Formerly known as the RNID “Action on Hearing Loss” is a charity which helps those with impaired hearing to access all amenities and services. In Northern Ireland one person in six is affected; over 20,000 are profoundly deaf and the statistics are rising because people are living longer. The Charity works with the Health Service by providing a Hearing Aid Users Support Service, which advises people on how to use, wear and maintain hearing aids. An important part of the work is supporting people with Tinnitus, a condition for which there is no cure but ways of coping that make life easier. Ms Keys regretted that too many persons wait too long before seeking help with hearing loss, one plausible reason being that hearing aids are not fashion accessories like glasses. In a wide-ranging talk she explained that the main causes of hearing loss were age, illness, drugs, head injury, and regular exposure to loud noise: 50% of childhood deafness is inherited. The effects of hearing loss on the individual are considerable and include depression, social isolation, frustration, anger, loss of confidence and difficulties communicating. Her talk ended with a check list of symptoms which indicate impaired hearing and some useful tips on how those blessed with good hearing can communicate more sympathetically with those who struggle to hear what is going on in the world around them. Her talk generated many questions and a sincere vote of thanks from Probian Kenneth Collins.
Author: OPC
Mr Michael Clarke
Meeting of Wednesday 17th April 2019
Speaker: Mr Michael Clarke. Topic: Lough Erne – Catilina Flying Boats
Inter-Club Quiz 10.04.19
Meeting of Wednesday 10th April 2019: Inter-Club
On Wednesday 10th April Omagh Probus hosted its annual Inter-Club quiz. President Oliver Loughran welcomed teams for Cookstown, Dungannon, Derry, Enniskillen and Strabane as well as two teams from Omagh Ladies Probus and one from the Golf Club. Before competition got underway club members and visitors observed a minute’s silence in memory of Club Secretary, Gerry McGonigle, who had passed away suddenly on 30th March and who had played a major part in organising the Quiz. In all 15 teams took part and after 8 rounds of 8 questions each the winners of the James Eakin Shield were the players from the Golf Club. The Bert McCrory Cup for the best Omagh Team was once again awarded to Omagh Ladies. A raffle for prizes donated by members of Omagh Probus raised over £300.00, sufficient to pay for the refreshments which had been served to members and guests as they arrived. Thanks were expressed to question master, Joseph Cummings, and Desmond Smart and his team of scrutineers for marking the answers and keeping the score.
President, Oliver Loughran, with the team from Omagh Ladies Probus which won the Bert McCrory Cup
Omagh Ladies retain Bert McCrory Cup
A team from Omagh Ladies’ Probus Club retained the Bert McCrory Cup for the highest scoring Omagh team at the Omagh Men’s Probus Quiz held in Omagh Golf Club on Wednesday 10th April. The team was runner up to the winning team from Omagh Golf Club. Congratulations to all. Team members, Zoe Reid, HAzel Richards, Margaret Cummings and Audrey Hodge are pictured receiving the cup from President, Oliver Loughlin.
Omagh Ladies’ Probus hear about Field of Dreams
At the monthly meeting of Omagh and District Ladies’ Probus on Thursday afternoon, the ladies were delighted to listen to Sir Bob Salisbury telling us about his “Field of Dreams”.
After giving us some background to his move to Northern Ireland, he described the land that he and his wife, Rosemary, bought in 2002 to create their new home. It was only when they started to plan the site and make plans for their new home and garden that they realised how little wildlife was around them. This was reflective of the general loss of habitat for wildlife in Britain. He mentioned the causes for this: these included land being overgrazed, and misused, modern farming methods and loss of hedgerows, drainage and house-building. These have caused a loss of 98% of wildflower meadows, 50% of ancient lowland woods and 50% of our natural orchards. As Bob and Rosemary planned their new home, they wondered whether they could turn the clock back and re-create a wildlife garden.
Their first steps were to consider the outcome they wanted, look at the microclimate and draw a plan and design their new garden to provide a varied habitat for all wildlife. Through an illustrated talk, Bob showed us the development of his garden and the huge transformation that has taken place over the last 16 years since they broke ground. They now have a wonderful garden with a formal garden, a vegetable garden, an orchard and a lake.
Bob maintains that there is a lot of land in Ireland that is simply lying derelict and that we should all be doing our bit to provide habitats where all animals can live and flourish. We owe it to future generations to make a small difference to wards preserving what we have now. Given a fighting chance, nature is amazingly resilient and will return to its former glory.
Cate McCrory proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of the members of Omagh and District Ladies’ Probus.
New members, or those who may just be interested in joining Omagh & District Ladies’ Probus would be welcome to attend our next meeting when our speaker will be Audrey Hodge. This meeting will be at 2pm on Thursday 2nd May in Omagh Library.
