Our Own Little Prince.
The Royal family may have been celebrating the arrival of the latest royal baby this week but we here in Kilmeaden had our own young man to welcome into our community. Pat and Mairead Cremin, Carrigadustra welcomed their little prince Ruairi into the world and of course he is a very lucky young man to have big brother Sean and big sister Orla ready and willing to show him the ropes. Sean of course had his own big day last Saturday when he made his First Holy Communion so he will have a lot of extra knowledge now. We wish this happy family the very best that life has to offer and hope that they enjoy health and happiness. Welcome to the community Ruairi we look forward to meeting you.
Lotto News
There was no lucky winner of the local GAA lotto and the numbers drawn were 15, 17, 18 and 25. The three lucky dip winners of €50 each were Michelle Dunphy, David Power and Phil Murphy. The next draw will take place on May 19th and will have a jackpot of €12,500 up for grabs. Tickets are just €2 each or three for €5 and are on sale from all committee members and will also be on sale at Centra on Saturday May 18th. Choose four lucky numbers and you could be that lucky person walking away with that fantastic jackpot.
Tidy Towns.
Our local Tidy Towns committee do a wonderful job keeping our area so clean and beautiful but also work hard at making sure our area and its’ residents have everything that they need. The committee have secured a new defibrillator for our area and this will be situated in the Community Centre. There will be special training provided in the coming weeks for those wishing to know how to use it. Well done to all for securing this vital equipment for our area.
The Tidy Towns committee would like to wish a very speedy recovery to their Treasurer Michael Fitzpatrick and hope that he feels much better very soon.
Birthday Girl.
We send very happy birthday wishes to local lady Joan Bagge who celebrated her 60th birthday recently. Joan is a very popular lady and of course is adored by her family. Her husband Val and daughters and sons in law wined and dined her and I’m sure her beloved grandchildren made her feel extra special on her big day. We wish Joan many more happy birthdays.
GAA News.
The club would like to congratulate club members Cormac Bolger and Cillian Dobbyn who have made it onto the U13 County hurling development panel. The club is very proud of the lads and wish them both the very best of luck.
The U8’s sent three Ballyduff teams off to a blitz to play three Ballygunner teams. There was a mixture of wins, losses and draws with lots of goals scored and a few broken hurleys along the way too. It was a great morning of fun and a big thank you to all the parents for their support from the line.
The young ladies of the club were out in force recently. The U14 LGFA team had a great start to the year proving far too strong for St. Pats. Their next game will see them take on Ballysaggart.
The U12 ladies had two good wins against St. Annes and Erins Own. Great to see these girls off to such a flying start. The team would like to wish a very speedy recovery to one of their top players Abbie who is recovering from a fracture to her wrist.
Community Games.
The Portlaw/Ballyduff Community Games area athletics event will take place in Portlaw GAA field on Sunday May 19th from 2pm to 4pm. These games are open to boys and girls aged 6 to 16 and entry is €2 per child. Registration will open at 1.30pm and the events are as follows:
U8 60m and 80m
U10 100m and 200m
U12 100m and 600m
U14 100m and 800m
U16 100m, 200m and 1500m
Ball Throw U12
Long Puck Boys U12
Girls U14
Participants who come first and second in any of these events will then go to compete in the County Championship, An athlete may only compete in one event at the County championship level so therefore if they win gold or silver at the Portlaw event they cannot enter another event. If there is anyone interested in entering an U14 long jump,U14 shot or U10/U14 hur dles please let it be known at registration.
Church News
We send our heartiest congratulations to the boys and girls from 2nd class in Ballyduff NS who made their First Holy Communion last Saturday.
Couple of dates coming up which you may want to mark in your diary are our annual Graveyard mass which will take place on Wednesday July 3rd at 7.30pm and the annual mass at the old graveyard in Newcastle will take place on Wednesday July 24th at 7.30pm.
Ballyduff AFC.
A reminder that the club will hold their annual fundraiser on Saturday June 1st. Volunteers are needed for this bagpack at Tesco in Ardkeen so if you would like to help out please let a committee member or one of the coaches know.
The club will hold its AGM on Monday June 10th at 7pm in Ballyduff Community Centre so we ask you to mark this date in your diary and consider joining this club and keep it going from strength to strength.
Running For Charity
Local lady Sharon Flynn can often be seen running the roads in training for the many marathons she takes part in. Sharon is in training at the moment for the VHI ladies mini marathon which she will run in aid of Heart Children Ireland. To kick off her fundraising Sharon will open up her home for a coffee day on Saturday 18th of May from 10am to 4pm. Sharon would love to see people from the community come along and bring their friends. Of course Sharon has the added bonus of living right next door to our beautiful greenway so if you are out for a walk or cycle why not pop in for a rest and some refreshments. I can personally recommend a cuppa at Sharons, she certainly knows how to make people feel welcome and makes a top class cuppa. Please come along and support this wonderful endeavour. The least we can do is drink tea and eat cake to support Sharon as she puts in many hours of training! See you there.
Ballad Man
I would like to send warm congratulations to my good friend Seamus Brady in Butlerstown. Many of you will know Seamus as one of the finest singers of a ballad that you will find. Seamus returned home from the Fleadh Cheoil in Graighnamanagh with a first class medal for singing in the newly composed ballad section. The ballad was composed by Ned Egan.
Seamus has a really deep love of music and song and this shows in the way he performs, he not only sings the song but he tells the story with great passion and is always a delight to listen to. Comhghairdeas Seamus ta se tuillte go maith.