Forms for joining the Kilcullen Garda District Text Alert scheme are available from The Grocery in Calverstown, Kilcullen Garda Station, Kilcullen Credit Union, and scheme committee members. Please encourage neighbours and friends to join.
The Annual Remembrance Service for babies who have died in the past year at the National Maternity Hospital will be held on Sunday.
The location is St Andrew's Church, Westland Row, Dublin, at 3pm.
The parents and families who have experienced bereavement through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death are welcome, and others may attend if they wish.
There is no need to book. Light refreshments will be served.
"I suppose I've never been known for writing particularly happy songs. I must have been hit by a depressive virus once, and it kind of ran riot."
Roy Thompson's songs do theme on the miserable, but, though he's still at the stage where he doesn't seem to fully believe in himself, he writes compelling lyrics and performs them with a passion and a seriously good underlying musical talent. And his songs are almost invariably stories.
It is a combination that, if he ever decides to jump totally into it, could push him up there with the best of the international singer-songwriters.
But that's in a maybe future. For just tomorrow he's working on his first CD, which will be recorded by Gordon Turner from Kildare over an unspecified 'period of time'.
"It will be an independent production," Roy says. "It is just something that has to be done. The songs are there, and they have to be let out."
Those who didn't make it to the Ballymore Inn last Monday night missed a preview of what will be on that CD. Roy was playing support to US singer-songwriter Jeff Finlin (the Diary will feature that performance at another time), and the songs ranged through racism, alcoholism, depression, state-sponsored terrorism, and domestic violence.
The one that didn't fit there was a self-portrait of the singer, relating how he developed from the time he was given his first guitar at the age of twelve. It didn't start auspiciously -- 'I cursed the day I picked up that guitar' -- but when singer-songwriters became his heroes, he began to 'fall in love' with it.
He also performed the first song he wrote that he didn't consider was 'complete trash', composed when he was nineteen and living on his own in a mobile home in England. The line 'it's easy to be stationary, harder to move along' sums up a feeling many will emphatise with. We've all been there at some stage in our lives.
Then there was 'How Convenient', which has the recurring chorus 'I'm living in a rathole/looking for the cheese ... won't you help me out please?' "No, it's definitely not autobiographical," he insisted.
His anti-war song of the evening was 'one for George Bush and his like', a modern take on Donovan's 'Universal Soldier' that moves through fighting in Guam and Vietnam to today's conflict in Iraq. 'Humanity is lost in the waging of war ... with each war that's waged and each village that's burned/humanity bleeds and no lesson is learned'.
No further comment needed ...
His second last song was a domestic violence saga in the traditional country 'tragi-song' mode. Not sure of the title, but 'she's all alone' was a regular chorus line. It could have been mawkish, but it is the measure of his lyrical skill that it was compulsive listening. Not to mention the novelistic sting in the tail.
'Keeping it Real' was the final song, and the singer went through some of the good things about the world ("it's the only one we've got"), ending with the idea that 'this is all I need to make me feel'.
A note of optimism in a Roy Thompson song? He'd need to watch himself ...
Brian Byrne.
There will be an exhibition of Karate on Tuesday 13 September in Kilcullen Community Center. The event begins at 7.30pm.
The club instructor is Paddy Doyle (Black Belt, 7th Dan), and anyone interested in finding out more about the discipline can call him at 045 878839.
The Parish Golf Classic held in July raised a total of €7,750 for parish funds.
The event is organised each year by Nessa Dunlea and was held in the Curragh Golf Club.
Winning team Paul Murphy, Ger Peacocke, Francis Shortt and Lar Schwer with Paula Murray, Bank of Ireland (Sponsor). Pic: P Foley.
The Classic attracted 30 teams, and was followed by a very enjoyable social evening with John Kelly and Terry McNally providing the music.
The winning team was Ger Peacock, Paul Murphy, Francis Shortt and Lar Schwer. Second prize went to the Windscreen Centre Team led by Eugene Hall, great outside supporters of this event; and third prize was taken by Cathy Ann Berney, Howard Berney, Tony O’Sullivan and friend.
Windscreen Centre Team: Liam Shine, Michael Johnson, Eugene Hall (leader), and Sean Murray, with Paula Murray, Bank of Ireland. Pic: P Foley.
Tony O'Sullivan, Tom Ahern, Cathy Ann Berney (also won raffle) and Howard Berney, with Paula Murray, Bank of Ireland (Sponsor). Pic: P Foley.
