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 Parish Car Park is to close each evening at 7pm from 1 November.
The surface has been recently dressed and rolled at significant expense to the parish.
There have been some expressions of concern about the announced change, but the fact is that the parish is not under any obligation to provide a public car park for the town.
The 7pm closure of the parish car park will not obtain when there are church services.
Brian Byrne.
A Diabetes Awareness session is being held at Burke's Pharmacy next Thursday, 5 October.
The service will take place between 2-4pm, and a diabetes nurse expert will be on hand to perform blood glucose test.
She will also answer any questions about diabetes during the afternoon.
Brian Byrne.
The recent fundraising event held in Kilcullen for the displaced people of Lebanon raised €5,000.
The money has been given to Trocaire with a special request that it be used in areas where Irish Defence Forces have served on peackeeping missions.
The money was raised by a collection day and a bring and buy sale, and awareness of the situation in the war-torn country was raised especially by pictures taken by Col Des Travers on a recent trip there with Amnesty.
Brian Byrne.
Donal St Leger, native of Kilcullen and a longtime resident of Jersey, USA, watched the recent All-Ireland Final at the Grasshopper Bar in Jersey with bar manager Seamus Burke and David Byrne of Kilcullen.
The bar is owned by Eddie Fitzpatrick, formerly of Clane, who used to be a frequent visitor to The Hideout when he was in the cattle business and attended Kilcullen Mart on Wednesdays.
The Punchestown Kidney Research Fund is to organise a trip for its supporters and friends to see at first hand the kind of benefits it provides.
The fund is strongly supported by Phena Bermingham and many of her friends, and the proceeds from their recent Mini Marathon participation have been used to provide art classes for kidney patients on dialysis.
The Fund has also bought a house in Kerry to provide holiday accommodation suitable for kidney patients.
The trip is being planned for some time in October.
Brian Byrne.
"You know, under Federal law you can now be arrested for that?"
I was taking pictures of New York police busily clearing 42nd Street for the passage of President George Bush's motorcade as he left the UN.
The guy behind me, a friendly Afro-American, had a beef about Bush. Not unusual in this city, it seems. Nobody even waved as his cars and escorts finally swept by. A lot grumbled while they were forced to wait to cross the street, for up to 40 minutes.
"It's the first time in history that an American President has gone to the United Nations to say he has the right to torture," the Afro commented. "Mostly they're dragged to the UN to answer for their misdeeds."
The cop didn’t seem to mind being photographed, though. He pulled in his stomach and made himself look tough.
Meanwhile, the whole week of the General Assembly meeting caused the sirens rate to increase massively in an already noisy city. Traffic was even more difficult too.
And the Big Apple was also infested with secret service types, even lurking outside our hotel where the President of Sierra Leone was staying. As was also a guy named Ahern.
Brian Byrne.
The Mend and Make Do Company will present John MacKenna's play My Father's Life at the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge on Saturday 7 October.
The production is three stories in one play. It’s the story of the English peasant-poet John Clare who grew up in Northamptonshire and had brief fame with his first two books of verse before being committed to an asylum where he spent the last two dozen years of his life.
It is also the story of Eliza Clare, John’s daughter, who is left to pick up the pieces of her father’s indiscretions and his insanity and who, as the story unfolds, reveals the things in her own life that mirror those in her father’s.
And it is also the story of an Irish inmate in Northampton asylum. A man who left Ireland in the early 1800s to find work in England but found, instead, a home in a mental hospital and a gift from Jesus, a man who dreams of the house he left on the corner of a road.
The play is a gentle story of love lost and love recovered in the realms of memory. Eliza Clare is played by Sarah Maher, whose stunning performance as the young supermarket assistant in Breathless – also with Mend & Makedo – last year drew rave reviews.
She is supported by Noel Lambe (as the Inmate) and John MacKenna (as John Clare). Lighting is by Killian Martin.
The performance begins at 8pm. Admission €15/€12.
I would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you very much' to family and friends who came over to Jersey recently for my wedding, which was on the 2nd September.
We did not get the chance to say goodbye to everyone the next morning because of our early flight.
Looking forward to catching up with all the gang when we come home for Christmas, which should be a good laugh.
Oliver and Natalie Archbold.
The Diary has learned with sadness of the death of Billy Sammon, Old Kilcullen.
Billy died while in the tremendous care of the staff in St Brigid's Hospice, The Curragh. He is reposing at his residence from where removal will take place on Friday evening at 6.30 to arrive at Kilcullen Parish Church at 7 o'clock.
Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 11 o'clock and will be followed afterwards by interment in Old Kilcullen Cemetery.
