Thanks for Classic support

Many thanks to all who supported our Parish Golf Classic, held in the Curragh Golf Club.



First Prize was four green fees to Carton and was won by the Andy Nolan Team.

John Kelly and Terry McNally provided great dancing music which was really enjoyed by all. This is mainly a Parish social with the Golf Classic as a side. It is open to everyone with the Curragh Golf Club being an ideal venue.

The cost is kept to a minimum. Where else would you get a full buffet dinner, dessert, tea/coffee and music for €30 as well as raising approx €3,000 euro for the parish? Maybe next year we will have even a bigger crowd.

Nessa Dunlea.

New menu at Paul's Restaurant

Paul's restaurant in the Market Square development has developed a new menu aimed at being more appropriate for these difficult times.

According to the operators, the menu offers 'a different experience without damaging the pocket' and 'without scarifying the quality of the ingredients, creativity or presentation'.

The starters range in price from €6-€10 and include Maple Glazed Wings and Ribs to Capriccio Of Beef with Rocket, Parmesan and Lemon Oil.

Main courses, priced between €15-€25, include Slow Braised Pork Belly with the Chefs 5 Spices Maple Glaze and Blackened Salmon with Fennel and Tomato Salsa. Vegetarian dishes include Mosaic of Aubergine, Courette on Potato Rosti or the Moroccan Tagine with Flatbread which can also be served with Succulent Lamb.



Paul’s is located in a spectacular environment on the River Liffey. It stocks a wide selection of wines, beers and a range of cocktails.

Paul’s Riverside Restaurant is open Wednesday-Saturday for dinner, with a special early-bird menu from 5-7pm of a 2 course meal and a glass of wine, priced at €25. Lunch served Sundays from 12noon.

For more information call 045 482966.

A snip for these hair times

"If we can make it work in a recession, then we can fly when it gets good."



Amanda Finn, on right above with her colleague Serena Kelly, doesn't have any illusions about how hard it is to set up a hairdressing business in these financially testing times. But she knows enough about the business to figure she can make a go of it while waiting for better days to come. Thus the recent opening of ‘The Hair Emporium’ beside Bernard Berney’s Chemist shop.

Amanda comes from a family in the hair care business and has trained and worked extensively in other salons in Dublin and Kilcullen. But her wish was always to open her own business in the town.

“My mum had a salon here for ten years, Cross Cuts, and when this shop unit came up I grabbed it with both hands.”

Serena Kelly, who trained with Robert Chambers in Dublin but has really got tired of the commute, also came on board Amanda’s project. The third member of the team is Alice Geoghegan.

A most unusual idea is that ‘The Hair Emporium’ opens on Sundays through the summer, from 11.30am to 3pm.

“That has been really great for us so far,” Amanda says. “I think mums are probably able to come out more easily on Sundays because the dads are home to mind the kids. They can come in and chill out. Also, a lot of family events like christenings happen on Sundays, and it gives them a chance to look their best on the day.”

The style of the premises is elegant, and that was a deliberate choice of Amanda’s. “I wanted a quiet calming atmosphere, different to what most salons are.”

In addition to looking after customers’ real hair, The Hair Emporium stocks hairpieces by Stacey Hannon, recognised as at the top of the field and winner of this year’s ‘Bridal Design’ award for hairpieces.

The other key hair care products on sale are by Renken and L’Oreal, top of the league.

Brian Byrne.

(This feature was first published in the Kilcullen Page on last week's Kildare Nationalist - the only paper that gives Kilcullen its proper space.)

Getting off at a station

Night Train to Lisbon. Pascal Mercier. Literary novel.

Most of us rarely stop to see where our life is going. We are too busy living it, journeying as if on a train to a known destination from which nobody has yet sent back a report or a guidebook. To put the trip into perspective before it ends, we need to get off at one, or a few stations before the last one.

What triggers Raimund Gregorius, a set in his ways languages teacher at a University in Bern, to do just this is a chance encounter with a woman on a bridge and how she speaks. A few short words in her native Portuguese sets him off on a side trip to Lisbon after which his life will never be the same.

