Caheragh and Dromore Assembly Newsletter Summer 2016 Diamond Jubilee Mass, Fr Michael O'Donovan The Diamond Jubilee of Fr. O'Donovan was marked at Mass at Caheragh Church on 22nd May. There was a great turn-out for the Mass, with Fr. O'Donovan concelebrating. Fr. O'Donovan and his family greatly enjoyed the occasion and have expressed their gratitude to the parish in recent letters.
Fr Michael O’Donovan with his sisters and brothers in Caheragh church after the Mass to mark his diamond jubilee. Front row l to r: Sr. Enda, Sr. Fachtna, Fr. Michael and Peggy. Back row: Jerry, Liam & John
Taken before the Mass to mark Fr Michael O’Donovan’s
diamond jubilee. (Photo includes his nephew, Fr John O’Donovan)
Cake prepared by Lily's Cakes, which was cut by Fr. O'Donovan during refreshments in Caheragh Sacristy after Mass
Extract, Letter of appreciation from Fr. O'Donovan
Confirmation 2016
Dreeny
5th and 6th Class Children from our three
Confirmation
schools celebrated their Confirmation at
Classes
Caheragh Church on Thursday 19th May.
Dromore Confirmation Classes
Caheragh Confirmation Classes
Communion 2016 Children from our three schools celebrated their Communions this May.
Captain Francis O’Neill Memorial Co. The Captain Francis O’Neill Memorial Co. want to thank all those who took part in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade & all those who helped in any way. The theme was The Captain F. O’Neill Co. presenting Chief O’Neill and his wife Anna & family to the 2016 St. Patrick’s Day
Parade in Bantry. Timmy McCarthy dressed in the original uniform of
O’Neill, Helen Shannon was Anna and wore a hooded Cloak. The boys and girls of Dromore N.S. dressed up in the 1916 style, and Padraig
O’Driscoll was dressed as St. Patrick. Others in the group also were dressed in 1916 style. The children played the music on flute and accordion, accompanied by Vincie Crowley who played the music for the O’Neill set dancers. Reserve Sunday September 11th 2016 for
Annual Pattern Day in Tralibane & The O’Neill Walk. All welcome.
Dreeny Communion Class
Caheragh Village Threshing Committee On a chilly, wet and windy day (in May!) the Committee, with some volunteers, started the seasons Flag Days in Bantry. Where, albeit the weather was against us, we achieved a satisfying result. This is very encouraging, but we do need volunteers to help with the Flag Days, they are the main source of income and if we are to maintain our support of Cork Cancer Research they are essential. A list of the Flag Caheragh Communion Class
Days below and any help would be greatly appreciated by us and more importantly by Cancer Research. Fri, June 17th Castletownbere
Fri, July 29th Carrigaline
Fri, June 24th Kinsale
Thur, Aug 4th Cork
Sat, July 2nd Midleton
Fri, Aug 12th Skibbereen
Sat, July 9th Kenmare
Fri, Aug 19th Macroom
Fri, July 15th Bandon
Fri, Aug 26th Clonakilty
Sat, July 23rd Mallow
Sat, Sept 10th Ballincollig
Offers of help please phone Kathleen on 086 803 5317.
ICE CREAM FUNDAY An Ice Ceam Funday for Down Syndrome Ireland will be held after masses over the weekend of 2nd/3rd July in Dromore and Caheragh.
Young at Heart Club
Dromore Communion Class
The period since Christmas has been very quiet, the weather not
Bantry&District Cardiac Support Group The Annual Walk of the Bantry Cardiac Support Group will take place on Tues 28th. June. Meeting at Harbour View car park at 7pm. An informal chat will take place afterwards with refreshements.
particularly good for outings, yet a group of us had a very enjoyable time at the Bealtaine Tea Dance in the West Cork Hotel. We have had regular meetings where we exchanged news while enjoying a cuppa. We hope to hold an Open Day in Autumn where we can share our hopes & achievements with callers young and old. The current Parish Assembly are coming to the close of their three year term. Oliver Farrell, as Chairperson of our group would like to thank all
Kevin & Catriona
our members for their work and commitment.
O'Sullivan Sorely, of Lassanaroe, relaxing after running in the Cork City Marathon on Bank Holiday Monday
Behind the scenes; Volunteers organise bunting for Parish Celebratuions this May
Parish Assembly
Caheragh National School It has been an extremely busy and productive two terms since our last newsletter entry! Last term we were very busy with
é í
hurling, football, Tag-rugby, C il dancing, and golf lessons, we had a visit from the RNLI, with the summer season approaching, they spoke to the children about the importance of water safety. In March, we raised our National Flag as part of the 1916 commemoration, and in April a friendly football blitz for 5th and 6th classes took place to introduce the soon to be first years of Skibbereen Community School. Rowing started on May 10th for fifth and sixth classes. They had four lessons and by the second week they were out on the water. Olympics here we come! 5th & 6th class attended a retreat in Caheragh Community Hall with our friends from Dromore NS and Dreeny NS in preparation of receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Thursday May 19th. On Sunday May 15th seven pupils from 2nd class received the Sacrament of First Holy Communion. Afterwards tea was served in Caheragh N.S. May also saw illustrator Ian Jackson host a workshop teaching children how to illustrate a book using Microsoft Paint. For our School Tours, the Junior Room, Bantry was our destination with a tour of the Fire Station, followed by a trip to the cinema. To round off the day we visited the playground as the weather was great. The senior school tour travelled to The Glen Adventure Centre in Cork. It was an action packed day with pupils participating in a host of activities including zorbing, zip wire, crate stacking, and more. To finish off a great day, we all had Domino’s Pizza.
