Gerry Cody..P24, 26

BY FR RICHARD SCRIVEN ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL

HOLY Water Fonts at St Mary’s Cathedral

Bassett’s Kilkenny City and County (1884) describes the two Holy Water Fonts at the entrance door: “At the main entrance are two mammoth ocean shells, the gift of Naval Surgeon Daniel J Duigan, 1877. ey are mounted on blocks of polished white marble and serve admirably the purposes of holy water fonts” (page 41).

Margaret Phelan notes that the two ocean shells are now at the entrance to Castlecomer Parish Church. Upon the pedestals are now placed bowls hewn from Kilkenny black marble mounted on shaped and inscribed while marble blocks.

Fonts at the door of the church

e inscription on the base refers to Daniel J Duigan: Margaret Phelan suggests that Dr Daniel Duigan ‘probably came from north Co Kilkenny or Leix where the name is frequently met with’. ere is an entry in the Marriage Register of the Cathedral of a marriage between Daniel J Duigan, M.D. R.N., to Margaret Cavanagh on 21st September 1857 by Most Rev Edward Walsh, Bishop of Ossory. is wedding must have taken place in the ‘Old Cathedral’ as the present building was only opened on the 4th of October that year (the second last wedding in the Old Cathedral).

Further research discovers that the British Science Museum, Kensington, London, records that Daniel J Duigan, MD Naval Brigade (1855-1856) was awarded the Italian Gallantry medal for an oriental campaign.

Duigan published a paper ‘On the Use of the Moustache and Beard in the Royal Navy’ in e Sanitary Review and Journal of Public Health (1 Jan 1859) giving three reason why navy personnel should ‘on physiological grounds’ grow a beard: the moustache and beard protect a man from ‘the inhalation of dust, from solar blistering, from diseases of the respiratory organs and from malarious in uence’! e inscription on the white marble reads: asperges me hyssop et mundabor (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean (from the Catholic Mass) e hyssop stick is mentioned in St John’s Gospel; at the cruci xion, they placed a sponge on a hyssop stick when Christ cried when Christ cried aloud: “I am thirsty”. e hyssop was a e hyssop was a small bushy plant small bushy plant that can grow out of cracks in walls and was used in the Old Testament the Old Testament by Moses to sprinkle the people sprinkle the people with the blood of the animal as a sign the animal as a sign of the Old Covenant of the Old Covenant between God and between God and his people.

St John deliberately refers deliberately refers to the hyssop stick at Calvary: the old covenant is now replaced by Jesus, the new covenant between his

Community Group

Let’s get winter ready

SENIORS are often most vulnerable during winter. e days are cold and short, and it’s harder to get out of the house amid snow, ice and sub-freezing temperatures. at is why it is so important to help seniors prepare their homes for winter — and to help them prepare to thrive during these di cult months. If you have an aging loved one in your life, consider these tips to help get your senior’s home winter ready

WINTER PREPARATION TIPS Use Warmer Bedding

Blankets, bedspreads, and comforters that are ideal through summer and fall simply won’t cut it during winter. Replace warm-weather bedding with a down comforter, and place wool blankets near the bed so that a senior can easily reach them when additional layers are necessary. Without proper bedding, a senior may feel the need to get out of bed to nd additional blankets or to turn up the heat in the middle of the night. is can increase the chance of falls or other accidents, which should be avoided at all costs. Upgrading to warmer bedding and placing additional layers close by can eliminate the risk of falls.

Clear Gutters

One of the great threats to a home is a lack of proper drainage. Without proper drainage in winter, ice dams can form on roofs, which can damage shingles and lead to signi cant leakage. Start by clearing out a senior’s gutters. When you clear gutters, you ensure that melting snow and ice can easily channel away from the roof. A senior can’t (and shouldn’t) get out the ladder and clear gutters alone, so this is a great way to aid seniors before winter arrives.

