News-06/06/2023

Feast of Corpus Christi Celebration

Mass & Eucharistic Procession is set to return to Athea this year, after an absence of over 20 years. Following 7.30pm mass on Saturday June 17th, our local clergy carrying the Monstrance and consecrated Eucharist together with the Holy Communion & Confirmation Children will process down Con Colbert Street to Con Colbert Memorial Hall. The Holy Communion Children are invited once again to dress in their Holy Communion outfits and sprinkle petals during the journey to welcome the Holy Eucharist. Houses/Businesses on the Main Street/ Route are also invited to set up a Holy Altar / Display at their premises. Light refreshments will be served at the Hall following the procession. A warm welcome is extended to everyone to join the Holy Mass and Procession and help us to ‘Unite Once Again’. Many people have shared very fond memories of the Processions in Athea in the years gone by and we look forward to sharing this important and significant tradition with the younger generation on June 17th also. Anyone wishing to donate baked goods for the occasion are asked to text 087 7770375

 Athea Medical Centre has moved

Athea Medical Centre has moved premises. It now operates from it’s new premises at

The Square, Athea, Co Limerick.

Eircode V94 XT7V.

Contact Numbers remain the same.

St. Bartholomew’s Church Athea

Intentions for next Saturday June 10th 7.30pm: 

Patsy & Margaret Broderick (Coole East).

Ministers of the Word:  Tom Denihan & Caroline Pierce.

Ministers of the Eucharist: Angela Brouder O’Byrne & Catherine Woulfe.

Weekday Masses this coming week:

Tuesday & Thursday evening 7pm – Mass on Tuesday evening for Examination Students

No Eucharistic Adoration  and Devine Mercy Chaplet this week.

All masses are streamed live on https://www,churchservices.tv/athea

Baptisms on the 4th Saturday of the month at 2.30pm. Baptism course on Tues June 13th at 8pm.

Parish Office: Mon-Fri 11am-1pm. Call 087-3331459, email [email protected]

Sacristans’ collection : Siobhan & Theresa wish to thank you for your generous support to them during the recent collection.

Leaving and Junior Cert Exams: We wish all our students every success in the Leaving and Junior Cert Exams which begin this coming Wednesday.

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

The last thing I do in the morning, before I get out of bed, is listen to the news on the radio. I know immediately, by the headlines, if there is anything new or startling in the bulletin to follow but, more often than not, bad news far outweighs the good kind. The other morning I was shocked by the report of a major rail crash in India involving three trains and killing almost 300 people. Apparently one train, travelling at high speed,  was diverted onto a track that was already occupied by a stationary train. This resulted in a terrible collision which was compounded by another train, on the same line, crashing into them. They are still trying to determine the cause of the accident but there is strong speculation that there was a fault in the electronic system that controls the tracks and ensures that trains avoid each other. In the early days, as I well remember, trains could only be transferred from one track to another by a railway worker  physically pulling levers to shift the track connectors. These operators had a very serious job to do and they took great pride in their work. As  time went on, modernisation crept in and the human operators were replaced by electronics. The new method was deemed to be much safer as it cut out what was commonly called “human error”.  There had been, over the years some errors on lines that resulted in crashes and near crashes because somebody had neglected to pull the correct levers in time so we were told that the future was now a much safer place due to the new technology. We live with it every day whether it is a TV, washing machine,  new car or hundreds of appliances where we depend on electronics to do the job for us. I was more than surprised when I found out that a car I was driving on a motorway refused to cross over the white line unless I had indicated my intention to do so. The same car could park itself and there are cars that are completely automatic and do not need a driver at all. In most of the factories making cars robots are doing all the assembling and welding  etc.  I was told that there are now robots that can perform heart surgery. They say that statistics prove that machines and robots are far more reliable than human beings. Well you know what they say about statistics and  being an old stick in the mud I would prefer not to have to depend on any type of machine if my life depended on it. Like everything else, it is all right until something goes wrong, like they think happened in India with the train crash that caused such loss of life. We should not be in a big hurry to abandon tried and trusted methods  and replace them with a technology that is not infallible, no matter what they tell us. There are far too many “gadgets” in modern cars at the moment and we don’t really need half of them. The more you have, the more it is likely that something will go wrong because everything has the ability to malfunction. As human beings we are not flawless but I still would prefer to depend on ourselves rather than jumbles of wires and sensors that are beyond our control.

