PROLOGUE: "A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are for what you have."
Author Unknown
AFTERNOON TEA DANCING|: A tea dance with music by Noel Cronin will take place on Sunday, March 30 at Fr. Casey’s Clubhouse with all proceeds going to Abbey Heritage Local Training Initiative which provides second chance education to early school leavers in the locality. Teas will be served. Dancing 3-6pm. Admission €5.
‘TOO CLOSE TO HOME’: The newly formed Abbeyside Players have surely scored with their first production of the comedy ‘Too close to home’ written by Westmeath man Jimmy Keary. Last Sunday night the Rugby Club with its ample parking was brightly lit and warm and allowed for a convivial atmosphere where the audience could mingle and chat over a complimentary cup of tea and biscuits during the interval. The play was set in the very well-constructed living room of the Ryan household where Pa Sheehan as the budding playwright and bumbling ineffectual husband of Tara Finucane and son in law of the Iron Lady Angeline O’Donnell was attempting to craft a three act play with unexpected results. The pair of ladies would give any man the shivers – Tara, already showing her misfortunate husband who was boss was a younger version of the Angeline’s battle axe Netta whose husband Tom Madigan in the midst of a midlife crisis, had kicked over the traces, pulled the few remaining strands of hair over his bald patch and embarked in the most hilarious fashion on an affair with Annette O’Donnell whose physiotherapist character was a delight. Lorcan Curtin as the sleazy |Lothario who could talk out of both sides of his mouth and who planned to cuckold his brother the playwright got his comeuppance when Pa finally found his mojo. There was a fair amount of violence mostly perpetrated by the women and Angeline especially displayed a menace that should have kept her husband under control but instead drove him into the arms of the ‘fizzy’ therapist – so called by nosy neighbour Biddy Hunt whose surname led to the use of some tongue in cheek double entrées. Biddy, played by Marina Collins O’Connor proved yet again that the apple does not fall far from the tree and Marina with her impeccable comic timing is a worthy successor of Abbeyfeale’s acting dynasty which includes her grandmother Maryjo Prendeville, uncle Ritchie and aunts Mary and Angeline. The sequence where she attempted to cure Tom Madigan’s bad back with some ‘fizzy’ therapy of her own was side splitting, tear inducing, sheer farce and one of the many highlights of the whole night. Mike Ward as the officious Garda determined to do his duty and Nicky John Cotter as the new play’s producer completed a sterling cast, each of whom played their parts to perfection. Highlights also included the look of horror on poor Pa’s face when he realised that it was his mother in law from Hell that he had reported for reckless driving, Marina’s eye catching outfit accessorised with shocking pink tights and red shoes, Nicky John’s oversized glasses and clashing outfit, Angeline’s handbag which was deployed as a weapon and the acrobatics that took place frequently with the curtain closing at one stage on one of the women on top of a hapless man. This is a serious storyline told with the use of comedy but it could just as well be a tragedy with issues of disrespect for men and violence against them in the sanctity of marriage being aired. You’ll have to go yourself to see the capers and if you miss out on a great craic it won’t be my fault – I’ve done my best to whet your appetite. There’s three nights left, Thursday, March 27, Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30. Doors open 7.30pm and show starts 8pm. Admission €10.
NEW RAMBLING HOUSE: Jim and Margaret Lyons opened a rambling house in Knockalough on the road to Knocknagoshel last Thursday night. It was officially opened by Minister Jimmy Deenihan.
FEALE FIT NEWS: Shane O’Connor writes “Well done to all the Fealefit crew who conquered Mount Brandon on Sunday, another great achievement for all participants! Put a date in the diary, Fealefit will be having an Easter 5k Run / walk Sunday, April 27 at 10.30am.Fealefit will also be running an Easter Midterm Kids Camp for primary school kids aged 5 -13 yrs of age from April 15- 17. Contact Shane 087 2891015 for details or Check out www.Fealefit.com for all details on Classes. We will be selling tickets at the Ladies Pampering day at the Devon Inn!!
BEST OF LUCK: We want to wish Trevor McCarthy from Dromtrasna, the man who has the great welcome and the big smile for you every time you call to the Woodlands Hotel the best of luck with his new venture – the Cellar Bar in the Square, Abbeyfeale.
