Dundalk men in court following explosives find

Two Dundalk men appeared before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday in connection with an explosives find in Meath on Tuesday.

The pair, both in their 40s, were arrested after Gardaí stopped two cars on the N52 between Kells and Ardee on Tuesday and discovered explosives.

Michael Connolly (42) of Grange Drive, Dundalk, was charged with membership of the IRA on December 16^th.

Meanwhile, Brian Fitzpatrick (49) of Castleross, Dundalk, was charged with two counts of possession of an explosive substance under suspicious circumstances on the same day at Mitchelstown Cross, Castletown, Navan, Co Meath.

Meanwhile, a Dundalk man, as well as two others, are due to go on trial in the Special Criminal Court in July 2016 charged with possession of explosive devices in Kilcurry on May 25^th last.

Gareth Mulley (45) with an address at Ashling Park, Dundalk, is charged with the possession of an explosive substance along with David Gallagher (37) of Marley Court in Drogheda and William Burns (38) of Kerrera Street, Ardoyne, Belfast, Co Antrim.

They are alleged to have had in their possession PETN and RDX, an adapted 50 litre beer keg, 50kgs of ammonium nitrate home-made explosives, an improvised detonation cord, an improvised steel booster tube and an improvised time and power unit.

Mr Mulley and Mr Gallagher have also been charged with membership of the IRA.

Blessing of the Graves at the Castletown Graveyard

Thanks to Anthony O’Hagan who mailed us through pictures of the blessing of the graves ceremony at the old Castletown Graveyard from last Thursday.

Anthony had this to say about the annual event: “In sharp contrast to the blessings of the grave ceremony which takes place in Dowdallshill cemetery the one at Castletown was very low key with the faces of those attending getting noticeably older and the crowd getting smaller each year.

“Also in sharp contrast to its appearance in recent years the graveyard was looking very well maintained by the community scheme employed there. That this cleanup is being appreciated by quite a number of people is evident by the renewed interest being shown by locals and others in reclaiming part of their family inheritance – taking pride by visiting and sprucing up the last resting place of often forgotten family members.”

It used to be said that you weren’t truly from Dundalk if you didn’t have a relative in this graveyard on the Castleblayney Road.

Pictured is a local priest with Joe Mellon.

Coleman’s Butchers relocates to the Castletown Road

Eamonn Coleman runs Coleman’s Butchers, having taken it over from his dad

Clanbrassil Street has suffered yet another blow after one of the longest-running shops on the streets closed last week.

Coleman’s Butchers, which was established in 1946, has closed their store at 44 Clanbrassil Street and relocated to the Castletown Road, opposite Fagan’s pub.

The store, which is run by Eamonn Coleman who grew up above the store and took it over from his father, featured in an RTÉ documentary in recent years called the Street Where You Live.

This week’s Dundalk Leader

This week’s Dundalk Leader leads with the story of residents from Fr Murray Park and the Castletown Road area taking action against a local drug den by boarding it up. There’s also an article on Louth Village man Rory Callan publishing a new “Little Book of GAA Quotations” and a focus on Dundalk Simon Community as it celebrates 40 years.

All that and more in this week’s Leader, which can be read online for free here.

Man stabbed on the Castletown Road

A man was stabbed this morning on the Castletown Road in Dundalk.

The incident happened around 8am close to the Mace store.

His injuries are not thought to be life threatening although he was hospitalised.

Gardaí are investigating the matter and anyone with any information on the attack is asked to contact them.

The Blessing of the Graves

 

Thanks to Anthony O’Hagan for sharing this picture of the recent Blessing of the Graves ceremony in the old Castletown Graveyard on the Castleblayney Road.

It’s shocking to see how overgrown the graveyard has become, with the priest struggling to perform his duties on the day despite it being good weather-wise.

Surely something should be done about this, especially as it is the town’s original graveyard!

Castletown a graveyard for broadband

 

Local photography business Pro Shutterblade has taken to Twitter to complain about the fact that Castletown is set to be omitted from Eircom’s roll out of its high-speed eFibre broadband service.

Last week local TD Peter Fitzpatrick revealed that 10,000 homes in Dundalk would have access to higher broadband speeds from August but it appears Castletown is not one of these areas, with Pro Shutterblade complaining that the next generation broadband has not even made it there as yet.

It used to be said that if you hadn’t a relative in Castletown Cemetery then you weren’t really from Dundalk but nowadays it appears that the area is a bit of a graveyard for broadband. Are any other areas being omitted? Let us know…

Previously: Broadband boost for the area