Happy birthday to Kitty Normile, Knockdown who reached 80 years on Tuesday February 4th and who celebrated with family, and many friends, in Knockdown at the weekend.

Well done to the Scoil Naomh Mhuire, Ballyhahill school quiz team who won the under 13’s category in Sunday’s Estuary Credit Union Quiz held in Ceol Corbrai, Glin! Congratulations also to the team from Gerald Griffin’s School, Loughill who won the under 11’s category. Best of luck to both teams for the next round. Best of luck also to the Ballyhahill Junior Entrepreneur Programme who is publishing and advertising an information magazine called “Local Living”, covering the areas of Loughill, Ballyhahill, Glin, Shanagolden and Foynes. The school wishes to thank all the local businesses who have kindly taken out adverts so far, and if you are a local business who would like to purchase advert space, they ask you to please contact the school on their Facebook page or phone the school at 069-82217. They hope to have it published and for sale in the next few months. Great to see such entrepreneurial spirit in the parish.

I found this nugget of information (geographical serendipity a friend called it) last week. I was doing a bit of local history reading on the Knight of Glin, who died Sept 2011 R.I.P, and on his mother Veronica. “In Veronica’s Garden” is the name of the very interesting book. Veronica’s aunt, Amy Guest, wanted to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic but her family would not allow her so she gave instructions that she would finance a woman to do it instead. This woman should be “a pilot, well educated, preferably a college graduate, physically attractive, have manners, be acceptable to members of English society”. Amelia Earhart fitted the bill and flew across the Atlantic, landing in Wales on June 17, 1928. You may wonder why I am telling you all this, which you probably know anyhow, but what you may not know is that Amelia Earhart’s grand nephew, Geoff Earhart from Denver Colorado, is engaged to be married to Sarah O’Brien, The Hill, Ballyhahill. So the story goes from Glin to USA and back to Ballyhahill. A little bit of useless but interesting information for you.

I attended the play in Athea last Sunday night and was not disappointed. I arrived at 7.20 thinking the hall would not be opened and it was almost full! So get there on time next weekend. It is a laugh from start to finish. I was very impressed with both the acting and directing. Very well done, I thought. “Stop it, Nurse” was written in 1968; a comic farce by Sam Cree from Lisburn, Co. Antrim. The local actors did not shrink from making it even funnier than the writer intended. Great stuff. Well done to Athea Drama group. Support them this weekend also.

I extend sympathies to the Stack family, Clounleharde on the death of their father Patsy Stack during last week. Sympathies too to Kathleen Dillane, formerly of Clounleharde, whose husband Jim Dunican died in his own home in the Navan Rd. Dublin last weekend. May they rest in peace.