Forms for joining the Kilcullen Garda District Text Alert scheme are available from The Grocery in Calverstown, Kilcullen Garda Station, Kilcullen Credit Union, and scheme committee members. Please encourage neighbours and friends to join.
The Diary has learned of the death of Kathleen Dempsey, Whitehall, Old Kilcullen.
Kathleen will be reposing at her residence from 6 o'clock on Monday evening.
Removal will take place on Tuesday morning at 10.30am, arriving at the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Brigid for Requiem Mass at 11am.
Her funeral will take place immediately afterwards to New Abbey Cemetery.
To her family we extend our sincere condolences. May she rest in peace.
Kilcullen AFC player Kim Turner was presented with the Ladies Player of the Year award at last night's Kildare & District Football League Awards Night in Keadeen Hotel, writes Brian Byrne.
The Kilcullen Ladies Team were also presented with their medals for winning the FAI Umbro Junior Cup Final last September, in which Kim scored the critical goal in extra time which won the championship for the Kilcullen side.
The cup and medals will be on display in Bardons tonight when the inaugural Kilcullen AFC Awards are presented.
Things are getting busy around town and we thought it would be no harm to provide a preview roundup, writes Brian Byrne.
Kicking off this evening (Saturday) are the boys and girls of Kilcullen AFC, holding their inaugural club Awards Night, in Bardons. Lively from 8pm.
Tomorrow there's the KARE Christmas Arts & Crafts Sale in the McMahon Centre (former CP Convent building), from 12 noon until everybody is gone, maybe around 4pm.
Another Arts and Crafts Fair, in aid of the same organisation but privately organised, is in Walls of Kilgowan on Wednesday 4 December, all evening.
Friday December 6 is one heck of a busy day, leading with the Christmas Fare in the Heritage Centre during the day, the Crookstown Craft Village Christmas Fair beginning at 6pm, the launch of Annmarie Miles's book The Long and The Short of it at 7.30pm in the Kilcullen Community Library, and the GAA Social and Awards Night in Fallons from 8pm.
On Saturday 7 December, the Christmas Fare in the Heritage Centre continues during daytime, and the Carols by Candlelight event in Kilcullen Parish Church sings out from 8pm.
And for the moment finally, the big gig on Sunday 8 December is the Miscellany at the Bermingham family home in Mooretown from 2pm, but you'll also have the chance earlier in the day to shop around the Scoil Bhride Christmas Fair, from 12.30pm.
And we haven't even yet got to Christmas.
The Diary has learned with sadness of the death of Bridget 'Bríd' Mackey of Grangemore.
Bríd will be reposing at her residence from 3 o'clock this Saturday afternoon. Removal will take place on Sunday morning at 10.30am, arriving at the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Brigid for Requiem Mass at 11 o'clock Her funeral will take place immediately afterwards to St Brigid's Cemetery.
We extend our condolences to the Mackey family. May she rest in peace.
I guess we'll be publishing a lot more like this over the next few weeks. Dave Clancy's Christmas displays are just getting started, and we see others on the way around town already.
An extension to Schoil Bhride NS will commence construction in 2014, writes Brian Byrne.
The school was one of two County Kildare ones in a list published today by the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn TD.
The second school is in Rathangan, and both are included on a list of 70 projects to go to construction in 2014. These 70 school projects will deliver over 27,500 permanent school places, of which over 21,000 are additional places. The remainder will be the replacement of temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation.
The announcement has been welcomed by Fine Gael TD Martin Heydon, who says the projects were 'badly needed' and will also provide local employment in their construction.
A reminder that the Scoil Bhride annual Christmas Fair and Monster Raffle will take place on Sunday 8 December from 12 noon to 2.30pm.
Along with the Christmas shopping possibilities and good cheer, the children will be entertained by Santa and face painters while visitors enjoy the refreshments, the carol singers and the chance to browse around the many Christmas Stalls. Stalls available at the Fair include toys, books, Christmas decorations, Arts and Crafts, knitting and crochet, dough craft and cakes.
