It Says in The Bridge: October 2023

Three significant events of different kinds lead off the October issue of The Bridge, writes Brian Byrne. The return of movies to Kilcullen in the form of Kilcullen Bridge Cinema is top of the list, referencing the centre spread that shows many of those who attended the full-house inaugural screening, The Fablemans. 

Also headlined is Billy Horan's 90th birthday party, appropriately a seisiún of music and stories, with those present pictured by Pat Foley inside the magazine. And there's also a front-page photo of ten smiling ladies who left CPC 40 years ago that shows they are still very much enjoying their lives today.

News inside includes a report and photos of a parish mass and reception for Anne Flanagan, retired recently as Principal of Scoil Bhride. There's also a preview of the imminent twinning trip to Saint-Contest, the latest award for local online enterprise Faerly, a very happy picture of Kilcullen seniors on a trip to Avondale, and a note on the tonne of daffodil bulbs donated to the community by Appleton Property. Former CPC student Ben Cahill's eight H1 results in the Leaving Cert also gets coverage, as does the upcoming performance by Gormanstown Choir in Kildare Cathedral, to raise funds for medical treatment for Syrian refugees.

A quirky feature from regular contributor John Duffey relates the multiple uses to which an old Austin Devon van was put back in the day, specifically in the days when Kilcullen Carnival was the August highlight event in the county. Sean Landers goes back a little further and darker, musing on crime and punishment in Kilcullen in the 1920s and 1930s. The 20 Questions this month is from Paula Phelan, and in Out & About, Noel Clare and friends take a cruise from New Ross to Waterford. A very interesting letter to a local man who died in WW1 is the contribution this month from the Creative Writers Group. Billy Redmond writes on where the original altar rails from the parish church are now located, and for those who weren't around when the Valley park was being developed, Noel Clare provides a piece on the Valley Hall of Fame.

The schools are back too for this issue, including a note from the new Scoil Bhride Principal Sarah Fitzpatrick, who has moved from the smallest school in the parish, Brannoxtown CNS, to the largest. New walking shoes to enable covering the much greater distances were required!

All those, and more, in the October Bridge. Usual outlets. Usual €2. Enjoy.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy