News-30/08/2022 « Athea & District Notes

Aug/22

News-30/08/2022

Athea Vintage Club Sunday, September 4th

Athea Vintage Club are on the road again with their annual Charity Road Run on Sunday, September 4^th 2022.

Thank You

Kieran and Valerie Murphy, along with their family, wish to acknowledge the huge effort that went into making Kieran‘s retirement tea party such a huge success. Thanks to the organisers, those who baked and made sandwiches, served tea and provided musical entertainment. Most especially thank you to the wonderful people of Athea who came along in such numbers and provided such support not alone yesterday but down through the years. Kieran

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

Sunday afternoon will be remembered for a long time in the parish as the day we said “Happy Retirement” to Dr. Kieran Murphy. A large crowd gathered in the Memorial Hall for tea and chat and an opportunity to show how much he was appreciated for all the great work he had done in the parish over the years. On a beautiful day, and after being confined by Covid for so long, it was great to see people gathering together in a happy mood. There was music, song, poetry, speeches, presentations and of course plenty of “goodies” to eat. A beautiful portrait of Kieran was unveiled and it will hang on the wall as a reminder to future generations of how much he was loved by the people of Athea. Thanks to Athea Community Council for organising the event with Damien Ahern and his hardworking sub-committee leaving no stone unturned to ensure that everything was right on the day. Thanks, Kieran for all you have done for us and have a long and happy retirement.

The weather patterns throughout the world are a great cause for concern. The footage coming out of Pakistan is horrific showing men, women and children being swept away by the unusually high floods due to the monsoon. Millions have been left homeless and destitute after this as well as all those that have died. This is just as bad as if they had been invaded and there was a war going on like there is in Ukraine. The authorities in Pakistan have appealed to the world for assistance to deal with the catastrophe and they deserve our help. They are not looking for much, just the basic items like tents to shelter those who are exposed to the elements. This type of flooding also brings disease due to the contaminated water so things are going to get worse for those unfortunate people before they get better. On the opposite side of the coin, China is running out of water. This is hard to imagine but when you look at the size of the population and how much water is used domestically, industry and in hydro-electric stations I suppose it was inevitable that this would happen. Water is a commodity that we take for granted but it is probably the most valuable source on earth. We all need it to survive as well as all the plants and other animals. When I was young we didn’t have taps to turn on for water so it was something that was valued. Water for drinking and making the tea was drawn from wells that could be found in certain areas. These are underground springs that had, at the time, the purest of water. Not every field was capable of producing a well. A water diviner had to be called in discover where to dig. He did this by walking the land with a hazel rod, in the shape of a fork, which he held in both hands with the base facing forward. When he walked over a spring, the rod would point to the earth indicating, by the strength of the gravity pull, how strong the likelihood of finding water near the surface was. We were lucky in that sense because our field was full of springs producing a great supply of water. In the height of the summer, when water was getting low everywhere else, our well rose higher which they say is a great sign of a good spring. All the neighbours came to our well with their buckets and gallons and, during the turf cutting season, most of those going to the bog called for a supply as well. They were more than welcome as there was plenty to go around. This water would only be used for drinking and making tea so other means of getting water for washing etc had to be devised. Roofs on all houses and sheds had channels and chutes that captured rainwater and filled barrels and concrete troughs that were built at the corner of the house. There was also the “spout”. This was a pipe through a ditch that connected with a drain inside the ditch bringing a constant stream of water to the roadside. There was one in front of our neighbour’s house, just across the road and some of them used that spout to wash themselves. One of our jobs on a Monday was to draw many buckets of water from the spout so that my mother could do the washing. This water had to be boiled in a big black pot over the open fire and then poured into a tin bath where the individual items of clothing were washed by hand. Everything that time was labour intensive. The water in many of the streams and rivers was pure as well; it must have been because we swallowed enough of it while swimming in the river at the bottom of Phil’s field. That river and many of the bigger streams were full of trout, sprats, eels, frogs and other forms of life that needed the water to survive. Today, the river is dead; not a sign of life in it. This is due to the pollution caused by the changes in farming and the amount of septic tanks in the countryside. The biggest pollutant is slurry which finds its way through the ground to the streams and ends up in the rivers poisoning all the wild life in its path. We all have water on tap nowadays but, every so often we are warned to boil the water before using it. It is hard to believe but there are still areas in the country where raw sewage is being dumped into rivers and seas. Irish Water was set up to deal with the supply of water and, though they have good plans, they are playing catch-up with thousands of leaks in water systems due to old piping breaking down. I get my water pumped into the house from the old well we had but when I got it tested a few years ago I found out it was just borderline ok so I had to install a purifying system, iron filter and a blue light to zap the e-coli and such, so it is perfect now. Water is a commodity we can no longer take for granted. What is happening in China could happen to us in the future. As they say “you’ll never miss the water ‘til the well runs dry”.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S CHURCH, ATHEA

Mass Intentions For Next Weekend

Friday 2nd. September at 7p.m. (First Friday)

Saturday 3rd September at 7.30pm. Kathleen Sheahan 1st. Anniversary & Thomas & Kit Woulfe

Readers: Tommy Denihan & Kathleen Mullane

Eucharistic Ministers: Yvonne Roche & Mary O’Donoghue.

Morning Mass Tuesday 6th September at 9.15am followed by Eucharistic Adoration and Devine Mercy Chaplet

and Thursday 8th. September at 9.15am. (Our Lady’s Birthday).

Next Baptism Course is on Tuesday 13th. September

acc masses can be viewed online via the following link: https: // www. church services. tv/athea

Parish Office Hours: (Mon-Fri) 11a.m. – 1p.m. Contact Siobhán on 087-3331459 or email.com athea parish-church @gmail.com – outside hours please leave a message.