Market Square to be closed on Saturday, for concert

Kilcullen's Market Square will be closed from 10pm on Friday 1 July until 11.30pm on Saturday 2 July to facilitate the Dawn Walk Concert.

Tickets available on the night. Children under 16 go free.

The concert will feature Niamh Kavanagh and the Illegals, and Kilcullen Gospel Choir seen above rehearsing.

Please support.

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Weatherday: Which service do you require?

On the GAA Family Cycle (2016).

A mix of sunny spells and scattered showers, heaviest early on. Some showers may turn thundery at times. 

Highest temperatures of 17 to 19 degrees in light westerly breezes.

On this day in 1937, the world's first emergency telephone number was launched, 999.

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Kilcullen Choristers singing workshop tomorrow

A reminder that a Children's Workshop in singing is being organised by the Choristers of St Brigid in Kilcullen for tomorrowThursday 30 June, running from 12 noon to 4pm.

It is aimed at 6-12 year-olds and all levels and abilities are welcome.

Places are limited and cost €25 per child.

The organisers are Niamh Traynor and Peter Moloney, both Garda vetted and Tusla trained.

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Twenty years of KCA: Eoin Houlihan & James Byrne

James and Eoin at the 2021 Pakman Awards where their company Faerly won the 'Online Green Packaging' category award.

Kilcullen Community Action was founded 21 years ago, on 9 May 2001. The Diary asked a number of people who have been involved with it during the last 20 years to give us some of their thoughts on the organisation. We will be publishing these as they come in, to mark the completion of two decades of KCA work.

It was the summer of 2010 when myself and my husband James came to look at an apartment to live in here in Kilcullen. I'm originally from Kildoon, a townland outside of Nurney not far from here and James is from Enniscorthy in Wexford. We had been living in Dublin together for four years and circumstances meant we needed to move. 

What struck us both when we came to view the apartment was how beautiful the main street was, not just the buildings but the beautiful window boxes in full bloom and how clean the street was. Jump forward 11 years and we ended up buying a house in a beautiful estate called Nicholastown and we are both active members of Tidy Towns, indeed I'm now a Director with KCA. 

Kilcullen is very lucky to have a group like KCA who work tirelessly at improving Kilcullen. KCA along with the CE workers and the Tidy Town volunteers help to keep Kilcullen looking the way it is. Over the past number of years KCA has evolved and taken on more and more projects that are beyond flowers and litter picking. KCA is now involved in the National Pollinator Plan, developing a Sustainable Energy Community, as well as looking at creating energy from our current resources with the potential of feeding into the local grid. There are biodiversity talks to help educate people about the world we share with so many other creatures. KCA are now involved in producing a Town Design Plan for the future development of Kilcullen that will endeavour to try and accommodate the needs for everyone. We even have a newly built poly tunnel as well as two bee hives. These are just a small example of the work that KCA are involved in. 

For us this is what is great about KCA, it is a group with a vision and people who are willing to explore new possibilities for the betterment of Kilcullen and the planet. KCA reaches out to the community and draws on the strengths of the people who live here. KCA is a community organisation of volunteers who work tirelessly to make Kilcullen a better place to live, work and visit.

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Flower Festival in Naas this weekend

Photo by Tara Winstead via Pexels.

The National Flower Festival, organised by the Association of Irish Floral Artists, will run in St David's Church in Naas this weekend.

Under the theme Another Time, Another Place, the Festival will support The Alzheimer Society of Ireland with an admission fee of €10.

The highlight event will be a Variety Concert featuring Patrick Hyland on Saturday evening beginning at 8pm, admission €12.

There will be a range of stalls, a craft table, plant sales and Floral Art Recyclables available through the weekend.

The Festival opens at 7.30pm on Friday in Our Lady and St David's Church and will finish at 4pm on Sunday.

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Weatherday: Disaster enters, stage left

Barley and the Graperag in O'Connells (2019).

Cloudy with a few sunny spells in the morning. A chance of early showers, then more persistent rain settling in from mid-afternoon. Clearing after tea to a dry night.

Temperatures maxing at 16deg in moderate breezes from the southwest, veering westerly and easing to very light.

On this day in 1613, the Globe Theatre in London was destroyed when its thatch was set alight by a cannon fired to mark the entrance of the king onstage during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII.

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Parish Lotto Draw results

The numbers drawn in the Kilcullen & Gormanstown Partish Lotto Draw held on Tuesday 28 June 2022 were 6, 14, 24 and 27. There was no Jackpot winner and next week's main prize will again be €18,000. 

The value of the follow up draws are €18,000 and €2,000.

The winners of the €50 Open Draws were Matthew McGuirk (Promoter Martina Clifford), Bridie Murphy (May Coyne) and Eugene Hall (Miriam McDonnell). The winners of the Promoters Draw were Ger Hergarty-Kelly and Mag O'Connell.

The Parish thanks all who support the Lotto.

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End of covid subsidy immediate reason for bus service loss

The immediate reason for the closing of the Newbridge-Kilcullen bus service is the ending of a special subsidy by the National Transport Authority, writes Brian Byrne. The subsidy has been paid for the last 20 months as a temporary Covid measure.

According to the operator JJ Kavanagh, the numbers using the service have dropped and as yet have not returned to pre-Covid levels. They announced the closure of several local services from 1 July due to 'low patronage'. The Newbridge-Kilcullen service was suspended entirely between March-August 2020 due to Covid.

Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer says Kilcullen already has an inadequate public transport service, 'so it is just not an option' to drop the service. Cllr Chris Pender says the news is a 'bitter blow' and has expressed his anger that a vital transportation service 'can just be abandoned without any consultation with public representatives or service users'. Both councillors have committed to working with the transport operator and the NTA to try to have the service continued.

