US Presidential Election

Perhaps because we all have so many relatives in the US, Irish people have an interest in American politics far beyond what our country's size would suggest, writes Brian Byrne.

We don't have a say in how next week's Presidential Election in the United States will turn out. But we do care. A lot. And quite a few Kilcullen people have children who will cast their votes.

For those who wonder about the relative positions of Obama and Romney, this thoughtful endorsement of the incumbent by The New York Times is well worth a read.

CPC students' cards company

A 'pop-up' Christmas cards shop will be established for a day on Tuesday November 13, by a group of CPC students.

The student enterprise Santa's Christmas Cards Company is being operated by three students, and they'll be selling cards and Christmas tags outside Berneys Chemists.

Prices will range 50c-60c for the tags, with discounts for multiple quantities, and €2 for cards, again with a discount plan.

Tea Cosy workshop

A Felting Workshop in The Cottonwood Tree next month will show participants how to make a fun and colourfeul tea cosy.

The workshop is on Saturday 10 November, time from 10am-2pm. The cost of €40 includes all materials.

Parish Lotto Draw

The numbers drawn in tonight’s Parish Lotto Draw were 10, 18, 19, 21. There was no Jackpot winner, and the draw next week will be worth €6,000. 

The winners of the Open Draw for €50 each were Jude and Mairead Connellan (Promoter Breda McCormack), Matt Conway (Ethna Dempsey), and Colm and Ger McMahon-Hillery (Rose McMahon).

The Promoter Prizes were won by Bella Ryan and May Coyne.  Anne Byrne won the prize in the draw of those present on the night. 

People of the Holly Bush

’People of the Holly Bush’ is a new Kilcullen project involving photographer Kieran Behan and writer Brian Byrne.

The concept is to develop, over time, a series of profiles of a variety of Kilcullen people in pictures and words. A special website has been set up to showcase the profiles, at kilcullenpeople.blogspot.com.

The first person to be featured in the project is local art teacher and sculptor Noel Scullion. Others are already in train, and when the profiles are posted, will be notified in the Diary.

Fiona finds spaces for writing time

A local writer who has had one of her short stories published in the new Irish Times/Powers Short Stories Volume 2 collection specialises in 'short shorts' because she can fit such writing in between the spaces in her life as a full-time paramedic and mum of three, writes Brian Byrne.

Fiona Stevenson of Sunnyhill, pictured here with best-selling author Patricia Scanlan, can feel good about her achievement, because there are just 50 stories in the anthology, while more than 4,200 entries were received.

And the latest good news is that one of her 'normal' sized short stories has been shortlisted into the top 100 for a major competition in the Sunday Times.

"It's really hobby writing, and I started in 2008," she says. "I found I just loved it, and the short stories fit into my lifestyle because they're done and dusted quickly, whereas a novel can take years."

In fact, Fiona did get a London agent interested some years ago on the basis of the first three chapters of a novel, but hasn't had the time to complete it.

Like most writers in her position, it's a case of scribbling down ideas, notes, and completing actual pieces whenever and wherever she can. Including between her paramedic shifts with the HSE and at home in the evening with her children, now ranging through primary, second level and early third level education.

"I have bits of paper everywhere, notebooks in the car, that kind of thing. We're not great television people at home, so I can get writing done in the evening while the kids are working on their computers or whatever. Sometimes it's from just a line that comes to you, or something you hear someone say that seems funny."

Fiona has a deft hand in short fiction. Her story 'Hope' was shortlisted in the Anam Cara Short Fiction Competition on Writing.ie. The short shorts, which run for around 450 words, have a 'discipline' to them that attracts Fiona's interest. "Besides, there doesn't seem to be a big market for the longer ones."

And like most writers, she 'reads and reads and reads'. To the extent that most of her bookshopping is in the secondhand outlets, as well as being a big supporter of Kilcullen Library.

"I love the feeling of a book in my hand, I love the smell, and you can have it in your bag. But I have a friend who swears by her Kindle, so I suppose that's the way all books are going at the moment."

