'Staggering' number of swift nests in Kilcullen

Last year's survey by Wild Kildare found there were 33 swift nests in the roof eaves of Kilcullen Parish Church, writes Brian Byrne.

There had been concerns last year that the breeding of the birds at the church might have been endangered by the presence of scaffolding on the roof at the time.

This number is described as 'staggering' by Paddy Sheridan of Wild Kildare. He adds that the number found was higher than expected and more accurate because four people from the area volunteered for the work, following the organisation's Biodiversity Week event in Kilcullen last May.

"Everything has to be done to save this huge colony," he says. "It is a pity that other towns of a similar size have very few nests."

Nesting boxes for swifts have also been situated in Scoil Bhride in cooperation with Kilcullen Community Action and Wild Kildare.

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Closing date for Texaco Children's Art Competition

Kildare teachers in primary and second level schools, whose pupils take part in the annual Texaco Children’s Art Competition, are reminded that the closing date for receipt of entries this year is Thursday, 28th February.

Last year over 1,200 pupils from schools in Co Kildare submitted entries to the Competition.

Now in its 65th year, the Texaco Children’s Art Competition is widely acknowledged as the longest running arts sponsorship in Ireland.

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Steiner school Open Day on Saturday

The first Kildare Steiner School Open Day of 2019 will be held on Saturday next, 2 February.

The event offers the opportunity for anyone interested to see the school, meet with teachers and find out more about the Steiner approach to education.

Places are limited, so anyone who wants to go along should reserve their place by emailing info@kildaresteinerschool.ie. It will run from 12 noon to 2pm.

The school features a parent and child group up to three years of age, a pre-school for 3-6 year olds, and primary school for 6-12 year-olds.

The day will be of particular interest to families thinking of enrolling a child or children next September.


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Kilcullen GAA floodlit walks continue tonight

Tonight is Week 3, we are half way there, keep up the good work everybody, writes Liam Cronin of Kilcullen GAA.

The floodlights at Kilcullen GAA Training Pitch — across from Kilcullen Astro Pitch — will be lit up from 7pm–8.30pm. Registration at 7pm, No 1 Fitness Club will do the warm-up from 7.15pm onwards.

Drinks and refreshments will be served after the walk at 8.30pm and during the walk where needed. Make sure to have your walking gear with bright hi-viz vest/clothing at all times when walking. If you don’t have hi-viz Kilcullen GAA will provide. Please note NO dogs allowed on the walk for health and safety reasons.

Finally, wrap-up well as it will be cold tonight. Any questions please text Liam Cronin at 087 9680399.

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Ronan gets two Irish national canoeing awards

Kilcullen canoeist Ronan Foley got two awards at the recent inaugural Canoeing Ireland National Awards at the Spa Hotel in Lucan, writes Brian Byrne.

Ronan's awards were in the Junior Canoe Marathon and Canoe Sprint categories.

Young canoeists were prominent in the awards, which were spread over a range of disciplines, including Freestyle, Marathon, Polo, Slalom, Sprint, Surf and Whitewater. There were also awards for Community Impact, Event of the Year, Team of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

The keynote speaker was the president of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Sarah Keane.

Ronan was was presented with a Kilcullen Community Award last November for his achievements in winning gold and silver medals in European and world events last year, the latest in a growing tally of high level competition results.


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Twinning visit by French town confirmed

A visit by the mayor, council members and officials of the French town of Saint-Contest in Normandy to Kilcullen in March has been confirmed, writes Brian Byrne.

It will be the first visit under a twinning arrangement between the two towns which has been set in train with the support of Kildare County Council.

At last night's inaugural public meeting of the Kilcullen Twinning Group, Nessa Dunlea said the visitors would be here for St Patrick's weekend, arriving early on the Friday morning and returning to France on the Sunday evening.

She suggested there would be a reception for them on the Friday evening in the Kilcullen Heritage Centre and a programme for the rest of the weekend would be organised.

The meeting was attended by a number of local people interested in being involved with Kilcullen's twinning project, as well as Anne-Marie Conneely from Kildare County Council's Community Department who outlined the Council's newly-developed policy on twinnings.

Cllr Rob Power, one of two local representatives recently appointed to the Kilcullen Twinning Group by the Naas MD was also present, while there was an apology from Cllr Billy Hillis, who was unable to attend.

Des Leadon of the Irish Equine Centre in Johnstown, through whom the first contact by Saint-Contest came, was also present, as was Susan Rusk, formerly a resident of Kilcullen and currently chairperson of Newbridge Twinning Committee. Both agreed to help with the Kilcullen group's activities as it develops its twinning programme.