Or is it actually different? Does the journey, and the several others which he takes through both the present day and the Salazar dictatorship era Portugal, through another chance encounter, this time with a book, merely provide him with a reflection of his own life?

Gregorius is by nature a self-contained man. With few friends, he would think, though he might be surprised to realise just how fondly those who do acquaint his life consider him. The unexpected detour on his own journey has him following a man long dead, the doctor Amadeu Prado, through his writings and through those of Prado's friends who are still alive. He finds a man, indeed, very similar to himself.

His quest is not necessarily welcomed by some of the dead man's friends and acquaintances. Prado was, as most of us are, a very complex individual who created complications in the lives of those he left behind.

'Night Train to Lisbon' is not a quick read. Despite the fact that I am a quick reader, it took me several months to finish Mercier's book. Months of many pick-ups and put-downs. Months in which I probably read a dozen or more books of much less depth. It is a story of many layers, as might be expected with the author being a Professor of Philosophy. And many of those layers are deep.

If a soul can be searched, Gregorius is doing it for all of us. If, of course, there is such a thing as a soul. Perhaps life itself, in its simple and its complex, is the soul. Thus it is even more transient than people of faith would prefer to believe. And if there is a life everlasting component to our being here, perhaps it is about how what we do, or don't do, decides small but vital local constructs in the extraordinary web that is mankind's past, present and future.

You can read this one for how elegantly the words are writ, even in translation from the original German. Or you can read it to plumb its philosophical depths. Or simply to follow a man who took the time to get off the train before the last stop. To look back at where he came from. To realise that there are other places than those on the route first chosen. To spend time with fellow travellers on the network and see where their journeys have taken them.

When I think about it, that's what I was doing in how I read this book. Conciously or not, I didn't want to do the whole trip in one go.

Brian Byrne.

The passing of Annie Fenelon

The Diary has learned of the death of Annie Fenlon, Kilgowan, at Hazel Hall Nursing Home, Clane, in her 98th year.

Removal will take place from Hazel Hall on Wednesday afternoon at 2.15, to arrive at St Joseph's Church, Gormanstown, for Requiem Mass at 3 o'clock.

Burial will take place afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Were you there? I was!

To answer your question in the article "Are you in one of these pictures?" - YES... and look at the state of me!! What a trip down memory lane looking at all the young faces in the photo. Most of us are still living around Kilcullen, Newbridge, Naas while others are as far away as Jamaica.

This trip was mixed first and second class and I actually remember going on it.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. It was great fun working out who everyone was!

Eilis Keogh.

Bridge takes summer break

With the compilation of the July/August edition of Kilcullen's community magazine 'The Bridge', those who are part of the effort can take a bit of a summer break before heading the publication to its 40th year.

Arguably the longest running voluntary community magazine of its kind in the country, 'The Bridge' has chronicled Kilcullen activities and people not just for these four decades but also for centuries and even millenia, thanks to many historical pieces written by local residents and writers over the years.

"We're finding that the new Kilcullen people are getting involved, both as regular readers and in some cases as writers," says Noel Clare, who looks after the printing and makeup of the magazine with his wife Frances. "Those who are settled here for the long haul have taken to 'The Bridge' because they see it as a window into the town they have adopted. Both what's going on today and where it came from."

The magazine was started using a Gestetner copying machine back in 1971, the brainchild of two local young men and brought into existence by the support of local curate Fr Cathal Price. It continues today thanks to the continuing voluntary effort of a number of Kilcullen people old and new, young and older.

The latest issue includes, as well as the local news led by the recent winning by Usk residents of their court case against a 'superdump', views from long-time columnists Billy Redmond, Bernard Berney and Sean Landers. There are also roundups of the happenings in various sports clubs, the national and secondary schools, business and enterprise, and just general to and fro in Kilcullen.

