Easter Time in Fethard
We hope all our readers had a very Happy Easter in particular all those who came home to Fethard to celebrate the religious feast with their families and friends. Following a very well attended successful Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help the numbers attending Easter Week ceremonies appeared to be somewhat down with the exception of Easter Sunday Mass.

Socially there was great activity with visitors, music and lots of birthday parties celebrated in the town.

Fethard Juvenile GAA Club News
Fethard Juvenile Club held their annual Church Gate Collection and would like to thank everybody that donated so generously. An amazing total of over €1,000 was collected between the parishes of Killusty and Fethard and we cannot thank you enough for your kind donations and generosity. This money will go to a worthy cause. Go raibh maith agat.

Due to the weather conditions some matches are now behind schedule but our u14s were away to Clerihan on Easter Monday and on a very wild, wet and windy evening they played in the first round of their South Championship bid and came away with a very convincing win. A great performance throughout the team with Eoin O’Donovan, Alex O’Donovan and Jody Sheehan in the backline defending made it hard for Clerihan to break through and score. There were goals aplenty scored on the night by Adam Fitzgerald (1-01), Tommy Anglim (2-1), Eoghain Hurley (2-0) and Dean Dorney (2-0), with Kyle Walsh having a great game in the number eleven jersey. Niall Doocey had a great game in the number seven jersey, with David Morgan making some great contributions to the game as well. Paul Maloney had a great defensive game and Charlie Manton didn’t have much to do in goal. Tom Condon came on for Willie O’Meara. The final score on the night 7-2 to 1-2.

Members are reminded that their membership fees are overdue and need to be paid and also they are asked to be in the changing rooms on Friday evening at 6.10pm to have their team photos taken. This should not take long and they will be given jerseys to wear for these photos.

Fethard on Facebook
Social networking site Facebook has become a very popular meeting place for ‘Fethard Friends’ through the recently formed ‘Fethard Group’. The group now has over 560 members and still growing.
Anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address can become a Facebook user. Facebook's target audience is geared more for adult users than youth. Users can find their friends and send messages, share photographs, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. You can also choose to be private and share your information with a select group of family members or friends.

For those interested in joining Fethard on Facebook you will first have to register as a Facebook user at www.facebook.com after which you can join the Fethard Group by searching for ‘Fethard’ from their site, or by clicking the link on the ‘current news’ page at www.fethard.com

April Fool's Day
We are happy to report that the North Gate is back in safe hands, as it has been for hundreds of years, and will remain in Fethard in situ. We were also very pleased with the positive reaction people had to preserve our local heritage sites by starting 'action groups' on Facebook etc. We even heard that a well-known traffic warden in Cashel was very worried!
We can thank John Cooney, Crampscastle, for his inspired 'North Gate' article and Tony Newport for his 'Fethard Geese' article . . . but, as one lady (obviously caught out by the April Fool's Joke) said, "Have they nothing better to be doing?"

Fishing Competition
Fethard and Killusty Angling club will hold a fishing competition this Sunday, 11th April at 11am. Anglers to meet at Thorny Bridge. Membership is now due for renewal and must be paid before fishing club waters. Enquires phone 087 7477218.

Fethard and District Day Care Centre
The AGM of Fethard & District Day Care Centre will take place on Thursday 8th April at 8pm in the Tirry Community Centre. All are welcome.

A Table Quiz in aid of the centre will be held in Butler’s Bar on Friday 9th April at 9pm.

Fethard & Killusty Community Lotto
The numbers drawn on 31st March were: 6, 17, 19 and 28. We had no Jackpot winner and no ‘Match 3’ winner so the following tickets drawn received €50 each: Mary Kenny, Mullinahone; P. O'Donnell, c/o Tom Purcell and Jim O'Meara, c/o Jimmy Connolly.
The three following Lucky Dip winners received €50 each: Bernadette McManus, Burke Street, Fethard; Eleanor Roche, Strylea, Fethard; and Bob Maher, Barrack Street, Fethard.
Next week’s Jackpot continues at €10,000 and the Jackpot sellers prize is €1000.

The numbers drawn on 24th March were: 4, 13, 23 and 29. We had no Jackpot winner and five ‘Match 3’ winners who received €30 each: Deirdre Dorney, Woodvale Walk, Fethard; Kathleen O'Riordan, Cloran, Cloneen; Brud Roche, Woodvale Walk, Fethard; Gerry Spillane, c/o Maria Murphy; and Mary Woodlock, Rathdrum.
The three following Lucky Dip winners received €50 each: Bridget Ryan, Loughcopple; Roseanne Carroll, The Square, Fethard; and Eileen Tobin, St. Patricks Place, Fethard.

Friends of Kabongo
Good afternoon to all our "Friends of Kabongo" and greetings for a Happy Easter to you all wherever you happen to be. All well here with myself and our work in Kabongo and I thank God for that and for the many friends we have around the world. It would be an understatement to say that without your support very little would be accomplished here for poor children. We are now giving a good education to just over 430 poor children and feeding just over 300 of them on a twice-daily basis. I suspect that this latter number will rise next term. May God Bless you. I hope to see as many of you as possible sometime later in the year. In the meantime, stay well and be happy.

Gratefully yours, Bro. Paul D. Brennan, Project Manager at Kabongo. Mobile Number: +254 722 377 509. Postal address: Box 5064, Eldoret, Kenya 30100.

Mick Flannery for the Abymill
In the last couple of years Mick Flannery has gone from part time stonemason to one of Irelands most sought after musicians. Currently writing his thirds album, a follow up to the hugely praised ‘White Lies’ he has played a string of sold out shows all over Ireland, one of the most notable being a double headline show at the Marquee Cork with John Spillane. Last year he was nominated for the Choice album awards, was cited as ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ by Hotpress readers (also making it into their 250 best Irish albums) and won ‘Best Male’ at the Meteor Awards.

Flannery is a refreshingly unassuming artist whose sole focus seems to be on his craft, song-writing. A Mick Flannery gig has a feeling of intimacy to it, Flannery’s stage presence exudes no superficial gimmicks, just a man sharing his songs in an understated but powerful manner.

But if asked, Mick adamantly refuses to talk about himself or his achievements; he shies away from these things. Though it’s hard to get this talented musician to open up about himself in a conversation, the heartfelt honesty in his lyrics speak in reams. That’s why he has so far been compared to such great songwriters as Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits.

The year 2009 was more than a successful year for Flannery with two sold out Vicar Street shows, a re-release of his platinum selling critically acclaimed album White Lies and collaborations with Kate Walsh, John Spillane and more. Who knows what 2010 has in store…
Mick plays the Abymill Theatre on Saturday May 8th with his band. Tickets are €20 from McCarthy’s Fethard, O’Flynn’s Fethard and Premier Music Store Clonmel. Support on the night is from the Galway based Fethard musician Aidan Ward.

Fethard Bridge Club
On 31st March we played for Easter Prizes and the results were: 1st Gross: Kay St. John and Rita Kane; 2nd Gross: Bernie O’Meara and Anna Cooke; 3rd Gross: Carol Kenny and Gemma Burke; 1st Nett: Mary Delaney and Rita Holohan; 2nd Nett: Annie O’Brien and Noreen Evans; 3rd Nett: Ellen Rochford and Suzanne Opray.
On Wednesday next, 14th April, we play the second round of our Club Championship. Anyone looking for a partner contact Berney Myles at 6132038.

Fethard ICA Guild
We trust all members had a very Happy Easter. Our meeting for April takes place on Tuesday 13th April at the usual time of 8pm. Phil Coffey (Carrick- on Suir), Federation Information Officer, will be in attendance. The ‘Blue Group’ are in charge of catering for the night.

Fethard GAA Club News
Our Intermediate hurling team played their first game in the County League in Clonmel on Saturday last they went down on a scoreline, St Marys 1-11, Fethard 0-7. The next outing for the club is in Minor Football B on Sunday next against St. Patricks in Kilsheelan at 12 noon.

Our Lotto Jackpot €5,200 was not won. We had two match three winners who received €75 each: Mary Kenrick, Burke St. Fethard, and Cian Morrissey, Tullamaine, Fethard. The €50 Lucky dip was won by Noel Byrne, Killusty, Fethard. Thanks to Clonmel Oil for providing the tickets.