Articles by: Gavin O'Connor

THERE were celebrations in town on Sunday when Tralee Musical Society got word they had been nominated five times in the Association of Irish Musical Awards (AIMS) this year. The award nominations are in Best Overall, Best Male Singer – Alan Teahan, Best Actress – Janna Foley, Best Technical and Best Ensemble for […]

THE Ashe Memorial Hall was a hive of activity Thursday night as ITT Multimedia Graduate and Postgraduate students got a chance to showcase their works to the public. There was a wide array of work on display to excite the senses from the more accessible to the abstract. One such […]

ONLY FIVE volunteers turned up for this week’s Tidy Towns clean-up in town and the message was clear from volunteers: ‘we need more people to help’. “We’ve six 0r seven people coming out on average. We badly need more volunteers because we wouldn’t have to do it as often if […]

IT’S all league action this weekend after a disappointing last few weeks in the Club Championship for Tralee area sides. Saturday, 7pm County SFL Division 1 Waterville v Kerins O’Rahily’s The Strand Road side make the trip down south after consolidating their position on top of Division 1 with a […]

SGT JIM FOLEY was honoured for his work with the Tralee International Resource Centre (TIRC) at a special celebration on Wednesday. The Town Council, volunteer Ann McKenzie and the late Gerry Moran were also honoured at the centre. The Sergeant has been involved with TIRC since its inception in 2008. […]

THIS Sunday a Kerry side will play in a National Cup ‘A’ Final for the first time. St Brendan’s Park U16’s will take to the pitch in Wayside Celtic Grounds, Kilternan Co Dublin  to play St Kevin’s Boys from the capital  and attempt to make history for Kerry soccer in winning a […]

Tralee singer/songwriter, Gary Keane, aka ‘Like A Fire’, picks the soundtrack that shaped his musical outlook… Glenn Miller Band – In The Mood If I had to think of one of my earliest songs in memory,  it would have to be Glenn Miller’s ‘In The Mood’ when I was around nine. […]

As the Aqua Dome celebrates its 20th anniversary, Gavin O’Connor, looks back at 10 things people of a certain age remember about the waterpark… 1. Trying to avoid lifeguards as you sought to drag a few more minutes, or even hours, out of your splash time. 2. Chilling in the jacuzzis for clandestine meetings […]

GAELSCOIL Mhic Easmainn up picked up a national award at the All-Ireland Drama Festival for primary schools last month. The 5/6th class won the 1st prize in their category and pupil Jimí Ó Súilleabháin scooped the best actor gong. The road to victory began in Tralee, then moved to Ennis […]

TRALEE Rugby club held its annual end of year celebrations at the Grand Hotel last Saturday Night. Some highlights of the year were the ladies team winning an All-Ireland Shield and the men’s senior team reaching the Munster Junior Plate final, where they were defeated by St Mary’s last Thursday. There […]

THE National Learning Network’s ‘Sporting Chance’ course based in Clash picked up a Cara National Inclusion Award at University of Limerick on Monday night. “To be recognised nationally is fantastic, the students deserve it they’ve worked very hard,” said course co-ordinator  Kevin Smith. The course aims to enable people with disabilities – and others who are […]

On Sunday May 11 last, 12 dinghies braved challenging conditions to compete in the Tralee Bay Sailing Club Spring Regatta. 20+ knot winds and a filling tide made beating difficult but again all the sailors,young and old, coped admirably enabling to complete the 3 race series. Results as follows: Optimist: […]

MERCY Mounthawk proved to be the big winners in Kerry Final of the Irish Junior Mathematics Competition following an hour long battle of mathematical knowledge. The Kerry Final for First Years student took place last Friday evening May 9 in the South Campus of IT Tralee. In total, four Kerry schools […]

A TRALEE man has raised a total of €2,000 for three separate charities by hosting a night of dancing in the Meadowlands Hotel. The event called ‘I’m In The Mood For Dancing’  took place at the Medowlands on May 3. The beneficiaries of the funds raised were the Palliative Care Unit at […]

Kerry Féile skills winner: Congratulations to Tralee Parnells Under 14 player Brian Lonergan who won the Féile skills competition this week. Brian goes on to represent Kerry in the all Irelands in Ulster. Cúl Camp: Parnells Cúl Camp will take place on the 11-15th of August in Caherslee. The camp […]