MONSTER RAG MEETING: Abbeyfeale Town Park are holding a Monster Rag Meeting and Family Fun Day at the Coursing Field, Glenashrone on Easter Sunday, April 20 at 10.30am. Tickets on sale for a draw on the day with a first prize of €300, second prize €100, third prize €50.
ABBEYFEALE YOUTH CLUBS: Abbey legends are in St. Ita’s on Friday 8-9.30 pm. Teens unite are in the church Saturday 7.45-8.45pm. The Yolo club are in St. Ita’s on Saturday 7.45-9.15pm. A great night was had by all at Thomond Park on a wet and cold night last Saturday night.
THE COUNTRY DRESSMAKER” by George Fitzmaurice in Duagh School Hall Saturday, March 29. Tickets €10. Doors open 7pm.
GET IN STEP FOR BARN DANCE: Line Dancing Classes every night until Easter Sunday. Community Centre, New St., Abbeyfeale 7.30 – 8.30pm. Learn to strut your stuff for the Garth Brooks Experience Barn Dance. Everyone welcome.
SPRING SALE: Jerry Sullivan from Golden Vale Stores Tournafulla was in touch to say that they are having a sale of plants and pots and potatoes – all you need to get Spring off to a good start.
PROMOTING EMOTIONAL WELLBEING FOR TEENAGERS: Mary Danagher, Support worker with the parish notifies us about a night for parents at the Desmond Complex on Wednesday, April 2 next. It’s presented by Enda Murphy RGN, RPN, MNACBT, MIC P Author of “Five Steps to Happiness” This talk explains how the teen brain grows and processes emotions. Also it involves creating the optimum environment at home that will enable the teen to grow/develop mentally & healthily. It’s at 8pm (Doors open @ 7.30pm) Admission Free.
COMMUNITY ALERT: Funding is now available for personal security systems so if you are over 65, living alone or with a person or persons over 65 then you can apply to any member of the committee – Mossie Gleeson, Micheal O’Kelly, Sean Broderick, Mary Jo O’Connell, John O’Sullivan, Seamus Stack, John O’Sullivan, Mary McArthur, Kathleen Collins, Brenda and Buddy Barry Marian Harnett or Community Garda Roger O’Donoghue. Signs are currently being erected on the borders of the parish to signify that we have an active Community Alert group. If you have callers selling gates etc. take the number of the vehicle that they are driving and notify the Gardai immediately.
DID YOU KNOW: A 330 ml. can (just over half a pint) of Coca Cola contains 139 calories (7% of recommended daily calories). It contains 35 grams of sugar (which is 39% of daily recommended sugar).
1ST ABBEYFEALE CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL: The very first Abbeyfeale Craft Beer, Wine & Cider Festival will take place during this year’s Gather by the Feale. . It will be held in the GAA Hall on Sunday, July 20 from 2pm – 8pm. Craft Brewers from all over Ireland have been invited to share their wares with the good people of West Limerick. Anybody who is interested in good quality, fresh beers, wines and cider should come along to sample some of Ireland’s finest produce. It’s also open to home brewers – with a special competition for best home brew! Over 18’s only. Contact Ali Rae for more details or to take part. 086 399 4008.
BEE KEEPING CLASSES: Classes have commenced at the Education Centre (Old Tech) from 7.30-9.30pm pm under tutor Seamus Quinlivan. A number of people who had reserved spaces had to drop out due to other commitments so contact 068 31198 if you wish to attend
TABLE QUIZ: St. Ita’s Wren boys are planning to hold a Table Quiz in Thomas T.J’s on Friday, April 4 at 9pm. This will be a fundraiser for Fr. Tim Galvin whose Mission is in South Sudan which is currently a war zone and where people are experiencing starvation.
ARA NA FEILE ACTIVE RETIREMENT: Our next meeting is on Wednesday, March 26 @ 2pm in the Adult Educational Centre.
.PERPETUAL ADORATION: Perpetual Adoration is currently taking place during Lent. There is a chart available behind the Tabernacle if you wish to sign your name for one hour a week in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
GREAT SOUTHERN TRAIL: Last weekend the Great SouthernTrail www.southerntrail.net featured in the cycling supplement in the Sunday Times. The GST committee appreciates very much the assistance of all who helped to achieve this prominent national coverage of our Greenway.Go raibh maith agaibh.
