By Kathleen Mullane

Well, this week is a busy and exciting week for Athea, with our little village hosting Fleadh Cheoil Luimnigh.  It starts on this Wednesday 29th and continues until Bank holiday Monday, June 3rd. The official opening is on Friday night at 8pm and competitions take place for all events on Saturday and Sunday. Music and entertainment will be in abundance in the pubs and street throughout the weekend. So come along and celebrate all things “Irish and Traditional” and be proud to be hosting such a great event. A huge amount of work goes into the fundraising and preparations and well done to all those involved in helping out. We just hope for fine weather now, which would make a huge difference.

Congrats to Joe Kelly and Trish, his wife who were blessed with their new baby boy Edward (Ted) recently, a little brother for Hannah and James. Best wishes and congrats are also extended to the proud grandparents Mary and Mick Kelly of Coole West. Congrats all around.

Well the Junior and Leaving Cert exams are looming and it will be ‘full steam ahead’ next week for all students. But you know it will be “an ease” to all of them and the ‘stress’ and ‘pressure’ will be eliminated then. We wish them well.

Well the Tidy Towns group of volunteers are doing tremendous work in and around the village and last Saturday was no exception, as they pulled weeds, planted, watered, washed, painted and a lot more and now they have everything spic and span for the Fleadh Cheoil. Everyone is asked to do their bit and pick up any rubbish that selfish people throw out along the roads, or if you’re passing a weed pull it – all ‘helping hands’ make Athea a nicer, cleaner and prettier place to live.

Well the turf is standing in a lot of the bogs, the roads are busy with silage rig-outs doing their work – the few showers last week were welcomed by the farmers, as land had gone very dry and not much growth. Hopefully with June fast approaching we will have some heat like last year – we live in hope!

A mass for all exam students will be said this Wednesday evening at 7pm in Athea church.

Thought for the week:

“It’s good to get away from chaos and from din,

To seek in solitude and peace the beauty that’s within,

To go into a quiet wood and breathe it’s loveliness,

To contemplate in silence those things which calm and bless”