Tweet treats for medical charity

Ever get fed up of complicated and long cooking recipes?

Well, Jane Travers, formerly from Kilcullen, is doing something about that.

She's using Twitter to gather a thousand recipes, all no longer than the 140-character limit used by the social networking system.

She has almost achieved her goal, thanks to a wide and growing global network of fellow Twitterers. She calls them her 'tweettreat tweeple'.

This example is from one contributor, Tracytwid in York: 'Tin kidney beans/70ml sour cream/2tbs tom puree/2 garlic cloves/half tps chilli/1tsp cumin/2oz grated cheese. Whizz'.

Or from Rosamundi in London: 'tortilla: slice onion garlic new potatoes cook in oil low heat 30min add beaten eggs cook low heat 30min top w/cheese 1/2'.

Jane, who lives these days in Newbridge with her OH (other half), dd (dear daughter) and a pair of dogs, describes herself as being (on most days) a mild-mannered writer with a David Tennant fixation. "On Fridays I am possessed by random Jane Austen characters," she adds.

Jane recently finished the first draft of a novel, but the tweettreats have rather taken over her time, as a book project which she hopes to compile as a fundraiser for Medicins Sans Frontiers.

She already maintains a blog about her Jane Austen interest, 'Jane obsessed with Jane' (janetravers.blogspot.com). But the tweettreats have developed a blog of their own: tweet-treats.blogspot.com. On that she is compiling the various recipes, and awarding 'rockstar' status to best contributors of the day.

Our final example, which requires no cooking, is this exceptionally simple tweettreat from mduffywriter from Dublin: 'Take a Wispa bar & carefully peel paper. Tantalize taste buds-smell, touch, lick. When time's right, wrap mouth round. Mmm heaven'.

Brian Byrne.

(This piece originally appeared in The Kildare Nationalist.)

Ras comes to town

Pictures from the arrival of the FBD Ras in Kilcullen this afternoon. Results on the FBD Ras website.

Remembering our Great War dead

There is a set of men to whom, as far as I know, there is no memorial in Kilcullen. And perhaps it is time there was.

Back in 2007 I wrote a piece in the Diary about Pte Patrick O'Toole, killed at Gallipoli in the First World War. He was the son of Patrick and Bridget O'Toole, of Yellowbog Common, and an antecedent of Ray Donoghue, formerly of Kilcullen Drama Group and still doing duty from time to time as barman in Fallons.

I have since found references to no less than 28 other Kilcullen men who died in that same war. Three of them were also killed in the same Dardanelles which claimed Patrick O'Toole's young life, most died in France, and one perished in East Africa.

They were officially aged between 20 and 36, most were private soldiers, with seven NCOs and just one commissioned officer in the list. The bulk of them are recorded as having been with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, three each with the Irish Guards and Royal Irish Regiment, and one each with the Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Engineers and Connaught Rangers.

I have managed to establish where some of their families lived, and I surmise some others, but would be very grateful for any more definite information.

The first family I'm clear on is the Cookes of Sunnyhill. Former 65th Foot member and army pensioner William Cooke and his wife Annie lost their son William at the age of 30 in the Dardanelles in 1915, and their son John, also at the age of 30 in France in 1917. John was decorated with the 1914 Star, while William won the Medal of St George 2nd Class and a Distinguished Conduct Medal. The Cookes were left with two younger sons Robert and Patrick, and a daughter Bridget.

Gunner Joseph James, from Gilltown, died in East Africa in 1917. A man of that name lived in Grangemore in 1911, on his own, and may have joined up somewhat late in life. If so, he'd have been 38 when he was killed.

The aforementioned Patrick O'Toole's mother was already dead in 1911, but he left his father Patrick and his younger sister Ellen behind when he went off to a war from which he wouldn't return.

Edward Wolfred of Milemill was a Post Boy in 1911 and was 22 when he was killed in the Dardanelles in 1916. He left behind his mother Mary Anne, and sisters Rose, Maggie and Bridget.