Others who agreed to be involved included Scoil Bhride Principal Anne Flanagan, Tanya Flanagan, Lorna Brophy, Antoinette Buckley, Brendan O'Connell, and Paul Leighton. Nessa Dunlea and Noel Clare, who were part of a small Kilcullen group who visited Saint-Contest in September to explore the twinning possibility, are also part of the Twinning Committee which was established last night.

There were apologies from a number of other people unable to make last night's meeting but who indicated they would like to be involved.


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Kilcullen Badminton update

Grade 6 Ladies.

A great week for the club and the Div 8 Ladies who successfully made it to the Dublin District Cup after beating Vikings in their semi final in Baldoyle, writes Kilcullen Badminton Club's Match Secretary Enda O'Neill. It didn’t all go their way however and went straight to the wire.

After it been tied at 2-2 after their four games it was down to sets countback. Our fantastic four, edged the Vikings out beating them 5 sets to 4 booking a final meeting with young guns Trinity on Thursday 14 February. Good luck to captain Orla Brophy, Maeve Valroy, Teresa McGlynn and Lynda Murtagh.

Our Div 5 Men captained by Vincent Coller have continued their strong start to the league. On Thursday 24th of January they faced PBAI in a crucial fixture between the two table topping teams. Vincents team were on fire in this game starting fast out of the blocks taking their first mens in two sets. The next game with partners Oisin Egan and Keith O’Neill had a tougher game but managed to hold out also taking the game in two. John Mullen and Oisin were out in the third mens and dispatched the PBAI pair it in two sets, KBC now 3-0 up. It was up to Keith and Vincent to give Kilcullen the clean sweep and in a tight three setter our lads took the game and the match beating PBAI 4-0. A great result from a solid team.

In the South West League Olivier P Valroy and his Grade 6 team travelled to Wicklow's Bough in the hope to keep their winning streak going. In a finely balanced match the Rags managed to get out of the garden county with a very satisfactory 4-4 draw. This result keeps the Grade 6 Mix outfit top of the table. Well done to Oliver and the team.

Also in action in the South West League on Tuesday 28 January were Jennifer Monaghan's Grade 3 Mix team who played away to Portlaoise in Vicarstown. Its been the worst of starts for last years finalists who have suffered three defeats this season and were hoping to improve on their poor start to the league. Jen and the team did get a better result and earned an impressive 4-4 draw against the league leaders. It’s a long shot now that the team will finish second in the group with two matches left but if they can muster up two victories and other results go their way they just might sneak into a third consecutive South West League final.

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Kilcullen support for nurses' strike

Nurses employed at Naas General Hospital are among those taking part in today's one-day strike across the country.

Pictured this morning at the picket line are Kilcullen's Antoinette Buckley and Lorna Brophy.

Antoinette is a Fianna Fail candidate in the local elections scheduled for May.

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The Winter chill

It's cold out there this morning. But as Armelle Soimboing noted last week amid all the weather hype, "It's Winter."

'Tis indeed ...  Keep warm, and do check in with elderly or infirm neighbours.

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Parish Lotto Draw results

The numbers drawn in the Kilcullen & Gormanstown Parish Lotto Draw held on Tuesday 29th January 2019 were 5, 19, 22 and 23.

There was no Jackpot winner and next week's main prize will again be €18,000.

The winners of the were Mark McDevitt (Promoter Ronan Murray), Margaret Scully (Mag Hughes) and Fr Niall Mackey (Fr Niall Mackey).

The winners of the Promoters Draw were Dominic Farrell and Vivian Clarke and the winner of the Draw for those in the Parish Centre on the night was Anne Brennan.

The Parish thanks all who support the Lotto.

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SUAS call for 'yarn bomb' help

Pic: Tim Savage.

The SUAS Kilcullen knitting group has issued a call for all knitters and crocheters in the area, of all ages, to join them in their effort to 'yarn bomb' the town for Kilcullen 700.

Wool donations of any size or quantity would also be very much appreciated. These can be left into the Parish Centre at any time.

For further information, call in to Kilcullen Parish Centre on any Tuesday morning between 10.30am-11.30am.

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First Twinning meeting tonight, all help appreciated

A reminder that the first official meeting of the Kilcullen Twinning Group will take place in the Town Hall tonight, 29 January, writes Brian Byrne.

The event begins at 7.30pm and it is hoped that both the councillors recently appointed to the group will be in attendance.

Anyone interested in helping with the project, or who simply wants information, is welcome to drop in to the meeting.

The meeting will formalise the twinning activity begun when a number of Kilcullen people visited Saint-Contest in Normandy last September to explore the twinning possibility.

A group from the French town is considering a reciprocal exploratory visit to Kilcullen in March.

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Billy's Ode to Kilcullen 700

This seems to be a day for poetry, writes Brian Byrne. Hot on the couplets from Lily Crawford earlier today, here's a poem from Billy Redmond, longtime Bridge Magazine columnist, about the year that's in it for Kilcullen.


