Fethard GAA Club News
Our Intermediate Hurling South Championship semifinal, played last Saturday, was a repeat result of a few weeks ago, Fethard 1-16, St Marys 1-12, and we are now in the South Final for the fourth time in six years. We lost out at the semifinal stage on two occasions and only won the South title once in 2002 out of those six years. On this occasion we renew old rivalry with Ballybacon Grange on Saturday 23rd September. Check sports page for time and venue.

Our team in the semifinal success was: Paul Fitzgerald, Carl Gahan, Cian Maher, Michael Carroll, Dean Tobin, Shane Walsh, Johnny Leahy, Michael Ryan, John Paul Looby, Aiden Fitzgerald 0-1, Miceál Spillane, Ciaran Treacy 0-9 (8f), Michael Aherne 0-2, Stephen O’Donnell 0-1, Kenneth O’Donnell 1-3. Subs used were: Chris Sheehan, Brian Coen and Willie Morrissey. We have now qualified for the County quarterfinals. We wish the management and team the best of luck in the South Final in their quest for title number five, to add to those won in 1982, 1989, 1992 and 2002.

The Minor B Hurling South Final was played on Friday 15th September and it was hard luck on a team that gave it everything on the night. We just came up against a stronger and more physical side and lost on a scoreline, Fethard 0-11, St Marys 1-12. We wish St. Mary’s the best of luck in the county championship. The team was: J P McGrath, Edmond Sheehan, Liam Ryan (capt), Adrian Lawrence, Declan Doyle, Christopher Sheehan, Eoin O’Connell, Peter Gough 0-1, David Prout 0-1, Alan O’Connor 0-1, Richard Gorey, Dean Tobin 0-6f, Niall Hayes, Thomas Gilpin 0-1, Jack O Sullivan. Subs used were: Aaron Donovan 0-1, Tom O’Connell, David Conway, James Kelly, Cathal Gorey. Other subs were: Mathew Fitzgerald, Kieran Ryan, Kevin Hayes, Jonathan Fleming, Ben Walsh, Paul McCarthy and Michael Fitzgerald.

The Junior A Football Championship will resume shortly with a game against Moyle Rovers. In the Senior Football relegation match we are drawn against Carrick Swans which will be played on or after 1st October 2006.

Coffee Day for Hospice
Fethard Bridge Club will host a ‘Coffee day for Hospice’ in Thursday 21st September, from 9am to 6pm in the Town Hall. Please come along and support this worthy cause.

Nano Nagle Parents’ Association AGM
The Annual General Meeting of Nano Nagle Parents’ Association will take place on Monday 25th September at 8pm in the school hall.  All parents of children attending the school are asked to come along.

Trip to Cape Clear Island

Collecting Mushrooms on Cape Clear are L to R: Dot Gibson, Bobby Disney, Peggy Disney and John Cooney. (Photos by Pat Looby)

A small but enthusiastic group set sail for Cape Clear on Friday, 15th September, on a trip organised by the Fethard Historical Society. After last year's successful venture to Inis Oirr, it was decided to explore another island off our shoreline. Cape Clear, officially, remains a Gaeltacht and lies less than one hour by ferry from Baltimore in County Cork and is renowned internationally for bird watching.


The mating game on Cape Clear

On Saturday, on a historical/archaeological tour led by Chuck Kruger, an American writer and broadcaster who has lived on the island for sixteen years and who fashions many of his stories on the lives of the islanders, showed the group the location of the first Christian church on the island built by St. Kieran and supposed by many historical commentators to be the location of the very first Church in the whole country. Through a deepening mist he brought the group to the two famous megalithic standing stones known as the 'marriage stones', one of only three that have survived in the country as a whole; their initial significance is now no longer known but in folklore it is now said that should the hand of one person reach though the hole and be grasped  by their partner, their romantic relationship will remain steadfast. Another standing stone and what was once a burial chamber were also visited.

L to R: Liam Burke, Joan Delaney, Bobby Disney, Peggy Disney, Ann Gleeson, Dóirín Saurus, Chuck Kruger (guide on Cape Clear), John Cooney and Dot Gibson.

On the Sunday, Mr Liam Burke, a naturalist from Clerihan led the group to a pre-breakfast bird watching expedition and then, after that all-important meal, on to Lake Ioral and the seashore for a general commentary on the flora and fauna of the area. Some people saw the female Redstart, an uncommon but regular migrant to our shores and one claimed a glimpse of a greenish Warbler but who knows.