A Christopher Grimes who was killed in France in 1916 at the age of 30 might have been related to the Grimes families of Yellowbog Common, because that seems to have been the only location of any Grimes in the Kilcullen area at the time.

I have a suspicion that a John Kavanagh killed in France in 1916 may have been the son of John and Bridget Kavanagh in Kilcullen Town. If so, his siblings would have been Bridget, Edward, Margaret, Mary, Michael, Annie, Jane and Thomas. A Joseph Nugent who lived with the family was perhaps Bridget's brother?

A Charles Doyle killed in France in 1915 at the age of 25 may have been related to the Doyles of Yellowbog Common, because there was an elder Charles Doyle living there. But the Doyle name was very common around Kilcullen and he may well have been related to any of them. A Joseph Doyle was also killed in France, in 1917 at the age of 20.

Kiernan Lyons was killed in France in 1915. The only Lyons family in the area at the time was in Halverstown, so perhaps there's a link there?

A Joseph O'Neill killed in France in 1914 might have been one of the O'Neills of the Toberogan area.

The remaining names may also jog some family folklores. James Brady, Peter Burke, Patrick Cahill, J Conway, Sergeant Doran, J Dowling, Thomas Hayden, TC Jones-Nowlan, John Kearney, Frank Kelly, Edward Kinehan, Thomas Neill, Edward George Noble, Edward Nolan, W Peaston, Robert and Michael Walker, and Patrick White.

These were the ones who didn't come home. But even from such a horrific conflict, it was the case that some did. Any stories about them would also be useful.

Brian Byrne.

Ras will arrive at lunchtime

The penultimate stage of the 2010 FBD Ras will finish in Kilcullen at some time between 2pm-2.30pm today, Saturday.

The riders will have completed a 151kms route from Gorey and will come in along by the Church from Dunlavin, taking a right turn at The Hideout and going through the town. The actual finish will be at Kevin Keogh's at the top of the hill towards Naas.

Tomorrow morning the final stage will take the riders 140kms to Skerries, via Newbridge, Kilcock and Dunshaughlin.


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Remembering the Donnelly's Hollow pageant

With the recent resurgent interest in 19th century pugilist Dan Donnelly, it is perhaps timely to look at how the Leinster Leader of 25th April 1953 reports on how the Kilcullen Tostal Committee rolled back the years, to present at Donnelly's Hollow a pageant of the famous fight which sent Irish cheers thundering across the Curragh plains on a December day in 1815.



This is available on the The Kildare Online Electronic History Journal.


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High-flying engagement

A little bit of family news now. Your Editor's niece Aine has just got engaged to long-time boyfriend D J Casey.

And the proposal itself was probably a first for a Kilcullen girl — David proposed yesterday in a helicopter flying through the Grand Canyon!

Apparently he got down on one knee in front of all the other passengers. The Diary hopes somebody took a picture ...

Congrats to both.

Council call to short story writers

Kildare County Council has invited submissions for the second volume of 'Stories for the Ear', its audio showcase for local writers.

The project is run by the Kildare Library & Arts Service and successful contributors will have their stories professionally recorded on CD and also put on the KLAS website.

Payment of €120 will also be made to each writer whose story is used, and each will also receive 10 copies of the CD.

Registration of interest should be made to the Assistant County Arts Officer, Eoghan Doyle, before Tuesday 8 June, at ekdoyle@kildarecoco.ie

The 2009 project was curated by local writer Neil Donnelly. It resulted in recorded stories from Aidan Higgins, Mae Leonard, Mary O'Donnell, Kate Dempsey, Maria Murphy, John MacKenna, Pete Hamilton, Dominic Cogan, Brian Byrne and Eileen Keane.

The stories were recorded in the Platform4 Recording Project at Leixlip Library by Des Cave, Ingrid Craigie, Pat Laffan and Deirdre Monaghan.

Copies of the CD are available free of charge from Riverbank, Main Street, Newbridge.


