Monthly Archives: July 2015
Major Investigation Launched As ‘Elvis Presley’ Wins West Tyrone GAA Club Lottery Again
Elvis, working in Castlederg?
Lottery auditors have descended upon a West Tyrone GAA club after Elvis Presley won the £3000 snowball prize for the third time in 3 years, adding to other winners such as ‘Tom Jones’, ‘Clint Eastwood’, ‘Calamity Jane’ and ‘Shergar’ since the lottery commenced in 2012.
Killeter GAC Committee admitted no locals had ever won the big prize in the lottery but denied making up winners in order to pocket the prize fund for annual outings to Bundoran and Downings.
Local carpenter and lottery fanatic Killian Penrose remains adamant that something fishy is going on:
“They’re not even putting much effort into covering it up. Who’s called Elvis Presley, like? Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees has won it 4 times now. And as for Shergar….”
Killeter GAA hit national headlines in 1988 after advertising the opening of their new field ‘Castlederg Road Park’ with astronaut Neil Armstrong and Mahatma Gandhi as their special guests, organised by chairman Leo Hurson.
Penrose added:
“And that was a farce too. This boy in a spacesuit turned up, helmet and all, and sure he was only 4 feet tall. I’m sure we’d have known if Armstrong was only 4 foot. And Gandhi had been dead 40 years. He just had some man from Aghyaran dressed in a sheet, waving to people.”
Chairman Hurson was unavailable for comment this morning but an inside source confirmed that there’s an Elvis Presley who works in a chip shop in Castlederg Main Street.
Ardboe Farmer Fined For Smoking Whilst Pushing Wheelbarrow
A big fine on the way?
Following the news that a farmer who lit up a cigarette in his tractor could face a fine of up to £1,000 after he was deemed to be smoking in his workplace in a commercial vehicle capable of “carrying more than one person”, a 66-year old farmer from the Battery Road in Ardboe has been fined £300 on the spot for smoking a cigarette (Marlboro) whilst manoeuvring a barrow full of compost from his garden to the rampart.
Patsy Quinn, who will contest the fine, maintains it’s one rule for government ministers and another for the average Joe:
“I remember seeing McGuinness holding a barrow up with yer woman O’Neill in her and him with a Benson and Hedges drooping from his lip. There was no word of fines or the like then. Ghost oh, it’s a joke.”
Quinn will also contest the fine on the grounds that his barrow couldn’t hold any of the women in his family as they were ‘all big eaters’, negating the suggestion that it’s a two-person contraption.
Jackie Conlon also appeared before a magistrate at Cookstown Court this morning on a charge of smoking whilst in control of a donkey and cart he uses to sell eels around Moortown and Ballinderry.
Conlon (71) admitted to freely smoking a Cuban cigar on a vehicle capable of carrying ‘about 15 people’ in the back of it. On accepting the charge, an emotional Conlon added:
“Have yiz nothing better til be at like. The country’s couped.”
Cartographer Confirms There Is A London In Tyrone. Derry Wants Apology.
Following the news that a motion supporting the name change of Londonderry to Derry was passed at a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council, a south Derry cartographer has confirmed the existence of a townland in Kildress called London which had been played down by locals since 1677.
This startling revelation has resulted a petition signed by 16’000 Derry people asking for a public apology for the verbal abuse received from Tyrone men and women at football matches and nightclubs about there being ‘no London in Tyrone’, especially in the 90s.
Ballinderry headmaster Aidan McGuckian confirmed there’ll be no rest until someone like Barry McElduff makes a public apology:
“So it turns out that not only was there no Sam in Tyrone from 93-03, but there was also a London in it. This changes everything. Thinking back, when the chant of ‘Oh there’s no London in Tyrone’ was reverberating around Clones back in the 90s, the Kildress ones never took part in the insult and stood huddled together, sweaty and red-faced. I just thought that’s the way they were. Bastards.”
