Act of Vandalism
The photo on the right shows the state the wheel at the Community Hall was left in after being vandalised recently.
It wasn’t in the best of repair but it certainly did not disintegrate by itself and the mind boggles as to how mindless people get pleasure out of destroying something that is a monument to our history in Athea.
We now have the problem of trying to replace it so, if any of you out there knows where we might lay our hands on an old horse car wheel (or even an ass car one), please contact any member of the Community Council or call the following numbers:
087 675 87 62 or 068 42533
Athea Utd Soccer Draw
The draw is returning on Monday, July 19th at the Clubhouse after a long break due to Covid 19. The Jackpot stands at €11,900.
Tickets on sale from Collin’s Shop, Brown Joe’s Bar, Batt’s Bar or from any committee member.
Athea Community Council Draw
The draw will resume as soon as the pubs re-open this month and will take place at the Community Council Office. The Jackpot stands at €12,300.
We are grateful for all the support you have given us in the past and we appeal to you to continue helping us to make improvements in our community.
This is our only method of fund-raising and the future of the local CE Scheme depends on it.
If anyone could sell a few tickets for us please contact us at the Community Council Offices.
St. Bartholomew’s Church, Athea
Mass Intentions next weekend
Fri July 16th 7.30pm: Eileen O’Donnell.
Sat July 17th 7.30pm: Jim & Mary O’Dee. Nora Mulvihill (Nee Reidy)
Sun July 18th 10.30am: Margaret Broderick.
Readers: Sat: Tom O’Keeffe – Sun: Yvonne Roche.
Eucharistic Ministers: Sat: B. Ahern / M. Donoghue – Sun: C. Woulfe / M. Hunt.
All masses and funeral masses are live streamed on the Church Services TV network via the following link https://churchservices.tv/athea
The Church is open daily for private prayer. If you wish to book an anniversary mass, a wedding or get a mass card signed please contact Fr. Brendan on 087-0562674 or Siobhán on 087-2237858.
Baptismal Information Any parent who wishes to baptise their child must have the baptismal course completed – for further details please contact Theresa on 087 1513565. Course Dates: Tues 13th July/ Tues 10th August.
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
There is no doubt that global warming is having a devastating effect on our planet. For the past few years we have seen extremely high temperatures in places like America, Canada and Australia and also very low temperatures in the winter time. At the same time the Arctic ice blocks are melting causing the seas to rise resulting in serious flooding at times. At the moment, people in parts of California are leaving their homes, fleeing from fires caused by the heat. Some of the fires are started by humans but the majority are the result of lightening strikes that continue right throughout the day. Imagine getting a warning that you have only minutes to grab a few essentials and leave your home and the rest of your belongings to be engulfed in flames. It does not bear thinking about. There are differences of opinion about global warming and whether we have contributed to it or not. Some knowledgeable people claim that changes in climate are a natural part of the life cycle of the planet and they point to the fact that the world has heated up and gone into an ice age before at a time when there was little man made pollution. The vast weight of scientific evidence, however, supports the theory that we are architects of our own downfall due to the heavy carbon footprint we leave. That is why there is so much emphasis today on eliminating the use of fossil fuels, changing to electric vehicles and returning to a more natural way of living. We are lucky, so far, that we do not get great extremes of temperature in Ireland and, apart from flooding that affects certain parts of the country every year, we enjoy a pretty benign climate. That does not mean that things will not change radically in the future so our government are busy trying to make us all play our part to counteract global warming. Most of the policies will have no great affect on us except for the change in farming and the cutting of turf. There are those who want to see big reductions in dairy herds due to the methane gas produced by the cows but our country is heavily dependent on agriculture in general and it is a vital part of rural areas like Athea. Farmers will have to change how they do business. The use of artificial fertiliser may boost the growth of grass but, in the long run, it will do more harm than good. In times gone by all the fertiliser used was natural. Farmyard manure was the preferred top dress and the land was treated with lime and sand. Kilns can be found all over the parish that were used to burn lime which was spread on the land. The lime had to be drawn in rocks from down the County Limerick and the sand was drawn in carts from Ballybunion. I have seen some people using lime but it is a long time since I saw anyone using sand. At one time anyone could go to the beach and remove sand but that day is gone. I remember going with my father in the lorry to get sand in Ballybunion. The load had to be filled by hand with shovels, which was a long and tiring job, but on many occasions the load might have to be emptied again because the lorry would get stuck in the sand with the weight of the load. When the lorry had been freed and moved to more solid ground, we had the job of re-loading only now we had to walk a few yards with the shovel of sand from the previous load. Not the most pleasant of memories. No doubt a way forward will be found and our local famers won’t be too affected by the changes. The cutting of turf has ceased in many parts of the country and it won’t be long until it is our turn. The bog has played a huge part in the local economy and, up to lately, most of our homes were heated by turf. Things are changing, however, and new homes are heated by other methods that don’t even require a chimney. I am told that chimneys will not be allowed on house plans in the future and that advances in solar heating, heat pumps etc will make it much easier to heat a home without the smoke that apparently does so much harm to the atmosphere. I walk the bog on a regular basis and I noticed lately that many of the turf banks are almost cut away. For the first time in years there was no turf spread on Matthew’s bog up near Park and the area to the right of the council road in the Cnoceens is almost gone so there may be no need to ban the cutting of turf as it will be gone in a few years anyway. In the meantime, enjoy the glow of a good fire while you can!
There was a feast of sport on the telly over the weekend, G.A.A, cycling, golf, tennis, rugby and of course the big final between England and Italy. Though the match itself wasn’t up to much, it was a great occasion filled with suspense. Italy won on penalties, an awful way to decide a final, or should I say England lost because of their poor penalty taking. England did well to get to the final and they look to have a bright future. Most of the soccer followers in this country will not support the English team even though they support English clubs every week. The reason why may be found in the following poem sent to me during the match on Sunday night:
It’s not just about oppression or the famine/genocide
Not just Mr. Cromwell, sure we’ll let all that slide
Not just the youthful squaddies killing protestors at will
Not just about the Black and Tans, not just the “shoot to kill”
Not just about the hunger strikes, not just about the evictions
Not just framing random Irish folks to get a quick conviction
Not just “no Blacks or Irish” signs, no more can they be seen
Sure don’t Blacks and Irish make up half the English team
No, it’s the lads with lasers, the National Front tattoos
Who hear another country’s anthem and proceed to boo
Your team gets down on bended knee, you show them no respect
No, other nations don’t support you, what did you expect
So when we hear the tired refrain “football’s coming home”
Don’t take offence if some of us hope football’s going to Rome.