Oskar's Trashcan

Offaly is a county in the Irish midlands. Jealous non-Offalians slag us off and call us BIFFOS (which of course stands for Bright Intelligent Fellow From Offaly or Beautiful Intelligent Female From Offaly, depending on your point of view). Here are some things you may or may not have known about the Faithful County

*The first aviation disaster in history happened in Tullamore. Way back in 1785, Lord Charleville - who owned Tullamore - went for a trip in his hot air balloon. Depending on what source you read, it was either a blazing inferno on the scale of the great fire of London or a smaller fire which 'only' burned down a few streets. Conclusive proof if it were ever needed that toffs should not be let play with inflatable objects.

* The telescope in the grounds of Birr Castle was the largest telescope in the world from 1845 to 1916.

* The 2002 census recorded the population as 63,663

* Speaking of Birr Castle, it's thought that the box hedges in its gardens are the tallest in the world. Unless you're over 12 metres tall, trimming the top of them could prove to be a tricky business.

* Offaly used to be called King's County. The then county town was Philipstown (now Daingean), named after King Philip II. Incidentally, Laois was Queen's County and Portlaoise was known as Maryborough. Tullamore only became the capital of Offaly in the 18th century

* Current Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen hails from Clara.

* Offaly was the first county to have have players in every position on the hurling and football allstars teams. Since then, Galway have joined us in the ranks.

* The county's coat of arms (above) bears the motto ESTO FIDELIS. This means Be Faithful

* For a county of its size, Offaly has lots of local newspapers. Free the moths in your wallet as you splash out on the Midland Tribune, Offaly Express, Offaly Independent, Offaly Topic and Tullamore Tribune. And then discover they're all a bit krapus.

* The Book of Durrow, a 7th century manuscript a bit like the Book of Kells, was written in Durrow Abbey near Tullamore. The abbey itself passed into public ownership a couple of years ago. This is a good thing. When things were a bit quiet on the news headline front, the Tullamore Tribune would get all hot and bothered about the damage being done to the high cross because no-one could get near it.

* Clonmacnoise is one of the largest monastic sites in Ireland. It has seven churches, two round towers, 3 high crosses and is one of the few places in Ireland visited by Pope John Paul II

* Mythical Irish hero Finn McCool used to hang around Offaly on occasion. It was in the Slieve Bloom/Kinnitty Mountains that he caught the Salmon of Knowledge and got to be a superhero.

* Famous non-Offalians who live or have lived within the county include singer Roger Whittaker, novelist Campbell Armstrong, tenor Josef Locke (subject of the film Hear My Song),

* 30s Hollywood star George Brent hailed from Shannonbridge. He might not be a household name but in his day he acted alongside Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Stanwyck and Lucille Ball. Not bad for a man who couldn't act. He also found the time to marry six times...

* Offaly's not a safe place for Catholic church buildings. In 1983 the church in Tullamore burned down, leaving nothing but the spire and a few artefacts. In more recent times, the church in Ballinagar went up in flames.