KILCULLEN 700

My Hometown Kilcullen
In The County of Kildare
A Year to Celebrate
Its Tale I will Relate

Once We Were a Hamlet
Now Quite a Town
Millennia of Progress
A Place to Settle Down

A Bridge to span The Liffey
Just inside The Pale
Its Builder Canon Jakis
He did not Forsake Us

1319 Being the Year
Our Bridge it did Appear
Underneath our River
Its Waters Cool and Clear

The Spout across the Way
Never has Run Dry
Sparkling Spring Water
Daily it does Spray

Kilcullen is a Smashing Place
As All of us Agree
Well Known Far and Wide
A Grand Place to Reside

Had its Share of Characters
Just like Anywhere
Far too many to Mention
Tho' T'Was my Intention

The Valley Quite a Place
To Walk, Sit or Meditate
Or Gaze upon our Bridge
And to it Relate

For Drama Clubs and Groups
No Other can Compare
Praise to All our Leaders
Well it's only Fair

700 Tulip Bulbs
Planted in November
To Help us Celebrate
Our Bridge to Remember

Our Local Suas Knitters
They did Plain and Purl
The Bridge to Bombard
And their Banner Unfurl

Our Lantern Walk
From Old Kilcullen Tower
Hundreds of Participants
From there They did Power

Lights Adorn our Bridge
Posters and Stickers all Over
History Talks and Heritage
Sure We are All in Clover

700 Years have come and Gone
Now Heading for 701
Our Thriving Little Town
Will Continue to Move On

(Billy Redmond, January 2019.)



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Lily's music poem strikes all the right chords

Pic: schuetz-mediendesign.

A poem written by Drama Dynamics student Lily Crawford was the winning one in a competition for the Peace Proms event organised by Cross border Orchestra Ireland. Lily is 12, and this is superb.

MUSIC

The night of the concert is finally here
Rehearsal is finished, performance is near.

The organist plays deep low notes
While the choir are training their voices and throats

Backstage the musician taps to the beats
While the audience pile in and take their seats

There is silence in the concert hall as people listen
While the light from the spotlights make instruments glisten

While the orchestra carefully watches the conductor
The audience looks on spell-bound in wonder

The pianist gently hits the keys
On his piano stool he looks at ease

The harpist carefully plucks all the strings
And people watch in awe as the vocalist sings

The music builds, dynamic and strong
Reaching the highlight of the song.

And when the musicians have finished their piece
They start to wonder will the clapping ever cease

The concert is over the noise has diminished
But is the music actually finished?

Birds in the garden play us a song
And sing their sweet music all day long

Music connects us all with the world around us
And is something that we all love and trust

Music always seems to bring us together
And it will continue to do that for ever

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Tidy Towns Conference 2019

Kildare County Council is one of eight local authorities hosting a Tidy Towns Conference 2019 in Trim, Co Meath, next Saturday, writes Brian Byrne.

The event in the Knightsbrook Hotel is under the theme of 'Better Links, Stronger Communities', and will include presentations on 'Catching the eye of the Adjudicator;, 'Planting for Biodiversity', and 'Sustainable Resource Management'.

Kildare resident Juanita Brown will talk about the National Pollinator Plan, and there will also be advice from experts on dealing with derelict sites, working with heritage and conservation officers, and how climate change may affect local communities in tidy towns activity. A vet will give a presentation on 'Responsible Dog Ownership'.

The hosts of the event are the local authorities of Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Meath, South Dublin and Westmeath.

A fee of €4.99 per attendee includes lunch, refreshments, and related materials. Bookings can be made at EventBrite. A limit of five attendees per community group is requested.



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'Teenagers' throw eggs at person, house, car

A householder in one of the town's housing estates had eggs thrown at her in the early hours of this morning, writes Brian Byrne.

It happened while she was cleaning up after an egg had earlier been thrown at her front door.

She said there were three teenagers involved, who then threw eggs at a passing car before running away through the GAA pitch. "What is this little town coming to?" she asks.

This is the latest in a series of anti-social incidents occurring around town in recent weeks. They included offensive graffiti written on a wall a week ago which caused significant distress.

Also, this past weekend saw vandalism in the Valley Park involving a fire on the path near St Brigid's Well.

At Christmas time, cases of 'aggressive and intimidating' behaviour by teenagers were reported to the gardai.

'Egging' a house or a car can result in a criminal damage charge, and throwing eggs at a person can bring a charge of assault. One such incident in Dublin in 2008 left a nurse blinded in one eye. The assailant was subsequently ordered by a court to pay compensation of €10,000 to two charities.

Eggs thrown at cars not only have the potential to cause a catastrophic accident, but at the very least can damage paintwork, resulting in costly repairs.

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