By Peg Prendeville

Congratulations to Ellen Julia Prendeville, Dromagarraun, who was one of the first babies to be christened in Ballyhahill since the Churches were opened following COVID closures. Her parents Bernie and Seán and brother Ógie are proud of their contented little girl. Nana Peg is too!

It is good to be able to attend Mass again and meet the neighbours and exchange greetings. Everybody is being very careful using sanitizer, wearing masks and keeping distance so it should not be a cause of spreading the virus. Thankfully the figures are reducing every night. We now have to contend with the Hackers of the HSE system. There seems to be always something about which to cause worry.

Nevertheless, there is a great air of hope in the country with the easing of the restrictions. I visited my sister-in-law in Clare at the weekend and I could not believe all the people I saw out and about in Spanish Point and the Lahinch area. It was good to see.

There was a very good interview recently, which I saw on the Limerick Diocese Facebook page, between Bishop Leahy and Fr Seamus Enright, whose father came from Clounleharde. It seems Fr Seamus was Rector in Clonard during the troubled times and was called upon and influential as a go-between between the IRA and the politicians for a while. His stories were entertaining and informative. Of course, Fr Seamus is Rector of the Redemptorists in Limerick for a long time now. A very pleasant and chatty man. 

Jim Prendeville, who was due to come home next week, is being kept a bit longer in Dunlaoire in the hope of making a little bit more progress. So my travelling days to Dublin are not over yet.