Laytown/ Bettystown
CONTACT ME
Ring Iris on 0864033557 or email irismaryg@gmail.com with items of interest in the area. Mrs. Nuala Byrne
The local community were saddened to hear of the death of Mrs. Nuala Byrne (nee Doran) from Beach Park Laytown. A lovely gentle and caring lady who was much loved and respected by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.
The funeral Mass took place on Monday last in the Sacred Heart Church Laytown and afterwards Mrs. Nuala Byrne was laid to rest in Reilig Mhuire Cemetery alongside her beloved son Fiachra who passed away some years ago. Sincere condolences to her husband Don, daughter Bronagh, granddaughter Niamh; sisters Terry, Mairead and Imelda, brother Emmett, son in law Scott, extended family and friends on their sad loss. May Nuala Byrne rest in peace.
MR. HENRY DILLON
Sincere sympathy is extended to the family of Henry Dillon Wexford and formerly from Brookside Bettystown where he had grown up with his family and many still reside in the area. The funeral Mass was held in the Sacred Heart Church Laytown with burial in Reilig Mhuire Cemetery. He will be sadly missed by his loving daughter Leanne, grandson Frankie, sisters Jane, Emma and Lucy; brothers Myles, Larry & Mark, extended family and close friends in Wexford. May he rest in peace.
ROBIN HOOD PANTO
East Meath Productions presents the panto “Robin Hood & the Babes in the Wood” in the Droichead Arts Centre Drogheda from 6th to 10th December next. Yes, I know it’s early but already tickets are selling like hotcakes for this event. The cast are well into rehearsals and it promises to be great. Tickets can be bought at the Droichead Arts Centre now.
EAST MEATH ACTIVE RETIREMENT
The East Meath Active Retirement group continue their weekly activities each Thursday afternoon in the St Mary’s Church of Ireland Parish rooms at 2.30p.m. New members are always welcome.
EAST MEATH BRIDGE CLUB
Results for Tuesday 31st October; N/S 1st Pat Stokes & Alice O’Neill; 2nd Bernie McDonnell & Anne Kirwan; 3rd Eleanor Grimes & Marie Savage. E/W 1st Patsy Stack & Brigid Weir; 2nd Bridie Durnin & Maurice Stokes; 3rd Clare Drew & Patricia Broderick.
HOBBIES FOR ALL AGES
The Outreach Programme has resumed at St, Colmcilles GFC Piltown with the following events; Monday: Art 10.30am; Tuesday: Mindfulness 10.00am Wednesday: Ballroom Dancing 2.00pm; Thursday: Fitness & Nutrition 10.00am, Cards 8.00pm-10.00pm Friday: Conversational Irish 10am. Mature Movers 11.00am; Men’s Shed 10.00am. All Programmes are held in the St Colmcilles GFC Clubrooms Piltown Contact: Marian on 086 8125664 for further information
REFLEXOLOGY FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
Sharon Taylor has special offers for Senior citizens reflexology every Tuesday and Wednesday just €20. The venue is upstairs @ Riverside Home & gift. For more information ring Sharon on 086 8984627.
OLD LAYTOWN PHOTOS WANTED
The Committee of Laytown Races is looking for anecdotes, photos and memorabilia relating to racing at Laytown down through the years. If you have any items of interest, especially early photographs, please contact Paul Kerby on 087-6484804.
L/B BRIDGE CLUB
Results for Mon. 6th Nov. N/S 1st C. Fitzpatrick & P. Stack; 2nd A. Traynor & M. O’Neill; 3rd C. Dunne & R. O’Connor. E/W. 1st S. Roche & B. Mullan; 2nd A. McCulloch & M. McKenna; 3rd V & A O’Brien. Results. Thurs. 9th Nov. N/S. 1st B. Gilsenan & M. McElhinney; 2nd C. Fitzpatrick & B. Hoey; 3rd P. and A. Kane. E/W. 1st O. McMahon & B. Mullan; 2nd E. Grimes & M. Savage; 3rd Sr. Von & K. Petit. the marriage produced nine children, 5 boys and 4 girls. One of the boys died in his infancy. Willie was his name and he was a twin of Vincent. The granny used to love telling fireside stories and listening to other people’s stories as well. Ghost stories were most popular. Some of the ghost stories she would take with a pinch of salt. However, there was one ghost story that she believed one hundred percent. That was the one that she was part of. In those days the peoples’ mode of transport was ass and cart, or horse and cart or pony and trap, and lastly, it was shanks mare. For those who are obsessively engaged with mobile phones, shanks mare means walking.
There are one or two about who may think that it’s a mare owned by Frank (Shanks) Godfrey),
People from the outlying villages would head for Drogheda on the Saturday for their shopping. Now the pony and trap would have been the Rolls Royce of the day, and great-grandfather Johnnie had a pony and trap. When the great-grandmother was pregnant Mary Ann would accompany her father to town. She would only have been 12 years or so on one of her journeys when she witnessed something that she would never forget for the rest of her life. On this particular Saturday Mary Ann and her father headed off from Mornington to Drogheda to get the Shopping.
The first thing that they would do was to go down Graveslane which was a short lane which ran down to the Boyne river wall. It was located off James street. This lane was demolished in 1982 to make way for a new slip road from the Marsh Road to St Mary’s bridge (Shop Street bridge).
