Henry’s very special visitors to East Rand
HOLIDAYING recently at the home of the wellknown Drogheda businessman, Mr. Henry O’Callaghan, at East Rand, Ballymakenny, Drogheda, were two very interesting people —one a priest who has lived in the United States for thirty years and the other an American nurse in the Air Force.
They were Mrs. O’Callaghan’s brother, Very Rev. Gerard Fanning, P.P., in the town of Boulder City which is in the Diocese of Reno, Nevada and Major Natalie Pickett of the U.S. Air Force, a friend of the O’Callaghan family.
Father Fanning is a native of Garristown and has been in the U.S. for approximately thirty years. During this time he has returned Ireland about seven times.
Father Fanning said that he had seen many Irish immigrants to the United States while he has been there and had they spoken better English their chances for a future livelihood would have been enhanced by 70 per cent.
He also remarked on the question of embassies abroad and said that for a small nation and not a wealthy one, we had too many ambassadors abroad who were not selling Ireland. He considered many of them no more than “glorified civil’ servants “who were not selling Irish linen, whiskey, glass etc.
Father Fanning then went on to speak of Droghedo itself and praised the town and the surroundings of the district especially the Boyne Valley which he said was “beautiful.” He did think, however, that Drogheda was falling down a little in the matter of attracting tourists to the area.
On the question of the Boyne Valley he said he thought there should be cruises down the river organised for visitors. There should also be on indoor swimming pool and larger hotel facilities in Drogheda.
He travelled over part of Ireland on this trip here and, he said, had seen large hotel in places like Limerick and Longford full of tourists. “Drogheda,” he said “has much more to offer a tourist than any of these places both in the nature of history and beauty but the area has not been developed enough in the matter of tourism.” People coming to Ireland, he said, heard of the Lakes of Killarncy, etc., but he considered the Boyne area just as beautiful as these other places but was somewhat neglected. Father Fanning also made the point frequently quoted by other tourists to Drogheda that the parking facilities were not adequate for a town of its .
Major Pickett during her time in the U.S. Air Force as a nurse has tended American troops in Greece, Turkey, North Africa, Spain, England and France. She spent eighteen months in Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War and, she says, “the bombs came a litte close at times.” While there she met many Irish nuns and has a great liking for Ireland. This was her fifth visit to the country. She is a native of Tulsa, Oklamhoma.