & wonderful.

South Kerry by the numbers:

  • 134: Hours of sunshine were recorded at Valentia observatory last month.

  • 8: Consecutive dry days.

  • 84.0: mm of rainfall, making it the dryest September in the last 5 years, well below the long term average & yes we’ve had more than that this month already.

First, a word from this week’s sponsor

The course starts next week & there are only a few spaces remaining, to make sure you snag one of those you can email Denis on [email protected]

GREENWAY Consulting is now open for your opinions

So, this is what we are being consulted on. This week you can actually find all the info here but to summarise we have two bits of the Greenway to voice our opinions on.

Firstly, over the water;

What I hadn’t picked up on until chatting with the engineers is the orange marked route above already has planning approval. the blue route was the one rejected by the planners originally, green one seems to cause the most impact to landowners (around 10 of them), with the others very similar. An important point to note is while a couple of the routes seem to use the existing road, that’s not the case, it would be a greenway parallel to the road.

Secondly, how do we get to Renard Point?

Something that seems odd to me is there is no marked route here between the Barracks & the proposed ‘promenade’. My best guess is that it’s not marked as it currently doesn’t exist and is part of the Cahersiveen redevelopment scheme, which regular Oraclers will remember, was covered way back in Issue 3. I wish I’d asked at the time and will do next week.

Beyond that, orange and blue seem much of a muchness with the green seemingly by far the least disruptive, I was very keen to know which one the engineers/planners/council wanted us to choose, but the engineer I spoke to was well able for my badgering, repeatedly assuring me that the choice is entirely ours to make/give opinions on. So get opinioning here.

We have until the 15th of November to submit said opinions and under the proposed timeline we’ll be:

  • Asked again to give opinions on the preferred route at the beginning of next year

  • The preferred option will be confirmed towards the middle of next year

  • Design & environmental evaluation will begin towards the end of next year

  • And either the end of next year or the beginning of next will see ‘statutory process commence’ which I’m presuming means apply for planning permission.

I have to say when the reader asked Agnes last week whether they’d still be able to cycle by the time the Greenway arrived I thought they were exaggerating for comic effect. Based on the above timeline, I’m wondering the same myself.

 

Who lives in a house like this?

Well, at the moment, you’ve guessed it, nobody lives here. This may well be about to change though as I’ve been contacted by two separate individuals interested in the history of the place as they want to buy it & as you can see here the place needs an awful lot of love which will not be cheap to give.

So Oraclers, do you know anything about the place? Anyone that lived there? Was it abandoned when you were growing up? The prospective owners have done a fair bit of work already, and were able to tell me that:

  • The house appears on the 1888-1915 Ordinance Survey Map.

  • The name Villa Nova (or Villa Nuova) appears on several earlier maps but it’s unclear whether that’s the house itself or that area or maybe even an earlier property.

  • The current house seems to have been built by a local Dr James Barry in either 1828 or 1858

  • There is some connection to Daniel O'Connell, he apparently granted the builder permission to use materials from his family home to build the house.

  • The 1901 census lists Major Ernest Thomas Lloyd as the head of the household. He was the Resident Magistrate for the area.

So Oraclers, it’s over to you, send any info you might have this way.

It’s The Signs of South Kerry 🎺🎺🎺

Something a little bit different this week

Where’s this sign?

Congratulations to last week’s Winners 🍰🍰🍰

Last week, it was of course, Rosie’s, Ballinskelligs.

  • Craig 

  • David Fitz 

  • Martha Fitzgerald   

 The top three contestants at it again! Well done all

Auntie Agnes Answers


Agnes, you are talking a lot about rest and minding ourselves, I’m bloody wrecked but can’t seem to rest or sleep very well!! I just can’t switch it off. How????

Agnes Answers:

Thank you for your woe Reader.

Believe it or not, this is very common. You actually need to retrain yourself to switch off. This inability to switch off can be the result of being in fifth gear for a long period of time. Not only physically but also mentally, like thinking, worrying, juggling too much which leads into overthinking. 

There are a few things that will help. Firstly, try getting enough physical activity in during the day, this can be as simple as a 20 min walk, 10 minute yoga stretch, walk around the garden barefoot in the grass.  Quick dance to your favourite song around the kitchen while you clear up. If this isn’t hitting the spot, try dunking your face in a bowl of cold water, sea swimming, or taking a three minute cold shower. These activities will happen to move cortisol, the stress hormone out of your system. This will support your body. 

Secondly, to support your mind, write out all your thoughts. Get the whole lot down on paper. This offers you the opportunity to get thoughts out of your head and onto paper, giving your mind a little break. Not a writer? Send yourself a voice note! 

By incorporating these routines into your day, the research suggests that you will create some space in your being so you can make choices that will support your wellness.

Hope this helps !! 
.

Want to be healed? Then just

Where has the best pint in South Kerry?

Accusations have been levelled that there may have been some irregularities in the voting this week leading to a new leader. As I see it, all is fair in love and pints, so there will be no stewards enquiry. There were nearly 150 votes cast last week! A good few new options were submitted to the list, but still, apparently no decent pint to be had in Sneem. Who gets your vote?

Another word from our sponsors

Still so empty…

Will it be your ad here next week? From €20p/week. Book here & save local journalism.

The Oracle’s Sixth Cartoon

Tim delights us in glorious technicolour this week. Some man, isn’t he?

Stay tuned for a new subject matter from Tim which is definitely coming I promise.

Everything Else

  • Ger O’Shea hits the Villa Saturday night.

  • The Skellig Coast Archeology Festival starts today and continues across the weekend, the programme is packed, with events right across the peninsula, more here.

  • Darragh Lynch is starting Guitar Classes for young people in Tech Amergin today, email [email protected] for more info.

  • There’s a’Create & Discover’ playtime in Cahersiveen tomorrow @ 11am.

  • If you are out and about in Caherdaniel & surrounds today, give a warm welcome to the group of MTU students who are visiting to bring you their ideas.

  • Sea Synergy are cleaning the beach tomorrow morning, meet @ Waterville Seafront car park 10am.

  • The Skelligs Retreat are looking to tell everyone their plans on Wednesday in the Cahersiveen Community Centre @ 8pm.

Just Announced

Admittedly, not the only Halloween event happening next week, but a very important one.

Thanks

Long one, wasn’t it?

Thanks for reading. Please forward at least one person this email and force/cajole/encourage them to click the button below. Today.

Good luck, be well

Dave