GAA Lotto
There was no winner of the latest lotto draw and the numbers drawn were 11,12,25 and 26. The three lucky dip winners of €50 each were Mary Power, Roisin Ni Fhuartain and Denise Roche. The next draw will take place on May 22nd and will have a fantastic jackpot of €3,350. Tickets cost €2 or you can get three tickets for €5. Tickets will be sale all day on Saturday May 21st outside Centra.
Bridge News.
The results of the last couple of bridge games played by the Ballyduff/Portlaw bridge club are as follows:
May 3rd
1st:Mary Kennedy and Breda Cowman.
2nd:Kate Hayes and Michael O Donovan
3rd:Breda O Donnell and Pauline Fanning.
4th:Eileen Kirwan and Mary Shanahan.
May 9th
1st:Mary Prendergast and Patsy Roche.
2nd:Mary O Brien and Anna Harney.
3rd:Geraldine McMahon and Bertha O Connor.
4th:Mary Kennedy and Breda Cowman.
Bake Sale.
If you fancy some tasty homebaked treats while supporting our local young people then get yourself along to Ballyduff Community Centre on Sunday May 22nd between 10.30am and 12.30pm where Ballyduff Foroige Club will host a cake sale to help raise funds for their end of year trip. Tea and coffee will also be served so come and relax with a cuppa, a bun and a chat.
Final Meeting
A reminder that our local community alert group will hold a final meeting before the Summer break in Ballyduff Community Centre on Monday May 23rd at 8pm. All are welcome to attend this meeting and there will be light refreshments served after the meeting so this is a lovely way to meet your neighbours and fellow parishioners.
Ball Drop.
Balls are selling like hot cakes for the exciting ball drop which is being organised in aid of our local community centre. Major technical work is underway at present as to which hill will be used. Decisions will have to be made soon, it may be time to bring in the big guns like Jack and Jill who know about their hills!!!
1000 numbered balls will be dropped down the chosen hill and first one home receives €250, second gets €100 and third gets €50. As I have told you all before there are a number of people selling these balls so just ask those usual poor souls who are usually asking you for your money. This ball drop on Monday June 6th should be an exciting and fun day so join in the fun.
Lourdes Winner
The organising committee of the annual Lourdes Talent show would like to thank everyone who supported this event. Congratulations to Terry Stephenson who was the winner on the night of the Jimmy Fox Memorial Cup. If you would like to donate to the local Loudes Fund which sends two people each year in the invalid section of the Waterford/Lismore Diocesan Pilgrimage you can still give your donation to any of the following Noel O Sullivan, Eugene Power, John O Leary or Donal Daly.
Blacknocks Finest.
Our hearts were heavy last week as we awoke to the news that Betty O Keeffe had passed away. Betty spent her married life living in her beloved Blacknock and she and her devoted husband Mossie reared their family with care in a house full of family love. She cared for not only her own family but took in other family members when they needed and reared them with the same affection she had for own. These are the traits of a selfless, dedicated, caring woman and all Betty asked for in return was to see their happiness and hear their laughter. Her greatest love was for family, Mossie, their children and their grandchildren. She was very proud of them all and loved to tell you about them when she met you. She loved to meet up with friends, neighbours, people from her native Co.Tipperary for a good chat and a laugh. She loved her garden, her dogs and of course music. I can still see her being whisked around the floor of O Donnachas or The Sweep for a good old waltz. Betty will be missed greatly but the legacy of love and care she leaves behind will never be forgotten. I personally feel if I can be half the mother she was I wont be doing too bad.
I met with Bettys husband in recent days and he was anxious for me to say a few thank yous for him and his children. Mossie was genuinely humbled by the support and help they received from family, friends and neighbours, people calling to the house, bringing food and supplies and all those who attended both the wake and the funeral mass especially all those who travelled from Bettys native place of Emly in Co. Tipperary. He would like to thank Fr.Gerry Condon who came to the house to offer prayers and to Fr. Richard O Halloran for the beautiful funeral mass. He would also like to thank the choir and musicians who added so nicely to the mass. Thank you also to the undertakers Michael and Dolores Kinsella who Mossie told me were a great support to the family and went over and above the call of duty to make sure the family got to give Betty the send off she deserved. He would also like to thank the grave diggers Tom and Dod Whelan. I think I have covered everyone Mossie asked me to and I’m sure all these people would say that it was a pleasure to help out for such a sweet, unassuming lady like Betty. May her gentle soul now rest in peace.