Dia is mhuire diobh go léir a cáirde and welcome to my report.
Welcome to the lovely month of July. As the saying goes, we’re doing well. The weather is giving us everything that we need. Plenty of sunshine and rain when things start to dry up a little. What a great gift it is from God who is in the driving seat and don’t forget to say a word of thanks to him for it all. The great success of the Busking Festival is still a popular talking point. But for me the crowning glory was that a kind person found some money on the street and looked for the owner. Acts like that restores your faith in people. How sad it would be if there was a notice to say that someone lost a sum of money in the town on busking day and never got it back, that nobody owned up to finding it. Well done to the person who found it and gave it to it’s owner. It must have made their day. It’s a well known saying that if you make someone happy, then you’ll be happy too.
Thanks to the fine weather all outdoor plans ran to schedule. The Mass at St.Johns Well got a bit of a blessing but it didn’t spoil the Mass and the dancing afterwards on the side of Mushera Mountain. There was music and dancing and food and good company for the opening of their season and we wish the organisers the best of luck and weather for the coming months. Ballinagree was mecca of activity on Sunday for their annual pattern day. Again the people came from far and near. In true Ballinagree style there was something for everyone as the sun shone down on the last day of June. They had Vintage and merry go rounds, tractor games, teas and cakes and bacon and cabbage dinners cooked on site and it was all in aid of charity. If only we could guarantee the weather rural Ireland would bounce back in no time.
The Willie Neenan racers also enjoyed fine evening for their annual event. The success is almost guaranteed every time the same people and more love the coming together of so many people of the same interests. The gathering at the end for the prize giving brings the evening to a happy conclusion, until the next time. Well done every time.
It was an important week at our schools when the boys who were going to the Presentation Convent School were transferred to the Boys Scoil Mhuire. Some twins a boy and a girl separated for the first time and sixth class boys from Scoil Mhuire, passed on the the Community School. The teachers and staff made it a very memorable day for them all again in bright sunshine. The plan is to adopt the co-ed system when facilities will be available.
A priest from South Africa has been appointed to the parish of Casteltownbere and moderator of Adrigole. From Kenya, Fr. Amos Surungai Ruto joined the Kerry Diocese in 2019. He talks about the kindness of the parishioners working through Covid and he loves Kerry Football. What changes we are seeing. Did we ever think when we were dropping our pennies into the box at school the box with the little man’s head nodding at the top, that we would one day have to depend on the poor of Africa to come here and help out in our church. A penny was a lot of money back then. If you were lucky enough to have one that you could spend on yourself you could get a peggy’s leg bar or a penny worth of sweets. The shopkeeper would rollup a page of a copybook or square of paper make it into a cone shape and fill it with sweets. At lunch time you could run down the West End from the school as far as Justices Bakery just below the Rovers lane. At lunchtime Mrs. Justice would be just taking the buns out of the oven. For a penny she would break one off and hand it to you all hot and burning. You’d eat to middle first and then press the top crust, all sweet and sugary against the bottom crust as a sort of after course, to prolong the pleasure. We also gathered tin foil. It wasn’t as widely available that time. But it was in the boxes of cigarettes and in the lining of tea chests etc and it was needed for raising money for the missions .As well as that we were asked to collect used stamps. It always remained a mystery to us as to what used they made of them. We were told not to damage the stamp but to cut a margin of a quarter of an inch all round. Further to that many people in the parish had a son or daughter in the African Missions. All the time we were told to pray for the poor black babies and give give give, to their cause. How rewarding it is for us today to see, as it were, the fruits of our kindness coming to our aid. So unexpected. We went to them in their need for food for their bodies, they are here now to give us food for our souls. With the help of God.
On behalf of us all I’d like to wish Fr. Jim Kennelly many years of happy retirement.
A word from us all to Sr. Kathleen who left St. Josephs Gardens recently.
Dear Sr. Kathleen. How sorry to hear that you have left our town. It was always so lovely to meet you, be it at Mass or up town. In the eighteen years that you have been with us you endeared yourself to everyone. I wish you many years of happy retirement at your new home, Presentation Convent, Castleisland, a place I know so well having visited my own dear sister, Sr. Rupert there for twenty years many moons ago. Keep your lovely cheerful happy self. The you that our people will always remember you for.
Prayer meeting at Boherbue Presbytery Thursday night July 3rd at 8. All welcome. Ring John 086 850 613.
Our Active Club are off the next week for a one day cruise of the Shannon and a visit to the renowned Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum. We wish them fine weather and an enjoyable outing.
Mass in Cullen Cemetery Thursday July 3 at 7. 30.
Mass for those buried at Millstreet Church Yard on Monday July 7th at 10 am in the church.
Friends of Millstreet Community Hospital wish to thank all those who supported their recent Church Gate collections. Amount collected Cullen €766.55. Ballydaly €520.41. Millstreet €1,844.
Eucharistic Adoration every Tuesday from 10.30 am to 7.30pm Please support it well.
Legion of Mary Meeting every Tues. night t the Parish Centre at 7.30 All welcome.
Here are the results of this weeks lotto draw which was held on Sunday night. Numbers drawn were 1,13,16,23 and the Jackpot was not won. €100 went to Stephen Kelleher, c/o Eily Buckley. Eily was the seller and got €50 sellers prize. €50 went to Chris, Duggan’s Steel. €20 each to C O’Shea Lackabawn. Dan Collins, Drishane Rd, Eilish Dunne Bolomore c/o Centra, Denis O’Riordan Clondrohid, c/o O’Learys, E.Cronin c/o McCauls, Dan O’Mahony, Canon O’Donovan, Ann Burke, c/o Ann Burke, Laura Healy c/o Tom Carroll. Next Draw July 6th. Jackpot €12,400.
Slan is beannacht De libh go leir.