It is great to be in the middle of a heatwave at the moment and it comes at a great time for hay, silage and turf. The grass cutting is in full sway at the moment, even though it is just the beginning of June, and many farmers will be taking advantage of the good climate to make more hay than silage. Long ago the meadows would be very thin at this time and no farmer would start cutting until the month of July. It was a different type of hay in those days with a great mixture of tall grass, thistles,   wild flowers and herbs and other types of wild plants we don’t see anymore. This mixture must have been far better for the cattle than the pure grass, forced by nitrates, that is being harvested today. Again we pay the price for new ideas and methods of intensifying production but the old ways were probably better in the long run. I mentioned the weather is good for saving the turf but the old people would disagree. They maintained that sunny weather wasn’t the best because it created a crust on the outside of the sods leaving the middle raw. The best for drying turf is breezy, showery weather which keeps the pores open and allows the inside to dry. At least that is what all the good bog men told me and who am I to argue with them. I am just glad I don’t have to work in the bogs anymore. My father sold turf for a living so all my young summers were spent in the bog, footing, re-footing, drawing out and loading the lorry. Forgive me if my memories of the bog are not happy ones although I love the place now and really enjoy walking through places I once cursed as a youth. Footing turf must be the most back-breaking work of all time. The secret was to keep your head down for as long as you could because when you stood up the back muscles let you know how they were feeling. Nowadays not many people foot the turf as it is easier to turn the sods, due to the turf machine,  eliminating the back-breaking work. Now that is progress I do applaud.!

How time is flying past. Seems like only yesterday we had frost in the mornings and now we are just a couple of weeks away from the turn of the year when the days start to get shorter again. It is hard to believe the County Fleadh Cheoil is over, the Munster Hurling final is on next Sunday and we will soon have the All-Ireland’s. Time was when the competitions were spaced throughout the summer with the finals in September but now everything is packed into the first few months of the year with dozens of games going on at the same time. I must admit I am not a fan of the new system where the GAA seem to want competitions completed with indecent haste. Soon  we will have no matches left to look forward to and won’t that leave a void in our weekend viewing. The All-Ireland Fleadh is also  earlier than it used to be but not by too much. Congratulations to all the competitors from Athea branch who were so successful in Kilfinnane last weekend. We wish them every success in the Munster and, who knows, the All-Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kathleens Corner-06/06/2023

By Kathleen Mullane

BEST OF LUCK

Its that time of the year again can you believe it when the Exams begin this week and I’m sure its been extra hard for all those trying to cram in the final bits and pieces, especially with the very warm temperatures we are having. Never mind they will be over before they know it. And we wish each and every Leaving and Junior Cert student all the very best for the days ahead. A special Mass for all the Exam students will be celebrated on this Tuesday evening at 7 o clock here in the church everyone welcome.

The reposing of Connie O’Sullivan took place last Thursday at his son and daughter in law’s home in Lower Athea where a huge crowd came to pay their final respects to a much loved Family man. Connie had reached the great age of 92 years and could been seen daily on his tractor up until his passing, indeed a great achievement for a man his age. His funeral Mass on Friday was celebrated by Canon Tony Mullins and 4 other priests concelebrated with him. A lovely tribute to Connie was read by his Grandaughter Jenny Scanlon —a true man of The Land to his End. He was laid to rest in Holy Cross Cemetery. May the light of Heaven be His. No doubt he will be sadly missed by his family grandkids and all who came in contact with him over the years.

The death also took place this past week of Moss Brouder of Brouder’s Garage here in Athea, following an illness over the past while as he was in the care of the staff of the Mercy Hospital in Cork. Many came to sympathise with his wife Anne and Family at their home in Coole on Friday evening last. Moss was known far and wide being a great mechanic and in the garage business for many years. Mass on Saturday again saw a big crowd in attendance, with his grandaughter Becky singing a beautiful song in his Honour, and his Daughter Jackie giving an emotional Tribute to her Dad. Moss was buried in Holy Cross following the Requiem Mass. May  the Light of Heaven be His.

