Quarry meeting in Ballyshannon tonight

A reminder that a meeting to discuss quarry issues throughout Kildare will be hosted by Ballyshannon Action Group this evening, Tuesday, 28 February, writes Brian Byrne. Councillors, TDs and Senators from across the county have been invited, along with relevant interest groups and individuals, to participate in the event in Ballyshannon Hall, starting at 7.30pm.

The meeting is aimed at establishing a constructive discussion forum on how planning for quarrying in Kildare is both granted and monitored, according to a spokesperson for the organisers. "The quarrying companies have their lobby, it’s time all of the individuals and local groups throughout this county, fighting poor quarry-related planning and practices in their areas, had a collective platform, so that our voices can finally be heard. You just have to look at what's happening in and around the likes of Kilcullen, the Hill of Allen and Dun Ailinne as just a few examples, to realise that Kildare has a problem when it comes to quarrying."

Among the issues to be discussed is the lack of any monitoring or measurement of what is being extracted by the quarry industry in the county, or where the demand for their products is coming from. "Without measurement there can be no management of the issue," the spokesperson said, "and the people of Kildare pay the price while private companies make huge profits here.”

Registration of interest can be made by email to ballyshannonaction@gmail.com or watching the group's social media for more details: Ballyshannon Action Group on Facebook, Twitter @Ballyshannonac1 and Instagram.

(First published 15 February 2023.)

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Tickets for CPC's Fame on sale tomorrow

Tickets for the CPC Transition Year musical of this year, Fame, go on general sale tomorrow, Wednesday 1 March.

At €15 each, the tickets are only available from the college. Payment in cash only and no reservations are possible.

The show will be performed for two evenings next week, 8-9 March 2023, in Kilcullen Community Centre and starting at 7.30pm sharp.

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Appleton Property Market Update - Cnoc na Gréine

(Sponsored Post) As the traditional property season begins we at Appleton Property are examining market activity in some of our local areas in Kilcullen and beyond. This week we are looking at Cnoc na Gréine. 

Cnoc na Gréine is the most frequently exchanged property address in Kilcullen. More property comes to market in Cnoc na Gréine than elsewhere in the town each year. This is the case for a number of reasons. First and foremost it is the largest development in Kilcullen and it stands to reason that more houses would be exchanged here than elsewhere. Secondly, Cnoc na Gréine has a large selection of 2-, 3- & 4-bedroomed homes in various house types. Therefore it attracts a broad range of potential purchasers as house prices vary in accordance with property size and condition. Thirdly as we all know there is an extreme shortage of rental property. Many landlords are leaving the market. While we do see some buy to let activity in Kilcullen, it is more often the case that we are acting for landlords selling rental property. Cnoc na Gréine was built c.2002/3 when there was huge interest in investment property. Cnoc na Gréine was a popular choice with investors at that time. We have handled a lot of rental property in Cnoc na Gréine over the years in our letting and management service. In recent years as Cnoc na Gréine follows the national trend, many landlords are selling their property. The buyers of these homes are predominantly owner occupiers. We have seen the percentage of owner occupied homes increase in the development. Investors selling rental property account for a significant percentage of sales in Cnoc na Gréine over the past few years.

Buyers like Cnoc na Gréine for many reasons. The main attraction is the convenience of the location to the schools, all the sporting amenities of the town and the town itself. It is also within a few minutes of the M9 without going through the town and is very convenient to the M7 and Newbridge commuter rail link. 

In recent months we have seen the Council take the development in charge. This is of huge benefit to all residents and property owners in the development. The involvement of the Council will eventually lead to further improvements in the public areas. There is also a very active Residents Association in the development who will continue their good work and will continue the maintenance of the green areas. 

In the past three months Appleton Property have brought six different house types in Cnoc na Gréine to market for sale. We have brought an L shaped four-bedroomed detached home to market at an asking price of €380,000. This home was in exemplary condition having been modernised and upgraded in recent times. We had a mid-terrace two-bed, former rental property for sale with an asking price of €225,000 in November 2022. This sale has closed in the past two weeks. We had a three-bedroomed corner house in Cnoc na Gréine Woods which was sale agreed in three weeks. We then brought a four-bedroomed home to market overlooking a green area. This home has an ensuite bedroom over the adjoining homes carport. This property sale was agreed within a fortnight with an asking price of €330,000. Last week we listed a four-bed three-storey semi-detached home in the development. We have some immediate viewing requests with viewings starting this week. Later this week we have a turn-key, owner-occupied three-bedroomed home with new windows and doors and new boiler coming to market. Viewings will commence on this home next week. 

For those considering upgrading their homes or carrying out improvements in Cnoc na Gréine we would recommend focusing on the BER rating. A BER rating of B adds value and reduces your costs. 

