Castleisland primed for more mayhem and magic

Only Eamonn Egan gets to sample the quiet before the storm of the Castleisland Basketball blitz, which tips off its 44th year on Thursday.

Before more than 1500 players and the hundreds of games noisily spread themselves out over five days, Egan arrives in the pre-dawn blackness of St Stephen’s Day to turn the front door key and open up the Community Centre to court kings and jesters.

The door to a unique set of Christmas dreams and treasured memories.