Latest news with #BrianGleeson
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Diarmuid Kilgallen links up with Ireland squad as training cover for Calvin Nash
Munster wing Diarmuid Kilgallen and number eight Brian Gleeson have joined the Ireland squad for training purposes at the IRFU High Performance Centre (HPC) at Abbotstown as they prepare for summer Tests against Georgia and Portugal. The 24-year-old has been called in as cover for Calvin Nash who is nursing an ankle injury, which will limit his on-field participation this week. The Kildare-born Kilgallen, who played club rugby with Naas and schools at Cistercian Roscrea, scored a dozen tries during his time at Connacht before joining Munster last summer. Injury curtailed his opportunities but could not camouflage his talent. He made his Munster debut against an All Blacks XV and scored two tries on his first appearance in the Champions Cup against Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens. Tall, athletic, light on his feet and quick, his skill set would allow him to play anywhere from outside centre, wing to fullback. Ulster's James McNabney suffered an unfortunate ACL injury in training and the backrow has not linked up as one of the additional training players. Gleeson, a standout player for Ireland at Under-20s level, joins a quintet of uncapped players in that ancillary category to the squad that tours, one that includes Evan O'Connell, Zac Ward, Jude Postlethwaite and Kilgallen. READ MORE Ireland will train at the HPC on Thursday and next week before departing for Tbilisi on Wednesday, July 2nd. They play Georgia on Saturday, July 5th (6pm, Irish time) and a week later face Portugal in Lisbon on Saturday, July 12th (7pm, Irish time).
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
ACL blow for young Ireland hopeful that rules him out until 2026
James McNabney has suffered an ACL injury and will not be joining Ireland's squad ahead of their two-Test summer tour against Georgia and Portugal. McNabney, 22, played 17 times for Ulster this season but is not expected to feature again until the new year. The talented back row has been replaced as one of the additional training players by Brian Gleeson, who joins his provincial colleague Evan O'Connell - nephew of tour head coach Paul - in the squad for the training camp that is currently in progress at the IRFU's high performance centre in Dublin. Munster winger Diarmuid Kilgallen will train with the squad as cover for his provincial colleague Calvin Nash, who will be limited in the amount of work he can get through this week as he nurses an ankle injury. With 16 Irish players on British and Irish Lions duty this summer, O'Connell has the opportunity to run the rule over the next generation of Test hopefuls. The squad train today and next week in Abbotstown before departing for Tbilisi on Wednesday, 2nd July ahead of the clash with Georgia three days later. Ireland then travel to Lisbon for the clash with Portugal on July 12. Ireland summer tour squad Forwards (18):Tom Ahern (Shannon/Munster)*Jack Aungier (Lansdowne/Connacht*Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(27)Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster)(2)Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)(6)Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster)(2)Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(2)Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(1)Alex Kendellen (UCC/Munster)*Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(4)Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)*Michael Milne (UCD/Munster)*Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)*Tom O'Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(16)Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(4)Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley/Leinster)*Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(2)Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster)(3)Backs (14):Shayne Bolton (Connacht)*Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)( captain )(18)Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(24)Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)*Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(8)Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht)*Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(19)Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)*Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)(10)Jimmy O'Brien (Naas/Leinster)(8)Tommy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)*Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(7)Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(8)Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(38)Training Panellists:Brian Gleeson (Garryowen/Munster)*Diarmuid Kilgallen (Garryowen/Munster)*Evan O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster)*Jude Postlethwaite (City of Armagh/Ulster)*Zac Ward (Ballynahinch/Ulster)*
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
First new local area plan for Blessington in a decade is voted in
The plan for the west Wicklow town and surrounding area is the first to be adopted in over a decade, with the previous plan in place for six years between 2013 and 2019. During a meeting of Wicklow County Council on Monday, members considered 37 amendments to the proposed plan that will provide a framework to support the future development of the area up until 2031. During the council session, councillors also reviewed a myriad of reports that have been carried out ahead of the plan's implementation, looking specifically on how it will affect local communities in the wider west Wicklow region. Speaking during the meeting, independent councillor John Snell stressed the need for better transport links and called for a committee to be set up to review the issue. 'We were given reassurances on our own local area plan for Wicklow-Rathnew that a committee would be set up straight away and that plan has passed and there's still no sign of a committee being put committees need to be up and running now and not wait until the lifetime of this council is gone.' In response director of services Brian Gleeson said a group has met on a couple of occasions to look at that proposal of setting up these committees. 'We have gotten support from the National Transport Authority to proceed with that. So, a brief is being drafted up to go to tender under an NTA framework. That is currently being progressed.' Meanwhile on the issue of land zoning, independent councillor Gerry O' Neill raised concern about the area earmarked for the building of a new graveyard and called for planners to look at other sites. 'We have the main graveyard at Burgage and a proposal was made to extend it to the far side of the road, and the suggestion to remove that, this is where I am objecting to. 