"In this never-ending time of fund raising it is vital that we do remember our parish and come out and support these events," Nessa told the Diary. "Our sincere thanks to all who supported us in any way, and a draft for €7,550 was presented to Parish Priest Fr Michael Murphy to help with the repayment of the loan on our Parish Centre."
More from the Parish Classic
Brian Byrne.
The road markings around the traffic calming on the Curragh Road were finished over the weekend, and very good they look too.
The Diary is particularly interested in how well pick-up drivers will respect the reserved 'bus' bays.
An exhibition in the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge until September 24 features the work of Clodagh Kelly from Leixlip.
The work, which is in painting and drawing, speaks of the beauty of nature and how, through them, we find hope in its beauty and rawness. Admission is free.
Clodagh Kelly studied Fine Art in the Dublin Institute of Technology. Her work has always been about human resilence, truth, honesty, and convinction. In 2001 Clodagh was a prizwinner in the Markievicz Art Competition.
Tonight, Eddie Hobbs looks at the 'rip-off's' in our transport system and how much the government gets from the motorist. RTÉ ONE 9.30pm
The new traffic calming is now mostly in place on the Curragh Road outside Scoil Bhride.
The ramps are not too hard on suspensions, compared with others used around the county, and so far there's been a fairly good response from motorists.
However, until lining is done, a few are 'sneaking' by on the unramped parking area while heading towards Castlemartin!
The lights element outside the school has still to be completed.
Brian Byrne.
Kildare County Council has begun the process of reviewing the county's Waste Management Plan with a view to updating it for the period 2005-2010.
The Council has commissioned consultants Fehily Timoney & Co to prepare the review, which has a primary objective under the 1996 Waste Management Act and the 1998 Government policy statement Changing our Waysto 'secure the best environmental management of all waste, including preventing and minimising the generation of waste wherever practicable'.
The review process will include the following:
• submissions from public and private sectors (in response to public advertisement)
• data collection
• trends
• scenarios & preliminary assessment
• options assessment
• recommendations & proposed review
• client review
• amendments
• publish proposed review
• submissions from public (statutory)
• finalise review
Brian Byrne.
Fr Dan Noud, the Pallotine missionary from Brownstown for whom many in Kilcullen have a very high regard, is home for a visit.
He has spent 42 years in Tanzania, and will be going back out in his 69th year to continue his work.
The Diary will have an in-depth feature update soon, but in the meantime many might find it interesting to look back on his life as detailed in the past by the Editor on KNN.
Here are some final views from the recent Tractor Pulling and Country Show held at Usk.
Brian Byrne.
A photographic presentation at the Riverbank centre on September 7 will explore elements of the history of County Kildare.
The presentation is being hosted by the County Kildare Archaeological Society, in association with the History and Family Research Centre, County Kildare Library and Arts Service, and is intended to promote Heritage Week.
The display is based on photographs taken from the Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society.
The aim of the presentation is to promote the heritage, history and archaeology of Co Kildare and to demonstrate the pivotal role in the protection and promotion of the County's heritage played by the Kildare Archaeological Society from its origins in 1891 down to the present day.
The Society is ever looking towards the future and would welcome non-members as well as members along on the night, particularly younger people. The need to encourage and develop an interest in the heritage and history of the County amongst the younger generations is of prime importance to the Society and the indeed the County Library.
Last year the Kildare Archaeological Society collaborated with the Local Studies Dept, History and Family Research Centre to host a presentation by Mary Ryan on 'The Clongorey Evictions.' This proved to be a most successful evening and they have collaborated once more to present a photographic presentation on the history of County Kildare based almost entirely on material taken from the Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society. So much material became available in the preparation of the presentation that there has already been talk of another collaboration for Heritage Week in 2006.
All are welcome and admission is free but try and make it early as the night will surely attract a lot of interest from around the County.
Mario Corrigan.
Local Studies Department
History and Family Research Centre
Riverbank
Newbridge.
A public meeting in Kilcullen this week decided to push for a plan of development for the bridge area that concentrates initially on new railings and lighting.
The meeting -- held in Berneys because the Town Hall was not available, due to refurbishing -- had been called to establish a community position on how best a €120,000 tranche of money from the Department of the Environment might be spent.
The existence of the funding was only recently discovered by Kilcullen Community Action, and though it had been earmarked for a number of years, and is required to be spent by the end of this year, Kildare County Council had not developed any plan for its use as specified in the area of the bridge.
