It Says in The Bridge: Jan 2014

Kilcullen Scouts make the front page story of the first Bridge Magazine of 2014, writes Brian Byrne, recording the presentation of a national youth award to the troop for 25 years of organising the Kilcullen Scouts Senior Citizens Christmas Party. As the story notes, it's the 'big one'.

And it's certainly a big Bridge issue for the Seniors with no less than three pages of Pat Foley pictures from the Senior Citizens Party in Keadeen, with everybody clearly enjoying themselves enormously. And they had a party from the Sixth Year students at CPC too, which merited even more pics. In the meantime, if you want to get a flavour in pictures of the year past, those reminders are there too in 'Highlights of the Year Gone By'. While, from the always busy Brannockstown pages there's full photographic coverage of the Stray Inn Christmas Night, held in Walls of Kilgowan.

Late breaking news makes the back page, featuring the CPC Transition Year team which won the school's second Intel Ideation Camp with their website concept for matching employers and post PLC youngsters looking for work. They now go to the national finals in Intel, and are hoping the match the performance of the inaugural CPC team which got to Silicon Valley last year.

Other items include 'thank you' notes, from Phena Bermingham to all those who supported the pre-Chrismas 'Miscellany' in aid of Fr John Bermingham's Redemptorist mission in Mozambique; from Kilcullen Lions for those who supported their Christmas Street Collection; and from Gerry O'Donoghue of the charity Maintain Hope which supports an orphanage in Kenya: "We couldn't do it without you," he told those who turned up to the 'Christmas at Castlemartin' event in St Mary's Church.

Features this month include another installment from Adeline Poufong's travels on Australia's East Coast, which among other things details her first camping and trekking experiences on Fraser Island. A reminder of a returning Kilcullenite's visit this coming weekend is also highlighted, with Paul Durney 'coming back to where it all started' for Saturday's gig in the Town Hall with his band Fleadh.

A piece by Mary Conroy is her contribution to a new book by her niece Juanita Browne, 'Put the Kettle On — The Irish Love Affair with Tea', which involves some 60 Irish people talking about how they like their Irish tea. Mary, who is blind, recounts how one day she asked a horse to help her across the road ...

There are the regulars too. Billy Redmond muses on how the church can be unnecessarily cold when people leave the side doors open and comes up with a simple solution. He also contributes a rhyming recollection of Kilcullen 'characters' then and now.

In 'Water Under the Bridge' Noel Clare reminds us of some of the happenings in town over the Christmas, and particularly the people involved in them and especially the congratulations for those who became engaged or got married in the festive season.

In one of her several contributions this month, Jacinta Sully recalls when Hilary Doyle was postmistress at Brannockstown, and also profiles local business Duggan Construction.

Sean Landers offers his regular account for this time of the year as the 'Letter from Kilcullen' in his time home from Taiwan. He also resurrects from the 'Philadelphia Visitor' of 1815 a gothic story about an inn outside Kilcullen. Best read by candlelight, on a wild night that rattles the doors and windows.

More pictures — no less than 55 heads — from the schools pages, recording the Scoil Bhride Christmas Concert, and sports reports from Kilcullen Badminton Club, Hurling, and AFC.

All in all, another great reading start to a new year from Kilcullen's more than four decades of community journalism.