Concert and Auction this Friday for Celine's Cancer Quest

A reminder that a Concert and Auction fundraiser to help with support for Celine Garvey in her fight against cancer with which she was diagnosed earlier this year will be held in Lawlor's Hotel Ballroom this coming Friday 13 October 2023, writes Aoife Brennan.

Celine, manager of the Moat Theatre and a linchpin of arts support throughout the county, lives at Mooretown outside Kilcullen, with her daughter Elanor. When she went public with the news of her cancer diagnosis, offers of help rolled in from all over Ireland and abroad. Various visual and performing artists who have exhibited or performed at The Moat Theatre under Celine's management came forward with offers of support. 

The Moat Writers, which Celine co-founded, celebrated  the launch of a book The Hope Chest by Helen O'Leary with  funds going towards Celine's Cancer Quest. The book's beautiful cover is by Zita McGarry Kelly who offered the original painting Resilience to auction to raise funds. 

Work by Kildare artists such as Ann McKenna and Pamela de Brí, framed by Niamh Harney at Inniscara Bespoke Framing, have been generously donated. Josephine Hardiman and members of Harlequin Art Hub have also offered pieces for auction. Local businesses have kindly donated items such as vouchers, hampers, and even a steel garden shed for auction on the night. 

Some of Ireland's best-loved performers, Dublin Gospel Choir, Megan O'Neill and Jack Lukeman, all came forward to offer their services. Meanwhile, Lawlor's Hotel in Naas contacted Kathleen Smith and kindly offered their beautiful ballroom for any event that the theatre wished to hold there. The Ballroom is a beautiful setting to bring all of these extremely kind offers together in one exciting and celebratory event, raising funds for Celine's ongoing treatment and support. 

Individual tickets cost €15, or you may get together with some friends and book at table for eight people at just €100. Items donated will be auctioned or raffled on the night. 

Tickets available from moattheatre.com, drop in to The Moat Theatre Box Office or call 045 883030.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

A reminder of Kildare concert for Syrian refugee medical aid

A fundraising concert in St Brigid's Cathedral Kildare on 13 October will feature the Gormanstown Choir as well as other musicians, to raise money for medicines and operating theatre space for the next mission to help Syrian refugees organised by Atlantic Humanitarian Relief (AHR), writes Brian Byrne.

Beginning on 28 October, the next mission will provide medical, paediatric, surgical and dental care, together with humanitarian aid, focused on refugee camps in Northern Jordan. Some 80 people take part in each twice-a-year mission, a mix of nurses, doctors, surgeons, dentists, pharmacists and humanitarian volunteers. Operated by AHR since 2010, the volunteers are from America, other parts of Europe and, increasingly in recent years, from Ireland. All volunteers are self-funded.

"Last year, between the October 2022 and May 2023 missions, we were able to raise locally just a shade under €17,000 towards our participation," says local doctor Brendan O'Shea, who has been part of County Kildare involvement in the missions along with nurse Corinna Hopkins, Margaret Lynott and Dorly O'Sullivan. "The programme of the upcoming 'Music for Medicine' concert is one of easy listening and making the most of the wonderful acoustics at St Brigid's." 

The performances will include choral, string and clarinet quartets, as well as Arthur Green, currently organist at Christchurch in Dublin. "There will be brief talks on the circumstances of Syrian refugees, and how the mission and the work of Atlantic Humanitarian Relief is carried out, together with a raffle," Brendan O'Shea adds, noting that there are currently 800,000 or more Syrian people in refugee camps in Jordan.

Details, ticket purchase or simply donations can all be found at Eventbrite — look for 'Music for Medicine'.

WATCH: A Musical Reflection in Holy Week 2023

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Mighty chat at Maintain Hope morning

On a Saturday morning Irish people love any excuse for a chat, but especially if there's a good cause attached, writes Brian Byrne. As there was this morning at the Maintain Hope Coffee Morning hosted by Esther Reddy and Joe Dooley at their home near Whitehall Cross. 

A steady stream of supporters of the Kenya charity established by Gerry O'Donoghue and a cohort of committed friends arrived through the event, quietly slipping their contributions into the donations box and then settling in for conversation, coffee and tea, and a wonderful assortment of cakes and similar tasty treats.

The breadth of subjects was probably endless, but we managed to sit in for such as the importance of oak trees, fox cubs playing in a field in Kilcullen, Donald Trump's 'I'm coming for YOU after I'm re-elected' mug shot, signs in the Valley of the reopening of schools, remembering those in the past who have helped make Kilcullen what it is today, and whether the same Kilcullen is still a village or a town? And what either designation might mean for our community ethos?

Throw in a bit of how some people made their money (and land) in the Civil War, and how long memories are over the same contested land, and it was an ever-changing recipe for one of the better ways to spend an hour on a weekend.

If you didn't make it, any of the Maintain Hope team will be very happy to accept late donations ...   

