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.
If you think that the real business to be in is providing cranes for the Celtic Tiger skyline boom in Dublin, then you should take a look at Dubai City.
The second-largest of the group of sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates, Dubai's main city and port already has a set of skyscrapers that rivals many of the world's most modern capitals, and is hard a-building at least as many more.
You can read the rest of the postcard here.
Brian Byrne.
More again from the recent Kelly party in Berneys.
Pictures courtesy Maria McCrann.
Just to say 'thank you' to all those who said kind things about the Diary on the occasion of our first birthday, both online and in the streets.
Some of them are in the form of comments on the 'What's another Year?' piece.
Brian Byrne.
A little bit of Kilcullen sporting history was dismantled last week when Dan Brennan's Barn was demolished. The edifice, halfway up Hillside, once served as the first real 'home' for the embryo Kilcullen Boxing Club, back in the forties.
"We were all aspiring boxers as young lads," Pat Lynch recalled for the Diary as he and Jim 'The Brad' Berney watched the razing of the building. "We'd be down in the Ball Alley knocking the heads off each other, and Jim's mother, God be good to her, presented us with a pair of boxing gloves. So we decided we would put on a tournament."
The tournament was held in the barn, and local youngesters were charged a penny admission.
"I was only ten," Jim recalls. "We already had the beginnings of a club, with Frank Snell training us in his back yard. There was Ger Coleman, Myles Fenelon and Pat and myself. We had to leave Snells in the end and we set up the club in the barn."
Around the same time the Hibernian Billiards Club was located where the Bank of Ireland is now. They needed to move premises too, and Dan Brennan provided them with room in the shed beside the barn (below). So there was the equivalent of today's Community Sports Complex in place.
The Boxing Club was in the barn for several years, and then they got a more permanent premises back down the hill, where Coleman's B&B used to be up to recently. By the time they moved there, there were about a dozen committed regulars.
"We were being trained by Corporal Guilfoyle, who was stationed on the Curragh," Jim remembers. "He also boxed for Ireland at one stage. Others involved were Fr Ned Connors, Jack Brennan, Paddy Aspell, Al McDonnell, Eddie Doyle, Dick Jeffers, and Paddy Bathe."
Another was 'The Bird' Meaney, and the story is told of how he went AWOL from the Army at one stage. "We were out doing the threshing in Gilltown this day, and the Bird was up on the straw," Jim recalls. "The next thing somebody said the Guards were coming down the road, and the 'Bird' took off across across the fields like the hammers."
"He still had the uniform on, even," Pat Lynch adds with a grin.
The lads all took their boxing seriously, not least because Corporal Guilfoyle was a stern fight master. "He pulled no punches, you either mixed with him or got out of the way," Pat says. "But he was also a lovely fellow."
In the late forties the club moved on again, this time to the loft at the back of what was soon afterwards to become the Hideout pub (of which this writer has many memories, because that was my Dad's place). This remained its 'home' until the club got its own hall on land at the back of Berneys' pub during the mid-sixties.
Jim Berney recalls the first tournament in which he competed, which was held in the Carnival Field as part of the annual parish fundraising summer event.
"Ger Coleman fought a fellow called Lysaght from Newbridge, and I boxed Jimmy Phillips from Kilcullen. And Pat fought Paddy Fitzgerald, who was so tough that you might as well be hitting the wall. But Pat hit him so hard and so many times that he tired him out and won."
Other highlight events were the two re-enactments of the Donnelly and Cooper fight at Donnelly's Hollow in the early fifties, organised by this writer's father. Jim Berney played the part of Donnelly, and I've written about the event here.
Watching the demolition of the barn last week brought back several memories to Pat Lynch. "I played billiards here, I danced here, and I boxed here," he said. "It is a little sad, in a way, to see it gone."
Kilcullen is changing rapidly, both in built environment and in the passing of so many people with memories of its early days. It's good to be able to record some of these. If you have any of your own, send them in.
Brian Byrne.
Here are some more pictures from the recent Kelly family party in Berneys.
Pictures courtesy Maria McCrann.
I've been in Lisbon a few times, but always on business, in a rush and not staying in the city for longer than a lunch.
And so too was my trip this week, just an overnight, once again not even staying in the city.
You can read my postcard from Lisbon on my Mariseo's House site.
Brian Byrne.
Kilcullen’s highly active GAA Club hold their annual general meeting this Monday.
The gathering takes place in the clubhouse starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome.
If you have some spare time please come along and lend a hand or just come to see the club’s plans for 2006.
Conor Gleeson.
The Kelly family from Brannockstown had a big shindig in Berney's Recently to celebrate Betty Kelly's birthday.
