By Peg Prendeville

Peg Prendeville with her former neighbour Paddy Dunne whom she met recently.

Gerald Griffins  Men’s and Ladies Football is inviting anybody who is interested in taking part and having fun in the upcoming club Lipsync fundraiser on November 9th to contact Gary Thompson (085) 115 5506, Wayne Fitzgerald 0868813594,Martina Phillips (087) 914 5952, Maggie O’Brien (087) 618 8708. It should be an exciting night for the parish with young and old taking part.

“Enjoying Mindfulness” evenings will take place in Glin this Autumn from Thursday 26^th September to 21^st November with Ali Burnard, Meditation Facilitator and Gestalt Psychotherapist. Please book to secure your place by phoning Ali on 087 6452227.

Huge crowds had the town of Glin buzzing on Monday night for the 1^st night of the dramatisation of the Cailín Bán story. The marquee was set up on the Glin Castle grounds and three buses were kept busy ferrying everybody in from the square in Glin from 6.30pm. Each person got treated to wine and Ballyhahill cheese as they entered to take up their seat. Three hundred and eighty people thronged the beautifully decorated marquee which looked out on the Shannon river. It had been a beautiful setting for a wedding on last Saturday with the sun shining all day. At 8pm over 25 members of the Adare Gospel choir enthralled the audience with their melodious voices for 45 minutes after which there was a break during which raffle tickets were sold. Now it was the turn of the Abha Bhán & Glin Players. They had been in the “Green Room” from 6.30 going through their lines, dressing up and getting their make-up applied. There was such a buzz as the cast of over 30 found space to do what they had to do. Costume ladies Marie Fitzgerald, Rosemary Daly and Marie Geoghegan from the Glin Development committee, had done Trojan work sourcing costumes and fitting them on. Indeed these three ladies had not rested all week helping to setup marquee and overseeing rehearsals and generally keeping us all happy. I admired their stamina and commitment. I almost forgot to say that a lot of the hype was due to the fact that Dominic West was among us and enjoying it all as much as ourselves. Having been introduced by Chairman of Glin Development John Anthony Culhane the group was ready to do their best to tell the story of the Cailin Ban. First on stage was Dominic, acting the part of the 24^th Knight of Glin who was Magistrate at the time of the Cailin Ban murder in 1819. He did not have to open his mouth before he got a rousing cheer. The whole performance went very well and  the audience really enjoyed it. On my own behalf I want to say how much I enjoyed being a part of this group of people aged from 13 to pension age. They included singers and dancers as well as amateur and professional actors. It was a lovely experience. As I write this we have Tuesday night still to go but hopefully it will run as smoothly as the Monday night performance did.