The Irish Times/Powers Short Stories competition asked for stories on the theme Celebrating What Truly Matters, and entrants obliged with tales of love and friendship and recession-beating moments. Participants were helped with advice from the late Maeve Binchy, Kevin Barry, Claire Kilroy and John Boyne.

The resulting hardback sells for €10 euro in all major bookshops and all of the profit goes to the Irish Hospice Foundation.

The Irish Times donated the cost of the printing, the writers gave their talent free.

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

Jimmy joins the greats

Kilcullen's own Jimmy Aspell will be playing with some big names at a gig in the K Club in December in aid of Rehab, writes Brian Byrne.

He'll be on stage with Ray Lynham and Philomena Begley on December 19. It's Jimmy's second gig at the K Club—on a recent one there he met up with one of Donegal's big musical exports, Daniel O'Donnell.

The Rehab event includes a 4-course course meal from 7.30, followed by entertainment at 9pm. More details when we get them.

Jimmy is pictured above at his recent gig in The Spout in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, which raised in excess of €4,300 for the cause.

Spout outing to Dundalk

Bookings are now open for The Spout outing to Dundalk Races on Friday/Saturday 23/24 November.

The price is €85pps, with a Single Supplement option for an extra €40.

The event includes bus to Dundalk, accommodation in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and entry to the racecourse for both horse racing and dog racing.

A race card and finger food in a reserved area of the bar is also part of the package.

The bus to the event leaves The Spout at 2.30pm on the Friday, and leaves the hotel on the Saturday at 12pm.

Ghouls and ghosts out in force

It was a night or two early, but there was a whole underworld of ghosts, ghouls and goths roaming Kilcullen and its pubs tonight. The direct link is here.

CPC 1986/87, were you there?

Cross & Passion College is celebrating its 125th anniversary in November with a number of events, the main one on Friday November 30, writes Noel Clare.

As part of that we are inviting the first year class of 1986/87 back to the school on that evening. They marked a particular milestone in the history of the school as the first class with boys and also it was in 1987 that we obviously celebrated our centenary.

Over the coming days we will be trying to contact all the students from that class. We are fortunate to have names and indeed photographs.

We're publishing these photographs to remind people, and to encourage them to make contact with any of those on the list. The exact format of the evening is not worked out yet but we will keep you posted, on Facebook and on the school website www.cpckilcullen.com

Dorothy Borthwick, Caroline Brophy, Ciara Bennett, Mary Cullen, Edwina Cole, Gail Broe, Noel Burke, Martin Coyne, John Corrigan.
Annmarie Cunningham, Coldagh Brennan, Gillian Byrne, Natalie Collins, Richard Costigan, Patrick Carroll, Michelle Barker, Mary Corrigan, Shauna Dean, Chleo Cahill, Caroline Clifford
June Brophy, Jennifer Corrigan, Rachel Byrne, Ruth Aspell, Fergus Aspell, Dan Daly, John Coleman, Martin Archbold.

Deirdre Redmond, Niamh Murray, Rachel Rouse, Susan Millar, Sonia Robinson, Fiona O’Gorman, David O’Brien, Trevor Schwer, Derek Purcell.
Chloe O’Connor, Andrea Tallon, Orla Talbot, Christine Murphy, John Wixted, Francesca Torregiani, Jane Murray, Darren Scully, Patrick Tidd.
Kevin O’Brien, Jamie Travers, Conor Sheridan, Terence Nolan, Mary O’Connor, Paula White, Jennifer Murphy, Heather Valentine.

Martina Dillon, Anna Duff, Ann Enright, Catriona Delaney, Suzanne Dixon, Jennifer Hennessy, Bernadette Doran, Noelle Deering, Dermot Dempsey, Barry Goulding.
Eileen Egan, Carmel Flanagan, Elva Hayden, Annette Hayden, Ann Grimes, Edwina Hegarty, Deirdre Howard, Sheila Farrell, Graham Hilliard, Austin Egan, Edward Dowling.
Michelle Finglas, Jane Ferris, ???, Kate Haslam, Owen Early, Peter Farrell, Cormac Horan, Mark Gilligan.