Kilcullen Community Action describes the planned ending of the service as 'dreadful news' and says the town is 'losing a hugely important connection to our nearest neighbouring town — important for workers, shoppers and students'. "Surely it goes totally against current government policy and as such needs the concerted efforts of all our public representatives to make sure this decision is reversed," the group says, "especially at a time when we should be encouraging more people to use public transport."

Local businessman Martin Murphy describes the matter as a 'travesty' that 'completely restricts' Kilcullen people. As would be expected, commentary on local Facebook pages is highly negative, and includes suggestions that the operator's claim of 'low patronage' be challenged. 

Since 2011, bus services through Kilcullen have been severely cut back by both private operators and Bus Eireann. This was despite commitments given in 2009 by both groups that services through Kilcullen would be retained after the opening of further sections of the M9 motorway.

In 2015 a 'Save our Buses' campaign was set up after service cutbacks affecting Castledermot, Castlecomer, Athy and Kilcullen. At one public meeting the bosses of Bus Eireann and the National Transport Authority were told bluntly that they were effectively 'abandoning' rural Ireland. There was no representative there from JJ Kavanagh, the other primary, and private operator on the affected routes.

In 2017, JJ Kavanagh made further changes to their schedules which meant that one morning and two evening services bypassed Kilcullen and other villages between Kilkenny and Dublin.

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Tractor & Car Run in Narraghmore

A Charity Tractor & Car Run will take place in Narraghmore on Saturday 9 July, in aid of Narraghmore Foróige Club.

The run will leave Mel's Car Park at 4pm, and will finish with a barbecue in Mel's Yard.

The event is being organised by Narraghmore Vintage Club. All are welcome.

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Weatherday: Long distance stamp

Brush Sheils and the late Jimmy Aspell at their Spout ICS fundraiser gig (2016).

The heavy overnight rain will continue through the morning, easing to sunny spells and showers in the afternoon.

Temperature up to 15deg in moderate to fresh breezes from the south with gusts.

On this day in 1939, a Boeing 314 Yankee Clipper flying boat operated by Pan American landed at Foynes from the United States, inaugurating the first scheduled airmail service between the US and Ireland,

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Branockstown planning sustainable watering system

A solar-powered sustainable watering system for the flower beds in Brannockstown is being considered by the local Community Group, writes Brian Byrne.

The Group has made an application to Kildare Leader for funding for the initiative, which would use untreated ground water accessed from the source for the original village pump. A solar-powered pump would be used to circulate the water to the beds during the spring and summer.

This was one of the plans discussed at tonight's Village Update Meeting, held in the refurbished Old School building. There was a very good turnout to the meeting, which also provided the opportunity for villagers to see the renewed historic building.

The Principal of Brannoxtown CNS has told the Group the old building is available to them for meetings as and when they need it.

Lance O'Brien was elected Chair of the Group for the coming year, with Richard Kelly Vice-Chair, Trevor Schwer as Treasurer, and Alice Farrell as Secretary.

A Clean Up night was arranged for Tuesday 5 July, with volunteers meeting at 6.30pm in the Baptist car park. All welcome.

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Dancer Kayla qualifies for Montreal 2023

Local young dancer Kayla Reid has qualified for the Irish Dance World Championships, scheduled for next April in Montreal, writes Brian Byrne.

Kayla was placed fourth amongst 83 competitors over the weekend at the Irish Nationals dance championships, held in Athlone.

In April she represented Leinster in the Irish Dancing World Championships. A Scoil Bhride pupil, Kayla is daughter of Kevin and Cecilia Reid and dances with the Curley-Brennan Dance School in Newbridge. 

Her mother Cecilia danced in her youth with Jenny Landers in Kilcullen.

Kayla has danced in previous provincial competitions, and also danced in Glasgow at the All Scotland Championship on two occasions, placing 5th and 6th. Dancing in the Great Britain Championships, she was placed 3rd last October.

Her sights, and dazzling feet, are now firmly fixed on doing well in Montreal.

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JJ Kavanagh lops local services, cites 'low patronage'

JJ Kavanagh has confirmed that they are ceasing a number of local bus services from 1 July, including the 129 Newbridge-Kilcullen route, writes Brian Byrne.

The company says they had to make 'the difficult decision ... due to low patronage'. "Since returning to full operation, the passengers numbers have not returned to the expected levels as previously seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic," a company statement says.

The other routes affected are 737 Naas–Dublin City/Dublin Airport; 873 Carlow–Bagenalstown–Kilkenny; and 846 Clane–Naas.

Last week, Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer was told that the cessation of services was due to the removal of supports by the NTA. She said she would continue to work to have the service maintained.

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Did you lose your phone? UPDATE: LEFT IN GARDA STATION

A phone has been found in the Mile Mill area.

The owner can retrieve it by calling 086 1984201.

UPDATE: LEFT IN GARDA STATION
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Weatherday: Energy from the atom

Woodstock House & Arboretum (2015).

A bright start will go partly cloudy through the morning, with a slight chance of a shower. Cloud will thicken in the afternoon, with showers of rain from late evening.

Temperatures up to 14deg, feeling cooler in light to moderate gusty breezes from the west, veering southerly and strengthening later.

On this day in 1954, the first atomic power station was opened, near Moscow.

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Awards night for Kilcullen AFC U12s double champs

A great night for the Kilcullen AFC U12 Premier Team tonight, when they were presented with their awards in the clubhouse, writes Sheena Coogan.

The lads had a great season, winning both the Premier Division and the U12 Cup.

Double Champions!

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