By Peg Prendeville

Congratulations to Kim O’Grady, Glenbawn, daughter to Marcella and Tom, who got married to Thomas Mulvihill in Ballyhahill Church last Friday April 1^st. We wish them a happy life together in Glenbawn. It is nice to have another new family in the area.

I mentioned last week that I was going to Dublin for the Easter weekend. It proved to be an enjoyable experience. We were a group of four adults and three children under five so we saw a lot of it from a child’s eyes. We arrived at the Greenisle hotel at 11 am on Sunday morning, got a bus into the city. No traffic was allowed around the city centre area which meant a lot of walking but it was pleasant. The atmosphere was carnival, everybody in good form and we could walk at ease. All access to O’Connell street, even for pedestrians, was barred but there were viewing points and big screens at appropriate corners. We got to the Garden of Remembrance and viewed from there. Of course, those of you who watched it on TV saw a lot more than we did but it was nice to be there and hear the marching steps and the band music and savour the whole atmosphere. We were lucky with the weather and managed to pass the day with a just one shower. It was rather cold in spots but we were wrapped up well. After the main parade was over we were allowed walk down O’Connell street. An awful lot of organisation went into the whole proceedings and everything went off well. Portable toilets were planted at regular intervals and picnic tables laid out along the streets giving the city a whole new look. On Monday it was a fun day for everybody with music and amusements and food stalls everywhere. We concentrated on the Merrion Square and Stephen’s Green area on the Monday and had a good time. My grandson Noah had his photo taken in the Ark museum for the “Faces in the Window” project and all the children there were given activities to do like drawing, painting and writing which they all undertook eagerly. The downside of the whole weekend was the Luas strike which put pressure on the buses and it was a challenge to get a bus out of town back to the hotel. Waiting at a bus stop for over and hour with three young children is not easy. And it still did not arrive so we had to change tactics and try another route. But we managed and it was worth the hassle.

After 15 months of preparation the Limerick Diocesan Synod will convene on this Friday/Saturday/Sunday April  8 -10 in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. Up to 400 delegates will attend. This is first Synod in Ireland in fifty years and we await the outcome with curiosity. A prayer for all the delegates will not go astray.