'The Bridge' has always depended on the direct involvement of local people, in a very unstructured way. If you want to be part of a continuing four-decade success story, email thebridgemagazine@eircom.net And this writer, who has been a professional journalist for more than 30 years, will always acknowledge that he cut his writing teeth, so to speak, by having 'The Bridge' as an outlet to hone his writing and editing endeavours for many years before he made it his career. Without it, I might never have had so much fun as I have had in my life.

Brian Byrne. NOTE: This feature was originally published in last week's Kildare Nationalist.

Ladies rugby recruiting

Newbridge RFC's ladies squad is recruiting new players for the upcoming season.

All are welcome, whether or not you have played rugby before. Pre-season training kicks off on Wednesday, August 5, at 7.30pm in Newbridge College. Pre-season training will take place on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

It's a great way to get fit, have fun and meet new people! For more information, contact Laura on 087 9871752.

Halverstown NS plans Open Day

An Open Day planned for 26 September will officially mark the beginning of the 50th anniversary celebrations for St Joseph's NS in Halverstown.

A mass followed by a blessing of the school's new extension will be a keynote of the day, which will also include a words and photographic display looking back at the five decades since the school opened in November 1959.

A Dinner Dance to end the day will be held at Kilcullen Community Centre.

If you or your children attended the school, and you or they have pictures, schoolbooks, or school reports from the 50 years, maybe you can lend them to the organisers of the celebrations. A booklet incorporating such memorabilia is planned.

Phone 087 9014614 or email HalverstownSchool_50@hotmail.com if you want to get involved.

Old Kilcullen Mass Friday

The annual mass and Blessing of Graves in Old Kilcullen Cemetery will take place on Friday next, 31 July, at 7.30pm.

The mass is held in the ruins of the old church beside the tower, which was itself damaged in the 1798 rebellion.

The churchyard is the site of a monastery founded by St Patrick in the 5th century.

The passing of Una Watters

The Diary has learned with sadness of the death of Una Watters of Clermont, Kinneagh.

She will be sadly missed by her daughters Margaret, Elaine, Jacqueline, Paula, and Emer, and her son, Enda, as well as her sisters Patsy, Kate and Peggy, her extended family and their many friends. Una was also sister to the late Owen, Peter, Tom, Ethna and Dympna.

We extend to her family our heartfelt condolences.

Una will be reposing at her home from 7 o'clock on Monday evening. Removal will be at 11.30 am Tuesday for her funeral Mass, which will take place at 12 o'clock in Kilcullen Parish Church. Burial will be in St Conleth's Cemetery, Newbridge alongside Una's husband Lt Col John Watters.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

All at the Zoo, 1981

Are you in one of these pictures? And if so, where are you now?



They were sent in by Nuala Collins, who was one of the teachers who accompanied these Scoil Bhride pupils on a school outing to Dublin Zoo in June 1981.

Congratulations Dec!

On behalf of his friends, the Diary extends hearty congratulations to Dec Berney (The Decker) on his 86th birthday today.



Pictured above are Ronan Murray, Eamonn Boyce of The Hideout, and Dec, when a surprise cake was brought out to mark his big birthday.

Kathryn sets up Foot Health Clinic

When you think about it, our feet probably take the heaviest load of any part of our body.

Yet they are arguably the parts of us that we look after the least.

Foot health specialist Kathryn Keatley, who has recently opened a Foot Health Clinic at Kilgowan, would agree with that thought.

“It often isn’t until there’s something that’s actually causing pain that they go to see somebody about it,” says Kathryn, who has literally followed in the footsteps of her mother, who has cared for people’s feet for some 25 years.

Kathryn has completed a Foot Health Practioner’s course, and she specialises in treatment of callouses, corns, verrucas, ingrown toenails and other foot problems.

And while it is true that older people suffer more from feet problems than younger, she says that an increasing number of young people are being harder on their feet than is necessary.

“For instance, they tend to wear sneakers a lot, because it’s trendy. But these make feet sweat more, and this can lead to problems like athlete’s foot and other difficulties.”

And then, of course, there’s the old reliable problem of women who have been wearing unsuitable very high shoes for years, and these finally end up creating corns and misshapen toes. “There are also difficulties with the increasing obesity in young people, which is causing more pressure on their feet.”

