Forms for joining the Kilcullen Garda District Text Alert scheme are available from The Grocery in Calverstown, Kilcullen Garda Station, Kilcullen Credit Union, and scheme committee members. Please encourage neighbours and friends to join.
It may have been a disappointing result for Kilcullen GAA when they went down to Lissan of Derry in the Celebrity Bainisteoir game recently, but the party atmosphere on the day was great.
And for celebrity commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh there was also a bit of a party, to mark his birthday. Chef Ellen O’Driscoll of Bardons baked him a special cake—she’s pictured here with the man whose voice has been that of the GAA for decades.
Click on the ad for details
RADIO DIARY: Legendary commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh talks to Brian Byrne about the importance of events like Celebrity Bainisteoir to the GAA, the clubs and the community.
Kilcullen lost the game against Lissan of Derry in a nail-biter finish which had Kilcullen (SCORE EMBARGOED BY RTE) with five minutes to go. This means that—despite the best efforts of Brenda Donaghue—the home side has been knocked off the road to glory in the RTE TV 'Celebrity Bainisteoir' series at their first clash.
From early morning there was a really festive atmosphere about the club, with the Juvenile game bringing out the parents and youngsters. There were burgers and drinks available, and the buzz heated up when people got their hands on 'The Naked Truth' calendars produced by the Kilcullen club.
For the main event, good crowds of supporters from both sides gathered from after midday. The two teams arrived by bus from their respective hotels, Keadeen for the local lads and Kilashee for the Derry side.
They were met by Kilcullen club President Pat Lynch, and legendary commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh who talks here to Brian Byrne about the importance of events like this to the GAA, the clubs and the community.
There was a surprise for the commentator, who celebrated his birthday yesterday. Chef Ellen O'Driscoll from Bardons—who were catering for the crew and teams before and after the match respectively—had baked him a special cake, with birthday greetings in Irish on it.
After warmup and final words from their bainisteoiri, the teams lined up for the National Anthem played by the Newbridge Community Brass & Reed Band.
A full report on the match will appear on Kilcullen GAA's website. The result is now history, but a great day out was had by all, and the impetus it gave to both the club and the town will live on beyond defeat.
The colours on the chair give it away, of course, since he is no less a personage and GAA legend than Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, a Dingle native and a national treasure.
Meanwhile, Brian Byrne asked Jennifer what has been the impact of the Kilcullen club staging the RTE series?
It's a busy day in Kilcullen. At the GAA grounds, filming has been taking place for the Celebrity Bainisteoir series in advance of tomorrow's first round game between Kilcullen and Lissan of Derry.
And amid the flurry of painting of buildings that's also part of the current buzz around Kilcullen, the organisers of the Kilcullen River Festival 2011 have been putting up bunting to add to the colour (helping Geri Dineen above is Kelvin Kinneavy from Galway, who has taken on the role of making sure that his Uncle Steve, JJ Warren and Liam Stenson don't doss off).
Meantime, the CPC wall continues to come down, and it is now very clear just how open the parkland and the views of the building will be.
"Should have been done years ago," one local said. Quite. And full marks to Kilcullen Community Action and the CPC administration for pushing that particular project onwards over the last six years.
Neither are originally from Kilcullen, but Dave Clancy and Armelle Siomboing have no doubt about where their loyalties lie for the weekend's clash between Kilcullen and Lissan in the critical Celebrity Bainisteoir first round.
"We're rooting for The Rags," the two Main Street business people say emphatically. And if you want to show your own colours for the match, Dave is selling the gear produced by the club.
With 'Rags' black and white bunting appearing in various parts of Kilcullen over the last few days, it is clear that something serious is afoot. And, of course, it is the important 'Celebrity Bainisteoir' game between Kilcullen and Lissan of Derry on Sunday.
But the club is making a weekend of it, with a march of the Junior members of the club on Saturday morning from the Community Centre to the GAA grounds, led by Bainisteoir Brenda O'Donoghue and a piper. The event, for the film cameras, kicks off at 10.30am.
On the Sunday morning at 11am, there will be a Minors game against Eire Og, which will be followed by barbecue and music through lunchtime. The big game starts at 2pm.
A large crowd is expected, and car parking arrangements have been made with Leinster Marts—anything between 1,000-2,000 spectators could be descending on the Kilcullen club's grounds for the day.
Our pictures of some of the preparations were provided by Ronan Murphy.
The Celebrity Bainisteoir kicks off in Kilcullen this Sunday, the 21st of August, at 2pm in Kilcullen GAA grounds, writes Jennifer Shortt.
On the day, Kilcullen, managed by Brenda Donoghue, will take on the Derry team St Michael's from Lissan, who are managed by Dana. Both of the Celebrity Bainisteoir's mentors, Liam Kearns (mentor to Brenda) and Ciaran Whelan (mentor to Dana) will be on hand on the day to help out the Bainisteoirs.
Also in attendance will be Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, who will be commentating on the match.
Both teams have put a lot of effort into getting ready for the match over the last few months and it is guaranteed to be an exciting game.
On the morning, prior to the main event, the Juvenile teams from both clubs will play against each other on the main pitch at 11.30am.
The match kicks off at 2pm and admission is free. A souvenir programme will be available on the day. There will be restricted parking so do arrive early.
All are welcome to come and cheer on the lads!! Come on the Rags!!
NOTE: Club merchandise is available to buy. New club t-shirts are available in both children and adult sizes—please contact Karen on 085-7665894 if you would like to place an order. Juvenile merchandise is also available.
They may be friends who 'have great chats', but Kilcullen's celebrity bainisteoir Brenda Donohue is determined that she wants 'to kick Dana's ass' in the upcoming first round game between Kilcullen GAA and Lissan from Derry, writes Brian Byrne.
Dana is of course the bainisteoir of the Derry side in the 2011 RTE 1's series of 'Celebrity Bainisteoir', and Brenda is down in Kilcullen this evening to undertake her third night of training with the Rags side.
The game is set for Sunday 21 August, and Brenda is confident in the abilities of her Kilcullen lads—'they're very committed, one of them even comes home from his work in London every weekend to train'.
And she knows the rules of the game, being an admitted 'day tripper' to GAA games, 'but maybe I'm not great on the strategies'.
For that, though, she told 'The Mooney Show' this afternoon, she will be depending on her own mentors. Tonight she has All-Ireland veteran Liam Kearns, and for her first training she got great advice from legendary Kildare player Anthony Rainbow.
"But when I got out on that big pitch with all those six-footers, I forgot everything," she told Derek Mooney. "And though I have to give them their instructions, I know that they know that I don't know what I'm talking about."
Meantime, her bonding with the Kilcullen club is getting better all the time—'I really have gained great respect for all the people who work in the background, mowing the pitches, keeping the place going'.
And she revealed that she and her Kilcullen team are working on a fundraising calendar, which 'will be as risque as we can be'.
Tonight's practice begins at 6pm and everybody's welcome.
The Kilcullen GAA team on Celebrity Bainisteoir takes to the pitch with Bainisteoir Brenda Donohue today (Tuesday), from 6pm.
Also there for the third training session in the series will be former Laois and Limerick manager Líam Kearns and the RTE camera crew, tomorrow evening.
Everyone is welcome to attend to watch the lads being put through their paces (as well as being extras for the crowd shots!).
Kilcullen GAA have expressed their appreciation to all local businesses who have supported the club's fundraising for expenses associated with being involved in the Celebrirt Bainisteoir 2011 series.
The club is hosting its first-round match of the knock-out competition, against Dana-trained Lissan of Derry on Sunday August 21.
Twenty pitch side advertising signs are already in place on the pitch, and there's room for more, says club PRO Henry Barrett. There are also opportunities for businesses to advertise on the special programme being produced for the day and on the club website.
Contact Henry on 086 1677829 or Dan Bell on 086 2590314 if you want to take that opportunity.
The Diary has just heard that Kilcullen GAA have won home advantage for their first Celebrity Bainisteoir game against a Derry side in August.
Paul Bell, Jamie Lambe, Darren Barker and Christy Howard were this morning's local heroes, beating Lissan in a 4x200m relay at a Dublin venue, to decide the advantage.
Meanwhile, Bainisteoir Brenda is scheduled to be putting her team through their paces in another training session about now.
Get on down there and cheer them on.
The challenge for home advantage in Kilcullen GAA's first match in the Celebrity Bainisteoir 2011 competition will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, in Dublin, where four team members will compete against Lissan of Derry to determine who has home advantage. The match is due to take place in August.
Meanwhile, the cameras will be back at Kilcullen GAA tomorrow evening for Day Two of Celebrity Bainisteoir, when Brenda Donoghue will take her second training session. The result of the earlier team challenge will be revealed.
Training will commence at 6pm and again everybody is welcome to attend.
The bainisteoir for the Kilcullen GAA in the fourth series of RTE's 'Celebrity Bainisteoir' is TV and radio presenter Brenda Donohue.
She arrived at the clubhouse this evening and got stuck into her first training session with the team.
Kilcullen has been drawn against Derry for its first game in the knock-out competition.
The name of the celebrity who will manage Kilcullen GAA for the new series of the TV programme 'Celebrity Bainisteoir' will be revealed this evening at the clubhouse.
The event kicks off at 5.30pm, and the team's first training session with their new manager will take place immediately afterwards.
Everybody is welcome to the event.
This fourth series will feature eight brand new celebrities, eight new mentors and eight new GAA club teams ready to battle it out for the title Celebrity Bainisteoir 2011.
The participating non-sporting personalities come face-to-face with the real meaning of club, community and parish in the series.
The first of the hour-long programmes of the series goes out on 18 September, at 6.30pm.
There will be lots of excitement in Kilcullen GAA Clubhouse at teatime on Thursday 30 June.
That's because Kilcullen GAA have been selected for the fourth series of RTE's Celebrity Bainisteoir, and the celebrity Bainisteoir will be revealed at that time.
The CB will make a personal appearance during the reveal.