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CPC Graduation evening

Some views from last evening's CPC Graduation Mass and Reception.

Team working on festival

Some of the team behind Kilcullen's first River Festival, in the planning for August 22. Col John Courtney, Mary O'Neill, Brian Fallon, Geri Dineen, Steve Kinneavy and Tara Lynham.

Knitting, Quilting workshops

Two workshops upcoming in The Cottonwood Tree should interest many involved in knitting and sewing.

The first is the Knitting Workshop this coming Saturday morning beginning at 10am, call Rose for details.

The second one is a Quilting Workshop, scheduled for Saturday June 12, at 2pm.

Both will take place in the shop.

Guide for parents ready

A Guide for parents in Kilcullen will be launched on June 9 in The Hideout.

The guide has been produced by the Kilcullen Carer & Toddler Group, which meets in the Kilcullen Parish Centre on Wednesday mornings.

The group wanted the publication to be one ‘written for parents by parents’ and asked parents in the locality to share their best tips about all aspects of parenting and raising children in the area.

A special suggestions mailbox in the Library was set up to help with gaining responses in the project.

The launch will take place at 8.30pm.

Donnelly's Arm in Croker

An exhibition of Fighting Irishmen at which Dan Donnelly's arm is a key attraction was officially opened last week in the GAA Museum in Croke Park.

The exhibition, which is curated by Jim Houlihan of the Irish Arts Center in New York, has previously been shown in the Arts Center, the South Street Museum in Manhattan, Boston College and the Irish-American Folk Museum in Omagh. It will run through the summer in Croke Park before moving on to a number of other venues on and beyond the island of Ireland.

Donnelly's arm has been in the ownership of the Byrne family for nearly six decades. Pictured at the opening of the GAA Museum exhibition is Josephine Byrne, wife of the late Des Byrne. (INPHO/Morgan Treacy)

Kilomarathon for Moone

Ireland's first Kilomarathon will be a feature of the Jim Roche Memorial Road Race Festival which takes place on Sunday 8 August.

The event will also have a 10K race for walkers and joggers.

It starts off in Moone Village and chip timing will be used. There are prizes for the first six men and six women to finish, and all registered finishers will receive a commemorative medal.

Entries can be made online at runireland.com before 1 August. Entry fee for the Kilomarathon is €30, while the 10K is €20.


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Plant Swap on Tuesday

A Plant Swap session is planned for next Tuesday in Kilcullen Library.

It will be held at 12.30pm and there's no cost for participation. Anyone can bring along surplus seedlings, plants and cuttings for swapping.

Plants are also available for those who don't have anything to swap.

The event is organised by KARE.

The Marathon 66 for PKRF

Some 66 volunteers have signed to participate in the 2010 Flora Womens Mini Marathon on behalf of the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund. The event is on the Bank Holiday of Monday 7 June.

Over the last four years, almost €78,000 has been raised by the participating ladies from Kilcullen, organised by Phena Bermingham. Among other things, the funds have been put towards running Art Therapy projects in Tallaght and Waterford hospitals, and the PKRF also recently bought three home dialysis training machines for Beaumont Hospital.

Phena says that there are some seats available on the bus for ladies running for other charities.

Faith 'will be in the home' - Bishop

If there is going to be a strong faith in the 'new beginning' in the church, it will be in the home and in the culture of the community, Bishop Eamonn Walsh said at Kilcullen's Chruinniú Chríost parish gathering on Sunday.

He said that the role of the parish in future will be to enable each parent and each community to have the 'confidence and knowledge resource' to bring the Word of God themselves to homes and 'to every corner of our towns and villages'.

In a reference to the 'bit of a mess' that the church is in today, he said that there is hope in reflection on the mistakes and difficult times which the beginning church endured in the period after the Ascension.

This was behind the theme of the Chruinniu this year, 'Get into the Boat', he suggested, which relates to the Gospel story about the storm at sea. It was that story in St Luke's Gospel which the pre-Chruinniú gatherings were asked to study. "Our role is to make sure that we get this boat out into the harbour and that we equip our people through the Parish Pastoral Centre to be able to play their part."

