Fethard students make their mark in Junk Kouture fashion

Aobh O'Shea modelling her 'Bright Ideas' outfit made from recycled crisp packets. The dress is made entirely out of crisp packets. The accessories are also broken/recycled materials decorated with crisp packets. The handle of the umbrella is a broken hairdryer and there are used batteries on the shoes. The 'Lightbulb Moment' headpiece is made from a broken hairband and a used lightbulb. This headpiece symbolises all of the different ideas, both good and bad, that it took to finally come up with the finished product- 'Bright Ideas'. Aobh is assisted by Danielle Sheehan in her project.

Best wishes to Patrician Presentation Secondary School’s art teacher, Ms Pat Looby, and the two Transition Year groups on their selection for the regional finals of the Junk Kouture Fashion Competition. The school asks all past pupils, past staff members and the Fethard community to please support the school’s two entries, ‘Bright Ideas’ and ‘Punkture’, in the upcoming Junk Kouture Competition which will be held in the Strand Hotel, Limerick, on April 1.

Voting will begin on Monday, March 26 and 10% of the voting for the competition will be online. The website address is: www.junkkouture.com and Fethard being a small Secondary School, will need as many online votes as possible.


Svetlana Novikova modelling her 'Punkture' outfit made from recycled bicycle tubing. is outfit is made entirely of rubber tubing from the local bicycle shop and recycling centre. Each tube is hand-stitched together. The overskirt is lined by collage. Electric copper wires are used in the handles of the handbag. The shoes are decorated with fringing made from the tubing and flowers made from old clothes and buttons. The head piece is a lampshade with painted cardboard on either end and decorated with collage. The 'garden of roses' on top of the hat are made out of old clothes and tissue. Svetlana is assisted by Karen Hayes and Michelle Walsh.

Seachtain na Gaeilge sa Scoil
Seachtain na Gaeilge was celebrated in style in the Patrician Presentation Secondary School with a number of activities organised in the lead-up to St. Patrick’s Day. Some of the pupils participated in an Irish Poster competition organised by Conradh na Gaeilge and attended a Ceili organised in the school on Friday, March 16, by Muinteoir Gaeilge, Ms Vaughan and by P.E. teacher Ms O’Connor. The Céilí was enjoyed by all and some of the dances learned for the occasion were: Fallai Luimnigh, Ionsai na hInse, Rince na Deilbhe agus Tonnta Torraidh. Earlier in the day, the 1st and 2nd Years took part in a Treasure Hunt, Toraiocht Taisce in the vicinity of the school. Comhgairdeachas to all involved.

Fundraising ‘Race Nite’
A fundraising ‘Race Nite’ will be held in Butler’s Sports Bar for the Niall Mellon Township Trust on Friday, March 23, starting at 9pm. Proceeds are being raised by volunteer Cathy Tobin so come along for the craic and stay for the races!

Died Recently
The death has occurred on Friday, 23rd March, of Mr Michael Walsh, Sean Líne, Kerry Street, Fethard.

Reposing at his son Michael's home at Jossestown, Market Hill, Fethard, from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday, 24th March, followed by removal to Holy Trinity Parish Church, Fethard, to arrive at 6pm.

Requiem Mass at 2pm on Sunday followed by interment at Calvary Cemetery.

Patrician Presentation Jottings
Fr. Joe Walsh, a past pupil of our school, gave a presentation to all 6th Year pupils on Friday last. He spoke to them about his vocation to the priesthood and his ministry since his ordination.

Holy Trinity National School 5th Class pupils will visit our school on Tuesday next, March 20. The pupils will visit our school for a P.E. class delivered by our Transition Year pupils. The T.Y. pupils have been preparing for this event and have already submitted lesson plans to P.E. teacher Ms O’Connor.

Clocks go forward this weekend
Don’t forget to set your clocks forward by one hour at 1am on this Sunday, March 25, officially the start of Summer Time. We may be losing an hour in bed but with extra daylight in the evenings and a long summer ahead, there’s plenty to look forward to.