Moves are already underway to plan how the apology will be presented to the people of Derry. An extraordinary meeting was called in Kildress involving high profile Tyrone figures from Dennis Taylor to Hugo Duncan. Duncan has promised to pen an apologetic song which he’ll play on the radio, entitled ‘Kiss my Derry Air’. A statue of Dana will also be commissioned to be erected at the middle of the road in Galbally.
Sinn Fein’s Barry McElduff has promised to wear a Derry jersey for a week at Stormont and use ‘sur’ at the end of every sentence.
New Facebook Page
I lost the war with Facebook over the previous page.
Here’s the new one – https://www.facebook.com/tyronetribs
Please like and share – people need to know what’s really happening in the county.
Stiff Dog Litter Fines In Brackaville Sees Rise In Canine Nappies
An early model
Draconian measures by the Department of Environment on the long-running problem of dog-littering in Brackaville has resulted in a lucrative dog-nappy business in Coalisland publishing record profits for the third month running.
The DoE announced last month that any dog caught fouling in the Brackaville area will result in a £5000 fine for its owner after thousands of complaints by non-dog owners were made in 2014 over the amount of dog excrement on the roads and pavements. Coalisland residents were having to take the long way around in their motors to get to Newmills as cars were being destroyed by the fresh litter from dogs as big as ‘Russian Alsations on steroids’ according to Coalisland joiner Patsy Hamill:
“Something had to be done like. Them Brackavillians seem to have a blind spot for what their pets do in public. I know they love their dogs up there but sure I love my children but I don’t let them dung all over the town.”
Local businessman Jody McNeill claims he is not cashing in on Brackaville’s misfortune but is in fact providing a much-needed service in the same way a doctor does, with his dog-nappy venture ‘Dog Done Dung?‘.
“Dog Done Dung? has saved Brackavillians thousands of pounds in fines. And we’re keeping with the times as our new range of nappies instantly tweets ‘I done dung’ on its personal Twitter account for that dog. And we’ve all shaped and sizes and even seductive ones for dogs on heat.”
McNeill confirmed dog-nappies retail from £9.99 for small dogs to £29.99 for Wolfhounds.
Tyrone Players Reading W.B. Yeats Before Sligo Clash For Clues
Yeats – the key to unlocking Sligo?
Mickey Harte, who pioneered bringing on old injured players in the second half as well as maintaining an immaculate semi-shaven demeanour for over a decade, has thought outside the box once more by forcing all squad members to read reams of W.B. Yeats’ poetry to get inside the mind of the average Sligo man and look for possible weaknesses.
County officials have moved to deny that the poetry will be used to sledge the Yeatsmen next weekend by saying it was shite and stuff like that. DJ Cuthbert added:
“Sure everyone knows Yeats was class, apart from the oul womany period he went through writing love words to the Gonne woman but sure every man has his faults.”
Early reports suggest Colm Cavanagh is struggling with Yeats’ mystical period but has taken to “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” with locals overhearing the midfielder rapping some of the lines, particularly:
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
with many feeling this hinted at a personal longing Colm has for returning to a full forward slot or maybe for a house in Benburb.
A Tyrone Tribulations spy who attended tonight’s training session at a secret bunker in Eskra, reported seeing Harte in full headmaster’s gown shouting at Mattie Donnelly who was unable to recite past the third line of Easter 1916 much to the mirth of McCurry and McAliskey.
Our reporter also described how Sean Cavanagh kept shaking his head and looking at his watch.
Gortin Husband In Doghouse After Hanging Knickers On Line. Not Wife’s.
Also in black
A 61 year old Gortin man is said to be ‘holding out ok’ after putting clothes out on the line which included a pair of black knickers not belonging to his wife.
Liam Coyne, who rarely did the laundry, put out the washing as a surprise for his wife who was nursing a hangover after the local bingo club had their annual outing. It wasn’t until Mrs Coyne came down for a glass of water that she spotted the rogue underwear flapping wildly in the stiff July breeze.
“I was about to give off about putting any underwear on the line in full view of the neighbours when I spotted a pair of knickers that I definitely didn’t own. After close inspection I noticed they had the logo AC/DC on them and him at that concert last week. He’ll be sleeping with Bosco the mongrel til I get answers.”