To his family and very many friends, we express our deepest sympathies.
Brian Byrne.
Last night's Gala Opening of the 'Fighting Irishmen' exhibition at The Irish Arts Center in New York was a fun affair.
The arm has been the focus of much publicity about the exhibition ever since it arrived in New York last July, and media from coast-to-coast have revived interest in the artifact which last got such exposure when it was the subject of a major article in Sports Illustrated magazine.
A non-stop showing of famous fights in the Center's theatre is a popular attraction for boxing fan visitors to the exhibition.
Fighting Irishmen: A Celebration of Celtic Warriors is on exhibition for three months through November 30.
There will also be a series of special events commemorating the Celtic warrior held in conjunction with the exhibition, including An Evening with Barry McGuigan and Friends.
Brian Byrne.
Halloween is a $6bn industry across the United States, and not least because of the lengths people will go to dress up in the scariest or sexiest costumes imaginable.
"You need a watch?"
He was old, a little stooped, his pants and shirt clean and well pressed. I lifted my wrist. "From my kids on my fiftieth."
Murphy's bar on 2nd Avenue. Outside, the constant wail of sirens because President Bush was in town along with the heads of state of more than a hundred other countries. The UN General Assembly opening session. And much of the East Side closed.
He lifted his own wrist. "I'm the Watch Man. I got thinner ones than this." More here.
The things you see when you go around corners here!
It is erected outside the expensive Lever House Restuarant on Park Avenue. One wonders does it have an effect on appetite?
Brian Byrne.
Well, the Diary is in The Big Apple. No reports just yet, as your Editor is sitting in the window of a Starbucks on E55th Street, watching the city wake up of a Sunday morning.
This is why there may be a dearth of Kilcullen news this week, unless some of you out there send me in stuff. (hint hint)
Meantime, any of our New York readers can get me on +353 86 8267104.
Brian Byrne.
The exhibition in New York which includes Dan Donnelly's Arm has opened to the public and is from all accounts doing well in terms of visitors.
The arm was brought to New York in July (above) by Josephine Byrne who has lent it to the exhibitors for the three month duration of the event. Jo's picture shows longtime friend of the late Des Byrne, Aer Lingus pilot Henry Donoghue, bringing it through US Customs and Immigration.
The 'Fighting Irishmen' exhibition is at the Irish Arts Centre in New York, and includes mementos and artifacts from a wide variety of Irish boxing heroes, including Barry McGuigan.
The event is curated by Jim Houlihan, a realtor based in New York who is one of the patrons of the Arts Centre.
The official Gala Opening takes place next Tuesday evening, with an opening by the Honorary Chair of the Centre, actor Liam Neeson.
The Diary will be at the gala and will report directly from the event.
Brian Byrne.
Kilcullen Badminton Club is looking for new members for the season just starting.
Any interested people can go to the club's website, which has a new address: www.kbc.mywebweb.com
They can also contact Mark Phelan on 087 905099 or email him.
The club meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights in The Community Complex at 9pm.
The Buddy Holly & The Cricketers Show is on at the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, tonight, Friday 15 September.
For Booking: Riverbank box office: 045 448333
For nearly fourteen years the Buddy Holly & The Cricketers Show has been a hit all over the world.
This fast, furious and funny rock ‘n’ rollercoaster of a show is guaranteed to have everyone singing along to the music and dancing in the aisles to such timeless hits as That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, Raining In My Heart, Oh Boy! – and much, much more.
Make your Heartbeat a little faster with the show that has thousands of fans the world over saying: “I can’t believe it’s not Buddy!”
Sinead Redmond.
Veteran jazz musician Barry Cluskey was one of the entertainers at a recent party in the Curragh Golf Club, where Michael and Anne McCarthy of Kilcullen celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
Brian Byrne.
Twins and triplets have started another year of fun with South Kildare Multiples Group.
The friendly parent and baby/toddler group which meets in Naas Sports Centre attracts families from all over South Kildare.
The children enjoy 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.
Mums expecting multiples are also most welcome.
The group’s next meeting is on Monday, September 18, 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 Siobhan on 086 1753318.
Hilary Makin.
The possibility of putting skylights in the side roofs of the church is being investigated by the parish.
"The church badly needs a new lighting system," says Fr Andrew O'Sullivan. "It would cost in the region of €200,000 and there would be ongoing running costs. If we could increase the natural light, these would be significantly reduced."
The church was recently surveyed to make a plan of it, as no original plans were available.
"A lot of churches were built around the same time, and the original plans must have been mislaid," Fr Andrew said.