Her daughter Maria (McCrann) and sons Pat, Richard and Thomas were all there, as well as grandchildren Kelvin and Mark Kelly and Karl Kelly, living in Moanbane Park, and Catherine, Clare, and Rory McCrann from London.
There was a big turnout of friends as well. Maria sent in the pics, and as there are so many, the Diary will follow its usual practice and spread them out over the next week.
Brian Byrne.
The magnificent John B Keane play 'Sive' will be performed in the Riverbank Arts Centre from Feb 1-4, directed by Paddy Melia who, for many years, was a major director with the Kilcullen Drama Group.
This production is by the Droichead Nua Players.
'Sive' is a powerful play bordering on, as some call it, a tragic comedy, others say a great folk drama.
Set in the late 1950s, the play tells the story of love and greed in Ireland. It is located in the South West of the country and brings together a young girl, a matchmaker and a bitter and twisted woman with other family and friends getting involved.
“This new production will emphasise and highlight the extreme violence which is inherent in the script and give it added topicality,” says director Melia.
The Droichead Nua Players played the 3-Act Circuit of Ireland Festival for the first time in 2005 participating in eight festivals and winning all eight going through to the All Ireland Final for confined groups in Siamsa Tire, Tralee, Co. Kerry and selling out the venue with the ever popular “The Kings of the Kilburn High Road” by Jimmy Murphy.
The group created many records along the way, winning eight festivals out of eight including eight best Director awards, eight best Actor awards, and eight best supporting Actor awards. The group finished third in the All Ireland Final chalking up a total of 45 awards. This year the group return with John B. Keane’s “Sive” and look forward to a successful 2006.
A call that Kildare County Council be asked to specify the duties of its operatives who pick litter in Kilcullen was made at a recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action.
It came from Noel Clare, who raised the issue of the Council's pledges on litter management for towns like Kilcullen.
"They're just not implementing them," he said. "I don't think we should be accepting what is going on here."
He said the Council should be asked, under the Freedom of Information Act if necessary to get the reply, to give details about their 'litter policies' in the town.
"They should tell us how often their operatives are supposed to do their work here, and where they are supposed to pick the litter here."
Herbie Sheehan noted that while they could give out about how the litter was dealt with, it was nevertheless a fact that it was the people in the town who dropped the litter. "It's almost becoming acceptable," he said.
"We're just a dirty race," Tony Gahan said. "You just have to look over the bridge and you'll see it."
J J Whelan resurrected the idea discussed at a meeting last year that the community should raise funds to employ a person to keep the town litter-free as well as doing other work to keep the town tidy.
"Why should we have to?" Celia Travers asked. "It's the Council's job."
Noel Clare agreed, noting that local authorities are required to provide such services.
The discussion concluded with a decision that Noel should draft a letter ot the Council to elicit the authority's policy on litter management in Kilcullen.
It was suggested, and agreed, that the letter, and any response, should be published in local and county news media.
Brian Byrne.
The Diary celebrates its first birthday today, reason enough to look back and see what, if anything, we have achieved.
It was partly an experiment, partly me wanting to get back to my roots in some way. My 'day job' journalism today is totally focussed on things motoring, sometimes technical, sometimes automotive business, sometimes motor industry people. All three together, actually, much of the time.
All of it interesting, but all of it taking me outside Kilcullen, having no relationship with the town where I grew up.
As I've said to a few people, I needed a reason to 'walk down the street and look at the notices in the windows'.
As I grew up in Kilcullen, it went through periods of stagnation and periods of change, and I've lived through more than six decades of it, child and man. It was always a town of great stories, and even though it was small it made waves outside itself far bigger than might be expected. Just a few examples: in boxing we produced an Olympic contender and a successful professional as well as a very sound reputation at amateur and schoolboy level across the country.
In cycling we had Tom Berney and Liam Baxter in different generations. In racing we had world-class jockeys and trainers in and around the village.
In drama we were respected as a force to be reckoned with in the amateur circuit across the island. And 'built in' to the village we had a range of individuals at every level who brightened the community's days and nights, and in a number of cases pushed out the envelope in social and business capacities to produce virtual tsunamis far from the local banks of the Liffey.
Think 'Capers' and John Brady; think 'Lord Mayor Elections' and Jim Collins with Michael Lambe; think my Dad, Jim Byrne of the Hideout that became an international byword pub; think Paddy Mitchell and his dustcart, Pat Dunlea and his determination that whatever he personally achieved, Kilcullen should be the real winner; my brother, dead too young, Des Byrne, who loved people and made music; Paddy Nugent and KDA, and so many more that there's no point in trying to make a complete collection here.
I grew up with all that as the background in the painting of my own life. And for many years -- even though I remained living here -- since my work became unrelated to Kilcullen, I missed all that kind of thing.
