A GROUP of family and friends of the late Molly and Pat Taaffe meet annually to play golf and reminisce and this year’s outing, the 20th, took place last Saturday in Luttrellstown Castle. Pat and Molly’s daughter Olive Gallagher travelled from Kentucky and presented the trophy and first prize to Niall Madden who was winning for the second year running. He also acted as handicap secretary this year and was ably assisted in his many duties by Elaine Taaffe, wife of Tom.

The competition was first played in 1996 at Molly Taaffe’s home club in Naas and Leo Powell was the first captain. Tom Taaffe won the inaugural prize, a feat he has repeated on three occasions since. Other past captains of the Molly’s Club have been Garrett Freyne and Ivon Keeling.

Tall tales from the hills

OUR colleagues in the Irish Farmers Journal have a project that could be of interest to readers of The Irish Field. They have teamed up with RTÉ’s Countrywide and Ballpoint Press on a venture to preserve the diverse tales from growing up in rural Ireland. This new book, Around The Farm Gate - A Treasure Trove of Irish Stories, is due to be released in the autumn.

If you or someone you know has a story to tell from growing up in rural Ireland in the past half-century or so, they would love to hear from you. The stories should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words. The closing entry date is July 6th 2015. To submit your stories or for more information, email farmgate@farmersjournal.ie .