The Monster Raffle Draw will take place at the end of the fair and yet again there has bee fantastic support from local businesses and shops.
Prizes include an iPad, iPod, Christmas luxury food hamper with Nolans turkey and ham and Ger's vegetables, 40 bales of briquettes, a €99 car service at Dunleas, many vouchers for dining our locally, shopping and pampering from local shops and businesses, a 3-month gym membership from Killashee, a 6-month gym membership at the Osprey, a skip from Oxygen, Animals First pet check, gift sets, hampers, drinks and sweets.
Local businesses who have supported the event include Curragh Lawn Nursing Home, Murphy Design & Build Solutions, Kilcullen Tyres, John Craddock, Murphy Surveyors, Kilsaran, Nolans, Dunleas, Osprey, Killashee, Kidz Akademy Creche, Dowling Properties, Brendan O’Connell Insurance, Raymond Boucher Sunglasses, Daybreak, Frasor Oils, Joeys, The Spout, Bardons, Dave Clancy, Cottonwood Tree, Gers Veg, Oxygen, Il Fico, Headrush, Nichola Kennedy, Berneys Chemist, Berneys Saddlery, Eye Candy, Kaymed, Value World, Kilcullen Garden Centre, Smullen Transport, Powder Room, Burkes Chemist, Ellens, Reas Take Away, Five Star, Fountain, River Cafe, Cafe Coulan, Hair Emporium, Armelles Kitchen, Animals First, Kildare, and Toddlers and Wobblers Creche.
A Carol Service in Gormanstown Church on 16 December will raise funds for the Phillipines Disaster Appeal.
The event is being organised by the teachers, parents and friends of St Joseph's NS, Halverstown.
Everybody is welcome for the event, which begins at 7pm.
While onfield activity may be more or less over for the year, there's plenty of other stuff going on, writes Aidan Gleeson of Kilcullen GAA Club.
The Kilcullen GAA Juvenile awards and Car Draw take place this Sunday from 3-5pm in the clubhouse. Refreshments will be served, and there'll also be music and special guests.
The Kilcullen GAA Social & Awards night takes place in Fallons on December 6th. Tickets only €10! Come along to what is sure to be a great night of fun! DJ till late!
The Christmas hamper tickets will be on sale outside Nolans Butchers every Saturday from now till Christmas. We will also be selling tickets outside Punchestown Races on Sunday December 8th. Please support!
Don't forget the club lotto jackpot is up to €3,900 and this Sunday's draw is in The Spout. Please support!
For those looking to get their football fix, the Senior Ladies will be taking part in a 7-a-side league in Blessington over December and January and all support appreciated as always!
A school photograph of Brannockstown National School from the 1930s. This is one of the items in the exhibition of the Schools Folklore Project 1937/38 currently on display in the Kilcullen Heritage Centre, open in the mornings and well worth a visit, writes Brian Byrne.
The exhibition comes from last Sunday's event in Kilcullen Community Library where some of those who took part in the Project were reunited with copies of their entries.
Well, it's that time of year already, and I've just one more gig this year in each venue before Christmas, writes Roy Thompson of the Ballymore Acoustic Gigs and Cunninghams Bar in Kildare. But, boy, we're seeing out the year with a bang!
Not one, not two, but THREE acts in one night in each venue! And they're all young Irish acts that are each making great waves on the Irish music scene. Imagine that, three acts for the price of one! Well, don't just imagine it, come out and witness it!
Monday, December 2 - Mick Murphy's, Ballymore Eustace; Doors 8:00pm. €12 at the door.
Tuesday, December 3 - Cunninghams Bar, Kildare Town. Doors 8:00pm. €12 at the door.
The three acts — Edisons, The Young Folk, and Fiach Moriarty — bring a freshness to the scene of rootsy/acoustic music, at times with a respectful nod towards a contemporary Americana sound. But, lets not pigeon-hole them — suffice to say these acts are part of the new scene of quality Irish songwriting; excellent musicianship abounds, here, and the quality is obvious from the first note.
