ATHEA UTD DIVISION 1 LEAGUE CUP CHAMPIONS

Kevin Murphy, Desmond League Division 1 player of the year and James Ryan, Desmond League Youths Division 2 player of the year pictured at The Rathkeale House Hotel last week where they were presented with their awards at a Desmond League function .

St. Vincent de Paul 

St Vincent de Paul are organising a one week stay in Ballybunion from 18th to 24th June. For more details on this please contact any member of Athea St. Vincent de Paul or phone 087-6216255

Rambling House in aid of West Limerick 102FM

West Limerick 102Fm are delighted to announce that we are holding our first ever Rambling House in aid of WLCR in the Community Hall,  Monagea,  on Monday  June 13 at 8.30pm .  Special Guests include Emily Clarke – William Reidy – Elle Marie O Dwyer- The Harty Brothers-   Billy O Brien- The Nightingales- Big Maggie – Donie Walsh – Nora Kennedy and more.   There will be a raffle on the night. Tea and Coffees and Light Refreshments will be served.  We’d be delighted to welcome other musicians, dancers, storytellers and singers.  Admission €5 with all proceeds going to the community radio.   For more details contact Benny on 0879918546 /069 66200.

AFTERNOON TEA DANCE 

The wonderful Mike Condon will be providing the music on June 12 in Fr. Casey’s Clubhouse, Abbeyfeale for an afternoon Tea Dance in aid of Recovery Haven.  We look forward to seeing all our dancing friends there.

Activity in the Village

The future of rural Ireland, as we know it, is under threat. Small towns and villages, like our own, are losing their identities at an alarming rate due to the closure of many of the services we took for granted when we were younger. Garda stations are gone; there were once three Gardaí stationed in Athea. The Garda presence is maintained by visits from the central station by a Garda in a car. That visit is no more than an hour a day and rightly or wrongly leaves many vulnerable people with a feeling of helplessness. If somebody is breaking into your house there isn’t much point in ringing a station 12 miles away. The culprit will be well gone before the guards got to Carrigkerry. The benefit of having Gardaí on the beat locally was their intimate knowledge of the area and the people. If some crime was committed they did not have to go far to find out who it was and  this fact alone was enough to deter would be wrongdoers.  We are lucky in Athea but in some of the neighbouring towns  anti-social behaviour is rife and it is not safe to walk the streets late at night. The Gardaí can’t be everywhere and the embargo on recruitment has resulted in less members to go around. People deserve to feel protected and the government might well look again at the benefits of local community policing in the future.

Shops and post offices have followed the banks in deserting villages all over the country. We are lucky here in Athea that we still have our post office and a few business outlets as well as the doctor’s surgery and the chemist. It is up to us to keep them and the only way to do so is to support them at every opportunity. Yes, some items are cheaper in the big supermarkets but, unless the spend is very big, there isn’t much difference when you take into account the cost of travel and the fact that  supermarkets are set up to get you to buy things you had no intention of doing when leaving home. There is an old Irish saying that translates as; “People live in each others shadows” . If we want to survive as a vibrant community we are going to have to do just that.

I am delighted to see so much  voluntary activity in the village at the moment. The usual organisations are busy fundraising  and the benefits to the community can be seen in the wonderful G.A.A. pitch, the soccer pitch, the hall, the village itself, due to the work of the Tidy Towns Committee and the Community Council, the Drama Group that brings many visitors to Athea and now we have three more activities in the planning stage. The first up is the Vintage Run on June 12th. With any luck the weather will be fine to show off the many beautifully kept machines that will be on display. It promises to be a fun day in the village. Next is the Athea Festival at the end of June/beginning of July. There will be something for all the family here and an opportunity to relive the heady days of the old Athea Carnival.  In Sept./Oct (dates to be finalised) there will be a Con Colbert Commemoration weekend. A committee has been set up and is planning activities at the moment. As part of this weekend Athea Community Council will be unveiling a bronze bust of Con Colbert at a suitable site in the village. The council feel that we cannot let this year pass without making a contribution to the memory of one of our own who made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. It will stand as a reminder to generations to come that an Athea native played a prominent part in the struggle for Irish freedom in 1916. Great to see so many people getting involved in all the committees. You won’t make any money out of volunteering but there is a great sense of achievement when a planned activity goes well. It gives a great sense of the community as a family, a family that helps each other  and rejoices in its success.

