Emigrants’ Newsletter Church Gate Collection
The annual church gate collection for the Emigrant’s Newsletter will take place this weekend, 27th and 28th October.  We ask for your support to help us publish and post over 1000 Newsletters free of charge to our emigrants throughout the world. 

All donations of €10 or more will be acknowledged in this years issue.  If you wish to be acknowledged, please put your donation in an envelope with your name and address or you can also deliver by hand to Carmel Rice, Brookhill, or Joe Kenny, Rocklow Road. 

Hallowe'en in Fethard

Roseanne and John Carroll photographed with their daughter Andrea preparing for the Hallowe'en rush at Lonergan's Pub, The Square, Fethard

Fethard is certainly one of the most atmospheric places to visit if you need to get into the Hallowe'en spirit!  Lonergan’s pub has been totally revamped to house all sorts of seasonal visitors of the ‘supernatural kind’ for the holiday weekend. There is a special ‘Fancy Dress’ Hallowe'en Party organised for this Friday night.

We’re also aware of other Hallowe'en Parties organised for the ‘Castle Inn’ and ‘Butlers Sports Bar’ on Saturday night. Check window posters for further details.

To celebrate their 1st anniversary, Meagher’s Londis supermarket are also throwing a Hallowe'en party in their store from 4pm to 6pm on Wednesday 31st October. Children are invited along for refreshments, face-painting and balloons. Eoin Kelly will be present to present the winners of the Hallowe'en Colouring Competition with Mountain Bikes, there are twelve to be won!

All-in-all, Fethard is the place to be this Hallowe'en. We only ask all those who are planning to let off ‘bangers’ to please consider the effect it has on pet dogs and other animals whose hearing is hundreds of times more sensitive than that of a human.

 

Hunting News
With the dark November days upon us, summer time ending on Saturday night, and the Tipperary Foxhounds holding their opening meet in Fethard on Monday next at 11am, signs are evident that the winter season is almost here.

The Tipperary Foxhounds have completed, on Saturday 27th October, a most successful Autumn Hunting campaign.  Hounds were out four mornings per week making a total of 44 mornings in all.  Foxes were overall in good supply throughout the Tipperary Country, scarce in very few areas with hounds failing to find on just one morning only.  Huntsman, Derry Donegan, expressed himself as very pleased with the hunting qualities of both the dog and bitch packs.  Derry was particularly pleased with the young entry of fifteen couple and reckons that thirteen couple of these will definitely make the grade as top-class hounds.  Twenty-two brace of foxes were accounted.

Here’s wishing the Tipperary Foxhounds, their followers, mounted and foot, and their supporters a very successful and good hunting season.  Best of luck to huntsman Derry Donegan and new whipper-in Paul O’Grady.  Monday marks the start of the 187th season the Gallant Tipps have hunted out of Fethard, having been started in their present form by William Barton at Grove in 1820.  Long may they continue. 

Yours in Sport
Good to see footballers such as Paidí Ó Shea and Robbie Keane speaking out in favour of Steve Staunton, the much maligned manager of the Republic of Ireland soccer team.  The torrents of abuse and scurrilous attacks on this great player are nothing short of scandalous.  The media in particular are most to blame.  Indeed the vitriolic attack on Steve Staunton by Paul Hyland on four successive nights were way above even destructive, not to mind say constructive criticism.  Some of what he wrote could be classed as invitation to riot.

The supporters who booed the team and the manager in Croke Park should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.  The “best supporters in the world” let themselves down badly.  They proved once again, if proof was needed, that “the yobs that cheer the loudest when their team is winning, boo the strongest when they lose”.  This type of support is completely foreign to Croke Park and the sooner it is got rid of the better.
— (E.A.N.)

Put Back the Clock
Just a reminder that we revert to ‘winter (old) time’ on this Saturday night, 27th October.  Do not forget to put your clock back one hour before retiring.

Girls Night Out!

Photographed above is Audrey Conway with girl friends who came out to celebrate her engagement to Ciáran Treacy last weekend in Fethard.

Public Realm Plan for Fethard & Town Wall Conservation and Management Plan
The above consulting agents have progressed well with their contracts and are now in a position to make a preliminary presentation to stakeholders on Tuesday 30th October in the Abymill Theatre at 7.30pm. This will be an opportunity to meet both sets of consultants who will explain their initial findings and most importantly give the public an opportunity to express what they feel is important.

