Dia is mhuire díobh go léir a cáirde and welcome to my Report.
Fools Day is over and the clocks are put forward and the sun is shining, what more can we ask for? Schools are closed for the week, so let’s all be merry and bright.
Our Easter ceremonies went very well. A great number of people attended the Penitential Celebrations on Wednesday evening where priests from other parts of the Dioceses sat in our church to hear confessions. Holy Thursday evening also drew fine crowd and on Good Friday the Church was all but full for the final story of the Passion of Christ, before the joyous nine o’clock Mass on Saturday night to celebrate the Risen Christ. We had five priests on the alter and the choir excelled themselves, especially in the rendering on The Gloria at the end and the Congregation responded with a rousing round of applause. The priest thanked all those who helped in any way to make our Easter ceremonies the wonderful event that it was.
Following the Mass on Good Friday the Novena of the Divine Mercy was opened and will continue each day in the Church at 3 pm or privately at home until the closing which will take place in the Church on Sunday next April 6 with confessions at 2.30 and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 3. Please support it well.
We are asked to bring in our Trocaire Boxes this weekend.
The Coleman Family drew a great crowd on Wednesday when they celebrated 70 years of trading in the New Holland tractor business. Crowds of all ages filled the reception area where there was plenty of chat, refreshments and books where people could look up lists of those who bought over all those years. Very interesting. Following the speeches etc. the well known Liam O’Connor played till late. We wish the Coleman Family long years of continued success into the future.
Seventy years ago, 1954. I was 21. And what a different Millstreet it was down there in those days. There was a little sweet shop that was run by a lady called Susan Hassett, we loved her acid drops. Further along we had Mr. Corcoran a teacher, with the porch in front with it’s lovely coloured glass panels, still there today. We used to visit our cousin, carpenter Dan Corkery and his sister Julia who was a dressmaker. Jim Duggan next door, also a carpenter and next to him John Justice’s beautiful grocer shop. I have faint memories of Colemans starting up. Tractors and indeed cars were new on the scene, for fancy transport we had the pony and trap and just up the street where SuperValu is now, we had the gentle Jim Ryan, a Tipperary man who traded there as coachbuilder. It was to him they went to fix the springs or rubber tyres or to give it a new lick of varnish and draw the beautiful contrasting lines by hand which added the final touch. We had three Blacksmiths in the town. Bill Radley in Minor Row. His cousin Tom Radley in the Square and in the west end we had The Rover, can’t remember his proper name and to this day the place where he worked is called the Rover’s Lane. The Blacksmiths back then were what the Garage people are now. But not the same really. The blacksmith did a lot more than shoe horses and donkeys. With the power of his hammer and blazing coal fire he moulded a piece of crude iron into a thing of beauty on his trusty anvil. The blacksmiths yard was a wonderful meeting place where people stood and waited . while he plied his trade. Small things like the tongs or the crooks that hung from the crane and even the crane itself were part of what he did and much more of course. I suppose in our pursuit of better times we never noticed the price we paid for what we were hoping to achieve.
Slowly almost unknowingly the mechanical world began to grow around us and we didn’t count the cost in our pursuit of better living. It was indeed very attractive to sit into a car something that we didn’t have to feed or clean out from and it could travel much faster and farther. Also the tractor, replaced the horses giving us more power to work the land etc. and the ability to change from hay to silage to mention just a few. However all the while in the background we didn’t notice the approaching demise of the trusty blacksmith or carpenter. Before we knew it there was no one to fix the tongs, or the bars of a gate or a broken chair or to made a milking stool and that was the start of the throw-away era. Precious things that could easily be fixed by a blow on the blacksmith’s hammer or by a carpenter had to be consigned to the ever-growing heap of rubbish. The man who shoes horses to-day takes his equipment around in the booth of his can/van and he comes to the horse instead of the horse coming to him. With the help of his portable gas-tank to mould his work he’s as clean as a pin, a far cry from the blacksmith of old with his soot coloured face and hands and apron which made him stand out and whom we loved to see.
Who says that rural Ireland is dead? If someone tells you it is, then take him to Aubane. To that beautiful crossroads that is not only steeped in history but buoyed up by a community that is determined to hold it’s own with all that it threatening rural living today. I had the pleasure of being at their play last Friday night. It was the second showing of a play entitled ‘The Coming of Spring’, written by local Farmer Gerdie Buckley. The cast was drawn from the local area and at the grand finale I counted up to forty people on stage. People from small children to grandparents. The Theme of ‘Young Love’ ran through the program and in between there was time for music and singing and dancing before returning to the tense moments while the young man tried to convince the father-in law to hand over his much-loved daughter. They even had a magician who held us all spell-bound as her hypnotised and little girl laid her on a table while to helpers took away the supports and she remained aloft. The magic of Aubane. Following the wonderful show and draw ,we were all invited to high tea and home baking in the ante room. There was plenty of time for chat and interaction and the organisers showed no signs of hurry in spite of the fact that they were holding a popular egg race next morning. The proceeds of their many events go to further improvements at their wonderful Social Centre. Long may the Wonderful Spirit of Aubane Continue and flourish into the future.
Here are the results of this weeks lotto draw which was held on Bank Holiday Monday night. Numbers drawn were 8,11,27,29 and the Jackpot was not won.
€100 went to Denis Cronin, Drishane Rd, the seller was Mary O’ Connor and she got €50 sellers prize, €50 went to Marguerite Kelleher c/o Angela. €20 went to John O’Callaghan c/o Tony’s, Healy Family, Keale Derinagree, Paddy O’Connor, Ballinkeen, Celeste Buckley c/o Colemans Cullen GAA c/o Lehane, D N D c/o Michelle Whelan, James & Norma c/o Ann Burke. Joan Twomey c/o Paula Healy. Next Draw April 7 Jackpot €3 800.
Masses this week are at 10 am on Tuesday and Wednesday and at 7.30 on Thursday and Friday.
Legion of Mary meeting at the Parish Centre every Tuesday night at 7.30. There is no Mass in Cullen this Thursday night, April 4th.
The Annual pilgrimage to Knock Shrine for the Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration will be held on April 13/14. Bus leaving Killarney at 7 am. Ring Catherine at 087 928 2421.
Easter Monday gave us a wonderful opportunity to be out and about. Most lawns have had their second cutting by now. Spare the dandelions for the birds. When their food is scarce at this time of year, they are their welcome haws.
Sinn a bfuil a cáirde, Slán is beannacht Dé libh go léir.
