Happy Christmas to all our readers,  at home and abroad, and to our columnists, advertisers, contributors and the shops who sell the newsletter free of charge. May the coming year bring you all you desire. The first publication of the New Year will be on Tuesday, January 7th.

At the CH Chemist, Tralee, Christmas Parade, Amy O’Connor, The Lane, Upper Athea with her cousin Anne Harty and husband Peter

St. Vincent de Paul Annual Christmas Appeal

Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed so generously to the recent Church gate collection. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.  Thanks also to our collectors.

Helpline No:  087-7400665.

Athea Graveyards Collection

The Graveyards collection will take place on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th December at both masses. Envelopes have been distributed throughout the parish. Your support would be very much appreciated.

Athea Parish Journal

Congratulations to Laura Quille who graduated recently with an honours
degree in Social Care.

The Journal is on sale at the usual outlets, Collins’ Shop, Athea, Moloney’s, Carrigkerry, Knockdown Shop, Holly’s, Moyvane & Ann Lyons’ Shop,  Abbeyfeale.

Table Quiz

The annual Coiste na nÓg Christmas quiz is on at the Top of the Town on Saturday night Dec 28th at 9p.m. Come early to get a seat. A good night’s entertainment guaranteed with lots of spot prizes.

Christmas Lighting

By Domhnall de Barra

I am using part of my space, this week, to explain the position regarding Christmas street lighting. Athea Community Council have looked after the lighting since it started and had hoped to continue as usual this year, however, when we contacted our electrician he informed us that there were two problems. The lights we have are past their sell by date and would cost a fortune to replace and also that there are new height restrictions. These restrictions mean that most of the cross-street strands would be too low because of the height of the houses. We lost a few strands last year that were pulled down by a passing truck. We had a meeting in the library that was open to the public and the problems were discussed. We have decided to upgrade the lighting system completely and we have consultants coming to the village in the new year to advise us on the best way forward. It will cost a bit but we feel that the lights bring the village to life at the festive period and are worth renewing. In the meantime we hope to bring lighting to a couple of areas in the village with a Christmas tree at Markievicz. Park. Up to now we have funded the lighting by a church gate collection, a grant from Limerick County Council and our own resources. The collection brings in an average of €650 each year and the grant from the council varies from year to year but we always have a shortfall, which may be as much as €1,000, every year. This money comes directly from Athea Community Council funds which are dwindling year on year. Any money we may save this year will go towards the new lighting next year. Athea Tidy towns will put up lights on the poles that were erected throughout the village for flowers. They did some last year but will add to them this time around.  We know the situation is not ideal but we feel it is better to put money into new lighting next year rather than spending it on trying to repair a system that is out-dated this year. In the meantime we welcome any suggestions you might have.

Windmills

I don’t always listen to the radio but I have it on when travelling in the car. The other day, the Joe Duffy show featured wind turbines and there were arguments for and against them with regard to the new guidelines on noise, distance from dwellings and flashing lights from the sun beaming through the turning vanes.  This country is paying fines every year because we don’t reach our anti-pollution levels. Our electricity, up to lately, has been produced by huge coal and peat burning generators such as the one at Moneypoint. The government are anxious to phase out these spewers of filth into the atmosphere and replace them with electricity  created by the wind turbines. In the last couple of decades they have sprung up all over the place with quite a few concentrated in our own area. Every time a wind farm is proposed, there are objections from members of the public citing noise, eyesores and the likes. There was one objection that made me laugh. It was based on the idea that the turbines could cause road accidents because drivers would be distracted by them and crash their cars. Proximity to dwelling houses is a problem but the new guidelines give a reasonable distance, four times the height of the turbine, so it shouldn’t be a problem. There are some instances where that distance is not adhered to but, in most cases, the house owners have agreed and been handsomely compensated. The noise level is now set at a maximum of 43 decibels which really isn’t very loud. I can speak with some authority on this because I have windmills at the front and the rear of my own house. They make a noise but it is a quiet whooshing noise and much lower than the sound of the wind blowing through trees. Will people say that there should be no trees within a certain distance?  Of course not but if you don’t like windmills anyway it is a good stick to beat them with. After a while you get used to noise. I remember, when I first went to live in Coventry, my bedroom was beside a busy street that had traffic flowing day and night. At first I had trouble falling asleep but after a short while I did not notice the noise at all.  The third topic discussed was the sunlight through the vanes. This is a problem for people like my wife Noreen who suffers from migraine. The spinning vanes cause flashing lights when the sun is aligned directly behind them at certain times of the year. It only lasts for about 15 minutes so what we do is just close the blinds for that period and open them again. In fairness to the operators they will switch off the windmill causing the problem if requested and they have developed technology that will turn off the vanes automatically when the sunshine comes from a particular angle. All in all, I think the price we have to pay is far outweighed by the benefits the windmills bring. Athea Community Council has backed the farms from the beginning because of the revenue they bring to the area.  They are mostly built on land that is no good for anything else and even where they are not, the good land can still be used around them.  I appreciate that there are those among us who don’t like them and that is their right but the overall good far outweighs any inconvenience they cause.