St. Patrick's Day in Fethard

Fr. Anthony McSweeney and servers, Jack and Lucy Spillane at St. Patrick's Day Mass in Fethard Holy Trinity Parish Church.


Fethard Slievenamon Ladybirds and leaders photographed at St. Patrick's Day Mass in Fethard Holy Trinity Parish Church.


Fethard Trinity Pack Brownies and leaders photographed at St. Patrick's Day Mass in Fethard Holy Trinity Parish Church.


Fethard Girl Guides and leaders photographed at St. Patrick's Day Mass in Fethard Holy Trinity Parish Church.


Fethard Scouting members and leaders photographed at St. Patrick's Day Mass in Fethard Holy Trinity Parish Church with Canon Tom Breen P.P.


Photographed in Fethard on St. Patrick's Day are brothers L to R: Aleksi Laaksonen and Sami Laaksonen

Fethard Bridge Club
The results of Fethard Bridge Club game played on Wednesday, February 29 were:
1st Gross: Berney Myles and Alice Quinn;
2nd Gross: Carmel Condon and Brendan Kenny;
3rd Gross: Rita Kane and Kay St. John;
1st Nett:  Marian Walsh and Sean O'Dea;
2nd Nett: Carol Kenny and Gemma Burke;
3rd Nett: Rita Holohan and Mary Delaney.

On Wednesday, March 7, we played the first round of the Club Championship and the results were:
1st Gross: Nell Broderick and Anna Cooke;
2nd Gross: Carol Kenny and Gemma Burke;
3rd Gross: Rita Kane and Kay St. John;
1st Nett: Frances Burke and Noreen Evans;
2nd Nett: Anne Connolly and Eileen Frewen;
3rd Nett: Joan Kelly and Ellen Rochford.

On March 28 we play for Easter prizes. Anyone looking for a partner contact Berney Myles at 6132038.

Parents’ Association Table Quiz
The annual table quiz in aid of the Lourdes Diocesan Pilgrimage will be held on Monday, March 26. The proceeds of this quiz will be used to sponsor two fifth year students who will assist pilgrims throughout their stay in Lourdes next June. The quiz begins at 8.30pm in the Secondary school's study rooms. Table of four adults will cost €28, and student teams €20. Refreshments will be served by the Parents' Association. Wonderful raffle prizes to be won and many thanks to our generous sponsors.

Céad Míle Fáilte do gach duine, parents, pupils, past-pupils, teachers agus cáirde go leir, see you there!

Fethard & Killusty Community Lotto
The numbers drawn on March 14 were: 5, 13, 30 and 32. We had no Jackpot winner and no ‘Match Three’ winner so the following drawn tickets received €50 each: Trish Fitzgerald (online ticket); William Connolly, The Green, Fethard; and Eileen Tobin, St. Patrick’s Place, Fethard.

The three following ‘Lucky Dip’ winners also won €50 each: Audrey Devitt, Strylea, Fethard; Mary Brown, c/o Kitty O'Donnell; and Geraldine McCarthy, Kerry Street, Fethard.

The next Lotto draw will take place on March 21, and you can also purchase your lotto ticket online at www.fethard.com. Buy seven weekly tickets and get one free! Check on the website for lots of special offers. Next week’s Jackpot is €8,750 and the Jackpot sellers prize is €875. All proceeds go towards community work in Fethard.

Fethard and District Rugby Club

Fethard & District Club Rugby Club members taking part in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Clonmel.

It was wonderful to see Fethard Rugby Club take part in the Clonmel St. Patrick's Day Parade for the first time. Watching the young excited players in the blue and white jerseys preparing for the march under the club's new banner was fantastic.