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Ballitore teenager to cut long hair for sick children charity

The teenage daughter of Liam Ryan and Yuki Kobayashi of Ballitore is having her long hair cut with a two-fold good objective, writes Brian Byrne.

Mimi, aged 13, will be donating her hair to a charity that makes wigs for sick children. And she plans to use sponsorship money to help the Athy-based Irish Sign Language club Athy Sing Sign get to perform in Disneyland Paris next March. The group got word in June that they had been accepted to perform at the resort, after sending in a video audition recording.

Mimi's mum Yuki, well known through the south of the county for her Tai Chi classes, has set up a GoFundMe appeal for Mimi's project, with a target of raising €1,000. 

"Mimi has a keen interest in sick children's welfare and has been thinking of donating her hair, which took her years to get this long, for a charity to make wigs for sick children," Yuki says.

The family runs Moyleabbey Organic Farm in Ballitore.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

The Gospel Choir at Kilcullen fundraiser

The Kilcullen Gospel Choir singing at the Relay for Life Coffee Morning fundraiser in Kilcullen Heritage Centre, Saturday 13 May 2023.

A Rough & Ready Production by Brian Byrne for Kilcullen Diary.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Jeremy Burke cheque for Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust

Eithne and Colin Bell, centre, accepting the cheque from the Burke family

A bursary for CPC students interested in rock music is to be established in memory of the late Jeremy Burke, writes Brian Byrne. This was announced last evening at an event in McTernans in Kilcullen, during which a cheque for €28,542 was presented to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. 

The money was donated in a GoFundMe appeal set up after Jeremy Burke's unexpected death in Toronto in January at the age of 27, and will be used to help other families who find themselves needing help to bring home loved ones who have died abroad in tragic circumstances.

Members of the Burke and Kelly families attending the event in McTernan's last evening included his mother Louise, his father Gerry, sister Edie, and brother William. Announcing the CPC bursary, Jeremy's aunt, Caroline Kelly Morgan, said that many in the Irish community in Perth, Australia, where she lives, had wanted to do something in support following Jeremy's death. A Charity Ball planned there for 18 November this year is fully sold out, and the money raised will be used to fund the bursary. 

"It will be available to 5th and 6th Year students who have a really strong interest in the rock genre of music," she said, noting that the bursary will be administered through the CPC Music Department along with Jeremy's parents. "It could be used, for instance, to get some studio time, or to buy a piece of equipment." She added that it was most important for the Burke and Kelly family to keep Jeremy's memory alive in some special way, with the hashtag jbforever27 illustrating that.

Caroline also said that there will be annual events to support the work of charities like the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, including other support groups for families bereaved by Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).

Jeremy's mother Louise thanked everyone who had helped them through what had been an awful event, especially Conor Bell who had come to them in the immediate aftermath. "He appeared out of nowhere and stayed with us through the whole process of getting Jeremy home." On behalf of the family, Louise thanked everyone who had been with them through 'tragedy and darkness', including Barry Comerford who had set up the GoFundMe campaign. "Jeremy's passing has touched so many, there are such good people out there." She concluded by reading a poem by Donna Ashworth, Take Them With You. "When I'm having a bad day, of which there are many, I just remember the words of this poem and they help me get along another bit."

Pat Kelly recalled the reason why they were at last night's event. "Jeremy was a fantastic musician — bass player, songwriter, lead singer, and lead guitarist. He had performed on the Kilcullen stage many times since he was ten, and studied his music later for four years in Dublin."

Accepting the cheque, Colin Bell, father of Kevin whose death in a hit-and-run incident in New York in 2013 had led to the formation of the repatriation trust, said that since then they have brought over 1,600 people home to their families — nine in this last week alone. "We get a lot of praise for what we do, but we can't do this without people who fundraise for us," he said. "The money that was raised by Jeremy's family is for the next family, and the next family, and the next family after that. It's a fantastic legacy that speaks volumes of what Jeremy was thought of, what the Burke family are thought of, and it is a real tribute to everybody here tonight." 

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Thank you from Maintain Hope for collection support

Bunnies raffle sold out

We are very pleased with the success of our street collection during which €1,680 was collected, writes Gerry O'Donoghue of the Maintain Hope charity which supports children and families through education in Kenya. 

We are grateful to all who contributed so generously, to our volunteer collectors and to Nolans and Eurospar for facilitating us. The Easter Egg raffle in Berneys Chemists was a sellout and €500 was raised. Though one of the busiest shops in Kilcullen, Berneys always find time and space to support us.

The money raised through both ventures will be used specifically to fund the further education of a Masai girl, Edwina. Even  though she secured an excellent result in the Kenyan equivalent of our Leaving Certificate, she was unable to take up her place in college to study nursing because she couldn’t afford the fees. She has now secured a place for September and she will be the first student from her local community in Kibiko, Ngong to access third level education. 

