Kilkenny Observer 11th August 2023

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Cervical Scandal Kilkenny Arts Festival Majority of women opt Highlights of some of the for court, not tribunal wonderful events 

Special Report Page 14

 By Gerry Moran: See Pages 29 to 36

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Oh dear, oh dear us Inflation may be falling but few of us are feeling the benefits as the new trend for many is to buy cheaper cuts of meat and reduce our savings to meet the rise in prices.

The increased cost of the weekly shop is the most common impact experienced by most as they struggle to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

Other adjustments being made to lifestyles include eating out less and buying more own-brand products, according to a survey conducted by iReach Insights on behalf of Aviva that polled 1,000 people nationwide.

The increased cost of the weekly food shop is the most common impact for 77%.

And it is a greater concern for women than for men.

The next biggest concern is energy bills, followed by the increased price of products and services that are bought regularly, and then transport costs.

But food costs dominate the concerns of households at the moment.

Figures published by the European Commission in June confirmed that prices in Ireland are among the most expensive for goods and services. Overall prices here are some 46% above the EU average.

The report also revealed Ireland was the fourth most expensive country in the EU

for food and non-alcoholic beverages last year. Food and soft drinks prices here are 15% above the EU average.

Meanwhile, grocery prices continue to rise. They are going up at three times the general rate of inflation, as measured by the EU harmonised consumer price index.

Latest research from compa-

Children’s allowance may be increased

Well, holy well Miley!

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An increase in the €140 monthly child benefit payment has been put on the table in coalition talks on the Budget. The possibility of increasing the core rate, which is paid in respect of 1.2 million children across the country, has been discussed as an option.

Unrecycled waste cost to rise

The Heritage Office at Kilkenny County Council, supported by the Heritage Council have commissioned a survey of holy wells in the county and are inviting the public to attend a Heritage Week event on Saturday, August 19 to share their holy stories and traditions.

Holy Wells are sacred places in the local landscape and are held dear by people who know them and visit them. A holy well is often a natural spring that has associations with a particular saint. Many have their own ‘pattern’ day and it is believed that the waters from some even have curative powers. There are more than 100 recorded holy wells across Co Kilkenny – such as Kenny’s Well, pictured – and a project is underway to examine the known sites, and to find those that are missing from the records.

Heritage Officer Regina Fitzpatrick has commissioned the survey, which is being co-funded by the Heritage Council, under the 2023 County Heritage Plan Programme. “These wells are of great cultural, archaeological and spiritual significance,” Ms Fitzpatrick told The Kilkenny Observer.

Getting rid of unrecycled household and commercial waste is to become more expensive next month.

A new levy of €10 a tonne comes into effect on September 1 and will apply to all municipal waste that is not recycled.

A levy of €75 a tonne already applies if it goes to landfill and that charge is set to rise to €85.

We are tops for remote working!

Ireland ranks first in the EU for the speed at which countries have adapted to remote working.

Working from home became the norm for many during the Covid pandemic, and now Ireland has more than three times as many people habitually working from home as it did in 2019, according to Eurostat figures for 2022.

Full story Page 6

Young have no homes to go to Is it any wonder that young adults are of the opinion that they may be much older before it becomes feasible to purchase their own home – or even will not be able at all in the future. More than one-in-four young adults aged 25-34 in Ireland remained living with parents and Ireland saw the largest rise in this share in the intervening time.

John Ellis Page 16

Continues on Page 6

The Best Comment & Opinion in Kilkenny

ny Kantar reveals that grocery inflation rose by almost 15% in the 12 weeks to July 9.

The average annual increase to household spending in the past 12 months now stands at €427, Kantar said.

However, many households report having to pay even more for their groceries due to surging prices.

PAUL HOPKINS

MARIANNE HERON

JOHN ELLIS

GERRY MORAN

Telling it like it is.

And with no holds barred

A straight shooter.

Considerate and wise words

Great advice.

Your money in mind

Quirky take on bright side of life

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Showcase your growing journey with SETU The SETU #WeLoveHort video competition for primary and secondary schools is coming into its final stretch, with the entry deadline of September 17 fast approaching.

Primary pupils from fourth to sixth class and postprimary students of all years are invited by Horticulture degree staff at SETU to enter this competition, which seeks to celebrate the splendour of nature in all its many forms.

Whether the young person is a seasoned grower, only starting to get into gardening or beginning to notice nature’s wonders – all are welcome to enter this competition.

Entries simply require a short, up to a three-minute, video on a subject area relating to the broad theme of ‘A Growing Journey’.

The theme can be interpreted in many ways. Entrants are urged to be inspired by the current season. Right now, we are witnessing nature’s wonders in full bloom.

Gardens and hedgerows are teeming with colourful flowers and bountiful produce, while busy pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, moths, wasps and flies, play their vital role in the natural cycle of life. Our soil is alive with life that is busy recycling nutrients and driving plant growth.

The #WeLoveHort video competition offers an outlet for young minds to showcase their creativity and passion for horticulture, gardening, growing or environmental

stewardship.

Deciding on a video concept may prove difficult, but the organisers have provided a long list of ideas on the competition website. Entrants are

welcome to select from this list or come up with their own ideas.

Participants are being encouraged to highlight the significance of horticulture

and pollinators in our lives and ecosystems. Whether capturing mesmerising shots of blooming flowers, showcasing innovative sustainable gardening techniques, or

emphasising the crucial role of pollinators in sustaining life, this is an opportunity for our young people to take the chance to inspire audiences with their unique perspectives.

To enter the competition and to see a list of video ideas, participants should visit www.setu.ie/HortVideoCompetition where they will find detailed guidelines for video submissions and other essential information.

Video entries can be submitted by parents and guardians, or by a school-based coordinator. All video entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges comprised of horticulture students, gardening experts and environmental enthusiasts.

The #WeLoveHort video competition offers fantastic rewards for outstanding entries. There are vouchers and horticulture-themed prizes for first and runner-up individual and team entries in primary and post-primary categories. The competition also offers additional prizes such as a prize for excellence in enhanced accessibility for diverse audiences, a best overall prize for a video with a food theme, and two prizes for the entries showing outstanding originality and creativity.

Heritage Week 2023 Kilkenny County Council at Kilkenny Library appoints Mr. Laurence Kilkenny County Council Library service is delighted to again participate in Heritage Week. Heritage Week showcases the diversity and depth of Ireland’s heritage assets in the built, natural and cultural heritage areas.

The ongoing success of the initiative has been built on free events being provided by a variety of providers locally by cultural organisations, community groups and individual.

The Library’ Programme this year covers all three aspects of natural, cultural and built heritage. Main events include: • Talk by historian Eoin Swithin Walsh looking back at the Decade of Centenaries period in Kilkenny in Loughboy Library • Two guided walks highlighting Kilkenny’s Biodiversity originating in

Thomastown and Loughboy Libraries. Participants will then record their findings on the Library Citizen Science Kit. • Recording Milk Churn Stands. These were once a common feature of rural Ireland. Participants will learn how to record occurrences of these online.

• Kilkenny Recoloured’ Hand coloured postcards were very popular in the early 20th Century. A series of images from our postcard collection will be posted daily on the library social media channels during Heritage week.

• Our popular one-to-one Genealogy Masterclasses in Graiguenamanagh Library and the Local Studies’ Department continue this year, booking essential.

"The Library Service is as always delighted to host

events in our libraries and virtually for Heritage Week and to highlight the breath and depth of Heritage in Kilkenny." says Executive Librarian, Declan Macauley, "Heritage Week is a great opportunity for the public to familiarise and participate in all aspects of Kilkenny’s rich heritage."

He added.

You can access additional information as regards times of events, booking details and any additional events, where applicable etc. at www.kilkennylibrary.ie, or at https://www. heritageweek.ie/eventlistings Funding for our lectures is supplied by Creative Ireland the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative.

Power as Chief Executive Following a Special Meeting of the Elected Members of Kilkenny County Council, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Laurence Power as the new Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council.

This decision comes after careful consideration and acceptance of the recommendation provided by the Public Appointments Service.

Mr. Power brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise in the realm of Local Government, having served as the Chief Executive of Leitrim County Council for the last five years. Prior to his tenure in Leitrim, he made significant

contributions while working with Waterford City and County Council, amassing an impressive 22 years of experience in the field.

"We are delighted to welcome Mr. Laurence Power as our new Chief Executive," said Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr. Michael Doyle, “his extensive knowledge and experience in Local Government make him eminently qualified for this significant position.

Mr. Power's appointment marks an exciting chapter in the Council's journey as we work towards building a better future for the people of Kilkenny."

The recruitment process

to identify the most qualified candidate for the role of Chief Executive has been conducted over the past few months by the Public Appointments Service.

"We extend our gratitude to the Public Appointments Service for their invaluable contribution in selecting a candidate for this important role," said Mr. Tim Butler, Director of Services.

The Elected Members and Staff of Kilkenny County Council would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the exceptional work, commitment and dedication of Mr. Sean McKeown, who has served as the Interim Chief Executive.

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One in four work remotely Ireland is tops in the EU for the speed at which countries have adapted to remote working, with one in four of us now doing so.

Working from home became the norm for many during the Covid pandemic, and now Ireland has more than three times as many people routinely working from home as it did in 2019, according to Eurostat figures for 2022.

Of the 27 EU member states, Ireland topped the polls for remote working, followed by Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

While the Netherlands has over 50% of its workforce engaged in remote working, Ireland is leading the charge in how rapidly remote working is replacing traditional office-based work, an

analysis by BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland (BNPPRE) found.

In 2019, just 7% of Ireland’s workforce said they “usually” worked from home, but by 2022 this figure had grown to 25% – the biggest increase of any EU country.

John McCartney, director of research with BNPPRE, said: “Ireland’s adaptability throughout the pandemic

has been remarkable in many ways, not least the ease with which businesses and employees alike adjusted their working models.”

He said this had had knock-on implications for commercial property.

“Over time, remote working has enabled employers to adopt hot-desking and rostering systems which reduce the amount of office

Kennedy Summer School to host economic forum on South East post-Brexit On Friday, September 1 a panel of business experts, and international, national and regional organisations are set to join a discussion focusing on the South East region and its new relationship with the EU following Brexit.

Joining the panel are Brian O’Flynn, Head of Ireland’s Ancient East, Tom Enright Wexford County Manager, Jim Bergin CEO of Tirlán, Prof.

Veronica Campbell President of SETU, Laura Brien CEO of MARA, Pauline Oakes CEO Lake Region, Vasileios Madouros Deputy Governor, Monetary and Financial Stability at the Central Bank, and Marianne Barkan-Cowdy Deputy Head of Mission at the French Embassy. The panel discussion will be moderated by Dr Charles Larkin.

The discussion will focus on how Brexit economically challenged Ireland. Importantly, the end of the land bridge with the UK made the connection between Ireland and Europe all the more important. Rosslare Harbour was a critical part of the infrastructure to facilitate goods trade with

Europe through France. In this panel, we will explore the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the economy of the south east.

The aim is to produce a vibrant, high-value-added economy for the south east with good jobs in the region, creating vibrant communities, moving away from the current model of brain drain and dormitory towns.

The annual Kennedy Summer School is set to host a number of expert discussions and is billed as ‘A Festival of Irish and American, History, Politics and Culture. There will be over 60 guest speakers participating with Her Excellency, Canadian Ambassador Nancy Smyth, set to open the occasion. Sports fans will be enthused to learn that football legend Martin O’Neill will also be taking to the stage to discuss his extraordinary life in football and share his views on the future of the beautiful game.

For further details and tickets for the 2023 events see www.kennedysummerschool.ie or call St. Michael’s Theatre on 051 421255.

Kelleher urges enhanced newborn screening Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has urged the Government to take the lead at pushing for minimum neonatal or newborn screening entitlements for all babies born in the European Union.

Mr Kelleher, a member of the European Parliament’s Public Health (SANT) committee and a former party national health spokesperson, made the call in advance of a potential convention on the Future of Europe.

“The convention, if given the go ahead, may look at potential treaty change and could recommend that the

EU takes on greater competency when it comes to public health.

“At present, we have a post code literary in terms of neonatal screening across the 27 member states.

“The test known as a ‘heel prick test’ is simple and cheap to perform, yet many countries, including Ireland do not make the best use of it.

“For example, Ireland tests for nine diseases or genetic disorders. France tests for six yet Spain tests for 24. In many Eastern countries, the numbers are even worse,” the Fianna Fail MEP said.

space they need to carry per employee,” he said.

“In the absence of jobs growth, this would subtract from the demand for office accommodation. But Ireland is one of the EU’s most service-driven economies and, since the onset of Covid, we have created service-sector jobs at more than twice the average rate in the EU.”

Future leaders: from left, Max TraherneJankiewicz, Adam Lynch, Patrick O’Neill, AND Byron Teehan-Dunne

We four at youth conference Four young people from Kilkenny formed part of 350 teenagers from around the world who gathered recently in Maynooth, Co. Kildare, for Foróige’s Leadership for Life Youth Conference. The conference, which happened last week on the grounds of NUI Maynooth, brought together young people from the US, Ukraine, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa and Ireland to learn how to become leaders in their own lives.

During the week-long conference the teenagers

learned crucial life skills such as empathy, decision making, problem solving, communication skills, critical thinking and team work.

Seán Campbell, CEO of Foróige, said: “The conference gave young people the chance to not just learn from the speakers and facilitators, but to learn from each other in a fun and safe environment. The week was not only about creating new relationships and learning new skills but about transforming as an individual. I’m continually in awe of what young

people can achieve when given the opportunity and it’s weeks like these that give them that opportunity.”

The Foróige Leadership for Life Programme was developed in Ireland in 2009 and is open to young adults aged 15-18.

Delegates attending had been nominated by youth workers and volunteer leaders from their own countries because they had demonstrated an innate sense of justice, determination, passion and ability to lead and make positive

changes in their own communities.

The programme includes lectures by a host of inspirational speakers, workshops on team building, critical thinking and communication skills and peer discussions on matters of global importance. Young people were also challenged to understand their own values and prejudices., encouraged to go beyond their own personal comfort zones and perceived capabilities to be better than they thought they could be.

Kilkenny folk invited to local wells project Continues from Page 3 “This project will collect information about the traditions and customs associated with this often less known aspect of our cultural heritage, with a view to ensuring their care and protection.”

Grace Fegan from Shanarc Archaeology is part of the team that has been tasked

with the project: “Our field archaeologists have already visited most of the known holy well locations and have had great interactions with local people along the way,” she told this paper. “Most people are aware of any recorded holy wells in their locality and some of the sites are very well cared for by the community and still venerated.”

The project team are asking the community to reach out with information they may have about possible holy wells in their area. Members of the team will be at the holy well at Johnswell village, across from Brennan’s pub on Saturday, August 19 at 2.30pm.

“We are holding this event during Heritage Week”, says Grace Fegan “and are invit-

ing people to attend to learn about the project and its findings so far, and perhaps to share with us any information they may have that can add to the survey”.

If you are unable to attend, but wish to share any information you are welcome to email holywells.shanarc@ gmail.com or comment on the Holy Wells of Kilkenny Facebook page.

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Opinion

The Fact Of The Matter Paul Hopkins

A paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick My father was forever a young man at heart, with an eye for the ladies and an eclectic taste in contemporary music. And he walked and cycled all his life to frantically appease his fear of annihilation.

Not long before he died in his 81st year he said to me: “You know, in my mind I’m still young but the body is letting me down.”

That was 23 years ago.

These days we live in a time preoccupied with youth, with attempting to stay forever young with the plethora of pills and potions now readily available. Yet, there is wonderful character in a face of lines, like my father, provided the person of that countenance is at ease with the inevitability of ageing – unlike my father.

And the stories such lines could tell.

Once upon this writer would have been consid-

ered to have reached old age. Now, with life expectancy never greater, I am considered middle aged.

Once upon a time too, the consolation for reaching middle age was being allowed to go disgracefully to seed.

What joy to finally let yourself go, to throw away the hair dye, expand the waistline, stop feeling bad about never exercising, and finally give up the pretence of keeping up with fashion or music.

Just throw on the old geansai, and let it all hang out.

Not that I want to necessarily do that – to give up being a dedicated follower of fashion or new music, and put on that old geansai and let it all hang out.

But for those who wish to approach old age with a certain freedom and fecklessness, unrestrained and

answerable to few, there are others, the ‘health gurus’, who dictate differently.

Times have changed, and the era newly named middle age is no longer such an appealing place to do one’s own thing.

Welcome to the world of the new old, where the over-60s are as brazenly bombarded, as are their young adult children, by a torrent of alleged advice on staying leaner, meaner and hotter for longer.

The new ‘life recipe’ for the over-60s in essence boils down to far fewer calories plus a lot of (arguable) anti-ageing turmeric and flaxseeds.

However, my point is that the this new regime is not so much about a healthy weight as it is about defying the slowing down, spreading out and softening up that comes naturally with ageing bodies.

You can barely open a magazine or Sunday newspaper supplement without coming across some new so-called miracle for defying the undefiable – all

Preoccupied with youth, attempting to stay forever young...

illustrated by photos of what look like twentysomething bodies, with abs so taut they defy anatomy, spruced up with anti-ageing tips of a somewhat dubious scientific nature.!

We are brazenly bombarded, as are our young adult children, by a torrent of alleged advice on staying leaner, meaner and hotter for longer. more sex, learn a new language, and don’t forget to do that crossword to keep your brain lucid!

Am I becoming that grumpy old man or do these health mags and gurus have a point? Perhaps.

This new-fangled selfimprovement industry is moving on from a myriad ways of saying “don’t get fat” to something more like “don’t get old”, or at least, not in a manner that may prove a burden to your adult kids, your younger neighbours or the HSE.

There was a time when the painful, debilitating diseases of old age were, regrettably, unavoidable twists of fate or genetics. But the increasing evidence that even conditions like dementia – let alone diabetes, cancer or cardiac disease – are somehow linked to diet and exercise begs a dawning degree of responsibility.

When she was a teenager my daughter, would say to me: “ Be nice to me dad: remember I’ll be choosing your nursing home.”

She was joking back then.

Now, she says to me: “Be nice to yourself dad: you don’t want to end up gaga in a nursing home.”

She’s deadly serious now.

Me, a burden in old age?

Like Yeats’ ‘paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick’?

We’ll see about that, Mr Yeats .... and darling daughter.

Weill see...

Climate Change

– are we all playing our part?

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UCC warning on climate change being rapid Research by mathematicians at University College Cork (UCC) and the University of Exeter in England has found that our ability to adapt to global warming will be more difficult if the rate of change is too rapid.

Researchers say approaching critical levels of climate change at too fast a rate

of change will create new tipping points. This will make it more difficult to combat the challenges posed.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, joint lead author, Dr Hassan Alkhayuon, from the School of Mathematical Sciences at UCC, said: "The typical way in understanding tipping points is normally

being at a point of no return.

Once you are there, there is no way back.

"It doesn't matter how fast or slow you approach it, it is kind of like an edge of a cliff.

Even if you approach it very slowly, you are going to fall if you pass this point.

"Over the past few years, we have started looking at

the rate of change, especially in complex systems like climate and ecosystems, so in this study we looked at a wide range of systems, from climate to ecology to human systems.

"What we figured out was that the normalities and complexities of these systems are actually quite similar math-

Beef farmers losing up to €120 a head on cattle According to Teagasc beef farmers are losing up to €120/head on cattle, with the beef base price at €4.65/ kg.

Figures show that continental cattle in autumn-toautumn beef systems are selling at a loss in the region of €120/hd at the moment, based on a price of €4.85/ kg, including QA bonuses.

Teagasc Beef Specialist Aidan Murray said while autumn-to-autumn finishing is a lower-risk system and allows people to buy lighter cattle last autumn and put on weight as cheaply as possible, strong prices last year have made it difficult for many to make the difference back.

"The purchase price for better quality animals was €2.76/kg — so that was a lot to give on day one and harder to make it back,” he said.