On the Sports front, we had a Sciath na Scol blitz in Aughaville in April, where both the girls and the boys won two matches and lost one. Friday May 6th saw us off to Glengarriff to play Eyeries, where the boys emerged victorious and the girls lost by one point in the dying minutes of the game. This qualified the boys for the Sciath na Scol final which took place in Aghamilla GAA Complex in Clonakilty. Against Kealkill N.S., Caheragh were victorious, congratulations to all involved. June 1st was the Cork City Sports in CIT. With great performances by all our athletes, we had two first placed athletes, Laura Kingston in the U8 individual race & Muireann O'Shea in the U7 individual race. Just last week, we held Active School Week. Children were involved in a variety of activities like Circus skills, Tae Kwon Do, Zumba, circuit training and many more school organised events. This was a fun and enjoyable week for all, enabling the children to take part in a wide variety of different fitness and sporting activities, in the hope of improving the health and fitness for all children.
Our 13 boys and girls in 6th class will be leaving us to move onto their next academic step. We wish Cathal O’Donovan,
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Chloe Murnane, Chloe O’Sullivan, Ois n Daly, Brian McCarthy, Colm McCarthy, Colm Wilson, Max Wright, Daniel Cotter, Shane Casey, Dean O’Flynn, Adam O’Sullivan and Rory Synnott the very best for the future. Our thanks to the parents,
pupils, Board of Management & staff, and to the parish assembly and local community for all their help and support with our many different initiatives, throughout the year. It is very much appreciated. Caheragh NS closes for the summer holidays on Wednesday June 29th at 12.30pm and will reopen for the 2016/17 academic year on Tuesday, August 30th.
Dreeny National School Olympian Visitor.
A past Olympian Timmy Harnedy visited our school on 3rd May to chat to us about his experience in
Greece representing Ireland. We learned a lot about becoming professional athletes and look forward to watching Skibbereen Rowing Club & Irish Rowers Paul & Gary O’Donovan in this year’s Olympic Games. Baltimore Fiddle Fair.
We had a great morning at the Baltimore Fiddle Fair Concert for Schools. We heard traditional
fiddle music from all over the world. We were very proud of Steven who played the banjo for the crowd at the end. Congratulations to the boys and girls in 2nd class on receiving their First Holy Communion, and well done to the 5th and 6th class pupils who also had their Confirmation on 19th May. After months of preparation, two great days were had by all! We all went on school tour to Cuskinny near Cobh and a super day was had by everyone
– we participated in lots of
activities including grass sledging, obstacle courses, trails and campfire singing! Thank you to the lovely staff at Cuskinny for looking after us so well. Check out our video on our website. Sciath na Scol Winners 2016.
Wooohoooo
– congratulations to this year’s Sciath na Scol team.
In a nail biting final,
Dreeny N.S. won their match against Ardfield N.S. The game was very close, so close in fact that both teams had to check with the referee at the end which team would take the cup home! Also in sport, a number of the students took part in this year’s city sports and brought home a number of medals. Well done to all. CraftED.
This year Dreeny N.S. has been selected to participate in the CraftEd programme.
Ireland’s CRAFTed
programme gives primary school children and teachers an exciting opportunity to explore their creativity and learn new skills by working with professional craftspeople. The whole school worked with a ceramics specialist Rita Morrissey from Clonakilty during Term 3 and produced wonderful original art pieces. Well done to all. Active schools week began Monday 13th and ending on Friday 17th with our annual sports day. During the week the children experienced orienteering and also a morning of Tae Kwon Do. Some of the children gave a display of the skills they have been learning at after school activities. Sixth Class.
It is that time of year when we say goodbye to our
current sixth class, they are Jesse Baker, Eimear Crowley, Matthew Murnane, James Mc Carthy, Shane Kingston, Tuan Shorten & Jack Hancock. We wish them all the best in the new School. The parents association organised the annual 6km sponsored walk and BBQ Saturday 18th June. A great afternoon was had by all despite the poor weather and the disappointment of the Ireland V. Belgium match!! We would like to thank all associated with Dreeny NS for their hard work and dedication to the school during this academic year and we look forward to a well deserved summer break. Enjoy it and keep safe.