Add Interior Lighting

Winter is the darkest time of year. e days are shorter, and the sun is often hidden behind grey clouds. How does this affect a senior? In two ways: 1. e darkness can lead to depression (better known as “seasonal a ective disorder”) 2. e darkness can lead to accidents.

Adding just a little bit of interior light goes a long way toward eliminating those threats and helping make your senior’s home winter ready. Consider adding extra lamps in rooms that are particularly dark. Install overhead lights on ceiling fans that do not already have them and encourage seniors to open blinds and drapes to let as much light as possible inside during the day.

Clean the Chimney

If your senior’s home includes a replace, schedule a professional chimney cleaning and inspection. Over time, creosote builds up inside a chimney, which creates a serious re hazard. One professional cleaning should clear up the creosote and make the replace safe for use. Part of making sure a senior’s home is winter ready also includes making sure they have working carbon monoxide detectors. If a replace fails to burn e ciently, or if the gas source is accidentally left on, the residual carbon monoxide can be harmful and even deadly.

Prepare for Emergencies

In winter, chances for power outages spike due to icy weather events. Create an emergency kit so that your ageing loved one can easily survive a few hours or even days without electricity if needed. e Twilight Community Group is trying to secure an emergency kit for their senior forum’s and Newpark’s residents association members which will include the following:

Flashlights and extra batteries, a weather radio, bottled water, blankets, warm clothing like hats, scarves and gloves, Non-perishable food items (that are also easy to open) we hope and ensure that a wintertime power outage will be no problem.

Service the Heating System

Here’s the big one when it comes to getting a senior’s home winter ready: Make sure a quali ed technician inspects the home’s heating system before the coldest months of the year arrive. Without reliable heating, it’s going to be di cult for our seniors to live independently. ese are just suggestions and there are many more actions we must take to ensure this winter will be trouble free for our seniors. One other piece of advice to one and all, check in, just for a chat, let’s not wait for a crisis before we call to our most valuable members of our society, our seniors.

Community Group

Good news stories from home

For many people who leave their country they can and may lose contact with the ‘News’ back home

IT may just be the local news and stories of the activities of their family, friends and local club in the sporting world. e online newspapers have made it so much easier to stay in contact but sometimes it is nice to get a little reminder of some ‘Good Stories’, news that can make you feel proud of where you grew up and still refer to as ‘Home’

In this week’s Twilight Community Romanian column, we are going to highlight some good news stories from Home e World Heritage Committee has decided to defer the inclusion of the Ro ia Montan mining site in the UNESCO World Heritage List back in July 2018. e decision came as Romania’s government requested “the deferral not the withdrawal of the le” until the lawsuit the country has with the Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources is settled, the Culture Ministry said.

In 1999, the Canadian company won a license to exploit the mining site at Ro ia Montan . e Romanian state blocked the gold mining project following massive street protests in 2013 and the company took the case at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington. It asked for damages of USD 4.4 billion for the blocking of the mining project.

Romania sent the le for the inclusion of Ro ia Montan in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017. is year, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) recommended its inclusion on the list. For a site to be included on the World Heritage List, the consent of the state where the site is found is needed.

Today the great news came through that the historic site of Ro ia Montan , a gold mining site dating back to the period of the Roman Empire, was included on UNESCO’s world heritage list. e site was also added to the list of world heritage in danger.

Also, in Cultural news form Home. e restored Wooden Church of Ur i Village, in Romania’s Valcea county, was the big winner of the 2021 European Heritage Awards/ Europa Nostra Awards, Europe’s top honor in the eld. e small wooden church’s rehabilitation project received a Grand Prix and the Public Choice Award. e four Grand Prix laureates and the Public Choice Award winner, selected from among this year’s 24 winning achievements from 18 European countries, were announced on September 23 during a high-pro le ceremony held at the headquarters of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice. e four 2021 Grand Prix winners, chosen by the Board of Europa Nostra on recommendation by an independent jury of experts, are the Wooden Church of Ur i Village, Vâlcea County (Romania); FIBRANET – Fibres in Ancient European Textiles (Denmark/Greece); the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage (Cyprus); and e Invention of a Guilty Party, Trento (Italy). Each of them will receive EUR 10,000.