These promise to be two great shows; come on out, and support Live Music in your area.
For Ballymore regulars, and anyone who'd like to come along, our annual Christmas bash — 'A Vibe for Larry' will take place on Friday Dec 13th from 8pm. Come along, bring friends, musical instruments, voices, etc. and we'll have a grand evening of music and craic.
There's going to be a big night in Bardons this coming Saturday, with the inaugural Awards Night of Kilcullen AFC, writes Brian Byrne.
It's a combined night for both the men and ladies players in the club, and the gig kicks off at 8.30pm.
There's music and finger food provided, and the fun is already built in. No cover charge, but the club will gratefully accept any donations that are offered.
The numbers drawn in the Kilcullen & Gormanstown Parish Lotto Draw held on Tuesday 26th November 2013 were 8, 15, 17 and 20. There was no Jackpot winner and next week's main prize will be €4,000.
The winners of the €50 Open Draws were Phil O’Keeffe (Promoter Rose McMahon), Noel Bergin (Val McTernan) and Michael Madsen (Friday Bridge Club).
The winners of Promoters Draws were Kathy Flynn and Leanne Clifford. The winner of the Draw for those in the Parish Centre on the night was Ann Corrigan.
Just an early note that German based band Fleadh will be coming to Ireland in January for their annual holiday, writes Brian Byrne.
The local angle to that is Kilcullenite Paul Durney, aka Saoirse Mhór, one of the band's founder members, who has been making his living in Germany for many years as a musician.
The multi-countried Fleadh is made up by Saoirse Mhór, Tommy Gorny, Marcus Eichenlaub, Frank Durschner and Frank Weber.
The band will be putting on a local gig in McDonnells in Newbridge on 25 January. We'll remind you closer to the event.
The loss of 73 fishermen from Cleggan, Rossadilisk, Inisboffin and other parts of Mayo in a storm in 1927 is recalled in the title of a CD launched by the band last January, The Cleggan Bay Disaster.
In addition to Saoirse's own compositions such as Hill of Plenty, The Cleggan Bay Disaster, Row Home, The Curragh Song and the Balld of John B Whistling, the CD includes covers of Van Morrison's Moondance and Luka Bloom's Eastbound Train.
There are also a number of traditional and modern instrumental tracks from the group, which uses guitar, baas, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, uileann pipes, the low whistle, a bodhran and a cello in the instruments lineup, and guest musicians on this CD are Uli Schmidt and Isabel Eichenlaub.
For all those interested in traditional brought modern, with an intriguing continental twist, this is a well worthwhile acquisition. You can get details of how to buy it at fleadh.de.
This Christmas don't miss The Moat Club's 34th fun filled family pantomime Sleeping Beauty written and directed by Eugene Delaney.
Join Bud and Stella (Padraig Broe and Ann Delaney) as they embark on an action packed adventure to help save Sleeping Beauty from the evil clutches of Scary Fairy. Their quest is plagued with tasks to compete in The X- Factor, The Great Bake Off and I'm a Celebrity...
Can Bud and Stella, with the help of the good fairies, save Sleeping Beauty? Will Sleeping Beauty meet her Prince or is sleep to be her destiny? Will love conquer all or will the Gangsters and Scary Fairy win? And will the dumb detectives ever find the stolen dough? Well... come and see for yourself in this classic fairytale with a panto twist!
This laugh out loud festive show opens on Thursday 5th December and runs for 13 shows to Saturday 14th December in the Moat Theatre, Naas. Weekday shows nightly at 8pm, Saturday and Sunday shows 2pm and 6pm. Many of the shows are already booked out so book your seat now to avoid disappointment. Ring the Box Office on 045- 883030 or book online www.moattheatre.com
The County Kildare Orchestra, in its 15th year, will play a special concert by candlelight — Christmas by Candlelight — in aid of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland in St David’s Church of Ireland, Main St, Naas on 14 December at 8pm.