One of the members trying out the Stone of Accord or Wedding Stone — an upright circular stone with a small hole in the center used for centuries by tradesmen and married couples who would link fingers through the hole signifying the renewal of their contracts.

By coincidence, on this weekend there was a whale watching course taking place on the island and some participants have been regularly whale watching from the headland near Ardmore, Co. Waterford. The return boat trip to Baltimore was a delightful voyage with brilliant views of Sherkin Island and the coastline. And, as was said in essays of long ago, we returned home tired but happy.

Councillor Jimmy O’Brien
We congratulate Cllr. Jimmy O’Brien on his co-optation to South Tipperary County Council to take the seat of his late father, Michael O’Brien. Jimmy is looking forward to the challenge of representing the Fethard Electoral Area with the same enthusiasm as his late father. He can be contacted on Tel: 087 6914648.

Parenting Course
The teachers at Nano Nagle Primary School will facilitate a Parenting Course commencing on Monday 25th September for eight weeks. The Parenting Course is highly recommended for all parents and is based on, ‘The Fives to Fifteens Basic Parenting Programme’ that teaches practical skills to help us to be more responsible and effective parents.

If you wish to take part in this very worthwhile course, please write your name, pupil’s name and class, on a piece of paper and hand it in to the school office or to any of the teachers. The weekly meetings will take place at 8pm in the school and will last approximately one hour. A charge of €2 per night is necessary to cover the cost of parenting books supplied.

For further information contact the school at Tel: 052 31493.

Fethard Bridge Club Results
Bridge resumed in the Tirry Centre on Wednesday 13th September with six and a half tables, which was a good turn out for our first night.  The results of the game were:

1st Gross: Alice Quinn and Berney Myles;
2nd Gross: Rita Kane and Kay St. John;
1st Nett: Philly Kenny and Margaret Mary McCormack;
2nd Nett: Suzanne Opray and Ellen Rochford.

Next Wednesday, 27th September, we will be playing for the Free Sub Gross. Anyone looking for a partner contact Berney Myles at (052) 32038.

Married Recently

Married in the Augustinian Abbey, Fethard, on Saturday 16th September, were Niamh Kenny, daughter of Laurence and Rosena Kenny, The Glebe, Fethard, and Paul Moroney, son of Tommy and Mai Moroney, Old Bridge, Clonmel. The couple are spending their honeymoon in Canada.

X Factor Heats Up for Slievenamon Idol
The final heat of the X Factor competition will take place in the Half Way House Rathronan on Saturday the 23rd September with the two semifinals taking place in Cloneen on Friday 29th and Friday 6th October. There will be ten competitors in each semifinal and from these semi-finals eight finalists will fight it out for the honour of being the first Slievenamon Idol.

1st prize will be €400 and a prize of €200 to the runner up. The ‘Grand Final’ will take place on the 14th October. This competition has caused a great stir in the many villages taking part and has a great following. Huge numbers are expected for both the semifinals and the final in Cloneen. The craic should be good!

Some great singers, representing the five pubs involved, as well as local companies and shops etc. Don't miss out — get there early — it promises to be a great night’s entertainment which ever night you chose to go.

You still have a chance to enter, so, have you got the x-Factor? If so, then get along to The Half Way on the 23rd September about 9.30pm. Remember it's the audience who decide the winner by voting for your favourite act.

Civil Defence Classes
Fethard Branch of Civil Defence will shortly resume their classes on Tuesday nights at 8pm in the Tirry Community Centre, Fethard.  New members, over 16 years of age, are welcome to come along and join.  Training in the following projects will be covered over the period, Line Rescue, Fire Fighting, Kayaking and First Aid. For further details contact Dolores Fahey, Civil Defence Office South Tipperary, Tel: 087 2435001 or 052 34616 (Ext 111).

New Retail Outlet in Kerry Street

Photographed at the opening of opening of Meagher's Filling Station shop at Kerry Street, Fethard, are L to R: Fr. Tom Breen P.P., Eoin Kelly, who officially opened the shop, Claire and Ian Meagher with their children, baby Rhiannon and Graham.