As this is my last bit of scribbling this year I would like to wish you all a lovely Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful New Year.

Wishing all readers of the Parish Newsletter and my “Kathleen’s Corner” a very Happy & Peaceful

Christmas and a lovely New Year 2020 

An Irish Christmas Prayer

The Light of the Christmas Star to you

The warmth of home and hearth to you

The cheer and good will of friends to you

The love of the son and God’s peace to you

Firstly can I congratulate Domhnall and Lillian on once again a wonderful production of the Christmas Parish Journal. Can you believe it’s the “31st” edition and they managed to have it ready on time for Christmas – which I may tell you is a “hard job”. A lovely Christmas present and with a colourful photo of “Running for Stripes” on the cover. Well done to them.

Congratulations and good wishes are extended to Lauren Woulfe of Cratloe who celebrated her 21st birthday at Collins’ here in Athea on Saturday night last along with family and friends. A great night was had by all.

It was with great sadness that we heard of the untimely death of Mary Larkin of Clash, Athea over the weekend. A huge crowd came to pay their last respects at Kelly’s funeral parlour on Sunday evening last. Requiem Mass on Monday was followed by burial in Holy Cross Cemetery. Sincere sympathy is extended to her husband, Liam, her children Liam, Maggie and James, grandchildren and extended family. ‘May the light of heaven be hers’.

I wish to thank all who gave so generously to the deserving ‘Concern’ collection at the weekend. And to Nicola Scanlon, Aoife and Eoin Sheahan, Shane Scanlon and Sarah and Molly Keeley, all Tarbert Comp students, who “braved the bitter elements” and helped me. A total of €465 was collected for Concern.

The AGM of Athea Credit Union was held in their office on Sunday morning last. A good crowd attended. Katie Sullivan gave an insight into the position of the Credit Union, saying it was in a very healthy position. Eibhlís Geoghegan read the minutes of the last AGM. Timmy Woulfe praised the dedicated staff and volunteers, himself and Patie Sullivan being the 2 longest serving members. Our Credit Union is 51 years in existence which is amazing. Mary Anne Stack thanked everyone for coming and said they are delighted to give out loans, that’s what keeps the Credit Union going. Anyone in difficulty is invited to go in and talk to them. Carmody, Leen & O’Donnell will be the accountants again for 2020. Continued success to our Credit Union.

“Grandparents Day” will be celebrated on Wednesday 18th with mass firstly at 12.30 in our church. Then you are invited to the school for refreshments afterwards. This is always a lovely day – all welcome.

Former Chairman of the Co. Board and GAA Club facilitator Donal Fitzgibbon spoke at the 3 year strategic plan GAA meeting in the hall on Wednesday night before a big crowd. Groups will bring forward their plans to the next meeting in February. Watch this space.

It’s with sadness that the news of Jackie Griffin’s untimely death reached us at the weekend. At the time of writing no arrangements have been made. R.I.P.

By Peg Prendeville

I extend sympathy to the family of Jerry Griffin, Glenagragra who died on Sunday last and to Val and Breda Mullane on the death of Breda’s father Denny Farrell, Tinekilla.  Deaths are sad at any time of year but especially so coming into the Christmas season.

Knockdown was lit up like a giant Christmas Tree on Sunday evening when the Estuary Rollers arrived in a convoy of about 80 tractors which were all lit up with Christmas lights. This was a fundraising effort for Milford Hospice. In spite of rain and miserable conditions many people, including excited children, were waiting for the convoy to arrive which it did about six o’clock. It was a huge success for all those involved in the event and was the cause of great excitement in the area.

Ballyhahill School Parents Association informs me that the “2020 calendars will be on sale throughout Christmas and New year so please support if you can. They are a lovely gift for those at home and abroad and contain lots of old photos which are amazing to look at and see how things have changed.  They are €10 and available in Knockdown and Ballyhahill. The  Christmas raffle is being held this coming Friday morning the 20th so get your name down if you want to win one of the great prizes up for grabs. Lines are just €2 and again are in Knockdown until Thursday.”

Congratulations to Noah Daly, Ballyhahill N.S. who was one of four children who got prizes for designing a bookmark during the Children’s Book festival in Glin Library last October. The other three were Honor Mulvihill, Jack Lonergan and Meabh Dunne fro Glin school. The entries were judged in Limerick HQ Library.

Loughill/Ballyhahill Christmas Mass bouquets are available in both Sacristies.

A DVD of the Cailin Ban which was acted out in Glin last September is on sale in the Glin shops. It includes lovely aerial views of Glin and the Shannon Estuary.

Price €15. A lovely Christmas present.

Christmas is only a week away so I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and healthy New Year. Thanks to Domhnall and Lillian who continue to produce this little newsletter every week. Congratulations to them also for the beautiful Athea Journal which is out on the shelves this week. I look forward to reading it over the holidays. See you all in 2020, with God’s blessings.