Long before bunions, verrucas and such things force the issue, Kathryn says regular attention to feet can stop problems in their tracks.

“I recommend people should soak their feet about twice a week, and put plenty of cream on them, keeping the skin from drying out and cracking. And leaving your shoes off while in the house, walking around in just socks or slippers is always helpful. But the truth is, everybody is so busy these days that they just don’t think of the simple things.”

Also, with more people using gymnasiums and swimming pools, there’s increased chances of picking up foot infections such as verrucas. Like anything else, having an eye out for early signs of trouble can keep major stuff at bay.

And again, Kathryn emphasises that foot care should start when people are young, so they get used to looking after the parts that keep them moving all their lives.

If you need further information, you can phone 087 7796682.

Brian Byrne.

(This article was first published in the Kilcullen page of last week's Kildare Nationalist.)

Kilcullen bus services 'will be retained'

Bus Eireann and JJ Kavanagh have given assurances that the services through Kilcullen will be retained after the opening of the next section of the M9 motorway in the autumn.

Local councillor Martin Heydon was given the assurances after a meeting with representatives of the bus companies, at the Athy Area Committee meeting. The companies had been invited to give their views on a motion put down by the FG councillor relating to the need for services to be expanded to Moone, Timolin and Ballitore.

At present, Bus Eireann and JJ Kavangh's Waterford to Dublin services only stop at Castledermot and Kilcullen, while bypassing the villages in between.

"This causes problems for people in these villages," the newly elected councillor says, "particularly the elderly who don't have a means of transport and have to try to make it to the bigger towns to avail of the bus service.

"Back in the 1950s and 60s these villages were always serviced by the national carrier but in recent times this service has ceased. This problem will be a lot worse when the new M9 motorway opens, in the back end of this year, leaving some people very isolated."

He asked that one service in the morning and one in the evening would stop in the villages thus giving local residents a vital link to Dublin.

Vintage Rally on again

The next Mac & Norman's Vintage Rally is being run this year on Sunday 16 August, once again in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.

It will start as usual from Cannycourt, running through Carnalway, Logstown in Kilcullen, then along Main Street and up to Brennan's of Old Kilcullen for a break. The finale will again take place at The Stray Inn in Mile Mill, with the familiar and popular Auction of goods and services.

The event has raised over €250,000 for the ICS since it was inaugurated.

Full details from 045 483700.

Cohen wows the 02

The Diary went to hear Leonard Cohen at the O2 last night



Awesome. Full report later.

Elaine hits a significant 'Oh'

Elaine Coleman celebrated a big birthday on Saturday night in O'Connell's Lounge.



Though the Diary didn't wait though the event, we understand a great night was had by all.

The Saint is back in town

Although he has spent practically all his adult life living in the US, local man Donal St Leger never forgets his roots and comes home regularly to keep in touch with everybody.



He’s forsaken New Jersey again for a while and is currently on his summer visit, with his wife Virginia.

Welcome again, Saint.

Golf classic for HOPE

The Calverstown Golf Society is holding a Classic at Killerig Castle GC on Saturday 15 August.

The event, which tees off at 11am, is is aid of Eoin MacMahon's fundraising for the Hope Directorate at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

Entry is €200 a team of four, and the Classic is also a fundraising opportunity for a local group or charity. Each team will nominate a charity to receive support from the prize fund.

The Classic is limited to 20 teams and further information is available from Larry Doyle at 087 9305140.

Barbecue for Barretstown on Sunday

If the weather is right, the hot place to be next Sunday afternoon is Bardon's Roof Garden. That's where a special fundraising barbecue for Barretstown Castle Foundation will be sizzling along.

Running from 4pm-11pm, the event will include live music from Beefy Minehan & Friends, and all the proceeds will go to the charity set up by the late Paul Newman for seriously ill children.

The event is the brainchild of Bardons regular Stan Clarke, and proprietor Eddie Cross and his colleagues Linda Price and Ellen O’Driscoll got wholeheartedly behind the idea, and arranged for sponsorship of the food and spot prizes.