The Bishop said that where the church today differs from the early unsettled times before the Pentacost is that it has the Holy Spirit, which offers the ability of seeing life in the way which Jesus wanted.

"OK, we have the Holy Spirit, but how do we get it breathing?" he asked. "There are many ways, such as by taking a few lines of the Word of God, just think about it, reflect and let it breath into our minds and then we're letting the breath of the Holy Spirit colour the way we see life."

Bishop Walsh added that if this isn't done, since nature abhors a vacuum then something else will come in to take its place.



Although numbers were down this year, possibly because the very fine weather prompted family trips elsewhere, a very good crowd of parishioners of all ages took part in the Chruinniú. The march from the Market Square to the mass celebrated in the playing field of Scoil Bhride was followed by a picnic and entertainment from local musicians.



A special presentation was made to Bishop Eamonn, who has led the mass in all three of the events to date. It was a bronze casting of a traditional Irish fishing rowboat.

Brian Byrne.


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By their windows ye shall know ...

Knowing what's happening by the windows: Top left, the Vincents are rooting for a Eurovision win for Ireland; Top right, Rose Doherty is organising a knitting session for Saturday in The Cottonwood Tree; and, lower pic, Nolans Butchers have a fine display to mark the coming weekend's FBD Ras in Kilcullen.

GAA Golf Classic presentations

There was a full turnout for the recent Kilcullen GAA Golf Classic, held at Newbridge GC. Pictures at the presentation of prizes are by John Mulhall.

Another accident at Thompson's Cross

The road junction at Thompson's Cross claimed yet another accident last evening, though fortunately without injuries.

But it is 'only a matter of time' until there is a fatality, according to local gardai quoted at this morning's Athy Area meeting of Kildare County Council.

Cllr Martin Heydon, who has made repeated calls for action at the junction, a location of many crashes since it was opened as part of the M9 works, said it was 'a miracle' that nobody was badly hurt or killed last night.

The most recent accident involved a car and horsebox which overshot the stop line at the junction and ended up in the ditch across the Athy Road.

"This crash comes after I highlighted to officials of the National Roads Design Office (NRDO) of five other car accidents that had been reported to the Gardaí for this area on September 18t, October 21, November 9 and 20 along with December 19th last," Cllr Heydon told the Council meeting.

When Cllr Heydon asked for the NRDO to publish a recent safety audit carried out at this junction he was informed that it was the recommendation of the NRDO official not to publish this audit to members and the public. "The perception here, in light of so many recent accidents, is that the safety audit has shown deficiencies that have not been acted upon," he says. "There is serious local concern that someone will be killed at this junction if action is not taken straight away. I call on the NRDO to publish this report immediately."

Meanwhile, local resident Sabina Reddy who has actively campaigned for changes to be made to the junction, wrote again to KCC this morning. "I must say it has been helpful somewhat with the new line markings made recently," she says. "But not enough is being done to warn cars coming from the Ballitore direction of an upcoming junction. I feel a series of signs asking persons that are driving to "slow down" and "junction ahead" should be in place. The ideal solution would be a roundabout instead of the cross junction but sufficient warning should be made of what is ahead."

UPDATE: Sabina received a reply from the Council late this afternoon saying that they would 'take up the matter with the NRA'. "As you rightly point out many of the problems are as a result of excessive speed," Council official Michael O'Leary said. "A roundabout would do little to improve the situation, however more signage may help."

River Festival in August

A River Festival is in the planning stage for Kilcullen on 22 August.

Among the ideas proposed are a a tented market on the bank below the Canoe Club which will include food stalls, crafts and local artisan supplies.

Raft building and racing on the Liffey is also in the frame, a cross-river Tug Of War, Gladiator water pole jousting and quite a bit more.

"The success of the day will rely much on local participation and we are looking for volunteers and participants for all the activities," says Festival Committee member Brian Fallon.

