Parking for Run, Run, Rudolph!

Because of the numbers involved in the sold-out Run, Run, Rudolph! event at Kilcullen GAA on Sunday morning, parking will be under extra pressure, especially as there is also an all-day Badminton event at the Community Centre.

There are 120 spaces available at the GAA grounds. The driveway will be open to cars until 1.15am, then closed until approximately 1.15pm, or until the last finishers are home.

There are spaces near the Kilcullen GAA Training Pitch-Pitch 2, but visitors are asked to leave spaces near Kilcullen Community Centre free for the Badminton event. There will also be spaces at the front and to the side of Scoil Bhríde.

Other spaces are at the main entrance to Cross and Passion College and at Kilcullen Mart.

Motorists are asked to be considerate of the needs of other road users and follow the directions of the event stewards.

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Kilcullen News Update

Parking for Run, Run, Rudolph@ ... Byron Pilates opening ... Winter Solstice at Solas Bhride ... Busy weekend in Kilcullen ... Casablanca next Tuesday ...

Reporting since 2005 from a Village Grown Bigger. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

And that brings us to the end of the weekday News Updates for this year. I’ve been doing them for seven months as an experimental add-on to the Diary, which turns 20 this month. The News Updates will be back in the new year, with a couple of new twists. In the meantime, a very happy Christmas and New Year to all. Thank you, as always, for listening.

New Pilates studio in Kilcullen

Byron Pilates is opening its doors tomorrow at the Link Business Park, writes Brian Byrne. It's the dream of Dearbhaile Donagh, who fell in love with Kilcullen during Covid.

The studio will provide one-to-one tuition and support for those interested in Reformer Pilates, which Dearbhaile first encountered while living in Australia.

You can read all about Dearbhaile in this week's Kildare Nationalist, and in the December Bridge, on sale from tomorrow. Better still, go along and meet her tomorrow.

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Winter Solstice at Solas Bhride

Image: Solas Bhride.

A Winter Solstice observance will be held next week at Solas Bhride Centre & Hermitage in Kildare. It's on Friday, 19 December, from 7.30pm.

The event is described as a Celebration of Stillness, Light, and Renewal, taking place on the year's longest night.

The cost is €10, including refreshments.

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A busy weekend for Kilcullen

It's setting up to be a busy weekend in Kilcullen, kicking off with the Family Walk-Run on Saturday evening as part of Kilcullen GAA's Run, Run, Rudolph! fundraiser, writes Brian Byrne. That starts at 5pm and will be a fun couple of hours for all.

The main event will start at 10.30am on Sunday, when more than a thousand participants will walk or run in the 5K, 10K, and new half-marathon events. That number represents remarkable growth in the fundraiser, with entrants from across the country.

Another annual event that has grown is the Nativities Exhibition at Kilcullen Parish Centre, featuring a collection gathered from around the world by Lorraine Hegarty Kelly. The number of exhibits has more than doubled since the first one in 2020. It will open after 6pm Mass on Saturday and will be on view through to 7pm on Tuesday, 16 December.

An Advent Carol Service will be held at St John's Church, Yellowbog, on Sunday morning, starting at 10am. All are welcome to attend a seasonal social gathering featuring mulled wine and mince pies.

And then, for something really special to set us up for the run-up to Christmas, Shane Sullivan and John MacKenna will perform at Woodbine Books on Sunday, offering an evening of song, music, stories, and poems for the Christmas season. A Moonlit Christmas will start at 8pm. Tickets at €15 are available from the bookshop or on Eventbrite.

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Casablanca for festive cinema evening

The much-loved Casablanca will be the feature film for a Christmas Cinema evening at Kilcullen Bridge Cinema on Tuesday 16 December, writes Teresa Nurse of Kilcullen Lions. Doors open at 7.30pm with festive mulled wine served. The film starts at 8pm.

Casablanca, released in 1942, has come to epitomise the classic Hollywood studio picture. Ironically, it had a turbulent production history, with constant rewrites and radical casting changes, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman replacing Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan. Fortunately, director Michael Curtiz was on hand to give fate a helping hand in making the film one of Hollywood's most memorable romantic melodramas.

Tickets are €7 and are on sale now on Eventbrite and in Woodbine Books, Kilcullen. 

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Kilcullen News Update

A thousand runners for Run, Run, Rudolph! ... Call for audit of public realm signage ... 200+ Nativities for weekend exhibition ... Advent Carols in Yellowbog ... Cuppa for Kare today ... A Moonlit Christmas in Woodbine Sunday evening ...