FARMERS’ MARKET: WE have free range duck and hen eggs, salad bags from the Community Garden, fish from Star Seafoods, rhubarb, leeks, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, home baking, free range, oven ready chickens and much more available at the weekly market in the Square 9-1.30pm.
CONSERVATION OF BUILT HERITAGE SEMINAR: West Limerick Resources will be hosting a seminar on caring for traditional buildings on Thursday April 10 (venue and time to be confirmed). The evening seminar will be delivered by Dr Fidelma Mullane, a specialist in the study and care of traditional buildings and will examine the history of building in the countryside, show the importance of maintaining traditional construction techniques and skills, and provide information on caring for rural buildings. Contact Suzanne on 069 79114 or email srowley
GARTH BROOKS CONCERT: A draw will take place for 2 premium tickets for one of the Garth Brooks concerts in Dublin next July. All proceeds to ‘Gather by the Feale’ Festival July 16-20. Ticket are €5 each and available from Jack O’Rourke’s Bar, the Square, Abbeyfeale. Tel 068 31314.
MOTHER’S DAY GIFT IDEA: Treat your mother, granny, godmother, wife, girlfriend, sister, auntie to a pamper afternoon at Devon Inn, Sun, April 6 from 3-6pm with champagne, canapés, fashion show, luxury spot prizes and much more. An ideal gift for Mother’s Day. Tickets just €10 from Mary O’Connor Fitzgerald Superbites, Carol Fitzgerald Railway Bar, Pia Scannell Flower Shop, Olive Sheehan, Leens Hotel, Gather by the Feale committee members and on the door. This is a fundraiser to help with the running of Abbeyfeale’s newest festival ‘Gather by the Feale July 16-20, 2014’.
ANOTHER DATE FOR THE DIARY: The Garth Brook’s Experience is coming to the Railway Bar on Easter Sunday, April 20 at 8.30pm. It’s going to be a cowboy themed fancy dress Barn dance with a Texas style BBQ. There will be line dancing, Garth Brooks Karaoke and more. Dress in country style and be in with a chance to win spot prizes. Sing and sound like the man himself and be in with the chance to win two tickets to one of his concerts. Vote for the best impersonator. Tickets €10. Further details from Shane 087 2891015 or Carol 087 7457518. All proceeds go to Abbeyfeale Festival 2014 Gather by the Feale.
NAOMH IDE SUMMER CAMP: Dates for 2014 Camp are August 5-8 next. If you are interested in helping at the camp please contact Lorraine (086 3765751) or Martina (087 2788834) as Garda Vetting forms need to be completed ASAP. Only those who have been Garda vetted will be allowed to help at the camp.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Special Olympics Annual Collection Day takes place throughout Ireland on Friday, April 11. We urgently need volunteers to help us at collection points in towns around the country. All monies generated will go towards covering the cost of delivering our programme of sports and competition to people with an intellectual disability.
NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: UPPER EAST SIDE; REPORT FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: Bellman to the Stars by JOHN FREEMAN GILL, Published: July 16, 2006
IN 1949, Michael O’Connell, an 18-year-old Irishman, stepped off a Cunard liner in Manhattan after a five-day passage from Cobh, in County Cork. His only immediate hope was to take in the sights, but his uncle, the service manager at the Essex House hotel on Central Park South, would have none of it. The uncle, Michael O’Rourke, called a friend at the Carlyle, the elegant hotel on Madison Avenue and 76th Street, and quickly found his nephew a job there. ”I told my uncle, ‘I’m just here; I want to see New York,’ ” Mr. O’Connell recalled last week. ”And he said, ‘Oh, no, you’re going to work Monday morning.’ ” It was the start of a grandly parochial career that rarely took him outside the Carlyle yet brought him into contact with some of the most celebrated figures of the 20th century. By the time Mr. O’Connell, now a ruddy-faced 76-year-old with impeccably combed white hair, retired last month as the Carlyle’s bell captain, he had rubbed elbows with celebrities as diverse as Fidel Castro, Willie Nelson, Judy Garland and John F. Kennedy. Last week, Mr. O’Connell sipped Sprite in the tchotchke-filled living room of his two-family brick house in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, which he shares with a grown son and daughter, and recalled his first day as a bellman. Back then, as he paced the hotel’s Art Deco lobby wearing white gloves and his black uniform coat, ”I said to myself, ‘Please, God, I don’t want to see anybody important — no V.I.P.’s,’ ” he remembered. ”And that morning, who should come out of the elevator but President Truman?” Palms sweating, he informed the president that a clutch of photographers was waiting for him, and after Truman responded, ”Well, they’ll have to walk with me,” Mr. O’Connell said to the president that he thought that was a grand idea. ”I was glad for him to keep going,” Mr. O’Connell explained with a laugh, ”because I didn’t want him to ask me any questions I couldn’t answer.’ On another occasion, a weary Truman stopped at the Bemelmans Bar, where he ordered an Old Grand-Dad bourbon. When the bartender mentioned that he himself didn’t care for Old Grand-Dad, Truman pointed out the window at a mob of reporters and said, ”If you had to walk 15 blocks with these guys following you, you’d drink this, too.” Usually, though, the Carlyle was a rather sleepy place in those days. That changed, Mr. O’Connell said, after Kennedy began staying there — first during his presidential campaign in 1960, and then after he took office. ”When he was president, the lobby was always crowded, but he never left the lobby without touching everybody,” Mr. O’Connell remembered, in the lilting brogue of Abbeyfeale, the village where he grew up. On Nov. 18, 1963, Mr. O’Connell said, President Kennedy checked out of the hotel, saying, ”I’ll see you in two weeks.” ”Four days after,” Mr. O’Connell continued, ”he was assassinated.” After leaving the White House, Jacqueline Kennedy came to live in the hotel with her children, and Mr. O’Connell helped her move in. When the children went to Central Park, Mr. O’Connell recalled, John-John always carried an old wooden boat. ”It was the worst little boat I’d ever seen,” he said. ”He hugged that boat, and I often thought he must have gotten that from someone important, like maybe his dad. ”Adjusting to retirement has not been easy for Mr. O’Connell, after a career that included the peculiar (Elton John popping out of an elevator wearing a construction boot on one foot and a sneaker on the other) and the stressful (directing traffic in the lobby while Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India entertained Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, and Prime Minister Castro of Cuba in the second-floor dining room).
Other moments were glamorous, like the time in 1981 when Elizabeth Taylor asked him to pin on a brooch. ”I was putting the brooch on her, and I could feel her breath on me,” Mr. O’Connell said, recalling his embarrassment. ”I said, ‘Please Miss Taylor, don’t look at me’ — and she laughed like anything.” Photos: Michael O’Connell with Nancy Reagan, who gave him a set of cufflinks, and at home in Brooklyn, right.; In the arms of the singer Eartha Kitt, and with a post-presidential Bill Clinton. From the archives of Jer Kennelly, Knockanure.
NATIONAL SPRING CLEAN; .Registration for the 2014 Campaign is now open so to take part this year and receive your free clean-up kit please visit: www.nationalispringclean.org
LENTEN SERIES OF TALKS: There was a large attendance at the second of the Lenten Talks last week. Our Bishop will speak on ‘Catholic Education today’ on Wednesday, March 26. Everyone is welcome.
MARIAN’S DANCING: Classes have resumed every Friday night in the Community Centre, New St. at 8.30pm. Learn to waltz, jive, foxtrot, siege of Ennis, slosh and much more. Special line dance class from Friday next at 7.30pm
MEN’S SHED: Meetings take place every Monday from 6-9pm. The group would welcome donations of paint, wood etc. Contact Chairman Dennis Collins for further information on 087 6497671.
WELCOME SPRING: A concert celebrating the arrival of spring will take place at the Glorach Theatre on Saturday, April 12 and will be headlined by the Ballaugh Wren Boys Charity Group. Tickets will shortly go on sale. Further details next week.
FUNDRAISER FOR MILFORD HOSPICE: Mike Condon will play at the April tea dance on Sunday, April 13 – a fundraiser for Milford Hospice in honour of the late Sr. Patricia O’Brien.
BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT: A programme for bereaved adults will take place from 7.30 – 9pm every Thursday night in St. Ita’s Hall. Further information contact 068/ 31203, 31708, 31302.