Fears were expressed that departments within Kildare County Council might be eyeing the money for their own budgets, especially the Roads Department to whom the money was nominally allocated.
Now the newly-appointed local engineer, Willie Purcell, is looking for ideas from the community, the meeting was told by Ciaran Forde. And, according to Noel Clare, Cllr Billy Hillis has promised that the local authority's architects will draw up plans on the basis of any ideas which are generated by the community.
The core needs are currently identified as new railings and lighting for the bridge, and repair of the footpaths by replacing the broken paving slabs with cobble-lock. During the discussion, it emerged that the engineer's priorities may currently be in the reverse order to that.
And the worries were that a priority being put to the pavement by the engineer might easily result in there being very little money left for the other needs.
Ronan Murphy said the repair of the pavements should not be part of the expenditure of the €120,000, as there may be 'a bond issue' relating to recent developments that would pay for that.
Ciaran Forde also expressed his belief that local authorities applied 'huge' overheads to projects with which they were involved, such as charging out a lorry at '€400 a day'. "If the engineer is going to spend this money on the pavements, there's not going to be much left for anything else," he commented.
And in response to a remark by Vivian Clarke that there was a need to make the access from the bridge to the square wheelchair-friendly, he wondered if that shouldn't be done anyway out of the council's own funds earmarked for that purpose? "I for one would feel very hard done by if the money allocated for our community project was spent this way," he said.
Pat Canny said it should be made clear to the council that the cobble-lock be excluded in the expenditure of the money. "If the money is put into that first, any railing we might get would be inferior."
Noel Clare relayed Cllr Hillis's feeling that the work didn't actually have to be done by year's end. "It seems that as long as a contract for work is signed by then, the money is ring-fenced," he said, adding that, according to Cllr Hillis, once the project and the community was 'in the loop', further funding was usually obtainable. "So maybe we should go for an ambitious plan," he suggested.
In agreement, Donal Brennan said that the plan should be for 'a decent railing this year' and the project could 'build on that' next year.
Ronan Murphy said that the engineer had already asked consultants to look at the situation and come up with proposals. "He said that he had asked them to consult with the community," he added.
The meeting agreed that a designer was needed to progress the project, because he or she would 'do simple things that work well'. Ronan Murphy said that local geographical survey experts Maptech had offered their expertise in surveying and drawings free of charge to the project.
Both Ciaran Forde and Ronan Murphy emphasised that the community should be 'positive' on the matter, as there is a new engineer for the town 'who is proactive'.
Ronan Murphy noted that the engineer was in favour of using local contractors for the various works, and would welcome suggestions for this. Because the expenditure didn't exceed €120,000 in value, it wouldn't have to go to public tender.
Brian Byrne.
He's also big into trees, even little ones, as the kids at Scoil Bhride found during National Tree Week earlier this year. (We had to remind you of that, because this is the only picture we have of him in the files.)
And the next time you can hear him gig is Monday 29 August, in the Ballymore Inn. With his beloved Martin guitar, not the tree ...
There are not many, if there are any at all, better options for Monday night.
Brian Byrne.
Kilcullen Drama Group's first production of the new season will open on November 24. It will be a stage version of A Christmas Carol from the book by Charles Dickens.
The production is to be directed by Mischa Fekete, who has already cast some of the key characters with Kilcullen Drama Group stalwarts Bernard Berney, who plays Ebenezer Scrooge, and Vivian Clarke playing the Bob Cratchit part.
It will be a mammoth production in terms of the group's usual endeavours, with over 40 people in stage parts, including up to 18 children.
"Eilis Phillips and Mischa have been working very hard, calling anybody who has been involved with drama in Kilcullen in the past to get them to come on board," one member of the group told the Diary. "It will be without doubt the biggest project ever undertaken by the Drama Group."
The production will include a musical chorus, and the Diary understands that this side of things will be managed by Monica Martin.
It will run for 12 nights only.
Brian Byrne.
A youth music project organised by the Riverbank Arts Centre in partnership with KELT, the County Kildare Leader Plus group, is aimed at developing the talent of young musicians across County Kildare.
The six-month project, Unearthed, is open to musicians between the ages of 14 to 24 and incorporates mentored rehearsals, master classes, seminars, workshops in the music industry, a professional music tour, making a CD, and -- on project completion -- a FETAC Certificate.
Unearthed can only offer 48 places and will take place evenings and weekends from October 2005 through to March 2006.
Project Manager Marcella Bannon says it will open doors to young people who are serious about their music 'but who haven’t really figured out how to achieve their dreams'.