So, there it is! Some good news stories from Romania

O zi buna!

Community Group 19 Polish municipalities come together for social housing initiative

THE news broke this week that the Government has supplied a whopping 10% of their social housing target in 2021 according to the Department of Housing. Today’s article may make some of the powers that be, think, take note and hopefully action. Yes, we had Covid 19 and to be honest it is becoming the great excuse for all our problems. Sometimes we need to look to cooperation when we want to develop and improve our standard of living. Remember our very own Twilight Community Group states, ‘Communities are stronger together’ and our article this week highlights just that.

Our story is about the agreement just signed in Poland by our Twinned City of Malbork.

On September 28, a notary act of the SIM KZN - Pomerania, was signed in the presence of Deputy Minister Karol Rabenda at the Summer Refectory of the Castle Museum in Malbork. Thus, the partners (19 municipalities from the Pomeranian voivodeship) committed to building apartments under the Social Housing Initiatives program.

We are building apartments for people who couldn’t afford apartments until now and for those who can’t get a housing loan. We want these families to finally be able to live and work well. I promise that the Social Residential Initiatives program is just getting started. We want at least two SIM companies to be created in every province - announced Deputy Minister Karol Rabenda.

I know that it wasn’t easy at first, not everyone was convinced of Social Housing Initiatives. Currently, the communities are reporting themselves to us. The company tied up today is the best proof of this - there are 19 municipalities from Pomeranian voivodeship with us. Everyone has already received the first funds, at PLN 3 million, giving the share capital of SIM KZN - Pomerania of 57 million. There’s a lot to start with - added the acting president of KZN, Mr Arkadiusz Urban.

I am very glad that we signed the notarized act together today. Thank you to all the partners for making the headquarters of SIM KZN Pomerania in Malbork! - stressed Malbork’s mayor, Marek Charzewski. - The city of Malbork supports any initiatives leading to new housing. I believe that the joint venture of the founding members will bear the expected fruit and our residents will be given the opportunity to use new apartments for rent.

In the first stage in SIM KZN - Pomerania, the construction of more than 800 apartments with an average 50 square meters is planned. The plans for multifamily housing include one, two and three-bedroom apartments. These will be for rent for people who don’t have credit but have rental capacity. These are apartments for middle income families who can’t afford to buy or rent a flat on the commercial market.

According to forecasts, when ground fixtures are filed, SIM KZN Pomorze will start the housing investment process in the second half of 2022

What a way forward, adjoining Municipal district coming together for their citizens. But there is a difference, the Mayor is the Leader. He makes the decisions on what is best for the citizens. Recently we posted how the citizens voted on the Municipal districts budget expenditure. Citizens have a say. The Mayors in Europe hold the power not CEOs or members of an executive. He holds his seat for 5-year term. Now In Kilkenny it is also 5-year term. The post is now so diluted that the ruling parties in Kilkenny share the chain office around on a yearly basis. Which is right ? A municipal district ran by the Mayor where citizens have a say in how its finances are shared? Or a Municipal District where the Mayor has no power, and an executive makes the decisions for the councillors to agree and roll-on my turn with the chain. Now the decision has been made to turn our Tholsel, Town Hall, Seat of the Mayor into a tourist attraction, despite all the promises that ‘NO! NO! we know how important the mayor and his offices are to you we will respect our citizens wishes’ .Where will the mayor’s office be now? Or will our mayor be the new ‘Tour guide’ of ‘The Tholsel’ Kilkenny’s 3.5 million Tourist attraction’.

Sharing Traveller Pride

Stephen Mungovan: Community Development O cer, Twilight Group.

