Bray People

Coolgreany­Johnstown

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MACRA NA FEIRME

Wicklow Macra Na Feirme are hosting a barn dance in Kinsella’s shed the Rock Gorey on Saturday night, October 14. Marty Mone is the band playing on the night there will also be a barbecue Tickets cost €20 and can be bought from Jenny at 087 4482601, Sarah at 087 9314592, Helen at 087 9003384 or Katriona at 085 1535678. Or find us on face book on Wicklow Macra Na Feirme. This is a night not to be missed, everyone welcome.

THRESHING/VINTAGE

A Threshing Vintage and Fun Day will be held at Tommy Tutty’s Farm Glenogue, Ballyfad on Sunday, October 22, starting at 2 p.m., with all proceeds being shared between Inch Parish Church and Ballyfad School. There will be fun activities, Toy Exhibition, Live Dancing, brica-brac, Plant and Cake Sale, refreshmen­ts served, and a big raffle on the day. The organising committee are appealing for as much support as possible for two very worthy causes.

90TH BIRTHDAY

Congratula­tions to our local Curate, Canon John Piert, St David’s Johnstown, who celebrates his 90th Birthday on Wednesday, October 11. Last Thursday night a very large group of parish members assembled at St David’s Church Johnstown for a Special Mass, and then went to Arus Lorcáin Arklow for beautiful refreshmen­ts organised by the ladies committee, where a great night was had by all.

BIRTHDAYS

Special Congratula­tions to Mary McCarthy, Gurteen, who celebrated a big birthday with her family last Saturday night. As Mary is now out in Fatima with some of her close friends we all hope she has an enjoyable break and we wish her safe travelling.

We send birthday greetings also to Lisa O’Rafferty, Knockgrean­y, who celebrated her birthday last Wednesday.

RUBBISH

Recycling Bins at Ballyfad School are being used as dump bins at present, as a television and other electrical goods have been dumped alongside the recycling bins, and people have been observed traveling from outside the Co Border to dump there, people are asked to refrain from dumping rubbish in the area.

HANDBALL

Coolgreany Handball lotto now stands at €2,100. Tickets are available locally at €2 in Jim Shorts, Coolgreany post office, O’Rafferty’s and Liam Clare. A new prize format is now in now in place, with no match 3’s, No Bonus Numbers, instead there is now seven lucky Dips worth €30 each, and one sellers prize. Congratula­tions to Mary Clare Gurteen, who won €30 on a lucky dip. Your support is very much appreciate­d by the club. U12 team won bronze with Ciara Colohan (2nd), Ellen Kennedy (4th), Aoife O’Sullivan and Maria Zabharenka.

Boys results: U8 Finn Keaney (8th) U10 Leighton Gahan (3rd) U18 Dylan Tarmey 1st. The Novice men and women teams won both titles with Derek Crammond and Catherine O’Connor both taking First Place and Ann Marie Kenny 3rd place. Congratula­tions to all runners.

BLOOD CLINIC

The Blood Transfusio­n Service Board will hold a blood donation clinic in the RDA hall on Wednesday, October 18, from 4.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. All donors old and new will be most welcome.

WHIST

The prizewinne­rs at the recent whist drive were: Top Score: C Doyle and E Whelan; second and third shared: B Farrell and T. McHugh and S Brady and M Whelan; fourth N Vickers and C Driver. Raffle: B Farrell, C Doyle and T. McHugh. Next whist drive will be held on Wednesday, October 18, at 8.30 p.m.

BINGO

Bingo continues as usual on Friday evening in the RDA hall commencing at 8.30 p.m. Great prizes on offer every week.

PURE MILE AWARD

Ballinabar­ney, Ballintomb­ay, Ballyteigu­e Pure Mile are delighted to have been awarded Best Pure Mile 2017 at the awards ceremony in Brooklodge Hotel on October 3. The Pure Mile started in 2010 with six miles and this year over 50 local groups covered 150 miles of road in County Wicklow and South County Dublin.

We are delighted and honoured to win this award. Thank you to all of our group members for their outstandin­g contributi­ons this year and to those in our local community who shared their expertise and attended events, helped with litter picks and shared our posts and pho- tos. Please see our Facebook page (enter Pure mile in the search bar). A big thank you also to Ian Davis of Pure for all his encouragem­ent and support.

The award is a very generous €1,000 – we will have a meeting soon to take stock and discuss plans for next year. We look forward to continuing work together in enjoying, protecting and promoting the wonderful environmen­t of our Pure Mile.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The rituals and traditions of some of Wicklow’s 120 Holy Wells were recalled at the Historical Society’s meeting on October 2. Geraldine Lynch and Rosaleen Durkin gave an illustrate­d talk on the history of these wells, some of it quite contravers­ial.

Apparently, the overlay of Christiani­ty on Druidic Wells was not always that successful and the resulting over-enthusiast­ic celebratio­ns and excesses at patterns did not please successive Popes, nor local clergy either. Some Patterns were banned. The same thing happened in other countries in Europe.

However, in spite of that, Irish people persisted with their ancient traditions and there is a drive now by a voluntary group in Wicklow not only to re-discover lost wells but to mark them as heritage sites.

The very large attendance was indicative of how close the subject is to the hearts of so many and bodes well for the marvellous work of the dedicated preservati­onists.

Unfortunat­ely, this was the last talk to be held in Avondale Community College and a new venue is being sought. The society would like to thank the college for its kind hospitalit­y over the years and for accommodat­ing so many late night meetings.

GARDEN CLUB

On October 12 our Thursday Talk is on Bees, Honey and the Environmen­t. Speaker will be Willy O’Byrne and talk will be held in Jacobs Well, Rathdrum at 8 p.m.

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