SÃnead Redmond, Assistant Project Manager, says it will be 'life changing' for the participants who are selected. "We hope to be the catalyst that takes these young people to the next level of their artist potential."
Julie Duane
Twins and triplets are getting ready for another year of fun with South Kildare Multiples Group starting up again after the summer holidays.
The group had a fantastic first year with eight sets of twins and one set of triplets attending regularly -- 19 children when they all came to the same session! Families come from all over South Kildare and as far away as Kilcock.
The informal parent and baby/toddler group enjoys craft time, play in a safe environment and action songs, with a chance for parents to have a coffee and chat while the children play.
At their recent summer party, pictured above, the group said goodbye to its first 'graduates' who are moving on, and would be delighted to welcome new families this September. Mums expecting multiples are also welcome.
The group starts back on Monday, September 5, and meets every other Monday from 10.30am to midday at Naas Sports Centre, Caragh Road. There is double-buggy access and plenty of parking.
Backed by IMBA – the Irish Multiple Births Association (www.imba.ie) - South Kildare Multiples Group is also looking for funding and sponsorship.
If you can help or would like more information, call 085 7387726.
Hilary Makin.
Here are some more views from the recent Tractor Pulling and Country Show held at Usk.
Brian Byrne.
Kilcullen GAA Club has joined the internet generation with the launch of the club's official website.
The site contains information on club activities and also includes a section on the history of the club as well as information on development plans for the future. Links are also provided to other relevant websites.
The website can be found at Kilcullen GAA.
John Martin.
With contracts about to be signed for the completion of its new 'home', the building which will house the Boxing Club was hit by vandals recently.
One of the reinforced front windows of the premises, beside the Community Sports Complex, was repeatedly attacked over a number of nights until it was almost pushed through.
It isn't as if the perpetrators wanted to steal something from inside, as there is nothing yet there.
The Sports and Recreation Complex itself was the target of vandalisation from would-be thieves last week.
Brian Byrne.
Deirdre Starr got a fair share of national exposure last week, appearing on TG4 on Thursday evening, and on RTE 1's Nationwide on Friday.
This followed her gig at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, where she sang a lunchtime concert in St Canice's Cathedral.
According to fans who attended, the venue was excellent and suited Deirdre's voice perfectly.
Brian Byrne.
The Kilcullen Bowls Club gets back into action on Friday 26 August, following the summer break.
The club meets in the Boxing Club Hall behind Berney's, at 7.30 in the evening.
New members and beginners are always welcome and further information is available at 045 485369.
The KYS Youth Information Centre in Naas will hold an information evening for young people starting university or college this autumn.
Speakers from the Student Grants Section of Kildare Co. Council will advise parents and students with regard to applying for student grants.
MABS the Money Advice and Budgeting Service will be on hand to give students tips on managing their finances, bills, rent and other expenses while living away from home. Staff from the Youth Information Centre will also be on hand to answer any general queries that young people may have concerning the transition to college life.
Moving away from home and starting third level education can be a challenging time for young people and the aim of the evening is to provide support to students and their families at this time.
There will be an opportunity for one to one advice at the end of the meeting.
The Information Evening will take place on Wed. 24th August at 8pm in KYS, Canal Stores, Basin Street, Naas. For further information please contact Youth Information Centre, KYS, Canal Stores, Basin Street, Naas, Co. Kildare
In the first event of its kind in County Kildare, the Tractor-pulling Competition at the inaugural Usk Country Show attracted much interested attention.
The event involves tractors pulling a sled along a 100-metre course, trying to drag it as far as possible. The sled has a weight system on board that moves forward during the pull and makes the job progressively more difficult.
The local event was organised by Sean Conroy of Usk, and this now extends the competition from current counties Meath, Tipperary, North Dublin and Galway.
Colm Kilcannon of Tuam is the overall organiser of the competition on behalf of the Irish Truck and Tractor Pulling Association. The year's events will result in some 70 finalists to take part in an all-Ireland championship in Tullamore on September 25.
Popular in the UK for some time, tractor-pulling began in Ireland in 2000. There are a number of weight classes including 4.5-, 5.5-, 6.5-, 7.5-, 9- and 11.5-tonne.
It is carefully regulated, with detailed weigh-in of each tractor and pull distances monitored by laser equipment.
The pull events are often in aid of charities and prizes are nominal and can also be in kind, such as supplies of oil from a sponsor.
The weather turned against the Usk show, which was in aid of Our lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, but there was a good turnout despite the rain.
More from Usk tractor pulling
More from Usk Show
Details of tractor-pulling in the national context, and the results of each event are available at www.tractorpulling.net -- the website of the ITTPA.
Brian Byrne.
A Garda operation in The Valley Park last night led to a number of fixed-penalty fines being given to people found drinking there.
The fines were issued under Kildare County Council by-laws which prohibit drinking in The Valley as well as a number of other public places around Kilcullen.
The fines must be paid to Kildare County Council, or those given the notices will find themselves in court facing substantially greater costs.
The operation follows a growing level of local indignation and anger at recent activities there, which included serious vandalism and littering (below).
One local resident who regularly walks the Valley on weekend mornings told the Diary that it was relatively 'clean and tidy' this Sunday morning.
Brian Byrne.
Kilcullen’s senior footballers went to Naas on Saturday evening knowing that a win against Carbury was essential to keep their championship hopes alive. They were most unfortunate to end up in a tied match which proved to be enough to send Carbury through to the next stage of the competition.
Kilcullen played some of their best football of the season and dominated the game for long periods, but in the end Carbury did just enough to sneak a draw.
Carbury went into an early lead but Kilcullen fought back and registered two wides before Shane Lambe was fouled close in and Cormac Aspell pointed the free to level the scores after five minutes. Carbury exerted pressure for a period but the Kilcullen defence stood firm with Ronan Aspell prominent. Terry Rossiter put Carbury into the lead with a point after six minutes but at the other end Cormac Aspell was successful with a long range free to level matters again.
Kilcullen were playing an attractive brand of football and instituted some good moves out of defence but the forwards were finding scores difficult to come by. Carbury scored again when the lively Andrew Dermody pointed but another Cormac Aspell pointed free after a foul on Shane Lambe left the scores level at three points each at half time.
Carbury started the second half in determined fashion and notched a point directly from the throw in. The Kilcullen defence was in top form, however, and tigerish tackling and some great blocking kept the Carbury forwards frustrated. Kilcullen were getting on top at midfield at this stage and the pressure on the Carbury back line resulted in Cormac Aspell converting two frees to put Kilcullen in front on the score board. Carbury responded with a point but Kilcullen were in control and further points from Cormac Aspell, Shane Lambe and Christopher Howard left the score eight points to five in Kilcullen’s favour after twenty minutes.
Kilcullen continued to keep up the pressure and when Jamie Lambe drifted in behind the Carbury defence his powerful shot brought a magnificent save from the Carbury goalkeeper. Another Cormac Aspell point from play left Kilcullen four points clear and looking comfortable. Carbury saw their championship hopes slipping away and went in search of a goal. With time running out Paddy Maher made a fingertip save at the expense of a forty-five which yielded a point for Carbury. In a last gasp effort Carbury launched a speculative high ball into the Kilcullen square which ended up in the net to leave the score level again. Both sides had chances to clinch the issue but the score at the final whistle remained Kilcullen 0–9; Carbury 1–6.
Players, mentors and supporters will be disappointed with the result in a match in which the general consensus was that Kilcullen deserved to win. However they can take heart from the excellent performance. This was a mature display from a young team and augers well for the future of football in Kilcullen.
In what was a total team effort Ronan Aspell, Ger Shannahan and Kevin O’Brien stood out in the back line, Mick Williams at midfield was prominent throughout and up front the ever reliable Cormac Aspell received solid support from Shane Lambe and Christopher Howard.
Another draw in the section between Allenwood and Moorefield means that Moorefield and Carbury advance and Kilcullen will have to meet Allenwood in a relegation decider.
John Martin.
A break-in at the Community Sports Centre in the early hours of Friday morning resulted in an estimated €1,500 worth of damage when the perpetrators failed in their objective.
Centre manager P J Lydon looks at the damage to the electrical system caused when the Coke machine was tipped over.
"They were after the money in the Coke machine, and used a concrete block and a large stone to smash a pane of glass to gain entry," centre manager P J Lydon told the Diary. "But they were unable to break the machine, which is the six-sided steel kind and vandal-proof, so they smashed three more large glass panes, probably because they were annoyed."
The stone and concrete block which were used to break in and do the damage.
The incident happened at 4.30am, and was captured on the centre's CCTV system. It is the first serious break-in since the system was installed.
The Diary understands that the offenders appear to have been juveniles, and the question arises as to what young people that age were doing out at that hour, and whether their parents were aware of their absence from home?
