Happy Christmas
We take this opportunity to wish all our readers and contributers a very special and Happy Christmas, especially our emigrants and those living away from home at Christmas.

Annual Emigrants’ Newsletter on sale

This year’s Fethard & Killusty Emigrants’ Newsletter is now on sale in local shops this weekend. The price is still €10 and the money received will help towards the cost of posting 1,000 copies worldwide free of cost to our emigrants. We take this opportunity to thank sincerely all our very generous supporters who enable us to publish the Newsletter every year, which is very much appreciated away and at home.

Goal Mile
The Fethard Goal Mile 2007 takes place on Christmas Day. This year’s Goal Mile will commence from outside the Town Hall at 12 noon and will be started by, Tipperary Hurling All-Star, Declan Fanning. All you have to do is to turn up on the day. Bring the family, walk, run or crawl and make a donation to Goal.

St. Vincent de Paul Collection
The St. Vincent de Paul Society, Fethard, would like to sincerely thank all those who contributed so generously to their Annual Church Gate Collection last weekend. The total amount came to a staggering €2,401 for which we are extremely grateful.

The €50 Luck Dip winners were:

Mary F. O’Connell, c/o Tom Purcell;
Matt Bradshaw, Cnoc Failte, Ardfinnan;
Shane Ryan, Lismortagh, Killenaule.

Winners of the Christmas Turkey Vouchers were:
Nat McCarthy, St. Patricks Place, Fethard;
Mary Brown, Killenaule;
Margaret Lawlor, The Valley, Fethard.

Winners of the Christmas Ham Vouchers were:
Aisling Aherne, c/o Kitty O’Donnell;
William Needham, Friarsgrange, Fethard;
Noelle Doyle, St. Patricks Place, Fethard. 

The next draw will take place on 9th January when the Jackpot continues at €10,000 and the Jackpot sellers prize is €1000.  The Community office will re-open on 2nd January and the Day Care Centre will re-open on 7th January. We take this opportunity to thank all our supporters and ticket sellers and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year.

Recent Graduation

Roger Mehta who recently graduated in Radio Broadcasting from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin. Roger is photographed above with his fiancée, Ada Fordonska, and his brother Kumar Mehta (right).

Patrician Presentation Secondary School

Advance Notice
The school’s annual Open Evening will be held on Monday 28th January from 7pm to 8.30pm. For further information and prospectus, please contact School Principal, Mr Ernan Britton, at Tel: (052) 31572.

Bi-centenary Celebrations
The bicentenary of the founding of the Patrician Brothers in Ireland will be celebrated in Fethard on Wednesday 30th January with concelebrated mass in the Parish Church at 11am, followed by a reception and exhibition of Patrician Brothers memorabilia in the school. There will be numerous events in Ireland to coincide with the bicentenary including, as already stated, exhibition of Patrician Brothers memorabilia. If by chance you have any such memorabilia or photographs, the organising committee would be grateful if you would kindly loan them to the school for the occasion.

Dr Evelyn Walsh
On Thursday 10th December, Dr. Evelyn Walsh from the STI Clinic in Waterford gave a very informative presentation to some pupils of the school. It was Dr. Walsh’s third visit to the school which formed part of the school’s Pastoral Care/Religion Programme.

Christmas Reconciliation Service
Last week the senior classes took part in a Christmas Reconciliation Service which was kindly facilitated by Fr. Gerry Horan OSA. The service took place in the very beautiful and atmospheric Convent Chapel. The visit to this beautiful building in the waning light of winter was a wonderful spiritual experience for the pupils. The school is indebted to Sr. Maureen and Sr. Clement for the use of the chapel. Canon Breen led the reconciliation service for the junior classes in the Parish Church.

Drive for Life
On Wednesday of last week the transition year pupils asn the current sixth year class took part in the ‘Drive for Life’ road-safety programme run by Mr Pat McNeely of Bayside Services. This programme should be seen by everyone who use the roads. It created a much needed awareness of the tragic consequences of human error as so aptly put by Lesley McNeely 2005.

