We are lucky to have some Biodiversity Heroes in Athea who devote a large amount of their time improving our local environment for the benefit of our wildlife. Pictured is Pat Higgins who recently installed a Bat Hotel and Owl Boxes around Glasha Lake as part of the Hen Harrier Project. Glasha Lake is a credit to Pat and Bernie – if I was an Owl or a Bat, I’d be heading to Glasha Lake!

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

It is a great time for sporting enthusiasts from this neck of the woods with Limerick winning the hurling a couple of weeks ago and Kerry bringing the Sam Maguire back to the Kingdom on Sunday last. Many of us have a leg in both counties, with Athea being so near the border. In my own case, although born and reared in Limerick, my father came from Brosna and I am married to a Kerry woman as well so there’s a double celebration. There is a bit of friendly rivalry between the counties but, in general, we support each other against other teams. I have to admit there was a part of  me wanted to see Galway win but it was only a small part so well done to Kerry who deserved their victory on the day. Galway gave a great account of themselves and can return to the West with their heads held high. They more than contributed to a fantastic game of football that was on a knife edge until the final few minutes.  It was also a very sporting game without any dirty blows and went a long way to restoring my faith in a code I had almost given up on. The All-Ireland competition was extremely tight with two semi-finals that had only a kick of a ball between them. It could just as easily been Dublin and Derry in the final but I am glad that Kerry and Galway got through to give us such a memorable day. Let us hope that other teams will now try to copy what they saw on Sunday and we will be able to say goodbye to the negative, soul-destroying  mixture of basketball and soccer tactics that  have made the game so boring for the past few years.

I drove to Limerick on Sunday morning and it was bumper to bumper all the way with all makes and shapes of Kerry cars heading for Croke Park. From early morning it was a continuous stream of vehicles, more than ever before. I think there was so much traffic because, unlike the past when people made a weekend of it, accommodation in the capitol is now too expensive so people travelled up and down on the same day.  In days gone by many Kerry people would travel on the “ghost train”, so called because it travelled very early in the morning, instead of driving mainly because there were few good cars and the roads were not as good as they are now. I remember, as a young lad, going to finals in Dublin with my father and his two brothers. We left early in the morning because it was at least a four and a half hour journey, no motorways or dual carriageways in those days so we had to go through every village and town on the way up. Getting through Limerick could sometimes take the guts of half an hour on its own. There is an industrial estate across the road from where City West is now, not far from the Green Isle Hotel and  we always stopped there, opened the boot and took out the flasks of tea and packages of ham sandwiches that my mother had made the night before. After the long journey the taste was delightful and we were set up for the day. Next stop was at Slattery’s pub in Caple Street where there was always a session of music on Sunday mornings. A few half ones and pints later (lemonade for me) we made our way up to Jones’ Road to join the throng approaching Croke Park. There was a marvellous sense of occasion and anticipation of what was to come. We were lucky that, on most occasions, Kerry won but there was the odd time they didn’t as well. It didn’t take from the day’s enjoyment and by the time we got home again, having stopped on the road for a meal, I was ready for bed but unable to go to sleep straight away, reliving  the fielding of every ball and the great scores of the day.  Those memories last forever and though I don’t travel now I still get that tingle when I see footage of the crowds streaming into the match. It seems strange that  it is only July and the All-Ireland’s are over already.  The good news is the local clubs can now get down to business so the party is not over yet with plenty hurling and football to enjoy for the rest of the year. Let us hope that some of the fans who have  lately began to support the county team, since they became successful, will now support their local clubs, the most important units in the GAA.

Rural TDs are in a bit of a tizzy at the moment about the plans to cut the national dairy herd in the hope of reducing our carbon footprint. They know this does not go down well with their constituents who feel they are being targeted by the city dwellers who have little or no understanding of farming life. The TDs have to be seen to be trying to combat climate change but at the same time they also need to keep the voters on side if the want to be re-elected at the next election. I feel sorry for farmers who are the victims of following the government’s advice only to be told  now that what they are doing is wrong. During the latter half of the last century they were advised by the Dept of Agriculture to get rid of fences and make big fields out of  small ones to maximise acreage for grass growing that would enable them to have more cattle. Now we know that getting rid of hedgerows is a bad idea as is trying to have more cows. Some people are very serious about what we need to do to “save” the planet but the truth is we are so small, in the big scheme of things, that what we do makes little or no difference. As long as places like China, Russia, India, South America and, indeed, North America continue to do what they are doing using fossil fuels, we are wasting our time. It has to be a mass movement by the whole world and, even then, who is to say that global warming will not happen anyway. I was listening to the radio when they announced that we had had the warmest day since the 1870s. I wonder what caused the warming back then? After all there were no cars on the roads or intensive farming in those days. Maybe we don’t have all the answers but until we are all singing from the same hymn sheet there is no point in trying to scapegoat farmers who are only struggling to make a living.

St. BARTHOLOMEW’S CHURCH, ATHEA

Saturday Evening Mass July 30th at 7.30pm

Mass Intentions:           Patrick Cotter (Month’s Mind). Pat Buckley (Month’s Mind). Margaret O’Sullivan and deceased members of the O’Sullivan & Casey families. Timmy O’Keeffe and his mother Lena. John Joe & Kitty Barrett.

Readers: Angela Cafferky & Tom O’Keeffe.

Eucharistic Ministers: Mary Hunt & Betty Ahern

Weekday Masses this coming week: Tuesday & Thursday morning at 9.30am.                                                                                                                   

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the Devine Mercy Chaplet on Tuesday morning.

All masses can be viewed online via the following link https://www.churchservices.tv/athea

Parish office hours:  (Mon – Fri) 11am to 1pm.                                                                                                            Contact Siobhán on 087-3331459 or email [email protected] – outside of these hours please leave a voice/text message. The next baptism course will be on Tuesday 9th August.

Graveyard Masses: Holycross Graveyard – Thursday August 4th at 7.30pm. Templeathea Graveyard – Tuesday August 9th at 7.30pm .

Moyvane/Knockanure Parish Graveyard Masses.

Friday, July 29th. Ahavoher Graveyard Mass @ 8pm.

Tuesday, August 2nd. Knockanure Old Graveyard Mass @ 8pm.

Wednesday, August 3rd. Murhur Graveyard Mass @ 8pm.

Comhaltas Session & Duck and Swan Night

Next Sunday evening will see a mighty session at Batt’s Bar as Athea Comhaltas and friends get together  for a few tunes. It will coincide with the Duck & Swan fundraiser to provide food for the ducks on the river. This was started by the late Sean Fitzgerald and it is great to see his niece Helen continuing the good work.

The craic starts at 8pm and there is a welcome for all singers, musicians, dancers, story-tellers and we hope everyone will enjoy the evening.