We congratulate all the students of Leaving Cert 2005 and wish them ongoing future success in their chosen fields.

As others see it!
The thrilling Kilkenny v Galway All-Ireland Senior Hurling Semifinal, preceded by the equally exciting Cork v Clare game the previous week, proved once again that hurling, especially at this level, is the most exciting field game in the world. Or is it?

An old County Cavan footballer, from a part of the County where hurling was unknown, was taken late in life to see his first hurling match.
“Well Mick, what do you think of it?” they asked the old Cavan footballer.
“Do you call that a game?” he replied.
“It reminds me of the young lads long ago, with sticks at threshings, trying to kill a rat.”
Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder!

Nicky down under!

Nicky Murphy on his way down from his first parachute jump from 14,000 feet taken at Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Even dumbstruck at 10,000 feet he still has the sparkle in his eye!

Fethard & Killusty Community Lotto
The numbers drawn on Tuesday 23rd August were: 12, 13, 16 and 31. There was no Jackpot winner and one ‘Match 3’ winner who received €150:
Nellie O'Donovan, 22 Fr. Tirry Park, Fethard.
The three €50 Lucky Dip winners were:
John Russell, Drangan
Dermot Darcy, 30 St. Patricks Place, Fethard
Charlie O'Sullivan, Kyle, Drangan.
Next weeks Jackpot remains at €10,000 and the Jackpot sellers prize is €1,000.

The Well Golf Society
This coming Saturday 27th August, we make the short trip to Callan Golf Club for our fifth outing of the season. Tee off is at 10.30am.

Childrens’ Fancy Dress Parade
On this coming Sunday, 28th August, we invite all children to take part in our ‘Children’s Fancy Dress Parade’ which will commence at 3pm from Fethard Ballroom.  Lots of prizes to be won! Banna Cluain Meala and Majorettes will lead the parade from the Ballroom to the Abbey Grounds where a fete will take place, which will include a recital from the award-winning trio of girl musicians, ‘Amadeus’. All are welcome to take part in this celebration, which is organised as part of the Augustinian 700 Anniversary Celebrations in Fethard.

Albie the Celebrity!

The albino hedgehog found near Cloneen has been somewhat of a national celebrity.  A Dublin national Sunday newspaper, ‘Ireland on Sunday’, sent a photographer down especially to take his picture.  And there he appeared last Sunday, on page 36, with a very witty accompanying article.

The whys and the wherefores of the little hedgehog, and his welfare, were also discussed at great length on the “Mooney Goes Wild Programme” on RTE radio on Saturday morning last.

Down by the River!
Members of Fethard Tidy Towns committee, who organised the annual clean-up of the Clashawley River, wish to thank sincerely all who turned up on the night to help out – Bill Kennedy, Colm McGrath, Di Stokes, Ann Marie O’Sullivan, Catherine Kearney, Peter Grant and Thelma Griffith.  It was also great to see a number of juveniles taking part in the effort, including, Mary Jane Kearney, Amy, Luke and Colin Grant, and their cousins Leah and Corbin.  Not forgetting, Tommy O’Dwyer and Jason Lawrence, who entered the vineyard at the eleventh hour and did great work in helping Bill Kennedy to remove their prize capture from the river, to wit, the carcase of a recently deceased fox.

Maybe there could have been more willing to give a hand, but, great credit is due to the band of civic-minded citizens who did turn out on the night.

Clashawley comes from the Gaelic, ‘Clash Alainn’, which means ‘Beautiful Stream, but how can you have a ’Beautiful Stream’ if people continue to dump cans, bottles, crisp bags, fast food containers, the odd piece of discarded furniture and electrical goods etc. into the river.  Hopes that the efforts of the ‘cleaning gang’ would last for at least a short while were sadly dashed when an old push-bike was dumped in the river at Coffey’s Bridge near the Abymill in the following days.

The great Kerry writer wrote, especially about ‘litterbugs’ and those who allow their dogs to bark incessantly and wander where they will day or night, “Lock them in a shed and starve them for a week.”  A bit severe perhaps, but maybe it would work!

However, hopes spring eternal and here’s hoping that one day the Clashawley will once again be a “Stream of Beauty” and a pleasant experience to enjoy the walkway, “Down by the Riverside”.