In 1994, Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Camps founded its first camp in Europe, at Barrestown. Children from more than 20 European countries with serious health conditions come there each year.

The passing of John Walsh

The Diary records the death of John (Mansie) Walsh, Brigade Lodge.

John is reposing at Hughes Funeral Home, Kilcullen Road, Naas.

Removal will take place on Friday morning, arriving at the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Brigid for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. Burial will take place immediately afterwards in St Conleth's Cemetery, Newbridge.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

'Thanks' from new councillor

The new FG Councillor for the Athy Area, Martin Heydon, held a ‘thank you’ evening recently in The Priory, Kilgowan, for those who had helped with his election campaign.



There was a strong turnout from among those who had helped in many different ways towards getting Martin elected. Pictured at the event are Jim Hannon, Reggie Lawlor, Martin himself, Rainsford Hendy, and Tom Walsh.

Query about Heybyrne family

I’m trying to trace my ancestors who came from Kilcullen.

My great, great grandfather, Martin Francis Heybyrne, was born in Kilcullen in April 1819 and his father James Heybyrne was born in Kilcullen in 1795. They were barbers and later moved to Dublin –- in the Corn Market.

The grandson of James Heybyrne was a Patrick Heybyrne who was jailed in 1865 for being part of a Fenian plot. There is a reference to him in the book 'The Wearing of the Green' where it describes a march through Dublin in 1867 to honour three Irishmen executed in Manchester. It states that the procession stopped outside Heybyrne’s shop in honour of Patrick Heybyrne.

I know little else of these Heybyrne ancestors –- who were their parents, where they lived etc. Are any records kept in local churches of baptisms, burials, wedding etc –- are there any local history groups who might help?

Michael Cox.

Stay n' Play moves

The Stay n’ Play playgroup has now moved from the Community Centre to the Parish Centre.

There’s also a change of day, to Wednesdays, from 10.30am-12,30pm.

Praise for Usk community

The chairman of the Usk anti-dump campaign has praised the local community for sticking with the fight against the project.

Pat Higgins of Usk & District Residents Association Ltd says they were 'absolutely fantastic' over the nine-year campaign, which they won in the Commercial High Court last week.

"They deserve the praise of the world for what they have gone through and what they have raised to try and keep this thing going," he told the Diary. "There were times when the campaign seemed to be at death's door and they have pulled something out of the fire. Words can't describe the support, the camaraderie, everything that has been there.”

The judgement decided that the process by which the decision to grant planning permission to Greenstar Ltd by An Bord Pleanala, on two occasions, was flawed from as early as 2001. The case has cost some €3m of taxpayer’s money, and local residents also had to raise €500,000 to pay for the progress of their case.

In 2006 An Bord Pleanala granted permission to Greenstar for the Usk Dump, against its own inspector's recommendations and despite the fact that Kildare County Council had previously nominated a site at Drehid in North Kildare as the location for a new ‘super’ waste facility for the county.

The campaign obtained a successful High Court judicial review of the decision of the Bord. However, following three oral hearings and many deferrals the permission was again granted in August of 2009.

The decision of this second judicial review is open to appeal to the Supreme Court.

"But everybody is hoping that this is the end to it," Pat Higgins says, "and they can get on with their lives without the fear of health hazards hanging over them."

Speed check on Carlow road

Time to slow down ... or is it too late?



Two can play the camera game ...



Flatpack gardai!



Wave on the way back ... but remember, they might park a real one in front of it now and again!

Operator, I've been disconnected...

The phone boxes went this morning.



As previously reported, they were due to be taken away on March 16, leaving the nearest public Eircom box available in Newbridge.

The removal is part of a programme in which Eircom is taking out 40 percent of its phone boxes around the country.

Breathing to bust stress

Anything that helps us deal with today's myriad problems has to be good. For Rachel Banks of Riverside Manor, what works is breathing therapy.

The idea -- also known as ‘re-birthing’ -- isn’t new. It is based on breathing in and out through one’s mouth only, while in a lying position. In some ways it is similar to Yogic breathing.