Brian Byrne.
The Diary has received reports of a robbery in Nolans butcher shop last week in which a sum of money and some equipment was stolen.
The raiders are also believed to have tried to enter Bernard Berney's pharmacy, but fled when the alarm went off.
Brian Byrne.
There was a big turnout for Cemetery Sunday, with many families attending a rosary and blessing in St Brigid's Cemetery, followed by a mass in the old cemetery at New Abbey.
Brian Byrne.
A family celebration was held on Saturday to mark Mrs Kathleen Moran's 90th birthday.
The day was launched with a mass concelebrated by Fr Supple and Fr Enda Lloyd, and the participants then repaired to Lumville House for a party. Many friends from far and wide joined with her family for what was a great day.
Kathleen was one of twelve siblings in the Bathe family and with them spent her early childhood in the gate lodge at New Abbey. Seven of her brothers and sisters are still alive.
Her parents were both from Meath, as was Larry whom she married.
Kathleen had seven children of her own, though her son Noel died some time ago. She has seventeen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
On behalf of the Diary and all of our readers who know the family, we wish Kathleen many more years of health and enjoyment.
The landowner who erected a controversial fence and razor wire at Carnalway Bridge has been issued a warning letter by Kildare County Council that the construction is 'unauthorised development'.
A number of local residents have made such objections, and a legal action has been undertaken by the residents on the basis that the fence obstructs an ancient right of way.
The letter says that Mr Langan is entitled to make submissions or observations in writing to Kildare County Council's Planning Enforcement Section within four weeks from the date of service of the warning letter. Where the Planning Authority considers that unauthorised development has been, is being or may be carried out, an Enforcement Notice may be issued.
Any person who fails to comply with such an Enforcement Notice within the specified period is liable to a fine of up to €12 million or up to two years imprisonment or both.
Tom Horan says this letter clearly serves to state that the development at Cramersvalley, blocking access to the Carnalway riverside amenity area is unauthorised by KCC.
"I'm very pleased with this outcome," he told the Diary.
Brian Byrne.
We're not sure who to thank for it, but there's now a nice shiny and functional tap in the graveyard, so people can easily draw off water for the flowers and shrubs on their loved ones' graves.
The Diary highlighted the problem last month. If the congratulations are due to Kildare County Council, we hereby acknowledge them on behalf of the community.
Meanwhile, don't forget that tomorrow is Cemetery Sunday.
Should someone undertake a project to list thing like this? After all, if Jim Collins hadn't -- literally -- resurrected it, the Spout that served as the source of water for the village for hundreds of years would have remained buried under the development of the Valley Park.
Just a thought.
Brian Byrne.
Another crane briefly took up station on the Kilcullen skyline last week, when the third level precast concrete floor sections were loaded onto the commercial offices building currently under construction beside The Hideout.
There was a big response for donations for the Sale on behalf of the displaced people of Lebanon held at the weekend, much more than it was possible to sell on the morning itself.
Pictured below are the 'crew' who ran the whole operation in the Parish Centre. A show of pictures taken by Des Travers in Lebanon caused considerable interest, and underlined the seriousness of the situation.
Brian Byrne.
Back after its annual August break, The Bridge is a big issue as it catches up with some of the doings of the summer and looks forward to those coming in autumn.
The story of the Lebanon tragedy is continued in a full page report inside, with pictures, and is also commented on in Billy Redmond's 'Off the Cuff' column, where he recalls times he spent there and details some of the friends he made among a 'very resilient people'.
News stories include the raising of almost €7,500 for St Brigid's Hospice by the Clarke family, the latest moves in the First Responder schemes in Kilcullen and Calverstown, and -- with lots of pictures -- the €8,450 raised for parish funds by the recent Golf Classic.
There are congratulations aplenty around, for Billy and Carmel Redmond's 40th wedding anniversary, for the participation by James Nolan in the recent European Transplant Games in Hungary, for the 50th anniversary celebrated by Dick and Trudy Jeffers, and to Jimmy Dempsey on his 80th birthday.
And of course, also to Ben Atkinson, formerly of Brannockstown, on reaching his 100th birthday.
Environment matters report on progress in keeping the town tidy, including some strong activity by the litter warden. The children of the Lui na Greine area are pictured doing a good job keeping their own patch looking good, but the other side of the coin is reflected in the news of damage to trees in The Valley by vandals.
Nora Breslin's recent birthday is recorded, with a good account of the proceedings which included memories of Capers.
There's a picture spread on the annual Mac and Norman Vintage Rally in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, the funds from which are already close to €30,000.
