Fifty years of the Bohola Post celebrated at book launch
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Former staff members of The Connaught Telegraph at the Bohola Post 50 years commemorative edition launch. From left: Gerry McHale, Michael Commins, Joe Redmond, Johnny Mee and Frank Burke. PHOTOS: JOHN MEEImage 2 of 4
Caoimhe Redmond, Ciara Conlon and Anna Clarke.Image 3 of 4
Caitriona Doyle.Image 4 of 4
Rory O’Dwyer, on left, with Councillor Gerry Murray and Michael Larkin, on right.A HALF century of the Bohola Post was celebrated on Saturday evening with the launch of a special 50 years’ commemorative edition of the parish publication.
Journalist and broadcaster Michael Commins had the honours of launching the impressive 164-page magazine, which provides a snapshot of the past five decades of life in the community.
‘A social history of the area’ is how Caitriona Doyle of the committee summed up this special edition, Bohola Post - Celebrating 50 Years, published to acknowledge the milestone and everyone involved over the years.
Its first editor, Padraig Filan, said it was a tribute to all involved over the past 50 years that the Bohola Post has survived and continues to thrive.
The publication remains true to its mission - to write and report for the people who went, the people who came back and the people who stayed.
Rory O’Dwyer of The O’Dwyer Foundation hailed it as an ‘amazing’ publication, saying that like so many others, his family looked forward to getting their copy of the Bohola Post every year.
Michael Commins, who will be forever linked with the village thanks to the song he penned, ‘Three Pubs in Bohola’, spoke of Mayo people’s pride in their native place and said the new book is a real social history of the region.
Years pass very quickly, he commented, and only for the Bohola Post’s recordings, lots of things would be lost forever.
Damien Woods told the event in the Sheridan Memorial Centre that a website is in the offing, where all 50 annual editions will be available digitally before the end of the year.
The Connaught Telegraph has enjoyed a long association with the Bohola Post, which it published for many years. A number of former staff members involved in production and print attended the launch - Frank Burke, Johnny Mee, Joe Redmond and Gerry McHale.
The first edition of the Bohola Post was printed in 1973. It comprised of 10 pages and cost 15p. The front page headline was ‘Let us put our heads together’, introducing the new paper. A snowy scene photographed on page 2 was captioned ‘Ca bhfuil an sneachta a bhí ann anuraidh?’
The Bohola Post Celebrating 50 Years is to be treasured by people at home and around the world, on sale now, priced €10.