CANADIAN STUDENTS AT ST. BERNARD'S GROUP HOMES

A group of thirteen Canadian Students arrived in Fethard on Friday 7th June. All thirteen are on the final stages of a four year degree programme in Child and Youth Care in Malaspina University British Columbia. Nine of these students are staying locally while doing a practical placement in St Bernard’s Group Homes for six weeks. The students are photographed above at St. Bernard’s Group Homes Fethard. L to R: Lani Mugford, Margot Dahling, Pennie Baumel, Terra Keith, Kim Robinson, Paul Besso, Donald Shaw, Laurie Clarke, Sherry Jondreau, Michelle Brocklehurst, Colleen Macintosh, Diane Schultz and Crystal Horton.

DAY CARE CENTRE

Fethard and District Day Care Centre members photographed above with the centre’s supervisor Sr. Christine, who was presented with flowers on the occasion of her last committee meeting with the Fethard group. Photographed above back L to R: Nellie O’Donovan, Phil Wyatt, Brian O’Donnell, Jimmy Lawrence, Joan O’Donohoe, Jimmy Connolly, Megan Sceats, John Pollard, Pauline Sheehan, Mary Fennel (South Eastern Health Board). Front L to R: Carmel Rice, Agnes Evans, Sr. Christine, Thelma Griffith and Marie Murphy.

The committee of the Fethard Day Care Centre would like to send best wishes to Sr. Christine on her transfer from Fethard to Clonmel. Sr Christine was supervisor at the centre and was instrumental in getting the centre up and running smoothly over the past few years. She was loved by all the patrons who attended the centre from Fethard and surrounding areas and will be sadly missed by all.

The committee would also like to thank sincerely all who donated to their recent Church Gate Collection. A sum in excess of €1,000 was collected. Thanks also to the local girls, photographed below, who ran the Ladies Dublin City Marathon in aid of the building fund.


Group of ladies who ran the Dublin Ladies Mini-Marathon in aid of Fethard & District Day Care Centre. L to R: Dolores Costigan, Helen Galligan, Celia Allen, Eileen Ryan, Josephine Shelly, Mary Connolly and Donna Reddy.

ABYMILL THEATRE AGM
The annual general meeting of The Mill (Fethard) Ltd. will take place on Monday 24th June, 2002, in the Abymill Theatre at 8pm.

CAR KEYS LOST IN BURKE STREET
A set of car keys were lost in Fethard in the Burke street area on Sunday last. If anyone found same please contact Justin Foley at (086) 8542120.

FETHARD & KILLUSTY COMMUNITY LOTTO
The numbers drawn on Tuesday 18th June were 4, 21, 26 and 29. We had no Jackpot Winner and no "Match 3" winner. Five 'Lucky Dips' were drawn and each receive €30:

Alfie Brett, Rocklow Road, Fethard
Maureen Whyte, Main Street, Fethard
Mary Butler, Coolanure, Fethard
Berney Myles, Saucestown, Fethard,
Helen Grace, Ballyrichard, Drangan

We had three Free Draws this week for €50 and the winners were:
Jim Trehy, Donoghmore
Marion Gilpin, The Valley, Fethard
Betty Crowe, Dualla Road, Cashel.

This week's Jackpot remains at €10,000 and the Sellers Prize for the winning jackpot ticket is €380.

GOLF CLASSIC
A Golf Classic in aid of the new extension to Fethard and District Day Care Centre will be held in Slievenamon Golf Club at the end of August. Local golfers interested in helping out are asked to contact any member of Fethard & Killusty Community Council or Brendan Kenny at Slievenamon Golf Club, Tel (052) 32213.

COMMUNITY GAMES

Damien Morrissey winning his 100 meter heat at the County Community Games Finals in Thurles on Sunday last.

Congratulations to all who participated in Community Games County Athletic finals in Thurles Dog Track on Sunday last. This is always a competitive event and it was a great achievement by all those who qualified for finals and won medals, especially for David Sullivan, Barrettstown, who won the under/16, 1500m and Joey Feery, Killusty, who qualified for his place on the under/17 county marathon team. Both of these boys will represent the county at the ESB National Finals in Mosney on weekending 23-26th August. Roisín Trehy won silver in the under/10 hurdles and her brother Lolo won silver in the under/12 600m. Their first cousin Ciara O’Connor won bronze in 600m. Aine Phelan, Louis Rice, Ben Walsh, Hannah Trehy and Damien Morrissey all qualified in their heats.

BLOOD DONORS THANKED
Mr Bernard Walsh, local co-ordinator of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service wishes to thank all donors who attended the unit’s recent visit to Fethard. Eighty-two donors attended and sixty-two were accepted. Many seriously ill hospital patients will benefit from the civil minded spirit of the Fethard donors. A special thank-you to the principal and management of Fethard Patrician Presentation Secondary School for the use of their premises on the night. The unit will pay their next visit to Fethard in October, 2002.

