Athea Drama Group 

Julia Moloney, Johnny Corkery & Mary Ellen Tierney rehearsing a scene from “Turning Mammy” which opens on March 16th at Con Colbert Hall, Athea.

Athea Drama Group is proud to present ‘Turning Mammy’ by John McDwyer.

Sisters Martha and Mary live together on the family farm. Mary is involved in a long term search for her baby adopted at birth, while Martha is involved in a long term wait for neighbour, Ambrose’s Mammy to die so that she can finally marry the love of her life.

‘Turning Mammy’ has a rich vein of humour running throughout, with the lively wit of rural Leitrim.

The cast is made up of Mary Ellen Tierney, Julie Moloney and Johnny Corkery.

‘Turning Mammy’ will be staged at Con Colbert Hall, Athea on March 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 23rd & 24th at 8pm. Bookings by text/whatsapp 087 6926746.

Proceeds from our opening night on March 16th will be donated to the Carol Liston O’Connor & Family Benefit Fund.

Please note this play is not suitable for Under 12s.

The Walks Scheme information evening March 12th 7pm Desmond Complex

Are you interested in learning more about the national Walks Scheme in Limerick? Join us Tuesday March 12th at 7pm in the Desmond Complex, Newcastle West to meet the Limerick Rural Recreation Officer. For more information contact Caitriona Scully by email [email protected] or phone 069 662 98. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, announced the largest ever expansion of Ireland’s National Walks Scheme with 62 new trails announced across 17 counties , on Thursday 28th February 2024. Under the Walks Scheme, funding is provided to farmers and other landholders to maintain walking trails that go through their holdings. The Scheme is operated by the Department of Rural and Community Development in conjunction with Local Development Companies. The initiative is designed to boost outdoor recreation and rural tourism and is a key element of Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors , the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy. The Department funds 21 Rural Recreation Officers (RROs) in these LDCs, with a contribution from Fáilte Ireland, to assist with the delivery of the Scheme and support other rural recreation initiatives at a local level. In 2019 there were 40 trails on the National Walks Scheme. This has been expanded to 80 in recent years and Thursday’s announcement will bring the total number of nationally recognised trails to 140. Further details of the Walks Scheme can be found at: gov.ie – The Walks Scheme and Rural Recreation Officers (www.gov.ie) Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors: National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023-2027 Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors was launched in November 2022. In light of the significant contribution of the Walks Scheme in delivering high quality trails it committed to further expanding the Walks Scheme to 150 trails by end of 2024. For more information on the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023-2027 see here.

Teresa Mullane joined Helen Smith at the celebration of her 80th birthday in the Listowel Arms recently.

