Clodagh Histon (granddaughter of Agatha Barrett) who graduated with a degree in biomedical science on Saturday.
Paul Collins presenting one of three Hampers
that he kindly sponsored to T.J. Reidy (Captain of Athea Golf Society)
Athea Fair Day
The Fair Day takes place this coming Saturday, Nov. 6th. This was always a great occasion for the village and the parish with the streets full of cattle, horses, goats and other animals. There was always a plentiful supply of fowl as well. In recent years the number of stalls on the street has increased but this only adds to the occasion. Looking forward to a good day and fair weather.
Athea & District Credit Union
The Credit Union will be closed on Saturday, November 6th due to the Fair Day.
ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S CHURCH, ATHEA
Readers: Sat – C. Pierse Sun – Margaret Cotter
Eucharistic Ministers: Sat – M. Sheahan/B. Ahern Sun – Yvonne Roche
Mass Intentions:
Sat Nov 6th 7.30pm: Annual Remembrance Mass for those deceased during the year.
Sun Nov 7th 10.30am: John Paul Stack’s (Month’s Mind). Patrick & Elizabeth O’Sullivan.
All masses and funeral masses are live streamed on the Church Services TV network via the following link https://churchservices.tv/athea
If you wish to book an anniversary mass, a wedding mass or get a mass card signed please contact 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. Next course date: Tues 9th November.
November – Remembering the Holy Souls
Parishioners will find purgatorial lists beside the weekly offerings box in the church, these can be returned to the church and those listed will be remembered at all masses during November.
Our Annual Remembrance Mass for those that died in our parish during the year will take place next Saturday Nov 6th at 7.30pm.
Graveyard Mass at Holy Cross on Friday next Nov 5th at 4pm (weather permitting) and prayers will be said at Holy Cross on Sunday next Nov 7th after 10.30am mass.
Graveyard Mass at Templeathea on Friday Nov 12th at 4pm and prayers at Templeathea graveyard on Sunday Nov 14th after 10.30am mass.
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
The clocks went back on Saturday night meaning we will have brighter mornings but darker evenings. I was surprised to see that the time had not changed on the Sky box which was still giving times of programmes one hour ahead of schedule. It was quite confusing and reminded me of a time, long ago, when the daylight saving time, as it was called was introduced in Ireland. Germany was the first European country to adopt the system, which was to accommodate agricultural workers during the summer, in 1920 approx. Ireland came a bit late to the table around the middle of the last century but it did not have a smooth beginning. Some people adopted the new system straight away while others resisted the change and continued with the status quo. So, for a while we had the “new time” and the “old time” as they became known, running side by side and it created no end of confusion. It was difficult for those in the farming world because cattle and other animals have their own body clock and it can’t be put forward or backwards. Cows know when it is near milking time and will make their way to the gate ready to be taken in to the milking parlour. Poultry and pigs also know exactly when feeding time is and they get confused when it is either an hour earlier or later. Their “clocks” can’t be put forwards or backwards without upsetting them. Many farmers were slow to adopt the new time for that reason. At that time also there were very few watches owned by ordinary people. They weren’t like the watches of today but rather like small flat clocks that would fit into the palm of the hand. They were usually kept in a pouch in an inside pocket and there was a small chain that one could attach to the clothing to ensure they would not fall to the ground or get lost. Most of the people in rural Ireland were able to tell the time by looking at the sun not that they had figures as on a clock, no, they had dinner time, supper time, cow time and bed time. When working in the bog, people finished their labours at the sound of the Angelus bell from the town or village nearby. The problem was that some parishes went by “old time” while others went by “new time” so the workers could be finished an hour early or be doing an hour’s overtime!. It wasn’t uncommon at the time to hear an Angelus bell from one church and then hear the bell an hour later from a neighbouring parish. I remember well, when I was growing up, seeing posters advertising events with the time always qualified by adding new time or old time. One old woman inquired as to when a local concert was starting. When she was told it started at 8 o’clock she asked: “is that 7 or 9?” Eventually everyone adopted the new system and we have it to this day. There are attempts to get rid of it maybe next year. They tried it for one year in England back in the ‘sixties. I remember it well as I was working in Coventry at the time and it got mixed receptions. In the end it was decided not to continue with it because it was dark in the morning when children were going to school. I think there is no reason why we should not stay at “old time” all the year round. Most agricultural work is now done by machines and what they might lose at the end of the day can be made up by starting earlier in the morning. We have to wait and see.
It was a really bad night, weatherwise, for young people, dressed up in their Halloween costumes, going from door to door trick-or-treating. It has now become a big event with houses done up for the occasion and pumpkins everywhere. I wasn’t in favour of it once because it was an American custom and also a big marketing opportunity for the stores who make a fortune out of the costumes, sweets etc. but I have changed my mind. It is lovely to see the excitement on the faces of the kids and don’t we all deserve a bit of fun after being locked down for so long. Even the little ones in Noreen’s playgroup dressed up for the party and had a whale of a time. I am still not in favour of the practice of lighting big bonfires and letting off fireworks. There are obvious dangers attached to theses practices and they should be banned. It is already illegal to buy fireworks in the republic but they are freely available in the North. No problem then for somebody to drive over the border and fill the back of the car with fireworks knowing that there is a ready market for them in the South. Safety first should be the policy.
There is now a sense of panic about global warming with targets being set to reduce pollution within a narrow period of time. In Ireland’s case the biggest problem will be the reduction in methane gas emissions which are mainly caused by the dairy herds in the country. There is also a big rush on to get us all to invest in electric cars, close up our fireplaces and throw out our gas and oil boilers. As far as I can see they have the cart before the horse. If you want people to change you have to create the conditions for them to do so. You have to look at the big picture. There should be as many charging points as petrol and diesel pumps available if we are all to drive electric vehicles. Then there is the question of the supply of electricity. The government thought they were doing a great thing when they shut down two fossil fuel burning stations in the midlands but now they are warning us that there is a possibility of power cuts this winter. In that case how will I charge my car or heat my home with heat pumps that rely on a power supply? They also rushed to close Bord na Móna’s briquette making plants and now they are being imported from Europe. We are always going to need back-up because we cannot depend on a constant flow of wind that is necessary to operate the wind farms that we have come to rely on for alternative energy. The government needs to go back to the drawing board and put down a foundation on which to build. The questions are simple enough. How can we supply enough electricity to power all the vehicles and homes at a reasonable rate? How can we make it profitable for farmers to change from dairy to some other form of agriculture? How can we encourage people to act together to stop the damage being caused to our planet? And the big question: how do we persuade America, Russia, China and India, the worst offenders, to come onboard with the rest of the world. We need to do it to avoid future generations being decimated by natural disasters.