Coyne’s closest friend and fellow AC/DC fan Malachy Hamill (62) is at a loss to explain the appearance of the knickers but reckons Liam may have just bought all around him at stalls at the concert last week with excitement.
“Aye he went a bit mad alright with the merchandise at the concert. He had a carload of AC/DC foam hands and air fresheners. I’d say that’s the most likely scenario. Sure why would he hang out the knickers of some woman he tackled at the concert? That’d be mad.”
Hamill confirmed Coyne was ‘holding up well’ in the doghouse and was catching up on some reading with the help of a torch app on his phone.
Carrickmore Farmers Come To Blows Over Access To A Field On Pluto
Within hours after NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flyby of the icy planet Pluto, a minor scuffle broke out in Carrickmore after two farmers immediately claimed fields beside each other on the dwarf planet, somewhere around the middle of it.
Despite a sizeable journey of 3-billion miles and a 9-year jaunt at an average speed of 30’000mph, Peter Gormley and James Kavanagh immediately set their sights on claiming land on the planet on a first-come-first-served basis. A disagreement emerged after Kavanagh refused Gormley access to his field if a road is built on the other side of Kavanagh’s field.
Gormley fumed:
“This is typical of the Kavanaghs. They’ve always been a carnaptious breed. Anyway, James hasn’t been doing his homework as usual. Apparently the gravity is so weak on Pluto that I could jump right over 3 acres of land and land gently on the other side. And I can fire the cattle over that way too. So balls to him.”
Kavanagh reportedly struck Gormley after Kavanagh suggested the only reason his rival was interested in Pluto was because you weigh only 10% of what you are on earth due to the gentler pull of gravity and that Mrs Gormley would only be 20 stone over there.
When asked how his cattle will be able to endure temperatures of -220, Kavanagh added:
“Just keep the barn doors closed and make cow-jackets. It’s not rocket science.”
Meanwhile, Carrickmore have applied to be twinned with the dwarf planet.
Aghyaran’s Poor Internet Coverage Leaves Locals ‘Still Living In Stone-Age’
Still feared in Aghyaran
Unicorns, leprechauns, dinosaurs and Finn McCool are still considered as daily threats in Aghyaran after government researchers admitted there has never been Internet coverage in the area since it was bought into the rest of Tyrone by Powerscreen in 1999.
In addition, 98% of Aghyarians still believe the earth is flat and that rain only happens when God is sad. Local headmaster and newspaper reader Master Redmond revealed there is a real need for investment in the area after the recent lunar eclipse witnessed families packing the cars and heading for Strabane in panic:
“Since Powerscreen bought the Internet for this part of the world, many newspapers and encyclopaedia stopped making new material as everything is apparently online now. Well, that has been no good to the people of Aghyaran and it’s a constant struggle in the community to keep people abreast of what is going on. If you inform someone of, say, the International Space Station, people just call you a slabber or ‘away in the head’.”
Aghyaran butcher and local historian Kevin Cutter (66) voiced concerns about the introduction of the Internet and maintains it needs to be slowly drip-fed into the area:
“If someone buys the Internet into this area and all of a sudden we’re told that smoking isn’t good for you or that you can’t get pregnant from kissing, then people will just be fainting and stuff from the sudden wave of revelations. It needs to be fed slowly, maybe starting with the likelihood that banshees are probably made up and take it from there. The bru man is real isn’t he?”
BT and O2 revealed they have no plans to improve their coverage in the Aghyaran area as ‘they’re used to not having it anyway’.
Plans To Reintroduce Wolves To Caledon And Benburb
By Landan Seamy
Benburb in 2016?
Imagine the thrill of lying in bed on a windswept December night listening to the hair raising howls from the moors as the wolves hunt their next victim. If local conservationist Pat “the wild man” Devlin and his 11 friends have their way this is what the future could hold for parts of Tyrone.
Pat and his team say plans to bring wolves back to Caledon and Benburb are “at an advanced stage”.
