Happy birthday, Old Moore's Almanac
A reference for all-things rural, it serves the farming community with information such as tide times, the moon phases and animal mart schedules. While the Almanac’s status is guaranteed, its staying power is due to its psychic predictions — many of which have come true. “It is what keeps the magazine famous and relevant,” says editor, Nicole Buckler, of the Lithographic Group, based in Bray, who now own the title.
“Many people, when asked if they read the Old Moore’s Almanac, say, ‘Oh, my aunt, granny or uncle always had one in the dresser drawer.’ We re-launched it in 2010, in full colour for the first time since its inception, and if you think the Almanac is still just for your great aunt in Kerry, you should think again,” she says. Who wouldn’t, for instance, want to know that cobwebs stop bleeding? Those pesky webs in the dusty corners of all our homes are high in vitamin K, a natural coagulant.
“The heart of the Almanac will always be rural,” says Ms Buckler. “And its editorial is primarily for the agricultural set. In 2012, the highest sales came from the commercial capital of the Irish midlands, Athlone. But it also sells well throughout rural Kerry and the West. The ‘ag-set’ remain faithful to the publication.”
Despite its rural roots, the Almanac also sells well in the urban areas of Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and Cork. “If the Facebook demographic is anything to go by, there are new readers in the 25-to-45 range, with slightly more females. These city audiences are attracted to the articles on farm technology, green energy, staycations and herbal remedies, amongst others.
“They probably grew up in the country and were around the Almanac in their childhood, and now buy it, even though they live in the big smoke,” she says. The first almanac dates back 3,000 years, to Egypt. It was a papyrus document. The first-known almanac predicting future events was issued in Hungary in the 15th century, and it spawned a proliferation of similar publications throughout Europe.
The earliest almanac for Ireland was printed by one William Farmer, in 1587; and, during the 1700s, almanacs were brought out in this country by various individuals, including John Watson and John Knapp.
Old Moore’s Almanac was founded by Theophilus Moore, who ran a classical academy at Milltown, then a village near Dublin.
A teacher of Greek and Latin, Moore was a noted mathematician and a veritable wizard of astrology, gaining the nickname ‘the Irish Merlin’.
For many readers, though, it is the Almanac’s psychic predictions that garner the most interest. “In hard economic times, there is always a surge of interest in psychic predictions,” says Ms Buckler. “This has definitely been the case for the Almanac in the past few years.”
The in-house psychic remains anonymous — that will not change anytime soon, Ms Buckler says.
So what’s in store for us in the remaining weeks of 2013? Weather-wise, it’s looking a lot like a white Christmas, according to the mystery oracle: “Old Moore is dreaming of a white Christmas. All through December, we will see a smattering of snow, and while it will be enough to make the parks look like a wonderland, it won’t create panic and embarrassing slipping on ice in front of your friends,” he says. Looking toward 2014, he sees new discoveries in outer space. “I am feeling a lot of things are going to be reported about Mars. As we know, the Mars Rover is working away up there, but a specific proof of life will be found soon.” At home, in Ireland, there will be another scandal involving young children or babies, he says.
The Queen of England, who suffered gastro-intestinal problems this year, will have more health issues. And the fallout from the property bubble is set to continue: “House repossessions will make news all year, and 2014 will be a defining year in Irish history, one that will be talked about for centuries to come, because of the housing market mess. On a positive note, I feel that 2014 will have another great summer,” he says.
* Old Moore predicted a train crash for Europe, with a chaos of smoke and fire. A rail accident occurred in Ghent earlier in the year, followed by a major disaster in Spain with numerous casualties.
* Old Moore said that the North Pole would be a newsmaker in 2013, and naked of ice. Photos emerged later in the year showing how the region’s alarming ice layer meltdown has now created vast lakes where previously there was perma-frost.
* Old Moore also predicted that there would be a danger of flooding in Ireland’s Southern counties. Sure enough, the South got another round of flash floods, with Cork badly hit.
* Old Moore announced that Kate Middleton was pregnant hours before the news broke, and that her baby girl would be born in July. He got two out of three right — and still predicts a Royal female birth very soon.
* Lady Gaga will be diagnosed with a serious illness, he suggested earlier in the year, and, sure enough, the woman herself announced she had lupus on the Larry King show some time later.
* He saw international terrorism coming to the French capital in 2013 — a prediction that came true when the Eiffel Tower was closed down at Easter after terrorists announced that they had placed bombs in all four corners of the structure.
* Old Moore predicted heart problems for Sylvester Stallone in 2013, but it was his mother, Jackie, who had open heart surgery after a heart attack in February. Weeks later, his daughter also underwent heart surgery.
* In TV land, the mystic predicted that a female Irish news reporter would make the news herself. Enter TV3’s Siobhan Bastible who had a choking fit live on air — an unfortunate incident where she still managed to keep her composure. A real pro.
* Looking to the heavens, the Almanac predicted the discovery of two new planets, one of which would be bright blue. Sure enough, astronomers discovered a pair of planets that appear capable of supporting life orbiting a star 1,200 light years from Earth, in the northern constellation Lyra. One of them, called Kepler 22-b, is bright blue.
* The environment would experience another serious oil spill in 2013, Old Moore foretold. Three months later, a massive oil spill occurred when an ExxonMobil pipeline carrying heavy crude ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, forcing a mass evacuation of the area and contamination of Lake Conway. He also predicted a dam burst in Europe. In June, a dam on the River Elbe broke its banks with 30,000 homes evacuated.
* Dolphins would make the news in 2013, Old Moore forecast. Sure enough, a ‘super-pod’ of 100,000 dolphins was found in California, and a smaller pod near Bunratty.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