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

There was a woman on the radio the other day commenting on the fact that nightclubs were closing at an alarming rate. She was saying what a pity it was because people needed a place to dance, even if there was no alcohol involved. Pubs are also closing every day because business has fallen off, especially since the Covid lock down. The simple fact is; alcohol in pubs and nightclubs is too expensive. This was realised by consumers when the pubs were closed and they had to buy there bottles and cans from off-licences and supermarkets. It was costing a lot less money and they got into the habit of having a drink in the comfort of their own homes. To take an example: if two couples went out together on a Saturday night and had four drinks each it would cost each couple about €70 give or take depending on what part of the country they were from. Add in a taxi and probably a babysitter and the total comes to well over €100. The same amount of drink for that couple at home would come to less than €25 so it is a no brainer. There is also the fact that, particularly younger people, are no longer depending on alcohol for their “buzz’’, they have alternative stimulants which are more than likely far more harmful. Anyhow, a way of life we used to know where people went out at weekends to have a couple of drinks and socialise is almost at an end. Part of that socialising included dancing, a practise that has been there sine the dawn of creation. We love to dance, or should I say react to rhythm. The earliest of tribes had drums made from the hides of animals and danced to the beat created on those instruments. Our own bodhran is not too different to those of old but there are variations all over the world. Western movies show us the Red Indians dancing around to the beat of drums just as movies about Africa show us different types of drums with the natives reacting to the beat in the same way. In years gone by, babies in Ireland were jogged up and down on their mother’s or grandmother’s knee keeping time to some catchy little song. They had simple rhymes like “throw him up and up, throw him up on high, throw him up and up and he’ll come down bye and bye”. Many of our polkas and slides were taken from the airs of these little songs and last to this day. They were great for keeping children amused and happy and I’m sure they instilled in them a love of movement to music. Dancing has taken many forms over the years from the primitive movement to drums to the most intricate steps  of  ballroom dancing, ballet, hip-hop and choreographed troops. Our  local dances, polkas, slides , jigs and reels, are thought to be Irish but in fact, in bygone days, they could be found all over Europe. Many of them were brought to us by invaders, some of whom settled here, but we made our own of them and have kept them alive long after they have disappeared in other countries.  Before the advent of radio and TV it was common to have dances in houses throughout the country. These were known as rambling houses or ceilí houses which is where “ceili bands” came from. Polkas and reel sets were the most popular with the odd waltz thrown in to slow it down a bit. The dance hall took over from the ceili house and by then the radio was bringing new music that also had new dancing. We now had to learn ballroom steps such as; quicksteps, foxtrots, sambas, rumbas, military two steps etc. We might not have been great but we muddled through with enough grace not to stand on a girls toes. Dancing was also a great opportunity to get your hands around a girl’s waist and hold her near, especially in slow dances, which was very exciting indeed !  Dances were usually in couples or sets of four couples until some new dances came along that did not require couples to have physical contact with each other. The first of these was the “Twist” which, thankfully, did not last too long but it opened the door to people dancing on their own without a partner. This became the norm in new dancing venues such as Discos which took over from the dancehalls and it continues to this day. Then there was the solo dancing. In Ireland this can be traced to Sean Nós dancing which was a spontaneous reaction to fast music like reels and jigs. Steps were not pre-planned and  no two dancers were the same. In the early part of the last century, Conradh na Gaeilge  set up a committee to put rules  to the dancing. They decreed that they would be no movement of the body from above the waist with the hands held rigidly down by the sides. This is the Irish step dancing we know today and it seemed to take all the fun out of the performance. The advent of River Dance changed that with more body movement and expression so we are heading in the right direction. Sean Nós dancing has become very popular due to the annual competitions at the Oireachtas which is broadcast on TG4.  It is not the same as the old method because now all the steps are planned but it still gives great scope to the performer to express themselves. So, dancing is , and always has been, an important part of out lives  and something we need outlets for. There is something within us that makes us tap our feet to a rhythmic beat or get up and move to the music. It is hard to imagine any party, anniversary do, wedding or other celebrations without a band or DJ to provide music for dancing. Apart from the enjoyment we get from it, it is also great exercise and will help to keep the waistline within manageable proportions.  I enjoyed dancing when I was young but then I started to play music and the dancing stopped because I was always the one on the stage. I took up set dancing in my late sixties at the classes run by Josephine O’Connor in the GAA clubhouse in Abbeyfeale. I really enjoyed the dancing and the craic we had but then Covid came and put an end to all that. I am trying to coax myself to go back again but maybe I am too old now. You’d never know –  Timmy Woulfe is older than me and he is dancing like a teenager all the time!

Church Notices

Ide Naofe Parish Pastoral Unit  Athea-Abbeyfeale-Mountcollins-Templeglantine-Tournafulla.

Fr Willie Russell 087 2272825, Canon Tony Mullins 087 2600414, Fr. Denis Mullane 087 2621911

Fr Dan Lane 087 2533030 (retired).  Priest on call Sunday Mar 3^rd J Keating 087- 6322212.

Intentions – All masses are streamed live on https://www.churchservices.tv/athea)

Weekday masses: Tuesday 9.30am and Thursday evening at 7pm. Eucharistic Adoration and The Devine Mercy Chaplet on Tuesday morning after mass.  Lay Liturgy with Stations of the Cross on Friday morning at 9.30am.