In a very atmospheric venue and performing by candlelight this promises to be a real treat featuring Christmas classics old and new. CKO will be joined by Tenor Philip Scott and boy Soprano David O’Carroll who will sing together and separately with a beautiful version of the Christmas favourite 'Walking in the Air'. Other works by Borodin, Mendelssohn and a rendition of Christmas at the Movies all make for a great night’s entertainment.
Tickets cost €15 and proceeds will go to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. A cause close to the heart of some of the CKO players.
Tickets can be booked on 086 895 5787 or pay at door.
KBC mens 1 team lead by captain Paddy Burke secured a place in the Division 2 South West Cup Final, writes Enda O'Neill.
Paddy and the lads beat a good Carlow YM mens team in their semi-final match which was held in Carlow YM. They comprehensively beat Carlow 3-0 to put themselves into the final against Gurteen.
The first game was won by Paddy and Gareth taking it in straight sets 21-5 and 23-21. The second game was a closely fought encounter with Darren and Alastor winning the first set 21-11, losing the second set 21-13 and in the final set they beat the Carlow pair 21-9. Carlow YM then gave Alastor and Paddy a walkover thus giving KBC the match. The venue has still to be decided, but the date is Dec 4th so all you badminton fans keep that evening free and come support the team!! Well done to Paddy, Gareth, Darren and sub Alastor, good luck in the final lads.
Also playing over the last week was KBC Ladies 2 who lost both their opening SWL matches against Ryston of Newbridge on the 19th and 23rd of November. Both matches were 3-1 defeats, but the ladies showed real class in last night’s SWL match beating Annacurra 4-0. Well done to Anna Marie, Jen, Helen and super sub Nicole. Their next outing is on Wednesday 27th in the SW Cup againist Annacurra.
Kilcullen's men 2 had their first outing in the DD League on Wednesday 20th of November and unfortunately it wasn’t a successful one, they lost away to St Brigids 4-0. Their next outing in the DD League is at home to Longwood on December the 20th so hopefully they will be able to improve on their disappointing start. Hard luck to captain Sean, John, Enda and sub Vincent.
Fresh from the national launch in Dublin of her debut book, 'The Long & The Short of it', local writer Annmarie Miles will have a Kilcullen launch on December 6. The book is a collection of stories put together with a range of readers in mind. From the humorous to the heartfelt and the genuinely touching, there is something for everyone.
Whether it's a man struggling with failing memory, a secret benefactor, school bullies or frantic parents there are no Jack Bauer cliffhangers and no bodice-ripping love scenes - just normal people and everyday situations. As you read you will find yourself cheering for the underdog, empathising with the grief-stricken, rejoicing with the winners and laughing at the mischief-makers.
The book will be introduced by Kildare author Martin Malone, at a function in Kilcullen Community Library beginning at 7.30pm.
The event will also be the Christmas get-together of the Kilcullen Writing Group, of which Annmarie is a member, and there will readings from other group members.
All are welcome.
EirGrid has extended the deadline for submissions on the Grid-Link project until 5pm on January 7 2014, writes Brian Byrne.
The deadline had been due to expire today, but yesterday afternoon the company announced the extension, which a spokesperson told the Diary was in order to 'accommodate the large amount of recent interest in the project'.
The plan to use pylons to carry the 400kV line from Cork to Kilcullen via Wexford has raised strong objections, with a number of protest groups being formed along the suggested routes which are currently under discussion.
According to recent reports, EirGrid is also to 'consider' the possibility of undergrounding the line, following intense lobbying by community and political groupings.
The €500m Grid-Link is part of a nationwide programme to substantially upgrade the national electricity infrastructure.
There will be a Stop/Go in operation on the Athy Road from this morning until Friday, to facilitate works on the motorway bridge over the M9.
Expect delays iy you're using the route (and all southbound traffic out of town does).
Congratulations to Miah Phelan, on winning the Rotary National Youth Leadership Award following participation in the National Finals in Galway this morning.
