It Says in The Bridge: October 2019
Our local bookstore, Woodbine, was chosen as the official launch location for the Kildare Readers Festival 2019, and that honour is the lead story this month. It shares front page with another piece of good news, the achievement of an Endeavour Award in the 2019 Supervalu Tidy Towns Competition by Kilcullen as the most improved town in the county.
Which last is a good lead in to two pages of detail in the report of the adjudicator. This shows the extra marks were gained over a healthy range of categories, reflecting solid work by Tidy Towns volunteers on all fronts.
Solid work also by participants in the Community Employment Scheme as shown in the report by Noel Clare from the annual CE Awards — held as usual in the premises of St Bridget's Pitch & Putt Club. The piece notes how the community in general has benefited from the work of those involved, who themselves gained a range of new skills and qualifications.
The look back into the earliest days of the Drama Group by Sean Landers is about the founder, Fr John Moynihan. Although also one of the prime movers to have a town hall built, there was little known about him locally. But Sean tracks his life after five years in Kilcullen through Donabate parish where he had a saintly reputation of preferring to give all he had himself rather than see someone else go hungry. He ended his ministry, and his days, as Parish Priest of Valleymount.
The main feature article this month is an account of Emer Mucke's ten-month time with Friends of Camphill India, from where she returned during the summer. Her introduction to India was an initially scary taxi drive, but by the end of which she had worked out that there was some kind of logic to apparent madness. Her time In India was intense and challenging, but has helped set some guidelines for the next stage of her life.
Other key pieces this month includes an analysis of the local public transport system by Neil Markey, a matter he has been writing about since 2017 in The Bridge. He outlines the need for radical change and support for the services, and includes some results of a survey carried out by Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer.
Culture is celebrated in a report from the John Martin retrospective evening in the Library, history in the piece about the talk on the Eustace family in the Town Hall, and heritage from the presentation on emigration in the Library by Frank Morrow and friends.
And the regulars — the schools are back, the sports clubs have begun their winter activities, KWWSPCA continues its unending efforts on behalf of our animal friends, KCA doing similar on behalf of the community ... and Julie Felsbergs writes that in a world where the blame culture is dominant, each of us doing small positive things is a better way.
And one regular bids adieu to his column. Billy Redmond has tapped out his last Off the Cuff after some 35 years of dispensing musings, observations, and conclusions on a vivid tapestry of Kilcullen life. We say thank you for his dedication.
Still just €2. There is, no argument, no better value in and about Kilcullen.
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