28 Nov

On October 31’st, Halloween, Speakeasy Toastmasters held their fun/scary meeting in Chapel Lane, Mallow. The Halloween theme began, as we were welcomed at the door by Sergeant at Arms Ellen Broderick and Count Dracula, aka Elaine O’Donovan. President Pat Sexton welcomed us and promised us a scary meeting which was obvious as there was an abundance of Witches, Warlocks, scary masks, Jack O’Lanterns, nuts (of the edible type), apples, a little Red Devil and a blood soaked, bandaged Phantom lurking in the shadows.
Pat passed control of the meeting to Toastmaster, Winnie the Witch, aka Mary Buckley, (we think). Winnie explained the her duties for the evening and introduced Topics Master, Bríd O’Keeffe and Timekeeper, Count Dracula (Elaine)

First to the Lectern was, yes, another witch, Angela Sheehan with a speech entitled
“Vampires, A pain in the neck”. “Vampires are not just for Halloween you know, we have been around for a very long time” began Angela who said that vampires may be all around us and gave us some signs to look out for. The person wearing the polo neck may be hiding bites or the person who won’t smile as they may be hiding large incisors. Even a name is a giveaway, said Angela and in Speakeasy there are some dodgy Toastmasters for instance, Bury (Barry) Mc’Carthy. Mikill (Michael) Cronin to name but a few. Angela brought us through the history of Vampires and specifically the Irish connection plus lots more nuggets of information on Vampires in general and finished with a number of Vampire Jokes.
Angela’s speech was evaluated by Eileen Corkery.

Next to the lectern was Dermot Meaney who was giving his first speech from the Storytelling Manual and it was entitled “Oiche Shamhna”. “Trick or Treat, Smelly Feet give me something nice to eat” said Dermot. We can lay the blame for the whole Halloween ritual of bonfires, pumpkins, masks and trick or treating on our barbaric ancesters “who we fondly call “the Celts””. The Celts divided the year into two seasons. The Summer season which began on the first of May which was celebrated with the festival of Bhealtaine and the winter season in November which was celebrated with the festival of Samhain. Dermot brought us through the fascinating history of Halloween from the Celts to the present day.
Dermot’s speech was evaluated by Michael (the devil) Cronin.

Dermot was followed by Jerry Mulcahy with a Speciality Speech in which he read the JBKeane story “The Scubble Thing” from the Book, “A Collection of Irish Stories for Christmas”, The story was about Martin and Mary Scubble who did not have any children but whose house was always full of life with people working on the bog calling to them regularly They were very happy together all year round with the exception of one night around Christmas when their personalities changed completely. The young people of the locality knew this and they used to conceal themselves outside the Scubble’s house for what was an annual argument for Martin and Mary Scubble and a party for the young people of the area.
Jerry’s speech was evaluated by Michael Dongegan.
The next Speakeasy Toastmasters Meeting is on Thursday Nov.14’th and the following members will be presenting speeches, Deirdre Lenihan, Mieháel Mc’Mahon, Elizabeth O’Brien, Barry Mc’Carthy and Jeremiah Roynane. Toastmaser for this meeting will be Seán Lynch, Topics Master Mary Stack and Timekeeper Ray Ryan.
Members of the public are very welcome to attend all Speakeasy Toastmasters meetings.
For further information on the Club contact Sean on 086 6054784 or Pat 087 2364240 or visit the Club’s Website at www.clix.to/speakeasy. Email, speakeasymallow@eircom.net