Hunting News
While those engaged in cleaning up the Clashawley had no problem in finding a fox, albeit a dead one, the Tipperary Foxhounds, who commenced their autumn hunting on 12th August, were not quite so fortunate. Foxes were very hard to come by on their first three mornings hunting on the bog near Littleton, and equally so in Finnane Wood on Thursday morning.

However, things improved immensely at Coolquill on Friday with the best morning’s hunting for some time, followed by another good morning at Knockgraffon on Saturday.

The Ballylusky White Heather Harriers commenced their campaign with quite a good morning on Slievenamon on Sunday.  The White Heathers will once again run their members and friends monthly draw during the current season.  With the vast increase in the cost of food supply for the hounds, the committee are confident that support for the draw from followers and supporters will be forthcoming.  The monthly subscription is €5. First draw will take place on Tuesday 6th September and those wishing to subscribe can do so by contacting any committee member.

Young Entrepreneurs
The return of the South Finals to the GAA Field was a welcome sight a few weekends ago.  The thousands of supporters of all four teams livened up what is normally a sleepy Sunday afternoon in Fethard.  Somebody was quick off the mark in capitalising on the visitors.

A group of young entrepreneurs charged around the town a few hours before the match selling programmes. When asked by one man, who bought a programme for €3 from the persistent young lad, how much they were getting in commission for selling the programmes, the lad replied that they got 50 cent for each one sold. Imagine the surprise of the people who bought them around the town for €3, only to see them being sold inside the gate of the venue for €2.  The middle man in this deal certainly went home happy.
(N Gawe)

Pic of the Past!

Can anyone help us name this group of children photographed at Cloneen Field Day c 1980. We can see Grace and Olwyn Wall in the back row!. Back L to R: Grace Wall, Catherine White, ?, Olwyn Wall, ?, ?, ?, ?. Front L to R: ?, ?, ?, ?.

This Cloneen Field Day Committee photograph was taken on the same day. Back L to R: Willie O'Brien, Paddy Meagher, Paddy Clancy, Frank Britton, Pat Smyth, Jim Quinn. Front L to R: Denis O'Halloran, Gerry Hogan, Siobhán Duggan, John Holohan, Peggy O'Brien, Teddy Keane and Mary Gahan.

Fethard Bridge Club
Fethard Bridge Club plans to run a series of classes for beginners commencing mid-September in the Tirry Centre. Once the basics of bridge have been mastered we hope to continue with a weekly bridge game at which beginners can put into practice what they have learned and continue to get help and advice from more senior players. Anyone interested should contact our president, Marie Delaney, at 052-31148 or our secretary, Gemma Burke, at 052-31799 for further details.

Regular bridge at the Tirry Centre resumes on Wednesday, 7th September at 7.30pm. We would encourage former members to think about returning to the club – you will be made most welcome. Young adults, with time on their hands during the winter months and who enjoy a challenge, might also consider taking up bridge. It exercises the mind and is a very pleasant way to spend an evening!

Fethard Juvenile GAA Club
Our annual Summer camp was held last week and with over 100 boys and girls from Mullinahone to America and some of the county’s best hurlers and footballers attending all the children enjoyed all the fun and games provided by our coaches. We would like to thank all the coaches and adults who helped to make our week run smooth and to the companies who made the T-Shirts and Kit Bags at such short notice, which were given to all the children at the end of the week.

U6, 8 and 10s will commence training on Saturday 27th August from 3pm to 4pm.  All new faces are more than welcome so why not come along and enjoy the fun and games.

U12s will play the County Hurling Semifinal on Monday 29th August in New Inn at 7pm against Golden and we would like to see a large support from the parish there to cheer the boys on. Best of luck to all.

U14s have reached the South Semifinal by beating Kilsheelan by 1 point in a great game. We now await our semifinal opponents whom we will play this week.

Thanks to other clubs, our U16s have had three games rescheduled, which are now due to be played on Wednesday 31st August against Carrick Swan at 7pm in Carrick; Monday 5th September against Ballybacon at 7pm in Fethard. The third game against Clonmel Og to be arranged.   It is hoped that we would reach the semifinals of this competition. Well done to the Fethard Senior team on reaching the South Senior Football final.

All committee members are requested to attend the GAA field on Sunday 28th August at 5.30pm for the replay of the South Senior Hurling Final between Ballingarry and Killenaule.

Third Annual TRUST Golf Classic

Photographed at the announcement of details of this year’s Golf classic to help support TRUST’s work for homeless as it celebrates 30th anniversary are left to right: Peter Collins, RTE Sports Commentator; Frank Purcell; Alice Leahy, Director and Co-Founder, TRUST and Michael Babs Keating, Former Tipperary Hurler and Team Manager.

The third annual golf classic in aid of the Trust Charity will take place at Slievenamon Golf Club on 16th and 17th September 2005.  The Classic was started three years ago by Frank Purcell and Vincent Murphy to raise money for Trust which was founded thirty years ago by Fethard person Alice Leahy.  The charity helps to meet the social and health needs of the homeless on the streets of Dublin.

Alice provides a voice for those who have got no voice in society. Trust is a non-political, non-denominational body working for the homeless. It doesn’t receive any State subsidies, so it relies on donations from the general public to remain in existence. While this may be a struggle at times, it also allows Alice to retain an independent voice and rock the boat from time to time, taking on politicians without fear of losing a grant here and there.

Alice was awarded Tipperary ‘Person of the Year 2003’, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from UCD in recognition of her work with the homeless . There are some tee-off times left for the Classic. To enter a team or sponsor a tee box, contact Frank Purcell on 087 7805492 or Vincent Murphy on 086 8119625 or contact Slievenamon Golf Club directly.  The organisers would like to thank those people who came forward over the past few years and gave donations independently of the classic. More information on Trust can be found at www.trust-ireland.ie

Community Games National Finals
Fethard and Killusty Community Games area enjoyed considerable success at the National finals in Mosney last weekend. We had five Judo Competitors who won three gold and two silver medals and the girls u-16 Volleyball team won bronze medals.

Natalie Cahill, gold medal winner in the in the girls u35kg Judo event

Natalie Cahill, who won a gold medal on her first visit to Mosney last year, gave a repeat performance and fought with skill and confidence in the girls u35kg event to land the first girls gold of the day for Tipperary, beating opponents from Dublin and Galway.

Padraig O’Shea, gave an equally impressive performance in the boys u35kg event winning his gold medal and also beating opponents from Dublin and Galway.

Cathal Gorey, who was well-known at National Finals for many years and accumulating a number of medals in the process, added another gold to his collection.  Cathal’s opponents were from Dublin and Cavan.  He will be overage next year.

Emma Walsh won a silver medal in u-30kg and this was a brilliant achievement on her first attempt. Emma won her semifinal against a girl from Laois but just lost the final to a very experienced player from Derry.

Samantha Feery, who scooped gold last year, won her semifinal u-50kg in fine style defeating the Kilkenny competitor. Samantha was narrowly defeated by a very tough competitor from Galway in the final, but she won a well deserved silver.  Most of the judo competitors had just returned from Wales on the early hours of Friday morning.

Fethard & Killusty Community Games girls' under-16 volleyball team who represented Munster and won bronze medals at the National Finals in Mosney 2005. Back L to R: Denis Burke (team manager), Lisa Anglim, Lesley Looby, Gráinne Horan, Mary Anne Keane, Sinead Coffey, Sarah Hayes. Front L to R: Ida Carroll, Niamh Fanning, Carrie Sweeney (captain), Sarah Conway, Chloe Gough and Debbie Lawrence.

U-16 girls volleyball team also gave a good account of themselves even though they lost to Graigecullen, Carlow, in the semifinal.  The first set went to 23 -25.  In the play off against Monaghan, Fethard won two straight sets 25-22 and 25-21.  Denis Burke was very pleased with his team, the majority of whom are underage for next year. Team members were: Carrie Sweeney (Captain), Lisa Anglim, Ida Carroll, Niamh Fanning, Sarah Conway, Chloe Gough, Debbie Lawrence, Lesley Looby, Gráinne Horan, Mary Anne Keane, Sinead Coffey and Sarah Hayes.

Aine Proudfoot and Louis and Laura Rice competed in the Art. They all produced some excellent pictures but the standard was very high and even though medals eluded them everybody had a great time.  Fintan Rice and Alice Feery attended as County Manager and Bernard Feery and Helena O’Shea were National Officials  Well done to all concerned.