By Kathleen Mullane

‘Happy Christmas’

To all the readers of the Athea Newsletter, I extend sincere good wishes and all the very best of health and happiness for Christmas and the New Year.

Sincere congrats go to Catherine Tierney (daughter of Margaret & Ted, Templeathea) who celebrated her 18th birthday along with her friends on Saturday last. A great night was enjoyed by all.

Teresa Flavin, on behalf of the organisers of the Christmas Shoebox Appeal, wishes to thank all those who so kindly donated shoe-boxes. Over 3,000 shoeboxes went from this area which indeed will make some children in orphanages etc very happy for Christmas. A special “thank you” is extended to Breda Baggott (McAuliffe) formerly of Toureen, who herself made up no less than “60” shoeboxes, indeed a very generous donation. Well done to all.

This weekend Sat/Sun 20th & 21st December, the church gate collection will be taken up in aid of ‘Concern’-organised by Tarbert Comprehensive School as usual. Your generosity for this worthy cause would be greatly appreciated.

Well done to the pupils and teachers of Athea NS who last week put on a great show at the Hall and played to a packed audience. From the tiny tots singing their Christmas Carols to 6th class whose production of Annie was outstanding – indeed well done to one and all. And take note Athea Drama Group there are some upcoming brilliant actors in 6th class who really outshone on the stage! Congrats to all.

Well done to Patrick McCarthy of Limerick (nephew of Dan Barrett, Glenagragra) who last week became the outright winner of “The Taste of Success” and won €100,000. His beef dish is now on sale on the shelves of ‘Lidl’ nationwide – indeed a great achievement.

The Central Bank has urged people to ‘dig out’ their 1c and 2c coins, as, above all other coins, they are in very short supply, people throwing them into jars and money boxes etc.

Congrats and well done to Donal and Lillian on their fine production of the Athea Parish Journal. The colourful photos and interesting articles etc, make it a lovely Christmas gift, especially for friends and family away from home.

Well done to the Athea U13s indoor soccer team who, at the weekend, did very well in the Community Games. They played in Moyross, firstly against Patrickswell winning with a score of 6-0. Our Lady of Lourdes were their second opponents who they beat 5-3. Considering that this was their 1st indoor soccer competition, they did extremely well.