“People claim that we have not thought this through”
explained Pat,
“but we have watched all the Jurassic Park films and know how things could go wrong so to be on the safe side we have chosen 2 areas with sparse populations and with absolutely no players on the Tyrone county squad. Both places are practically in Armagh anyway so I don’t see what all the fuss is about”.
Pat is convinced that there’ll be no disaster anyway.
“Whilst the cynics just see problems I just see benefits for the local economy. Just think of the euros and dollars pouring in. If some of that money crosses the border to Armagh then good luck to them. People have asked me if I’ll be introducing lions and tigers next. That’s just pure ignorance. Those animals never lived in Ireland. The gist of my plan is to return, to their natural habitats, the animals dispossessed by Cromwell”.
Pat has met with some opposition from local farmers and mothers with young children.
“I can understand their concerns” he sympathises “but they’ll just have to get on with it”.
“People say he’s crazy” added Sean who like some of the other 11 is actually one of Pat’s sons.
“But when has a madman ever influenced 11 others. As my father keeps reminding us 12 is a respectable number. Jesus had 12 disciples; Jacob had 12 sons; Christmas has 12 days and the 12th is one of the biggest days in the northern calendar”.
“And on that last fact” interrupted Pat,
“if our fellow county men don’t stop moaning I’ll take the idea to Paisley’s country. It’d actually save us all a lot of time for once we rescue the wolves from the zoo we’d practically be in Antrim already”.
When pressed to state when exactly the wolves are to be “returned” Pat smiled and tapped his nose before saying “plans are an at an advanced stage but if I gave you an exact date the big noises in the zoo in Belfast would probably try and stop us“.
UN Relief Ships Turn Back As Annaghbeg-Derrytresk Bridge Re-Opens
Derrytesk man makes break for pub
After weeks of living off the fat of the land, Derrytresk residents breathed a sigh of relief after the Torrent Bridge finally reopened enabling cars to access the M1 and Spar on the Ballynakilly Road without negotiating the treacherous drive through Clonoe or Coalisland for provisions.
Home-owners on the Annaghbeg side of the bridge also celebrated its completion with many men and women having to go without a slap of drink in the Derrytresk club for up to three weeks.
Annaghbeg Road housewife Mary McCann admitted another weekend without access to Falls’ pub or the Hill clubrooms would have left their marriage on the rocks:
“Another sober weekend looking at each other and there’d have been blood. The priest said many years ago ‘for better and for worse’ but he never mentioned anything about the Tarn Bridge closing down.”
UN leaders have called back 33 ships carrying necessary provisions such as corned beef, brown mineral and black pudding after pictures emerged on social media of Derrytresk families roaming ramparts eating brackens and drinking bog water in order to avoid heading into Coalisland for goods. Reenaderry Road plasterer Sally Hanna admitted she almost jumped in her motor and drive to Spring Island supermarket in Coalisland such was the desperation in the area:
“People were saying I was some sort of kamikaze woman to be thinking of driving to Coalisland. But I could see my children eyeing me up like as if they were going to ate me. Thank the Lord that bridge opened.”
Meanwhile plans to rename the bridge are to get underway next week with many locals favouring ‘The Road’s In Shite Again Bridge’.
Raheem Sterling Still Keen On Dungannon Swifts Move Says Agent
Artist’s impression of how Raheem might look v Loughgall in a friendly
Want-away Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling is said to be veering towards a move to Dungannon Swifts after it emerged that the Northern Ireland Fly Fishing Association are to run trials at the Dungannon Park lake this month.
An avid fly-fisher, Sterling is reportedly seething after he was overlooked for the England fly-fishing team for the international championships later in the summer. Insiders claim he points the finger firmly at his manager Brendan Rodgers who refused to allow him to leave training early the day of the English trials.
Sterling, who has played 16 times for the England soccer team, is also said to be impressed at the new statue erection in Pomeroy ‘The Lady and the Lark‘ and sees this as a chance to settle down and have children who’ll be immersed in such local culture.
