New Year Wishes.
Let me begin these notes by wishing each and every one of you every happiness and good health for 2018. I thank all who have contributed to these local notes and I look forward to including your items once again this year. Remember if you or your club or organisation have an event coming up let the community know about it through these notes. I am reliably informed that people read them. If you or someone in your family have celebrated a significant birthday, engagement, wedding, birth, anniversary, graduation, even if the cat has had kittens why not wish them well through these notes. Just contact me Linda Spillane on 087-9838392 or spillanelinda2017@gmail.com or spillanelinda@eircom.net I’m so popular I have to have two emails. I look forward to hearing from you.
Christmas Babies.
We all celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus at Christmas but nearer to home two more little boys were set to make their arrival.
On Christmas Day Louise and Ian Doogue welcomed their beautiful son Eoin into the world. What a wonderful Christmas gift to receive and I know that all the Doogue and Mackey families are thrilled to welcome baby Eoin. Louise is of course the eldest daughter of John and Maria Mackey in Ross.
Joanne and Pat Matthews also welcomed their baby son on Christmas Day. Baby Jack Francie Matthews decided he didn’t want to wait until his due date and arrived in time for Christmas. Joanne is the eldest daughter of Francie and Ann Crowley in Adamstown and what an eventful Christmas they have had with their youngest daughter Sarah arriving back from her holiday engaged and then their beautiful grandson making his arrival. Baby Matthews will of course have no problems settling in to family life with big sister Kate on hand to show him the ropes. What fantastic gifts these families received this Christmas and we wish them all every happiness and good health in the future.
Christmas Ceremonies.
Our church looked beautiful for the Christmas ceremonies and a big well done and thank you to everyone who made the church look so nice. The Christmas tree shone brightly, while our lovely crib was visited by many and it was particularly nice to see the little children tell their parents about all the people in the crib. The stunning flower arrangements adorned the altar and windows and the Christmas masses were beautifully enhanced by our choir. The young people from our parish who took part in the Nativity play on Christmas Eve really brought home to us the true meaning of Christmas. A big thank you to all who took part or arranged any part of the Christmas ceremonies, your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Christmas Wedding.
We send our heartiest congratulations to Elaine Leahy, Blacknock who married her sweetheart Mark Phelan on December 29th. The bride looked stunning as she arrived at St. Nicholas’s church Ballyduff accompanied by her beautiful bridesmaids. Fr. Gerry Condon was on hand to officiate. The couple and their guests then headed off to The Riverside Park Hotel where they wined and dined and then danced the night away. I hear tales back of a great weekend and I wish the happy couple every happiness in their future lives together.
Future Bride.
We send warm congratulations to Colette Kiely formerly of Ballyduff West and now living in Portlaw who announced her engagement to Jose Pinto over the Christmas season. Jose of course had the job of winning over the two other important men in Colettes life, her dad that famous Kilkenny man Fintan Kiely and her son Jack. Once he had their seal of approval it was going to be plain sailing. We wish Colette, Jose and Jack the very best of everything in their future lives together. Be careful now Colette if I know Fintan he will be looking for a black and amber theme for the wedding.
Community Alert
Our local community alert group will host the first meeting of 2018 on Tuesday January 16th at 8pm in Ballyduff Community Centre. Guest speakers on the night will be Chief Superintendent Padraig Dunne and Margaret Quinn from Muintir Na Tire. Representatives from The Munster Express will also be in attendance. The €5 text alert charge will also be taken up on the night.
I would urge you all to come along and support your local group, you are asked for nothing in return. It is so important for a community to show a united front and protect our area and all who live in it. The text alert scheme is something I can not recommend highly enough. For a mere €5 per year you receive regular texts informing you of suspicious activity or unknown vehicles in your surrounding areas. The text was also invaluable recently during the bad weather informing of road closures, fallen trees etc. If you really can’t make the meeting put your name and mobile number along with your €5 in an envelope and give to someone going to the meeting or you can give it to me and I will happily pass it on for you.
GAA News.
The club would like to say a big thank you to all the players, coaches and supporters for all their committment and dedication in 2017. 2017 was a great year for the club and hopefully 2018 will also prove to be a successful year . The club wishes all its members and their families a happy and healthy New Year.
Huge congratulations to Cathal Daly who has been selected to represent the county at Minor Football level. Cathal puts in a lot of time and effort into his training and recently qualified as a coach for the nursery/academy section of the club. We know his parents Donal and Miriam are very proud of him and are always great supporters of Cathal and the club.
Memorial Swim.
A huge congratulations to all who braved the elements on Christmas Day and took part in The Michael Power Memorial Swim at Kilmurrin Cove. This annual swim has been running since 1983 and it has raised almost €600,000 for various charities. The proceeds from the 2017 swim will go to the Touching Hearts charity.
Birthday Girl.
A big happy 21st birthday goes to Laura Burns, Blacknock who recently celebrated in style at The Sweep Bar with her family and friends. I hear a great night was had by all and we hope Laura had a night to remember.
Dawn Players
It is that time of year again when our local drama group Dawn Players stage their annual production. This year they have chosen a comedy called “Dying To Meet You” by Ron Hutson. The play will run from Wednesday January17th to Saturday January 20th at 8pm in the school hall at Ballyduff N.S. Tickets will cost €12 and booking will open from Wednesday January 10th on 087-4487648. Bookings can be made after 6pm on weekdays and all day on Saturday and Sunday.
A few familiar faces return to the stage for the group this year with a few new faces thrown in too and directing this year is Miriam Daly. This comedy promises to be full of laughs and is a guaranteed great night out.
The play centres around a happily married couple whose children have now flown the nest. Their friends and neighbours next door suggest that they rent out the empty rooms to make money and so rooms are rented to a young undertaker and a young Italian girl with little English. Throw into the mix a tax inspector, an italian uncle with possible links to the Mafia and sure what could possibly go wrong!! Get yourself a ticket and find out what happens.