Catherine Tierney of Templeathea and Stephen Reidy of Abbeyfeale who celebrated their wedding on Friday last at St. Catherine’s Church, Ventry, Co. Kerry, followed by reception at the Dingle Skellig Hotel.

All Ireland U16 Final

Best of luck to Maeve Murphy, Geraldine Carmody and captain Grace Hunt who play in the All Ireland C final between Limerick and Antrim in

Kinnegad Co Westmeath this Saturday 13th July. at 3 pm

The club are taking a bus to the final – there is still 4 seats still remaining for anyone who wishes to travel. The cost of bus is €23 and it will be leaving at 10 am please contact Mary Ita on 0874141157 to book a seat ASAP.

 

Duck & Swan  Traditional Music Night

 Batt’s Bar, Friday, July 12th @ 9p.m.

Music, song, craic & raffle

All Welcome

 

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

The dream is over –  Limerick will not make history by being the first hurling team to win five-in-row. In an enthralling game, they were defeated by Cork in Croke Park on Sunday last. Fair play to the Cork team who showed remarkable skill and determination against what is surely the greatest hurling team of all time. I remember the Kilkenny team that also achieved the four-in-a-row and they were undoubtedly a fantastic team but, on the whole, I think Limerick were the most balanced and had exceptional hurling skill. They changed the way the game was played and hurling was the big winner because all the other teams had to raise their game to compete. Now we have fantastic hurling matches that are a thrill a minute with great scoring and just a puck of a ball between several teams, especially in Munster. No team goes on forever and it was inevitable that Limerick would be caught at some stage. They have been fantastic champions for a long time and have given us many glorious days so a big thank you to all who donned the green and white in that time and of course to John Kiely who has brought team management to new heights. Congratulations also to Clare who beat a very fancied  Kilkenny team to book their place in the final in a fortnight’s time. Not many people predicted that Cork and Clare would contest the All-Ireland final but isn’t that the beauty of the game? There are no certainties. In the football Dublin and Mayo are gone and in the Euros the favourites are dropping like ninepins. England, in spite of being less than exciting, are still there and could even win it out. Wouldn’t that be a turn up for the books.  Looking forward to more surprises to come.

I was away for a few days last week visiting family in Copenhagen. My son Danjoe went there as an exchange student when he was at Trinity and had job over there as soon as he graduated. The fact that he met and fell in love with the Danish girl he eventually married might have had some thing to do with it but he is very happy there. We were there to celebrate the graduation of their daughter Mia and a great time was had by all.  I have always been impressed by life in Denmark as opposed to how we do it here. They do pay very high taxes but they get the benefits and, as Danjoe once said to me, “yes, I pay high tax on my wages but you are probably paying a lot more in stealth taxes”.  A few years ago there was a big price difference in clothes and groceries etc but now there is very little because Ireland has become one of the costliest places in Europe to live. We would need to have double the wages here to have the same standard of living they have in Denmark. We have constantly copied from the UK and America instead of looking northwards to Scandinavia for ideas. We could learn a lot from them.

Much has been written and spoken about the late great Micheál Ó Muirheartaigh who died a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t know him personally but I did have dealings with his brother Paddy when I was president of Comhaltas and he was Chairman of the RTE Authority. What impressed me about both of them was the fact that, despite rising to the top in their professions, they never lost their Kerry accents. They were both very well educated and there was never a problem understanding what they said because their diction and pronunciation was perfect. But it was the Kerry lilt that was so special. There is a perception out there that rural accents are  a barrier to success in many professions so some people, like Máir Derrane and the Seoiges from the west of Ireland, learn how to talk like people from Dublin 4. It is such a pity because there is a richness in rural accents that we will not miss until it is gone. The secret of communication is to make yourself understood. I find that, when I leave this area, I have to consciously slow down because we have a habit of running our words into each other. I find that if I do slow down and pronounce my words properly, I have no problem with people from any part of the world. I am afraid that our accents are going to be a thing of the past because all our young people are getting their accents from TV and social media. Not only do they have a different way of talking but they also have developed a new vocabulary which is totally different to what my generation used. Again, though I personally love regional accents, it is all about communication so if it makes that easier I suppose it is not such a bad thing.

I was watching a crowd of people objecting to the use of a hotel for asylum seekers the other day and I noticed more than a few banners with words like “Ireland for the Irish” and “Ireland is full”.  Suppose they have their way, then we must accept that England is for the English, America is for Americans and Australia and other countries have the same philosophy which translates into “nobody but our own”.  What would we then do with the millions of Irish who would have to be repatriated? The  population would be at least doubled overnight and if, as they say, the country is full, how are we going to accommodate them?   There s always talk of a lack of services to deal with immigrants but we never hear the same objections if some firm announces 500 new jobs.  The truth seems to be that  we only want certain types of people in our own back yard and I am sorry to say that there is a lot of racism about. We do not choose where we are born or what religion we are brought up with so a bit of tolerance  to those who are different to us is the least we can offer.

 

Church Notices

Parish Pastoral Unit (Athea/ Abbeyfeale/ Mountcollins/ Templeglantine/ Tournafulla).

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

Masses this week- Tuesday morning 9.30am and Thursday evening 7pm.

Eucharistic Adoration and The Devine Mercy Chaplet on Tuesday morning after mass.

Mass Intentions Sat July 13th 7pm: Mary & Jimmy Dee.

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

Baptisms take place on the fourth weekend of the month. Parents who wish to baptise their child in the next few months should contact Siobhan on 087-3331459.

Parish Administration: Tues-Fri 11am-1pm. call Siobhan on 087-3331459, outside of these hours text or email [email protected]

 

Athea Community Council

Lucky Numbers Draw  08/07/2024

No’s Drawn: 10,  16,  28,  31.   No Winner

Lucky Dips

Patricia Cleary,                  Templeathea

Mick O’Grady,                   Donal & Ann’s

Kathy Collins,        Lower  Road

Katherina O’Connor, c/o Ned Mahony

Sellers Prize:  White’s Bar & Francie Fravin

  Next Draw:  15/07/’24   Venue:  Brown Joe’s

Jackpot €21,600