CABHAIR SWIM, 25TH DECEMBER 2017 : A FEW WORDS AND PICS.

CABHAIR SWIM, 25TH DECEMBER 2017 : ONE 'S' NO-SHOW, ONE 'S' FLEW IN...!

As dark clouds rumbled, wondered I:

How come this grumble from the sky?

The dark clouds clashed and tore asunder,

This very sky that we stood under!

Cold and dark was that Christmas day,

In that awful, blustery, wintery way ;

And hot air and sunshine thought it wise,

To take their peaceful clouds and rise... (('adjusted' from Kathleen's original, here.)

There's a good reason why 'rain' is a four-letter word, 'spelt' with one syllable- drenched! The 'Cabhair Crew' told me that as they were loading the tables, flag, banners, and the 'goodies' etc for transportation at 8am that morning, they done so in a heavy, consistent downpour and, whatever about 8am that morning (!) I can confirm, as can about 30 other people, that that same weather stayed with us from the time we got to the site, at about 10am, until about 1pm, when we left, only easing for a few minutes now and then, to be replaced by a heavy, consistent drizzle. Then it was back to a heavy, consistent downpour!

But, of course, the 'gig' went ahead, mostly as planned (with a smaller turn out than usual, but the same amount of support audibly 'visible' from dry people in passing vehicles!), all five sponsored swimmers were on site and earned their keep and, although the temperature was low, our spirits were high! Santa got detained in a dry spot somewhere else but another 'S' man flew in to join us, coming down to earth in a splashtacular (groan!) fashion...

Anyway - enough about the weather and the 'S' men : taken with a specially-adopted waterproof camera (!), the following pics were emailed to '1169 Towers' this afternoon and we were asked to put a few words with them and post them here :

Our incredible pic shows how the 'S' man - 'Superman', of course - flew in to take part in the Cabhair Swim, just one of the many attractions that day (!) ; his costume apparently burned off during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere except, obviously, for his underpants - unfortunately, as our next pic shows, his landing gear must have been frozen...

..OUCH! After he was dragged out of the canal, he was quickly revived with a bottle of kryptonite and escorted from the site.

An early pic of some of the 'goodies' on offer, before they got washed away. That pic was taken during one of the few drizzle interludes, otherwise the scene would have been just a blur...!

The five swimmers, getting as wet out of the water as they did in it.

One of the swimmers, Míchéal, seconds after being told he has to get in for a second time...

..but he was dragged back returned and somewhat begrudgingly agreed to pose for this pic while, at the same time, looking for a more secure exit point!

Four of the five swimmers. The missing man just couldn't be persuaded to get out of the freezing-cold water as he was enjoying the experience too much. Either that, or the 'Cabhair Crew' were out and about searching all the local hiding places for him..!

Ahh! Isn't that nice? A helping hand. No truth to the video doing the rounds that seconds after that pic was taken, the swimmer in the water yanked the other fella in, shouting - "Ya smug git ya. If ya think your job is just to help us out, yer mistaking..."

And that's it, for now. If any other pics surface (!) we'll post them here but, given the day that was in it, we're not expecting a deluge of them (!). Top marks to Cabhair, the five swimmers and the thirty-or-so crowd that assembled with us on the banks of the Grand Canal or on the near-by bridge and footpaths to observe the proceedings on such a wet day - much appreciated! Our next function in Dublin is the Dáithí Ó Conaill commemoration on New Year's Day in Glasnevin Cemetery at 12.45pm. And, whatever the weather, we'll be there!

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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