Also on the following day there will be a further opportunity to meet on a one to one basis to discuss your views. Appointments can be made on the night and will take place in the Tirry Community Centre

Contact for the Public Realm Plan is James Hennessy email address: james@paulhogarth.com and Julian Munby is the contact for the Town Wall Conservation and Management Plan, email address: j.munby@oxfordarch.co.uk 

Fethard to feature on RTE ‘Nationwide’
Fethard is due to be featured on RTE’s Nationwide programme on Wednesday 31st October which is a special Hallowe'en edition featuring three towns. The television crew and presenters are expected to visit the town during the week to research the items to be included. 

Fethard GAA Club News
In the County Senior Football semifinal played on Sunday evening last we had a good victory over Thomas McDonaghs on a scoreline, 3-9 (1-5) to 0-7 (0-4). Thomas McDonaghs are a group team from the North Division playing for the first year in the championship.  The game was played in fast fading light with our boys getting two goals in the final ten minutes of a hard, physical game, displaying some good passages of open football, with the Fethard rearguard very much on there toes in the final five minutes. The team was: Paul Fitzgerald, Damien Byrne, Michael Aherne, Ian Kenrick, Benny Hahessy, Cian Maher, Glen Burke, Aiden Fitzgerald 1-1, Jamie McCormack, Willie Morrissey, Stephen O’Donnell, Michael Dillon, Christopher Sheehan, Brian Coen 2-8 (6f), John P Looby. Subs used were Kenneth O’Donnell (45min) and Miceál Spillane (55min). Other subs were Tommy Gahan, Shane Walsh, Aiden Lonergan, Shane Alwyard, Connie Flynn, Ed Sheehan, JP McGrath and Karl Maher. Full match report on sports page in The Nationalist. The next outing will be our first county final appearance in six years, against Aherlow or Moyle Rovers, on Sunday 4th November.

In the Minor B county semifinal against Newport played on Sunday 14th October, we understand the goal scored was by Michael Fleming. The final is scheduled to be played this weekend against Upperchurch /Drombane. Check papers for fixture details.

The under-21 B Hurling against Kilsheelan is also scheduled for this weekend.

Our Lotto Jackpot €7,200 was not won. The numbers drawn were 4, 5, 6 and 11. We had two match three winners each receiving €75 — Rory Walsh (Grove Road, Fethard) and Esther Breen (Barrack St. Fethard). The €50 Lucky Dip was won by Colm Coen (Killusty). We are very grateful to Fethard Electrical for supplying the tickets.

Our sympathy at this time is with the O’Dwyer family (St. Patrick’s Place) on the passing of Joe at the great age of 97.  Joe was a man who played for the club winning honours at senior football in 1942 South and County and he was the last survivor of the Killusty Junior side of 1932. Go ndeana Dia trocaire orthu. 

Table Quiz at The Castle Inn

Taking part in the local round of the national Table Quiz in aid of Rehab held at the Castle Inn, Fethard, were L to R: Frank Fogarty, Mary Sheehan, Peg Sharpe and Una Fogarty.


Taking part in the local round of the national Table Quiz in aid of Rehab held at the Castle Inn, Fethard, were L to R: Michael Fitzpatrick, Tom Kearney, James St. John and T.J. Sheehan.


Taking part in the local round of the national Table Quiz in aid of Rehab held at the Castle Inn, Fethard, were L to R: Lisa O'Donnell, Pamela Sharpe, Lorraine St. John and Pa Looby.


Taking part in the local round of the national Table Quiz in aid of Rehab held at the Castle Inn, Fethard, were L to R: Ciarán Leahy, Michael Leahy, Marie Leahy and Lory Kenny.


Taking part in the local round of the national Table Quiz in aid of Rehab held at the Castle Inn, Fethard, were L to R: Kathleen Connolly, Louise McGrath, Joan Gough and Tom McGrath.

Fethard Juvenile GAA Club
Congratulations to the Senior Club on their win and making it through to the county final. It is a wonderful achievement for the club to have both minor and senior represented at county level. It would be wonderful to see some support throughout the town. If anyone has blue and white flags please hang them out of your windows, off your gateposts, your cars, vans, bicycles and even if need be, your chimneys! Come on people of Fethard, get your club spirit going and show some support for this wonderful achievement. Best of luck to our minors and the seniors! 

November Cemetery Rosaries
We are all reminded to visit our Cemeteries during November and to join in the Rosaries for the Holy Souls each Sunday.

• Thursday 1st November at 3pm in the Parish Church and 3.30 Holy Trinity Cemetery.
• Sunday 4th November at 3pm in the Abbey Church and 3.30 at Everardsgrange.
• Sunday 11th November at 3pm in Calvary Cemetery and 3.15 at Peppardstown.
• Sunday 18th November (please note the change of time) 2.45pm at Rathcoole Cemetery and 3.30 at Red City Cemetery.
• Sunday 25th November, after Mass in Killusty, 3pm at Tullamaine, 3pm at Kiltinan and 3.30 at Kilmaclugh.
  

Badgers (over 30s soccer) Celebrating
A great night was had by all Badgers last Friday night in Butlers Sports Bar where they celebrated receiving their new jersey strip from Philip and Ann Butler, for which the club is most grateful. Every club member now has two jerseys — home and away. Already the players have improved their Wednesday night games and at 7pm on Saturday week they will be put to the test in Clonmel where we take on the Clonmel Post Office team.

With winter pulling in and the rugby back in action it will soon be time for our annual migration to the Astroturf in Killenaule. Sadly for some we were unable to secure the Wednesday night slot so from November it will be 8pm to 9pm on Thursday nights. Pooling as per usual and don't forget to get there early for kick off at 8pm sharp.

The Badgers Christmas party night has been booked for the last Friday in November, mark it down now. Hopefully the food will be hot! Finally apologies to all for the fiasco that was the cold chicken and wedges last weekend, it was down to bad communications between the chair and secretary, red faces (literally) all round. On the bright side the sandwiches were all eaten for a change and John Birmingham’s dogs appreciated all the chicken and wedges left behind.

Greetings from Bolivia!

Photographed above with Teo (centre) from Bolivia are Niamh Ward (left) and Kim Lonergan from Fethard. We've had good reports that the girls are doing a great job entertaining the locals!

Fethard Rugby Club News
Our under-18s secured their first points of their league campaign with a devastating display against Waterford City.  Fethard settled very quickly and put in some tremendous tackles early on with Nicholas Hoyne and Cathal Gorey putting down markers from the off. The lighted Fethard pack were determined to boss their Waterford opposition and they did this in some style with Billy Horan, Joey Kelly, Paddy Teehan and Colin Blackmore to the fore in all the early exchanges.

This dominance in the forwards paid off within ten minutes when William Power released Stuart Hanrahan to score his first try, Shane Kavanagh converted.  At the kick off the forwards rucked and mauled their way up field and Nicholas Hoyne forced his way across the line for our second try.

This Fethard side were now firing on all cylinders resolutely refused to allow Waterford into the game.  Jack O'Sullivan began dominating the line-outs, with quick delivery earning Fethard their third try with Stuart Hanrahan crossing for his second.  The forwards again drove up field with William Power at scrum half barking out the instructions, which led to Billy Horan crossing the line for Fethard's fourth try, which Shane Kavanagh converted.  Within five minutes Cathal Gorey made a 35 yards run and through several tackles to cross the line for Fethard's fifth try with the extra points being added by Shane whose kicking game continues to improve.

Waterford continued to fight, however and were rewarded with a well-taken try and convert at half time to leave the score 33-7 to Fethard at the break. Any hope of a resurgence by Waterford was quickly put down by Fethard with the backs passing and breaking the gain line with every movement. Kevin Walzer was particularly effective.  Cathal Gorey ran in two other tries and Fethard finished with a score of 50 points to 7.  This team showed they have the ability to do very well this season and with a strong panel are capable of winning league and cup.  Best wishes to Jack O'Sullivan who sustained a broken nose.

Our under-16s followed this win with an equally impressive one over Thurles on a margin of 32 points to 14.  Kieran Power captained the side and led by example for the entire game.  This is their second victory in the league. The scorers on the day were, Aaron Conran 2 tries, Conor Bergin, Kieran Power and Sean Curran, whose line breaking runs during the game was a pleasure to watch.  Sam Manton is back to his very best and dominated the forward exchanges throughout.