Miah is a Transition Year student in Cross and Passion College and will attend a special reception in the Dail and will also travel to Strasbourg as part of her prize.
You know those old spectacles that are cluttering up your bedside drawer, or the one in your office desk? writes Brian Byrne. The ones that are out of prescription and have been replaced but you keep them just in case?
Well, there's something you can do with them that's better than keeping them in the clutter. The Lions Club has a scheme by which they send such specs to people in developing countries who have a need for them.
It's a way of giving a gift of better sight to someone else who likely can't afford it. The glasses are collected from the Lions recycling centres and sorted into various categories. They are then distributed to eye camps in India, Africa and Eastern Europe where they are matched to patients.
The Lions Club International has run the scheme for over 30 years and last year distributed some 300,000 pairs of recycled spectacles.
Our local optometrist Nichola Kennedy will gladly take them in for onward delivery to the Lions.
It was a first in Ireland this afternoon when the 75th anniversary of the Irish Folklore Commission Schools Project was celebrated with a display of entries from two local schools, writes Brian Byrne.
Some 5,000 schools around Ireland took part in the project in 1937/38, when the Irish National Teachers Organisation joined with the Folklore Commission to try and have written down in their own words, what it was like for the children of the time to live then.
Copybooks inscribed in a range of faultless handwritings are now part of the national treasure of memories that came out of that initiative. The topics about which the children were instructed to research and write included local history and monuments, folktales and legends, riddles and proverbs, songs, customs and beliefs, games and pastimes, traditional work practices and crafts
And with a number of those who were children then present for the occasion in the Kilcullen Community Library, forgotten memories were revived.
Opening the event, aptly titled 'Blackboards and Chalk Dust', MC Gerry O'Donoghue said the commemoration wasn't being replicated in any other Library in Ireland, but he believed it was very important that the dedication of those who had taken part in the original initiative be remembered.
He commended Mary Orford who had organised the local project, helped by Nessa Dunlea of the Kilcullen Heritage Group and the cooperation of Kilcullen's Librarian Julie O'Donoghue.
The two schools in Kilcullen Parish which participated were Brannoxtown NS, and the Girls NS run by the Cross & Passion sisters in Kilcullen in the building that is now the Parish Centre. The former was organised by Miss Duffy, while Sr Carmel Therese managed the project in the Kilcullen school.
A Roll Call was read out of the senior pupils in the schools at the time of the Project. They were (Brannockstown) Thomas Brady, Nancy Keenan, Patsy Keenan, James Keogh, Nora Keogh, Betty Mackey, Brid Mackey, Rory Mackey, Mary Murphy, John O'Connor, Ned O'Connor, Mary O'Sullivan, and Molly Price; and (Kilcullen), Betty Bagnall, Kitty Bagnall, Nancy Baker, Una Bathe, Lilian Berney, Betty Byrne, Mary Byrne, Monica Byrne, Noreen Byrne, Vera Callan, Mona Christie, Sheila Christie, Anna Coleman, Gladys Conway, Patsy Dix, Betty Doyle, Tessie Doyle, Maureen Dunne, Claire Feeley, Kitty Ferguson, Jennie Ffrench, Rosaleen Lallaway, Hilda McCarthy, Carmel Maguire, Eva Nolan, Julia O'Connor, Nan O'Neill, Helen Power, Madge Quinn, Molly Smyth, Tessie Tynan, May Walshe, Augusta Whittle, and Birdie Whittle.
Copies of pages on which they had written their stories were presented to a number of the original writers (in top collage) — Betty Domican (formerly Byrne), Betty Kelly (Mackey) and Vera Farrell (Callan), and to family representatives of others (below), by Kildare's County Librarian, Marian Higgins.
Readings were given by Eileen Doyle and Nessa Dunlea, and Frankie Morrow sang his own composition in praise of the River Liffey.
The displays for both Kilcullen Girls National School and Brannockstown National School will be available to the public in Kilcullen Town Hall and Heritage Centre from tomorrow 24th November to 2nd December. The Heritage Centre is open from 10am to 2pm Monday to Friday.
