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Connacht Tribune

Research traces Hollywood star’s ancestral roots to North Galway

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He’s famous for roles in big box office hits like High Fidelity and Being John Malkovich – as well as starring in a host of Woody Allen movies – but right up to last week John Cusack was blissfully unaware that he has Galway roots!

The Illinois star always believed his Irish ancestry could be traced to Meath and Kerry – but two intrepid RTÉ reporters discovered that the Cusacks actually originated in Ballygar.

Film-makers and journalists, Naoimh Reilly and Denise Lavelle, also work on The Today Show on RTÉ1 – and they set off last week to try and doorstep the Hollywood star….by luring him in with a forensic analysis of his roots.

“We heard John was speaking at an event for the Belfast Film Festival; we knew it would be difficult to get near him so we decided to commission a genealogy report on his family,” explained Naoimh.

It worked – because they were given access to the star turn the next day and it got even more interesting when the duo revealed his family history.

“He initially didn’t believe the story. He was told his whole life by his mother that it was the other way around that his father’s family was from Kerry and his mother’s family was from Meath. Our report showed that this was incorrect. He discovered things that he never knew.”

The genealogists believed that Dennis Francis Cusack was born in the parish of Ballygar – and that John’s maternal Carolan ancestry originated in the parish of Nobber and Kells in Co Meath.

“All four of John’s grandparents – Cusack, McFeeley, Carolan and McGillen – are of Irish descent. Moreover six, and possibly seven, of John’s eight great-grandparents are Irish born. All of John’s sixteen great-great-grandparents are of Irish origin. He is as Irish as it gets,” added Denise.

The report was conducted by Eneclann who also carried out research on Barack Obama and Tom Cruise.

“John was called away to the event he was speaking at but asked us to stay around after so he could talk to us more about his family heritage. We had a long chat with him after that and he was very thankful to us for giving him the report. He also said we may have caused a war within his family!” said Naoimh.

The interview was aired on RTÉ’s Today Show last week, when Cusack also revealed that he was in pre-production with a film project which he plan to film in Ireland soon.

The movie will be about Irish revolutionary Thomas Francis Meagher, based on the award winning biography by Timothy Egan called The Immortal Irishman.

In his short life, Meagher, who died 43, spent much of his life outside of Ireland. He made a significant contribution to both Irish nationalism and to the preservation of the United States and particularly to the assimilation of the Irish into American society.

The Waterford native was a leading figure in the Irish independence movement, lead the legendary Irish Brigade in the American Civil War.

Cusack – who was on the periphery of the original Brat Pack – is known for his individualism, and he frequently ensues big budget projects in favour of more esoteric projects.

He has become a perennial favourite of the legendary Woody Allen, starring in recent big successes like Bullets Over Broadway and Shadows and Fog.

Other acclaimed roles came in Con Air, True Colors, the Grifters and High Fidelity, the screen version of Nick Hornby’s best-selling book.

Connacht Tribune

West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.

A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.

For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.

These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.

“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.

In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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Galway's Aaron Niland is chased by Cillian O'Callaghan of Cork during Saturday's All-Ireland Minor Hurling semi-final at Semple Stadium. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

Galway 3-18

Cork 1-10

NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.

The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.

Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.

Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.

Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.

Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche

GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.

Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.

Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.

“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.

“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.

He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.

“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.

“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.

He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.

The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.

“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

 

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