{"id":4999,"date":"2020-06-22T22:44:41","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T02:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=4999"},"modified":"2020-06-22T22:46:27","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T02:46:27","slug":"episode-59-bunmahon-ireland-alan-skeochs-journal-sidebar-story-ofgerald-and-his-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=4999","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 59 BUNMAHON IRELAND ALAN SKEOCH’S JOURNAL SIDEBAR STORY OFGERALD AND HIS DOG"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 59   BONMAHON IRELAND    ALAN SKEOCH\u2019S JOURNAL   <\/p>\n

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SIDEBAR STORY OF GERALD AND HIS DOG<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
June 2020<\/div>\n

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GERALD AND  HIS DOG<\/div>\n

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Time passes. Sometimes  moments in time are captured and cherished.  This is one<\/div>\n
of mine.   The story o fGerlad Kennedy and his dog.<\/div>\n

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This was  Gerald\u2019s companion who I have named Fergus because I cannot remember his<\/div>\n
proper name.   He was taken for granted.  He was also magnificent.  A dog I cannot forget<\/div>\n

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The little boy was named  Gerald Kennedy.   He loved having three Canadian miners at his home.  He would have loved  to be part<\/div>\n
of  our mining exploration.  I realize now, 60 years  later, that Gerald was part of our job.  <\/div>\n

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That might be Gerald with his kiddy car heading for the ocean.  He would  not be alone for long.<\/div>\n

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There are so many stories  to tell about that Irish  job in Bunmahon, County  <\/div>\n
Waterford.   One sidebar story touched us all  but was soon taken for granted<\/div>\n
as a routine event.  Hard  ti  forget,  Better to be remembered.<\/div>\n

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So I would like to tell the story of Gerald Kennedy and his companion separately.   Gerald was<\/div>\n
afflicted with Down\u2019s Syndrome.   People sometimes try to pretend children so  afflicted<\/div>\n
are not part of the give and take of daily living. That they Are present as an embarrassment.<\/div>\n

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Gerald  could not be treated that way.  He asserted himself wherever he could.  The sudden <\/div>\n
presence of three mining men from Canada was a great thing for Gerald.  So, when Mrs.<\/div>\n
Kennedy got our meals ready, Gerald hung around.  But never alone.  Wherever Gerald<\/div>\n
went his Companion, \u2018Fergus\u2019 wes rogjt beside him.  Fergus was a big rather aged black<\/div>\n
Labrador dog.  To Gerald, his companion Fergus was an extension of himself.  <\/div>\n

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Sometimes he rode on Fregus\u2019s back as if the dog was  a pony.  Fergus never<\/div>\n
flinched.  Sometimes Gerald would even Bite Fergus on the ears.  Fergus did not<\/div>\n
growl or indicate displeasure.  Fergus  did not try to avoid Gerald.  Where Gera;d<\/div>\n
went. Fergus went. Simple as that.   <\/div>\n

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Loyalty of dogs to their masters is not unusual.  Common. Expected. Taken for granted.<\/div>\n

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But Fergus  took loyalty a good distance further as I witnessed one stormy evening on<\/div>\n
Bunmahon beach.<\/div>\n

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Gerald came down the road with Fergus.  They walked right by Kirwin\u2019s pub after crossing<\/div>\n
the main road.  Was I wrong or did  Fergus look both ways before he let Gerald  cross.<\/div>\n
Hard to say. They were pressed close together.  Was Fergus pressing Gerald?<\/div>\n

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Then they continued down to the beach where some good sized waves were<\/div>\n
beating up the sand into swirls.<\/div>\n

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Ocean\u2019s are dangerous places for little boys like Gerald.  His dog Fergus knew that and  kept Gerald safe.<\/div>\n

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Straight down to the water.  I began to get concerned lest Gerald drown.<\/div>\n

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Then a wonderful thing happened.  Fergus went into the water right away.<\/div>\n
He was a  Labrador after all.. A water dog.   But that was not the  reason <\/div>\n
he preceded Gerald.  Fergus stopped when the water waves were lapping <\/div>\n
his legs.   He turned.  And Gerald  waded in immediately but Fergus would <\/div>\n
not let him get in much deeper than his ankles.  If Gerald  moved  along\u2026Fergus <\/div>\n
moved along. <\/div>\n

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And eventually they both came back and went home.<\/div>\n

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A minor incident that has stayed in my mind\u2019s eye for 60 years.<\/div>\n

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We went back to Bonmahon, Marjorie  Eric  and I\u2026but both Gerald<\/div>\n
and Fergus were no longer there.<\/div>\n

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I met Gerald and Fergus in 1960.  My  wife Marjorie and I went back to Ireland on a  visit in 1965.  Neither Gerald nor Fergus<\/div>\n
were still around.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
june 2020<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 59   BONMAHON IRELAND    ALAN SKEOCH\u2019S JOURNAL    SIDEBAR STORY OF GERALD AND HIS DOG alan skeoch June 2020 GERALD AND  HIS DOG Time passes. Sometimes  moments in time are captured and cherished.  This is one of mine.   The story o fGerlad Kennedy and his dog. This was  Gerald\u2019s companion who I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}