A FaceBook page has also been set up and application forms can be downloaded from it.

Further information from Brian at 087 2577464.


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TY students drum to a different beat

Transition Year can be a very busy time, and on one recent day the TY students in Cross & Passion College switched between sessions of West African drumming to a talk from a diplomat on the workings of the EU in relation to small countries.



The drumming experience took place in Kilcullen Parish Centre (maybe because they were afraid of distracting the hard-working students in other years?). It was under the direction of Tom Quinn from Tribal Spirit Drumming, an organisation which offers an experience of community music, using drums, chant, and simple ritual as tools for 'healing, personal growth, and empowerment'.

"We had to deal with four sets of 25 students in the day here," Tom said. "So we spent the first half of each session introducing them to the basics of the drums, and the second half getting rhythms going with them."



All that sounds rather rushed, but in fact the natural musical interest of young people seemed to take to the whole business very quickly, and pretty soon there was not just straight skin-bashing, but complex interweaving rhythms floating from the room.



In fact, the sound was so good that a herd of cattle in Nolan's Field at the back of the centre soon gathered at the fence, all gazing intently in the windows.

"There's huge advantages in drumming. It teaches the young people things like spatial awareness, and communication skills that they mightn't know they have. It also brings all sorts of diverse people and cultures together, breaking down the barriers of their differences"

The chanting is also quite interesting, with specific chants from all over the world being used. The organisation holds weekly classes and day workshops in Limerick, Ennis, Galway, Dublin and Wicklow.



The EU talk was given by Kanta Sh Adhin, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, pictured (third from left) with Glenda Carey, Daniel Cady, Rebecca Browne, CPC Principal Paul Tyrrell, and deputy Principal Noel Clare.

"Sometimes the EU and its institutions can seem very abstract, so I try to get it across as a giant, but a friendly giant there to assist its members coping with problems that they cannot solve by themselves," she said. "I come from a country very like Ireland, with an open economy depending on exports, and we know the need for countries to work together."

Brian Byrne.

(This article originally appeared on the Kilcullen page in the Kildare Nationalist.)

Sewing it yourself

Knitting and sewing didn't really die, they just sort of went underground.


That's what Rose Doherty says anyhow, and she's been sewing and making for years, often with friends while hanging around waiting to collect their children from school and sports gigs.

Rose, from Naas originally but living in Halverstown for the last six years, has just opened a new sewing and knitting crafts supplies shop in Kilcullen, beside Nolans Butchers.

It came about from people asking her where she got her materials when they wanted to emulate what she was doing herself.

And in her first week, she has already been very pleased with the level of response to the venture, which she has called 'The Cottonwood Tree'.

Rose worked for 14 years in advertising before making the jump. "So art and design were in my background," she says. "I began making things like aprons and tea cosies and nose boards, and sold them at the Craft Fairs in the RDS at Christmas."

Orders and commissions followed and Rose worked from home while looking after her two young children, now seven and 14. It was in many ways a rerun of her own childhood, where her mother knitted and sewed a lot. "She was particularly good at making Aran sweaters."



In some respects, Rose feels the decline in people making their own clothes or working in the associated crafts is down to schools not giving time to the skills. "We're trying to get them more involved now, encouraging the pupils to do it in their own style, more free-form and mixing and matching between the wool and the trimmings."

In 'The Cottonwood Tree' -- the name comes from a series of American children's books -- Rose offers a wide range of buttons and ribbons and trimmings, wools, fabrics, tools of the craft and books aimed at both adults and children. She reckons there's a 'window' between around 8-15 in which the youngsters can be hooked.

"From about eight they like to make things and have something to show for it. When they get into early teens, they like to be able to make changes to their clothes, to express their individuality."

On one of the displays there are starter kits, ideal as inexpensive birthday presents for children and aimed at easing them into the sewing craft. A universe away from computer games but potentially just as absorbing.

Rose has a big range of patterns too, in some cases they're part of books of beautiful photographs in which customers can see how they work out and be encouraged to have a go themselves. A recipe book for sewing and patchwork, if you like.