Mark Logan, Jenny McCann, Louise McHugh, Mary Keegan, Elizabeth Hughes, David McCarton, Kevin Hughes, Niall McGann, Seamus McLoughlin, Darren Kelly, Vernon Lambe.
Edward Lawlor, David McDevitt, Eilis Keogh, Colette Maher, Fiona Hughes, Shauna McGann, Hilary Kilpatrick, Michael Lawlor, Deirdre Hyland, Elaine Leigh.
Elizabeth Meehan, Tara Langan, Trevor McGrath, Trevor Howard, Graham Lenihan, Gillian McConnell, Sandra Kenna.

Toddlers Group Halloween Party

Kilcullen Community Carer and Toddler Group’s annual Halloween Party will be held on Wednesday 31 October during the usual Toddler Group session between 10.30 and 12.30 in the Parish Centre.

All pre-schoolers and their carers are welcome to attend.

Come in fancy dress for some spooky fun, games and treats!

Mary and Fallons staff run for Ollie

There'll be a strong interest in Fallons for Monday's Dublin City Marathon, when popular staff member Mary Walker will be taking part her 10th such event, writes Brian Byrne.

Mary is participating with her brother Michael Byrne on behalf of Ollie's Litte Heart Appeal for a Cardiac Unit in Crumlin Children's Hospital.

Backing her up will be other members of staff, who have pledged to walk or run a total of 28 miles between them, at home on the day. Funds raised go to the same cause, and for anyone wanting to donate, there's a collection box on the counter in the pub.

Canoe Club update

Slalom training continues every Friday night from 7pm, writes Maria Wilmot of Kilcullen Canoe Club. Due to the darkening nights, other on the water training sessions are limited.

Pool sessions continue every Saturday from 2–3pm in the Curragh Swimming Pool.

Congratulations to all Kilcullen Canoe Club paddlers who competed in recent races. Podium placings include:

Robertstown (21st October) – John Cahill & Jonathan Barry, 3rd short course K2/T2; Oisin Farrell, 1st K1 Div 4; Eamon Moran, 3rd men’s gp; Mary Fitzgerald & Sally Pallister, 1st and 3rd women’s gp; Sean Curran, 2nd boys u18 gp; Ciara Farrell, 1st u16 girls gp; Aaron Thorpe and Ronan Foley, 1st and 2nd novice.

Congratulations also to all Kilcullen Canoe Club paddlers participating in recent adventure races, and Ollie’s Little Heart Cycle.

Upcoming events include:

Tay Descent – 27th October 2012

For more information on Kilcullen Canoe Club, check out kilcullencanoeclub.com, Facebook and Flickr (Kilcullen Canoe Club) or contact Maria Wilmot by email.

Ramblers have great night

There was a full Ramblers House of Stories on Friday night in the Town Hall. Organiser Billy Redmond is pictured with MC John Candy.

‘Miscellany Sunday’ shifts focus

Regular readers and local people will be aware that Phena Bermingham has hosted an annual fundraiser for most of the past 12 years at the family home in Mooretown, Kilcullen, writes Roy Thompson.

The format is that local musicians, singers, poets, play-actors, writers etc perform their party pieces for the throngs of local people who come and traipse through the Bermingham’s home, while eating mince pies, and drinking tea and mulled wine!

The beneficiary on each previous occasion has been the Michael Garry House Hostel for the Homeless in Newbridge. On average, well over €6,000 was raised each year. A remarkable achievement for a small community and a testament to the ability of Phena to “sell” an idea to people ready to hear, and willing to help, and her inability to turn her back on people who need some assistance. Indeed, a lifetime of voluntary work has been given for the benefit of many in need; quietly working in the background, shining a little light.

It seems this desire to shine a little light into the darkness runs in the family.

Fr John Bermingham is a Redemptorist Priest, and son of Phena, and the late Tom Bermingham. In May of this year he returned, along with Fr Brian Holmes from Cork, to Mozambique to begin the new Redemptorist Mission in that country.

Mozambique is in a phase of transition, moving from a country ravaged by war to economic growth and capacity building of its people and infrastructure, and while the country has experienced impressive economic growth rates in recent years, it is coming from such a low base that vast tracts of areas and populations remain stuck in repeated cycles of disadvantage and poverty.

The Redemptorists are committed to working through a model of perpetual partnership with the people of Africa and are helping to meet the needs of the poorest people in Mozambique through its much admired Water for All project and various other pastoral initiatives.

This mission area is approximately 200km from Tete city and is based in the District of Macanga. Furancungo is home to a population of 75,000 people spread over 7,430 km sq. The project area is defined by a geographical area that covers a 10,000 km sq, where there are currently 47 Christian communities with some of the communities being over 130 km from the designated central base at Furancungo.

While visiting and serving the 47 ecclesial communities across the district is obviously a core function of the Mission, formulating a Development Programme that tackles the root causes of poverty in the district; delivering training programmes to local leadership, and building infrastructure such as multi-purpose community centres, chapels, etc. are priorities, in order that all aspects of people’s lives are enriched.

More information on the work of the Redemptorists can be found at: www.africaredemptorists.com

Obviously, these objectives cannot be achieved without moral and financial support. And so, Phena has decided to support her son’s work in a tangible way by holding this year’s Miscellany Sunday as a fundraiser for the Mission.

So, please put it in your diary and come along to Bermingham’s, Mooretown, Kilcullen on Sunday December 2nd from 2pm to 6pm for an afternoon of eclectic entertainment in a most relaxed atmosphere, and support the continuing efforts of the Bermingham family to make a difference. More details from Phena, herself, at 045 485232.

'Keep changing the rules'

If it did nothing else, yesterday's North Kildare Chamber Annual Conference fired up a geyser of optimism in the Killashee Hotel, writes Brian Byrne.

Against the background of the toughest financial situation faced by small and medium enterprises for decades, a stream of speakers talked up the opportunities possible, and how they might be accessed.

The key theme came early, with Hugh Cooney of Enterprise Ireland emphasising that 'successful businesses focus on innovation'. MORE>>

Dave's video now live

Well, as we reported last week, Dave Clancy Floral Designs has gone into the big picture business, writes Brian Byrne.

Dave's first 'how to' flower arranging video is now live on his Facebook page. The theme is seasonal, making a pumpkin-based table display.

His parrot Woodie also appears ... though he's uncharacteristically quiet.

House of Stories Friday night

A reprise of the 'Ramblers House of Stories' event organised last year by Billy Redmond is to take place tomorrow night, Friday 26 October.

The location is once more the Town Hall Theatre, and the format will include storytelling, singing, and musicians. Things will kick off at 8pm, but an early arrival is urged as last time they ran out of room.

MC will be John Candy from Co Carlow, well known on the circuit. A raffle will be held to defray costs of the hall and supper, and admission is free.

The Halverstown Big Breakfast

Views from this morning's Halverstown NS annual charity walk, this year in aid of the Ollie's Little Heart Appeal for Crumlin Hospital. Before setting off from Old Kilcullen Tower, the children were given a background to Old Kilcullen and the monastic site there by Nessa Dunlea of Kilcullen Heritage Group.

The food for the breakfast was donated by parents, Nolans, Eurospar, and Crowes Butchers.

'Kilcullen Gathering' raises steam

A lively meeting last night organised by Kilcullen 2017 resulted in a flood of ideas and the formation of a Steering Group for a Kilcullen Gathering 2013, writes Brian Byrne.

The meeting in the Credit Union Building brought together representatives from a variety of community and sports organisations in the town, to discuss how best Kilcullen could take part in the national Gathering 2013 initiative.

A broad-based discussion raised suggestions ranging from a revival of the Carnival of the 1950s, through organising a St Patrick's Day Parade, to running a highlight period in August culminating in the Kilcullen River Festival.

While much of the talk through the evening rotated about August events, which would coincidentally include celebrations around the 21st anniversary of the arrival of the Bridge Camphill Community, there were cautions that trying to compress everything into a short defined period could exclude people who wanted to come home but who didn't have flexible holiday options.

Mischa Fekete of Bridge Camphill also expressed concerns that it might turn out 'like Culture Night' when there were too many things on at once that people wanted to go to.

Roy Thompson said the Kilcullen input should be 'spread through the year'. "Maybe shuffle some regular events by different groups so that there would be something going on, say, every three weeks."

Emma Birchall of the Venture Scouts said her group had already decided to try and organise a St Patrick's Day Parade. She noted that in her Transition Year in CPC her class had identified up to 30 organisations in the town. "And we didn't have all of them, but if we got even half of those to the Parade, it'd be great."

Esther Kiely of Kilcullen Community Action said anything going on in Kilcullen during 2013 could be organised under the 'Gathering' banner.

Roy Thompson suggested that every organisation in town should identify its own 'target audience' to attract connections home from abroad.

The advantages of a key period in August were spelled out too. Noel Clare suggested that the 'real success' would be if as many as possible Kilcullen emigrants could be 'home together'. "There are people who left here in the 80s, for instance, who never get to see each other any more. So if there was a specific 2-week event, it would be facilitating people to meet up."

Esther Kiely said there was an opportunity to develop interest if a 'flyer' could be produced that would advertise the Kilcullen Gathering 2013 enclosed with the Christmas cards local people would be sending to their relatives and friends living abroad. "But we'd need to have that ready in November," she warned.

Other ideas included the setting up of a website calendar of events and a Facebook page devoted to the local iniative.

The Steering Group is Mischa Fekete, Roy Thompson, JJ Warren, Emma Birchall, Esther Kiely, Eilis Phillips, a person to be nominated by Jennifer Shortt of Kilcullen GAA, and a member of the business community to be nominated by Nichola Kennedy.

The Group will meet on Tuesday November 6 in the Bridge Camphill Hall.

Parish Lotto Draw results

The numbers drawn in the Kilcullen & Gormanstown Parish Lotto Draw tonight were 3,5,14,27. There was no Jackpot winner, and the Draw next week will be worth €5,800.

The three Open Draw winners were Edward O'Mara (promoter The Bridge Club), Rose O'Toole (Bella Ryan) and Ethna Dempsey (Ethna Dempsey).

The winners of the Promoters Prizes were The Parish and Nora Hogan. Winner of the draw for those present on the night was Vivienne Clifford.

The Parish Lotto Draw takes place in the Parish Centre every Tuesday night at 9pm. Everybody is welcome to attend, and be in with a chance in the free draw for those present.

Halloween coming

Nice seasonal display from Dave Clancy.

'Gathering' meeting tonight

A special meeting is being held this evening, Tuesday October 23, to consider proposals for Kilcullen participation in next year's nationwide 'Gathering' event, writes Brian Byrne.

The meeting is being held in the Credit Union, and all who have an interest in helping, or with a proposal, are welcome to attend.

It is being organised by Kilcullen 2017 and Kilcullen Community Action.

The idea is to have as many of Kilcullen's emigrants as possible to come home during 2013, around events which might attract many of them at the one time.

All organisations and clubs in the town are being contacted with a view to participation.

A Kilcullen 2017 meeting held earlier this month brought a very small response, and the organisers have been directly contacting individuals involved in groups.

Lighting a fire of memories collecting

If passion is the igniter of enthusiasm in others, then Dr Kelly Fitzgerald may have set a folklore collecting wildfire through Kildare by her presentation at Saturday's 'Save Our Stories' seminar in Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne.

A cross-section of local historians, writers, and other interested people from throughout Kildare attended the event, which launched the oral history project as part of the Kildare Heritage Plan introduced in 2005.

The idea is to gather the oral stories of people in Kildare in a coordinated programme running through to next April, which will include training local 'collectors' in the use of modern recording equipment and teaching them interviewing techniques.