Sandra another of our students, is also studying nursing and will graduate next year. These life-changing opportunities are only possible through the sustained generosity of the good people of Kilcullen and surrounding areas and we are immensely grateful.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

For Dorly, a refugee camp in Jordan was 'coming home'

Dorly O'Sullivan at the Gormanstown fundraising concert.

When Gormanstown Chapel Choir's Dorly O'Sullivan heads out as a volunteer to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan at the end of April, it will be her third week-long mission with the programme operated by the small NGO Atlantic Humanitarian Relief, writes Brian Byrne. But it will also be a continuation of a commitment she had as a teenager in Switzerland and later as a young woman in Paris.

"When I first went to Jordan with AHR, it was like coming home," Dorly told the Diary last week after the fundraising concert, 'Musical Reflection for Holy Week', organised by the choir in the church in Gormanstown. "From the age of 14 I was involved with an organisation that looks after refugees. In my 20s for a couple of years I worked in a refugee camp in Paris, where they were all Algerians. So when I came to Jordan, you know, the children were just the same. The mood of the adults — gratitude and resignation — all that was exactly the same as it was 50 years ago in Paris. You have to realise that things haven’t changed, they're just in different places."

The Gormanstown Chapel Choir and the Dara Quartet.

The twice a year AHR missions provide medical, paediatric, surgical and dental care, together with humanitarian aid, focused on refugee camps in Northern Jordan. In all, some 80 people take part in each initiative, a mix of nurses, doctors, surgeons, dentists, pharmacists and humanitarian volunteers. Operated by AHR since 2010, the volunteers are from America, other parts of Europe and, increasingly in recent years, from Ireland.

For Dr Brendan O'Shea, another member of the Gormanstown choir, the upcoming mission will be the second one he has participated in. For his wife, practice nurse Corrina Hopkins, it will be her eighth. Both work at The Bridge Medical Centre in Newbridge. "Most people are familiar with the concept of a refugee camp, and can relate what has been done to Syrian society to what is happening much closer to home in Ukraine," Dr O'Shea told the audience in Gormanstown last week. "But it is different to actually go out and engage with these people, and it is a very humbling experience."

Dr Brendan O'Shea.

On last October's mission, the group carried out 3,500 medical consultations, and dispensed 2,600 prescriptions, mainly for things like diabetes and hypertension. "It’s a very intense week, based around the refugee camps and two or three of the hospitals in the area. There were about 130 fairly major medical procedures, including hip replacements, hysterectomies, cataracts, tonsils and adenoids — the things that we kind of take for granted here. There were also over 2,000 smaller dental procedures carried out."

All the volunteers self-fund their travel and other expenses, and give their time and expertise at no charge. But with some 800,000 refugee Syrians in camps in Jordan, is it just a drop on the ocean? "It is what it is," Dr O'Shea said. "It is what we can do. Your support and your presence and your thoughts this evening are hugely valuable to the people that we're going out to. That there are people in Kilcullen and around Ireland, and in America, who are understanding of what's happening to them, is very important."

WATCH: A Musical Reflection in Holy Week 2023 

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Irish team helped people in Vietnam to walk again

Image: Claire Henry.

Miriam O'Donnell from Dunlavin, wife of Kilcullen solicitor Mal O'Donnell, recently took part in a humanitarian medical trip to Vietnam with Operation Walk Ireland, on a team providing hip and knee replacements to people who would otherwise not have access to these operations.

It was a trip that Miriam describes as 'an amazing experience'. Operation Walk is an American non-profit whose mission is to provide such operations in different parts of the world. The Irish team included doctors, nurses, physios, CSSD technicians and interpreters.

The video here was produced by Claire Henry, a Dublin-based journalist who is part of Operation Walk Ireland. 

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Kilcullen earthquake help delivered

Donations collected in Kilcullen for victims of the earthquake in Turkey have been delivered to relations made homeless by the catastrophe, by Ozgur Kayaalp, son in law of Pat Kelly of Bishop Rogan Park, writes Brian Byrne.

Ozgur, who has lived in Ireland for a number of years and works in Dublin, had made an appeal for help in the middle of February after the earthquake devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, including the city of Hatay where his relations lived.

He says a big 'thank you' to those who responded to his appeal, including Kilcullen Lions Club.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Generous response to Daffodil Day in Kilcullen

The 2023 Daffodil Day collection in Kilcullen raised €6,448.50, write organisers Trish Dowling and Ann Brennan. 

Your kind generosity will be greatly appreciated by the Irish Cancer Society. 

Thank you so much to our regular volunteers and to the new volunteers who came on board this year. Your time and help on the day is so important to the success of the day.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy

Eurospar customers and store helps Vincent de Paul

Image: Eurospar Kilcullen.

A cheque for €800 was recently handed over from Eurospar Kilcullen to the local St Vincent de Paul.

The funds included €200 from a customer collection, with €600 added from the store's Loyalty Programme.

Business owner Derek Walsh has expressed his thanks to everyone who helped by shopping local.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy