An amazing letter to my granny Matilda

The famous historic letter to Granny Matilda typed up (26-12-2021)

                                                                           St Colum’s  college

                                                                                        Derry

                                                                               July 7^th 1931

Dear Mrs Sheeran,

You will think it strange to get a letter from me seeing that I was never speaking to you in my life except once when I bid you time of day. You will think it stranger still when you hear my story. Fr Mc Kenna tells me that you have been received lately into the Catholic Church and that you got married also to Mr Sheeran of the National bank who i know well.

Now I have been looking out this long time for your conversion and the reason is this: I have been praying for you almost every day for the past seven years. I began to pray for you on the night before you came to Feeny (before i even saw or knew who you were). Somebody told me that a young lady doctor was coming to Feeny to do locum for Dr Thomson. I don’t know why I did it but that night I began to pray for you. I continued to pray, saying short prayers two or three times in the day, during the time you were  in Feeny. When you left Feeny (it was in August 1924), I stopped praying for you because I was going to Lourdes myself that year and I said to myself I will wait till I go there. I tell you candidly that I felt terribly unhappy during that time when I was not praying for you. When I arrived in Lourdes I went straight to the Grotto of Our Lady and the first prayer I said was for you and I cannot describe how happy I felt. Ever since, I never missed a day, perhaps one, that i omitted praying for you. Besides I was in Rome the following year 1925 and i said Mass for you at St Peter’s tomb in St Peter’s church. On the 15^th August, in the following year, I said Mass for you again and included you several time in commemorations in Masses, I never forgot to pray for you and will continue. I am exceedingly glad therefore to hear you are now a Catholic and I am glad too you got married to a good, decent, respectable boy. May you live long and happy together. May God protect you and Mary always pray for you. All I ask in return is that you say a little prayer every day for me.             B. Mc Namee cc

free online understanding dementia course next Autumn

Course Description

The Understanding Dementia MOOC was developed by the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre based in the College of Health and Medicine at the University of Tasmania. This world-leading online course is free, easily accessible and available to everyone with an interest in dementia.

The ageing of human populations across the globe has contributed to dementia being identified as one of the public health issues of the 21st century. The MOOC curriculum addresses this health issue by drawing upon the expertise of neuroscientists, clinicians and dementia care professionals from both within the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, and beyond.

Since 2013, the Understanding Dementia  has received over 315,000 enrolments from all around the world. We invite you to join our community and learn about the diseases that cause dementia, how the condition affects the person with dementia, and how we can provide the best quality care.

Once the course commences, you will be able to log in to engage with the course content and activities, and share perspectives with other participants.

To get the most out of this experience, you should expect to spend approximately 3 hours per week completing the course activities for the 7 weeks of scheduled content. The additional 3 weeks that the course is open is to allow you to catch up or revisit content.

You can work through the content at any time of day and at your own pace within this release schedule. This includes revisiting earlier released content as needed. 

Once you have completed the course, you will be eligible to download a free, personalised certificate of completion. We also offer paid enhanced certificates options in addition to the free certificate. There will be more information about this in the Completion module.

We look forward to your contribution, as an important member of the Understanding Dementia community.

Course Outline

	The Brain The Brain provides background content on basic nervous system anatomy and function, followed by a discussion of the diseases that cause dementia, current dementia research and future directions. Nervous system anatomyAnatomy with Body CentralPathology of dementiaFuture directions of dementia research
	The Diseases The Diseases explores differences between normal ageing and dementia, risk factors, issues surrounding diagnosis, as well as medical management. Difference between normal ageing and dementiaRisk factors for dementiaDomains of dementiaDiagnosis of dementiaYounger onset dementiaStages of dementia and focusing supportMedical management
	The Person The Person addresses difficulties in recognising symptoms, living with dementia, palliation, pain, dementia friendly communities, dementia inclusive design, and non-pharmacological therapies. Insidious onset of dementiaLiving with dementiaDementia palliationNon-pharmacological therapiesDementia and behavioursPain and dementiaAdvanced dementia symptoms and managementDementia friendly communitiesDementia inclusive design

Fond Memories of Maura Crowley RIP

Fond Memories of Maura Crowley RIP (16-11-2021)

Fr Price’s sister in London, Maura, was one of the staunchest supporters of the Divine Mercy Conference, especially in the early days.

We all loved her. As Loretta said “She was really lovely”

We were all very fond of Maura, older sister of Fr Cathal.

What happy memories when she would come over for the Conference and stay with Fr Cathal. In Balgaddy and in Kilbarrack.

She had her share of trouble. Some bitter grief. We prayed for her and her family in London and she prayed for us in Dublin. She was one of the gang, it seemed.

Maura always seemed to be smiling and cheerful. There was a lovely simplicity about her but she had great common sense and genuinness

She supported Fr Cathal very well. It was not always easy to put on the Conference. Her husband was Tim. I think he died a few years ago.

I did not really know Tim. Her beloved son was Michael.

I used to ring Maura now and again to keep in touch. We did not see her recently but we will never forget her.

Her funeral Mass in London was on Friday December 10^th. We all tried to join in online but the technology failed us. C’est la vie.

Fr Price bravely made it to London, God bless him, despite the threat of Covid.

Love had the last word…..