MAY BREAK: Friday May 16-Monday May 19. Leaving Newcastle West at 9a.m. on board Brouder’s luxury. Staying in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway with full use of all the hotel facilities. Home of the famous Sam Maguire. During the day we will be sightseeing and every night after a four course dinner we will be dancing. On Saturday night we have a special treat we will have Michael English and his band. You will be amazed at how reasonable this break is. We have a few places still available. For more information and booking contact Maureen 0879845102.
RURAL EMPLOYMENT SERVICE: The service provides information on training & education opportunities and support in creating a career plan. You can contact Dearbhla or Finn in the Round House, Newcastle West on 069 61316 & Brenda in W.L.R main office N.C.W. on 069 62222
ALCOHOL AWARENESS WEEK: Alcohol Awareness Week from March 31- April 4 with a National Conference on April 2 aims to get people thinking and talking about alcohol and how it affects us as individuals, families, communities and a society. For more information; Alcohol Forum Tel: info
LIMERICK’S BUZZING: Public Lecture: Helping Limerick’s Wild Bees: Wednesday, April 9 from 8pm -9.30pm at LIT Georges Quay Campus – near Hunt Museum. Outdoor workshop: managing and creating habitat for wild bees in green spaces on Thursday April 10, 11am – 1pm at University of Limerick grounds (meet at Concert Hall Entrance). Outdoor workshop: managing and creating habitat for wild bees in gardens and urban areas on Thursday, April 10, 2.30pm – 4.00pm meet at the Hunt Museum entrance on Patrick Street. Pollinator Monitoring Workshop on Wednesday May 8 (time to be confirmed) at University of Limerick These events will inform people about wild bees, many of which are in decline locally. Simple and practical advice will be provided for people to be able to help wild bees by providing food and homes for wild bees in their local area, free of charge. Places on courses are limited. Contact Veronica Santorum veronicael 063 91576 or 087 264 5952. Website: www.limericksbuzzing.ie.
ORAL HISTORY COURSE: West Limerick Resources will be running an Oral History Training Initiative starting the second week in April. Training will consist of two elements. Participants will develop Oral History Interviewing techniques as well as examine the legal and ethical issues relevant to gathering Oral History. The second element of the training will focus on digital voice recording and editing techniques. Training will also explore how oral history can contribute to the local heritage of communities and identify suitable ways of showcasing their research. Training will run one evening per week for 10 weeks. The course is free of charge and open to people living in the West Limerick area. To register for the programme contact Suzanne on srowley
NCW JOBSEEKERS NETWORK: The NCW Jobseekers Network or The Optimistic Group meets each Tuesday from 1:30-2:30pm in the NCW Community Centre. This space is for those who feel they could do with support to access information on training & employment opportunities in the area. This is an open door format, no registration is necessary. New members welcome & encouraged to attend. Contact Brenda at West Limerick Resources Rural Employment Service (RES) on 069 66297.
C.D. FOR SALE: Singer Maura Nolan’s new c.d. ‘Am le Cheile’ is available at Ann Lyons, The Square and Margaret Riordan’s, Main St. A portion of the sale price of €15 will go to St. Ita’s Hospital, N.C.W. Maura collected some of the songs featured on the C.D from residents of St. Ita’s and this is her way of thanking them for sharing them with her.
LANGUAGE AND PLAY ABBEYFEALE: The Abbeyfeale Language and Play group runs every Tuesday morning in St Ita’s Hall from 11am-12.30pm. The group is supported and facilitated by West Limerick Resources with professional Language and Play facilitators also attending some sessions. New members are always welcome.
ABBEYFEALE PARENT & TODDLER GROUP: Due to popular demand a second Parent and Toddler Group will now meet on Thursdays from 11am to 12.30pm in St. Ita’s Hall Abbeyfeale. The group is supported by West Limerick Resources. New members are always welcome.