Mr Murray said that plainer cattle had left farmers less exposed to current prices.

"The real advice is for people to sit down and do the sums and [think] what can I realistically afford to pay for stock and not get carried away? That might not be about buying top-end cattle, but looking

more at what is value in the market and that might be a plainer animal.”

A break-even price for Friesian-type cattle, he said, is €4.49/kg, based on a purchase price of €1.74/kg, while €4.99/kg is the breakeven price for mid-category cattle bought at €2.25/kg last autumn.

With today's current price, a Friesian O grade, getting 12c/kg QA, is leaving about €70/hd in profit, while mid-range cattle at €4.49/ kg of O= and O+ grade are making around €20/hd on a price of €4.60/kg + QA. Mr Murray said an additional risk this year was that some farmers were having to finish cattle on five or six weeks' worth of meal due to the bad weather.

However, with factory prices falling and ration at €370-400/t, industry sources noted there was a reluctance among some to "give that bit of meal” in the hope of getting a better finish and better weights.

It is therefore expected that the percentage of animals grading as fat score three will again be strong this year following the 10-year high recorded in 2022 of 62.7% for bullocks and 53.9% for heifers.

ematically, so regardless of what you see in the system, like a power grid or the oceanic current, mathematically they have the same features," he said.

"These features suggest to us that any external change applied to the systems has effects if it occurs too fast, for example, if you increase

carbon emissions too fast in the atmosphere it will affect the climate systems.”

The study, published in the journal Earth System Dynamics, concludes that dangerous rates of change could trigger irreversible shifts in human and natural systems even before these critical levels are reached.

Woof at the top: Sammy Long and Sam Fagan, hailing from Ballybofey, in Co. Donegal with Bill Porter, Owner of Gill Hall Estate, John McCullough, Chairman of the World Trial Committee and Isabel Branch, CEO of the International Sheepdog Society

Two locals at World Sheepdog Trials Miriam Lettner and Ned O’Keefe from Kilkenny are set to represent Ireland at the prestigious World Sheepdog Trials, which is taking place from September 13 to 16 at Gill Hall Estate, Dromore, County Down.

Coming to Northern Ireland for the very first time, the global event has been organised by the International Sheepdog Society and is expected to welcome more than 30,000 spectators alongside 240 sheepdogs and their han-

dlers from all over the world, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Finland.

Miriam and Ned will join their fellow competitors all vying to be named as Top Dog with a World Champion announced at the end of the four-day event.

John McCullough, Chairman of the World Trial Committee said: “We’re delighted to have Miriam and Ned representing Ireland at this year’s trials. Miriam and Ned’s extensive experience and dedi-

cation will be a great source of inspiration and encouragement to other competitors and we’re looking forward to seeing them put on the great performance we know they’re more than capable of producing.

“We’ll have some of the world’s best sheepdogs and their handlers descending into Ireland in September and it is sure to be a spectacle not to be missed!”

Isabel Branch, CEO of the International Sheepdog

Society, said: "The World Sheepdog Trials are very much the Olympics of the sheepdog world, so we are expecting extremely tough competition in each of the classes.

This is a fantastic opportunity to observe the best of the best, and we can’t wait to welcome enthusiasts and spectators, from across Ireland and further afield, to join us in this momentous occasion.” *See www.worldsheepdogtrials.org.

Delivery service buymie launches in Kilkenny The big-basket same-day grocery delivery platform buymie has announced the expansion of its service to six new Irish locations across the Leinster region, including Kilkenny. The personal grocery shopping service is now available to more than 750,000 households across the country.

The new stores will join

the 44 Dunnes Stores across Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway that allow Dunnes Stores customers to avail of a personal shopper to pick groceries and book a sameday delivery. Slots are available for the same day, and often in as little as one hour.

Customers can also choose their preferred delivery slot for up to seven days in

advance.

Launching on various dates throughout August, the new locations are: •Kilkenny • Newbridge •Sallins & Naas • Kilcock • Drogheda • Balbriggan More than 60 new personal shopper roles will be created

to service more than 45,000 households in the catchment areas.

Speaking about the expansion, Devan Hughes, CEO & Co-Founder of buymie. said: “As an increasing number of people return to the office for more days each week, the value of timesaving services becomes paramount. Buymie saves

customers on average 1 hour every time they order and we are thrilled to expand the buymie grocery service in partnership with Dunnes Stores, bringing convenience to even more time-poor consumers across Ireland.

“As always, we continue to explore new categories and products that would suit same day delivery such as

Home, DIY, Beauty and Electronics, that could join the buymie marketplace and leverage the innovative routing and same-day delivery capabilities of buymie, as well as its dedicated network of independent personal shoppers," said Devan Hughes. *https ://web.fountain. com/c/buymie/buymie/IE

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Opinion

As I See It Marianne Heron

Why electricity bills are a big turn-off Summer time and the livin’ is easy, sang Ella Fitzgerald.

It should be easier shouldn’t it with salad days and warm weather, correction, warm wet weather? But if anyone is hoping for an imminent reduction in those distressingly high electricity bills which have done more than their fair share to contribute to the Cost-of-Living crisis, it seems they are hoping in vain.

Add together a couple of factors: the price of wholesale electricity came down by a third last month, gas prices, which contribute to the cost of electricity, have stabilised from the all-time high caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine, plus we generally use less energy in summer and our bills should be dropping.

The European Commission has declared that last

year’s energy crisis is over, yet Irish providers are still charging around double the pre-war prices.

Why? You may well ask.

It’s easy to imagine a scenario where a company uses the common practice of hedging – buying commodities in advance as a protection against ups and downs in price. Those responsible miscalculate how long high wholesale prices are going to last, pay over the odds and, as a result, their customers end up paying more.

In a normal business those who made the mistake would be shown the door and customers faced with inflated bills would go elsewhere. But when it comes to electricity providers, they not only continue issuing high bills but the Government step in to take the pain out of paying for an essential

service and fork out €2bn. of taxpayers’ money in energy credits over the winter months. Nice one if you can get away with it!

It would help to know when energy companies are going to pass on the drop in prices to their customers and if they are profiting excessively at consumers’ expense.

The Government, who want to put together a cost of living package ahead of the autumn Budget, can’t get a straight answer from providers. For one thing the companies don’t have to give information due to commercial sensitivity and price signalling rules. For another, electricity providers can use their hedging system and the complexities of the electricity market as a smokescreen.

In theory hedging should

help consumers. Providers buy electricity on the wholesale market at a certain price over a period, typically a year to 20 months.

The wholesale price may go higher or lower but companies even out the price to consumers. While this may protect customers from price hikes like the period last year when they went up to 10 times the normal level, it also takes a while for reductions to reach customers because higher prices take time to work through the market.

“There isn’t that direct a link between wholesale prices and the price to the consumer,” says Daragh Cassidy, head of communications at Bonkers, the free service which helps consumers to compare and save on household bills by switching providers.

He points out that for the first six months of this year wholesale prices were still 200pc higher than normal.

It’s cold comfort to know that we are paying a lot more for electricity than other Europeans. Currently we pay 40-45 cents per kilowatt hour compared to 34 in the UK. Reasons for this range from our lack of resources such as gas and oil, to inefficiencies.

Meantime, there are some remedies for the situation.

Energy windfall legislation will enable the Government to claw back profits in the sector, introducing a solidarity contribution on windfall gains made in 2022 and 2023 by the fossil fuel production and refining sector as a result of the war in Ukraine. Expected to raise €200 million to €450 million funds may be used

for energy credits for households and businesses and for investment in areas such as renewable energy.

It may be worth householders’ while to switch providers too. “Some of the discounts available may not be as big as they were, but you can still get a discount of 10%,” says Daragh Cassidy, suggesting that energy credits should also apply to gas.

There are options for cutting down on electricity usage, with the Sustainable Energy Authority having lots of sensible tips. Currently I have switched to a singing kettle instead of an electric one – thank heavens I can cook on bottled gas. I have stopped using my hairdryer and I daren’t use my electric oven.

Pity, I like baking. It will be cold showers next.

Natural solutions for constipation CLAIR WHITTY

If you have constipation, it means that you won’t have regular bowel movements. In an ideal world you should have at least one movement a day. Ideally, what goes in should come out within a 24 hour period.

Those of you that experience constipation will know how uncomfortable it is. Symptoms of bloating, weight gain, abdominal pain, grumpiness, irritation, low energy are common.

You may have bad breath or your tongue may be coated in what looks like a white or yellow fungus. Symptoms of constipation can also include headache or skin rashes.

Common causes can include lack exercise, hormonal changes, and food intolerance, not enough water or fibre. Aim to drink up to one and half litres of water per day. Fruit juices like beetroot or prune, or herb teas that contain milk thistle or dandelion may help.

To increase fibre, include oats, muesli, fruit, plenty of leafy vegetables, linseeds, chia seeds, psyllium husks, brown rice, figs, and prunes.

In my experience, wheat is

the most common food that contributes to constipation. See if you can notice any change by reducing the amount of bread, cakes, buns, and pasta. Having a healthy gut microbiome is essential. Foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir are great foods to eat.

To help you top up on your friendly gut microbiome there’s Udo’s Choice Super 8 Immune. This is a one a day blend to support gut and immune health as it contains 8 strains of friendly bacteria and Vitamin C. If you have constipation

caused by Irritable Bowel Disease you many need more bifidum bacteria which support the bowel.

Super 8 Gold contains 102 billion friendly bacteria per capsule. 80% of which are bifidum bacteria, the main strain used in the lower bowel.

If lack of fibre is your main concern consider Optibac Probiotics Bifido&Fibre which contains Bifidobacterium to help improve regularity and aid occasional constipation.

Optima Colon Cleanse is taken at night to encourage movement the next day. It contains Aloe Vera, Liquorice, Dandelion, and probiotics to support gut health and to maintain intestinal health in general.

Constipation is a symptom you can have in the perimenopause, in this case I would try Irish Botanica Milk Thistle, because improved liver function can support gut motility.

I hope that you can get your gut moving with these tips!

Shop online at www.naturalhealthstore.ie where you’ll be able to take a look at these brands.

Natural Health Store, Market Cross Shopping Centre Phone: 056 7764538 Email: info@naturalhealthstore.ie

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News

SPECIAL REPORT New figures just released show that only 26 claims have been sent into the CervicalCheck Tribunal, while 385 claims have now been taken through the courts.

The 26 claims taken through the tribunal represent just 6% of the cases taken through the courts.

The CervicalCheck Tribunal was set up to hear legal cases from women who developed cancer after they received wrong smear test results.

While the tribunal was set up to provide fast-track compensation without having to go to court, it has been criticised by campaigners, as most women who were affected have still opted to go through the courts system instead.

Dozens of Irish women were diagnosed with cervical cancer after being incorrectly told by the State’s CervicalCheck screening programme that their smear tests were clear.

The scandal emerged when Kilkenny native Vicky Phelan [pictured] revealed she had settled her case against a US laboratory.

The new figures were set out to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín in response to a parliamentary question to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

Since the tribunal was established in March 2021, 26 claims, two of which were combined, were lodged.

Twenty of these were lodged by women who were affected and six were lodged by or on behalf of the statutory dependants of women.

A total of 15 claims have been settled between the parties.

The claimants in seven cases were told by the tribunal it was “not in a position to hear and determine the

Majority of women choose court rather than CervicalCheck Tribunal claim”.

One case was struck out when an “unless order”

came into effect and three cases “remain pending and are at an advanced stage in

the proceedings”.

A total of 385 claims have been submitted to the

State Claims Agency in relation to CervicalCheck.

Four claims were received

between 2014 and 2017; 86 were received in 2018; 52 in 2019; 95 in 2020; and 103 in 2021.

Last year, 39 claims were received, while a further six have been lodged with the courts this year through the National Incident Management System (NIMS) hosted by the State Claims Agency.

Mr Tóibín branded the tribunal “deeply flawed”.

He said: “The Taoiseach at the time that this scandal broke said that no woman would be forced to go through the courts.

“And yet that is what continues to happen. Time and time again, we see women on death’s door still battling in court.

“It is clear that (Stephen) Donnelly was wrong to ignore the concerns of the 221 Plus patient support group when he ploughed ahead with the establishment of a deeply flawed tribunal.”

Patient advocacy groups have complained the courts process can be arduous for women, some of whom may be particularly ill, or traumatising for their families who take claims on their behalf. The courts process can also be unduly lengthy.

A court last month heard a woman suing over HSE CervicalCheck slides had died.

A number of high-profile women with cervical cancer who went to court over CervicalCheck have died, including Ms Phelan, who exposed the scandal, as well as Lynsey Bennett and Emma Mhic Mhathúna.

Ms Phelan reached a €2.5m settlement without an admission of liability with US firm Clinical Pathology Laboratories in the High Court in April 2018.

Mother-of-two Ms Phelan had a smear test in 2011 which showed no abnormalities but an audit in 2014 found the results were incorrect.

Helping labour shortages in the agri sector Next month sees the start of two new farming apprenticeships that are aimed at helping to address labour shortages in the agricultural sector.

The farm manager apprenticeship trains people to work as managers in the agri sector using the latest research and best-practice knowledge on how to run a commercial farm business.

The farm technician apprenticeship trains people in skills in daily operations, compliance with industry standards and regulatory measures.

The farm manager apprenticeship will lead to a Level 7 degree and will initially be available through the Teagasc Kildalton College in Co Kilkenny, while the Farm

Technician Level 6 will be available in Teagasc Clonakilty College in Co Cork and Teagasc Ballyhaise College Cavan.

The first apprentices will begin their two-year programme in September.

Apprentices will be employed in enterprises across arable, dairy, cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep and suckler farms.

A horticulture apprenticeship will also be available through the Teagasc College

of Amenity Horticulture in the Botanic Gardens in Dublin.

The apprenticeship aims to equip people with skills to work in the horticultural industry, including parks and garden maintenance, fruit production, vegetable production, landscape construction and garden centre operations.

The Irish Farmers’ Association’s farm family and social affairs chairwoman Alice Doyle said the IFA welcomed the new agri apprenticeships, saying they would provide “a real and substantive career pathway for school leavers, those already working on farms and looking to upskill, or change their careers and get back to employment in new and growing areas”.

These apprenticeships would help to develop knowledge and skills within the agricultural sector and will help with labour shortages within the sector, she said.

A 2022 report by the Irish Farm Accounts Co-operative indicated that two in three business owners in the agrifood sector find it difficult to hire suitable employees.

Dr Anne Marie Butler, Head of Education at Teagasc, said: “The apprenticeship route will open job and career opportunities for young people and we look forward to taking in trainee apprentices this autumn.”

Launching the apprenticeships, Minister for Higher and Further Education Simon Harris said the programmes

would be essential to securing the future of farming.

“This is a really exciting development for both the education and the farming sector.

“This investment will ensure the next generation of farmers can access the education they want and need, while still working on the farm.”

The Director of the National Apprenticeship Office, Dr Mary Liz Trent, said that Ireland now had more than 70 national apprenticeships.

“Our skills and education landscape is being transformed, with the number of options now available and the diversity of choice in occupations and careers, from farming and horticulture to international financial services and engineering.”

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Opinion

Your Money & You John Ellis

Our young see little option to buy a home Is it any wonder that young adults are of the opinion that they may be much older before it becomes feasible to purchase their own home – or even will not be able at all in the future.

This is borne out in the recent ESRI report with their findings showing Ireland has the fourth highest rate of homeownership for households aged 40+ (just under 80%), but only the 10th highest for households aged under 40 (34%), resulting in one of the biggest gaps in ownership rates between younger and older generations.

More than one-in-four young adults aged 25-34 in Ireland remained living with parents and Ireland saw the largest rise in this share in the intervening time.

In a new study of housing prices, Co Kilkenny comes 15th in the league of house price increases between the years 2010 to 2022. In 2010 the

average price was €209,911.39 and in 2022 the average was €284,960.95; that’s a 36% increase or in monetary terms €75,049.56.

The study conducted by Storage World Self Storage analysed house prices to calculate the price change and the percentage increase over 12 years.

As to be expected Co Dublin’s growth is considerably higher making it nearly a separate case compared with all other counties with an 80% price increase over the years, from €332,941.86 to €598,906.89, a total rise of €265,955.03. Second on the list is Wicklow, with a 68% increase. In 2010 the average price for a house was €293,963.28, meanwhile, in 2022, it was €494,460.59 - a rise of €200,497.31. Kildare is third, with a 63% increase from 2010 to 2022. Waterford is ninth with 44%, and Wexford closes the top ten with a 43% increase.

Younger adults are not the only affected cohort as the the 2022 census showed a disturbing trend developing for older people. The rate of home ownership is continuing to decline along with an increase in renters aged 65 and over. There was a significant increase in the number of households with people aged 65 and over renting from a private landlord to almost 17,000 households, up 83% since 2016.

The total number of occupied rental properties in the 2022 census was 513,704, up from 469,671 in 2016. This includes properties rented from a private landlord (330,632), local authority (153,192) or voluntary/co-operative housing body (29,880). In the 2016 to 2022 period, the number of occupied dwellings rented from a private landlord increased by 7% to more than 330,000.

A new research report by the national housing charity

Threshold and Alone has found that a quarter of older renters expect to remain in the private rental sector for life, as they felt no other accommodation options were available. Older renters are more likely to be living alone and renting for longer periods than their younger counterparts

“One in four young adults still living with parents

in the sector. They are also more likely to be in receipt of rental assistance. Those aged 65+ and renting from a private landlord are likely to be spending more than 35% of their disposable income on rent (CSO 2021).

CEO of Alone Seán Moynihan, said: “The report highlights what we have seen building and have been campaigning on for 10 years. This evidence now further shows the housing needs of older people and proves the effect of no security of tenure for older people in the rental sector.

“Older people in private rented accommodation have lower standards of living and have poorer health & wellbeing outcomes. We need to plan and build for this increasing amount of people, before it is too late, for whom renting is their only housing option.

This report highlights the areas that need to be addressed, including ring fencing social housing in line

with demand, specifically for older people, to meet this need now and in the near future. The alternative is that the current system will lead to large levels homelessness and poor housing conditions in old age.”

Co-author of the report Neil Haran, said: “This study reveals considerable challenges associated with the State’s reliance on the private rental sector to accommodate many of its citizens. It also reveals that older renters in private rental are placed at a disproportionate disadvantage in the market, contributing to high levels of stress, vulnerability, and a lack of predictability. “ If you wish to read more on this unsettling outlook and options to drive change read the report ‘Double Deficit: Older and Ageing Persons in the Irish Private Rental Sector’ on the Alone.ie website. john@ellisfinancial.ie 086 8362622

Kilkenny City and County Bridge results

TUESDAY MORNING BRIDGE

WEDNESDAY EVENING BRIDGE

Open Bridge every Tuesday morning during summer months at 10.30 a.m.

Non-members welcome.

Open Bridge every Wednesday evening during summer months at 7.30 p.m.

Non-members welcome.

Results Tuesday August 1st 1st Prize ... Brian Keane/Mary Walsh 2nd Prize ... Kathleen O’Shaughnessy/ Kathleen Ferguson 3rd Prize ... Fiona Ward -Tynan/Brigid Holohan

Results Wednesday August 2nd 1st Prize ... Mary Doyle/Helen Blanchfield 2nd Prize ... Kathleen O’Shaughnessy/ Kathleen Ferguson 3rd Prize ... Breda Deevy/Mary Egan 4th Prize ... Eileen Brennan/Margaret Barron

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KATS Theatre

KATS present Eclipsed a story of survival As history and personal accounts inform us, women entered the Magdelene laundries for a variety of reasons.

Pregnant women were signed in, women who were deemed too “fast” or a little bit “slow” or even those who were a burden to their families were confined within those walls. Patricia

Burke Brogan, the author of the 1992 play, Eclipsed, drew on her experiences as a 21-yearold novice with the Sisters of Mercy in Galway, working alongside residents in the former laundry at Forster Street in the city. She also highlighted the plight of the women in the laundry in her 2014 book Mem-

oir with Grykes and Turloughs.

At its launch, the then President Michael D Higgins wrote the forward to the memoir, noting that her play had “changed everything”, and that its faithfulness to the characters and the hidden stories “could almost not have had another author”.

At the launch of Eclipsed, Ms

Sabina Coyne Higgins said it exposed a “complicity and conspiracy of silence”. Despite being known as the person to expose the conditions and behaviours of the Magdelene laundries, Patricia eloquently managed to convey the other side of life within those walls, in her play. She adamantly told

The Irish Times in 2013, “I never saw any physical beating-up,” and stuck to her truth. Instead she portrays the tenacity of the women. Their ability to survive the drudgery and oppression of their suffocating, colourless environment. She shows the strength of women standing together, supporting each other

to cope, by sharing their happy memories. Their ability to find hope and light, leaning into their playfulness and creativity, creating make believe scenarios bringing laughter, song and comradeship. The human instinct to survive is our most powerful drive and Eclipsed in essence is a story to prove that.

Sarah Walsh - Brigid

Megan Kelly - Nellie-Nora (Young)

Rosey Hayes - Cathy

Sarah is a Dutch/Irish actor based in New Ross. She started acting at six and attended youth theatre school in the Netherlands for ten years. In Ireland she studied at the Irish Film Academy, The Gaiety School of Acting and the Helena Walsh Voice & Acting Studio.

In the Netherlands Sarah has been in professional stage productions such as Les Misérables and The Wizard of Oz and had a small part in a Dutch Sitcom. More recently she has played in several indie short and feature films like the Wexford horror comedy ‘A Season in Hell’ and Amazon’s Prime Detective ‘Pooka’.

Theatre credits in Ireland include Rainout and Broken Parts at The Gaiety’s Black Box in Dublin, Yeats before Purgatory in a Little Room, and Dracula with No Drama Theatre.

Sarah feels honoured to tell this very important story with this talented cast and crew to remember the women working in the Magdalene Laundries.

Megan is a 26 year old actor and Specsavers Lab Technician from Kilkenny and is very passionate about acting.

At the age of 5 years old she joined the stage school Jesters Stage Academy in Kilkenny where her love of acting began and remained a student of Jester for 13 years. This led her to pursue acting as a career and study theatre studies and English in Waterford Institute of Technology where she gained a BA (Hons) Arts degree.

Some of her previous work includes: Two Shakespeare plays: "Macbeth" & "A Midsummer Night's Dream", with Waterford Theatre companies: Suir Look Theatre and StageMad. She also performed in original plays: "Memoirs of A Ghost" by Derek Flynn and "Deception" by Conor Armstrong Sanfey.

Megan is so excited to take on the role of Nellie-Nora in Eclipsed as it was this character that drew her to the play and so delighted to get to work with the talented cast taking on this amazing play.

Rosey Hayes is an actor from Kilkenny who has appeared in many film and theatre productions and has also worked in writing, directing and casting.

She graduated from Sligo Institute of Technology in 2016 with a BA Hons Degree in Performing Arts and has gone on to train with David Scott, Helena Walsh & LA based coach Benjamin Mathes.

Recent roles include Ann in Cloud 9 Production's world premiere of new musical Letters From The Front, Emma O'Connor in Sau Dachi's feature film Suit Hung Tied Tongue and Louise in Marcus Maher's The Gallows Tree. She is currently appearing in a campaign for Dublin Airport.

Rosey will play the role of Mairead in Last Trip to Tipp, directed by John Morton as part of Barnstorm Theatre Company's Bench Tales which debuts at this year's Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Rosey runs Barnstorm Youth Theatre and is represented by Dublin based agency Red Kite Talent. She is thrilled to be a part of Eclipsed and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an important story.

1. What's your favourite theatrical moment (on or off the stage)?

It was an audition I did during the pandemic. There were still very much restrictions in place, but the lockdown was over and the auditions were held in a theatre. Before I even started the audition, I just had a moment to look around and realise I was on stage in a theatre again.. and how good it felt to be back.

2. What spurred you to be involved in Eclipsed?

I have always been very interested in the plight of the women in the Magdalene Laundries and it is very important to have these stories told. It is very recent history and we need to be aware of the attitudes that made this possible, those ideas about the place of women in society are still very much alive. The role of Brigit is also an incredible part to play for an actress and I am really happy to be part of this production.

3. What's your characters name full name?

Brigit Murphy 4. What about your character can you relate to?

Her critical views on the church and authority and her refusal to abide by rules that are not just.

5. Whats your characters Pet peeve?

Not paying attention when folding so it takes three times longer.

6. What is your characters favourite food?

Griskin, black pudding and potatoes smothered in butter apparently. I myself wouldn’t eat any of those things though 7. What is your characters favourite song?

You don’t own me ~Leslie Gore Would you like to add anything else?

It is important to remember the absolute crimes that took place in Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby home.

The stealing of babies, locking up women for being pregnant or considered ‘unruly’. It happened recent and not only in Ireland and I feel very grateful that I am able to tell a piece of that story.

1. What's your favourite theatrical moment (on or off the stage)?

On stage: was getting to perform my favourite monologue as my favourite Shakespeare character, Lady Macbeth, in Waterford's Suir Look Theatre's production of Macbeth of just me on stage with her candle.

Off stage: was getting asked to come on board Waterford director Jim Nolan's The Red Iron as assistant stage manager and seeing all the professional actors. It was a pleasure to get to speak to them and ask them about acting in London and how to go about it before my move to England.

2. What spurred you to be involved in Eclipsed?

I always wanted to work KATS Theatre company after getting to see their production of Sean O'Casey’s play "Shadow of A Gunman". When I saw they were holding auditions, I had to go for it. When I saw the play they were auditioning for and after my research and reading of the play, I just had to be apart of this telling of Ireland's shushed history. Patricia Burke Brogan tells the reality of Irish women in history in such a beautiful way and with such strong and likeable characters. Also, it was the character of Nellie-Nora that really stood out to me as I could identify with her in some ways.

3. What's your characters name full name?

Nellie-Nora Langan 4. What about your character can you relate to?

Being the mother of the group, as in always worrying about them and putting them before herself. I'm very much like that with my friends. Always making sure other people are ok before herself and how she is quiet or in herself.

5. Whats your characters Pet peeve?

People eating/chewing around her which has been intensified since coming to the laundry 6. What is your characters favourite food?

Stew/ Casserole 7. What is your charachters favourite song?

Favourite Song: Old Shep by Elvis Presley

1. What's your favourite theatrical moment (on or off the stage)?

One of my favourite theatrical moments was brushing my teeth in the men's bathroom in Rothe House in a jester costume with my hair in space buns prior to a performance of The Merchant of Venice. I had been on a set all day, so was doing a lot of rushing around, but absolutely thrilled to be acting for the entire day. Getting to play a comic Shakespeare role was so special! Another treasured moment was seeing my writing performed for the first time, by two actors I am very fond of. The director handed me a rose as he walked up to clear the set after the performance... A very moving experience!

2. What spurred you to be involved in Eclipsed?

The script and story. It's such a sad but important moment in our history and these women deserve to have their story told to an audience 3. What's your characters name full name?

Cathy McNamara 4. What about your character can you relate to?

Her resilience. Despite being so physically weak, Cathy never gives up on the idea of being reunited with her girls. She's also very protective and has a beautiful capacity to love the other girls living in the laundry.

5. Whats your characters Pet peeve?

Some of the other girls in the laundry can lash out of be unkind to one and other and this frustrates and upsets Cathy as they get enough torment from their captors without inflicting it on each other too.

6. What is your characters favourite food?

Cathy talks of missing homemade cakes and almond icing, so she's got a bit of a sweet tooth.

7. What is your charachters favourite song?

Cathy's favourite song is Galway Bay by Bing Crosby

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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News Science & Wellbeing A ‘living drug’ in the bloodwork of a late-stage cancer survivor – described by scientists as “the biggest development in cancer therapy in over 50 years” – sees a patient’s body was still protected, a year later, by a fleet of souped-up killer immune cells known as T-cells.

Researchers at Cardiff University in the UK found that these special T-cells may be much better at recognising and attacking tumours than average T-cells.

They could even take down multiple different types of cancer from various angles at once.

“Our findings really surprised us as nobody knew that individual T-cells could recognise cancer cells via several different cancerassociated proteins simultaneously,” explains Cardiff University biologist Andy Sewell.

“We wanted to know how some patients with end-stage cancer who had been treated with [tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte] therapy successfully cleared their cancer, so we went hunting for answers.”

In the last decade or so, tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy has emerged as a powerful new way to possibly eradicate late-stage tumours.

TIL therapy involves taking a patient’s own white blood cells directly from their tumour and growing and artificially enhancing them to better attack cancer.

In clinical trials, the therapy seems to work more than 80% of the time.

Despite these incredible results, scientists still don’t know how the therapy works on a cellular level. Research-

Another major find for those with late-stage cancer ers at Cardiff have been trying to figure that out for years, and now, they’ve had a breakthrough.

When examining the results

of phase I and II clinical trials, in which 31 patients with malignant melanoma received TIL therapy, researchers found those who suc-

cessfully cleared their cancer still showed strong T-cell responses over a year later.

The T-cells from one of these patients were remark-

ably ‘multi-pronged’, showing the potential to respond to most types of cancer, not just melanoma.

“Importantly, we have

seen large numbers of multipronged T-cells in the blood of cancer survivors,” says Sewell. “To date, we have not found such multi-pronged Tcells in people where cancer progresses.”

To confirm what’s really going on, Sewell and his colleagues must now carefully watch these multi-pronged T-cells attack cancer in the lab.

Only then will they be able to determine whether these immune cells are responsible for the great outcomes of TIL therapy.

“We hope to investigate whether engineered multipronged T-cells can be used to treat a wide range of cancers in a similar way to how engineered CAR-T cells are now used to treat some types of leukemia,” says one of the lead authors, Cardiff University immunologist Garry Dolton.

CAR-T cells are chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, and they are already approved as a treatment for blood cancer by the US Food and Drug Advisory.

CAR-T therapy differs slightly from TIL therapy because it reprograms specific T-cells to target certain parts of a cancer cell.

Because TIL T-cells come straight from a solid tumour, they are more diverse, and scientists don’t need to fiddle with their attack mechanisms nearly as much.

Perhaps this is what makes them so effective against so many types of cancer.

“Patient numbers are small so far, but it remains possible that multi-pronged T-cells might be associated with complete remission – or cancer clearance,” said Sewell.

The study was published in the journal Cell.

So, what are chances of winning the lottery?

The University of Manchester have been carrying out research into the age-old question of how many lottery tickets do you need to buy to guarantee wining something?

Dr David Stewart and Dr David Cushing found that 27 is the lowest possible number of tickets needed to guarantee a win — although, importantly, with no guarantee of a profit.

They describe the solution using a mathematical system called finite geometry, which centres on a triangle-like structure called a Fano plane. Each point of the structure is plotted with pairs of numbers and connected with lines — each line generates a set of six numbers, which equates to one ticket.

It takes three Fano planes and two triangles to cover all numbers and generate 27 sets of tickets.

Choosing tickets in this way guarantees that no mat-

ter which of the 45,057,474 possible draws occurs, at

least one of the tickets will have at least two numbers

in common. From any draw of six, two numbers must appear on one of the five geometric structures, which ensures they appear on at least one ticket.

But Dr Stewart and Dr Cushing say that the hard work is actually showing that achieving the same outcome with 26 tickets is not possible.

David Stewart, a Reader in Pure Mathematics at The University of Manchester, said: “Fundamentally there is a tension which comes from the fact that there are only 156 entries on 26 tickets. This means a lot of numbers can’t appear a lot of times. Eventually you see that you’ll be able to find six numbers that don’t appear on any ticket together. In graph theory terms, we end up proving the existence of an independent set of size six.”

Although guaranteed a

win, the researchers say that the chances of making a profit are very unlikely and shouldn’t be used as a reason to gamble.

And Peter Rowlett, a mathematician from The Aperiodical website, has shown that in almost 99% of cases, you wouldn’t make the cost of the tickets back.

When putting the theory to the test in the lottery draw on July 1, the researchers matched just two balls on three of the tickets, the reward being three lucky dip tries on a subsequent lottery, each of which came to nothing.

The researchers say that the finding is interesting from a computational point of view. They use a fiftyyear-old programming language called Prolog, which they say makes it one of the oldest examples of real artificial intelligence.

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Travel & Leisure 1. Visit Heroes’ Square Located at the end of Andrássy Avenue, Heroes Square is something not to be missed. You can’t miss the Millennium Monument at its centre which depicts the Archangel Gabriel holding the Hungarian crown. It is surrounded by several other statues that represent the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian leaders.

Make sure to visit the two art museums on either side of the square and learn a little about Hungarian history.

2. Hungarian Parliament Building The Hungarian Parliament Building is one of the largest buildings and most recognisable in Budapest.

One of Europe’s oldest legislative buildings, the parliament building, is a marvel of Gothic Revival architecture. Dominating the Pest side of the Danube, the building’s intricate detailing and grandeur are a sight to behold. Its interior is adorned with gold accents and intricate stained glass.

You can tour the 691-room parliament building and watch the changing of the guard. During the tour, you can explore its beautiful statues and paintings as well as learn about the political history of Budapest.

The parliament is a working government building and home to the Hungarian Crown Jewels. A guided tour offers insights into Hungarian politics and the opportunity to appreciate the stunning architecture up close.

Don’t miss the chance to see the building at night when it’s beautifully illuminated, reflecting over the Danube. To really appreciate its Gothic Revival beauty, make sure to view it from the opposite side of the Danube. Or book a city cruise. This cruise includes 1. Sanctuary Cap Cana, Dominican Republic Sanctuary Cap Cana is the first and only Luxury Collection all-inclusive property. Four suite categories include Colonial, Luxury, Castle, and Villa suites. The renowned Castle Island Suite offers a primary bedroom, secondary bedroom, three indoor plunge pools, and private beach access.

Five restaurants along with six bars and lounges provide a variety of dining options.

There’s plenty to do with six pools, golf, complimentary use of non-motorised water sports equipment, the Sanctuary Spa, tennis, beach volleyball, boating, fishing, and more.

2 .The Westin Porto de Galinhas, Brazil This oceanfront resort is Marriott International’s first all-inclusive resort in Brazil and South America. A wide range of amenities for all

Five must-sees in Budapest unlimited Prosecco as you take in the sights.

3. Walk Across The Chain Bridge This is Budapest’s most famous bridge and for good reason. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge, usually referred to as the Chain Bridge, is more than a means to cross the Danube.

It’s a symbol of Hungarian resilience and innovation.

Opened in 1849, the bridge was the first to permanently connect Buda and Pest.

A walk across the bridge offers delightful views of the city’s landmarks. The sight of the Royal Palace, Matthias Church, and Parliament building from the bridge is truly picture-perfect. At night, the illuminated bridge against the backdrop of Budapest’s skyline creates a magical

setting.

Built in 1849, this suspension bridge connects the Buda (west) and Pest(east) sides of the city. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk across and the views are stunning.

You are going to want to see this bridge both during the day and at night to really appreciate how impressive this bridge really is. Especially if you want some great photos.

4. Explore Buda Castle Perched high atop Castle Hill, Buda Castle is an iconic symbol of Budapest. This former home of Hungarian kings was completed in the 13th Century and is now a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Surrounded by the Hungarian National Gallery, and the Budapest History Museum, Castle Hill is the perfect place

to learn all about the culture of the city.

Whether day or night, the castle, with its magnificent Baroque architecture, exudes an enchanting beauty. A stroll around the castle grounds at dusk provides an unforgettable sight of Budapest’s glittering skyline.

Don’t forget to explore the surrounding Castle District, with its charming, narrow streets and historical buildings.

The best way to explore the Castle Hill area is by a guided tour. This two-hour castle tour costs is worth every penny.

Another interesting tour is the Buda Castle Caves Tour which takes you through the underground tunnels of Castle Hill. It is a fascinating trip through the labyrinth-like of cave system which once

served as wine cellars, bomb shelters, and even a medieval prison.

5. Szechenyi Spa Baths There is a reason they call it the City of Spas. When in Budapest, indulging in a thermal bath is a must.

The city is renowned for its thermal baths, and Széchenyi is the largest and arguably the most popular. Situated in the heart of City Park, Széchenyi boasts 15 indoor pools and three grand outdoor pools as well as 10 saunas and steam rooms. They are the perfect escape after a few hours of sightseeing in the city. They are the largest medicinal baths in Europe and are known for their healing properties.

Thermal water, rich in minerals like calcium and magnesium, is believed to ages includes a gym, beach club, kids club, teens club, live music, pool yoga, dance classes, and more, promising an unforgettable family vacation. Accommodations range from garden-view rooms to bi-level villas with private pools.

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have therapeutic properties.

Whether you swim, soak, or partake in a game of chess with the locals, Széchenyi Thermal Bath offers a unique blend of relaxation and recreation. Visit in the winter for an extraordinary experience of bathing in hot waters as snow falls around you.

The art nouveau style baths date back to 1911. They suffered damage during World War II in the Siege of Budapest, but have been restored to their original splendour.

Book a full day at the baths in advance – this includes a full day ticket, and an optional tour to the city centre to taste some Hungarian pálinka.

Also note, that towels and bathing suits are available for purchase.

Jungle Experience includes a lazy river, five jacuzzis, water slides, and a children’s area, perfect for family fun.

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There’s also an adults-only building for those who want a little more peace and quiet during their stay.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Opinion

Furthermore Gerry Moran

A dose of Art-ritis and little-pinky-blues!

It’s that time of year again, folks, Arts Festival time. And I love it. Our Arts Festival is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year (happy anniversary all). Read some memories of mine from those 50 years elsewhere in this paper. In the meantime here’s a lighthearted piece I penned back in 1995.

Arts Week has only just begun and already I have culture coming out my ears.

I’ve been to openings, readings, concerts, and plays, and, to compound matters, I’ve been to pubs before and after.

Is it any wonder I have a bad dose of Art-ritis? I have also developed a major allergy to art galleries. Art galleries seriously inhibit people. I know the nicest of people who, as soon as they step inside an art gallery, metamorphose into strange creatures who will only communicate in a series of stiff nods and indecipher-

able whispers. As for those serious stiff upper-lip-types they seize up entirely. They don’t speak, they don’t smile, some don’t even blink and become more moribund than the exhibits!

And then there are openings. If you think art galleries are bad, openings are worse!

The most appalling changes occur to people at exhibition openings. A dreadful stiffness descends on everyone. People move about in slow-slowmotion (if they move at all) and conversations are curt, cropped as everyone assumes a robotic-like, posture or pose.

Your partner will hardly talk to you, best friends scarcely recognise you, acquaintances ignore you while perfect strangers become even more perfect strangers!

What is it about Arts Week that brings about this diabolical Jekyll & Hyde transformation in decent, God-fearing,

people? Personally I blame the wine. In fact I don’t blame the wine. I blame the wine glass. The glass is the culprit.

As soon as a wine glass slips into one’s hand the little finger shoots out into space like a spare cocktail sausage assuming a life all of its own. I mean have you ever tried conversing with someone whose little pinky is pointed north, north-west while their body is pointed south, south-east?

It’s difficult. Damn difficult.

Something needs to be done.

And so I offer the following suggestions to all art gallery curators in the hope of eradicating posturing and posing and art-induced inhibitions.

1. Floppy hats should be distributed to all and sundry as they enter the gallery as it is nigh impossible to be a pretentious poser while wearing same (although I wouldn’t bet on it) 2. Tankards of ale only

should be imbibed. You simply cannot partake of a beaker full of the sunny South East while your little pinky is trying to go solo (although I

“Already I have culture coming out my ears..

wouldn’t bet on that either).