All the material from the copy books is by kind permission of the National Folklore Collection and the exhibition is compiled with the assistance of Kildare Library and Arts Service. Photos were supplied by Mrs Dolly Lennon, Michael Murphy, Frank Morrow and Mrs Rita Nugent.
If 10 people buy one less bottle of wine at Christmas and give the €8 to Maintain Hope, then the children at the orphanage in Kenya which the charity supports will all have meat for another Sunday, writes Brian Byrne.
It's as simple as that, says Gerry O'Donoghue, writing from the Shelter Childrens Home outside Nairobi. It is one of hundreds of such orphanages in a country which has 2.6m orphaned children in part because of a decimation of the adult population through illnesses. One in five children will die before they are five, and infant mortality is more than ten times greater than in Ireland.
"Kenyans love their children just as much as we do," says Gerry, one of the founders of the Maintain Hope charity set up to look after the Shelter home. "They grieve for them just as we would in Ireland, but they have to do it more often."
Apart from the annual summer trip by volunteers to the Shelter home, Gerry — a retired teacher with strong connections to Kilcullen — spends lots more of his time working out there, and writes currently that while the 'security situation is tense', things are stable at the moment.
The background to the line at the beginning of this piece is that it takes €82 to buy 18kg of meat which would feed a stew to all 186 children currently at the home, a Sunday treat that can't always be managed.
"Before I travelled out last year, two local ladies gave me some money 'for the children'. I was able to tell them when I came back that what they gave me ensured that the Shelter kids had nourishing meat meals for three Sundays in a row."
Maintain Hope, since it 'adopted' the orphanage, has built accommodation, sanitation, kitchen, laundry room and a school. In addition it has sent residents to school, on to high school and, in some cases, third level college. "We feed them, medicate and counsel them, hug them and give out to them, just like our own," Gerry O'Donoghue says. "We ARE making a difference, representing those at home who cannot be there, but without whose support and love, we could do nothing."
One of Maintain Hope's annual fundraising events in Kilcullen is coming up shortly, the 'Christmas at Castlemartin' evening held in St Mary's Church, Castlemartin House. The event is held with kind permission of Sir Anthony and Lady O'Reilly, and an eclectic mix of music, readings and song is provided by a variety of people with local connections.
This year it is on Thursday 18 December, beginning at 7.30pm. Tickets can as usual be bought in Bernard Berney Chemists, or by contacting Gerry at on 087-2642887 or maintainhope@gmail.com.
This article was first published on the Kilcullen page of the Kildare Nationalist.
A Christmas Fair at the Grangebeg Camphill Community will be held on Saturday next, 30 November.
It will take place in the Colmcille Hall between 2-5pm. Tea, coffee, home baking, waffles, and lots of seasonal good cheer.
All are welcome. The Grangebeg Community is on Park Lane, near Dunlavin.
The recent Wake-a-Thon organised by the CPC 3B class raised a total of €7,400.
The students ran the event as their CSPE project with Mr Dowd, and a cheque for the amount raised was handed over last week to Johan Fox from the Children's Medical Research centre at Crumlin.
The 'amazing' amount of money raised was quite possibly the highest from any school in the country for the cause, Johan Fix said. It will be used to buy much needed equipment at the hospital.
The fundraiser was supported by local firm Murphy Surveys who donated an iPad Mini as a raffle prize for students who had succeeded in raising €30 or more in sponsorship.
The AGM of Kilcullen Credit Union will take place on Tuesday 10 December, at 8pm in Kilcullen Parish Centre.
There are six vacancies on the Board of Directors, one vacancy for Supervisors and one vacancy for Auditor. Nomination forms for these positions are available in the Credit Union offices.
The Credit Union was founded in 1971. It has total assets of almost €8.8m, and loans to members amount to over €2.3m.
Congratulations to the Cross and Passion College Transition Year students who last night won the National Award for Best Film at the CAST Film Festival Awards in the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin.
