Athea Drama Group

We are thrilled to announce “Dancing at Lughnasa” as Athea’s upcoming play for February 2022 by one of greatest living English language dramatist “Brian Friel”.

The dates are as follows for February 2022.

Thursday 3rd, Saturday 5th, Sunday 6th

Thursday 10th, Friday 11th, Sunday 13th

Dancing at Lughnasa is a Memory Play. Our window into this world is provided by Michael the adult as he takes us through his life as a 7 year old and the 5 sisters who raised him.

Make this a Memory of your own & Come see this play!

Book Launch

Anybody who has lived long enough can remember a time in this area when many of the words and phrases used by the people of the parish were part of the Irish language. As time elapsed more and more of these links with our history were dropped from everyday conversation. It is important that we do not forget this period when  the fusion of both Irish and English added great colour to our way of speaking. It isn’t an easy task but Timmy Woulfe took it upon himself to list all those words and phrases and they are now listed in a book called “As Tough as Táthfhéithleann”.  It is a must read for anybody interested in our history and will bring back many memories to the older amongst us.

The book will be officially launched in the Community Hall, Athea on Friday, November 19th. A night to look forward to.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S CHURCH, ATHEA

Readers:    Sat – M. McGrath

Sun – Paul Curry

Eucharistic Ministers:

Sat – Majella Dalton  Sun – E. Geoghegan

Mass Intentions:

Sat Nov 6^th 7.30pm:      John James McLoughlin & Mary McLoughlin . Michael & Peg Reidy and Johanna Sheehy. Mary & Patrick O’Sullivan (Knocknagorna).

Michael (Mikey) Byrne. Ellen Tierney.

Sun Nov 7^th 10.30am:  James, Bridget, Mary & Bill McAuliffe

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 9^th 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.

Graveyard Mass at Templeathea on Friday next Nov 12^th at 4pm and prayers at Templeathea graveyard on Sunday Nov 14^th after 10.30am mass.

Please call to the church during the month of November to remember your deceased ‘loved ones’ and place their names on our Remembrance tree.

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

When I meet people, especially on the golf course, they sometimes ask me if I am retired form work. My reply is: yes, but not by choice. Times have changed a lot for the small printer in recent years. At one time I would be busy every week printing hundreds of invoice books for the likes of Feale Oil, plant hire companies, hardware stores and other businesses. Because of advances in technology, these firms can now send an email with the invoice attached and the customers have to print it out themselves so no need for duplicate and triplicate books. I would also print hundreds of fliers and posters advertising events taking place at weekends. These were put into shops and pubs and the fliers were put under car wipers on the streets and particularly in church car parks. That practice was outlawed a few years ago and  events are now being advertised on social media. Same for business cards because most firms and business people have their own facebook page with all the knowledge necessary available at the touch of a button.. There are other examples as well but, long story short, I could do my weeks work in a few hours and if it wasn’t for the newsletter I might as well close the door altogether. This isn’t a sob story as it suits me not to be too busy at this time of my life and I get a chance to potter around at home or play a few rounds on the golf course. It is just a pity that, when I finally retire for good, there will be no business to pass onto somebody else. It is just another casualty of modern technology like the small shops, garages, petrol pumps and other businesses that at one time thrived on the streets of rural Ireland. I was once talking to my son Danjoe about this and I said “what will happen when all the jobs are gone?” He said that in ten years time there would be many jobs that we don’t even have names for and so it has come to pass. Young people have great opportunities in the educational fields and more and more are attending third level and leaving with qualifications that will provide them with a decent standard of living. There is also a good living to be made by those who may not be academically minded but have other skills. There is a shortage of plumbers, electricians, bricklayers etc and other technicians that are necessary to keep machinery working properly.  I think there should be more emphasis placed on these professions at school and a greater choice of subjects offered. It is nice to be able to make a living from something you enjoy doing and there is nothing worse than being in a job you hate. The whole idea of work is to be able to make enough money to live on with a bit left over for enjoyment. Doesn’t matter what it is as long as you are happy doing it.

I was watching some of the county finals on TV over the weekend. Sunday was a lovely day for the action but most Sundays lately have been miserable with wind and rain making conditions very difficult for both hurlers and footballers. It is wrong to be playing these games at this time of year and not fair on the participants. To my mind, club championships should take pride of place and be played in the best weather possible. I know we can get bad weather in the summertime as well but there is a far greater chance of a bit of sunshine and ground conditions are away more firm. I have great sympathy for players, especially those at county level, who basically have to put their lives on hold  while training for matches. They are now receiving the same level of training as professional rugby and soccer players but they are expected to hold down a job as well and try to live a normal life. Should they be paid?  GAA people are mainly against the idea saying the organisation is a voluntary one and it must keep its amateur status. This might seem a bit hypocritical when one considers the managers and backroom teams most counties have at the moment. Managers may be working for “liberal” expenses but the world and his mother know they are being well paid. Are all the other professionals, physios, doctors, dieticians, coaches etc all working for nothing?  Of course not and neither should they. They are doing a valuable job and deserve to be rewarded for it. It seems then that the only ones who are not getting paid are the most important people of all, the players. There was a time when there was no need of managers and backroom staff. Sometime county teams met each other for the first time on the morning of the match. Then it went on to collective training which took place at a central venue in a county a couple of times a week leading up to a match. There was somebody appointed to conduct training which was mainly playing backs and forwards and doing work-outs. There were no dietary restrictions and it was not uncommon to see players lighting a cigarette at half-time.  On one occasion, Mick O’Connell, The greatest Gaelic footballer of all time, drove up from Valentia for a training session in Tralee on the week before a Kerry/Dublin Match. It was a bad evening with rain falling so the trainer said that they would not bother with the pitch but would go to a nearby hall to do some exercises. Mick stood with his hands on his hips and said; “and what will happen if we get a wet ball against Dublin?” he turned around, sat into his car and drove back to Valentia. That could not happen in today’s set up. I am not in favour of  going down the full professional route for Gaelic players as I think it would eventually destroy the game but I am all for giving a certain amount of remuneration to compensate for all the time and travelling they have to do. Some players can spend ten or more years on a county panel, the best years of their lives, and they have nothing to show for it when they are finished.