A visit to the shop could easily start addiction. But of the nicest possible kind.

Brian Byrne.

(This article was first published on the Kilcullen Page of the Kildare Nationalist.)


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Donnelly monument to be restored

The OPW is to restore the damaged monument at Donnelly's Hollow, according to Barney O'Keefe, who raised the issue on the RTE 'Liveline' on Thursday.

The Brownstown man who took the attack on the arm personally, as he has had a longtime interest in the 19th century pugilist Dan Donnelly, will also be presenting to a museum a small silver box he found under the damaged monument. The box was designed to hold a shaving stick, and had the date 1840 on it. Barney believes it was also used to hold tobacco.

During his stint on 'Liveline', many people called in to express their opinions on the vandalism, and to support the call for the monument's restoration. They included calls from locally-born musicians Luka Bloom and Christy Moore, as well as Pat Myler, Donnelly's biographer. "My phone at home was almost on fire after the show," Barney says. On Friday he spoke about the matter on Clem Ryan's morning show on KFM, and read from a poem he wrote in 1996, 'Sir Dan'.

Josephine Byrne was also contacted by the programme and told how Donnelly's arm had come into the possession of the Byrne family. It is currently on display in the Museum at Croke Park as part of an exhibition on famous Irish fighting men which has previously been shown in New York, Boston, and at the Irish-American Folk Museum in Omagh.

Barney says he has been informed of the OPW's intention to restore the monument, and adds that the broken railings are now in storage pending this.

Brian Byrne.

Appreciative audience for church music maestro

A diverse group of parishioners interested in the increased use of singing in church came along to a recent church music workshop given by American expert Tom Kendzia.

Based in Rhode Island, Tom is well known in church music circles as a composer, arranger, producer, and performer. He has been a professional liturgical musician for more than 30 years.

"The idea was for me to sing some of my own music that they might be able to use for an upcoming event to sing together," he said at the event in Kilcullen's Parish Centre. "I've made an effort over the years to write music that will appeal to a wider audience, and the thing that I find most gratifying is seeing the church filled with different age groups, worshipping together and looking like it is having an effect on them."



Tom's interest in the music came from a variety of places. He was classically trained on the piano, played popular music by ear, and recalls that in his own parish as he was growing up there was 'terrific' choral music. "My high school had very contemporary music, so I was exposed to a real mix."

He says that in America for some time there has been acceptance of multicultural art forms, generating music that represents everyone rather than simply one kind of background. This has also translated into liturgical music.

"The idea of different masses framed by different kinds of music has kind of gone away in America, and now it is a case of having liturgies that give the best possible kinds of music from each culture over the course of the weekend. Instead of designating a particular mass as a choir mass, we try and have choirs singing at all the masses with a variety of music styles, classical, harmony, and contemporary."

He is aware of the reluctance of congregations to sing at Irish masses, but says a big effort is required to change this. "This is what happened in the United States, where the bishops across the board decided to make that effort. Priests were trained, in singing and how to do all the things necessary to encourage participation. I'm beginning to see good things happening here. But it can be difficult, getting people to realise that the liturgy changes, that it is going to be done in a new way."

The event was organised by pastoral worker Hannah Evans.

Art Camp in Community Centre

An Arts Camp will be held in the Community Centre over two weeks in June.

The camp is aimed at children 5-12 years and will provide tuition in painting, drawing, clay modelling, printing and 3D images.

The cost ranges between €55-€95, depending on the time modules chosen. Dates are 12-16 June and 19023 June.

Further information from 087 9729611.


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Table Quiz for Maintain Hope

A Table Quiz will be held in the Stray Inn on Friday 28 May, in aid of fundraising for Maintain Hope volunteers.

It begins at 8.30 and the price is €20 for a table of four.

Kings & Clowns drama workshop

The Kings & Clowns Summer Drama Workshop will take place this year from 19-30 July.