3. As for edibles, forget canapés, I suggest crubeens, as sticky fingers will put a stop to any little-pinky-pokingpeccadillos (and that I will bet on) Exhibitions worth seeing this week Eoghan O’Drisceoil, good friend, and past pupil of mine, is hosting an exhibition in Bridie’s in John Street. Eoghan is one of the most committed people to his art that I know of. Do drop in. Another good friend of mine Daithí Holohan is having a major retrospective exhibition in Saint Canice’s Community Hall. Daithí’s delicate line drawings are exceptional (have several of them in my home) And then there’s Mary Hickey (sister of Daithí) exhibiting in Kilkenny Castle whose work I also have in my home. Does Art run in families, I wonder? Because some of the earliest paint-

ings I ever purchased were by Kathleen Holohan (sister of Mary and Daithí) and which hang on my wall to this day.

Kathleen has parked her paint brush, I understand, but I so wish you’d pick it up again, Kathleen. Our Arts Festival misses you.

Finally, local writer Judy Rhatigan (author of Beyond The Briary Wood, A Life Journey) will launch her book, The Raggedy Bush Poems, in the Book and Coffee Shop in William St. on Thursday, August 17 at 6 pm. All proceeds from the book go to SOS Kilkenny. Readers of Judy’s poems will include Joe Murray, Geoff Rose, Ger Cody, Brendan Corcoran, Ger Mulally, Mary Craddock, yours truly and, of course, Jimmy Rhatigan. All are welcome.

Arts Week Special See Pages 29 - 36

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Opinion

Learning the hard way: The stick and the leather Part one

BY JOHN FITZGERALD

In 2001 Callan man Sean Holden recalled sitting behind his desk on a typical day at the local CBS all those years before. He listened to the teacher droning on about Irish verbs and tenses as he paced up and down the room.

Sean described what happened next: “Suddenly, without any warning, he’d spot a lad he thought wasn’t paying attention. Out came the leather, as quick as a flash, and he’d lay into the pupil. The lad would get it on the head, and across the back of the neck and shoulders. That was before he was ordered to put out his hand to be slapped.

“He put great force into each slap, and he’d give you a terrible look of reproach before the stick came crashing down. And he always went for the finger joints, to inflict real pain.

“As a rule, when this happened to you in the classroom, you tended to be more alert and tried not to look bored or half asleep for the remainder of the day. I suppose the corporal punishment worked in that sense. You learned by fear.

“Slow learners got a hard deal. They got slapped and knocked about almost every day. There was very little of the softly-softly approach we see nowadays in schools.

No psychology or anything.

“It was a military type setup. We drilled in the playground like little soldiers, and sang martial songs, mostly in Irish. When I got slapped, I preferred the leather because the bamboo really hurt, and I remember one lad whose hands bled after he got slapped with a stick that had splinters in it.

“And you never mentioned the slaps at home or your parents would give you another few, and maybe worse ones, for good measure. Political Correctness wasn’t heard of in those days. You hear nowadays of the Stick and the Carrot.

There was no carrot back then, just the stick, and a Callan CBS pupils 1939

Letter to the editor

Corporal punishment cast a dark shadow over many a school day

Sean Holden with Callan Person of the Year Award

great persuader it was.

“Some teachers didn’t bother with the canes or leathers. They used their fists. If you answered a question wrong, you got a backhand slap across the face or a thump from behind. One teacher loved to throw dusters at pupils who he spotted misbehaving or who weren’t making progress. He just grabbed the duster and flung it at the lad.

“The rest of us would duck to avoid it. If the duster missed its intended target and hit the wrong pupil, this teacher assured the struck pupil that he would credit the blow to him when his own turn for punishment came.

“I’ll never forget the day he broke a window in the classroom with a duster when he missed a pupil.

The Principal heard the glass breaking and strode into the classroom. He demanded to know what happened. When the teacher explained, the Principal asked him to be more careful in future and to please

try to hit the pupil accurately, because glass didn’t grow on trees!

“When the Principal left the room, this teacher repeated in a mocking tone what his superior had said, and we all laughed, including the lad the duster had been aimed at. Ah, those were funny times, boy.

“They slapped you for anything, or for nothing. Some days were worse than others. There was one teacher who smoked heavily. His suit was permanently stained with tobacco marks.

He was fine while he was smoking, but we all suffered when he gave up the fags for lent. He went crazy in the classroom…with the cane, the leather, and his fists.

“One day, during lent, when most us had failed a sums test, he caught a big bundle of books and flung them at us with all his might. Then he picked up a leather with one hand and a bamboo rod with the other and he ran down between the desks, striking to the right and to the left like a cavalryman at the Charge of the Light Brigade.

“We had to dive for cover.

Less than an hour before this, he’d been talking calmly about the danger of war breaking out in Europe.

He had drawn some of the flags of the world with chalk on the blackboard. But to us the classroom was a daily war zone...”

Callan CBS pupils 1939 Back row: Lar Hackett, Jim Hackett, John Clancy, Liam Egan, M. Walker, M. Bergin, -Drew. Joe Dunne.

Third Row: Ned Woodgate, Billy Burke, Larry Guildfoyle, Milo Foley, Ned Condon, Sean Dooley, Billy Hackett, Danny Roche.

Second Row: Larry Holden, Marty Keating, Sean Holden, Jim Bolger, J. Fitzpatrick, J. Byrne, Frank Fennelly, T. Noonan, Dick Power, J. O’ Neill, S. Shaughnessy.

Front Row: D. O’ Grady, P. Byrne, P. Purcell, C. Sullivan, -Burke, Billy Sullivan, M. Lynch, Sean Holden, Sean O’ Brien.

To be continued...

‘The Town I love So Well’ As like the summer so far, the August Bank holiday passed us by as if we were in the latter stages of Autumn. However, many families still tried to get away for a little together time before the children head back to school. Kilkenny is sold as thee place to have a family vacation and for the Irish Diaspora living abroad to return home and while here, visit Kilkenny, The Medieval Capital of Ireland.

As a native, I value what our city has to offer to all who visit. Unfortunately, if I was one of those families that decided to come here for the August bank holiday, after my experience with my grandson on Saturday, I am sorry to say I’d have second thoughts about returning.

Christmas, God forgive me for bringing it up! is only 20 weeks away. When we reach the August bank Holiday it is the signal for me to lodge €10 per week to my Credit Union Account. This helps to have a stress-free festive season with my small savings giving me a helpful hand for a few small presents for the grandchild and it looks like maybe a great grandchild, please God. Why the Credit Union? To be honest, it opens Saturday, but more importantly it is nice to talk to a teller and not a machine! I like the personal touch and the smiling welcome you get when lodging your few euros.

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the afternoon on our High Street. I am a blue badge holder, and the two spaces outside the Credit Union are great to have access to and let’s hope they will remain for my life time anyway. However, Saturday saw a spanking new SUV, non-badge holder, parked illegally in the disability car parking space. Now I must mention, the driver was in the SUV and had the hazard warning lights on, which for some unknown reason people think that makes it okay, or makes their car invisible. Now I have to be truthful, as that was the way my parents brought me up, I parked across the road in the Taxi Rank or loading bay, and now the second chapter of my ‘Nightmare on High Street’ I held my grandson’s hand and went to cross the street at the public crossing at Market Cross. It was like running the gauntlet. Young teenagers, boys and girls I may add, racing up and down the street not just on foot but, those crazy and very dangerous electric scooters. Visiting Families, who had to duck, jump and at times run across to get to the far side of Kilkenny’s Medieval Mile, and That wasn’t all that was the brazen carry on of these Young Adults, one can only call THUGS There was the guys on the bikes racing up the High street with, and against the traffic and when a motorist had to brake suddenly and hit the car horn, got the two fingers and the roars of F.. Off effin followed by the must disgusting word of the English language that begins with a ‘C’ and ends two letters later with a ‘T’, and then the running brigade following the scooters and bikes as they went from one end of our main artery, for all our tourists to the city.

Now some will ask where are the Gardai? Traffic Wardens? My question is where are these Terrorists parents? Yes Terrorists! They were terrorising the people and visitors of Kilkenny some with young children. As we push forward to making Kilkenny a friendly, walking and bicycle haven, pedestrianised streets and bicycle lanes, ah how beautiful and inviting it sounds. Well not if we do not eliminate the Teenagers who now see High street as their playground for the summer. Electric Scooters reaching dangerous speeds, the humble push bike as it races against the oncoming traffic. A definite recipe for disaster with the owner that needs to be educated on the rules of the road and the basic manners of being a human being.

Now next Saturday, I will unfortunately have to make the same trip to the Credit Union. Imagine, I am a Kilkenny native that loves my city and now I dread going on to the High street. If you were a tourist that decided to venture to Kilkenny last weekend, did you feel safe? or more importantly, would you come back or recommend a family visit to our city centre?

Would I? what do you think after the experience I had last Saturday in ‘The Town I love So well’

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Book launch

Author Donal Cadogan delves into the life and times of Alice Kyteler Kytelers Inn on Kieran Street Kilkenny. Donal Cadogan tells a wonderful story about Alice Kyteler in his new book

Kilkenny actor Donal O’Brien who played the role of Roger Outlaw in the 1968 production of Witch Hunt

By Annika Kilkenny “Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through”, Jonathan Swift.

Kilkenny author, Donal Cadogan, takes inspiration from his roots in A little book of Alice Kyteler as he delves deep into the darkness that is tied to the unexplainable occurrences of 14th century Ireland.

The author’s fifth publication follows Alice Kyteler, a local woman in the mediaeval town of Kilkenny, through her downfall at the hands of the Bishop of Ossory, Richard Ledrede.

Cadogan mentions that we are fortunate to have, as a primary source document, an account of the events that had unfolded seven hundred years ago.

Member of The New Theatre group Nicholas Halley who played the son of Alice Kyteler in 1968

However, this source stands with strong bias against Alice Kyteler and her once reputable name.

The author writes that there are other sources from this period in time pieced together

One of the founding members of The New Theatre Group, Tony Patterson who performed the role of Walter Islip in Witch Hunt in 1968

by historians that help flesh out and expand our understanding of the events that took place. Because of this, this “little book” contains an account of Alice Kytelers life as a wealthy business woman through efficient and factual execution.

Donal Cadogan illustrates the lifestyle, the socioeconomic relations and the inner workings of an heiress who seemed to have freely found her way to the centre of Kilkenny’s most influential and powerful social circle in an intriguing stylistic approach.

Through use of topical subdivision, Cadogan depicts Alice Kyteler’s story through an account of her four marriages, an objective introduction to Richard Ledrede and Petronella De Meath along with Front cover of Donal Cadogans book ‘A little book of Alice Kyteler’

From John’s Place in Kilkenny, actor May Walshe played Dame Alice Kyteler in 1968

the process of accusation and proceedings carried out against Kyteler.

I found that this categorising of subjects in which there stood a common theme was easy to consume whilst keeping us effortlessly engaged with the story at hand.

The author also considers the aftermath of the incidents that occurred as a result of the harsh accusations placed on Alice Kytelers’ name.

Tied into the seams of this telling book abundant in rich Irish history, we are additionally shown thorough clarification of significant topics that are mentioned within the core story. These enlightening reports included information on ‘Women and property in mediaeval Ireland’, ‘The Templars’, ‘Avignon Papacy', ‘Jurisdiction’ in relation to where Ledrede held power over Kyteler and, finally, ‘Witchcraft’. With the implementation of defining these vital talking points, the

Author Donal Cadogan .. his love of stories of old Kilkenny comes through in his book on Alice Kyteler

book became immediately unchallenging to follow and appreciate.

Cadogan’s narration of a tale that Kilkenny holds close to its heart was educational, efficient and an effortlessly enjoyable read.

Although we sit in sadness to learn that Richard Ledrede’s cobwebs caught small, but equally as valid and important

flies, we can only wonder where the wasp that stands as the skeleton of this story had ended up.

Is it possible that she remained hidden under Ledrede’s nose?

Or even above him, on a broom. ?

NOTE: The Kilkenny Observer came across a very interesting programme of ‘Witch Hunt’ a three act play produced by Fr Seamus McEvoy at The Presentation Convent in Kilkenny in 1968.

The play told the story of Alice Kyteler.

Cast included: May Walshe, Nicholas Halley, Angela Moylan, Mary O’Mahony, Gerard Dooley, Joseph O’Carroll, Donal O’Brien, Tony Patterson, Michael Shine and Bob Morrison.

A little book of Alice Kyteler by Donal Cadogan is available in Kilkenny bookshops.

Cover of the New Theatre group’s programme of Witch Hunt

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Community

Twilight communities of all ages are stronger together As Twilight Community Group develops new programmes, with new approaches we have discovered the real benefits of intergenerational activities and support programmes. What are the benefits of this intergenerational support programmes?

Why Intergeneration Solidarity?

Also referred to as Multigenerational Solidarity, it is the mutual support and collaboration among different age groups within a society or family. It encompasses the recognition and appreciation of the strengths and contributions of individuals from various generations. There are a multitude of benefits to partaking in such a practice: Social cohesion and connection: When generations collaborate and work together, it fosters understanding, empathy, and appreciation for one another. This acts as

a means of ‘bridging the generation gap’ and encouraging a sense of belonging and togetherness. It can contribute to the creation of stronger family ties, reducing social isolation, and enhancing community relationships.

Wisdom, experience and learning: Each generation

brings unique perspectives, knowledge, and life experiences. Through sharing experiences and helping others navigate life’s challenges, one can gain a sense of purpose and fulfilment. Any exchange of knowledge and ideas can enhance personal growth and promotes lifelong learning.

Emotional support: Life can present numerous challenges at different stages, such as career decisions, relationship issues, or health concerns.

Multigenerational solidarity provides emotional support systems where individuals can seek guidance, advice, and comfort from others who

have gone through similar experiences. Sharing and empathizing with one another’s struggles can strengthen both familial and societal bonds.

Skills transfer: Different people possess distinct skill sets, expertise, and knowledge particularly as we move through generations. By

sharing these skills, cultural and traditional practices can be maintained while newer skills in areas such as technology can be passed along through each generation.

Studies have shown that strong intergenerational relationships positively impact mental and physical health across generations. Such benefits include increased mental stimulation, reduced feelings of loneliness, improved cognitive functioning, emotional support and guidance thus promoting positive overall health and well-being. Multigenerational solidarity has the potential to create a harmonious and thriving society where individuals of all ages feel valued, supported, and empowered. So, do yourself a favour and remove those barriers of age that society has created and mingle with family and friends, near and far.

And if you can spare a few euros, please donate what you can to our organization so we can continue to spread awareness about all of the realities of ageing.

Just scan the QR code to donate through PayPal

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KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

Our Arts Festival – 50 years on I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I feel blessed to live in this historic, beautiful, and cultural city of ours. I feel equally blessed that for fifty years, Kilkenny has been hosting a world class Arts Festival (originally known as Arts Week) On this the 50th anniversary of the Festival I present some edited highlights of the wonderful events I have attended, and thoroughly enjoyed, throughout those fifty years. My sincere thanks to those who founded the Festival and to all who, for half a century, maintained the momentum presenting first class cultural events in our city. Finally, my thanks to everyone, not least the many volunteers, who are presently involved in the festival. Míle, míle buíochas.

One power-ful arts festival (2007)

BY GERRY MORAN

A

nother Arts Festival down and thank God for that. Time to recuperate from my annual overdose of culture. And straightaway let me say a big THANK YOU to the staff of The Home Rule Club (the official Arts Festival Club) whose hospitality and patience rounded off every performance from piano recitals to poetry readings to political lectures.

Hungry, and thirsty artists alike, were all catered for.

Highlights of my visitations to The Home Rule were my latenight chats with the assorted folk who assembled there. I especially enjoyed my chat with Samantha Power, the Anna

Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government, whose title alone, would give God an inferiority complex. Ah but this hardened “hack’ did not flinch in the line of duty and so I managed an engaging conversation, along with John Cleere, of Cleeres Bar, about politics (among other things) with this Pulitzer Prize winner who delivered the inaugural Hubert Butler lecture to a packed-out St. Canice’s cathedral and who just hap-pens to be an advisor to Senator Barack Obama, ‘the next President of the United States’ she smilingly remarks, although I’ve never heard of the man!

I also enjoyed spouting about literature and art (no bother to me) with up-and-coming local artists Alan Raggett and Ross Stewart and I loved the bit of palaver with local musician Davy Cashin who, fair dues to him, performed a bit of magic with some beer mats in the wee small hours of the morning. No mean feat, by any means, but that’s the ‘magic’ of Kilkenny’s Arts Festival! And I mustn’t forget the good company of Deputy Mayor, Seán ó hArgáin who also performed magic by being at several festival events at once (or so it seemed). The man is not just a politician but a patron of the arts. I like that combination in a councillor.

Apart from the blather, and

palaver, below in The Home Rule Club I especially enjoyed the Carducci Quartet in the Castle Tower, Fay Claassen in the River Court Hotel, John McGahern on screen in the Watergate, the Tony & Jane O’Malley exhibition in Callan and visiting the studios of The Endangered Artists in the derelict workhouse in Callan also.

But what will linger with me for a long, long time to come was the performance of Eivor Palsdottir, from the Faroe Islands, accompanied by Donal Lunny and his band in the Ormonde Hotel. The passion, the exuberance and the vibrancy of this remarkable young singer, a cross between Heidi and Hiawatha, literally blew me away.

P.S. Senator Barack Obama did go on to become the 44th, and first Afro-American President of the United States with Samantha Power as an advisor.

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KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

That was the week that was (1995)

BY GERRY MORAN

B

oy did I enjoy Arts Week.

Following are some memories that will linger a long, long time and that will be forever linked to the long, hot summer of 1995: the frenzied flute playing of Sabine Ducrot in St. John’s Priory at lunchtime, this beautiful French flautist flooding this hallowed place of worship with wild, erotic, Eastern music. The Madrigal Singers beautiful recital at Sean Kenny’s and Conor Langton’s exhibition in Langtons. The two guys in flippers, flopping up and down High Street. Bumping

into P.J. Liston from Ballyragget, our entrant in The Culchie of Ireland contest. I tell PJ he’ll win hands down. ‘I’ll win’, says PJ, ‘if I have enough porter down.’

Tina May’s sultry rendition of The Look of Love in the jazzy atmosphere of the Newpark Hotel. Katie Donovan’s reading, polished and perfected like a piece of fine porcelain. The Samba Drums on the street, loved the festive, carnival atmosphere. Beckett’s ‘I’ll Go On’ in the Watergate, Barry McGovern at his brilliant best. Paintings in archways, on railings, in pubs, Kathleen Holohan’s and Phyl Cleere’s exhibition in Cleeres Bar, Derek Chapman’s reading from Hubert Butler’s works in Dubray. Outstanding. The crazy, ceramic horse that I fell in love with, and bought, at the

Shaping Up for Ceramics Exhibition in the NRB, and the vase I purchased in S.O.S. Launching Charlotte Wilcox’s exhibition in my favourite art gallery (Charlotte’s kitchen) where you can smell the coffee. And smoke!

The funfair in the Market Yard, the absolutely haunting Agnus Dei from Philip Edmundson’s Youth Choir in the other St. Johns. Pat Murphy’s enthusiasm and exuberance when opening Sonja Landeer’s ceramic exhibition in Rudolf Heltzel’s. The energy of the Kilkenny Youth Theatre in their marvellous production of Maeve Ingoldsy’s Crabs in a Basket in the Watergate. And then something special – stumbling upon a Medieval Festival while visiting Joe Sweeney’s exhibition in Rothe House; the medieval songs and

recitations from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were enchanting.

Having a pint with Engine Alley and Joe O’Connor’s reading in Cleeres – a laugh a minute although there had been humour in the same venue a few nights previous with Mike Watts, Margery Brady and yours truly.

Dream in the Forest by classical guitarist David Russell in the Black Abbey and finally just when I thought it was all winding down up popped Jamaican poet ‘Binta’ Breeze in Cleeres who treated us to a fabulous performance incorporating verse and song, featuring a

double bass, our own classical guitarist, Mark McGrath, and on the steel drums: Aubrey Bryan. That session in the theatre spilled out into the bar fusing with a seisiún already in progress featuring Gary Lynch, Frank O’Brien and Dave Primm. Caribbean and Irish music melding into a sparkling, spontaneous session that left you wondering if you were in Kilkenny or Kingston. That was around 5 p.m. At 11 p.m. the session was still in full swing and who was in the thick of it?

