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Barm brack is synonymous with Halloween; and you won’t find better than at Hickey’s Bakery in Clonmel, where @nualahickey is the fourth generation to carry on the family tradition.
Indeed, the queen of baking, Mary Berry, even made the trip to Tipp while filming her recent TV series to sample the classic, which is laden with juicy sultanas and cherries, and delicious when toasted and lashed with butter.
And if you get the ring, well, even better…
As part of our recent Local Treasures competition, we received many entries from readers, which we hope to share over the coming weeks. This one comes from Aoife Hester and is fairly fitting for the week that’s in it:
My local treasure is the Devil’s Glen Waterfall, Co Wicklow. Before the construction of the Vartry Reservoir in the 1860s, the more powerful water flow was described as hellish howling and hence the name the Devil’s Glen.
An alternative to the history of the name is found in the archives of The National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin (UCD). A transcribed archived story from Ballyduff School 1938 tells us that the devil tried to tempt a nun from nearby Nun’s Cross - he failed and fled, enraged, blasting his way through a mountain, forming the glen.
The Devil’s Glen runs from Varty reservoir to Ashford village. It once formed part of the Glanmore Castle estate, the ancestral home of John Millington Synge.
Approaching the waterfall at the glen, you will pass through lush green woodlands, coming across interesting sculptures forming part of the NeighbourWood scheme. You’ll also be kept busy locating Séamus Heaney quotes inscribed in rocks along the walkway. A final inscription is found on a plaque beside the rock pool at the base of the falls – I’ll leave that one to be discovered by those that venture out there. I’ll leave that one to be discovered by those that venture out there, when we are able to move more freely again.
They may not be trick-or-treating this year, but I’m sure the kids will still be full of sugar this weekend. To add a bit of nutrition to their Halloween, I make a simple pureed tomato soup, paired with a North American classic: grilled cheese (basically a cheese toastie).
To make a really good grilled cheese sandwich, you need: white bread, mild cheddar (or aged for the parents), butter and mayonnaise. I heat a non-stick pan on medium-low, butter both sides of the sandwich and spread each side with mayonnaise before gently frying to golden brown with a gooey, molten centre.
90
The percentage of women who have not responded to the cervical screening invitations in 2020.
'I wonder did he get the Covid?' - my mother in law discussing Fungie
— Keep Talking Steve (@steveohrourke) October 21, 2020
From life coach and former dairy editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, Con Hurley.
It’s mostly about understanding yourself; what’s most important, what do you want, what are you going to do and who are you going to do it with?
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