On Saturday last, 16th September, Eoin Kelly officially cut the tape to open Ian Meagher’s new retail shop in Kerry Street. The newly custom built shop is part of the Londis Supermarket Group and is situated on the forecourt of Ian’s Top Service Station, formerly O’Riordan’s Garage. A large group of customers and children turned out to meet the Tipperary hurling star and also availed of the free refreshments on offer to celebrate the official opening. On the same day, Ian also closed his service station business on The Green and has now relocated to the same premises in Kerry Street.

The Coronation of Queen Victoria 1838
The Coronation of Queen Victoria on Thursday, June 28, 1838, was celebrated in Fethard, appropriately and without incident, as the following report states in the Tipperary Free Press, dated 30th June 1838:

“Every demonstration of joy which a small town could show was exhibited here on Thursday. In the morning the sweet-toned church bells commenced ringing merry peals; about 12 o'clock the depot of the 58th, under-command of Capt. Collins, paraded in the street and fired a Feu-de-joie, and at night every house in the town was illuminated. The officers of the 58th had the Barracks brilliantly lit, the fine front of which appeared to great advantage.  The house of the Rev. Archdeacon Laffan was also conspicuous, the beautiful-veranda in front was tastefully lit up; and although the streets were greatly crowded during the night, not the slightest disturbance or annoyance took place.”

The coronation of Queen Victoria was the beginning of a new era. As an inexperienced girl of eighteen, Victoria had assumed the responsibility for an institution that seemed to have outlived its purpose. She dedicated her long and productive reign of almost sixty-four years to transforming the monarchy into the positive force that held the diverse British Empire together.

When Queen Victoria, crippled by old age, died in January, 1901, there was a true sense of loss among her subjects, a realization that an era had ended and the future was uncertain. This feeling of uncertainty was almost universal felt throughout the English-speaking world.

Fethard & Killusty Community Lotto Jackpot over €7,000
The numbers drawn on Wednesday 13th September were 3, 8, 25 and 32. There was no Jackpot winner and no ‘Match 3’ winners, so three tickets were drawn and the following received €50 each:

Ted Cummins, Cois Falla, Fethard;
Eamon O’Donohoe, Moyglass, Fethard;
Maura Trehy, The Green, Fethard.

The three €50 Lucky Dip winners were:
Nellie Ryan, 46 St. Patricks Place, Fethard;
Eleanor Roche, Cedar Grove, Fethard;
Pauline Morrissey, 48 St. Patricks Place, Fethard.
This weeks Jackpot is €7,050 and the Jackpot sellers prize is €705.

Happy 50th Birthday

Catherine Condon, Woodvale Walk, Fethard, photographed above in Butler's Bar, on the occasion of her 50th birthday with members of Loudest Whisper, who were playing on the same night. L to R: Paul McCarthy (Bass), Paud O'Reilly (Drums), Catherine (Keane) Condon, Liam Condon and Brian O'Reilly (Guitar).

Barbecue for Soccer Club
Moyglass United Soccer Club are having a Barbeque in the Village Inn, Moyglass, on this coming Friday 22nd September, to raise funds for the club. Tickets are €15 each and all are welcome. Music starts at 9pm and food will be served from 10pm onwards.

Collection for Concern
Joe Keane, coordinator of Annual Concern Church Gate Collection, would like to thank all collectors and those who subscribed so generously to the recent collection. The total collected for this worthy cause amounted to €891.

Died Recently
The death has occurred on Thursday 14th September, in Waterford Regional Hospital, of Patrick O’Shea, Dualla Road, Cashel, and formerly of Ardsallagh, Fethard. Remains were removed to St. John The Baptist Church, Cashel, on Sunday 17th September, followed by interment on Monday.

Too Long In Exile

It’s been almost two decades since Aiden Ward has performed in the Abymill Theatre. A native of Fethard, Aiden cut his musical teeth with the long since disbanded, ‘Space Related’. His flirtation with music became a full-blown affair when he quit the day job as an engineer and took to the road armed with only a guitar and the ability to perform. He has performed all over Europe, averaging about 300 gigs a year, which puts his work rate just about equal to Bob Dylan’s.

Aidan has recorded three albums, two with the band Aiseiri, and lately his first solo album entitled, ‘Water’. He has settled for the moment in Connemara, where he hosts a radio show, fishes on the trawlers and even picks stones to keep mind and body together. He is looking forward to his long overdue homecoming concert in the Abymill at 8pm on Saturday 30th September. He will be joined on the night by several accomplished musicians. Support on the night is from local band, “The Autocats’. Tickets are €10 and can be bought in McCarthy’s.