Our own KB directing everything as only she can. This was the mother of all sessions. This was the famous craic - on ecstasy! And if a tourist ever asks you what the craic is, tell them: John Cleeres Bar, the last Sunday of Arts Week, 1995.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

Free beer and sax W

BY GERRY MORAN

(1999)

ell that was some week. Any week that kicks off with free beer and sax can’t be bad. That’s sax as in saxophone, as in the Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet who serenaded us with some Gershwin on a sunlit, Friday afternoon at the opening event of this year’s Arts Festival in MacDonagh Railway Station.

This year’s Arts Festival leaves me with the best of memories.

Bigger and better than ever there was something for everyone: An Ana Maria Pacheco painting for £55,000 in the Advance Factory, off the Ring Road or a Dammit Doll for £2.50 in the Art & Crafts exhibition in Mary’s Hall. Best value in town. This work of art is not for hanghang ing on your wall but for banging off your wall!

The little verse on the soft toy everyexplains every thing: If you want to climb the walls/Or stand right up and shout Here’s a little DamDam mit Doll/You cannot do without Just grasp it firmly by the legs/ Then find a place to slam it And while you whack its stuffing out/Yell: Dammit, Dammit,

Dammit”.

And dammit it was a hell of an Arts Festival: Paintings. Pottery, Poetry, Photography, Classical music, Ceili, Reggae, Rock and Jazz. And more: open air films in the Market Yard, music recitals in parking lots and the Big Drum, the largest drum in the world and The Wishing Well which was eerily spectacular and straight out of the Twilight Zone.

And we had our Nobel Prize winner for literature, Seamus Heaney in Saint Canice’s with Liam Og O’ Flynn on the uileann pipes. Eight hundred people plus, stock still and silent, hanging on Heaney’s every word and O’ Flynn’s notes. And there was William Trevor’s gentle and poignant reading in the Watergate Theatre, followed by a screening of The Ballroom of Romance based on his short story of the same name.

Yes, this was a festival with a difference. A festival with imagination, with flair. New ideas, new formats, new venues. And I loved the venues: railway stations, parking lots, advance factories, old mills. Not to mention our regular clutch of cathedrals, castles, abbeys, and priories.

Something for everyone, for sure. Even my two girls, aged six and eight, enjoyed painting and pottery at the Kitten Club and the free children’s films in our new Cineplex. In fact free is the operative word for this year’s Arts Festival, so many of the events were free. I very much enjoyed Petah Coyne’s intricately woven horsehairs in

the Butler Gallery and the giant sculpted hares out in Kells along with the exhibitions of paintings and sculpture dotted throughout the old monastery and mills.

And it’s nice to see the festival spread out into the county – to Thomastown, Freshford, Graiguenamanagh and Callan. And it was great to see so many local artists exhibiting in Mary’s Hall, the VEC, The Clubhouse Hotel and the School of Music. And sure the Arts Festival wouldn’t be complete without Ramie Leahy, Kathleen Holohan, Phyl Cleere, Mick Cantwell and up and coming Conor Langton, and Graham Carew.

I loved the enchanting, candlelit concert by Kilkenny Camerata in Saint Canice’s Sunday night, an absolutely memorable event.

And then the grand finale, the centre piece of the festival: The Art of The Game, a celebration of the art for which Kilkenny is renowned: hurling. The parade through the town, the crowds, the colour, the pageantry, And finally the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble on top of the seventh floor of our new multistory car park A highlight in every sense of the word, soft evening light and the orchestra treating us to Orpheus in the Underworld on top of the world!

As the conductor said: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the seventh floor of the car park.” An original introduction to a classical concert if ever there was one.

But then this was an Arts Festival teeming with originality, imagination and innovation. Long may it remain so.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

Set piece & the Thomastown set (2009)

BY GERRY MORAN

G

od bless Eamon Langton. And all belonging to him. Why? For giving Kilkenny a brand-new, stateof-the-art theatre that is quite simply: a class act. I love this place. Love the look of it. The feel of it. The smell of it. There’s an intimacy about this theatre, called the Set by the way, that lures you in and makes you want to curl up in a seat and enjoy good theatre, music or film.

The Set first opened its doors to an Arts Festival event: a series of films based on the short stories of William Trevor (The Ballroom of Romance being perhaps the most well-known) ‘William Trevor on Screen’ was introduced by Colm Tóibín who remarked that the builders were leaving through the backdoor as the audience entered through the front.

I myself took to the stage of the Set one night during our Arts Festival. Was I performing? I wish. A few of us were wending our way to the Festival Club, based in the bar of the Set, and I took the opportunity to check out the place. As I stood on the stage and looked out on that intimate (but empty) auditorium I felt a soliloquy coming on and would have delivered one

but for the fact that someone shouted from the bar: “Moran, it’s your round”.

And if there’s anyone out there who still harbours the notion that our Arts Festival is elitist well you should have been in the Set, the last Friday night of the festival. Groupo Fantasma, from Austin, Texas, ‘currently the hottest ticket on the US Latin scene’, according to the

brochure, had the chock-a-block crowd dancing, jiving and gyrating on the floor and in the aisles.

I reckon the whole of John Street was rocking to “the US’s hardest working and funkiest band”.

Away from the madding crowds of the city I took myself out to Thomastown for a tour of some of the exhibitions there.

Liked Amelia Peart’s delicate etchings in the Framewell Gal-

lery (and the time she gave me to explain the process); appreciated also the art; the Ordinary Lives of Children. Was intrigued by Debra Bowden’s Japanese woodblock prints and was hugely impressed with Bernadette Kiely’s, A Floating World. Almost made it to the Grennan Mill Craft School exhibition but was waylaid by an old friend who regaled me about the buzzing Red Door Theatre based in the Bridgebrook Arms.

I enjoyed the calmness of the Berkeley Gallery especially Gabriella Kiss’s exhibition: Peopling. Gabriella, from Hungary believes that we are all part of each other’s lives and invited visitors to the exhibition to do a little self-portrait on site. Which I did. And which she then placed, like a leaf, on her gigantic family tree, along with the many others who participated. Great fun.

Great idea. Great lady.

The most enjoyable exhibition of the Arts Festival, for me personally, had to be The Stour Gallery at Ballyduff House just outside of Thomastown.

This charming country house was the perfect setting for Eric Connor’s chairs, James Hake’s ceramics, Breon O’Casey’s and Jane O’Malley’s prints and paintings and Gwen Wilkinson’s marvellous life-like, hound wire sculptures which adorned the lawn. All in all - wonderful.

A celebration of artistic endeavours at Bennettsbridge

Painting by Una Gibbons, Bennettsbridge Art Group

The Bennettsbridge Art Group invites you on a journey, to celebrate over two decades of artistic endeavours. Our group has been fostering creativity since 2000. We take pride in nurturing the exploration of various media, enabling artists to push their boundaries and reach new heights.

This year we delved into the captivating world of oils where our talented artists have found their niche. The 2023 Exhibition showcases the exceptional individuality that thrives within our close knit community of creators.

Prepare to be excited as you immerse yourself in the mesmerising strokes,

vibrant colours and thought provoking master pieces, crafted by our passionate artists. Whether you’re an art connoisseur or just curious, this exhibition promises to be a feast for the eyes and soul.

Mark your calendars, invite your friends and join us in celebrating the unending possibilities of art.

Artists taking part include, Elma and Moss Kharaghani, Lin Cowley, Daphne Hunt, Una Gibbons, Marie Griffin, Joan Cleere, Mary Dunny, Marion Murphy, Tom Barrett, Mary King, Felicity Gay, Olga Olha Hrusha and Valerie Blake.

As always, we are indebted

to our marvellous tutor of many years, Julie Moorhouse, whose encouragement keeps us on track. We also acknowledge the help of the Kilkenny Carlow ETB and look forward to the continuation of this valuable support.

The exhibition was launched on Friday night by renowned visual artist, Helen Comerford. Helen is a proud daughter of Thomastown, and is well known internationally and has been involved in art all of her life.

The exhibition runs in the Bennettsbridge Community Centre until 20th August and is open daily from 11am until 5pm.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

Dante in the underworld of the Dunmore Cave

BY GERRY MORAN

I

have been to my fair share of poetry readings over the years. I’ve been to the good,

the indifferent and to those that you never forget: for instance John Montague at Listowel Writers Week many years ago, Montague relishing reading as much as we were enjoying listening.

And then there was Seamus Heaney and the American poet Samuel Hazo reading together in Butler House, Hazo reciting

his poems from memory, something I’ve never come across before or since. There was Paul Durcan in Cleere’s Little Theatre, Durcan reading as only he can, with a quivering, fragile intensity that engages and enthrals and there was the late Brendan Kennelly in the Long Gallery of Kilkenny Castle, Brendan’s

sonorous tones holding us spellbound.

And then, just last August, there was the American poet, Robert Pinsky, reading from his translation of Dante’s Inferno in the most unique location of all – the Dunmore Cave, a few miles out the road. Where better to read about Dante’s descent into

the underworld than in the underworld of a cave, the Dunmore Cave or Dearc Fhearna, meaning Cave of the Alders from the Irish which, according to the 9th Century Book of Triads, or Book of Threes, was considered to be one of the three darkest places in Ireland.

However, on this particular afternoon of Kilkenny’s annual Arts Festival, the American poet, Robert Pinsky, illuminated the cool, damp dark of Dearc Fhearna with his soft American accent.

There are many magnificent, and unique, venues for music recitals and performances in Kilkenny; there’s our 730 year old Cathedral of Saint Canice after whom our city is called, and whose acoustics are second to none, there’s the 800 year old Dominican Black Abbey and our 850 year old Kilkenny Castle but older by far than all of these venerable venues was the location for this unique poetry reading by Robert Pinsky, the ‘underworld’ of the Dunmore Cave which dates back a mere 3000 years or more.

And now, on this August afternoon, in the Dunmore Cave, Robert Pinsky is talking about ‘evil’, ‘the evil that is done unto to us by others, is nothing’, he tells us, ‘compared to the evil we do unto ourselves’. And the Dunmore Cave had known evil. According to The Annals of the Four Masters a massacre

occurred at the cave in 928 A.D. The 17th Century Annals tell of the Viking, Godfrey, who was hounded out of York in England but ended up on our shores and, along with some Vikings from Dublin, made his way to Kilkenny where he slaughtered up to a thousand people, men, women and children, who had taken refuge in the cave.

Robert Pinsky was well worth the 353-step trek down into the bowels of the Dunmore Cave. It was a once-off, unique and very special poetry reading, one that will live in the memory of the thirty or so of us who managed to get our hands on a ticket – a ticket to Dante’s underworld in the underworld of Kilkenny’s Dunmore Cave.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

Megalithic mirth & poetry in motion! (2017)

BY GERRY MORAN

W

e are not pagans, we are poets, and we have come to Knockroe Passage Tomb in the south-west of our county to read poetry and to get close to our past - the megalithic slabs of Knockroe Passage Tomb. Megalithic!

Comes from the Greek ‘mega’

meaning large or great (kids know that even though they don’t know Greek!) and ‘lithos’ meaning stone. We, three poets, and a small appreciative ‘audience’ travelled in a mini-bus to see the great stones of Knockroe Tomb as part of the AKA (Alternative Kilkenny Arts) ‘Poetry in Motion’ initiative combining poetry with a visit to some of Kilkenny’s ancient monuments and historic sites. The concept (brain-child of Malcolm Noonan TD and Nuala Roche, librarian and poet) is simple – poets

and punters travel by bus to the various historic locations where each poet reads a poem, or two.

Our schedule on the tour included Knockroe Passage Tomb, Kilree High Cross and Kells Priory. We didn’t make it to Kilree High Cross because we dallied too long in Fennelly’s Café in Callan for some tea and coffee, served in a delightful, eclectic array of cups, accompanied by cream buns, brownies and lemon tarts to die for. And so, Nora Brennan, kick-started the inaugural ‘Po-

etry in Motion’tour as she read ‘Dandelion’ from her recent publication: ‘The Greening of Stubble Ground’. Nora, the poet, would later become Nora, the SatNav as she directed us to Knockroe; and, in fairness, you’d need a SatNav to get there. Back in Fennelly’s, yours truly read ‘Lunch with My Sons’and a little poem called ‘Lidl Poem’ while Alice Bennet, from KCAT, read a specially composed poem about Fennelly’s Café. And Fennelly’s deserves a poem, an epic even; formerly a pub cum un-

dertakers, Etaoin Holahan & Co have transformed the premises (without altering the original) into something special and unique, there’s even a small theatre cum cinema out the back!

My first time there, I loved the moody, sepia-like interior with its old Brasso tins juxtaposed beside modern art.

And the old pagan sun smiled benignly on us as we arrived at Knockroe where there were more readings by yours truly, Nuala Roche and Nora Brennan who read her poem, ‘Winter

Solstice’ about Knockroe Passage Tomb. Finally, our last port of call - Kells Priory where I got lost! Or rather I lost the group (and it can easily happen among the ‘Seven Castles’) In short, I was taken short and had to slip away. And so I ended up reciting poetry, and piddling, in Kells Priory on the ‘Poetry in Motion’ tour!

May the God of all things cultural, historical & archaeological forgive me. Homeward bound, the ‘craic’ was mighty in the back of the bus where one Cathal McFarlane, Arthur Drohan, Nuala Roche and myself had a right good natter about the need for a comprehensive archival library in Kilkenny to preserve the precious memories, documents, photographs, films etc. in circulation out there, not just of major events but ordinary, everyday occurrences also before they vanish from sight.The chat was much enhanced, I should add, by Mr. Drohan’s quick wit and Mr. McFarlane’s jokes. And so ended this inaugural ‘Poetry in Motion’ tour which was thoroughly enjoyable, memorable and, dare I say, MEGA!

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL 1974-2023

Phyl Cleere’s exhibition at Cleere’s Bar & Theatre

Phyl Cleere will display a new series of oil paintings at Cleere’s Bar & Theatre during Kilkenny Arts Festival.

The paintings are mainly of West of Ireland seascapes, as well as some local scenes.

The exhibition will run from the 11th until the 20th of August.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Recruitment

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Food & Drink

Dine Me Come

With

Roast aubergine with goulash sauce and sweet potato fries Prep: 10 mins Cook: 30 mins Serves: 2

Sunday lunch. Teamed with a goulash sauce and sweet potato chips, you can pack in all five of your 5-a-day.

Ingredients • For the burger • 1 large aubergine, thickly sliced • 4 tsp rapeseed oil • 225g prepared weight sweet potatoes, cut into narrow chips • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus a few for sprinkling • 2 small onions (190g), halved and sliced • 1 green pepper, deseeded and diced • 2 garlic cloves, sliced • 1 tsp smoked paprika • 85g cherry tomatoes, halved • 1 tbsp tomato purée • 1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder • 200g bag baby spinach, wilted in a pan or the microwave • 25g pumpkin seeds Method STEP 1 Heat oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 7. Brush the aubergine slices with 1 tsp oil, put on a baking sheet and roast for 15 mins. Meanwhile place a wire cooling rack on top

of a baking tray. Toss the sweet potatoes and thyme with 2 tsp oil, then scatter them over the rack and set aside until ready to cook.

STEP 2 Heat 1 tsp oil in a non-stick pan, add the onions, cover the pan and

leave to cook for 5 mins. Take off the lid and stir – they should be a little charred now. Stir in the green pepper and garlic, cover the pan and cook for 5 mins more.

Put the sweet potatoes in the oven and bake for 15 mins while you get on with the rest of the sauce.

STEP 3 Stir the paprika into the onions and peppers, pour in 150ml water, then stir in the cherry tomatoes, tomato purée and bouillon. Cover and simmer for 10 mins while you cook the spinach according to pack instructions.

Stir in the seeds.

STEP 4 Arrange the aubergine, fries and spinach in bowls and spoon on the goulash sauce. Scatter with thyme, if you like.

Rice noodle salad with peanut butter tempeh Prep:1 0 mins Cook: 20 mins - 22 mins Serves: 2 Rustle up this healthy vegan noodle salad. The star of the show are crisp nuggets of tempeh – compressed soya beans – with a moreish nutty coating.

Ingredients • rapeseed oil, for the baking tray • 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter • 1 large large garlic clove, finely grated • 100g tempeh, thinly sliced and cut into bite-size pieces For the salad • 100g vermicelli rice noodles • 1 large lime, zested and juiced • 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce • 1 large carrot (160g), cut into matchsticks • 160g piece of cucumber, halved,

deseeded and thinly sliced at an angle Method STEP 1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a baking tray with a sheet of foil and rub with a few drops of oil.

Put the peanut butter in a small bowl and mix with 2 tbsp boiling water and the garlic. Stir in the tempeh to coat. Arrange the pieces, spaced apart, on the baking tray, and bake for 10-12 mins until golden.

STEP 2 Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles following pack instructions. Rinse and drain well. Mix the lime zest and juice with the chilli sauce in a large bowl, and stir in the carrot, cucumber and spring onions.

Toss through the drained noodles, then the mint and coriander. Pile into bowls and top with the baked tempeh. Serve straightaway.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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5

Advertisement Advertisement TV & Streaming

movies to watch now on Netflix 1. Happy As Lazzaro

This Italian film has the seal of approval from Bong Joon-ho, so let’s listen to the Oscar-winning director of Parasite and add it to this list. Written and directed

by Alice Rohrwacher, Happy As Lazzaro is set in the ‘70s on a tobacco farm, where goodhearted young peasant Lazzaro dutifully works. When a nobleman convinces him to help him fake his own kidnapping, a story of friendship, innocence and social commentary unfolds.

A gorgeously shot, cinematic fairytale.

2. Sunday’s Illness

Best spy thriller movies on Netflix to watch next 1. Clear And Present Danger (1994) Tom Clancy lives on through acclaimed projects on both the big and small screen. With the Indiana Jones franchise still going strong, Harrison Ford [pictured] remains busy in Hollywood despite being in his 80s. It’s too bad he didn’t get an Emmy nod for his hilarious turn in the Apple TV+ series Shrinking. Decades earlier came one of the stronger Jack Ryan film adaptations — a sequel to Patriot Games with Ford back in action called Clear and Present Danger. This time, he gets all wrapped up in an illegal war fought between the U.S. and the Colombian drug cartel. It’s classic ‘90s popcorn entertainment, and Ford never fails.

2. Salt (2010) Angelina Jolie has also dabbled in espionage cinema! She was magnetic as Lara Croft in those early film adaptations of the classic video game Tomb Raider, so it’s a welcome return to see her playing the titular buttkicking role in Salt. Jolie is magnetic as a CIA officerturned-fugitive who goes on the run after being accused of being a Russian spy.

3. Hanna (2011) Prime Video has the series, but the O.G. Hanna can be found on Netflix at the moment. It stars Oscar-

nominee Saoirse Ronan as a girl raised in the outskirts of Finland by her dad (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA operative who trains her to be an assassin. It’s a stacked cast that also includes Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett as a senior CIA agent who tries to track down and eliminate them.

4. Skyfall (2012) The latest bond film No Time to Die had its fun moments, but Daniel Craig has done better Bond films over the years. No. 1 goes to Casino Royale, and a close second is Skyfall, one of two installments directed by the legendary Sam Mendes.

Javier Bardem and Judi Dench steal the show in their supporting roles here, and Naomi Harris as Moneypenny is always a delight.

The movie’s highlight is that epic train sequence.

5. The Imitation Game (2014) Benedict Cumberbatch’s star-making role (we’d say) came in 2014. Before The Imitation Game, he was more of a ‘familiar face’ in Hollywood. Now, he’s getting nominations left and right — see: The Power of the Dog, Patrick Melrose, and Sherlock. But his groundbreaking Oscarwinner that is The Imitation Game was gripping from start to finish, as it focuses on the incredible true story

of Alan Turing and his team of code-breakers in Britain during WWII.