Close friend Joshua Bolt added:
“There are just so many signs now pointing towards the Swifts. The new statue in Pomeroy, the fly fishing trials, the copious parking space in the town, the vibrant anti-social element, Woolworths, the close proximity to the culturally diverse Moygashel. If there is a God, he wants Raheem at Stangmore Park, running up and down that wing against the likes of Ballinamallard. The stuff of dreams really.”
Dungannon Swifts PR trainee Jack Alad admitted the club were not sure whether to give Sterling the green light or not:
“I think this Raheem boy is reading all the great stuff about Dungannon but he needs maybe to stay a night or two over here. We’ve had them dodgy door-to-door pillow sellers recently and then the boxing session outside the Fort last week. It’s not paradise completely and maybe the Raheem boy is listening to the wrong advisers.”
Meanwhile, Sterling’s agent has tabled a motion to re-name Dungannon if he does sign for the Swifts, due to the word ‘dung’ being at the start of the name and the stick he’ll get from his England team-mates. The transfer fee is reportedly around the £50m mark and a free feed in Viscounts.
Small Wee Facebook Update
Quite rightly, Facebook are clamping down on fake accounts. Unfortunately my account falls under that – the personal account and not this page account. The personal account had over 4000 friends and because it has been suspended I cannot let them know what has happened. So if you know anyone who is desperate to know what’s going on in Tyrone, ‘like’ the Tyrone Tribulations Facebook page.
The page – go to Facebook and type in Tyrone Tribulations. Hopefully that works.
Cross-Community Solidarity Praised As Meath Flag Placed On Top Of Tamnamore Bonfire
Tamnamore bonfire
Politicians from all major parties as well as international dignitaries have hailed the South East Tyrone Loyal Old Boys Society (SETLOBS) and local GAA clubs in the area as a shining beacon of coming-togetherness and understanding after both communities clapped and cheered as a Meath flag was placed at the top of a bonfire in the middle of the Tamnamore roundabout just off the M1.
SETLOBS Grand Master Willie Tennyson admitted he never thought he’d see the day when unionists, loyalists, nationalists, republicans and pagans would share tins of Carlsberg and glasses of cheap wine as the final pallet was positioned on their annual fire:
“I never thought I’d see the day when unionists, loyalists, nationalists, republicans and pagans would share tins of Carlsberg and glasses of cheap wine as the final pallet was positioned on our annual fire.”
The Meath flag idea was the brainchild of Derrylaughan tradesman Harold McCourt who revealed he harboured a strong hatred of Meath since their 1996 assault on a timid Tyrone outfit in the All-Ireland semi-final.
“Aye, when I heard Tyrone were drawn to play Meath on he eleventh night this weekend, it just came to me that such an event was a great opportunity to offer the hand of friendship to themuns and kill two birds with the one flag. We get to see that county’s flag burn whilst the SETLOBS gain satisfaction from watching a GAA thing in flames and it green and all.”
Hundreds turned up as the bonfire was lit late last night by two petrol bombs fired at it by Grand Master Tennyson and local GAA historian Fr Ben Fay. The festivities passed off peacefully apart from one incident at 3am when a Lambeg drum was thrown off the bridge onto the motorway after a row over whether A Nation Once Again was catchier than The Sash My Father Wore.
Foreign press reported the event for international media outlets although most maintained it was the worst built bonfire they’d ever covered.
Parents Distraught As Dromore Teen Not Interested In Growing A Beard
Tyrone lads in Cappagh
A 17-year old A Level student, who has been described as ‘fairly normal enough up until now‘ by close friends and family, has worried his local community after he admitted in the Spar this morning that he has no intention of growing a beard. To confound matters further, Patrick McCullagh also revealed he has no interest in cycling.