So I started the Diary to connect me again with the place I am fourth generation in. Also, because my involvement with the Internet goes back to before it became the magical world wide web which we now almost take for granted, I wanted to use that technology to see if it could be used to link the 'old' and 'new' Kilcullens of today, at least in a small way.
In a way it was deja vu: when Fr Cathal Price established The Bridge some thirty-five years ago for similar reasons, I got involved early. Indeed, I cut my journalistic teeth on The Bridge and it was the experience gained there that was the Zip firelighter of my subsequent career in every aspect of journalism.
So I had the skills. Well, some of them. I can write. I've been a photographer for some three decades. I'm no stranger to media design. And a computer and its very advanced software in the publishing sense is as easy for me to use as a hammer is to a carpenter.
It should also be said that in Internet terms, my longtime colleague Trish Whelan and I had for five years provided the first (and so far only) county news service on the 'net, in the form of KNN. We had to give that up when our business interests took increasing demands on our time.
So I took the KNN idea to 'micro' level, and community news back to the smallest part of the community.
What's happened since? With in excess of some 35,000 impressions since we kicked off a year ago, there are a great number of people reading the Diary. About 7 percent of them are Kilcullen people living abroad, the balance are all local loggers-in.
We have regulars from countries like New Zealand, Australia, many states in the USA, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan, a variety of eastern european countries, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, parts of the UK. But most from Ireland itself.
The vast bulk of vistors are repeaters. There's no reason for them to come back except that they have a direct connection with Kilcullen, because all of what we publish has to do with the town and its hinterland, and the people in both.
At local radio and county newspaper level, Kilcullen is not well served in the reporting of the amount of stuff that's going on here. That's undertandable to a degree, as they must concentrate on the population centres which bring them their revenue. The Diary is missing stuff too, but we're getting an awful lot more out.
Over the year we have published in total words terms the equivalent of a good-sized book about Kilcullen. We've used around a thousand photographs. We've experimented with audio -- and will be doing much more of that. And we've attracted a small cohort of other contributors.
We have covered local controversies, reported public meetings, recorded the sad passing of quite a few people from our community, some of them very close to me.
We have tried to show some of us what others of us are doing, saying, asking. We have highlighted anniversaries, fundraisers, visitors home from abroad.
Most of all though, I belive we have pushed out further the envelope of community journalism. I've not been able to find any website on this island or abroad where a small village like Kilcullen has something like the Diary. Or even bigger places.
I don't want that to sound like bragging. This is a two-way thing. There'd be no point in the Diary producing if nobody was reading. And you are.
So, from my side of the experiment, I thank you all for taking part on your side.
It has indeed done for me what I hoped, far more than I could have imagined. I hope it is doing as much for you, the readers.
The experiment isn't over. The Diary takes a fair chunk of my time to research, write, photograph and publish. But I look on it as my social life, or a major part of it.
I have a few more ideas to move forward here, as the technology allows me to try and make it an even better place for Kilcullen to be 'talking to itself'.
I'l give it my best. I hope you stick with it too.
But then, that's my job, isn't it, to keep it interesting enough for you all to come back day by day?
Maybe Kilcullen is again making waves, this time across the Internet. Small ones, sure. But waves nevertheless.
Thanks for helping me generate them, and have fun in the process. Let's make the next twelve months even better.
Brian Byrne.
The Diary has learned with sadness of the death of Evelyn Doran of Milemill.
For many years Evelyn worked with the Editor's family, and we share in the sorrow of her family, to whom we extend our condolences.
Evelyn is reposing at her home. Removal will take place tomorrow evening to Kilcullen Parish Church, arriving at 7.30.
Her funeral mass is on Wednesday at 11 O'clock, followed by burial in St Brigid's Cemetary.
A claim that applications for change of use of units at the Hillcrest development are being put on hold by Kildare County Council was made by JJ Warren at a recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action.
He said that the delays will remain until what are described as 'unauthorised' aspects of the development are 'satisfactorily concluded'.
His remarks were made during a discussion on parking and traffic management issues.
Esther Kiely had commented on the difficulties experienced by pedestrians trying to cross the road from the Gala supermarket, because they couldn't see if traffic was coming up the hill at speed.
The complex of shops and office space has been the subject of complaints suggesting that it was built beyond the line of its planning permission.
JJ Warren said the developer and the Council's Roads Department were working together to resolve the traffic issues. These would involve cutting back the footpath, which was too wide, and remarking the road.
Niall McDonnel had earlier raised the general traffic management issue, noting that there are several 'hazardous' spots in the town where parking caused potential danger.
"One is outside Pat Lawlor's house up the hill from Berney's Saddlery," he said. "People are always parking there and causing difficulties, with lorries having to skid to a halt when they find they have no room to pass against oncoming traffic."