6. Operation Finale (2018) Director Chris Weitz made a name for himself when he and his brother brought American Pie to life back in the ‘90s. More recently, he took on the spy thriller sub-genre with Operation Finale, which is based on the true story of the arrest of a notorious SS officer (Ben Kingsley), who laid the groundwork for the Nazi genocide plans in Argentina — aka the Final Solution.

Oscar Isaac and Nick Kroll co-star in this gripping historical thriller.

7. A Call to Spy (2020) Here’s another WWII entry for you. Gary Oldman won the Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. In A Call to Spy, however, Churchill takes on a different ordeal as he orders his espionage firm to train women for covert operations, with hopes of taking down the Nazi regime in France. Women empowerment can shine across a wide array of film genres, so this unique entry is a refreshing look at the dark times of WWII through a new lens.

8. Munich: The Edge of War (2021) Steven Spielberg’s under-

rated film Munich is always worth a revisit. Another acclaimed film containing the German city’s name can be found on Netflix.

As expected, it also takes place as WWII descends on society as Hitler is preparing to invade other parts of the globe. In Munich: The Edge of War, negotiations take place in the city with hopes of averting the inevitable war. George McKay is dynamite in the lead role — and it’s interesting how the Captain Fantastic actor starred in a different World War movie just two years earlier, with the groundbreaking Oscar winner that is 1917.

9. The Gray Man (2022) Watch out: a sequel to The Gray Man is already in the works! Despite its mixed reviews — and rumors that Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans didn’t get along in real life — there’s no denying that the first film was a thrill ride overall. Plus, it’s kind of fun watching Evans playing a villain, eh? Last time we saw something like this was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

In The Gray Man, Evans plays a former CIA agent trying mercilessly to track down Six, a highly-skilled assassin, after a high- profile mission goes south. I have a feeling the Russo brothers will learn from their “mistakes” with the first film and create something better with The Gray Man 2.

This elegant Spanish film from 2018 will steep you in its rich imagery and phenomenally good performances from its two leads. Susi Sánchez and Bárbara Lennie star as Anabel and Chiara respectively, an estranged mother and daughter who reunite for reasons that aren’t as clear as they first seem. The precision of the filmmaking here is worthy of soaking up for those who’re partial to deliberately paced meditations on pain, love and loss. Masterful.

3. The Kindergarten Teacher

Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a career best performance in The Kindergarten Teacher (2018), a drama about, yep, a kindergarten teacher. Lisa is dissatisfied with her own life, which leads her to make some questionable decisions regarding one of her young students. When Jimmy exhibits child prodigy levels of poetry writing talent, Lisa may or may not take credit for it. The Kindergarten Teacher’s slightly disturbing character study might leave you feeling conflicted, but there’s no question about Gyllenhaal’s mesmerising performance. Watch it.

4. Mudbound

Mudbound )2017) gives you a historical look at class struggle through the lens of a Black veteran and a white veteran who both still have one foot stuck in World War II. Dealing with PTSD and racism in the Mississippi Delta, with a cast that includes Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell, Mudbound’s tempest will rivet you to the spot.

5. Two Lovers And A Bear

This lauded independent film from 2016 showcases the talents of Tatiana Maslany, aka one Marvel’s newest heroes, who’ll be starring in the Disney Plus She-Hulk series. Before that, see her in Two Lovers and a Bear, alongside the similarly talented Dane DeHaan. The dark love story follows Roman and Lucy, two lovers living in small-town Canada. Roman can speak to bears, while Lucy believes she has a stalker. Become swept up in this surreal and thrilling adult fairy tale elevated by the chemistry between Maslany and DeHaan.

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News Community & GAA Notes

CLUB LOTTO Lotto Results 1st August. Numbers drawn - 2, 22, 24. No Jackpot winner. €30 each to: Ruairí Breen, Dick Nolan, Martin Prendergast, Ray Lannon, Martin Dooley. Thanks to all for your support.

MINOR DEFEAT The Clara minors ran into the Village on Monday of last week in Larchfield and were simply no match for them, although they never stopped trying. The Village are favourites once again to claim the Roinn A minor title and going on this evidence they will be very hard to stop. They are a very big side and they scored at will here. They led at halftime by 1-13 to 0-4, all of Clara’s scores having come from the stick of Conor Hoyne, three from frees Clara doubled their first half tally in the second half as Tommy Delaney and Eoin Corr each hit 3 and Padraic Meany and another Conor Hoyne free completed their scoring. The Village kept the scoreboard ticking and ended with a massive 2-32. Indeed were it not for Conor Galvin in the Clara goal it could have been much worse. Conor was very confident in everything he did. Losing centre forward Luke Lawlor to injury didn’t help the Clara cause. Philip Carrigan and Davy Barcoe were others to play well for Clara.

Conor Galvin, John Bergin, Philip Carrigan, Tom Murphy. Hugh Kelly, Davy Barcoe, Alex Firbank. Conor Hoyne 0-5, 0-4f, Dillon Cummins. Joe Power, Luke Lawlor, Tommy Delaney 0-3. Pádraic Meany 0-1f, Eoin Corr 0-3, Daniel Ryan.

SENIOR LOSS Clara arrived on the Kells Road on Saturday afternoon with high hopes of upsetting favourites Dicksboro and for a while things were going according to plan. Having faced a strong wind in the first half the Clara men only trailed by four and when David Langton and Joe Connolly opened the second half scoring with two points the upset looked on. But it got ugly from there to the end and the Boro weren’t flattered by the 5-18 to 3-11 final score.

The signs were ominous from an early stage as the Clara full back line lacked assurance facing a strong wind. The Boro jumped into a four point lead as too many Clara backs chose to hurl from behind, never a good idea at this level. Then Clara were thrown a lifeline as John Murphy gathered a puckout, made ground and passed to Paul Cody. Paul’s shot was parried but Liam Ryan was on hand to force home the rebound for a much needed goal. Martin O Connell then equalised and John Murphy regained parity after an Ollie Walsh point for Dicksboro. Another Boro spurt yielded 5 points on the bounce before Liam Ryan pointed. A further 1-1 put the Boro eight points up but they must have felt like all their good work had come undone in a five minute spell before halftime.

First John Murphy, who had the beating of his man all half, goaled with a lovely low shot. Martin O Connell and Liam Ryan added points before a shell shocked Dicksboro replied with one of their own through Andrew Gaffney. 1-12 to 2-5 at the break.

After Clara had halved the deficit early in the second half the Boro hit an unanswered 2-2 to firmly take control. Liam Moore and Andy Gaffney were responsible for the majors, the first coming off a long advantage called by the referee and the second following a great catch and strike

by Gaffney after hesitancy in the Clara defence. Liam Ryan hit a couple of trademark long range points but Harry Shine responded with two frees for the city men. Matt Kenny took over the free taking duties after coming on and hit a couple of scores but man of the match Bill Sheehan added a goal to his four points to really put the result beyond doubt. A late consolation goal by John Murphy was offset by an even later Aran Murphy goal and Eoghan Moylan brought the scoring to an end with a point from the last puck of the match. So Clara must now quickly dust themselves down before facing Danesfort next weekend as they seek their first points of the competition. A loss there would put them under serious pressure.

Team- Kevin Nolan, Shane Staunton, Sean O Shea, Harry Boyle. Conor Cody, David Langton 0-1, Jim Kehoe. Jack Langton, Conor O Shea. Paul Cody, Martin O Connell 0-2, Liam Ryan 1-4. Chris Bolger, Joe Connolly 0-1, John Murphy 2-1. Subs Matt Kenny 0-2, 0-1f, 0-1 x 65, Peter Nolan, Sean Carrigan, Paddy Ryan.

JUNIOR D Clara qualified for the semi final of this year’s Junior D championship with a 0-14 to 0-7 victory over Barrow Rangers on a sunny windy morning in Clara on Sunday. The winners played some lovely hurling and thoroughly deserved the win. The ground work was done in the first half after which Barrow Rangers led by a single point 0-5 to 0-4, despite having played with a strong wind. The Clara defence were very good and Bill Cody made a fabulous save in that half. Four of the backs were U18 and the experience gained from playing together throughout many years was evident here. A seasoned defensive spine of Mick McDonald and Gary Kehoe gelled the youngsters superbly and the unit functioned very well. In fact Barrow Rangers were held to a meagre two points from play over the whole hour.

When wind assisted Clara rattled off four quick points at the start of the second half it looked ominous for Barrow Rangers and so it proved.

Clara won this one at their ease and while Noel Kehoe from placed balls and Ben Nolan from play took most of the scoring honours, everyone contributed. Gary Kehoe hit two monster points from distance and Sean Carrigan, Adam Harding and James Dowling all notched scores. But this was very much a team performance as Clara ran out 7 point winners.

Team - Bill Cody, Alex McDonald, Mick McDonald, Zach Lawlor. Ben Crow, Gary Kehoe 0-2, Ben Murphy. Luke Whelan, Adam Harding 0-1. Sean Carrigan 0-1, Cian Kelly, Conor (Curly) Phelan. James Dowling 0-1, Ben Nolan 0-4, Noel Kehoe 0-5, 0-4f, 0-1 x 65. Sub John Brennan.

CAMOGIE The Clara senior ladies warmed up for their upcoming league/championship games with a challenge game against Freshford on Saturday, in Freshford. They came out on top by 4-10 to 1-5 and for the most part seemed to be moving reasonably well. After several games where numbers were a major problem they had 21 players at their disposal for this one and everyone got some game time.

Team - Aoife Glynn, Tamsin English, Laoise Nolan, Aine McDonald.

Rebecca Nolan, Katie Ryan 0-1, Joanne Comerford. Gráinne Glynn, Rachel Whelan. Aisling Curtis 2-2, Grace Barcoe 1-0, Niamh Ward.

Maria Shortall, Keara Ryan 0-4, 0-3f, Emma Shortall 0-3. Subs Aisling Nolan, Róisín Kealy 1-0, Aoife Ward, Margaret Kehoe, Aoife Treacy, Anna Walpole.

CLUB LOTTO There was no winner of this week’s Club Lotto (August 1st). Numbers drawn were 6,19, 20,28 Bonus 11. Play again at www.oloughlingaels. com/lotto. Promotors Draw. 1. Peter Dowling. 2. Marty Hanlon. 3. Nina Nolan C/o Eileen Kinchella. 4. Francis Walsh. 5. Tony Brannigan C/o Neil Loy. 6. Olwyn Bergin C/o Neil Loy. 7. Rachel Loy. 8. Con Moore. 9. Linda O’Leary. 10. Laura Loughnane. Thank you for your continued support TEAM NEWS Result. St. Canice’s CU SNR Hurling League.O’Loughlin Gaels 1:25 to 0-20 Tullaroan This was a good result for our senior hurlers up against a much fancied Tullaroan at Clara on Sunday evening. The Gaels were in control by half time buoyed up by an Eoin O’Shea goal on the 29th minute after good work by Luke Hogan. Leaving the score at the interval 1:13 to 0-10 The second period ebbed and flowed with both teams trading scores but the Gaels rode out the challenge and added to their advantage by the final whistle with an 8 point win. Well done to all, Lovely hurling. Next up Dicksboro at the Kells Rd on Friday evening Hard luck to our intermediate team who lost out to Blacks & Whites 1-16 to 0-16. Not the best start to the weekend games but great spirit shown in the final moments to try claw back the league points. Just fell short but there’s plenty to play for in the upcoming rounds. Sponsors: Pat Carroll’s Ballybought Street The best of luck to our u13s who take on John Locke’s in the league Final at MW Hire Dunmore on Thursday evening. Throw in at 7pm. Also good luck to the u19s who play the round A Championship QTR Final also on Thursday evening at St John’s Park versus Thomastown. And if that wasn’t enough to be doing our u16 Camogie girls take in Danesfort at St. Johns Park also on Thursday evening. The best if luck to all our teams GOLF CLASSIC The annual golf classic takes place on Thursday and Friday this week at Kilkenny Golf Club. Tee timesaver fully booked and we wish all patrons an enjoyable couple of days of golf. Thanks to all our contributors, participants and sponsors.

FAMILY RACE NIGHT Tickets will are on sale for the club’s big fundraiser Family Race night.

This is hugely important to help us complete our development goals.

Our new floodlights are almost done and our next projects include wall ball and astro turf area, dressing rooms and ancillary facilities. It needs a massive push by members, players and supporters to get these jobs done and help drive our young Gaels to be the greatest. Get your tickets through juvenile players and mentors, adult players and club administrators over the coming days.

GAA NEWS Congratulations to St Lachtains minor hurlers who had a great victory over John Lockes of Callan last week in the final of the League. The game was played at Dunmore in very challenging weather conditions but the young local lads gave it their all and came out deserving winners.

Well done to the team and panel and their management on this great victory .Championship action is just around the corner for them with times and dates for this to be confirmed at a later date.

St.Lachtains junior F hurlers kept their winning streak going at the weekend as they won their quarter final on Sunday morning which they defeated their opponents Dicksboro in a tight game throughout on a final scoreline of 1.09 to 0.08. They now go through to the semi final with fixture to be confirmed.

Team: R Dowling J.Cantwell M Nolan C Bowden C Donnelly J bergin J Hickey S Burke C Hickey D Killeen C Dalton S Kennedy D Lennon M Farrell S Counihan The junior team were in championship action on Saturday morning last when they had their first outing against Cloneen in Canon Kearns Park Castlecomer. A game played in tough weather conditions seen the local lads come out victorious on a score line of 3.17 to 0.15 Team: D Brennan S Dawson H Burke C Bergin B Quinn J Maher B Kennedy P White P Donnelly L Hickey DMaher A Rafter A Rafter P.Killeen S Donnelly BIRTHDAY Birthday wishes go out to local Hairdresser in the village Siobhan Bergin who celebrated a very special Birthday last weekend. Siobhan marked her 50th birthday at a party with her family and friends in Kavanagh’s Bar on Sunday night last.

FUNDING Kilkenny Local Community Development Committee recently allocated a number of grants to the County. The Communities Support Fund is supported through the Department of Rural and Community Development’s Community Enhancement Programme. Cllr. Michael McCarthy, a member of the LCDC, congratulated all involved for their voluntary community work. Successful local applications were, Freshford Community Café €12K, Freshford Squash Club €6K, Woodview Residents Committee €3.159K, Freshford Boxing Club €1.1K, Threecastles Community Hall €1K,Freshford Heritage Group €700, Freshford Day Care Centre €1K. SYMPATHY Sympathy is extended to Paddy Moriarty of Woodview, Freshford and all his family on the recent death of his brother John Moriarty late of Foulkscourt, Johnstown and formerly of Urard Gortnahoe. Funeral mass took place in St.Kierans Church Johnstown followed by burial in Johnstown Cemetery.

SAPPHIRE ANNIVERSARY A very special anniversary wish goes out to local couple John Joe and Eileen Grace of Graigueswood, Freshford who celebrated 45 years of wedded bliss recently. The happy couple spent the weekend celebrating the occasion with their family and many friends at events in Kavanagh’s Bar. Many family and friends travelled from near and afar to be with the couple for the happy occasion. They are wished all the best on their Sapphire anniversary and may more years of happiness.

CAFE Loop Café is proving very popular indeed. The Cafe has been open for the past eight months and is now open on Sundays from 11am to 4pm and is open each week from Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30am to 4pm.

They serve some beautiful snacks and food from homemade scones,

Freshford Minor Hurling League Champions

homemade soup and brown bread and lovely salads they have added some new delicious items to their menu. They served beautiful iced coffee also during the hot spell recently. This is a great addition to the village and the community value it and are proud that they now have somewhere to meet with friends for that coffee and scone. The group are looking for volunteers to help with the running of this community café and also more customers and community ownership so that the café is really a community café. The group thank all those who have support the café since its opening. If you have a few hours a week to spare as a volunteer they would love to hear from you and if you don’t have few hours to spare why not call in and support the local cafe and bring your family or friends and help support this amenity.

IONAD LACHTAIN HERITAGE CENTRE Ionad Lachtain Church, Arts and Heritage Centre is open every Saturday and Sunday from 11.30 to 4.30. Gifts on sale to suit every occasion.

FITNESS Fitness sessions Boxing/Fitness sessions at Community Hall Freshford.

Have you had a diagnoses of Parkinsons; Alzheimers or other neurological condition? If so maybe you are keen to get some level of fitness back or work on you balance or upper body strength? If so, these classes are just what you need. Classes take place each Tuesday from 11am to 12 noon - sessions cost just €10 each and are facilitated by a boxing coach.

They will also give you the chance to socialise and meet other people for more information or to sign up please contact Brenda Cooper on 0871369253 PARISH NEWS Mass is held in the Parish Church each Wednesday morning at 9.30am and each Sunday morning at 11am.wiith Mass in Tulla church on Saturday evenings at 7.30pm.

Notices The parish newsletter is available on their website every week and also on the website you are free to pay your dues and make donations or any other contributions and you can find out more about it on the website or feel free to contact in the Parish Office.

Please note community notices for the parish newsletter should be left in or emailed to the Parish Office by 11am on Thursdays. Parish office hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9am to 1pm.

Mass Cards Special printed parish cards are available at the Parish Office or from Annette at Tulla Church signed by Monsignor Kennedy. You can contact the Parish office on 056 8832843 or by email – freshfordd@ossory.ie.

Contact Mongr Kieron Kennedy on that number or on 087 2523521 HELP FOR ALL Are you struggling with anxiety or depression or finding life difficult or feeling isolated at this time GROW is there to help you. Their Mental Health support Groups are free and confidential and open to all no referral or booking is needed. For more information on same you can contact Mary.

If you can’t cope and need support text HELLO to 50808 SAMARITAN - Whatever you’re going through a Samaritan will face it with you – available 24 hours a day 365 days a year – Freephone 1161Alone is available for older people who need support and you can call them on 0818 222024 (8am to 8pm) AMBER KILKENNY WOMENS REFUGE – is available for confidential support relating to domestic violence - call them on 1850 424244 (24/7) or on 056 7771404 or email into@amberwomensrefuge.ie.

SENIOR LEAGUE/CHAMPIONSHIP With both clubs determined to stamp their authority on the game from the start, this first round 2023 senior championship fixture started at a fast pace. After Graigue Ballycallan pointed in the 2nd minute, inrushing Sean Manogue with a clinical ground stroke, finished a breaking ball to the ‘Graigue net. From there both teams cancelled each other out with some quality point scoring, notably for James Stephens from the hurleys of team captain Luke Scanlon and Ross Whelan. In the 20th minute full forward, Liam Rafter grabbed a high delivery and with a quick turn whipped the sliothar to the upper corner of the net for a 2-04 to 0-06 lead for the city club. Meanwhile with the unrelenting pace of the game and the tight tackling of the defences both forward lines were guilty of some wayward shooting nevertheless, Graigue Ballycallan hit a purple patch shooting four points in the closing 5/6 minutes. In the nature of this highly competitive fixture James Stephens countered with quality scores of their own from Neill Brassil, Ross Whelan and a Cian Kenny special in the 31st minute to leave the scoreboard read 2-08 to 0-10 at half time. On the resumption the highly industrious Ross Whelan opened the 2nd half with a point in the 1st minute. Over the hour it took some outstanding defensive displays by Luke Murphy, Adam O’Connor,

Diarmuid Cody and Niall Brassil with solid support from Niall Delaney and Shane Donohoe particularly in the 2nd half to keep a tight rein on the lively ‘Graigue attack. Defiantly the ‘Ballycallan men stayed in touch only trailing by three points at 2-12 to 0-15 as the game entered the final quarter. Team captain, Luke Scanlon put over a fine point in the 17th minute but a breakdown in The Village attack was countered by a slick Ballycallan passing movement down the wing which ended with an unstoppable shot to Gavin Costigan’s net narrowing the gap to a single score at 2-13 to 1-15. Surprisingly, and with much relief for the sizeable Village support, instead of Ballycallan driving on, this set back triggered an awakening in the James Stephens team who responded with a display of quality point scoring registering 8 points in total to the ‘Graigue men’s 2 scores over the final 10/11 minutes. These scores featured some fine displays of accuracy under pressure and from all angles from Ross Whelan, Eoin Guilfoyle, Sean Manogue and Tadhg O’Dwyer (0-02) and a long range finisher from Niall Brassil. A good start to the campaign, with a serious test to follow on Sunday next against Glenmore in Thomastown.