'We're down to about 30, 35 spaces in the existing graveyard. So I understand what the planners are saying here and I accept their view, but I believe an alternative site needs to be found.' ADVERTISEMENT Having considered the 37 amendments, councillors adopted the plan with minor adjustments. Following the vote Fianna Fáil councillor Patsy Glennon thanked the planning team and his colleagues in the chamber for supporting the plan. 'It will give a new lease of life to Blessington over the coming years and hopefully we will get much needed sports facilities, graveyards, all the things that are essential for a community to be vibrant and looking forward to the future with an increased population.' The elected members also voted to amend certain planning policies in the Wicklow County Development Plan 2022 – 2028 that will make it possible for the new plan in Blessington to be implemented. At the conclusion of the meeting director of services Michael Nicholson thanked the planning staff for their 'trojan work.' 'This is the second plan they have gone through having done Wicklow earlier in the year. To do one is a huge task, to do two in quick succession is no joke. 'I thank all 32 councillors for their cooperation, and particularly the members from Baltinglass. I think you all worked very, very well and I think it is a great result.' Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Irish Independent
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Waterford two-bed with sunny garden and converted garage brought back to life in glorious Technicolor
Asking price: €189,000 Agent: Brian Gleeson Property, (058) 44200 Caitriona Kiely has been a fan of Escape to the Chateau since it first aired in 2016. In fact, the Channel Four reality TV show, which follows an English couple as they restore a grandiose 19th-century French chateau, inspired Kiely and her husband James Murray to try their hand at restoring a house themselves. 'I was a little bit obsessed with Escape to the Chateau,' says Kiely, a retired hairdresser from Kilmacthomas in Co Waterford. 'I followed the programme religiously for years and I loved what they did. While I wouldn't like to buy a chateau myself, you could say, No4 Shanbally Terrace is my chateau.' The two-bedroom terraced house, built in the 1980s, was far from a castle when they first visited. 'It was in a dire state,' she recalls. 'There had been an elderly gentleman living there. It had all the signs of a bachelor living on his own, and had been lying vacant for a couple of years after he passed away.' It was, however, a well-structured, solid concrete home, and they could see its potential. 'There was a really happy vibe when we first walked in,' she adds. 'We just decided to go for it.' They bought the house in January 2019 and got to work immediately, doing much of it themselves. 'You couldn't get in through the front door because the front garden was so overgrown,' explains Kiely. 'The first thing we did was to clear a pathway. Then we gutted the inside of the house, leaving just the walls. 'There was a lot of pulling and dragging,' she says. 'We went through about 20 skip bags at the time, as well as a few lorry loads of rubbish.' The floors throughout were replaced, the walls and the roof of the house were insulated and a new plumbing system installed. Most of the work was completed by June 2019, when they moved in. Entering through the front door, there's a hallway with a sitting room on one side, which now has pale pink walls and pink and black rose-patterned wallpaper on the chimney breast. There's also a door from the hall leading to the kitchen. Here, a door to the scullery was done away with to make a wrap-around room. New units in cream and blue, and a mock wooden floor have been installed, and prints hung on the walls. Kiley and her husband, who comes from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, run a company which fabricates quartz for residential buildings in Youghal. They have, as a result, used quartz both in the kitchen and in the upstairs bathroom. 'Those big slabs of quartz in the bathroom had to be carried up the stairs and cut up there,' she recalls. 'When I think about it, I don't even know how we managed it.' The dining room, off the kitchen, has an unusual green and cream colour scheme. Here, Kiely sprayed the built-in cupboards forest green, and a green and black patterned carpet was added underfoot. From the kitchen, there's a door leading to the back of the house, which has a series of patios on different levels. There's a covered-in area with a table and chair, and some colourful paintings on the wall. It faces a red wooden door, which leads to a shed that is used as a laundry room. There are steps leading to an area which houses a bicycle, and these lead to a converted garage, which has been insulated and wired for electricity. It has, until recently, housed a sauna and steam room. 'It would be an ideal space for a home gym and an office, or it could even be a bedroom. It's like a little granny flat,' says Kiely. Kiely has two sons from a previous marriage, Charlie (28), who works for Coolmore Stud and lives in Australia, and Lee (30), a professional event horse rider who is based in Florida. They stay in the spare room – an airy double room upstairs – when they're home. The other bedroom, which is the master, has built-in wardrobes, an en suite bathroom, and gold-themed decor. 'Nearly everything in it came from thrift shops,' says Kiely. 'I did a lot of thrifting during the pandemic. I'd visit vintage shops with my mother and we'd rummage for anything I could use in the house, like vintage mirrors or artwork. 'I often bring things home and my husband says, 'What are you doing with that? And I say to him, you'll see! Then I fix it up or spray it. I love bringing things back to life.' She has also brought the south-facing front of the house back to life. Here, there's decking underfoot, a gazebo and a glasshouse, which has been wired for electricity and has fairy lights that come on at night. The house is located in Cappoquin, a village with schools, sports clubs, shops and restaurants. 'It's really a beautiful part of the country,' says Kiely. 'It's on the Blackwater River, and there are lots of water-based activities like rowing and fishing locally. You've also got the Glenshelane woods and the Knockmealdown Mountains, nearby, and we're just 15 minutes drive from the Greenway.' The house is a 20-minute drive from Youghal and Clonmel, while Lismore can be reached in five minutes by car. 'You're kind of in the middle of everything here, and there's a great sense of community. People here are very friendly and helpful.' While they've enjoyed living there, she and her husband are selling No 4 as they plan to buy a cottage in Youghal, closer to their workplace. 'It will be our next project, and we're looking forward to starting it,' she says. 'We've enjoyed the challenge of bringing this house back to life. It's a sunny home with a happy atmosphere, but it's time to pass it on to the next owner now.' Brian Gleeson Auctioneers is seeking offers in the region of €189,000.