“Breathing this way gets the oxygen right through your whole body in a way that normal breathing doesn’t. And the idea is that some of the trauma we experience when being born is still with us, and this breathing system can bring us back and help us get rid of it. It is therapy without talking, and after it you feel what I can only describe as so much lighter. It leaves you with a much more positive outlook on life.”

Rachel says it has also had a physical positive effect on her health. “I’m feeling fantastic now.”

The full version of this article is published on the Kilcullen Page of this week's Kildare Nationalist.

Cake & Plant Sale

Kilcullen Flower & Garden Club is holding a Cake & Plant Sale, Saturday 11 July in the former Nolans Auctioneers, 10am-1pm.

All are welcome.

Usk judgement welcomed

"The decision of the Commercial High Court to quash the planning permission granted by An Bord Pleanala to Greenstar holdings for a dump at Usk is vindication for a nine-year fight by local residents."

That’s according to local Kildare County Councillor Martin Heydon, who spoke on leaving the High Court last Wednesday.



The judgement states that the process by which the decision to grant planning permission (twice) by An Bord Pleanala was flawed from as early as 2001, proving a point that the local community have been making all along.

"This was never a case of the local residents not just wanting a dump in their back yard, said Heydon, this has always been just the wrong site for it, from the outset. Yesterdays verdict proves that a small community can take on large corporations and state bodies and win."

In excess of €3 million of tax payers money has been spent on this case so far, while local residents have raised almost €500,000 during the course of what now is Ireland’s longest running planning application.

While there is leave to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court, the comprehensive nature of the judgement means that the likelihood of a dump being granted planning permission for Usk is remote.

"I welcome this decision and congratulate Pat Higgin’s chairman, and all members of the Usk and District Residents Association Ltd (UDRAL) on there persistence with this battle," concluded Heydon, who was recently elected to Kildare Council. He is also a local resident whose farming enterprise would have been affected by the dump going ahead.

Pictured are the residents and members of the UDRAL outside the High Court for the judgement on Wednesday July 8th.

Kildare Steiner School – our journey

Since our relocation from Dunshane to this magnificent site just outside Dunlavin, the school community has worked together to create a place of beauty in which our children can be educated.



Our St John’s festival on June 26th marked a seminal point in that journey as we hosted a bustling and happy Open Day for all our families and a host of guests. The sun shone down on us as a number of last year’s projects, including the artistic Cob Oven finally came into their own. The barbecue was steaming as friends and guests helped themselves to lovely organic salads, breads and deserts. There was a real carnival atmosphere, helped along by our very own Dorly, on fiddle, with her fellow musicians and a hardy bunch of set dancers … the bonfire was also a big hit with children and adults alike.

As at the end of term we have a thriving little school with 24 children in the kindergarten (3 and a half to 6 years) and 26 children in the main school (across two classrooms), enabling us to keep our classes small and focused. We would like to see the school grow and develop further next year, and in fact we will have dedicated Class One, reflecting ten children moving up from the kindergarten to the main school.

We intend to develop our polytunnel further and continue to enhance the now lovely parent ands toddler garden by having more sessions in that area. So, if you are a family with pre-school children who would like to get to know the school, why not come along to parent and toddler and experience the wonder of the Steiner approach first hand? You WILL find it interesting and appealing.

Alternatively if your child is currently in a mainstream school and you are considering a transfer, now is a good time to pursue that, so give is a call on 045 401919- or call me as I am handling enrolment and can talk about the transfer experience, having moved my own son here after third class.

Angie Ruane.
086 4005211

Be visible, be safe

Though the evenings are still long and bright and great for those who like to go for a walk, being visible to motorists is still important for road safety.

Especially for older people, who might not be as aware of approaching traffic from behind.

In order to help there, free high-viz vests are available from participating pharmacies, including those in Kilcullen, to people over 65.

Just one vest per person is available in the initiative, which is sponsored by Age Action Ireland, the Road Safety Auhtority and the Irish Pharmacy Union.