At the bottom of Graveslane there was old chap (A sort of ostler) who would look after the animals and the other gear whilst the people went to their shopping. He was also a retired farrier. He would get a thruppeney bit, three old pennies for his work sometimes, depending on the fishing catch he would get a silver coin. This was a silver coin with a greyhound on it and it was worth six pence. A veritable fortune back then. This coin was also called a tanner.
When Mary Ann and her father came back to collect the pony and trap and all of the other modes of transport had gone. They put the shopping in the trap and paid the ostler and headed off. The ostler headed off whistling a tune. He probably got a tanner.
When they were going down Brewery hill and heading for Mornington one of the pony’s shoe fell off. The Brewery hill was the Drogheda end of the marsh road. They got off the trap and walked back to Graveslane. Little did they know then that the word “graves” would be a factor later on. Anyway, they tied the pony up at the bottom of the lane and went to look for the ostler. This was in the month of November and it was about 9.30 when they started to look for the ostler. The granny had reckoned that they had spent about an hour and half before they located the old chap, and visited about 12 pubs; he came back with them and put the shoe back on.
He got a few more coppers for his work, and off they set again. By now it was about twenty minutes to midnight. The granny was getting a bit fidgety and nervous as she heard the story about the ghost that was associated with the big house, now the grammar school on Mornington Rd. She asked the father if he would go back to town, up the Dublin Rd and along the Colpe Road to Donacarney and finally Mornington. Afterwards he sorely regretted that he did not listen to his daughter.
To make matters worse it started to rain heavily the only sound was the rain pelting off the road and the clip-clop of the ponies’ shoes. The nearer that they got to the big house the more nervous the granny became. Whilst the driver was obviously ahead the granny was facing the other way. Just as they passed the gates of the house the granny thought that everything was okay. Seconds later there was a movement at the gate.
The granny became hysterical. She could barely make out what it was but the nearer it got she could make out the vague outline of a very tall man dressed in black. His face was more recognisable as it was a very ashen hue. “Father, father there’s something following us “. He never looked back. He just whipped the pony for all he was worth.
The granny was apoplectic with fear. The pony went as fast as he could but this, whatever it might have been was gaining ground. As they reached the hump back bridge he was within arm’s length of gripping the rear of the trap. Both of his arms were extended. He had long white fingers which were ready to grasp the trap. By now they had reached the beginning of the wall of Mornington cemetery. He, or it, was just ready to grab the trap. The bony fingers were inches from it. As they were closing on the trap and an extraordinary thing happened. The figure disappeared completely just at the end of the cemetery wall.
EAST MEATH ACTIVE RETIREMENT
The East Meath Active Retirement group have resumed their weekly activities each Thursday afternoon in the St Mary’s Church of Ireland Parish rooms at 2.30p.m. New members are always welcome.
OUTREACH PROGRAMMES
The Outreach Programme has resumed at St, Colmcilles GFC Piltown with the following events; Monday: Art 10.30am; Tuesday: Mindfulness 10.00am Wednesday: Ballroom Dancing 2.00pm; Thursday: Fitness & Nutrition 10.00am, Cards 8.00pm-10.00pm Friday: Conversational Irish 10am. Mature Movers 11.00am; Men’s Shed 10.00am. All Programmes are held in the St Colmcilles GFC Clubrooms Piltown Contact: Marian on 086 8125664 for further information. number of volunteers in our county of Meath and we should be very proud of them and support them for making our towns and villages clean, tidy, showcases for our county and nicer places to live in. Well done all!
JULIANSTOWN BADMINTON
Badminton takes place each Tuesday evening at 7.45pm in the Julianstown Community Centre. New members aged 18yrs + always welcome. Insurance for the year is a mere €30 and is due now. If you would like to play on a team you would need to join the club before October. All standards welcome. A great way to keep fit and meet new friends.
MRS. MARIE WALSH
Sincere condolences are extended to the family of Mrs. Marie Walsh (nee Kealy) who passed away peacefully last week at the home of her son Niall. Predeceased by her husband Des and son Graham, she will be very sadly missed by Niall, daughter Tracy, daughter in law Patricia, son in law Niall; grandchildren Jamie, Dillon, Aaron and Clara; extended family and friends. The funeral Mass was held in St. Mary’s Church Julianstown with burial afterwards in Moorechurch Cemetery. May Marie Walsh rest in peace.
GORMANSTON CHRISTMAS FAIR
Gormanston College Parents Association is hosting their first ever Christmas Fair on Saturday, 18th November from 1 to 4pm in Gormanston College. Loads of fun on the day with Raffle, Guess the Weight of the Cake, Craft, Cake, Book & Local produce stalls and much more. Come along and visit Santa. Proceeds will go to much needed school equipment for the pupils and a Donation will also to made to Stamullen Tidy Towns.
CHRISTMAS MARKET
No sooner has the trick or treating finished up, then our focus changes to the next big holiday; Christmas. In past years, there was a tradition of a Christmas Market in Julianstown community centre. This proved to be a really popular event in the community and a fantastic get together for all the people of Julianstown and the surrounding villages, united by the sweet treats, carol singing, aroma of mulled wine and special crafts you only get in a Christmas Market. Then suddenly, the Christmas market stopped. Well, 2017 sees the return of the Julianstown Christmas Market, and this year the event promises to re-establish the tradition and truly get the Christmas spirit flowing in the community. The date is Sunday 19th November in Julianstown Community Centre from 12noon until 5p.m.