Recordings made will become part of a special repositary in the Kildare Library & Arts Service HQ in Newbridge and will be available to researchers and interested members of the public. A limited run CD of selected and edited stories will also be produced next summer as part of the initiative.

Nessa Dunlea of the Kilcullen Heritage Group will be training as a 'collector' in the programme, which begins on Saturday 3 November in McAuley Place in Naas.

Saturday's event, organised by Kildare County Council's Heritage Officer, Bridget Loughlin, introduced the tutors for the programme, Dr Kelly Fitzgerald and Gillian Boland, both of whom have extensive experience in the oral history field.

Dr Fitzgerald outlined how recording people's stories and memories adds a potentially much deeper element to social history, often resulting in a more intense perspective than written accounts.

She cited the work of Seosamh O Dalaigh of the Irish Folklore Commission, one of a number of collectors who recorded the memories of people in the west of Ireland, notably those of Peig Sayers of the Blasket Islands. While many of the wax cylinder recordings used in the early days were 'scraped' for reuse after being transcribed, those still surviving are currently being digitised in UCD.

To illustrate how spoken words can provide an emotional and personal perspective to relatively recent historic events, Dr Kelly played two clips. One was a 1980 recording of Dublin man Liam Carey, talking about his uncle who was one of Michael Collins's 'Twelve Apostles' assasination team. The other was Lily Keegan, who at the age of 13 couriered messages between anti-British freedom fighters.

"Quite often it is the people around a subject that give the most interesting perspectives," she noted, adding that collecting stories and memories now will provide a 'rich' source for future historians.

Gillian Boland, who worked on a Millennium oral history project in Britain among the various Housing Associations, provided an outline of the training and collecting programme envisaged under the 'Save Our Stories' initiative.

It will include teaching participants interview techniques, how to listen, and how to deal with sensitive subjects. There will also be a module on copyright, an important issue where the repositary of recordings may be used in a number of ways. "Copyright is a difficult issue, given the rapid changes in the technologies of today," Ms Boland commented. "In some respects, we have to anticipate what's coming along in the future."

Training will also be given in the use of recording equipment, and a number of recorders have been acquired which can be made available on loan.

For anyone who wasn't able to make the seminar, but may be interested in taking part, a web page has been put in place at kildare.ie/saveourstories/ with full information and a downloadable application form.

Bridget Loughlin emphasised the support from the Kildare Leader Partnership, which is funding the project in its entirety.

Flamenco in the BAG

Next Monday, Oct 22, we have a fanstastic lineup, writes Roy Thompson of the Ballymore Acoustic Gigs. 

The show will be opened by Grammy Nominated Spanish Flamenco guitarist, Cano (Juan Antonio Suarez), who is in Ireland for the 2nd Dublin Flamenco Festival and is looking for opportunities to spread the beauty of Flamenco music. Cano will be on stage at 9pm sharp - don't miss him- this guy is the real deal!

Main act is Irish singer/songwriter Ben Reel. Ben is one of the hardest working acts on the circuit and over the last 10 years has built a strong underground following both at home and across Europe. Recently, he has also been working with the likes of Hal Ketchum in Nashville. Mixing Roots/rock, and contemporary Folk, he has a fine alternative/indie sound; meaningful songs, strong on melody, and very well delivered. Highly recommended.

Show opens at 9pm sharp, Mick Murphy's. Usual terms and conditions (pay a few bob to support the acts, and enjoy the night).

Kilcullen's 'thank you' to its community people

It's the time of year when Kilcullen honours those who contribute to the community's life, and again it was a wide range of age, ability and achievement which was brought to the stage in the Town Hall Theatre last night, writes Brian Byrne.

The Kilcullen Community Action organised event isn't designed to say 'aren't we great?', but rather to show that the underlying fabric of any community, in this case Kilcullen, is a multicoloured weave of positive effort. Often in adversity, mostly in just going about daily life, from time to time in consciously trying to make things good or better.