In their regular slots, Paul Aspell divines the hidden meaning of the new green cross outside Bernard Berney's chemist shop; Sean Landers reports from Taiwan that he has got a new job there, and muses on the ways that foreigners to that country can find ways to stay there. Sean also sends another extract from George A Birmingham's life in Carnalway.
Pat Behan writes about Carmel Kelly's new Sports and Remedial Massage Clinic in Calverstown, and also about another enterprise from the same area, a web-based gifts business set up by two stay-at-home mums. Visit it at 3Bees.
Obviously not idle during the Bridge's break, Pat also gives us a feature on The 'Beautiful' Game, and the placing of the inverts should indicate his actual view of a sport for 'pampered millionaires' who must have 'the ability to act'.
There's much more. But hey, buy your own copy.
Brian Byrne.
It looks like another old Kilcullen pub name has bitten the dust.
Berneys will henceforth be known as Fallon's Bar Cafe, and will reopen under that name later in the month.
The Cafe Tomat restaurant from The Red House subsequently took up what was understood to be a temporary residence in Berneys, pending a rebuilding of the famous Newbridge eating house.
But the purchase of the Red House site by Tommy Tougher ended that road. Prior to the purchase by Mr Fallon of Berneys, it was owned by Naas developer Gerry Conlan.
Brian Byrne.
When Israeli government spokesman Daniel Seaman stridently defended his country's use of cluster bombs in South Lebanon on RTE recently, he commented that he didn't know how Ireland 'conducted war' but Israel wouldn't apologise for how it defended itself.
In fact, Irish soldiers have traditionally 'conducted peace' rather than war, and have done so for years in places where Israel has been conducting wars. This might be a reason why Kilcullen's Des Travers repeatedly used the word 'obscene' when talking to the Diary about his recent investigations in South Lebanon on behalf of Amnesty.
After a ten-day trip through destroyed towns and villages in the area pounded by the Israeli armed forces, the now-retired Colonel Travers is quite convinced that the Israelis have a war crimes case to answer.
"There is abundant evidence of the targeting of undefended civilians by all available military means," he says. "This is sufficient to merit an investigation into significant breaches of international humanitarian law."
The request from Amnesty came through Lieut-General Gerry McMahon, former Chief of Staff of the Irish Army. The organisation wanted somebody with military experience of Lebanon to help identify and comprehend the nature of the conflict, and see if there was evidence of war crimes having taken place.
"He asked me if I was prepared to go, and I went at 24 hours' notice. I travelled with Amnesty's Desk Officer for the Middle East, Donatella Rovera, who is a very accomplished officer and among several languages she speaks both Hebrew and Arabic."
Their itinerary began in Damascus and from there it was a perilous journey over the Shouf Mountains into Lebanon to enter Beirut.
"All the roads in the area had been 'cratered' and there was also Israeli air activity continuously overhead, and we never knew who was going to be hit next. They were targeting lorries with foodstuffs, and the problem was that if you were close to one of these you were in danger of getting some of the detonation effect."
From Beirut, Des and Donatella teamed up with a local Amnesty group and they decided to head south while there was a temporary cessation of conflict.
First stops were Sidon and the old port city of Tyre, and from there they negotiated with taximen to take them further afield. "We had to pay quite a lot of money, but it was good value because we had the services of these taximen who knew the war situation, and seemed to have a kind of a bush telegraph about danger."
The mobile phone is the most important communication system in Lebanon. But it is also one of the great hazards because the Hizbollah use them to trigger roadside bombs. So they are listened for by Israel and the group knew of at least one instance of a person being targeted simply because he was using his mobile phone.
"I personally was very uncomfortable about electronic leakages, and when I could avoid it I didn't use my phone or laptop. But my colleagues were dependent on it because they were constantly being sought after to give interviews."
From Tyre the group travelled to Bint Jbeil, the principal city in the region, and on that journey they found that most of the villages on the route had been destroyed. It was also clear in many villages that the food stores had been targeted, along with automotive repair shops, but in a different way than residences. Munitions had been used which didn't explode but instead entered the building and then set the interiors alight.
"When targeting residential buildings they used laser-guided bombs. If you can strike one or more foundation uprights in typical Lebanese buildings, the building topples in on itself. I came across places which had been apartment blocks up to 20 stories high, and all that was left was a crater, a hollow. It was outrageous and appalling."
Given that they were themselves travelling by taxi, it was also more than disconcerting when they came across other taxis which had been targeted by guided missiles while carrying civilian families trying to flee the area.