The standard homes in Cnoc na Gréine have a BER of C3, C2 or C1. A potential purchaser may obtain a preferential interest rate on their mortgage on homes with a B or higher rating. If you are considering selling your property or want some advice on how to maximise the value of your home, please feel free to call Austin Egan of Appleton Property on 045 482759. Consultations/Sales Valuations are free of charge and without obligation.

The above mentioned sales are private treaty sales and we therefore do not publish the price achieved until such time as the sale closes. If you require further information on any of the above please call Austin Egan at Appleton Property on 087 131 1133 or text/WhatsApp us for a call back. 

Next time we will be taking a look at activity in Castlemartin Lodge.

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Poetry and diseases at Brigid 1500 Memory Monday

It was wonderful to see a full house for our February Memory Monday, writes Mary Orford. Thanks to Kildare Library Service and our local community librarian, Julie O'Donoghue, for hosting our monthly get together. The tea and biscuits were most welcome after our walk down memory lane. 

As Brigid is patroness of poets and healing, we had poetry and diseases as topics of conversation. What a combination! Cures from the School Folklore Collection entertained us (and appalled us) and I suspect we're all very grateful for advances in modern medicine. Thanks to those who read poems for adding a touch of class to the morning. 

We'll do it all again on Monday 27th March at 11am in Kilcullen Community Library. Please join us.

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Kilcullen man on Young Fine Gael National Executive

Kilcullen man John Healy has been elected to the position of Leinster Regional Organiser on the Young Fine Gael National Executive, writes Brian Byrne. He won the position at the YFG National Conference held at the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill, Galway.

A member of YFG in Kildare and at UCD, where he is in his second year studying History and Politics, John is a former student of CPC and was an active member of Kilcullen AFC and St Anthony’s Youth FC as well as Kilcullen GAA and athletics clubs in Crookstown and Celbridge. He was on the Kildare and Leinster high performance squads for Shot Putt and Discus, and also played American Football with the Newbridge-based Cill Dara Crusaders.

When not in college, John works in his father Tom’s business Healy Tyres in Naas, and on weekends in Kilcullen he can often be found walking with his Irish language tutor, practicing his passion for the Gaeilge.

As an enthusiastic committee member of the YFG Branch in UCD, John was very happy to see it recognised at the Galway event as the YFG ‘Branch of the Year’. John focused on driving membership recruitment and organising fun and engaging events for members.

Planning to bring this same energy to his new role on the National Executive as Leinster Regional Organiser, he describes his election to the position as ‘an honour and a privilege’. “I am excited for the opportunity to restore the Leinster YFG branches to what they once were,” he says.

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'Duelling Banjo Poets’ in Woodbine, Thursday night

A double poetry launch in Woodbine Books this coming Thursday will be a two-hander event with the authors reading alternately from their works in what is referred to as a 'duelling banjos' style, writes Brian Byrne.

That's because while the books by Arnie Yasinski and Alison Hackett respectively both come out of digging into different personal experiences they are quite complementarily expressed.

Yasinski's It’s Okay, He’s American and Hackett's Sentient are anthologies both connected by themes including fathers, teachers, drink, religion and politics.

They call themselves the Duelling Banjo Poets in reference to the bluegrass instrumental composed in 1954 by 'Guitar Boogie' Smith featuring two banjos alternately riffing against each other. It became popular after a version in the soundtrack of the 1972 movie Deliverance. That actually had a guitar and a banjo 'feuding' with each other, and perhaps is appropriate for the two poet authors melding their different experiences into a single performance.

The books are produced by Twenty First Century Renaissance, an independent publishing house founded by Alison Hackett. She has previously published The Visual Time Traveller: 500 Years of History Art & Science, which is also an exhibition and talk about 100 years of unique designs.

Her first poetry anthology, Crabbing (2017), came out of a self-exploration of the buried consequences four decades after the death of her mother when Alison was a child in boarding school.

Like his publisher, Arnie Yasinski didn't start writing poetry until later in life, adding painting soon afterwards with evening classes at the Rhode Island School of Design where he was an administrator. Exploring his Polish family background, and how he is viewed as an American living in Ireland, are among the themes of his new collection.

Poetry is arguably the most personal and revealing form of writing. It should be an interesting night at Woodbine Books.

Kicks off at 7pm, Thursday 2 March. 

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Fairies in the Valley need attention

The Fairy Trail in the Valley park needs some care, the recent meeting of Kilcullen Community Action heard, writes Brian Byrne.

In the general discussion on setting a work programme for the coming year, Antoinette Buckley said the fairy houses and signs need to be checked and painted, and the related signs. 

“The Valley and the trail are a fantastic resource, and we need to invest some more money in the fairies,” she said, noting how popular the feature is with families and small children.