Other areas remarked on were outside Moloney's shop, where parked cars often cause obstruction to two lines of traffic, and in the area of the exit from the Esso filling station.
JJ Warren commented that many of the problems were merely a matter of non-enforcement of standard traffic laws.
Kieran Forde said there are already by-laws in existence which could ban parking on one side of Main Street.
"They just haven't been implemented," he said. "Should we be asking for implementation? If we ask for double yellow lines to be put down, there will be people complaining that they are losing parking spaces."
Brian Byrne.
Local band Ainm hit the high notes in The Spout last night with a long set that included a lot of the rock hits of a time before any of the band members were even born.
The band is fronted by Alan Clarke on vocals, with Ian Slattery on lead guitar, Aiden Cullen on drums, Adam McNamara on guitar and Alex Ajolabi on bass guitar.
It wouldn't be easy to mention all of their best covers, but the tone was set with a good run at the Free's 'All Right Now', during which Ian Slattery gave us a taster of the kind of fine solo guitar work he's capable of producing.
'Money for Nothing' from Dire Straits was another popular number of the evening, and that old Thin Lizzy classic 'The Boys are Back in Town' brought the house down.
It was an entertaining evening which the Diary had unfortunately to leave early, before the second half when 'Stevo' was due to guest with his guitar. There's little doubt that there'll be other opportunities to hear Ainm, who aparently are putting in a lot of practice on their stuff.
It shows, and even if there's still a bit of rawness around the edges, that'll sort too.
Besides, rock is supposed to be raw ...
Brian Byrne.
The Kilcullen Community Action meeting scheduled for next Monday night, January 23, has been postponed.
A new date will be posted later.
A haunting newly devised theatre piece which forces you into a different world is being presented at the Riverbank Theatre, Newbridge, by the Shadowbox Theatre Company, Ireland’s premier professional theatre company of actors with intellectual disabilities
Outside takes place in a world where communication does not rely on words but on emotional gesture. Set outside a timeless circus tent, the piece explores what it feels like to be outside, not allowed in, to have someone else decide that you should have no home, no child, no right to wander freely.
The piece premiered at The Ranum International Festival in Denmark before touring Ireland.
It is being performed on Jan 2 at 1.30pm. Admission €10/€ 8 per person in group. Teacher free.
Sinead Redmond.
Kildare County Council has refused to allow a connection to the town water mains for the irrigation system on the decorative flower standards on the bridge.
The recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action heard that Bank of Ireland had subsequently agreed to allow a connection from its own premises, as well as permitting the installation of a tank to contain the water.
"We insisted that there was no point in putting up the baskets at all unless some form of irrigation was included," KCA chairman Kieran Forde said. "They did include piping, but then left the niceties of the system to us to sort out. They more or less said it was our baby."
But even with water available, it seems that the design of the basket 'bowls' doesn't make it easy to implement the irrigation.
The original standards were deemed too low by KCA and when they were extended the plastic piping which was installed originally was left short.
Kieran Forde said that plates in the bowls are also blocking access to the pipes, and will have to be drilled.
Brian Byrne.
The Diary records with sadness the passing of Mrs Kathleen Humphries, of Nicholastown.
Reposing at her residence. Removal will take place on Friday at 7.40pm, to arrive in Kilcullen Parish Church at 8pm.
Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 11am and will be followed afterwards by burial in St Conleth's Cemetery, Newbridge.
We extend our condolences to her family, sons Paddy, Oliver and David, daughters Kitty and Gabrielle, sister Theresa, and her friends.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
Kilcullen ladies Badminton 1st team continue to set the pace in their section of the league with a well earned win over Celbridge last night at The Complex.
Full story at the club's website.
Fiona Sloan is the winner of our competition for tickets to the Frances Black Concert in the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge this weekend.
"I never win anything," she told the Diary after we told her. Well, maybe 2006 will be her winning year.
Many thanks to all of you who entered the competition. Maybe we'll try it again soon.
Brian Byrne.
Ballyshannon National School needs a new extension, and there's a major fundraising operation under way.
The next fundraising event will be an Auction of Promise, to take place in The Croft Inn, Suncroft.
The date is Saturday 25 February, and the time is 8.30.
Brian Byrne.
A suggestion that Kilcullen Community Action should become involved in policing 'ugly unauthorised developments' in the town was 'parked' by KCA chairman Kieran Forde after some discussion at a recent meeting.
"It needs some gestating," he said. "It is something that will require further discussion."
Niall McDonnell had earlier said he was 'really aggravated' by 'a huge number' of such developments, 'specifically on Main Street'. Although initially reluctant to give specifics, he did say that they involved 'renovations that are ugly'.