Lotto: There was no winner of last week’s jackpot of €10,500. The numbers drawn were 04, 10, 12 & 23. The five €30 consolation prizes went to Richard Rowan, Blennerville; Ger McGrath c/o Betty’s Bar; Breda O’Sullivan, Blennerville; Eddy O’Sullivan, Blennerville & John Crean, Clahane. Next week’s jackpot will be […]

 SENIOR FOOTBALL: Dingle 4-7; Austin Stacks 1-10. After our best start to the season in living memory (we were undefeated in our first eight games) we surrendered that record at Dingle on last Sunday afternoon (11th May), going down to the home side by two clear goals in the quarter […]

LOTTO The Lotto jackpot of €11,900 was not won in the drawn which took place in the Halfway Bar on Monday 5th May 2014. The numbers drawn were 9,18,19,27. Lucky Dips 1. Robert Harris, c/o Paula Silles 2. Tom Lyons, Chutehall 3. Sean Leen, Kielduff (online) 4. Nelius O Connor, […]

Dingle 4-07 Austin Stacks 1-10 Dingle knocked Austin Stacks out of the Club Championship yesterday afternoon in blustery, but sunny Dingle. Three second half goals were the Rock’s undoing, carved open by a fluid and effective Dingle attack. In the first half Dingle played with a strong breeze to begin […]

MINISTER for Education, Ruairi Quinn, revealed to a pupil that his greatest achievement in politics so far was ‘getting re-elected’. The Minister was speaking during a Q&A session in Listellick NS, one of two Tralee schools he visited when in the county on Friday. He went to Listellick NS on an invitation received from […]

IT seems the buzz phrase around Tralee over the past month or so is ‘relocation, relocation, relocation’. In the past couple of months, Rockalilly, Ela Marie and Loramar have upped sticks and moved to fresh premises in the town. So why the move? “The main reason is a bigger premises […]

Match: Manchester City V Queens Park Rangers Competition: Premier League Date: May 13, 2012 Kerry District League Secretary John O’Regan, describes a dramatic day for all football fans, two years ago at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. City had to beat the London side to clinch the Premiership after a […]

THIS weekend sees more club championship action for Austin Stacks and Churchill while attentions turn again to the league for Kerins O’Rahillys and John Mitchels. Dingle v Austin Stacks, Sunday 2.30pm Senior Club Championship This will be Stacks third week in a row playing the club championship as they were forced […]

EXPECTANT mothers-to-be flocked to a special ‘Bump to Baby’ event on Wednesday in CH Chemists, The Mall. The event is aimed at mothers, fathers and parents-to-be. Some of the experts on hand included a chiropractor, a midwife, a health nurse, an alternative practitioner and a nutritionist. “It’s a very good turn […]

ONLOOKERS were amused on Wednesday afternoon to find a feathered-friend taking in the sights on Tralee’s most historic street. What ensued was a game of ducks and drakes on Denny Street where the wandering waddler tried to avoid the friendly clutches of the KSPCA. At around 2.15pm, Wendy O’Connor, of Animal […]

THE KERRY Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association are holding ‘A Night at the Dogs’ in The Kingdom Greyhound Stadium, on Saturday, May 31.  The association is run on a voluntary basis and their main aim is to assist persons who were born with Spina Bifida or Hydrocephalus in Kerry. They provide […]

General Information Kerry School of Music head office in High St, Tralee is open six days a week- Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm and on Saturdays from 9am-1pm. We can also can be contacted at  066 7125690, by email at kerrymusicschool@eircom.ie , on Facebook or by visiting our website at www.kerryschoolofmusic.com  where regular updates and news on forthcoming events […]

YOU COULD be forgiven for thinking aliens had landed on the Tralee to Killarney road at the weekend, but a far more likely explanation is that ‘Boy Racers’ have been making use of the area the way they know best. These pictures were taken on the flyover just before the Currans/Ballyfinnane […]

A disappointing weekend of KDL action for Tralee sides as clubs saw League Final aspirations dented and relegation worries intensified. Friday Denny Premier Park 0-0 Camp Utd It was a frustrating night for Park who came up against a determined and resolute Camp defence. This is a blow for their league final ambitions, but a […]

Junior Championship Quarter Final: Churchill 1-13 Dromid Pearses 0-16 (after extra time) On a perfect evening for football, Churchill met Dromid Pearses in the quarter final of the Junior Championship. It turned out to be one of the most exciting games witnessed in The Spa for many years. However, after […]