DRAMA WORKSHOPS: West Limerick Resources will be offering a series of drama workshops across the West Limerick area this spring. The short courses will include acting, directing for stage and technical skills. Courses are free of charge and open to anyone living in the West Limerick area. Acting for Adults will take place on Saturday’s April 5 and 12 and a youth course (10-16 years) will take place on Saturday’s May 10 and 17. Both courses will run from 11am-5pm. A four night directing for stage course is due to start on Thursday April 10 from 7.30-10.30pm. To apply for a place please contact Suzanne on srowley
FINE GAEL LIMERICK CONSTITUENCY: The deferred meeting to launch the candidates for the local and European elections will take place at the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare on Friday, March 28 at 8.30pm. All members welcome.
TABLE QUIZ: Ince Bán Macra Club are holding a table quiz at the Devon Inn on Friday, April 4.
LEARN IRISH: Irish classes for Adults every Wednesday night in Duagh. Contact Paul 087 937 8663.
VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED FOR COMPUTER CLASSES IN ABBEYFEALE: Volunteers required to teach basic computer skills in Abbeyfeale. Volunteers do not require any specific qualifications or experience. Course will run from 3- 4pm on Wednesdays for six weeks. (starting date to be confirmed). Contact Nora on 068 31198.
DAY TRIP: Maureen Finnegan and friends are hitting the road again “Visiting the Homestead of JFK, the museum, monument and the Imigrant Flame. This is a most interesting trip and the scenery is beautiful. Leaving Newcastle West at 9am. We will pick up en route Rathkeale, Croagh, Adare, and The South Court Hotel. Calling to Ballyglass House Hotel, for breakfast and returning there again in the evening for a four course dinner. If you are interested in travelling don’t hesitate in contacting Maureen 087 9845102 to avoid disappointment.”
CRAFTY CORNER: Knitting and crochet class on Tuesday nights 7.30 pm in the Adult Education Centre. New members welcome – just come along on the night.
ITA’S SET DANCING CLASSES: Learn to set dance in Monagae every Thursday night from 8.30pm. Everyone welcome.
GATHER BY THE FEALE 2014: Gather by the Feale (July 16-20,) 2014 festival will be based on the arrival of the Vikings and their routing by Brian Boru. Next meeting Tuesday April 1 at the Search and Rescue, Killarney Road at 8pm.We have been given a weekend of bagpacking in Tuohigs Supervalue on April 4/5 next to help with the cost of running the festival as there are no grants to fall back on this year and we are looking for help, please contact any of the committee if you can give us an hour or two – Jim O’Connor, Dee Dennison, Bridget Harnett, Kathleen Collins, Pia Scannell, Erin Sugrue or Orla Dennison. We have a pamper day in the Devon Inn on Sunday, April 6 to help with fundraising also so if you have a woman in your life that you’d like to give a gift to then why not give her a ticket for the pamper day and let her relax with champagne and canapes while she enjoys a fashion show and talks at stands featuring health and beauty. See our website: https://abbeyfealefestivals.wordpress.com for regular updates. We also have a Gather by the Feale facebook page.
SUE RYDER: Manager Maria Moloney says “At last Spring is here and if you are spring cleaning, please remember that we would be grateful for any donations of clothing, bric-a-brac, shoes, bags, bedding, curtains and toys to sell in our shop in Abbeyfeale. We have recently received a generous donation of bedding pots and are currently selling the small pots at €1 for 20.Our summer range of clothing is increasing by the day, so feel free to pop in and have a browse. Have a great weekend and Happy St Patricks Day to all our customers, volunteers and all of you who so generously donate to the Sue Ryder Foundation Ireland. Thank you for your continued support.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Athletes and Volunteers meet every Tuesday at 7pm. in the Community Centre, NCW. If you would like to become a volunteer please contact Rose McMahon (087 9845102) who will be pleased to give you all the details. Well done to Abbeyfeale’s Sean Healy who has been chosen to go forward to the All Ireland Games.
MARIAN’S DANCING: Classes have resumed every Friday night in the Community Centre, New St. at 8.30pm. Learn to waltz, jive, foxtrot, siege of Ennis, slosh and much more. Special line dance class from Friday next at 7.30pm.
COFFE ABBEYFEALE PARISH CHURCH NOTES: ‘The place where we all feel valued, welcomed and can take our place’.