He noted that KCA had found the time to discuss and make submissions on several new developments over recent years. "But if we're worried so much about new building, why aren't we worried old ones?" he asked.
Tony Gahan said it was the right of any individual to make a complaint to Kildare County Council's planning enforcement office.
J J Whelan said it was Niall's prerogrative to put down a proposal for such involvement by KCA, and he would have no difficulty in supporting such a motion.
Brian Byrne.
A cautious welcome was given at the recent KCA meeting to an apparent improvement in the working of the traffic lights at the Hideout crossroads.
Celia Travers said that progress from the Chapel Road had improved, especially since the right filter and the straight-on signal worked at the same time.
The meeting heard that other changes had been made to the sequencing since the crossroads was recently resurfaced and lined.
One participant at the meeting suggested they wait until all the schools traffic was back before concluding that things were better.
J J Warren thought that the meeting should commend the Council for how quickly the recent works had been done.
Kieran Forde agreed, saying 'we complain about the Council often enough'.
Brian Byrne.
Like many people, I watched some of George Best's funeral on the television recently. I suppose, also like many, I was a fan, and to me he was a bit of a hero. However, a few days later, one of the real heroes of my life also died.
Memories of playing with him in the garden, shouting from the sidelines as he played rugby, singing with him, or just sharing a quiet pint of beer, eclipsed any of the feelings of sadness that I had experienced -- in that slightly disjointed way we do -- with the heroes I have known from screens and newspapers.
In 57 short years he had achieved so much. I know it's inevitable that many of the great moments of a person's life are erased by our last memories of them. But as we carried his coffin from the church, to a backdrop of his voice singing from the CD he and his band had made, the strength and composure of his sons, daughters and wife was such an enormous source of stability.
As I walked behind his sons, I was walking in the footsteps he had created. I remembered clearly the lesson I had learned when I carried my own father's coffin from that same church. I remembered the strength that I had gained from realising what really mattered in my life.
I wish there was an easier way of holding on to the fact that the people that are by our sides, as we learn about the world we live in, are so valuable. The real heroes in our lives are usually so much closer than we know.
Fergus Byrne.
Lower Atrim, Bridport, Dorset.
Another €500,000 has been allocated to Kildare County Council under a pilot programmes for making streets in towns throughout the county more user friendly to people with disability.
The recent work on the junction at the traffic lights, and improvements along by Scoil Bhride, came about from a previous similar allocation, and following an access audit walkabout organised by Action South Kildare involving people with disabilities and staff from Kildare County Council's Roads Department.
There is now an opportunity to have the disability-friendly work continued down the Main Street as far as the recently-refurbished bridge, if representations are made quickly by interested parties in Kilcullen.
The operative word is 'quickly' because there will be increased demands on this latest allocation from other communities who have seen what can be accomplished as a result of the Kilcullen work.
The resulting report from the access walkabout is online here.
Brian Byrne.
Comments on the bollards erected on the bridge in the recent refurbishing have ranged from 'too many' to agreement with the number, the recent KCA meeting heard.
"I don't think there are too many," chairman Kieran Forde said. "When you walk along the bridge now, you have a lovely safe feeling."
Siobhan Tutty-Bardon agreed, saying it was particularly good for people with young children.
Tony Gahan said that even with the restrictions imposed by the bollards, he had seen a motorist drive onto a section of the footpath in an attempt to park between them.
"He eventually gave up," he said.
Brian Byrne.
Draughts and chess sessions for under 14s have started in the Parish Centre on Tuesday evenings, hosted by Kilcullen Community Games.
They are practice sessions, from 6.30-7.30pm, for anyone who wants to take part in chess in the Community Games.
The Community Games will run competitions during the year: Draughts: Under 10, Under 12, Under 14. Chess: Under 12, Under 14. All new members are welcome.
The Kilcullen Community Games are sponsored by Kilcullen Credit Union.
Brian Byrne.
Four companies who have invested in the €3.5 million development of a Kildare County Council business park at Knockbounce, Kilcullen, are going to 'go political' to try and 'shame' the Council into giving them their leases.
"We've been the guts of five years at this, and we're still nowhere with the Council," says Tony Gahan of Structural Concrete Bonding Services Ltd in Newbridge, who lives in Kilcullen and whose business employs 30. "I want to be able to walk to work, and I want out of Newbridge because you can't get in or out of the town."
The other companies involved are Trench Control Ltd from Naas, Murphy Surveys Ltd, and John Cradock Civil Engineering. Between them they employ 300 people, all of whom could be working out of Kilcullen.
The four businesses are technically in the position that they have made a large investment and yet have no access to the site which they have paid to develop.
"We don't know what the problem is, but it's like trying to work out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin," says Tony Gahan. "We've had meetings with officials, with the County Secretary, with the Council's solicitor. They all say to us that 'the leases are on their way'. They last told us we'd have the leases before Christmas. It's now mid-January and still no leases."
In the middle of last year the leases were to be issued 'soon'.
"We've put in roads and water services. Everything is in place, but because we can't get in there we've had to put a big concrete block in front of it to keep intruders out. I can't start because I need a lease in my hand when I go to the bank to get the money to build my premises. And everybody else is in the same situation."
At a meeting of principals of the four businesses last week it was decided that, as a last resort, they would approach local councillors and TDs, 'and anyone else who would help', to try and get the situation resolved.
"We've put in our own money, and technically we could be turfed out in the morning because we don't own anything there. We're really fed up with Kildare County Council."
Kildare County Council bought the land for the business park in the 90s at the urging of Kilcullen community leaders, when local engineering business Renley Ltd was considering leaving the town because of a shortage of space to expand.
In the end Renley didn't move from their own premises, but over the years a number of other local businesses which had committed to moving to the new site pulled out because of delays in its development.
Brian Byrne.
The Diary offers its condolences to the family and friends of Laurence McGeough of Grangebeg, who will be buried in Gormanstown Cemetery following 11 o'clock Requiem Mass this morning.
The main focus of the first Bridge of the year is on our Senior Citizens, with many pages taken up by pictures from Pat Foley of the Christmas Party organised for them in Keadeen Hotel. And a great time they were obviously having too!
In News there's a report from the Kilcullen Blood Donor Clinic held before Christmas, which had 177 volunteer donors and a number of local people received silver and gold awards. The next clinic is March 2.
There's also word of the CPC students' Sponsored Leg Wax in aid of the Pakistan earthquake relief, which raised a creditable €2,085. And the St Stephen's Day Mystery Walk in aid of cancer research, organised by Elizabeth Meehan, raised more than €500. Still on fundraising, there's a substantial story from the Christmas Fair held by the Parents Association of Scoil Bhride, which netted in excess of €6,000.
The prolific pen of Pat Behan has two profiles this month, one about Ida Zainal from Malaysia who is living here with her chef husband Aji and their three children. She likes most things about Ireland except our weather ...
Pat also scribes the work of Maureen Ward, living in Calverstown and artistic director of the Talented Kids Performing Arts School. Any of you who are avid watchers of Fair City should know that most of the younger actors in the series are graduates of her school, notably Jenny Kavanagh who is playing homeless youngster Cleo Collins in one of the current major storylines.
In an extended article, Pat Behan also looks at the traditions of 'Happy Christmas' and 'Happy New Year' with tongue in cheek towards the political correctness of using such terms in today's multicultural Ireland.
Most of the regular columnists seem not to have resurfaced from the festivities yet, but Sean Landers's Letter from Taiwan -- written before he made his way home for the Christmas -- looks back at some of the travails of his early days in that country, and a few more of the current ones because of language barriers.
Sean in his other regular historical presentations publishes an extract about Old Kilcullen from the 19th century Brewer's Beauties of Ireland.
There are a number of recognitions of the recent death of Paddy Mitchell, notably a very touching one from Ger Peacocke in which he reflects on some of the idiosyncracies that made Paddy unique and so well liked.
Other items to note include a personal reflection from Roy Thompson, prompted by the anniversary of Lil Phillips, and, in the early ramping up of election fever which has recently become apparent, Brian Dunne from Castlemartin muses on the value of the vote.
Brian Byrne.
We have a pair of tickets to give away for the forthcoming Frances Black concert in the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge.
Contestants must provide the correct answer to the following:
Frances Black is launching her 'This Love Will Carry' tour on which date in Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare?
A Jan 21st 2006
B Feb 21st 2006
C March 21st 2006
Entry is by email and the winner will be drawn from among all correct emailed answers received by 10am Tuesday 17 January 2006.
Winner will be notified by email, and the tickets must be collected at the Riverbank Box Office no later than 20th Jan 2006 at 5pm.
The Editor's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into on the results.
A total of more than €11,000 has been received in donations by KCA towards the cost of the Christmas lights.
The total cost is €13,000, and KCA chairman Kieran Forde said there there a couple of businesses on Main Street which can still be 'chased up' for promised donations.
"A good few businesses did contribute, but there were a number of notable exceptions, which potentially benefited from having the lights," he said.
In an ensuing discussion, there was some criticism of aspects of the lighting, notably a lack of consistency in how the loops were laid out.
"They were hanging down over windows in places," Herbie Sheehan commented, while Siobhan Tutty-Bardon remarked on how some of the strings of lights didn't work at times.
Kieran Forde suggested that they should invest in more profile units for next year, and wondered if perhaps this was a good time to buy them cheaply. Margaret O'Shea said the ones they did have 'made a huge difference'.
An idea that perhaps a container load of profiles could be brought in cheaply from China, where they were made, was tossed about. Kieran Forde suggested that the container shipping cost would be about $2,000 plus VAT and the cost of the contents. Tony Gahan wondered if they could share a container load with another community?
Brian Byrne.
The fund of donations related to the Miscellany on Sunday hosted by Tom and Phena Bermingham before Christmas continues to climb.
At the last count it had reached €4,295, money which will be well spent in helping the work of the Michael Garry Hostel for the homeless in Newbridge.
The fund was helped most recently by a table quiz held in Bushes of Dunlavin, and by an anonymous donation of €70.
The hostel is operated by the St Vincent de Paul.
The possibility of allocating one meeting a month specifically to include invited residents associations was discussed at the latest meeting of Kilcullen Community Action.
The suggestion was made by Niall McDonnell, who believed it would be a good way to involve more people in KCA.
Chairman Kieran Forde said it was the kind of suggestion that came up about twice every year, and so far 'we've had a spectacular lack of success' in making it work.
Niall McDonnell said that if a meeting was allocated to a particular residents association, 'maybe we'll get them'.
Tony Gahan raised the caveat that 'people will come if they own their homes'. "But a high proportion in some estates are just renting, and they really don't care," he said.
He added that in other estates there were strong associations, doing 'great work'. "They're looking after their their own patch and doing it well."
Noel Clare said it had also been difficult in the past to identify the relevant people in the different estates. And J J Whelan said in many cases there might not even have a committee structure.
The meeting generally approved of the idea, and some time was spent in listing the various estates and trying to identify contacts in them.
Brian Byrne.
Award-winning singer Frances Black is bringing her unique blend of charm and talent to the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, on Saturday, January 21, as part of her Irish tour to mark the release of her eight solo album, This Love will Carry.
Ever since she first appeared as a solo artiste on the music scene in the early 1990s, Frances Black has enjoyed an enduring popularity that is as much attributable to her enchanting personality as to her beautiful voice.
Her musical career began at 17, when she began singing with the Black Family, which consisted of her older musical siblings, brothers Shay, Michael and Martin, and sister Mary, a very well-known singer in her own right. The Black Family, who are renowned for their sublime musical abilities and amazing harmonies, recently made a welcome return to the spotlight with the release of their long-awaited third album, Our Time Together.
Frances gained confidence in her singing abilities and enhanced her performing skills through joining the band Arcady in 1988, in addition to her subsequent successful collaboration with acclaimed Newry singer-songwriter Kieran Goss. However, it was her involvement in the Woman's Heart albums and tours that placed Frances firmly in the public eye, and led to the release of her first solo album, Talk to Me, which was the number one album in Ireland for ten weeks.
She has since released seven best-selling solo albums, and her Kildare concert comes the day after the release of her new folk collection album, This Love Will Carry.
The Riverbank performance begins at 8pm. Booking: 045 448333.
Sinead Redmond.
The new session of Karate classes for children and adults has now begun in the Community Sports and Recreation Complex.
The training is held on Tuesdays, with the children's classes from 5.30-7pm and adults from 7-8.30pm.
The instructor is a Black Belt and is Japanese trained.
Further information from 086 3465728.
Relevant authorities are to be asked to test the water in Pinkeen stream, following a suspicion raised by Tony Gahan that sewerage is polluting the small waterway.
Raising the issue at the recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action, he said it appeared to be coming from the new housing estates at Castlemartin.
"It is a big problem," he added. "There's no growth in Pinkeen now, not even a dock leaf will grow in it."
And he said that when he came to live in the area that he was told Pinkeen was a trout-spawn stream. "But there's not even frog-spawn there now."
J J Warren said it was an environmental problem that should be looked at by the Environmental Health Officer.
But Esther Kiely recalled that when there was a problem in Main Street about leaking sewerage, it had been very difficult to get the interest of the health authorities.
Tony Gahan also said that there had been a problem with kerosene or diesel oil in Pinkeen over the summer, and the source hadn't been traced.
Brian Byrne.
[ED NOTE: When the Diary went along to photograph Pinkeen for this report, there was indeed a strong smell of sewerage in the vicinity. In addition the Editor was quite disgusted at the rubbish thrown into a stream which, as a boy, he used to drink from while playing in the summer around Blacker's Wood. Wouldn't fancy doing so now!]
Mark Phelan of Maptech 3D in the Link Business Park is going to do another Four Peaks Challenge this year, but this time for Focus Ireland.
The event takes place from 9-11 June and involves climbing the four highest peaks in Ireland starting with the 3,414-feet Carrauntoohil. This will be followed by a drive to Galway where the team will stay overnight.