After Mass next Saturday night June 17th the Corpus Christi procession will take place to the Hall. All parishioners are asked to join in as well as the children who received their 1st Holy Communion. Tea and light Refreshments will be in the Hall afterwards.

Sincere congrats go to Tara Finucane and Joe Flaherty of Abbey Tyres, who were married on Saturday here in Athea Church and held their reception at The Devon Inn where a great day was enjoyed by Family and Friends. Wishing them all the very best for the future.

Thought For The Week:- Time is a Very Precious Gift-so Precious that it is only given to us MOMENT BY MOMENT.

 

 

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Knockdown News-06/06/2023

By Peg Prendeville

Peg Prendeville, Helen Martin, Anne McGroder and Marian Cummane

The beautiful weather is a blessing to us all. To make the best of it my family and I had a lovely day in Tullig Woods on the Greenway on Sunday last. Armed with food and drink for a picnic we started out at the Devon Road station. Our group comprised of four adults, including two senior citizens, and eleven children ranging in age from two months up to 12 years. We had two wheelchairs and three little bikes so it was a motley crew. It was a very easy pleasant walk from Devon Station to Tullig Woods, stopping periodically to let the children explore and have fun. There were lots of walkers and cyclists out enjoying it like ourselves. Then on returning to Devon station we had our picnic which was enjoyed by the whole gang. Of course there were many little rows and scary moments trying to ensure that all the children were safe and not in the way of other Greenway users but all in all I really enjoyed the day. Of course the day could not finish til an ice cream was bought in Collins’ shop on the way home. A successful outing made all the more pleasant because of the blue skies.

Congratulations to U12 GB Rovers FC players who made history for their club Monday last claiming the Division 1 Limerick Desmond School Boys/Girls League title. Last year the same group claimed the U12 Division 2 title and all players were a year younger! What an amazing achievement to climb the ladder to the top. A very well deserving team of both titles, with every child pulling their weight and determined in every match and training session. Their hard work has paid off. Congratulations to the parishes of Loughill, Ballyhahill and Glin for producing top quality players and to the managers for their time and dedication to the team.

Team: Honor Mulvihill, Noah Daly, William Delee, Cathal McCarthy, Gavin Wallace, Jamie Buckley, Jack Lonergan, Jimmy Mullane, Dan Healy, Harry Wallace, Tadgh Costello and Tomek Zawodny. Their managers are John Wallace, Diarmaid Daly & Colin Wallace.

I had the above notes written when word came through that my very good friend, since we were six years old, had died after a hard battle with sickness over the past three months. So it is with a heavy heart I say goodbye to Marian Cummane, nee Mullane, Knockdown. Marian and I were in class together in Clounleharde, went to Dublin in 1971 to the Civil Service and both of us ended up back in the Knockdown rearing our families and giving each other backup when needed. Numerous cups of coffee were consumed along the way and many of the world’s problems ironed out. When in Dublin there were five of us who lived together. Margaret Moran from Toureen has already departed this life and now Marian has joined her which leaves Anne, Helen and me. Thankfully Mike Cummane and his family generously opened their house this week to all Marian’s friends and neighbours  and so the “three musketeers” as she called us were able to have one last meeting with her on Wednesday last. I am so grateful for this blessing as we used to try and meet together every year if possible. Marian was a friend to everybody and was a mother figure to her children’s friends also. Everybody loved Marian. Having worked in various shops over the years she never sought the limelight or wanted for much only to be at home feeding her birds and cats and anybody who called to the house. She had the greatest patience with the young generation and often gave them a bed after a late night at the pub as well as a breakfast next morning even though she was not a drinker herself and not a lover of pubs. After the past three months in hospital she came home just the day before she and Mike celebrated 42 years of marriage and just a week later departed this life. Sincere sympathies to her heartbroken husband Mike and her sons Paudie and Cathal and their families and her daughter Mairéad and all the extended families of the Mullanes and Cummanes. Her suffering is over now and she is resting in peace. We take comfort from that. But she will be missed by many.

 

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