Schools from across the country entered the competition which is run to raise awareness on mental health issues. CPC entered four short films in the competition and all were shortlisted to the top 15 in the country. The winning team members were Jack Kelly, Emmanuel Eguare, Eduardo Espinosa and Colin Pauloin-Valory.
The National Award was for the film with 'most impact' and it was selected by former RTE producer Paul Cusack. The awards ceremony was based on the Oscars with students and teachers arriving in formal dress for the celebration.
The prize for the winners is a Directors Screen Guild Scholarship and their video will be used in promotions throughout the country. The photo shows all CPC students and their teachers who participated in the event. (Can you distinguish between the students and the teachers.)
A call for a full cost/benefit analysis of undergrounding options for the EirGrid 400kV power line to be run from Cork and Wexford to Kilcullen has been made by Kildare South FG TD Martin Heydon, writes Brian Byrne.
Deputy Heydon made the request to Energy minister Pat Rabitte TD in the Dail last night. He noted that five overground options have been shown by EirGrid to date, but undergrounding has been dismissed as 'too expensive'.
"If it is far more expensive, and technically much more difficult to do, why not do a full open analysis on it to prove that case to the public?" Deputy Heydon said, adding the question if full account of the financial impact that there may be on Ireland's tourism industry, does that factor in the financial cost of the devaluation of individual properties?
There are reports of oil thefts in the area in recent days, writes Brian Byrne.
The tank at the Solas Youth Cafe (Tennis Club) was drained on Tuesday night, and another one in Ballysax was emptied yesterday. Owners of tanks that are in vulnerable positions should be vigilant.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious at Logstown on Tuesday night should contact the Garda.
A useful date for your children's diary is next week, Bright Eyes Week, organised by the Association of Optometrist Ireland, writes Brian Byrne.
A copy of a painting by English impressionist painter Claude Bendall of Kilcullen bridge has been presented to Kilcullen Heritage Centre, writes Brian Byrne.
The picture was presented by local solicitor Pat Reidy, who has the original of the piece, painted in 1946. Pat is pictured above with Nessa Dunlea of the Heritage Centre.
The fascinating full story of the painting and its creator will be published in next week's 'Kildare Nationalist'.
Next spring should see a blue and yellow display in the street flower tubs on Kilcullen's Main Street, the recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action heard.
Celia Travers noted that the tubs had been emptied of their old soil and repacked with new soil and fresh compost. Each had been planted with new bulbs, which will result in the blue and yellow flowers next year.
There was also a discussion on reviving a mobile pumped watering system for the tubs and baskets not on the automatic system. It involved a submersible pump in a water barrel on a trailer and was very successful.
A decision not to put in a submission on behalf of Kilcullen Community Action relating to the proposed Grid Link routes was made at the recent meeting of KCA, writes Brian Byrne.
It was felt that individual submissions on the Feedback to EirGrid would be more useful.
A discussion on the matter ranged through the various current objection themes on health, amenity and property values, but the main concerns heard related to the possibility that the route would take the pylons through or close to the heritage sites at Dun Ailinne and Old Kilcullen.
Dun Ailinne is on a list of sites in Ireland being considered at present for classification as UNESCO World Heritage status.
The closing date for submissions is 26 November.
The town Christmas tree will return to the Market Square this year, it was decided at the recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action, writes Brian Byrne.
During a discussion on the tree, the fact that it was very difficult to provide anchoring for it in the CPC grounds last year proved to be the turning argument. Noel Clare recalled that despite the anchors, the tree had been blown down at one point. A pipe inset in the flower bed in Market Square made it much easier to locate there.
A proposed new system of LED lights for the bridge Christmas display was discussed and agreed on.
The meeting also decided to repeat the second street collection next year, dedicated to the Christmas lights and Summer Flowers displays.
Appreciation was again expressed to the community support for the recent collection for those purposes, the first time a specific lights/flowers public collection had been done.