REPRESENTING the Twilight community group, I was delighted to accept an invitation from Micky Flynn to attend the Traveller Pride event at O’ Loughlin Court. e Homework club facilitator and event organiser, Micky, welcomed the guests and gave us a guided tour of the facility and the activities. Along with my colleague Yona Samuel, a member of the South Sudanese community, we were encouraged to mingle and to ask questions.

Soon we were actively participating, but our e orts at throwing Horseshoes, though praised, were desisory compared to the more gifted practitioners. eir hand-eye coordination and accuracy was impressive,

Yona was recording the event for the Twilight Intercultural Festival, to be broadcast on our Social Media platforms in the coming months. As we circulated, we began to witness the excitement and enthusiasm of the many children participating.

It was a poignant afternoon for me, as I had worked with the children in the Homework Club during my college placement. Meeting and greeting them once more was an uplifting experience. Mary Bridget Carthy and her ebullient brother ‘Rocky’ were to the forefront, enthusing about the activities provided. ey were full of praise for event coordinator Angela Flynn who took time out of her busy schedule to introduce us to some of the senior members of the Travelling community. ey recounted tales of former days and their travels around Ireland in the horsedrawn wagons with their families. e stories provided a fascinating insight into a way of life now all but disappeared. e exciting stories of past exploits invariably focused on the travails, the humour and the music of departed family and friends. A sense of yearning for simpler times permeated all the anecdotes. e elders continue to recount the tales to their children and grandchildren, aware that this oral history will keep the traditions and cultural heritage alive and relevant for future generations.

One of these ornately decorated wagons was on display, and Yona and I were thrilled to be invited inside. It was a rare privilege.

As we took a break for some light refreshments, we were joined by former Irish boxing star and proud Traveller Hannah Carthy. Hannah has won nine Leinster and All Ireland titles and represented Ireland at European and World championships. A Kilkenny Traveller Health Care worker, and an icon within her community, Hannah, spoke of the importance of sport in promoting social inclusion.

She insists that Boxing is an example of what can be achieved in society as it involves people from di erent backgrounds training together and engaging socially. is corroborates the ndings of a recent survey on an Erasmus+ programme for NGO’s and Youth Workers, which I attended in Bihac, Bosnia. is survey identi ed sport as a signi cant pathway to integration for migrants despite speaking di erent languages. Sport is a great leveller as it allows children to see teammates and allies, not di erences.

As Yona packed his camera and we prepared to depart, I re ected on how Traveller Pride encapsulates the importance of social engagement in Travellers’ lives.

Attending the event and been openly welcomed by everyone reiterated the importance of community engagement in dispelling preconceived ideas and misconceptions. ese anomalies were arguably strengthened through the absence of social interaction during Covid-19 restrictions. e spectre of Covid- 19 profoundly impacted all communities and threatened to re-establish an unhelpful them and us mentality. e Twilight Community Group’s commitment to involving all communities is steadfast. We insist that ‘Communities are Stronger Together and we endeavour to create and promote connections, break down barriers and tackle stigma, locally, nationally and internationally.

Traveller Pride this year was themed Stronger Together, a sentiment that all communities and ethnicities should endorse, particularly in light of the isolation experienced throughout the pandemic.

As Covid restrictions begin to lift, the Twilight Group is accelerating Our cross-community engagement programmes. Keep an eye on the Observer for all future events.

Bidding us farewell Helena Power spoke passionately, “ ings are changing; members of the Travelling community are now going to university obtaining degrees and working as Community Activists, Solicitors, Doctors, and more recently a member of the community graduated as a Garda Siochana. We are fortunate to be alive at this time and to be part of the narrative of change.”

Twilight wish to thank Kilkenny Travelling Community Movement, Kilkenny Leader Project, Micky and Angela Flynn, Helena Power, Hannah Carthy, and all who made us feel so welcome.