"We came across one with a white flag on its antenna, but it had nevertheless been destroyed, its occupants killed. We looked through the wreck, and any allegations that they were carrying Katushkas or other weapons in the boot are utter nonsense. It was an obscenity; the man who fired the missile into that car knew exactly what he was doing. The missile went straight for the engine block, then ended up a metre into the ground underneath."
He believes the weapons used on such cars were heat-seeking anti-armour missiles, probably an American product known as Hellfire, which costs $58,000 per missile. "To me it was particularly offensive to use such a device against taxis with people fleeing through what the Israelis had said was an 'exit zone'."
Their journey was made more difficult because virtually every bridge in the region had been flattened, and many roads were effectively impassable. It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the Israelis were deliberately destroying the essential infrastructure of a modern nation.
"I don't understand the logic behind deliberately destroying a bridge that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild, when simply cratering the road on either side will achieve the same military purpose at far less cost to the community."
He was brought to a house where a 2,000lb bomb lay unexploded, and admits that he was 'not happy' being there, even though the fuse had been removed. The bomb was clearly identifiable as being made by Israeli Military Industries, to an American design and specification.
Many of the destroyed buildings they came across still had bodies unrecovered from the rubble, because the group could smell the decomposition.
They also arrived at several places where cluster bombs, which jettison incendiaries across a wide area on impact, had been used. "The use of these is a war crime as far as I'm concerned. They are particularly obscene devices because a fifth of them do not detonate on impact and leave in effect a minefield."
The main shopping and markets area of Bint Jbeil had been 'utterly destroyed', and was strewn with cluster bombs. "These outrageous devices should be condemned, and the only reason that they haven't been condemned internationally is because Britain and America insist on retaining them."
Des tells of seeing farmers picking up unexploded cluster bomblets with shovels and gingerly carrying them across to beyond their fields. "I asked them if they were mad, and they just shrugged and said they 'had to use their fields'."
He notes that the whole of south Lebanon is 'pockmarked' with 155mm artillery shells, targeted at roads and dwellings.
The site of the infamous massacre at Qu'an was also on their route. "My interpretation of what happened here, was that they got a thermal signature of the large group of children who were hiding there, while all the other buildings were clearly empty, so they just said 'let's hit it'. I regard that as a criminal act where a decision was taken with complete disregard for the nature of the occupants. They ought to have known that Hizbollah would not be stupid enough to pack 60 soldiers into a basement."
Beirut in the north of the country was itself also a target during the weeks of the conflict and the group visited several areas which had been levelled. At one building where rescue and recovery efforts were still going on, they waited while the body of a woman was taken out. She had died in the basement with her four children. The total number of bodies taken from the building was 22.
Des Travers makes no apology for saying this was a very deliberate, cold-blooded, calculated war on the Israeli side.
"They were able to target specific buildings where groups of people were sheltering in the basements. They could evaluate the heat signatures from these groups, probably using unmanned flying drones, and then send a missile in very accurately to bring the building down on them. In no case that I saw were there indications of any secondary explosions, as there would have been if there were weapons and munitions stored in these buildings."
He also talks of evidence that Israel used the war to test 'unusual or abnormal munitions', including the notorious fuel-air bombs which are known as the 'poor man's atomic weapon' and inflict horrendous injuries with very little chance of survival. The possibility of such action was raised by doctors trying to treat some of the casualties, the healing of whose injuries in some cases were rendered difficult or impossible because of the nature of the damage to their tissue.
While this aspect remains to be proven, there is growing evidence of the wide use of all available combat options and delivery systems in the Israeli Defence Forces being deployed, Des Travers's report to Amnesty concludes. He also comments that, with a dynamic defence industry in Israel, it is 'tempting to surmise' that new munitions would be tested in combat at the first available opportunity.
"It was a technological war, which made it more obscene. People could do what they liked from a distance and not live with the horror of their actions. Some man looking at a screen in Israel was making a very easy decision."
"For example, on our way to Baalbeck we came across a state of the art dairy factory which had won the contract for providing dairy products to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force. It was a contract which had previously been held by an Israeli company. You have to ask yourself why did the Israelis see fit to destroy a dairy factory?"
A lifelong career military man, Des Travers nevertheless admits that he was shocked by what he saw. "On the first day, I was wiped out by what I was seeing. I knew there were a few things I could be doing 'on autopilot', such as taking photographs and writing notes, and a lot of the time I was rummaging around because by doing so I could keep my face averted."
Brian Byrne.
NOTE: Pictures used here were supplied by Des Travers, many taken by himself, and some by other members of the group he travelled with. A number were considered too brutal to publish here.