If you qualify, go get one. Don’t be shy, be visible.

Drama workshop

A Summer Drama Workshop, ‘Kings & Clowns’, will include tuition in mime, improvisition, film-making, plays and dance.

It runs from July 27-8 August, at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Junior Class is for 5-8 year-olds; the Seniors are 9-12 year-olds. Fees for one wee are €100, or €180 for two weeks. Reductions are available for three or more siblings booked.

Further details from Rani Govender at 045 483606 087 7923139.

Good response to Table Quiz

A Table Quiz held in The Hideout to raise funds towards the provision of new football strip for Scoil Bhride raised €300.

MC for the evening was Noel Clare. Eamonn and Rory Boyce, who are the new operators of The Hideout, wish to thank all who supported the event.

Time short for development proposals

Time is running out for anyone in Kilcullen who wants to make a submission on the next County Development Plan.

Submissions on a review of the Kildare County Development Plan 2005-2011 may be made up to July 10, as part of the review of the Plan and the preparation of a new one.

Like any other town and village in the county, the Development Plan can have a big impact on the future of Kilcullen and bears checking out.

Kildare County Council has prepared an 'Issues Paper' which identifies the key planning issues that the next Plan could address.

This paper can be viewed on the Council's website at www.kildare.ie/countycouncil

Copies are also available from Arus Chill Dara in Naas, the various Area Offices in Maynooth, Athy or Clane, and in the county's public libraries.

A public information workshop was held recently in the Kilcullen Heritage Centre aimed at helping people prepare submissions.

If you didn't make it, or didn't know about it, the basic rule is that submissions must be made in writing, marked 'County Development Plan Review', to Ann Rowan, Senior Executive Officer, Planning Department, Kildare County Council, Arus Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co Kildare.

The closing date is 4pm on Friday 10 July 2009. All submissions must have the full name and address of the individuals or organisations making them.

Gardening 'good for Alzheimers'

Did you know that gardening is something that helps ease the lot of Alzheimers sufferers? We didn't until we met with Helen Dreelan, Matron of the Alzheimers Unit in St Vincents in Athy.



Along with Josie Connelly, Dick Reade, and Ann Corrigan, she was collecting in Kilcullen for the Unit. Specifically to fundraise the €15,000 cost of a secure polytunnel which can be used by the Alzheimers patients all year around.

"There's been a lot of research which shows that gardening calms people with Alzheimers," Helen says. "We already have a garden plot for them in Athy, but the polytunnel makes the whole idea more suited to the Irish weather."

The facility will have wheelchair access, and each ward will have a raised garden space. Because many of the patients are confused and inclined to wander, it will be securely fenced.

The Unit also bought a special percussion system worth €4,000 from the US some time ago, as more research shows that drumming also has a beneficial effect on the minds of Alzheimers patients.

"A lot of people with advanced Alzheimers regress back to a very childlike state, and it seems that the they equate the drumming to their mothers' heartbeat before they were born," Helen says. "It soothes them."

Pictured above are Ann Corrigan, Josie Connelly, Dick Reade, and Helen Dreelan, Matron of the Alzheimers Unit in St Vincents in Athy, collecting funds in Kilcullen for the Unit.

Action at the Feile

There was lots of action at Saturday's games of Feile Chill Dara 2009 at Kilcullen GAA.

Playgroup restructuring

The Stay n' Play toddler and carer group have put together a plan for reorganisation, which includes a number of development ideas for future events and activities.

The group, which has been based at the Community Centre for some time, is looking for a new venue. It is also considering activities for the summer.

A recent meeting in The Hideout showed a strong expression of interest in the continuance of the group, which in one form or another has been in existence for many years.

The group has its own website.

Visit Mary Shortt's garden

Mary Shortt is holding her Open Garden event on this Saturday and Sunday afternoons in aid of KARE, the Kildare organisation that helps people with disabilities. She has been a longtime member of KARE, and is also a founder member of the Kilcullen Flower & Garden Club, which meets on a monthly basis in Kilcullen Parish Centre.



