Biggest ever On The Hook magazine
THE eagerly anticipated On The Hook magazine is on shop shelves across the peninsula now.
Selling for only €10, the 220 page publication – which is the biggest ever – by photographer Liam Ryan, captures life on the peninsula with a local’s pride. The photographs on the front page hint at the nostalgia inside. Liam says in the foreword: ‘ The houses are picturesque, but their disappearance causes us to wonder about the economic circumstances in which the people lived and ultimately died out, with their little houses following them to oblivion. The iconic photograph of the survivor of the Fethard lifeboat disaster, pictured with his mother and niece, is familiar to us all and yet the Handricks and their house are no more. Hogan’s shop once had a host of shoppers from the surrounding areas, but yet it closed. Fast-forward to the present day and the last house standing is now the residence of Julian Hennessey.’
Included in this year’s 32nd edition are numerous pages of images from local events, including Confirmations, Grads, social occasions in Fethard-onSea, while the magazine also delves into the area’s fascinating history, focussing in on Loftus Hall, Pat Neville, The Nailers Cross, a feature article called ‘Bona Fide Travellers, By Boat’, the gruesome Murder at Whitehall in 1833, A Wexford lad’s Memories of Africa by Joe Mahony gives a fascinating insight into the continent in the 1960s, the grounding of the Saint Lucia in Templetown in December 1959, the Fenian attack on Duncannon’s martello tower, Helen Blake of Claremorris, and features on Fethard-on-Sea in years gone by, Duncannon Strand Races, Jimmy and Nellie O’Leary, a tribute to the Michael Sinnott and hotelier Francis Brennan visiting Grangeville.
The Waves Music Festival in August is covered and there are some fantastic photographs from social events across the peninsula. Liam says: ‘ We said farewell to the old Poulfur National School with a superbly organised Nostalgia Day. The building of our brand new school will be covered in next year’s edition so for now we wish our dedicated staff and pupils the best of times in this fabulous new building.’
Liam thanked his colleagues on the committee for their efforts and welcomed Sineád Kidd-Neville to the editorial team.
‘I thank our advertisers who faithfully support our efforts and you the reader for your support and encouragement throughout. I especially thank Ian Lawlor who somehow turns our material into something special year after year. And so it is with a great sense of pride I present On the Hook Number 32 for your perusal. It is our biggest yet and another vital step on what I call the great staircase of On the Hook magazines.’