GOLDEN JUBILEE
The parishioners of Fethard and Killusty offer best wishes and congratulations to Very Rev Canon James Power as he celebrates the Golden Jubilee of his Ordination. Canon Power was ordained on 15th June, 1952.
All are invited to his Golden Jubilee Mass which will be held in Holy Trinity Church on Wednesday 26th June at 8pm.

BREAK IN AT CHAPEL LANE
A car parked nearby was stolen on Saturday night / Sunday morning last and used to ram-raid the Fethard Electrical Warehouse at Chapel Lane. The raiders succeeded in breaking through the double sheet metal door, wrecking the car in the process. Mr Don O’Connell, director of Fethard Electrical Wholesale, when contacted said fortunately there was not a lot of great value in the store as most of the stock had been removed when the firm moved from Barrack Street to more spacious premises in The Valley. The thieves failed in their attempt to remove the heavy bolt and padlock on Mrs Ahearn’s adjacent store and garage.

I.C.A.
Fethard I.C.A. Guild wish to say a sincere thank-you and well-done to the members who took part in the recent Clonmel Mini-Marathon and also thank their sponsors. The effort was organised by South Tipperary I.C.A. Federation and the funds raised by the participants were donated to the Breast Cancer Research Programme. Fethard Guild have organised a most interesting itinerary for their annual outing on Thursday June 7th. The coach leaves from the Town hall at 9.30am. First stop is at Fota House and Gardens, Cobh. A visit to Cobh Heritage Centre and Cathedral follows, with time allowed to browse through the picturesque seaside town. The trip home is via Kilcoran Lodge Hotel where they stop for an evening meal.
Non-members are cordially invited to join members on the outing. Those wishing to travel are requested to give their names to Mrs Kay McGrath, Main Street.

CAMOGIE CLUB
The Intermediate County League Final was eventually played on last Wednesday evening in The Ragg. Portroe emerged worthy winners, their experience from senior status standing to them. Fethard, however, played far better in the second half and finished up the stronger team which created an exciting climax to a well contested and physical game. Edel Fitzgerald's contribution in the back line is worthy of mention as she was outstanding in defence and caught some amazing balls. The final score was 2-7 to 1-5. Fethard will have come on a lot from the game and hopefully this will stand to the team in the championship - the first game of which is on Sunday 23rd June against Clonoulty. The team lineout was: Jean Morrissey, Ailish Sheehan, Vanessa O'Donnell, Edel Fitzgerald, Emily Sayers, Imelda Spillane, Sandra Maher, Niamh Sheehan 0-2 (f), Jennifer Fogarty (0-1), Marie Holohan, Caroline Quinlan, Sandra Spillane, Jennifer Keane, Sharon O'Meara 1-1 (1-0 f) and Audrey Conway 0-1 (f). Subs: Norah O'Meara, Lisa McCormack, Laoise O'Connell, Louise Wade and Joan O'Donnell.

FETHARD GAA CLUB
On Thursday last we lost the first match in the south intermediate football championship on a scoreline, Clonmel Commercials 0-9 (0-3), Fethard 0-5 (0-3). The team was: Tommy Gahan, Philly Croke, Martin Ryan, Philly Prout, Kevin O’Donnell 0-1, Shay Ryan, Ian Kenrick, Owen Doyle, P. J. Ahearne, Colin Allen 0-1, John Hurley, Martin Coen 0-1, Johnny Neville 0-1, Michael O’Riordan and Brendan Brett 0-1f. Subs used: Alan Phelan and Chris Coen. Our next outing in this competition is in the county open draw when on Sunday 23rd we play Fr Sheehys at 8pm.
Our senior football county championship game against Ardfinnan takes place on Sunday 23rd in Clonmel at 2pm. Well done to Damien, Willie and Miceál on being part of the first county team qualifying for this year’s Munster senior football final which will be played on July 14th against Cork or Kerry.
Thanks to all those who contributed to our church gate collection on last weekend.
We had no winner of our Lotto Jackpot €4,100. We had two ‘match three’ winners each receiving €75, Denis Burke (Redcity) and Kenny Hackett (Strylea). The winner of the €50 lucky dip was Declan Browne (Clerihan).
Members please note that list for tickets for the Munster final in Cork on 30th June will be on display on Newport’s window by Tuesday and all tickets must be collected before Wednesday night 22nd June at the dressing rooms from 7 to 9 pm. Tickets not collected by 9pm will be distributed to other club members. Please remember, no money no tickets!

MEDIEVAL TOWN TRAIL

A very large crowd turned out on Friday night last for the official launch of Fethard Medieval Trail organised by Fethard Historical Society. The trail includes stops at Holy Trinity Church of Ireland, Town Hall, North Gate, Chapel Lane, Madams Bridge, Town Wall, Augustinian Abbey and The Castle. Ms Mary Hanrahan proved an excellent and most informative guide, speaking on Fethard’s foundation and history for over an hour without consulting a note. The evening concluded with refreshments and an illustrated talk and demonstration in Lonergan’s Courtyard. The most interesting display and demonstration was given by members of ‘History Live’ from Dublin which included a display of Norman weapons, clothing, and artefacts and a demonstration of how these were made and used. A tourist leaflet and map of the Medieval Trail is currently being printed. The committee would like to thank the County Council staff and participants of the Community FÁS Scheme for their help in preparation for the night.