Despite the heavy hail showers before the parade and the showers whilst lining up our players did not let the weather dampen their spirits. Rugby players, Oran Ryan, Paddy Gaynor, Michael Scully, Patrick Scully, Thomas Murphy, Jack O'Rourke, Peter Wall, Robert Wall, Andrew Wall, Andrew O'Connell, Aidan Fitzgerald, Tomas Ryan, Michael James Phelan, Josh Rowan, Tom Hayden, Oisín Ryan, Cathal Ryan, Sean Ryan, James Ryan, Michael Ryan, Conor Walsh Courtney Walsh, Shane Neville, Connor Neville, Mark Neville, Michael Long, Richard Robinson, Pairic Heffernan, Conor Ryan, Luke Ryan. A great turnout guys, well done.

Thank you to all the parents and coaches who made it possible for the children to take part, your help is always needed and very much appreciated.

Date for the diary - remember next week the mini's are away to Dungarvan on Sunday March 25, for a Blitz. Also note that the clocks change and ‘spring’ forward an hour on Sunday, so early to bed for all the players on Saturday evening. See you all at training on Friday for more Rugby with lots of fun with Fethard Rugby Club.

On Sunday afternoon last Fethard U13s played Clanwillam in what was a very evenly matched game with a scoreline tipped in favour of our visitors by just 2 points in a game that could have gone either way in the last few moments. Our forwards were very impressive with Richie Holohan scoring a fine try and having a good game all round, the Fethard line-out was very strong with Fethard robbing some of the Clan line-out. The backs were very good with James O'Connell have a fine game at full back, who had to chase back twice and deny Clan 2 tries, all the backs played good with our out half Mark Heffernan getting 2 tries and converting them also.

Training is on Friday at 6.45pm and looking forward to seeing every one there. Remember the clocks are going ‘forward’ one hour on Sunday!

Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance
Article by Bernie Cummins, The Nationalist (Thursday March 22)

Photographed at the official opening of Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance on Monday, March 19, 2012, are L to R: Liam Ryan (MC), Cllr Michael Murphy (Vice-Chairman South Tipperary County Council), Sadie Heffernan, Theresa McGarry and Cllr. John Fahey.

Loved ones, friends and family members who tragically lost their lives on the country roads near the rural village of Ballynonty near Slieveardagh, will never be forgotten as a garden of remembrance, in their honour, was officially opened on Monday, March 19.

A huge community effort which saw neighbours and friends work side-by-side for the past six weeks ensured that the remembrance garden was completed for its unveiling which attracted a huge gathering.

Well known community worker and longtime volunteer Janie Murphy, aged 92, performed the ribbon-cutting duties in the presence of vice-chairperson of South Tipperary County Council Cllr Michael Murphy, the organising committee chaired by Cllr John Fahey, along with families whose lives have been touched by the tragedy of a fatal road traffic accident.


Adrian and John O'Donovan, Fethard, with children Cian and Chloe Carey-O'Donovan at the official opening of Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance.

Thirty six people have died on the roads in and around Ballynonty over the past number of decades and photos of these people have been erected in the garden, keeping their memory alive and providing their loved ones with special place to visit them.

The remembrance garden, built on a piece of unused council-owned land, was designed by Holycross-based artist, Philip Quinn, formerly from Killenaule. A committee was formed just six weeks ago to push ahead with the idea, taking it from design to reality with the financial assistance of the South Tipperary Development Company and local fund raising initiatives, as well as help from Sr. Patricia Wall from the Slieveardagh Rural Development Company and a local Community Employment (CE) scheme, under the supervision of Tyrone Walker.


Thurles Gospel Choir singing at the official opening of Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance.

"This was a huge community effort," said Cllr John Fahey who is the chairperson of the remembrance garden committee.

"Nearly everyone was involved, if they weren't working there, they were there in spirit," he said, adding that he believes that this garden is the first of its kind in Tipperary. The remembrance garden concept was something that had been in people's minds for some time and he said that it was wonderful to finally see it come to fruition. Cllr Fahey, who walks three miles every day, said that he witnesses first-hand what it is like to be on the busy country roads nowadays, along with so much traffic. He appealed to people to ensure that they are visible while out on these roads.


Local motorbike enthusiasts photographed at the official opening of Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance, where many of their late friends are remembered.