“Don’t be an empty chair at the table,
Don’t be a photo on the wall,
Don’t be a headstone in a graveyard.
Be alive!
Drive safe 4 life.”

Christmas Draw Results
The Patrician/Presentation Parents Association held their Annual Christmas draw on Fri 14th December. The following were the lucky winners:
1st, A Christmas Hamper: Kitty Bowes, Kilconnell.
2nd, A Voucher from Barretts Clothing, Maura Meaney, Crampscastle.
3rd, A Hamper from Emily's Deli, Jill Schubert, Coolbawn.
4th, Christmas Cake, Maria Cody, The Valley.
5th, Eason's voucher, Liz Burke, Burke Street.
6th, Fuel Voucher from Meagher's Londis, Ann Dwyer, Baptistgrange.
7th, Biscuits, Seamus Tynan, Moyglass.
8th, Sweets, Gerry Fogarty, Cashel Rd.

The Patrician/Presentation Parents Association wish to thank the sponsors of this year's draw for their generosity. Our thanks to all who supported our annual fund raising efforts and congratulations to Mrs M. Gilpin and the student cast of ‘Abbabuja’ on their successful show.

The Busker Draw, held at Clonmel Dog Track on Sunday 9th December was won by Michael Doherty, Strylea, Fethard. The winning ticket was sold by Eoin Doyle and Club Chairman, Michael O’Dwyer presented the prize of €2,000 to him on Saturday last.

The Club Lotto Jackpot €8,000 was not won.  The numbers drawn were 11, 16, 17 and 20. We had one match three winner of €150 going to, Michael Gould, Claremore, Killusty, Fethard. The €50 Lucky Dip was won by Paul Fitzgerald, Kiltinan, Fethard. Thanks to Fethard Electrical Wholesalers for providing the tickets.

The Annual General Meeting of the club takes place on Sunday 6th January 2008. The Club would like to wish all our members, players, supporters, sponsors, a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year.

Sale for Missions

Customers browsing the large selection of clothes available at the clearance sale to raise funds for the work of the Presentation Sisters in Zimbabwe in the ICA Hall, Rocklow Road, on Saturday 15th December. All were perfectly new clothes on sale featuring top brands i.e. Diesel, Levi Strauss, Rant & Rave, etc. Over €1,000 was raised for the missions on the day.


Photographed at the clearance sale to raise funds for the work of the Presentation Sisters in Zimbabwe are L to R: Anne Darcy, Sr. Winnie and Sr. Juliana.

Fethard Juvenile GAA Club
Fethard Juvenile GAA Club will hold a medal presentation ceremony for their under-14 South hurling champions and under-10 football champions on this Saturday, 22nd December at 7.30pm in the Tirry Community Centre. Medals will be presented by Tipperary hurling stars, Declan Fanning and Gerry Kennedy. All juvenile club members are welcome to come along for this celebration of the club’s success over the year.

Fethard TaeKwon-Do School

Medal winners at the recent Irish Open TaeKwon-Do Championships photographed at training at the Fethard Club last weekend L to R: Eoin O'Neill, Brian O'Neill and Sean Carroll. All three were bronze winners.

Fethard TaeKwon-Do School began training in Fethard in October 2005 under the instruction of Mr Paul Tobin, 3rd Degree Black Belt. Since its inception, TaeKwon-Do in Fethard has gone from strength to strength with members grading regularly at various levels and also winning three bronze medals at the Irish Open TaeKwon-Do Championships.

For those interested in taking up this very popular sport, classes take place in Fethard Ballroom every Monday: Junior Classes from 7pm to 8pm and Senior Classes (all-grades) from 8pm to 9pm. All enquiries contact Mr Paul Tobin Tel: 087 2447886.

Christmas Bazaar
The Fethard & District Day Care Centre would like to thank all who contributed and helped to make their Christmas Bazaar a great success, and wish all readers a very Happy Christmas.

