TEMPLEGLANTINE

CÚRSAÍ EAGLAISE

With the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and the opening of churches to limited congregations, the first public mass for parishioners in over three months took place on Tuesday morning, June 30th.

It was decided that the weekend mass on Saturday evening would take place in the church grounds rather than in the church itself so as that all who wished to attend could be accommodated. There was a good sized congregation and although the evening was rather breezy, the rain stayed away until just after the end of mass.

Excellent preparations were done beforehand in the grounds so that the people would be spaced apart and enabled to keep to the guidelines. At the end of mass Fr Mullane thanked all who helped in anyway with the arrangements. The mass was also live streamed on Facebook.

Among those whose anniversaries were occurring and were remembered in masses over the past few weeks were Mary Dore Flynn (Tullig North), Debbie Brosnan (Devon Rd), Nellie and Jim Harnett (Tullig North), Sarah Mulcahy(Meenoline), Thomas O Donnell (Meenoline), Margaret Fitzgerald (Templeglantine West), Dan Cahill (Inchebawn), Jack Kelly (Sugarhill), Patrick Dalton (Athea), Mike Curtin (England and Late of Glenshesk). Go dtuga Dia suaimhneas síoraí dóibh uilig.

100 YEARS AGO

Wednesday, July 1st, marked the 100th anniversary of the death of a young man from Templeglantine whose tragic death shocked the whole community at the time.

His death was the result of an unfortunate traffic accident the previous evening, June 30th, at Goulburn Bridge on the road to Abbeyfeale. The young man was Maurice Neligan whose father David was principal of Templeglantine National School and whose mother Lizzie (née Mullane) also taught in the school. The family resided in the living quarters of the school.

Two years previously Maurice had commenced work as an ITGWU organiser in Kerry and had purchased a motorbike to facilitate his travels around the county.

On the fateful evening of June 30th he was travelling from home to a mission ceremony in Abbeyfeale Church and was accompanied on the bike by his sister Eileen.

Those who are familiar with the now disused Goulburn Bridge, which straddles the Allaghaun River, will remember the sharp curve to the right on the Abbeyfeale side of the bridge.

The motorbike driven by Maurice struck the bridge wall at the southern side and as a result of the impact he was thrown on to the road and his sister was thrown over the wall, falling on to the much lower ground inside.

Both were unconscious when found and were taken into the nearby Colbert family home. Maurice died the following morning from his injuries while Eileen had a slow recovery.

The tragic happening was a huge shock locally as the family was very well known and road traffic accidents were very rare at the time as the volume of motor vehicles on the road was quite low.

It was a frequent topic of conversation in the parish and surrounding areas for many years afterwards. Goulburn Bridge, which was built in 1827 at the time the “New Road” was being constructed, was not designed with fast moving traffic in mind.

The location witnessed numerous accidents in later years and eventually the road was realigned and a new bridge constructed in the 1970s.