Dromore National School It has been a very busy and successful term. Eight pupils from 2nd class received their First Holy Communion. May 19th was a very special day when the pupils from 5th and 6th class received Confirmation. They put in a lot of preparation and it was a wonderful day. They enjoyed a wonderful retreat in the lead up to their Confirmation led by the NET team from Cork. The pupils from the junior room had a great day out on May 30th when they went to see a production of Puss in Boots in Macroom. They also visited the playground afterwards and a wonderful day was had. The class have also been learning all about the artist Vincent Van Gogh and did lovely pictures based on his paintings
“Starry Night” and “Sunflowers”. The
children have also written great acrostic poems on the themes of Summer and rainbows. All students have taken part in plenty of physical activity this term and we are working towards being awarded our Active Flag. All the pupils completed 6 weeks of swimming. In April, pupils from the senior room took part in an Aquathalon in Dunmanway swimming pool. This consisted of a 50 metre swim followed by a 400 metre run. In addition the children received lessons in golf, hurling and cycling. Undoubtedly the sporting highlight of the year was the Sciath na Scol final. While it was not to be for the boys, there was wonderful excitement when the final whistle blew and the girls won their game. The following day the chairperson of Tadgh MacCarthaigh, Kieran Daly, and Cork all-star player Brian O’Driscoll, came to congratulate the children. We are fortunate to have such wonderful role models in the parish of Caheragh. There have been some other wonderful successes, pupils from 4th
– 6th took part in the Bantry Bay Port Primary Schools
Initiative. They submitted a model of Bantry Bay based on the theme ‘A Day in the Life of a Cruise Liner Visiting Bantry Bay’. The pupils were thrilled to win a trophy for the ‘Best Artwork’. and were awarded a trip to visit Garnish Island.
Back in January, pupils from 6th class participated in the West Cork Debating Competition. The team consisting of Aoife Buckley, Helena Collins and Luke Mulhall progressed all the way to the final, where they proposed the motion that Ireland should take more refugees. The team were runners up, and can be proud to have learned a great life skill. We love learning about nature and wildlife in Dromore. We are working towards our Green Flag for Biodiversity. Pupils from 2nd and 3rd class built bug boxes and painted attractive bird houses for the wildlife garden. The pupils researched and presented individual projects on birds such as the parrot, robin and bald eagle. We have been making the most of the fine weather and have transferred our learning outdoors. The middle room took part in orienteering and have been getting their hands dirty sowing vegetables. The Senior Room went on a river visit with the Inland Fisheries. The pupils in 6th class painted a mural in the junior yard. It was memorable way for them to spend their last few weeks together as a class and their artwork has certainly brightened up the school yard. On June 22nd, we attended mass to mark the end of the school year. The pupils in 6th class are Aoife Buckley, Caoimhe Cronin, CJ Mulhall, Helena Collins, Luke Gilman-Burke, Luke Mulhall and Pearse Fitzpatrick. We wish them all best as they move on to secondary school.
St Patricks u14 Hurling, involving several Caheragh
Tadgh Mac Cárthaigh GAA News.
players, are through to the County final.
The under 21 footballers having already accounted for St.James,
Goleen and St.Mary’s in the Championship now face St.Colum's in the West Cork final on Friday 1st July. It is a long time since the club has won an under 21 Championship therefore it is important that supporters come out and get behind the team. The Junior A footballers having defeated St.James in the first round of the West Cork Championship now await the second round draw which should be made shortly. In the meantime they have played two games in the County league recently. Under Age:
Training for under 6, 8 and 10 footballers continues each Saturday morning at Aughaville with all these
teams taking part in Various Blitz competitions. undefeated.
The under 12 footballers have two teams entered in the league and so far are
The u14 team have played five league games so far, losing to Kilmeen and Urhan while recording victories
against Oliver Plunketts, Ahan Gaels and recently a thrilling one point victory over neighbours Clan na Gael. The u16 and minor teams have no games recently due to exams but will resume shortly. The u15 team recently qualified for a Munster Blitz competition in Cork, although they were defeated, they played very well against top class opposition. Cul Camp: This year the Summer Cul Camp goes ahead in Aughaville from the 11th to 15th July, application forms are available on line or from club mentors. There was disappointment for the Cork Senior footballers when they lost to Tipperary in the Munster Semi-final. Colm, Kevin and Brian O'Driscoll all started on the Cork team which now go the qualifier route in the All-Ireland series.
Tadgh MacCarthaigh Ladies The ladies have completed their county league fixtures and are currently preparing for the championship. The removal of the divisional aspect resulted in some very long journeys to Dripsey and Rathcormac. The league was a mixed bag; some good performances by the ladies were marred by some errors, which ultimately proved costly. The ladies are now focusing on the championship, with fixtures against Castlehaven & Carrigaline on the horizon. The U.14s have flown out of the blocks, some very good team performances in the league secured a quarter final berth against
Doheny’s. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be on the night, however this young squad can be very proud of their performance so far. The newly formed U.12 team have also had an encouraging start to the season with some excellent team displays. The U.16 & U.18 teams are currently in hiatus whilst the state examinations end but once July rolls around it will be full steam ahead.