End Of An Era.
At the 7.30pm mass on October 31st we witnessed the end of an era as we marked the retirement of our much loved sacristan Mossie Millea. Mossie and his family have given many, many years of dedicated service to our parish and he is looked on with great respect. The work of the sacristan is not to simply open and close the church there is a lot more to it than that and Mossie always carried out these duties to perfection. He always greeted you with a smile and a chat if you came knocking looking for keys to open up for cleaning etc. Chairman of the Parish Council John Stephenson presented Mossie with a token from the parish and also made a presentation to his son Paul who has helped his father in recent years.
After the mass it was so nice to see so many parishioners come to the parish hall to join Mossie and his family for some refreshments. Mossie was visibly moved by the amount of people and enjoyed chatting with them all. Tasty sandwiches, buns, tarts and cakes were prepared and served up by some of the ladies of the parish and everyone agreed they did a wonderful job. Community spirit is what binds a parish together and Mossie has shown his community spirit in abundance. We wish Mossie continued good health and enjoyment surrounded by all who love him especially his son Paul, daughter in law Helen and his grandchildren Aidan, Colm, Aoife and Keith whom I know adore him. Thank you Mossie.
Toddlers Mass.
It was lovely to see so many young toddlers and babies at mass on Sunday November 1st. They had been invited along especially by Fr. Mick to receive a special blessing from him and I know he was delighted to see so many of them there. Special thanks must go to our young people who took over the job of the readings for the day. Ava and Faye read the readings clearly and beautifully while Adam and Lana read out those prayers of the faithful precisely and accurately.. Our parish choir also added beautifully to the occasion with some of the toddlers joining in with them.
Dublin Marathon.
I know a few from our own area and surrounding areas headed off to take part in the Dublin City Marathon on the Bank Holiday Monday and we must say a huge well done to them all. I heard about one family’s adventure from my good friends the McGraths in Ballygarron. They told me about their neighbours John Guiry who ran it in a time of 3 hours and 15 minutes and this was his 30th marathon, his girlfriend walked it in 6 hours. John’s brother Keiran ran it in 3 hours 16 minutes and this was his 10th marathon. I am also aware that their near neighbour up there in Ardeenlone also ran the marathon. We all know that Sharon Flynn is a little powerhouse of strength and stamina and we say well done to her aswell. I think there is something going on up that way, the McGraths are breeding marathon runners galore up there! What is their secret?? Is there special powers coming from that cross up at Newcastle or is there something in the water up there?? I’m beginning to get suspicious!!
Bridge News.
The results of the recent bridge game played by Ballyduff/Portlaw Bridge club are as follows:
1st: Joan Hartery and Geraldine McMahon.
2nd: Breda Murphy and Nano Fitzgerald.
3rd: Patsy Roche and Kathleen Collins.
4th: Joan Whelan and Kate Hayes and
Anna Harney and Katherine Power
November Dead List.
The special masses for all our dead relatives and friends will continue for each Wednesday night of November at 7.30pm. November is a month that we offer some extra prayers for all our dead including those who have no longer anyone left to pray for them. You can include an offering in the envelope in your yearly pack and pop it into the box at the front of the altar. The last Wednesday night mass in November is offered especially for those who have died in the past 12 months. Those who were buried in our own cemetery are automatically included but if you had a relative or friend who died in another area and you would like to have them included please contact one of the following with the name. You can contact Martha Fitzgerald on 086-1216882 or Linda Spillane on 087-9838392.
Swim Success.
The children from Ballyduff N.S headed off this week to the first of their yearly swimming lessons and you wonder with all the different levels of swimming abilities that they have will one of them end up a famous swimmer.
Let me tell you the story of one such little girl who many years ago started off her love story with swimming by heading off on that bus from Ballyduff N.S and now continues to break records all over the world. Local lady Shauna O Brien from Gortaclode in Kilmeaden is back in the news again having broken three Irish senior records which she held at the Manchester International meet recently. In the 50m fly heats she set a time of 26.98 seconds and bettered that record again in the final with a time of 26.76 seconds. In the 100m fly she set a new Irish record time of 59.10 seconds finishing in second place. Shaunas’ next big meet is the European Short Course where she has been selected to represent Ireland. That meet will take place in Israel in early December and we wish Shauna the very best of luck for that and we will be following her story with great interest.