"We drive to Mayo on Saturday morning and climb Mwellrea, at 2,688 feet," he told the Diary, "and in the afternoon we drive to Newcastle in Co Down where we rest overnight before we climb 2,796-feet Slieve Donard on Saturday morning."
The team then drives to Wicklow and climb Lugnaquilla (3,039 feet) on the Sunday afternoon.
Susan has climbed Lug no fewer than five times and is also a Carrauntoohil vet. She is also a member of Kilcullen Badminton club and is extremely fit.
"This is the type of person I am looking for. As you know I have already climbed the four highest peaks in Britain Ireland in 48 hours, namely Ben Nevis, Snowdon, Hellvelyn and Carrauntohil last summer, so with a bit of training and commitment I will be ready for this new challenge in June."
You can Email Mark if you're interested in being involved in some way.
The first meeting of Kilcullen Community Action for 2006 got off to a good start when Noel Clare passed over two cheques related to the performance of Kilcullen in the 2006 National Tidy Towns competiton.
They were a €500 award from the Department of the Environment and one for €150 from Kildare County Council.
There was also a framed Supervalu Commended Award certificate, with the following citation:
Communities in Ireland are defined by their people, not their geography. This award is in recognition of the people and businesses who have collaborated as a community to work to improve their environment, foster civic pride and make their town a better place to live, work and visit.
Batt O'Keefe TD,
Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Donal Horgan,
Managing Director, Supervalu.
Brian Byrne.
Pay parking in Kilcullen may be closer than local people believe, if comments made at last night's KCA meeting are accurate.
In a discussion on traffic management in the town, KCA chairman Kieran Forde said the town was 'high' on the list of proposals in Kildare County Council for pay parking.
"Should we be asking for a traffic management plan for the town which might include pay parking?" he asked.
J J Warren said there were people who worked in the town who would be 'very disgruntled' if they lost their parking on Main Street.
Mischa Fekete said that while the prospect of pay parking wasn't something he liked, the systems introduced in Naas and Newbridge had 'changed people's attitudes'.
"If you have to pay for parking, you'll walk more," he said.
J J Warren suggested that a public meeting be called for a later date to specifically look at the issue of traffic management.
Nial McDonnell said that Kildare County Council should be asked if there was a traffic plan for the town, and that, if so, it should be presented and discussed.
Brian Byrne.
The Brannockstown-based group of people who are spearheading the campaign to have a centuries-old right of walking along the riverbank at Carnalway reopened are considering making it a national issue.
The area, long an amenity facility for families and fishermen from all over south Kildare, was closed off by the landowner last autumn, sparking off protests and an imminent legal action.
"This is not just of concern for local people, but is an issue that affects similar traditional rights all over the country," says Steve Schwer, one of the local people behind fundraising for the legal costs of the courts challenge to the closure.
"If this one is let go, it will mean that similar walking and amenity areas along our rivers and in our mountains will be also that bit closer to being closed. So I think we have to bring in other groups around the country to take part in our local campaign."
He believes that hill walking clubs, national freshwater angling associations, and organisation like An Taisce should come to the fore in defence of the Carnalway walk.
The landowner recently erected a bigger fence than the original, leaving space for access to a small part of the river which local people say makes the situation very dangerous for anyone thinking they could access further down the river by walking through the water.
Brian Byrne.
A run of breakins to cars in the market square has prompted the local Garda to issue a warning for owners to be more careful about security.
CCTV recordings are being examined of the latest incidents, which happened Friday when two cars were the targets of thieves.
It seems that the perpetrators are going around in high-visibility jackets so that they appear to be workers on the nearby building site.
The Diary understands that cars belonging to the workers have been targeted a number of times in recent weeks. Cameras and other small valuables are believed to be the main attraction to the thieves.
Brian Byrne.
The first 2006 meeting of Kilcullen Community Action will take place on Monday night, at 8pm.
It will be held in Berneys, as the normal location of the Heritage Centre is in use.
A new Bridal shop opening shortly in Kilcullen will stock designer labels which will appeal to the fashion-aware bride and also to the bride who wants a traditional gown.
The Irish Bridal Boutique is currently being fitted out at 20 Hillcrest, and will provide a wide range of gowns and accessories for brides and bridesmaids, as well as deb's dresses.
The labels on offer will include Raylia Designs, Paloma Blanca, White Rose, Allure and Destinations by Dessy.
The woman behind the venture is Michelle Graham from Naas.
The business is a new departure for Michelle, who was previously in the mortgage brokering business.
She hopes to open later in January, as soon as stock on order has arrived.
Brian Byrne.
The recent recognition of local Special Olympics golf gold medallist Dermot Shortt's achievement by the Curragh Golf Club is an excellent move.
Brian Byrne.