P J Lydon shows the window, now repaired, where the thieves broke in.
"They are believed to have been locals, because there was no car involved, and they didn't have any professional equipment," P J Lydon said. He said it appeared that they had walked down from the Nicholastown side of the campus, adding that he's hopeful they will be identified from the CCTV record.
Brian Byrne.
People born too late to be children in the fifties often don't have a clue about how we passed the time.
No TV -- not down our way, anyhow -- and no Walkmans, let alone iPods. No rollerblades or skateboards. No big concert gigs. And that was just for us young people.
But the recent situation where a traditional swimming area has been made inaccessible prompted some memories of my own swimming childhood in and around Kilcullen.
Brian Byrne.
Kilcullen AFC kick off pre season training for Underage teams this week.
The current plan is to field 12 Under age teams this season, catering for youngsters from Under 8 up to Under14s.
In order for the club to do this we need to identify potential managers for these teams.
If you are a parent, an ex player, or a wannabe Alex Ferguson who wants to get involved in managing a team, please give any of the committee a call.
Coaching courses will be taking place over the coming weeks.
Contacts - Ray Kelly: 087 6262231; Shay Phelan: 086 8630935; or Eilis Phillips: 481871.
Ray Kelly.
The Kilcullen Credit Union Athletics team proved to be a huge success this year. The foundation for the success commenced with training on Monday evenings for all those who qualified from the Kilcullen community events.
The finishing touch was applied thank to Kilcullen Credit Union who kindly sponsored tracksuits for all team members, which resulted in the team doing the community proud both on and off the field.
For all those that took part it was a great day for team and community spirit with all team members enthusiastically supporting and cheering on their fellow team members during the two-day even held in Newbridge.
The event was such a success the Community Games Committee has expressed a renewed commitment to repeat the the effort again next year, and with the experience achieved this year the expectation is for even greater success as it was the first time for all the Kilcullen team to compete at county level.
The winners from Kilcullen at the County Athletics final were:
Jack Dooley U 8 Boys 80m: Bronze
Kelly Gaynor U10 Girls 100m: Bronze
Katie Berney U10 Girls 200m: Silver
Emily Vaughan U14 Girls 800m: Bronze
Laura Pearson U16 Girls 100m: Certificate (4th)
The big prize of the day, "The best presented Team", was won by the Kilcullen team and the County Cup is on display in the Kilcullen Credit Union.
This was the last event to be held at County level this year with Kilcullen winning 12 County medals in all events during the year.
The games has proved a huge success during the year and all involved hope to be able to do at least as much again next year. Community support is the critical ingredient to allow us achieve success at county level.
Nick Aspel.
The results of a walkabout carried out by the Kilcullen Access Group and Action South Kildare have now been produced in a report facilitated by Anne Daly, Community Participation Manager of ASK.
The route of the walk took in the Curragh Road, the Hideout Crossroads, to the parish church, and subsequently down to the Market Square area.
The report contains a number of recommendations, and a web-friendly version can be read here.
Brian Byrne.
The following are the Kilcullen GAA fixtures for the coming week:
Juvenile Football Blitz
Saturday 20th August at 10 a.m.
Kilcullen GAA Grounds
Senior Football Championship
Saturday 20th August at 7p.m.
Kilcullen vs Carbury
Naas GAA Grounds, Sallins Road.
Senior Football League
Tuesday 23rd August at 7 p.m.
Kilcullen vs Kilcock
Kilcock GAA Grounds.
John Martin
Editor,
Are you or your readers able to help trace any of my son's relations in Ballytore?
His grandfather is Murtagh Kelly, born 1915 in Ballytore to a Margaret Kelly, nee Doyle, and Murtagh Kelly. He was one of 12, many of whom moved to England: Ann, Pauline and Rita and Murtagh all went to UK.
Please could you point us in the right direction to trace any family that are still in the Kildare area.
Many thanks,
June Kelly.
The total collected for the Irish Cancer Society in the recent Mac and Norman's Vintage Drive is on track to 'at least equalling' the €30,000 collected in last year's run, according to one of the organisers.
"With people on holidays, we haven't yet completed the collection and counting," Norman Egar told the Diary last night, adding that he was 'almost scared' to hazard a forecast of the total.
But it is a good cue to show some more of the people of Brannockstown, Kilcullen and around who came out to watch and support the recent Mac and Norman Vintage Drive in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. And to remind readers that there is still time to contribute.
Brian Byrne.