UP THE DUBS The Dubs thrilling All-Ireland senior football final,1-15 to 1-13 victory over The Kingdom on Sunday week must surely have brought a sigh of relief to the club’s senior officership, chairman Aodan O’Ruairc, vice chairman, Brendan Lee and under age selector and Kilkenny U-20 medical officer, Cormac Behan. Both families are steeped in the GAA tradition, Aodan’s father, Aodh O’Ruairc a longstanding member of the Clontarf GAA club, was for almost 15 years the voice of Croke Park, serving as the public address announcer on major occasions. The Lee family has a long association with the famous St. Vincents G.AA club. Brendan played U-21 hurling and senior football for the The Dubs before moving to Kilkenny in the 1970’s. Brendan is also a three times Dublin senior hurling and football championship medal winner with St.Vincent’s. With the result of the All-Ireland final on a knife edge right up to the final whistle the scenes of joy by players and supporters at full time reflected the tenseness of the closely fought battle between the age-old rivals for the famous “Sam” trophy.

JUNIOR “B” Q-FINAL On Sunday afternoon it took two points in added time for a strong Glenmore team to finally fend off the challenge of a young James Stephens lineup 0-18 to 1-14 in a thoroughly entertaining championship quarter final fixture in sunny Larchfield. With the scores level at 0-05 each after 23 minutes a dash from goal by Daniel Power deprived Glenmore of a near certain goal to help keep The Village well in the contest. Glenmore continued their pressure game and were leading by 0-09 to 0-06 in the 28th minute when Sean Casey finished a pass from Stephen Manogue to the net to level the game for the fourth time in the half. Right up to the half time whistle Glenmore continued to pressurise the James Stephens defence securing a lead point at 0-10 to 1-06 at the break. In a high quality, fast paced game with some quality hurling on display from both clubs the young Village side had to work hard throughout the 2nd half, playing catch up to keep in touch with the more experienced Glenmore team. To manage that the sturdy full back line of Stephen Power-Kellett, Sean Comerford and Sean Ruth along with half backs Paddy Keogh, Eoin Deely and Oisin Bateman can take much credit. In attack the forwards worked hard mainly to force fouls for the accurate striker from play and placed balls, Stephen Manogue, to convert 0-09 in total. Evan Buggy contributed positively from midfield with help from Shane Guilfoyle (0-02) and Jamie Byrne (0-01) at full forward. While disappointment was their lot after a wholehearted display, great credit is due to the young Village players and their mentors, Richie Manogue, Fran Cantwell, Fran Whelan and Paddy Butler for their efforts over the campaign.

FAMILY FUN DAY The much anticipated Family Fun Day will take place on Saturday evening next, 12th August in Larchfield starting at 6pm. Along with the nourishing BBQ offerings and various sales stalls there will be sporting challenges for the youth and “young at heart” to test their skills -- for some long lost skills, no doubt. With the All-Ireland series done and dusted the family fun event offers the opportunity for folk to discuss the championship prospects of the club hurling and camogie teams over the coming weeks. The cover charge is €7 for adults to include a burger and beer and €5 for U-18’s with a mineral drink. Hopefully the weather Gods will be kind for a good attendance at the popular club social event.

All are welcome.

JUNIOR LEAGUE On Saturday evening the Junior hurlers got their campaign back on track with a hard won 0-16 to 0-15 victory over the league table toppers Mooncoin in Piltown. Victory was secured with a spectacular 70 meter free from a difficult angle by substitute Stephen Manogue on the stroke of full time. All through the game it was nip and tuck, with no quarter given by either side. Over the hour there were some outstanding individual displays from full back, Ben Lawlor, centre back David Hennessy,

We welcome all GAA Club and Community notes for publication in The Kilkenny Observer email to sales@kilkennyobserver.ie

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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kilkennyobserver.ie

News Community & GAA Notes Dinny Stapleton and Eoin Larkin at midfield and in attack Ryan Scanlon to secure this morale boosting victory after last week’s disappointing defeat to Thomastown.

FAREWELL TO FR. WHEARTY After serving the religious needs of the St. Patrick’s parish community for almost 20 years many parishioners were disappointed to learn of Fr. Roderick Whearty’s pending transfer to the Ferrybank parish in the recent diocesean changes announced by Bishop Coll. Over the years Fr. Roderick developed a warm, and close relationship with his parishioners and will be missed. However, we send our best wishes to Fr. Roderick as he settles into his priestly duties with the Ferrybank parish community in the coming weeks.

LOTTO Last Tuesdays numbers were 5. 11. 22. 30. There was no winning ticket.

The €40 consolation winners were Lucy Brown, Louise Crowe, Annette Mahony, John Flynn and Marian Devlin.

ART EXHIBITION Bennettsbridge Art Group launches its 2023 Summer Collection tonight Friday in the Community Hall at 7pm. Months of work on the part of the artists have resulted in some fine pieces. The members are looking forward to welcoming Helen Comerford, artist, who has kindly agreed to open the event. All are welcome!

CHURCH NEWS MASS TIMES Weekday mass times, Wednesday 9.30am, Friday 10.30am. Weekend Masses, Tullaherin Saturday 8pm. Bennettsbridge Sunday 10.30am FRANCISCAN SISTERS A Franciscan sister spoke at masses in the parish last weekend. She told the congregation about some of the work undertaken by the Franciscans all over the world. After mass, a collection was held to help the sisters in their work.

LOTTO 31/07/23, No winner of Jackpot. Numbers, 11, 14, 16,24. Jackpot now €2,050.00. Consolation Prizes, Liam Cleere, Woodlawn, Rosie, c/o Fr Duggan, Pauline c/o Fr Duggan, Adam Barden, c/o P.O., Breda Galway, Castlegarden.

CARDS Results of Card Game on 1st August, Six pairs shared the First Prize. Alice Kelly/Michael Hanly, Toddy Skehan/Michael Hanlon, Michael Kenneally/ Neddie Walsh, Tom Drennan/Robbie Carroll, Charlie Hill/John Drennan, Annie Lehane/Brian Blackmore. Table Prize, Tommy Hayes/Bridget Murphy. .

GAA SENIOR HURLING Bennettsbridge seniors got their league/championship campaign off to a winning start with a good victory over Erin’s Own in Freshford last Friday. The ‘Bridge led by 3 points at half time, 11 points to 8. An early second half goal from Sean Morrissey set the tone for the second half and the lads won out by 1 -21 to 1-12. Well done to all involved. The next game is against Graigue-Ballycallan in James Stephen’s next Saturday at 4 pm. Good luck to all the lads.

JUNIOR HURLING It was not a good weekend for our junior B and E teams who both bowed out at the quarter final stage. The E team lost out narrowly to Danesfort while the B team were defeated by Tullogher.

HOSTING GAMES Bennettsbridge hosted the Intermediate clash between O’Loughlin’s and Blacks and Whites last weekend. We will host Clara and Danesfort in the senior league this Sunday. Thanks again to all our stewards for helping out, all help greatly appreciated on Sunday next as the senior game will draw a big crowd.

FIELD DAY The 2023 Field Day will take place on Sunday, August 20th. A great family day is in store, featuring events such as dog show, Bric-a-Brac, Wheel of Fortune, go carts, face painting, hair braiding, cake sale and barbecue.

Hurling and camogie games will be on-going throughout the day. If you would like to be involved or can suggest any new ideas, please contact Andrea Flynn on 087 1226882. Help is required in the morning for set up and also during the day manning the various events. Donations are also required and appreciated for our Bottle Stall, Bric-a-Brac and wheel of fortune event. Donations can be dropped off at the following times at the GAA grounds.

Friday, 11th August, 6pm-7:30pm. Saturday, 12th August, 9:30am-11am.

Saturday, 19th August, 9:30am-11am.

SPLIT THE POT The next draw takes place today Friday at 6 pm in the clubhouse. Please see the clubs Facebook page for details of how to enter online using club force. Thanks for the continued support.

CLUB LOTTO Dicksboro GAA Club LOTTO Results 3rd August 2023. Nos: 17 18 30 32.

Jackpot: €11,150 Not Won. Draw Prizes, €50: Gerry Moran c/0 J McGarry. €25 each Jimmy Comerford c/o J Murphy. €25 each Tom Kenny c/o online. €25 each Andy Ryan c/o online. Hurlers Co Op Draw Katrina Fitzpatrick c/o B Fitzpatrick . Promotors prize Brian Fitzpatrick.Thank you for your continued support SUMMER CAMP A reminder that our second Week of Summer Camp starts Monday 14th August. Looking forward to an action packed week so don’t forget to book your Spot. https:/www.dicksborogaa.com/products SENIOR HURLING The Club Championship began last weekend with our Senior Hurlers coming out victors over Clara GAA on Saturday afternoon on a scoreline of 5-18 to 3-11. We now look forward to Round 2 where we meet neighbours O’Loughlin’s Friday 11th at 7pm on the Kells Rd Venue. Please Come Out and Support The Junior Hurlers had a fine win against a strong Erin’s Own on Sunday Afternoon beating them 2-18 to 1-15. Hard luck to our Junior F Team who came up short to St Lachtains on Sunday Morning.

GOLF CLASSICS St. Anne’s Camogie are holding their annual golf classic at Rathdowney GC on Saturday August 26th. Teams of four €120. 1st prize GUI members only, second, third, fourth and fifth prizes. Contact John 0876119596.

Cross border challenge mega golf challenge Kilkenny (Derek Lyng) v.

Tipperary (Liam Cahill) in Rathdowney GC Friday and Saturday next Aug

11/12. Scramble format. Teams of four €180 including meal. Proceeds in aid of the Emeralds HC and Urlingford Town Team. Contact 0851043873.

MR. JOHN MORIARTY RIP John late of Foulkscourt and Urard, Gortnahoe passed away peacefully at his home after a short illness bravely borne. Predeceased by his daughter Laura, parents Jack and Mary and brother Richie, he will be greatly missed by his loving wife Vera, sons Mel and Darren, daughter Lisa, grandchildren Adam, Shannon, Erika, Aaron, Luke, Leon, Corey, Brooke and Celeb, great grandchildren Jackson, Alfie and Eloise, daughters in law Sandie and Audrey, son in law Eamon, brothers Paddy, Neddy, Thomas, Batty, Kevin, Jody and Michael, sisters Maureen, Agnes and Eileen, extended family , relations, neighbours and friends. John was laid to rest in Johnstown Cemetery after Requiem Mass.

Fenians HC extended sympathy to the Moriarty Family on the death of John. John began his hurling career in the Inter Firms competitions where he played with Roadmaster, his workplace. He later hurled for the Fenians and later the county Team. The Irish Examiner featured a full length story on John, as, uniquely he was a Tipperary man hurling for Kilkenny!!. The Fenians formed a guard of honour to accompany John on his last journey from his residence to the Church.

WEDDING BLISS Congratulations to Denise Manton, daughter of Sandra Grace and Mick Manton and Shane Neary, son of Margaret McCarthy and the late Joe Neary, who were married recently. They are wished a long and happy life together.

ST. KIERAN’S HALL Extensive renovations are been carried out at the moment on the Hall, and, as it is such an integral part of the village community, these works ensure that the hall will once again be available for activities for all ages in the community and for generations to come. The project is 90% funded by the Dept. of Rural and Community Development and Kilkenny County Council and funds have to be drawn by the end of 2023. The works include refurbishment of the front meeting room, toilets at the back of the hall, installation of new windows at the front of the building as well as essential repair work to the façade and kitchen area. The hall is a protected structure and the Council have provided advice and guidance to the project via the conservation officer. They came out to view the exposed stone and advised how to proceed. The outcome is that as originally planned lime render will be applied to the front of the building with wood sash windows and limestone sills on the bottom three windows. Photographs are being taken during all stages of the work, in particular the exposed stonework and basket arch and these will be used to tell the story of the origins of the hall . The committee look forward to bringing this part of the project to a completion this year.

SPA DEVELOPMENT/FRNIANS LOTTO...

Winning numbers 1,13,16,17, one match three Gladys Ryan.

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Glengoole Wednesday 11am to 2pm, Gortnahoe Thursday 11am to 1pm BOULICK CEMETARY The annual mass for Boulick Cemetery will take place in Gortnahoe Church this Sunday the 13th August at 10.30am DIOCESAN APPOINTMENTS We welcome Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly’s appointment of Fr James Walton as our new Parish Priest of Gortnahoe Glengoole. A native of Cappagh, Ballingarry, we wish him every blessing and happiness as he takes up his new role on Saturday, 26th August. We also wish Fr Vincent Stapleton well on his appointment as Diocesan Secretary and Chancellor of the Diocese.

CONCERT There is a concert in aid of Pieta House this Saturday the 12th August at 8pm in Buddy’s Shed Glengoole.

TUESDAY BRIDGE Bridge is being played each Tuesday night in Gortnahoe Hall at 7.30pm.

If you would like to join or find out more information please contact this number 089 4349106 GORTNAHOE BINGO Bingo continues this Saturday night at 7.00pm with doors opening from 6.00pm and will continue each Saturday night at the same time. Over €2,660 in prize money on offer including a special €500 game. We look forward to the many visitors and family members home with their family, it will be a great nights entertainment for all.

SPLIT THE POT Congratulations to last weekend’s winner, Fiona Maher, who won €198 in the Split the Pot draw. Envelopes are available at the usual outlets.

Split the Pot for the month of August will be in support of the Gortnahoe Juvenile Club. The draw takes place each Sunday at 12pm in Gortnahoe Hall. Your support would be appreciated JOHN MORIARTY RIP The death has occurred of John Moriarty Foulkscourt, Johnstown and formerly of Urard, Gortnahoe, Co. Tipperary. John passed away peacefully at home, with his family by his side after a short illness bravely borne.

Predeceased by his daughter Laura, his parents Jack and Mary and his brother Richie. Deeply regretted by his heartbroken wife Vera, his sons Mel and Darren, his daughter Lisa, grandchildren Adam, Shannon, Erika, Aaron, Luke, Leon, Corey, Brooke and Caleb, and his great grandchildren Jackson, Alfie and Eloise, his daughters in law Sandie and Audrey, and son in law Eamon, brothers Paddy, Neddy, Thomas, Batty, Kevin, Jody and Michael, and sisters Maureen, Agnes and Eileen, extended family, his best friend Laddy, neighbours, work colleagues, team mates and a wide circle of friends. John reposed at his residence last Tuesday. Requiem Mass took place last Wednesday in St. Kieran’s Church, Johnstown, followed by burial in Johnstown Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

FATHER LIAM MC SWEENEY RIP The death has occurred of Father Liam P. McSweeney, Sacramento, California, USA and formerly of Castle Avenue, Thurles and Graigue, Gortnahoe. Predeceased by his mother Ellen McSweeney (Thurles) and his father Edward McSweeney (Cork), brother Pearse, sisters Dympna and Maureen (Maher) and brother in law James Maher (Roscrea). Father Liam is survived by his sister Noreen (Dublin) and his brother Patrick (Paddy) (Dolla, Co Tipperary), nephew Martin Maher, his wife Elaine, grandnieces Ráichéal, Aisling and Grace Maher. He will be sadly missed by his cousins and extended family Maura Quinn and family (Holycross), Breda Minahin and family, Piltown (Kilkenny), Willie and Marie Dunne (Graigue) Richard and Mary Dunne (Graigue) Tipperary, Richard Dunne and family (Dublin) and Josephine Mar and family (Australia). Also Father Liam will be greatly missed by his many friends both in the United States and Ireland. Father Liam P. McSweeney, beloved priest of the Diocese of Sacramento who celebrated his diamond jubilee this year. His funeral mass will take place this Friday August 11th at 10 am in St. Mels Church, 4745 Pennsylvania Ave. in Fair Oaks, Sacramento, California.

The rite of commital service will be held that day at 2.30pm in Calvary Catholic Cemetery and Funeral Center at 7101 Verner Ave. in Citrus Heights, Sacramento. A vigil service and rosary was held this Thursday August 10th at 6pm in St. Mels Church. Father Liam was ordained to the priesthood on 2nd June 1963 in Ireland for the diocese of Sacramento.

He served as an assistant pastor of St. Lawrence the Matyr Parish in North Highlands and St. Robert Parish in Sacramento from December 1973 to July 1976. In 1976 he was appointed chaplain at the California Youth Authority(Perkins) until 2002. During some of those years he was in residence at St. Robert Parish in Sacramento. Father Liam was appointed pastor of St. Mel Parish from October 2005 to August 2013, when he retired he was named pastor emeritus of St. Mel Parish. Father Liam will be sadly missed by his loving family and friends in Ireland and his many parishioners he served in Sacramento. May Father Liam rest in eternal peace.

FUNDING SUCCESS Kilkenny Local Community Development Committee recently allocated a number of grants to the County. The Communities Support Fund is supported through the Department of Rural and Community Development’s Community Enhancement Programme. Cllr. Michael McCarthy, a member of the LCDC, congratulated all involved for their voluntary community work. Successful local applications were, Ballyragget Hall and Community Hub €3K ; Ballyouskill Development Association €3,000 LOURDES INVALID FUND The Ballyragget/Ballyouskill Lourdes Invalid Fund is having a Cabaret on Sunday 27th August in the Wheel Inn Pub, Ballyouskill. Music by Wicklow Man, costing 6€ a ticket. Tickets are on sale from any of the Committee members or usual outlets. Your support of this local charity would be greatly appreciated.

CHURCH NEWS Morning Mass Wednesday to Friday 10am. Parish office open 10.30am to 12.30am Wednesday to Friday at parish house behind church. Contact Fr Eamon O Gorman on 087 2236145 for any queries.

ST PATRICKS GAA The minors were in action against Piltown and won on a scoreline of 2-17 to 1-12. The junior side were in action against Piltown in round 1 of the league championship and lost on a scoreline 4-16 to 0-19.

LOTTO Lotto continues to stand at €20,000 last week’s numbers 8,12,22,23. No winner. Thank you to all who continue to support.

BINGO Weekly bingo in the CYMS hall each Wednesday.

DEVELOPMENT FUNDRAISER Conahy Shamrocks GAA Club have launched a major development fundraiser, and are seeking the support of everyone in the community to ensure its success. The club are aiming to undertake a significant upgrade to the facilities in the Polo Grounds, which will initially see the increase of parking facilities, an extra entrance/exit point to ensure safe access to the grounds, and the provision of an astroturf playing pitch and ball wall. This will come at a significant cost, and while the club are seeking National Lottery funding to assist with this, it must also fundraise a large portion of the cost.

The fundraiser will involve a ticket draw, with the winner receiving a new Hyundai Tucson car or €35,000 in cash. Tickets for the draw will be €25 each, or three for €65, or five for €100. The club is appealing in particular to all GAA club members, parents of children involved in Bórd na nÓg activities and parents/player members of Conahy Camogie club to assist as much as possible with this fundraising draw, either in buying or selling as many tickets as possible. Tickets have and will continue to be given to club members to sell amongst their friends and relations. A website that will allow the purchase of tickets for the draw will be live in the coming weeks, and the draw will also actively be promoted on social media platforms. All support would be greatly appreciated for what will be a development to benefit both young and old in the community.

HURLING It was a disappointing start for the intermediate hurlers on Friday evening last when they were defeated by neighbours St. Martin’s in the Michael Lyng Motors Intermediate League in Ballyragget. Conahy led by 1-4 to 0-4 at the half-time break after a tough battle, but St. Martin’s came strongly in the final quarter of the game to win out by 1-13 to 1-9.

Conahy will be hoping to bounce back with a positive performance when they face Young Irelands (Gowran) in their next league match on this Saturday at 2.30 in Clara.