The Fairy Trail, a KCA project led by Antoinette, was inaugurated during the Kilcullen 700 St Patrick’s weekend festivities in 2019.

She suggested that ‘a lot of work’ could be done on a Saturday with a group of people. KCA chairperson Ann Cashman suggested that such a work group could also involve younger members of their families.

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Climate Action workshop for Kilcullen

Davie Phillip and Oscar Mooney. (Images from Cultivate and LinkedIn.)

A reminder that a workshop on community climate action will be held in Kilcullen Library on Wednesday of this week, facilitated by sustainability and climate advocacy specialists based in the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, writes Brian Byrne.

Re-Imagining Community Climate Action will look at how communities can become resilient locally and also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

The workshop will be led by Davie Philip, a community catalyst and facilitator at Cultivate, the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative and one of the founders of the Cloughjordan project, and Oscar Mooney who also works with Cultivate. 

The event will begin at 7pm on Wednesday 1 March and is planned to last an hour and a half. All welcome.

(First published 2 February 2023.)

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Memory Mondays restarting tomorrow

A Memory Monday event in Kilcullen Library tomorrow will be part of the local Brigid 1500 celebrations, and revive what was a very popular series some years ago writes Brian Byrne.

The occasion kicks off at 11am on Monday 27 February and will offer an opportunity for people to recall the Kilcullen of their past, and for new residents a chance to learn more about the town they have adopted as their home.

A previous series of Memory Mondays celebrated the Kilcullen 700 year in 2019.

Mary Orford of the Brigid 1500 Working Group says the new series will again be all about 'a chat, a cuppa and a walk down the Kilcullen memory lane'.

All welcome. And it's free.

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Polytunnel 'a learning resource', meeting told

KCA meeting in Teach na nDaoine.

The KCA polytunnel is both a production and learning resource for the community of Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne. That was emphasised by KCA chairperson Ann Cashman at the group’s recent meeting devoted to setting out work programmes for the coming year.

The polytunnel initiative, substantially funded by the Kildare Leader Partnership, was developed by KCA to help the group grow its own flowers for the Kilcullen In Bloom summer flowers project.

Ann Cashman noted that as well as being a space for that, it is also a resource where local people interested in horticulture can follow their interest, and learn more about it.

“It’s an example of how more people can get involved with KCA,” she said. “It’s a community resource — if anyone wants to do something as simple as coming in to help with watering the plants, they’ll be very welcome.”

Although the plants for this year’s Kilcullen In Bloom have already been ordered from a commercial grower, it is hoped that from next year on a significant portion of them will be grown directly by KCA. The flowers decoration of Kilcullen’s main street require approximately 2,000 plants each year. 

The polytunnel location is on property provided courtesy of the Gahan family and is not open to the general public. But the meeting agreed that a tour including it and the Library Garden KCA project would be organised soon for those who might be interested in helping with both.

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Pothole patch job at Thompson's Cross

Following last week's very negative public reaction to the potholed state of Thompson's Cross, Kildare County Council has patched up the surface, writes Brian Byrne.

It's very much a patch job, though, and is not likely to last long under the daily pummelling from car and truck traffic at the junction.

As also reported last week, a consultant is to be appointed to investigate how to best deal the dangerous nature of the junction (along with nine others in the county). That's going to be a long way down the road, given how slowly these processes operate. 

So a proper resurfacing is going to be needed in the meantime.

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Shamrocks win first U16 League match

South Kildare Shamrocks played their first Under-16 Hurling League match this Saturday evening in Kilcullen.

The final score was Shamrocks 2-10, Kill 2-8. "A great effort from all the lads," says Martin Sheridan. "A hard-fought victory but well deserved."

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Photography Club meeting Monday

Kilcullen Photography Club are having their first meeting of the year on Monday next, 27 February.

It is being held in the Parish Centre from 8pm.

New members are always welcome. Just come along if you want to hang out with other people with a photo passion.

All levels from absolute beginners. All cameras from smartphone onwards.

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Call for more help by Cnoc na Greine

Cnoc na Greine are looking for additional committee members to join the Residents Association, saying they need some more help.

Involvement would mean approximately 4-5 meetings a year, helping with event organising for family days and clean up days and also collecting the annual maintenance fee.

The Association is always looking for new ideas, and all views are taken on board for collective decision making. Key activities include continued work with maintenance of green areas and ongoing follow up with estate requirements now that it has been taken in charge.  

"Every bit of support helps, even by just attending the meetings," the Association says in a recent Facebook post. "We all live in a great town with friendly neighbours and it’s a great way to meet people. Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from more volunteers."

Those interested can message from the Facebook page Cnoc Na Greine Residents Association or email cnocnagreineresassoc@gmail.com.

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