Late Sheila Carmody
The recent death of Sheila Carmody, nee Brosnan, of Ballyduff, Knocknagoshel, occurred last week. Sheila had reached the advanced age of 99 and must have been one of the oldest citizens of the parish where she lived most of her life since she married a local farmer, Bob Carmody, several years ago. Sheila, who was a first cousin of my own, was a native of Dromadamore, Lyreacrompane. She was a qualified dressmaker who worked at her trade at home until her marriage. Up to a few years ago she used to attend Mass regularly in the local Church and also used to go out shopping in the supermarkets of neighbouring towns with her daughter Maria and other family members.
During more recent years she was resident in a nursing home but still remained interested in everything. The removal took place from Leahy’s Funeral Home, Knocknagoshel to the local parish Church and was attended by a big number of people from far and near who called to pay their respects and sympathise with the family. Sheila will be very much missed by her sons and daughters, grandchildren and extended family. The funeral took place after Requiem Mass to the local cemetery at which there was also a big attendance. Sympathy to all the family. May her soul rest in peace.
Tidy Towns Showcase
There will be a special showcase and seminar for members of the West Tidy Towns Network and any interested members of the community on Wednesday 11th December in the Desmond Complex, Newcastle West from 7-10pm. The evening will include a number of special guest speakers. Full details will be announced later. Communities considering entering the competition in 2014 are also invited to attend. Admission is free and all are welcome. Contact Suzanne at West Limerick Resources at 069-79114 or email
Set Dancing Classes
Set dancing classes for beginners will be held at the Top of the Town every Tuesday night from 8.30 – 1030pm. For further information contact 087-9267037.
Tribute Night
A tribute night for Tim Crowley NT, on the occasion of his retirement as Principle of Ardagh National School and in recognition of his contribution to many organisations in the parish, will be held on Friday night, December 6th in the Hall, Ardagh at 8pm. Parents and friends are invited to attend and show their appreciation of the work he has done for the school and the community.
Civil Defence Mass
Mass to commemorate deceased members of County Limerick was celebrated by Fr. Michael Browne at ‘De Bucket’ Inn, Ferrybridge on November 21st. Following lunch the AGM of the County Retired Civil Defence Association took place. Officers elected were; Chairperson-Anne Denihan, Vice Chairperson-Kitty O’Sullivan, Treasurer-Pauline Fitzgerald, Assistant Treasurer-Joan Hevenor, Secretary-Paddy Hyland, PRO– Phyllis O’Halloran, Delegates to the National AGM-Pat & Maura Lyons. Also present was Mary Healy, Outreach worker, Mid-West Active Retirement, Ireland.
Jobs– What Jobs?
As was quite predictable, Government Ministers have been telling us this past couple of weeks how everything has improved in the country since they took office. The recession is over, we have recovered our sovereignty, we have become a nation once again and all is rosy in the garden coming up to the elections next year. While ministers have boasted about the new jobs that have been created this past year there has been little mention up to now about all the redundancies and the jobs that have been lost during the past year even last week after listening to Government spokespersons about the recovery the country is making and all the new jobs that are coming in line, suddenly we heard of a firm in Dublin that is losing 600 jobs and this is something that is happening almost every week throughout the country.
The drop in the live register obviously is due to the fact that thousands of our young people are leaving the country every week so it is natural that because of this the numbers on Social Welfare have of course fallen. The increase in jobs, if there are any worthwhile numbers, is no doubt counter-balanced by the redundancies that have occurred during these past couple of weeks. It is no surprise that the Government, in spite of all the austerity that they have inflicted during their term of office particularly on some of the weakest sections of society, are now trying to make things look better for the future. It is also obvious that a certain section of the population are again falling for their promises in view of the fact that some of the recent polls showed an increase in support for the Fine Gael and Labour parties. There are many however who do not believe them and who understand quite well that all of this is just pre-election propaganda. If the Government parties had been honest enough in stating to the people the true financial position that the country is in at the present time the people would be more inclined to believe them. However, the temptation to paint a picture of prosperity for the future has been too hard to resist coming up to the elections and it has long since been well known that this was bound to happen.
The reality is that the country is not prosperous at present and is not likely to become any more prosperous while the policies of the present Coalition Government are being implemented as they have been during the past three years. It is hoped however the majority of the people will understand how they have been conned by the present Government and will vote for the things they believe in, only in that way during the local and European elections will the Government be taught a lesson that they are not likely to forget.
Ireland’s Cricket Win
It came as a surprise on Saturday evening to hear on the sports news on RTE1 that the Irish cricket team had defeated Afghanistan. Most of what we hear or read about Afghanistan is about war there and the Taliban and it’s very seldom we hear about any sports results from that country. Afghanistan has been involved in wars for so many years, first with the Soviet Union and later with the Americans and the British. It is refreshing to hear some different kind of news in which an Irish team was involved.