The junior E hurlers had better luck as they scored a great win over Mooncoin in the quarter-final of the JJ Kavanagh & Sons Junior E championship in Jenkinstown on Sunday last. Mooncoin led by 0-8 to 0-4 at the half-time break but Conahy fought back well in the second half, eventually winning by 1-15 to 0-13.

TEAM: Sean Brennan, Michael Bergin, Tom Nolan, Padraig Conway, Damien Cuddihy, Darragh Hennessy, Paddy Mullan, Kieran Brennan, Oisin O’Connor, Tom O’Shea, Declan Buggy, Martin Fitzpatrick, Padraic Nolan, Paul Buggy, David Kennedy, Brian Rossiter, Oisin Cahill.

CLUB LOTTO The numbers drawn in the Conahy Shamrocks GAA Club Lotto were 5, 13 and 27. There was no jackpot winner so the consolation prize winners were Geraldine Tierney, Ethna Healy, Fr. Willie Hennessy, Mona Dooley and the Leahy Sisters. The promoters’ prize winners were Seamus Óg Brennan, Margaret Buggy and Mona Dooley. This week’s jackpot now increases to €4,500.

DATE FOR THE DIARY The ABBA tribute band “Abbaesque” will play in Conahy Shamrocks GAA Club House on Saturday, September 30th. More details to follow in the near future.

FUNDING SUCCESS Kilkenny Local Community Development Committee recently allocated a number of grants around the county through the Communities Support Fund, which is supported through Department of Rural and Community Development’s Community Enhancement Programme. Cllr.

Michael McCarthy, a member of the LCDC, congratulated all involved for their voluntary community work. Local applications that were successful included Conahy Hall Redevelopment Fund with a grant of €1,000 and the Conahy Community Complex with a grant of €3,000.

PRETTY WEDDING

St. Brigid’s Church, Ballycallan was chosen by bride Sarah Hennessy and groom Joseph Byrne for their wedding ceremony. The celebrant of the nuptial mass was Fr. Liam Taylor, P.P. Sarah’s sister Laura was maid of honour and her bridesmaids were Amy Dermody, Ann Hoyne and Dearbhla Cullen. Yvonne Greene was junior bridesmaid. Joseph’s brother Rory was bestman and his groomsmen were Daniel O’Donovan, Martin Donoghue and Fintan Cawley. The flowergirls Grace Byrne, Rose Dermody, Mia Dermody and Edity Bryne looked resplendent in their beautiful outfits. Sadie Hennessy, mother of the bride, and Josephine Byrne, aunt of the groom, presented the offertory gifts of bread and wine at the altar. A beautiful communion reflection, namely “The Bridge across Forever” was read by Julie Hanlon. Ross Kearly provided appropriate music throughout the mass and ceremony. We wish Sarah and Joseph peace, happiness, but above all, good health for the future.

ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC Mount Carmel Supported Care Home Annual Golf Classic will take place on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th August 2023. Team Entry Fee €100. For Tee Times contact John Healy on 086 166 4256 or Margaret Maher on 087 960 6440. We are appealing to your generosity for this very worthy fundraiser, which you have so kindly supported in the past. Your Sponsorship can be given in any of the following ways. Monetary Donation or Donation of prizes for the Golf Classic. Bank Account Details, IBAN: IE53AIBK93309014719192. BIC: AIBKIE2D LOTTO RESULTS Results for 31/07/23. Numbers drawn were 9; 12; 14; 21. Lucky Dip winners were Dom Delaney, Kay Pollard and Lauren East. Sellers’ prizes went to Pat Brennan and Sean O’Dwyer.

TULLAROAN CEMETERY MASS The annual cemetery Mass will take place on Tuesday, 15th August at 7 pm in the cemetery.

FUNDRAISER On Saturday 26th August, a fundraiser will be held in Ryan’s Bar, Kilmanagh in aid of Medjugorje Pilgrim Fund. Music on the night will be provided by “Gluin Nua” a trad band featuring Paul Dunne. Tickets cost €10 or you can pay at the door on the night.

KILMANAGH NOTES Anyone wishing to submit news items, events, announcements etc. can do so by email only to elanigan18@gmail.com. If you have any photos that you would like included, please send as an attachment.

MASS TIMES Hugginstown: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 9.30a.m. Vigil - Saturday. at 8.00p.m. Sunday. at 10.00a.m. Stoneyford, Wednesday. at 7.00p.m. Vigil, Saturday 12. at 6.30p.m.

Friday 11th. Feast of St. Clare.

CEMETERY MASS Mass will be celebrated in Sheepstown Cemetery on next Friday 11th. at 7.30p.m.

PRAY FOR Anniversary Mass. Declan Fennelly, Oldtown; Mass in Stoneyford on Saturday 12th. August at 6.30p.m.

ROTA Rota for next week-end. 12th. and 13th. August. (Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time) Readers. Stoneyford, Saturday 6.30p.m. Margaret Ryan. Hugginstown: Saturday 8.00p.m Pat Power. Sunday 10.00a.m. Mary Carroll. Eucharistic Ministers. Stoneyford, Saturday 6.30p.m. Natalia Smolen. Hugginstown: Saturday 8.00p.m. Trisha Barron. Sunday 10.00a.m. Ruth Crowley.

SAFEGUARDING CONTACTS Diocesan Designated Liaison Person. Ms. Kathleen Sherry Tel: 087 100 0232. Aghaviller Parish Representatives are: Teresa Broderick and Carmel O’Toole.

LOTTO Lotto: Aghaviller Parish and Carrickshock G. A. A. Draw: Monday 31st. July 2023. Numbers: 32; 24; 25; 11. No Winner First 3 Numbers Drawn:No Jackpot Winner: €30.00. Winners: Cáit Murphy, Galway; Ellie Crowley, Aghaviller; Chrissy Walsh, Ennisnag; Aislinn Power, Kingsmountain; Neil Conway, Stoneyford. 3 x €15.00 (Sellers), James Irish, Walshe’s Shop, Jimmy Sheehan.

MABS South Leinster Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Kilkenny “MABS” 4 The Parade, Kilkenny Tel: 0818 072610 Free, Independent and Confidential Money Advice and Budgeting Service. Assisting people in dealing with their existing debts, mortgage arrears and helping them to begin to manage their resources ST.PATRICKS PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITY Postgraduate Programmes in Theology and Philosophy at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth. Applications will be accepted up until August 14th. For more information contact pgadmissions@spcm.ie or call 01 708 3391 THE PRIORY INSTITUTE The Priory Institute will hold a two week online Summer School on the Gospel of John. “The one who saw it has borne witness” (John 19:35) The Summer School will run from 14th. to 28th. August. The Summer School includes eight recorded presentations and two on-line Zoom discussions and is very flexible as it is delivered entirely online. Please visit our website to find out more and to register: prioryinstitute.com STONEYFORD SCHOOL S N Chiaráin Naofa are currently recruiting for 2 x School Transport Escorts for our ASD Class Students. The bus escort will accompany and support pupils with Autism on a mini bus from their home to and from school. The bus escort must be available in the mornings and afternoons, five days per week for the school year. The bus escort is responsible for the safety of the children on board the bus/taxi and will be required to provide pupil care needs including, but not limited to, assisting the children getting on and off the bus/taxi, securing appropriate seat belts, etc. No official qualifications are needed, however, good communication skills and experience of caring for/working with children with additional needs is desirable.

The post is approx 20 hours per week. The bus escort should be available daily, in the mornings from 7.00a.m. to 9.00a.m and in the afternoons from 1:30p.m. to 3:30p.m. The bus escort will meet the bus driver each morning and afternoon at Stoneyford School.

Appointment is subject to Garda Vetting requirements, occupational health check and verification of references. For further details contact mkieran@stoneyfordns.ie

We welcome all GAA Club and Community notes for publication in The Kilkenny Observer email to sales@kilkennyobserver.ie

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Hurling matters

Sport Glenmore stun

BY NIALL SHERRY SPORTS EDITOR SPORTSEDITORKILKENNYOBSERVER.IE

St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling LeagueChampionship 2023 Shamrocks Ballyhale 2-14 Glenmore 1-20 The current holders of the Tom Walsh Cup were given a stark reminder that claiming a 6th successive County title won’t be easy, going down at home by 3 points to a very hungry looking Glenmore side. Despite top scoring with 1-10, veteran TJ Reid finished up on the losing side having returned to the club jersey along with Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen. Interestingly, Adrian played much of the game at centre-half back and didn’t look out of place there!

The wind was always going to be a factor and the home side opted to play against the wind in the opening period. Kilkenny netminder Eoin Murphy was operating in the ‘6’ position and the Cats number one was influential throughout the contest as he covered plenty of ground, snuffing out danger and setting up attacks.

It would be Eoin’s brother and fellow county-man Alan that got the scoreboard moving with an early point to give the visitors the lead.

Liam Barron then took possession before giving a nice pass into TJ, who split the posts to level matters.

The next two scores came from Eoin Murphy. The first effort was a booming free from his own ‘45 and the second one, a lovely strike from play from inside the Glenmore ‘65.

Bob Aylward’s side were certainly using the strong wind to their advantage, but they were about to be caught with a sucker punch.

TJ got the sliotar in his hand and played a lovely pass across the pitch to his County Captain. Eoin Cody collected the pass and took his man on before unleashing a fierce shot past Mikey Kirwan in the Glenmore goal for the first major of the day in the 7th minute to give the Shamrocks the lead. The visitors responded well, and Alan Murphy drew the sides level

Shamrocks in opener!

Eoin Murphy shines at Páirc na Seamróg shortly after from the placed ball after Adrian Mullen was harshly adjudged to have fouled.

The next score was a lovely one,

Eoin Guilfoyle shows great balance and skill as he takes control chased by Billy O Neill and Conor Flynn

ex-county man Ger Aylward striking over a beautiful point from way out on the right side of the pitch. TJ then stood over a free and hit it perfectly against the elements to deadlock matters again. Glenmore then profited from a mis-hit free by Evan Shefflin, one of their young stars, Dean Croke was on hand to rifle over the bar, a score that was enjoyed by the visitor’s bench. Adrian Mullen then turned provider from his deep lying role, finding TJ who finished superbly.

Another mishap from the Shamrocks, this time a sideline cut from Eoin Cody was intercepted and Billy Reid struck over. TJ was once again the main source of scores for his side and sent over another well-hit placed ball. Then came the second major of the day. A long ball into the Shamrocks defence saw Ger Aylward head for the goal, but the dangerous forward was brought to the ground. Referee Maurice Flynn consulted with his umpires and awarded the penalty. Alan Murphy,

with number 21 on his back, stepped up and struck his effort past Mark Aylward in the Shamrocks goal.

Another effort from the placed ball

by Alan Murphy followed, Glenmore were now 4 points to the good and looking right at home in Páirc na Seamróg. They were never behind from the 22nd minute, something that many might have thought not possible, but you could sense a hunger from Glenmore.

Pat Hoban’s men hit back with their second major of the game. Eoin Cody was fouled, possibly chopped

by Eoin Murphy, and again after consulting his umpires, whistler Maurice Flynn signaled penalty.

Only one man for the job, TJ Reid, but before he could go through his routine and get set to take the shot, Eoin Murphy advised Mikey Kirwan that he would stand between TJ and the goal! No doubt Murphy would have faced many efforts from Reid over the years during County training. TJ dispatched the penalty with authority, Shamrocks were back

Evan Shefflin drives forward tackled by Richie Hennessey and Ian Byrne

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Hurling matters Clara goalkeeper Kevin Nolan makes a fine catch under pressure from Andy Gaffney

St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League-Championship 2023 Round 2 fixtures Group A

Group B

Bennettsbridge, Erins Own, Glenmore, Graigue Ballycallan, James Stephens, Shamrocks Ballyhale.

Tullaroan, Dicksboro, O’Loughlin Gaels, Clara, Danesfort, Mullinavat.

Group A - Round 2 Fixtures

Group B – Round 2 Fixtures

Graigue Ballycallan vs Bennettsbridge Tomorrow, 16:00, Pairc Sheamuis Stiophan Referee: Peter Burke

O`Loughlin Gaels vs Dicksboro Tonight, 19:00, Pairc Sheamuis Stiophan , Referee: Michael O Sullivan

Erins Own vs Shamrocks Ballyhale Tomorrow, 19:00, Tom Ryall Park Referee: Sean Cleere

Mullinavat vs Tullaroan Tonight, 19:00, John Locke Park , Referee: Owen Beehan

Glenmore vs James Stephens Sunday, 12:30, Thomastown Referee: David Hughes

Clara vs Danesfort Sunday, 14:30, Bennettsbridge , Referee: Raymond Byrne

in the contest.

Back in his outfield position, Eoin Murphy then went on a driving run before being halted illegally by a combination of defenders. Brother Alan converted the free, and he would repeat the process moments later after Conor Walsh was adjudged to have touched the ball on the ground. There was time for one more point before the interval, a cracking effort from the eldest Reid, Eoin to leave the half-time score, Shamrocks Ballyhale 2-5, Glenmore 1-10.

Eoin Reid got the first score after the short whistle to bring it back to a 1-point game, but the Pairc na Ratha based club showed no fear and marched on. The accurate Alan Murphy sent over another placed ball after Evan Shefflin saw yellow for what looked to be a little bit of dissent in the direction of the referee.

The ever-dangerous Ger Aylward

then struck over another lovely effort, again from way out near the sideline.

Billy Reid, who was proving a handful for the Shamrocks, was then fouled, and again Alan Murphy did the needful and the gap was back to four points.

Another of Shamrocks Ballyhale’s young contingent, Kevin Fennelly then got on the scoresheet with a lovely effort before one of the second half’s key performers, Cathal Beirne, who finished the game with 0-3, hit the first of his tally. TJ fired over another placed ball, but Glenmore’s response was to hit two in a row, the first from the impressive Beirne and a quality effort from play by Alan Murphy. TJ then took a lovely catch before striking over a quality score, but in truth his team were struggling to play with the wind advantage.

Glenmore then hit 3 unanswered points via Alan Murphy (f), Dean

Croke and one from Eoin Aylward and again the home side’s answer to the visitor’s growing lead was two further placed balls from TJ Reid, the 2nd from his one ‘65. The second half’s stand-out performer, Beirne then got his third and final point, a lovely strike from way out the pitch. Like they also do, Shamrocks battled and tagged on three further points, two more from TJ and a nice score from young sub Mark Gorman. Referee Flynn awarded the home side a free deep into stoppage time, but Eoin Cody’s floated effort into the danger zone resulted in Glenmore’s top scorer, Alan Murphy emerging with the sliotar. There was to be no more time for Shamrocks to strike. Full-time at Páirc na Seamróg, Shamrocks Ballyhale 2-14, Glenmore 1-20.

and 7 frees), Cathal Beirne (0-3), Eoin Murphy (0-1 free), Ger Aylward and Dean Croke (0-2 each), Billy Reid, Ian Byrne and Shane Murphy (0-1 each) Shamrocks: TJ Reid (1-10, 1 pen and 8 frees), Eoin Cody (1-0), Eoin Reid (0-2), Kevin Fennelly and Mark Gorman (0-1 each) Shamrocks: Mark Aylward, Brian Butler, Darragh Mason, Killian Corcoran, Evan Shefflin, Adrian Mullen, Conor Phelan, Paddy Mullen, Conor Walsh, Liam Barron, TJ Reid, Kevin Fennelly, Eoin Kenneally, Eoin Reid, Eoin Cody.

Glenmore: Michael Kirwan, Ciaran Vereker, Eoin Aylward, Sean Duggan, Shane Murphy, Eoin Murphy, Billy Reid, Richie Hennessy, Shane Doherty, Cathal Beirne, Alan Murphy, Dean Croke, Ethan Phelan, Ger Aylward, Ian Byrne.

Glenmore: Alan Murphy (1-8, 1 pen

Ref: Maurice Flynn

>> SHERRY SAYS: CLUB ROUND-UP.....

Great win on the opening day for Glenmore. They deserved to make the short journey home with the 2 points, having given a great display of guts and guile at Páirc na Seamróg. The Murphy’s were all impressive, Alan from the placed ball, Shane driving them forward from wing-back and Eoin looking every inch a quality ‘6’. Cathal Beirne, Billy Reid and Dean Croke also caught the eye for the visitors on a day when the wind played its part.

Simply, Glemore hurled better into the elements that Shamrocks did.

Bob Aylward won’t get carried away, it’s a good start, but he knows that Shamrocks are prone to a slow start and were missing some nine players from last year’s County final panel. Pat Hoban will hope to get some of those bodies back in the club over the next few weeks, but the likes of Joey Holden, Brian Cody and Joe Cuddihy are unlikely to be seen in the famous jersey this season.

Of the likely rivals to Shamrocks crown, O’Loughlin’s, Dicksboro and James Stephens all recorded first round wins last weekend. Paddy Deegan and Huw Lawlor were back on club duty and looking impressive while Mark Bergin was imperious from the place ball. Young David Fogarty hit 0-3 and outstanding while flanking the experienced Deegan. Padraig Walsh was the best for the Sash in the defeat, and they will hope to get John Walton back in the team sharpish.

Brian Cody’s Village were 7-point winners over Billy Ryan’s Graigue Ballycallan, while Dicksboro hit 5-18 in their win over Clara at Pairc Sheamuis Stiophan. Meanwhile there were also opening round wins for Bennettsbridge and Mullinavat over Erins Own and Danesfort respectively.

Now for round two.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

Motors Classifieds

Classified section To advertise your business in our classified section call in or telephone: 056 777 1463, or email: accounts @kilkennyobserver.ie

JOE PARSONS GARDEN MAINTENANCE SERVICES INCLUDE • Hedge cutting • • Grass cutting • • Power washing • • Dry rubbish removal • • Tree pruning •

CONTACT JOE: 086-8587568

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Classifieds Motors

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT AVAILABLE

Chartered Accountant available to allow you to focus on your business, while having peace of mind knowing your administration needs and organisation is being taken care of. Accounting services offered in person or remotely. Offering assistance with financial administration, bookkeeping, receipts, purchases, bank reconciliation, payroll, revenue filings to include VAT and RCT. Income tax preparation and filing. Organisation of paperwork and systems to set up a process that works for you. Can adapt to your existing system or use cloud-based accounting system to produce monthly reports and end of year profit and loss statements. Freelance/as and when needed or on a contract basis. Prices negotiable based on needs. Giving you peace of mind to grow your business.

Aimee Cantwell FCA cantwellaimee@gmail.com 0864020520

Call 056 7771463 for all your classified advertisements

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Planning notices

Planning notices KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL I, Alan Rowe intend to apply to Kilkenny County Council for Planning permission for a bungalow style dwelling, vehicular entrance, borewell, foul treatment tank, percolation area and all associated site works, at Coontraght, Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny. (Previously granted under planning permission Ref No’s. 17833 & 21786).

The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. 4.00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application.

The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL We, The Board of Management, St Michael’s National School, intend to apply for planning permission at St Michael’s National School, Dundaryark, Danesfort, Co. Kilkenny. (Eircode: R95 X527). The development will consist of the construction of a new single storey classroom extension to the rear of the school building, provision of a temporary construction access roadway, and upgrade of the existing on-site wastewater treatment system including polishing filter together with all associated site & ancillary works”.

The planning application may be inspected, or purchased The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9 a.m.- 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application. The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission. www.briandunloparchitects.com

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023

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Memoriams / Miracle Prayers

KATHLEEN BROPHY 11TH ANNIVERSARY With loving thoughts of Kathleen, late of Derdimus, Callan Road, Kilkenny, who left our home on 14th August 2012.

Our hearts broke the morning you died There was no way to ease the pain inside We wondered how life could go on Trying to understand that you were gone We miss you more as time goes by A thought of you brings a tear to our eye And all the days we will be sad We are grateful for the years we had.

We miss you Mam Siobhan & Jack X

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.M

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. H.D

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.M

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. H.D

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.R

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.B

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.K

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 11 August 2023