WET AND WINDY
Everyone knows by now what a wet and windy May is alleged to do! The month of May just passed was certainly wet, whatever about windy. Surprisingly, the first two weeks were quite dry when only 19.7 mm rainfall was recorded. The remaining 16 days more than made up for it when 90.4mm fell, making a total for the month of 110.11mm (4.4 inches). The average rainfall for May is 62.5mm (2.5 inches). Incidentally, and inch of rain represents 100 tons of water per acre. This year’s rainfall for May was exceeded in 1993, believe it or not, when we had 139.8mm (5.6 inches).
Will the ancient proverb prove true this year? 1993 is reported as having been a very high yielding year for all crops. The problem is, that May 1993 was followed by an even wetter June. (Rainfall statistics courtesy of Mr Noel Delany, Parsonshill Farms.

JUVENILE GAA
The last few weeks saw very little activity on the playing fields, due to bad weather conditions but the few games that we played were well worth seeing.
The under/10 footballers played their county final football final in Thurles against a big strong Moycarkey/Borris and beat them by 2-09 to 1-01, congratulations to them and to Michael Sheehan and Tony Fitzgerald on their great achievement on winning two in a row. We now look forward to seeing them progress to the Munster championship when they will play Kenmare from Kerry in Rathkeal, County Limerick on Saturday, 6th July at 2pm. We would like to thank the large following from Fethard who travelled to the county final and also the local Garda who gave them a brilliant escort around the town. We now wish everyone involved the BEST OF LUCK in representing their parish club and county and we hope that the people of Fethard will travel in great numbers to their next game.
The under/12 footballers have now qualified to meet local neighbours Moyle Rovers in the south semi-final tonight (Thursday 20th) venue not known at time of writing after defeating a very young Cahir team on Tuesday the 11th June. There were many fine displays on the night which will need to be repeated if we are to progress in this competition.
Well done to Christopher Sheehan on his performance with primary games team in Killarney.
On Saturday last we travelled to the Glen of Aherlow to play two games against the locals, both of which Fethard won, in preparation for upcoming games. All involved had a great day and we would like to thank the people of the Glen for their hospitality towards us.
Training continues for the under/10 to under/12's footballers on Tuesdays at 6.15pm and Saturdays at 3.30pm. Under/10 to under/12 hurling on Mondays at 5.30pm and under/14 to under/16 hurling on Saturdays at 3pm
Upcoming games for under/12 footballers on Thursday 20th against Moyle Rovers and under/12 hurling on Saturday 22nd against Killenaule at 3pm.
The sports centre is still going and we would like to see more adults and children turning up. New children are always welcome

FETHARD & KILLUSTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The next meeting of Fethard and Killusty Community Council will take place on Tuesday night 18th June, at 8.30pm in the Tirry Community Centre. Photographed above are the participants in the Community Employment Scheme. Back L to R: Michael Keane, David Standbridge, Martin Bolger, Sylvia O'Brien, Melanie Ryan, John Neagle, Tom Purcell, James Roche. Front L to R: Monica Aherne, Janet Byrne, Joan O'Donohoe (Scheme Supervisor), Joe Nixon (FÁS Regional Officer), and Patsy Lawrence.

BENJY FOR ABYMILL

The Abymill Theatre will host a one-man play, “The Gallant John-Joe”, written by Tom MacIntyre and performed by Tom Hickey (Benjy in the ‘Riordans’), on Friday night 5th July at 8.30pm. This play was nominated for two Irish Theatre Awards and was described by the Irish Times as a “a performance of rare virtuosity”. The show is a benefit night for the ISPCA. Tickets are €12 each, which includes a cheese and wine reception at 8pm. Booking at O’Flynn’s Menswear, Burke Street, Fethard. Tel: 052 31254.

WHAT’S IN A NAME
Local punters who follow a system, very profitable actually in recent months, by placing a few Euro on horses named in Gaelic probably missed a good priced winner at Stratford-on-Avon recently. The horse, ‘Guid Willie Waught’, the Scots Gaelic for “a good pint” was bred by Mr Kieran Duggan, Drumdeel, who still retains a share in the animal.

STUDENTS SUMMER SCHEME
The Fethard Historical Society will employ 10 students under the 2002 Students Summer Jobs Scheme operative from 1st June to 30th September. This years work includes local research, data entry on computer and re-checking current records. If you are a third level student and qualify to avail of the scheme, please contact Joe Kenny, Rocklow Road, Fethard. Tel: 052 31663 or by email joe@fethard.com