Baptisms take place on the fourth Saturday of the month at 2.30pm (23^rd March). Next baptism course will take place in Tournafulla sacristy on Tues 12^th March at 8pm. Please contact Siobhan 087-3331459 for further details.

Parish Administration: Tues-Fri 11am-1pm. call Siobhan on 087-3331459, outside these hours text or email [email protected]         Offertory collections:  25^th Feb €738.00

If anyone would like a receipt for their Offertory donations for the Y/e 2023 please give your name in at the sacristy and it will be posted to you. 

Trócaire This year the Lenten Campaign focuses on the water crises in Malawi. Malawi is often referred to as the warm heart of Africa. Malawi is a country with extremely high levels of poverty, where life is already a struggle for many. Climate change means flooding and droughts are becoming both more extreme and unpredictable.

People are losing their homes, their livelihoods and even their lives. In Malawi, longer and more severe droughts in recent years have dried up small streams and water holes. Unfortunately, some areas are also affected by cyclones and flooding. When this happens, the simple mud houses are badly damaged. The water that falls is not suitable for drinking or farming but causes a huge amount of destruction. Trócaire is working with local partners to help communities to rebuild after these events and to be better prepared for the future. To learn more, go to: https://www.trocaire.org/our-work/ working-in-ireland/parishes

Lenten Scripture Reflection: A Journey through the Bible – Every Wednesday (during lent) until Mar 27^th in the Library, Athea from 7.30pm-8.30pm. Followed by a cuppa and chat. 

Simple Acts of Compassion

The sixth station of the cross tells of a woman named Veronica from Jerusalem

who is so moved with sympathy upon seeing Jesus on route to his crucifixion

that she offers Jesus her veil to wipe his face. His face caked with blood, sweat,

and dirt, Jesus uses the veil to wipe his weary face, then hands it back to

Veronica with his image imprinted upon the piece of cloth. While there is no explicit reference to Veronica in the Gospels, her gracious act on the Via Dolorosa has lived on in legend for centuries. Veronica had the courage to reach out to the Lord in his suffering. May we

never fail to feel the sufferings of others and seek to lighten their burden. For whenever out of love we minister to the needy, the homeless, the refugee we receive an increase in grace and the image and likeness of Christ grows in our souls. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus states clearly that our Final Judgment will be based on whether we saw the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned, and the naked and acted with compassion. It is this compassion that Veronica is compelled by when she moves to wipe Jesus’ face.

Questions for us to reflect on as we journey through Lent. –

Where have I received a moment of compassion from someone in this community?  What was a moment that I acted with compassion for someone else in this community? What was an opportunity to act with compassion that I may have missed? What is one act of compassion that I can commit to doing regularly beyond this season of Lent?

Great Night at Batt’s

The Broderick and Watters families, regular contributors to the sessions at Batt’s Bar

The Duck & Swan night at Batt’s on Friday was a great success with the proceeds of the raffle going to the Carol O’Connor-Liston fund. There was a surprise visit by the Swiss band “Shenanygans”  who had opened their European tour at Dolan’s in Limerick on Thursday night. Two of the band are grandsons of Domhnall and Noreen de Barra who are now living in Switzerland. The band was enthralled with the music, hospitality and the overall atmosphere  of the place and they have vowed to return again. There was mighty music from The Brodericks, The Watters family, Laura O’Donnell. Caoimhe Ahern, Jerry Brouder, Jack Quaid and Domhnall de Barra.  The two Swiss lads also joined in and had a whale of a time.  There was no shortage of singers on the night and we hope to have a repeat performance on April 5th. Don’t miss it!

Swiss band “Shenanygans” who performed at Dolan’s in Limerick on Thursday night last. The two lads in the middle are Daniel Hannon-Barry and Kaylem Hannon-Barry.