"This garden is a reminder to everybody of how frail the human body is and I am appealing to people, when they are out walking on these roads, that they wear appropriate high-visibility vests and I would ask motorists to slow down when driving on country roads."

Liam Ryan, whose son Pat was killed in 1983 after he was knocked down at the briquette factory near Ballynonty, is one of the many people who has been involved in the building of the remembrance garden for the past number of weeks. He said that it was a lovely tribute to the people, including Pat who was just 19 when he died, who have lost their lives on the roads and said that he was delighted to have had the chance to take part.


Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance Official Opening

"It has been a great community effort and it is important to remember people at this garden." Pat said that he could clearly remember the night that he and his wife Lil lost Pat, the eldest in a family of three boys and one girl. They came upon the accident as they were driving home from an engagement.

"We were on the way home from the Holycross Novena which was on at 9.30pm that evening, so it was later that night. We came along the road and saw that a number of cars had stopped. We pulled up too, and do you know, we didn't get a shock, we almost had a feeling, as though we were almost prepared for it," said Liam.

Pat, who was walking with a friend that night, lived for about 20 minutes after he was knocked down.

"I was numb, just numb," said Liam.

He said that he could never shed a tear for Pat for many years until the day before his other son married, more than ten years later. Liam was in the bank doing some business and an innocent question of how many he had in his family stopped him in his tracks. He left the bank and went to his car, where he cried for 15 to 20 minutes.

When asked how such a tragedy impacts on a family Liam responded: "It is hard to describe it, you never forget but you learn to live with it. It is the first thing in the morning and last thing at night that you think of," he said.


A section of the large crowd that attended the official opening of Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance

Cllr Fahey thanked everybody who worked so hard to reach the end result, with a special mention to Gleeson Quarries in Laffanbridge, Killenaule Stone Quarry and Perry's Shop Ballynonty who were integral sponsors of the project, The garden was blessed by Canon Liam Ryan, parish priest of Killenaule and Fr. O'Rourke from Glengoole.


L to R: Stephanie Cahill and Caoimhe Ryan photographed at the official opening of Ballynonty Garden of Remembrance.

Food and your Children
A most enlightening talk will be given by Anne Maher, Food Nutritionist, to the children at Holy Trinity National School on Thursday, 22nd March, during school time. This will be followed up with a presentation for parents, in the school hall, on Tuesday night 27th March at 7.30p.m.

This is an opportunity not to be missed as Anne will point out the benefits and effects of various foods on your children. You will also be aware of what the children have been told which should help you in your efforts to support the school's Healthy Eating Policy. Looking forward to seeing you all at this event.

St. Vincent De Paul.
Anybody requesting help with First Holy Communion expenses please ring one of the following numbers: 6131698 – 6131852 – 6131354 or contact any member of the society as soon as possible.

Fethard Tidy Towns
The next meeting of the Tidy Towns will take place on Tuesday 27th March in Fr. Tirry Centre at 8pm. The 2012 work plan is up for discussion and if anyone has any ideas we would be happy to hear them and take them on board.

The Tidy Towns Committee would like to make contact with the new graffiti artist we have around town with a view to discussing some new ventures, please contact any member of the committee or if anyone knows who our artist is please pass on name to the committee.

Great work is being done with litter picking around the Town and on the approach road and a big thank you to all involved. Excellent work has been done to date by the County Council and Coolmore Stud and we are happy to say this work is on-going.

On a negative note household rubbish dumping is still a big problem and we would ask people to refrain from dumping.

Fethard Juvenile GAA Club
Mini GAA and U10 start back training on Saturday, March 24, at 11am. Registration for these groups will also take place on this day. Membership is the same as last year, €20 per child, capped at €40 for two or more in same family.

Our U16s are playing away to St. Patrick’s on Sunday, March 25, at 2pm.

We are looking for more parents to help with the U6 and U8s this year. If you think you can help, even commit to a few training sessions or in any other way, please let your child's coach know or Eugene Walsh. We welcome Eugene on board this year as our Children's Officer, overlooking procedures and policies related to all our youth members under 18 years. Please do not hesitate to contact Eugene with any concerns or question you may have. Eugene has recommended that all club youth members wear gum shields when training and playing fixtures.

