Why Limerick fell silent one weekend and was bustling with activity another

SOME WEDNESDAYS and Thursdays in the newsroom, we’re like scavengers, scanning the county notes section of the broadsheet paper for what we call weekend pic markings - events where our photographers will capture the lifeblood of Limerick life in a photo spread.

Some weekends, the diary overflows; others, it’s as empty as the newsroom on deadline night. But it’s very rare to have a weekend so quiet that not a single marking can be found.

That was exactly the case on the weekend of July 20 last. It seemed every event organiser in Limerick had the same thought: the senior hurlers would surely be in the All-Ireland final. As it turned out, they weren’t, and the result was a digital calendar so bare you could hear the tumbleweed roll through it.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and the situation couldn’t have been more different. Our photographic diary was choc-a-bloc with markings from every corner of the city and county.

From Éigse to the Joyce Brothers’ Weekend, the unveiling of a famine memorial in Kilteely, the official opening of Reilig Mhuire Burial Ground in Askeaton, Coláiste Nano Nagle’s first alumni event, GAA and rugby matches, and of course, the Cook Medical Mini Marathon - it was a feast of community life.

SEE ALSO: PICTURES: County Limerick village unveils famine memorial stone

There were bingo nights in sports halls, commemorations in graveyards, cups of tea in community centres, sunrise walks, poetry readings, storytelling sessions, and club matches played in front of loyal parish supporters.

In an age when our screens are filled with images of conflict, division, and disconnection, weekends like this remind us of something precious we still have in this county and country: community spirit. You don’t have to look too far to see it is still alive, and while it may be under pressure from various elements, it remains a constant of local life. And at its heart are the people who give up their time - of which few of us have much to spare these days - for the good of others.

Even more heartening are the number of young faces appearing in the photographs our photographers filed this week.

We all worry about how much time we - and especially our young people - spend staring into screens. Yet here they were, out in the world, watching their parents and neighbours take part in the traditions that bind us together.

If they carry the flame of that spirit forward, the future of our communities will be in safe hands long after we’re all gone.