Parish office 11-1pm Tuesday-Friday 068 31133. A.A. 061-311222 Al-Anon 086-8143425, Bereavement Support: 068 / 31203 068/ 31262 068/51984Console 061-306792. Parish Support Worker 068/31019. Counselling Appointment 061/314213.Church 068/51915, Accord 069/61000 NCW, John O’Shea P.P.: Tel: 068 – 31157 Mobile: 087 – 9708282, Fr Joe Foley CC: Tel: Mobile : 087 – 2618412 C.M.A.C. Counselling: 069 – 61000 – Limerick 061 – 313287, Cura: Limerick 061 71318207 Tralee: 066 27355. Mass Tuesday – Saturday at 10am except in the event of a funeral when Mass is 11am. Mass Monday at 7pm, Mass on Saturday 11am followed by Confessions, Vigil Mass 7pm, Sunday 9.30am and 12 noon. First Holy Communion will take place on May 17, 2014. Stations of the Cross each Friday during Lent after the 10am Mass. With the data protection laws, priests no longer have access to the patient lists in any of the hospitals. Priests have no way of knowing when someone from their parish is in hospital. It is now the responsibility of family members and relatives, if they require a visit to let the priest know when people are in hospital.
BODYCARE WELLNESS CENTRE: The Bodycare Wellness Centre has moved to 3 Mountmahon, Abbeyfeale.. Telephone Chris O’Shea 0872293636.
BUS: Contact Eoin on 087 2522402 re bus leaving from outside Tuohig’s Supervalue at 7.40 pm every Tuesday for Castleisland Bingo.
TOASTMASTERS: Toastmasters meet twice monthly on the first and third Wednesday of each month from September to May. Next meeting Wednesday, April 2at 8.30pm. This is a competition night where local member Mike Guiry will compete with members from the Killarney and Tralee clubs for the honour of representing the area in the upcoming Inspirational Speech competitions. Everyone welcome. For further information contact Donnacha on 086 8494505.
ADULT SUICIDE BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUP: A support group meets on the first Wednesday of every month from 7-9 pm at Console House, 114 The Grange, Raheen. Family, friends, work colleagues and community bereaved by suicide all welcome. You do not need an appointment to attend. Further information 061 306792.
GROW MOVEMENT: Grow – the community mental health movement – meets on Thursday’s at 8pm, in the Station Room in The Desmond Complex Newcastle West.
LIVING LINKS: Living Links provide practical help, information and support to persons bereaved by suicide. Phone 061-400133 /087-7998427.
DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE: Limerick Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes June 2014:- The Annual Limerick Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes -June 21-26 is now open for booking. The flights will be from Shannon and the fare is €709/ €599.
MARRIAGE GUIDANCE: Accord are recruiting for Accredited Counsellors and Marriage Education Facilitators. Please contact ACCORD Tralee on 066-712-2280 for further details.
RAMBLING HOUSE: Listowel Rambling House will take place in the Seanchaí Centre, The Square on Thursday, March 27 from 9.15 pm. Admission free, tea/coffee served.
HISTORY IRELAND HEDGE SCHOOL: History Ireland Hedge School on the topic ‘Before Banna : Politics, Society & Sport in Kerry 1912-1916’ will take place in the Seanchaí Centre, Listowel on Friday March 28 at 7.30 pm. Admission Free. Tel. (068) 22212/57927
ARE YOU UP FOR THE HUCKLEBUCK: Crystal Swing are coming to town on Friday April 11 in Rathkeale House Hotel. Get ready to Swing, Rock n’ Roll and to do the Hucklebuck.Tickets are €15 per person and can be reserved through our Coolcappa Parents Association Facebook page or alternatively, contact Mary 087 7473550 or Rose on 085 1688307. Limited Number of Tickets Remaining.
FASHION SHOW: Tarbert comprehensive fashion show at Tintean theatre Ballybunion on March 28 next. Tickets €10 contact 087 6986744.
CUTLERY FACTORY REUNION: It is now ten years since the Imperial Stag Cutlery Factory in Listowel closed after opening as the Jowika Factory in 1962.The factory was renowned worldwide as the maker of quality knives for the global market. At the height of production over 130 people were employed and the workforce was drawn from north Kerry and west Limerick. The reunion will take place in The New Kingdom Bar in Listowel on this Friday 28th March. It will be preceded by a Mass of remembrance for deceased workers at Saint Mary’s Church at 7pm. All who worked there are invited to attend.
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Abbeyfeale Gathering Festival 