It Says in The Bridge - December 2025
Another year over, and another Christmas Bridge done, writes Brian Byrne. They seem to roll around more quickly every year. For this issue, we went full colour again, and hope you enjoy it.
The cover picture is one of the more than 200 Nativities collected by Lorraine Hegarty Kelly, which are on display in the Parish Centre this evening for four days. Based on previous such exhibitions, that's well worth a visit.
There's a lot of seasonal content: picture coverage of the children's delight when Santa came along to switch on the town's Christmas lights; an account of the superb Carols by Candlelight in the parish church; Monica Martin recalls the first Christmas the family had when they arrived in Kilcullen; Mary Orford goes ghost-hunting for the spirits of the season. There's also a lovely article by Noreen Dowling, wondering where Santa is in the dazzle of a modern toy store. And, of course, many businesses in Kilcullen wish their customers the very happiest end of 2025 and for the coming new year.
The centre-spread story reports on the recent Kilcullen Community Awards, headlined as the 'glittering occasion' that it truly was. The Bit of Business this month features the Brown Bear restaurant and bar in Two Mile House, run by Jean Grace and her husband Eugene Brennan, who work hard to connect with their patrons. There's a new business featured in this Bridge, too, the Byron Pilates Studio, opening this very day in the Kilcullen Link business park as the realisation of a dream by Dearbhaile Donagh. The recent one-year celebration of An Tearmann's reopening by David and Salima Hogan underscores Simon and Hilary Pallister's role as the driving force behind the cafe's reintroduction after an extended closure.
News items include the launches of two 2026 calendars, the annual production from the Kilcullen Photography Club, and one for the Kildare and West Wicklow SPCA, for which the club also took the rescue dog pictures. There's no excuse to forget the date next year. Lots of smiles too in the coverage of the No! Fitness 10th anniversary party, when guests turned up in glorious Gatsby-era costume — the style going through O'Connell's Bar that evening was something else. The full-house success of the recent CPC Panto is also noted, as is the launch of the fundraising campaign for KCA's next public art project: a large mural on a building on Newbridge Road.
In the magazine's pages devoted to matters of the spirit, Julie Felsbergs takes the brave new world step of collaborating with an AI 'friend' to tease out the true spirit of Christmas; I guarantee you'll be intrigued. Fr Gary takes a more traditional path to the same destination of the miracle of the Nativity of Christ the Saviour.
Amongst the regulars, Billy Redmond recounts some side tracks taken during an annual musical visit to Killarney. In addition to enjoying the performances by TR Dallas and Louise Morrissey, he experienced the intricacies of a Kerry Co-op shareholders' meeting and the finer points of the Killarney Darts Festival. Sean Landers revisits the 1897 fire that destroyed Gilltown House, attended by the horse-drawn fire tender from the Curragh Camp. The newspaper account of the conflagration is graphic. John Duffey recalls an 85th-birthday celebration that included a walk up Lugnaquilla, where he read from one of his favourite poetry books. In his Out and Away article, Noel Clare reverses course and writes of encounters with people arriving to visit Kilcullen itself.
The full colour lifts the various school pages this month, including one lovely photograph of toddlers from KCCEC exploring a deep puddle of water. The sports content includes a Pitch and Putt Club appreciation of the late Anne Sweeney.
Another Bridge. Another minor miracle, as they say in publishing. Enjoy, and a happy Christmas to all.