Andy O’Donovan (Juvenile chairman) remains our club's appointed Designated Children's Officer.

Dates for your calendar: June 8, Fethard GAA Golf Classic in Dundrum; June 9, is Fethard GAA Dinner Dance in Clonmel Park Hotel, celebrating 125 years of GAA in Fethard. We aim to have this weekend, June 8, 9 and 10, totally dedicated to GAA activities so please join in, help out, come along and celebrate with us.

We are finding it very difficult to get going with our fixtures this year. We had to make changes to a couple of fixtures which we hope will not need to happen to often and preferably not again for the season. The South Division does not look too kindly on postponements and are aiming to keep it to an absolute minimum this year, so any holidays, Communion Dates etc, please let your coaches know as soon as possible or text them to the Juvenile Secretary on 086 8963925.

Thank you to all those to contributed to our church gate collection last weekend.  The total raised was just over €700. We also thank those who were able to help with the collection.

Fethard Ladies Football Club
Fethard Ladies Football Club invite all players who have not yet completed their registration for the 2012 season to please do so now. It is important that we have all our players properly registered to play, and that they are covered by the Injury Fund from the Ladies Gaelic Football Association. For further information, players/parents should contact team managers/coaches, or the club registrars, Noelle Ahearne and Fiona Ryan.

Our Under 8s and Under 10s will commence training in the GAA Field at 11am on Saturday. The Under 12s will continue training on Saturday, also in the GAA Field at 11am. Please check on the ‘Fethard Ladies Football’ Facebook page for full details of training and match fixtures for all of the Ladies teams.

There were about 60 people left in the ‘Last Man Standing’ competition for the games which took place over St. Patrick's weekend. The competition will get tougher now, and it's likely that the numbers left in the competition will drop very quickly over the next few weeks - so good luck! Many thanks for all your continued support helping us gather the tokens in the Irish Independent; contact Alice Butler if you have some tokens for the club.

Eoin at Clonmel Parade

Eoin Condon, Fethard, photographed at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Clonmel

Horse Fairs and Horse Sales
Noted author and photo-journalist on all things ‘horsey’, Noel Mullins, will give an illustrated lecture on ‘The Origins of Irish Horse Fairs and Horse Sales’ this Thursday night, March 22, in the Abymill Theatre at 8.30pm.

Noel Mullins published a book of the same name in 2008 where he was able to go back to The Great Fair in Tara in 1200BC, which surely indicated that ‘dalin in Horses’ has been going on for a long time indeed.

In 2006 he published his noted ‘Horse Tales and Horse Talk’ which included the biographies of thirty-one famous hunting people. The book, with over 100 action photos, included the legendary Molly Cusack-Smith of the Galway Blazers, the pack which he himself began hunting with over fifty years ago. The book also includes Pat O’Brien of our own Tipperary Foxhounds so noel Mullins is very familiar with Fethard and South Tipperary.

The lecture is being hosted by the Fethard Historical Society as the story of the horse and Fethard are hugely intertwined and never more so than at the present time. The lecture will also touch on ‘horse breeds’ a topic that the society wishes to explore further in the coming years.

Everyone with an interest in horses –which includes half of Fethard of course - are welcome to hear Noel Mullins talk at 8.30pm in the Abymill Theatre this Thursday night, 22 March. The entrance fee is €4 which includes a cheese and wine reception.

'Shave or Dye' fundraiser for Cancer Research

Fethard participants who have volunteered to take part in the upcoming 'Shave or Dye' fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society. The group are currently seeking sponsorship for their 'Shave or Dye' event which will take place in The Well Bar at 9pm on Sunday, April 8. All are welcome for a great night's craic and music. L to R: Darren O'Meara, Damien Donovan, Paul Kenny, Willie O'Meara, Eoghan Hurley and David Lawton.