Reporting since 2005 from a Village Grown Bigger. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

Run, Run, Rudolph! sold out

More than a thousand runners will be taking part in the Run, Run, Rudolph! Kilcullen GAA fundraiser taking place next Sunday, writes Brian Byrne. The event, comprising 5K, 10K, and half-marathon runs, is completely sold out.

The club is encouraging everyone in the community to come out and cheer on the contestants at the start and finish of the event, which is expected to last from 10.30am until 1.30pm.

A 2.5K walk will take place on the Community Walkway at 5pm on Saturday.

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Motion on outdated signage for MD meeting

Is this sign still relevant?

Kildare County Council is being asked to audit all signage across the Kildare-Newbridge MD, writes Brian Byrne, with a view to removing outdated, damaged, duplicated, and illegal signage.

The motion from Cllr Chris Pender will be discussed at the next MD meeting. The councillor wants the audit to include traffic, directional, regulatory, commercial, and temporary signage.

He is also seeking a prioritised schedule of removals and replacements for presentation to members.

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Nativities exhibition this weekend

An exhibition of more than 200 Nativity sets from all around the world will open in Kilcullen Parish Centre on Saturday evening next, writes Brian Byrne. Lorraine Hegarty Kelly has collected the Nativities, and the now-annual event is bigger than ever. 

The exhibition will open after 6pm Mass on Saturday and will be on view through to 7pm on Tuesday, 16 December. The display was first seen in public in 2020 and featured approximately 100 scenes.

Donations at the exhibition will be given to Kilcullen Parish funds.

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Carol Service in Yellowbog

An Advent Carol Service will be held at St John's Church, Yellowbog, on Sunday next, 14 December. 

It will start at 10am and will be followed by a seasonal social gathering with mulled wine and mince pies.

Everybody is welcome.

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Coffee Morning for Kare

A Cuppa For Kare coffee morning will be held in the McMahon Centre in Kilcullen TODAY, Thursday, 11 December, writes Brian Byrne. The event will run from 11am until 1pm.

Kare is a local charity that supports people with intellectual disabilities. There'll be tea, coffee, treats and chats, plus the chance to enter a raffle with a top prize of €1,000.

Raffle tickets can also be bought online at kare.ie/raffle for €5 each, and other prizes include a stay at the Talbot Hotel in Wexford, afternoon tea at Killashee Hotel, vouchers, and hampers.

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Kilcullen News Update

CCTV request for Kilcullen graveyards ... No significant local damage from Storm Bram ... Energy Audit plan for Community Centre ... Christmas Extravaganzas at Scoil Bhride ... Cuppa for Kare tomorrow ... Joan Healy Christmas concert ... Parish Lotto Draw ...

Reporting since 2005 from a Village Grown Bigger. Produced by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

CCTV requested for Kilcullen cemeteries

New Abbey graveyard.

A request for CCTV cameras to be installed in Kilcullen's graveyard entrance areas has been made to Kildare County Council, writes Brian Byrne. Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer is seeking the technology to help address both dumping and criminals targeting cars. 

At the recent home safety meeting at Kilcullen Parish Centre, the councillor noted that a pilot scheme in Athy graveyard, aimed at apprehending dumpers, had been successful, recording some 40 incidents that could be used in any prosecutions.

"I have asked if we could do it here, especially in New Abbey, but possibly also in St Brigid's," she said. "Obviously, there would be a cost, but it is something the council now recognises is worth doing."

Cllr O'Dwyer commented that the council had to work through GDPR matters to enable the system, but that if perpetrators of dumping or car break-ins believe there's a camera around, it acts as a deterrent. 

Earlier this year, a series of dumping incidents at St Brigid's was eventually stopped by cooperation between residents and gardai, when a perpetrator was caught in the act.

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Energy Audit proposed for Community Centre

An Energy Audit for Kilcullem Community Centre is to be sought by Kildare County Council, with a view to informing potential future decarbonisation works, writes Brian Byrne. The council will work with its Community Section to procure the audit, along with similar ones for centres in Newbridge and Maynooth.

This was reported in the council Chief Executive’s Management Report for December, which also outlined similar audits underway or completed at council facilities across the county.

Decarbonisation work based on such an audit is underway at Athy Library and will be carried out at Leixlip Library in the new year.

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