Since she retired in 2006 after nearly a quarter of a century operating the sub Post Office in Kilcullen, Mary has had more time to spend on her gardening passion.

“I couldn’t really do what I wanted while we were working, as you wouldn’t have the energy to do things after a day in the Post Office,” she says. “Now, though, it’s coming along well.”



And though her husband Francis maintains that the growing garden is all Mary’s work, there’s no doubt that, as he walks you through the different sections, and talks of the plans for making it bigger, he’s as much involved as she is.

The Open Days admission is €6, which includes tea, and in addition to the flowers to see, there will be a plant sale, cake stall and a raffle.

For further information, contact Mary at 045 481389. The time on both the Saturday and Sunday will be from 1-6pm.

Marella's hostel a world eco-winner

A hostel in Omagh, Co Tyrone, run by Kilcullen-born Marella Fyffe, has been named as one of the world’s Top Ten Eco-Hostels.

The commendation for the Omagh Hostel at Glenhordial Farm, from the online ‘bible’ of hostelling, HostelWorld.Com, puts the operation in the same league as top eco-hostels in Hawaii, Iceland, Singapore, the US and Britain.

Indeed, no less than three hostels on the island of Ireland are in this year’s list, which was issued by HostelWorld.Com in conjunction with Earth Day. The others are the Cnocnafeola Cultural & Residential Centre in the Mourne Mountains, Sleepzone in Connemara, and Gyreum in Sligo.

Marella Fyffe, a daughter of the late Tom and Carmel Byrne in Kilcullen, set up the Omagh Hostel 18 years ago with her husband Bill, as an adjunct to a landscape gardening business. They moved it into the eco-hostel stream about four years ago.

“It was partly because Omagh is off the beaten track and isn’t exactly a place where people come to on their holidays,” Marella recalls. “I needed some form of niche product that would attract people to the area for more than accommodation.”

Apart from that, as somebody very interested in outdoor pursuits herself, the concept fitted in with Marella’s own ethos. The work on the hostel over the last few years has included extensive recycling, composting and a green purchasing policy, and ranges to the use of low energy lighting and even environmentally friendly reed beds.

Individual aspects of the programme include using 'green' electricity via Eco Energy NIE, reusing and reduction in packaging from suppliers, and investment in a highly efficient biomass central heating boiler.

“That last is helped by the fact that in the landscaping business, there is a considerable amount of green waste, which previously we had to pay for to dispose of the tiphead,” Marella notes. “Now we have our own way of using it.”

CO2 output for the hostel has been measured to be about 16.5 tonnes per year, which is about half the norm in the UK. The Fyffes plant at least 22 trees per year as part of their programme to reduce this even further.

Organic vegetables and fruit grown at the hostel and in the surrounding area are used.

“We also encourage our guests to arrive by bus, offering a free pick up and leave back to the local bus station and we have a locked security area for bicycles.”

The shift to an eco emphasis has brought a new type of traveller to the Omagh Hostel. “It definitely has brought extra business to us, a different clientele who have an interest in ecology, angling, hill-walking and folklore. The come here because they see us as an example of good practice.”

That has also been recognised by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, who just recently told Marella that the hostel is to be showcased by them as an example of how to develop sustainable eco-tourism.

Last year the hostel was the first one in NI to be awarded the prestigious EU Flower Ecolabel in the tourist accommodation category. It also received the Omagh District Council Award for Biodiversity.

Big Toddles by little people

Toddlers from two different Kilcullen pre-school groups took part in the recent ‘Big Toddle’ sponsored event in aid of Barnardos.



They included some 20 little people from the Stay N’ Play Toddlers & Carers Group (above), and another group from ELMS, the Montessori early learning group (below).



The national 'toddle' event was sponsored by Danone, the Irish Independent, and Today FM.

'Stay and Play' is based in the Kilcullen Community Centre for the last year, and is the current version of a group which has been in operation in Kilcullen for two decades. Their Toddle raised €141.50.

The ELMS is also in the Community Centre, having recently moved into a purpose-designed facility there.