Close friend, and owner of an 8-month old beard, Dessie Dorman (18) agreed he was concerned about Patrick’s state of mind and has asked family members to keep an eye on him over the next few days:
“There was nothing wrong with Patrick until today. We just thought he was one of those lads who took ages to grow facial hair like wee Collie McCullagh up the road. But to say he has no interest in growing a beard is just mad stuff altogether. And then to top it off by saying he’s not into the cycling is baffling. To dislike both of those things is weird but I don’t think I want to associate with someone who doesn’t have an interest in at least one. I don’t know Patrick McCullagh from today.”
he added before cycling off in a new Carrera Virtuoso Road Bike to compete in a 60k charity race in Gweedore.
McCullagh’s father, ex champion pipe-smoker and backing singer in 1960s local band The Turfclodders, admitted he felt shame at his son’s recent revelations:
“There’s nothing wrong with our breed. In the 70s I’d the long hair and flared jeans like everyone else. Our Patrick maybe needs to be sent away somewhere like Jamaica or Russia where they accept all kinds. Dromore is not the place for off-radar lads like him.”
Meanwhile local PP Fr Turnett has warned women in the parish not to go down the beard route yet and to not be wearing short skirts when cycling to Mass.
Outrage As Tyrone GAA Fixtures Committee Force Abandon Game After 44 Mins
Tyrone Fixtures Committee
Tempers were simmering tonight across Tyrone after six sunglassed men and women in long coats invaded a field in Aghaloo and pulled the whistle from the referee’s mouth, effectively abandoning the home side’s game against Brocagh.
A statement released by the CCCCC confirmed they force-abandoned a game tonight near Aughnacloy as there was an Aghaloo player who looked like a decent county squad replacement for the recently retired Dermot Carlin and that
‘under no circumstances should this new county squad player be allowed to compete for ball against your average pleb club footballer. We’re only doing what we’re told.’
Aghaloo journeyman footballer Seamy Douglas admitted this was the final straw:
“I’ve had enough. It’s bad enough calling us plebs and stuff but we were winning 4-12 to 0-0 as half the Brocagh side were still cut from last night’s ACDC concert.”
The abandonment comes hot on the heels of a rash of match postponements issued by the CCCCC in club games involving county players against the plebs. The CCCCC have attempted to soften the blow by offering free mineral and crisps to all affected pleb club men with a warning to ‘know your place’.
Meanwhile a major investigation in Derrytresk lasted 6 hours today after club officials attempted to discover who their secret county player was after their game was one of those called off by the CCCCC. Several players were water-boarded and dragged up and down their pitch from a rope tied to a Massey Ferguson in order to discover who’d squeal. It wasn’t until an U14 player meekly suggested maybe it was because they were playing Edendork who have a couple of county men that the interrogation was finally called off.
Brolly Hires Home Security After Frazer Brawl On The Lawn
Joe, looking out his window
Joe Brolly was described this morning as ‘tired, exhausted and beside himself’ after it emerged it was a Coalisland man who engaged in a spot of contact lawn-rolling in front of Willie Frazer’s house earlier in the week.
The brief confrontation, which was filmed on Frazer’s home CCTV and described by wrestling experts as ‘probably a draw’, left the Dungiven TV pundit ‘looking out through his curtains all night’ in case a Coalisland man decided to pay him a visit.
A friend of Brolly’s commented:
“Joe barely sleeps anyway what with thinking about mad things to say on TV and stuff but he’s not even going near the bed at all since the Brawl on the Lawn. It’s not fair on the wife.”
Neighbours confirmed that the Derry man bought two massive Pomeranian Terriers in 2013 after his comments regarding Sean Cavanagh in the hope that their yapping would ward off any Moy renegades set on calling out Joe on his own doorstep. He also hoped the fact they were Pomeroy showed no hard feelings.
“Joe’s very proud of his garden and recently planted a whole rake of Peruvian lilies right outside his front door and I know he’d never get over it if him and an elderly Coalisland man wrestled over the top of them.”
The Coalisland Pensioners’ Society Committee issued a statement confirming that Joe Brolly was not a ‘legitimate target right now’ but that ‘circumstances can change from Sunday to Sunday’ and that they ‘haven’t gone away’ but didn’t add ‘y’know’ which suggests they are not aligning themselves to other mainstream pensioner groupings.
Tyrone Tribulations 