Our under-7s and 8s played six games all together against teams from Nenagh, Roscrea and Thurles last Sunday in a mini blitz away at Nenagh. All these young players upped their game this week and it was a wonderful feeling to come away with such great performances across the board including, Aaron Ryan, Aaron Smullen, Lorcan Ivors, Harry Butler, Patrick Scully, David Healey, Jack Ward, Joseph O'Connor, Darragh Lynch, William Pratt, Dale Murphy, Mark Heffernan, James O'Connell, Ciaran O'Dwyer, Gavin Ryan, Danny Gleeson, Harry Cummins, Jack Spillane, Frankie Meagher, Ned Grogan and Richard O'Connell.  Thank you very much to Nenagh for hosting the Blitz.

The under-9s performed well on the day and it is very encouraging to see improvement of play from all these young players. The under-10s also played well coming away with a win and draw and one defeat.

The under-12 squad of twenty-four won the first game 3-0 and drew the 2nd game. We then played a second time beating Thurles 2-1 with a good strong team. Next we played Roscrea and beat them 3-1. All players played excellent with improved handling from all the team. We will play Waterpark next week venue and time to be confirmed.

Our under-13s won both games against Dungarvan.  They got off to a poor start conceding a try but then got into the game with tries from Willie Morgan and Gareth Lawrence. Both of these were converted by newcomer Eoin Fenley. In the second half we had tries from Luke Keating, Ger Gorey and Kieran Walsh. We ran out 24-10 winners. This was a great performance with many lads getting their first start on a full size pitch. These players will soon be challenging for places on the under-14 team.

Fethard under-14s collected their second league win against Dungarvan on Sunday. After a poor start and poor tackling they conceded an early try to leave them seven-nil down. Dungarvan continued to pile on pressure and were unlucky to kick two penalties wide. In the 2nd quarter Fethard got going and good back play saw the ball move from one side of the field to the other and after some nice interplay between Joe Morgan and David Hayes saw Joe Morgan score in the corner.  Fethard held up the pressure and got a line out five yards short of the Dungarvan line resulting from the line out Jack McCarthy got over to put Fethard seven points in front.  Shortly before half time James Houlihan was driven over by the pack to leave the half time score 15-7.  Fethard were enjoying the better of the game with Dillon Fitzgerald and newcomer Eoin Fenley combining well in the half back positions who helped to clear our lines on a few occasions.  With five minutes to go Fethard’s Keith Guiry got the try to seal the match. Gareth Lawrence came on halfway through the second half and showed well. Overall this was a much improved effort on last week but still much work needs to be done.

Tickets for the Black Tie Dinner Dance are going well for Saturday 17th November, but don’t forget to get your tickets from Jimmy O’Sullivan, Ger Manton, Paul Scully, Martin Murphy or any committee member. 

Fethard & Killusty Community Lotto
The numbers drawn on Wednesday 17th October were: 15, 22, 23 and 27. There was no Jackpot winner and no ‘Match 3’ winner so three tickets were drawn and the following won €50 each:

Michael Doherty, Strylea, Fethard;
Breda Boland, Hoare Abbey, Cashel;
Kitty Ryan, Crosscannon, Killenaule.

The €50 Luck Dip winners were:
Faye Manton, Main Street, Fethard;
Rita Burke, Woodvale Walk, Fethard;
Elaine Purcell, Burke Street, Fethard.

Next week’s Jackpot continues at €10,000 and the Jackpot sellers prize is €1000. 

Earlier deadline for club correspondents and contributors
The Nationalist is moving to new production system weekending Thursday 8th November and this will impact on all who contribute to the Fethard Page as it will involve earlier deadlines. Contributors are asked to start getting their copy in earlier over the coming weeks to facilitate a smooth transition. Please send or email your copy by Sunday at the latest to news@fethard.com  For those of you who do not have email facilities, copy can be handed it to Joe Kenny, Rocklow Road, before 6pm on Sunday.

The Country Boy

Fethard Players cast of 'The Country Boy' who had a very succesful run in the Abymill Theatre with full houses for the one week run. L to R: Niamh Hayes, Anne Connolly, Pat Brophy, Mia Treacy, Joe Hanly and Jimmy O'Sullivan.

Died Recently
The death has occurred on Tuesday 23rd October, of Ms Tess O'Flynn, The Valley, Fethard. Removal took place from McCarthy's Funeral Parlour at 7pm on Wednesday 24th October for Holy Trinity Parish Church, Fethard. Requiem Mass was held at 11am on Thursday followed by burial in Cashel Cemetery.