Such as six young leaders of Kilcullen Youth Club, who not only volunteer every week to help run the KiYC activities, but have also taken on specific projects to enhance the activities in the club. They are Conor Patrick, Gavin Byrne, Sarah Byrne, Roisin Byrne, Adam Treacy and Niamh Byrne (only Sarah and Niamh are related amongst the Byrnes in that group). They're pictured above receiving their award from KCA's Ray Kelly.



Then there's Jennifer Murphy, a former CPC student who has excelled at numerous sports and is currently playing rugby at international level, most recently with Ireland in the RBS Six Nations Championship. Unable to make it to last night's event, her award was presented to her father Michael by KCA's Margaret O'Shea.



Kay Dixon was honoured for the outstanding way she deals with the litter situation in the general Old Kilcullen area, also ensuring that the material she collects is properly sorted for disposal or recycling. Her award was presented by KCA chair Esther Kiely.



Eamon McDonnell of St Brigid's Avenue keeps an eye morning and evening in all parts of his estate, in particular making sure that the older folk in St Brigid's Grove are OK both in health matters and in having somebody to chat with. His award was presented by KCA's JJ Warren.



Former local councillor Paddy Aspell, pictured above with KCA's Margaret O'Shea, was given an award for his dedication over many years in coaching and helping to develop Kilcullen Boxing Club. Paddy is the patriarch member of a local family deeply embedded in the work of sport and youth development here.



The women of Kilcullen AFC Ladies Team received their award from KCA chair Esther Kiely for being one of the dominant forces in the Ladies Kildare League over the last two seasons. Their postponed Cup Final game will be contested in Suncroft in two weeks' time and all support will be welcomed.



The determination of Calverstown's Kate Kelly in overcoming the physical difficulties of cerebral palsy to achieve much in sport was recognised by her award. At 16, she has already represented Ireland at international level, and won Gold and Silver this summer in the IWASF Junior World Games in the Czech Republic. She competed in Discus, Shot Putt and Javelin. She's pictured above with her mum and KCA's Ray Kelly.



The committee of Lions and GAA members who organised the Strictly Come Dancing extravaganza last year were given a collective award not just for the successful fundraising, but also for providing the best community night out for many years. They were presented with their award by Siobhan Dunlea.



Two of the longest-established businesses in town were honoured for not just the employment they give, but also achieving national and international recognition for the quality of their products. James & Emma Nolan (above) of Nolans Butchers collected for their business, and Jamie Berney (below) for Berney Bros Saddlers. In both cases, the importance of the team effort of all involved in the businesses was stressed.





Finally, Kieran Forde was given an award for all his unstinting work with Kilcullen Community Action over many years, where his 'expertise, wisdom, and common sense' helped the organisation complete many projects which have benefited Kilcullen. These include the Dun Ailinne Interpretive Park, the Christmas Lights and Summer Flowers projects, the recent work on opening up the vista of the Cross & Passion Convent. A longtime chairman of KCA, even major health issues in recent years never dampened his enthusiasm for and commitment to improving Kilcullen.



As usual, the evening included the presentation of Tidy Towns Awards under a number of categories. The Best Window Display and Shop Presentation award went to Nancy Poulain and her Les Petits Pets shop, pictured above with KCA's Noel Clare.



Frasers Filling Station & Shop won the Most Improved Business Premises award, which was collected on their behalf by Claire Kelly.

The Best Large Estate award went to Avondale, the Best Small Estate was won by Sunbury, the Most Improved Estate was St Brigid's Avenue, the Best Common Area went to Avondale.



The Best Communal Area award was especially important this year, as it went to the Bridge Camphill Community for the new Nature Trail on their campus. They were thanked on the night for their generosity in opening up the Trail and the place where they live and work to the community.



A Special Award was presented to Jim Kelly of Castlemartin Stud, for the work done to deal with the derelict state of Liffeybank. A special word of thanks was extended to Sir Anthony and Lady O'Reilly for the effort, and to Sam Dowling for all his hard work on the project.