The workshop is for children in the 7-12 age bracket and will include a variety of techniques including improvisation and mime.

The cost is €80 for one week, or €150 for two weeks. Contact Rani at 045 483606 or 087 7923139.


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Billy and friends at Congo anniversary

The 50th anniversary commemoration ceremony of the first battalion (32nd infantry battalion HQ Company) to serve in the Congo in 1960 was held last Friday 14th May in the Curragh.

Pictured at the wreath laying ceremony in the Garden of Remembrance, Plunkett Barracks, are Billy Redmond, John Chapman, Joe Mallon and John Hanlon. Pic Mary Orford.

Poker for cancer treatment

A 49 Poke Classic will be held in Conlans of Booleigh this Friday, 21 May, in aid of St Luke's Hospital.

It begins at 9pm and there's a €20 entry. More information from Charlie at 087 9521005.

Southern Area Gathering

The Southern Area Gathering in preparation for the Chruinniu Chriost was transferred from Nicholastown Green to the parish church last evening because of rain.

At the event, Fr Michael Murphy said such gatherings of believers reflected the gatherings of the early people who knew Jesus, and then those who came on board because they heard what these people had to say. "It seems that these early believers had a sense that Jesus was still with them in spirit, even though he was gone in the physical sense after the Ascension. Gradually they began to speak of the Spirit being with them, and guiding them."

In addition to gathering to pray, Fr Murphy said they also gathered to read scripture and to reflect and share what they knew, and eventually these became the Gospel stories as we know them. "They also gathered to break bread, which is what we do today in the Eucharist, and they gathered too to support each other and to share whatever they had for the benefit of those in most need."

Suggesting that Jesus may never have envisaged the structures and buildings that his church grew into, Fr Murphy said his idea of a church was that people would gather in community in a way that was different to everything else."It would be a community where people would be prepared to lay down their lives for one another. A community without rank, and one where the most needy would be looked after. A community that would reflect Jesus himself, one that would continue the presence of his body in the rest of the world."

But in reflecting through history, Fr Murphy suggested that the church of Jesus had 'had got it wrong'. "And we are being faced with how wrong we got it, in many respects, in our time. But the dream is still there, and that is what the Holy Spirit reminds us of, and puts before us. These are times when we need to listen to the Holy Spirit, because what has been has just fallen apart and things are going to be different in the future."

Like those first Christians, today's gatherings of believers don't know what lies ahead, Fr Murphy concluded. "Yet, they feel that the spirit of Jesus is with them and calls on them to live in a special way, to pray together, to study the scriptures together, to share the Eucharist together, and to look out for one another."



The Chruinniu Chriost gathering takes place next Sunday at 2pm.


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FG meeting on jobs and recovery

Anyone in Kildare concerned about jobs might take a trip to the Osprey Hotel in Naas on Tuesday night next.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny will be there along with Kildare North TD Bernard Durkan and Kildare South Dail candidate Cllr Martin Heydon.

They'll be discussing and explaining the party's 'New Era' plan for economic renewal and recovery.

First Communion in Kilcullen

Forty-eight children from Scoil Bhride made their First Communion in Kilcullen last week. They were prepared by teachers Eileen O'Keefe, Aisling Reynolds and Annette McCarthy. The school choir was organised for the occasion by Miriam Nolan and Helen Birchall.

In the Kildare Nationalist

Kilcullen interest in this week's Kildare Nationalist, out today, includes Drumming up an international spirit, Cottonwood Tree is set to blossom, and Jane's tweet treats to help charity and a fair bit more.

Remember, the Kildare Nationalist is the local paper that gives Kilcullen and its people's activities the share of coverage that it deserves.

Chruinniu Chriost gatherings tonight, tomorrow

The Southern Area Gathering, part of the runup to next Sunday's Chruinniu Chriost, takes place this evening on Nicholastown Green.

The Eastern Area Gathering will take place tomorrow evening in Brannockstown NS.

The Chruinniu Chriost will begin at 2pm on Sunday, from the Market Square.