Domhnall de Barra

By Kathleen Mullane

‘Bits & Bobs’ 

Congrats to Bridie Birchall of Coole, Athea, who celebrated her 70th birthday recently at the Top of the Town where she was joined by family, relatives and friends. A great night was enjoyed by one and all.

Well done to the Athea Utd Junior team who, on Friday night last, won the Div 1 League final on a scoreline of 2-0 against Feenagh in ‘Glantine. They were delighted to be bringing the cup home to ‘The Vales’.

On this Thursday night, May 26th, the AGM of the Colbert Community Hall takes place in the hall kitchen. All committee members are requested to attend and indeed anyone else who would line to join or anyone with views on the hall.  All are welcome. It’s great to see the hall being used for the various sporting activities and also for parties and special occasions. And even though the debt on the hall is clear now thankfully – the running costs are large so we would be glad of all bookings made for the hall.

It’s great to see the Tidy Towns people ‘out in full force’ these Saturday mornings, weeding, planting and indeed a lot more. I’m sure they would be glad of ‘helping hands’ at anytime and wouldn’t it be great for our young people to join the team. Indeed we all on our respective roads can pull a few weeds or pick up ‘more rubbish’. Best of luck to them on ‘judging day’.

Congrats to Jenny Sutcliffe (O’Connor), daughter of Jim and Josephine, who celebrated her 40th birthday at The Devon Inn over the weekend along with her family and friends. A brilliant night was enjoyed by everyone.

Another lovely ceremony here in the church on Saturday last when the boys and girls of 2nd class made their 1st Holy Communion. The church was decorated lovely for the occasion and thankfully the day remained fairly good. Well done to the teachers, parents, choir, Fr. Bowen and of course the 1st Communicants

Athea was shocked at yet another sudden death in Templeathea on Monday last. John Byrne passed away at St. James’ Hospital in Dublin. John worked for many years at the ESB station in Tarbert as a painter until his retirement some time ago. He loved to walk with his dog ‘Jack’. Many came to pay their last respects at Kelly’s funeral parlour on Thursday evening last. Burial followed Requiem Mass on Friday to Holy Cross cemetery. Sincere sympathy goes to his wife Bertha, daughters Jenny and Louise and son Paul. May he rest in peace.

Sincere sympathy also to Fergus Scanlon (who was a sergeant here in Athea) on the death of his wife Etna over the weekend. May she rest in peace.

By Peg Prendeville

The Parents Association of Scoil Naomh Mhuire, Ballyhahill will be having a Church Gate collection on Saturday 28th May at Ballyhahill Church. All support would be greatly appreciated, I am sure. The school is also looking for items of clothing which are no longer needed. Please deliver to the school before May 31st.

Fleádh Ceoil Luimní will hold its first session, of what promises to be a great week, in Glin library on Monday 30th May with Tunes and Words – a bit of fun for children of all ages. Gabriel Fitzmaurice will be in attendance. There are many events on through the whole week which is well advertised in all the newspapers. Let us hope that the weather will be kind for the whole festival. Between that and Listowel Writer’s Week we will be spoiled for choice regarding entertainment.

Bridget Healy, Ballyhahill Parish Clerk, will hold her collection next Saturday evening in Ballyhahill.  Please show appreciation for the work that Bridget does in the Church. She is always there for every ceremony.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service will be holding a blood donor clinic in Ceól Corbraí Hall in Glin on Thursday 26th May from 5-8 p.m. 3000 units of blood are required every week. 1000 people receive blood or a blood product at some point in their life.  Please support if you can.

Community Crisis Response Team is a non-profit, voluntary organization based in West Limerick, whose aim is to respond to anyone in the area who may be at risk of taking their own lives. All volunteers are all ASIST trained (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills). All the volunteers have completed their training and have received certification in approaching situations where a person is in immediate danger. They care deeply about our communities and want everyone to be safe. Community Crisis Response Team has saved 15 individual lives since setting up 4 months ago. These figures do not include repeat interventions or support/advice calls that are received daily. The team would like to thank the public for all their support and to thank those that have reached out themselves and those that have reached out worried about someone else. The number to ring or text is 085-1777631.

Glin library will be closed on this Thursday 26th May for training purposes.