It Says in The Bridge: Feb 2006
This month's issue takes a blunt front-page whack at littering in Kilcullen, headlining our town as a 'black spot' and blaming equally our people of all ages, Kildare County Council and owners of business premises. The piece points out that it was a problem discussed 40 years ago, and yet Kilcullen Community Action is still trying to address the problem.
There's a fair bit of 'looking back' in this issue, including a reflection on the recent production of 'A Christmas Carol' by Monica Martin, a republication of a poem recited by the late Katie Treacy from Kennycourt back in 1977, 'An Old Hen Tells Her Life Story', and a 'This Month in History' piece from Pat Behan which goes as far back as February in the year 600.
The same writer profiles a new business in town, Emerald Bloodstock Services Ltd, and Sean Landers represents an extract from 'Beauties of Ireland' focussing on the giant Irish Elk.
The Bridge also reproduces the piece written about my late brother Des by our other brother Fergus, published in the Diary last month.
In the first of what I understand to be a series of philosophical pieces by Roy Thompson, our local conservation ranger muses on the wider social implications of the recent agreement between the GAA and other football organisations to share Croke Park.
Our familiar scribe Billy Redmond expresses thoughts on the difficulties he encountered in having the road where he lives given an official name. He also writes thoughtfully on the implications of a recent controversy on whether first communion children's parents should have to take their children to Mass.
In his occasional 'Breaking Bread' column, Pastor Robert Dunlop provides his own unique style of commentary on the 'evocative' film Chronicles of Narnia, concluding that C S Lewis's tale is both 'durable and irresistable'.
Sean Landers, in his 'Letter from Taiwan', gives us an insight into the life and work of his friends Christine and Lance Ayerst, who spent many years in Lance's native South Africa but have lived in Kilcullen since 2001.
Wandering 'over the Bridge', Paul Aspell is expressing cautious optimism about the future of popular music, suggesting that the control of the business by 'hard-nosed forty-somethings' providing us with 'manufactured' puppets might be on a change. He also has definited thoughts on the suggestion of an auxiliary garda force, fearing that the 'pretend garda' force would attract local 'jumped up Hitlers' to its ranks.
Sports pages feature a report from the AGM of St Bridget's Pitch & Putt Club, which includes the news that the long-vacant positions of Juvenile Officers have been filled, by Anne Sweeney and Joann McDonald.
The 'Offside' soccer page highlights the achievement of the U/11 Premiers in getting into the last 32 of the Menton Seery Cup, played yesterday at Knocnacarrach in Co Mayo.
The Kilcullen GAA U/15 Girls Team were recently presented with their County Medals and are the main interest on that club's page, while there's also a report from the St Laurence's Hurling Club AGM, at which the special guest was Tipperary senior hurler Eoin Kelly.
And finally, there's a certain nostalgia for your Editor in a photograph of the 1955 alter boys. Though I didn't join that particular group, they were many of them schoolmates and often pals of mine: the Lambes, Seamus, Anthony, Michael and Joe; John Bardon; Mick Sammon, Noel Redmond, Michael Walker; Michael Guidera, Billy Redmond, Seamus Orford, Brian Doyle, Mick Brady, Shay Walker, John Brady and Anthony Conroy.
I know some are still well and happy. I know some have sadly passed on. Those of you whose whereabouts I don't know, I hope you too are well.
Brian Byrne.