In Mememoriam, Gerry McGonigle
Wednesday, 3 April 2019: In Memoriam, Gerry McGonigle
When members assembled in the Golf Club on Wednesday morning it was in the shadow of the sudden death of their esteemed Club Secretary, Gerry McGonigle, who had been laid to rest on Monday, 1st April. Probians were prominent in the large congregation which attended his funeral mass in the Sacred Heart Church and who formed a Guard of Honour outside the porch as Gerry’s coffin was carried to the hearse. The President began by thanking club members for their attendance before inviting all to stand in silent tribute to their departed colleague. In the half hour which followed member after member took the roving microphone to speak of their time with Gerry and share their personal memories of a lovely man. It was agreed that the tribute which had been written about Gerry for the local paper should be placed in the Club Archive. Read it here.
The second part of the meeting was devoted to finalising arrangements for the Annual Inter-Club Quiz and closed on an up-beat note when Eamon Cunningham proposed his friend Aidan Quinn for membership.
In-House Quiz
Wednesday 7 March 2019: In-house Quiz
In keeping with the thinking that at least one meeting each month should be “Home-grown”, Vice-President, Michael Cooney, organised an In-House Quiz. Having divided those present into groups of 4 or 5 he then challenged members with 10 rounds of tricky questions covering topics such as Art, Geography, Music, Holywood stars of yesterday year and General Knowledge. In this he set the scene for the Inter-Club Quiz planned for Wednesday 10th April when 14 teams from Probus Clubs across Tyrone, Fermanagh and Londonderry will contest the James Eakin Cup in a tradition that goes back more years than most can remember.
Chair Exercises
Wednesday 20 March 2019: Mr Paddy McGrath: Chair Exercises
The President welcomed Mr Paddy McGrath from Omagh Leisure Centre where he routinely takes classes for Chair Exercises. Having re-arranged the seating to ensure everyone had enough space to fling their arms out he then led members in a half hour session of stretching, bending and twisting designed to improve fitness and well-being. It was the first such session in the club’s history but was so enjoyable that it may not be the last.
Irish Emigration in 12 Paintings
Omagh & District Ladies’ Probus had their monthly meeting on Thursday, 7 March in Omagh Library. The guest speaker on this occasion was Dr Patrick Fitzgerald from the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies.
Dr Fitzgerald focused his talk on the power of illustration. His interest in this began when he was organizing an exhibition called “Emigrants” in 1994 for the Ulster-American Folk Park which covered 2 centuries of emigration. It formed the basis of the book he co-authored with Brian Lambkin: “Migration in Irish History: 1607 – 2007”
Artists in the 18th century tended to focus their work on pastoral scenes as they worked for commission at that stage, so they tended to produce “pretty” scenes for their patrons. It was not until 1800 that work depicting Irish emigration was produced, and we were shown a painting by John James Barralet, himself an immigrant to America, which showed people arriving in America. The title of this painting was “Liberty welcoming the arrival of the Immigrants”.
Dr Fitzgerald then illustrated his talk on Irish emigration with paintings from a variety of artists, including Joseph Barbour+, Samuel Waugh, Elizabeth, Lady Butler, Jack Yeats and Sean Keating among others.
Lena Rutledge spoke on behalf of the members and thanked Dr Fitzgerald for his most interesting talk which kept everyone fascinated.
New members, or those who may just be interested in joining Omagh & District Ladies’ Probus would be welcome to attend our next meeting when our speaker will be Sir Bob Salisbury. This meeting will be at 2pm on Thursday 4th April in Omagh Library.
Prof Mike Cowan
Wednesday 6 March 2019. Prof Mike Cowan: Topic “A Scotch – Irish Odyssey”
Mr Cowan was introduced by Probian, Eamon Cunningham, as a distinguished American academic and visiting professor at both Trinity and Oxbridge. Rather teasingly Prof Cowan stated that the purpose of his talk was to trace a line from King William of Orange to President Trump. In 1720 four Cowan brothers emigrated from County Down to settle in the Appalachian Mountains along with other Ulster emigres. Proud of their protestant roots and bound by a strong sense of community they called themselves “The Billy Boys of the Hills”. They were the first “Hillbillies”. Whereas Irish Catholics from the same era were keen to become a part of new world society, the “Hillbillies” never really availed of the opportunities which existed to get up, get out and get on. As a result, they languished at the bottom of the economic ladder working in the mines and in the heavy industries drawn to the coalfields. In this situation they acquired any number of unkind nick-names – Rednecks, Honkies, Oakies, Coonasses and Trailer Trash. In a series of slides Prof Cowan illustrated patterns of poverty in Appalachia, which mirrored patterns of ill-health, especially “Black Lung” – a condition resulting from working down the mines and inhaling coal dust. This in turn corelated with other socio-economic indicators which when overlaid with voting patterns in the last Presidential election showed that “hillbillies” voted solidly for Mr Trump. To demonstrate the hillbillies’ contribution to country music Prof Cowan ended his talk by singing a song about coal mining, accompanied by local guitarist Patrick Bradley.