Britvic / Ballygowan Ltd

are supporting Team Ireland in their journey to compete in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin on the 17^th – 25th June 2023. Team Ireland is sending 73 athletes supported by a 34 strong coaching and managements team to compete in 12 sports at this prestigious event. As part of this Eilish Geoghegan of Ballygowan is doing 150ft abseil from Croke Park’s Iconic Hogan Stand on Friday, May 12^th to help raise funds. We wish her the best of luck and a safe journey for this great cause.

PJ O Riordan Memorial Cycle Race

There will be a big day in Athea on Sunday 14th for cycling enthusiasts, where Athea will host the Newcastle West Cycle Club PJ O Riordan Memorial Cycle Race. The first race will start at 12 noon, leaving Con Colbert Memorial Hall. There will be €2,200 prize fund up for grabs + trophies.

St. Bartholomew’s Church Athea

Saturday May13^th 7.30pm – Anniversary Intentions

Tim Tierney. Paddy Collins (The Nursery)

Ministers of the Word:                          Confirmation Programme

Ministers of Eucharist:                  Majella Dalton & Betty Ahern.             

All masses are streamed live on https://www,churchservices.tv/athea

Baptisms on the 4^th Saturday of the month at 2.30 from April to Oct incl.

Next baptism course on Tues evening May 9^th at 8pm.

Parish Office: Mon-Fri 11am-1pm. Call 087-3331459, email [email protected]

Trocaire Boxes can be handed at any mass during the week or at the weekend from now on.

Cards for First Communion, Confirmation and Exam Blessings available from the sacristy or contact the parish office  087-3331459.

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

I must admit it came as a bit of a surprise to learn that Kelly’s Funeral Home was closing down in the near future. It is not that many years ago since there were three funeral directors operating in the parish; Paudie Mulvihill R.I.P., Leo Finucane, who is now concentrating on his business in Gale Bridge, and Kelly’s which was owned and operated by Denny and Mary T. Mulvihill. Now all three are gone from the village and it is just another sign of the times and the decline of life in rural Ireland. I remember Kelly’s in my young days because they also had a dancehall and it was there we gathered trying to learn the steps for waltzes, quicksteps, foxtrots, sambas, polkas, siege of Ennis and many more. It wasn’t easy and many a poor girl went home with sore toes from our clumsy efforts at tripping the light fantastic. It was also the venue for the weekly picture show which was on every Friday. It was a travelling show that served up cowboys and Indians, for us, as school children,  to imitate afterwards, and the best of the old films. We looked forward to Friday night cycling down over Knocknaboul in all kinds of weather and, if for some reason we weren’t allowed to go we would spend the night wondering about what we were missing. It didn’t often happen but, if we had misbehaved in some way, my mother knew the best way of insuring we did not offend again was to ground us for the pictures on Friday night. Of course Kelly’s wasn’t the only dancehall in the village, there was also Scanlon’s at the bottom of the street and this was the one that endured after Kelly’s closed. It thrived throughout the showband era when all the big names at the time appeared on stage. People came from miles around to that dancehall but alas the advent of the dancing lounge in local bars heralded the end of that era and dancing in unlicensed premises came to an end. So we had two dancehalls at the time as well as two banks, four schools, two Gardaí, two priests, two creameries, several shops catering for everything from drapery to hardware, eleven pubs, several petrol pumps and numerous other businesses that served the community well. As time went on we gradually lost most of these and the time is not far off when villages like Athea will just be places to live without any of the facilities like we had long ago. I suppose you can’t keep back progress but I don’t like it and I miss the old days when we had a vibrant commercially successful village.  Mary T. and  Denny were very professional during their time looking after those who died in the parish. Being a funeral director takes a certain type of skill and expertise, dealing with people who are in mourning and ensuring everything goes smoothly. Not everyone has those skills but Mary T. was excellent at looking after every detail and leaving no stone unturned to make families as comfortable as possible during their bereavement. I don’t know what they have in mind but I would like to wish them all the best in their retirement and whatever else they may undertake.

There is a lot of unhappiness among GAA fans out there about the fact that some of the major matches, particularly the hurling matches between Limerick and Clare and Tipperary and Cork, are not available on normal, free to air, TV channels. They were streamed on GAAGO which is a pay-per-view app between RTE and the GAA.  I saw this happen to English football over the years. At one time you could get all the major matches free on BBC but then Sky came along with its deep pockets and bought up the rights to broadcast most of the matches. If you wanted to see your team in action you had no alternative but to pay for every match individually or get SKY Sports, which was  reasonable enough to begin with but became expensive after an initial period. Just when you thought you were covered along came BT Sport who got the rights to some matches  so you needed to up your subscription if you wanted to see all the matches. RTE has already made some deals with Sky to cover some championship games but now RTEGO is their own invention and is nothing more than a moneymaking racket. This is happening at a time when the GAA’s coffers are overflowing with the receipts from the huge crowds that have been attending  the matches since the start of the year. They may say they are catering for those who don’t have conventional TVs or the Irish Diaspora who may not be able to pick up RTE  where they are living. If that is their goal, why don’t they make the two available; have the matches on RTE and also on GAAGO at the same time. There are many older people who are not up to date with all the modern devices and depend on RTE for their sport. They may be getting on a bit now but some of them have given their lives to the GAA and deserve better treatment when they may no longer be able to attend the matches in person like they used to in days gone by. The GAA is a great organisation and has done fantastic work over the years, fostering and promoting our native games but they must never forget that they are from the people and should be for the people. Money isn’t everything and I think there are enough wise heads in the organisation to see how the wind is blowing and make our games accessible to all. No one should miss out on an opportunity to see the best hurling teams in the country giving awesome displays of skill, courage and sportsmanship. Unlike Gaelic football, which should be renamed handball, hurling is without doubt the greatest field game in the world so, please GAA chiefs, listen to your supporters and do the right thing.