My Fair Lady

A scene from 'My Fair Lady' staged by Slievenamon Music Society recently in Cloneen.

Fethard And District Juvenile Rugby Club
In Cashel last Sunday our under-8s played two games during the morning with continuing improvement from all members. Frankie Meagher, William Pratt, Joseph O'Connor, Jack Ward, Harry Cummins, Luke Bradstock, Patrick Scully, Richard Holohan and Jack Gleeson showed great skill and determination for a very accomplished victory. Peter Wall, Connor Vaughan, Gavin Ryan, Ciaran O'Dwyer, Gerard Kavanagh, James Phillips and Jack Spillane recorded a sound victory in the second game and showed a good team effort. 

Under-9s played another excellent match this season and recorded a triumphant win over Cashel. They all played well and each member of the team gave their all.

The Under-10s played thirty minutes of fantastic rugby and also came away with a solid victory on the morning. Players who shone particularly were, Harry Tobin, Cathal Meagher, Ben Murray and Padraic Fehan. The remainder of the team also played very good rugby it has to be said.

Under-11s & 12s played a game each against Cashel. The first game Fethard won 8-1 in a match that saw all the Fethard players proving their worth on the pitch. In the second game Cashel got the better of us 4-2 but the team put up great performances on the day. The team consisted of Shane Cleere, James Feehan, Bill Carroll, Tommy Anglim, Russell Casey, Cian O'Connell, Paul Butler, Charlie Carroll, Harvey Blackmore, Cathal Mahoney, Kyle Whyte, Cathal Meagher, William Ryan, Cathal O'Donnell & Robert Horan.

Our under 16s were well beaten by a very impressive Clonmel side at home on Sunday morning. The final score was 24 points to nil. The Fethard team much to their credit showed great heart in that they never gave up and were held up short of the line on a number of occasions. Those to impress on the day were, Robert Hall, who was very effective in the line outs and also carried some great ball, Joseph Meagher continues to impress and despite being rested through injury for ten minutes in the first half finished the game very strongly. James Kavanagh continues to improve and was putting in the big tackles before having to retire injured. Sam Manton and Colm Shanahan also had good games with Daniel Hickey's clearance kicks being very effective.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our players and especially our coaches a very happy Christmas and all that's good for the New Year.

Fethard Rugby Club Ball

Photographed at the Fethard Rugby Club Ball were Back L to R: Jimmy Sullivan, Niall O'Connell, Paul Kavanagh, Liam Hayes. Front L to R: Ger Manton & Liam O'Dwyer.


Photographed at the Fethard Rugby Club Ball were L to R: John & Melissa Stokes and Peter & Gillian Collier


Photographed at the Fethard Rugby Club Ball were L to R: Philomena & Sean White and Liam & Marie Cahill


Photographed at the Fethard Rugby Club Ball were L to R: Jimmy O'Sullivan, Aiden O'Brien, Ann Marie O’Brien and Paul Kavanagh


Photographed at the Fethard Rugby Club Ball were L to R: Noel & Trish Fitzgerald and Caroline Murphy


Photographed at the Fethard Rugby Club Ball were L to R: Eilish Barrett, Ger Manton, Joan Hayes, Kevin Barrett, Mr & Mrs J Kerins, Suzanna Manton, Liam Hayes.

Hunting News
From Knocklofty on Monday nothing of note was achieved.  First three foxes found got to ground after short runs. Later in the day hounds failed to find again, drawn along by the railway line almost up to Derrygrath and finishing in the large bog by the same line, a draw seldom failing to hold, but Monday was the exception.

The vagaries of hunting were certainly in evidence on Wednesday from Cappawhite. A top class day’s sport was enjoyed. Hunting completely new territory from their second draw, hounds and field had a cracker. A straight necked fox quickly away to hounds and riders for fifty minutes in almost a straight line without a check. With a three-mile point hounds were within two fields of a tiring fox when they were stopped having run deep into Scarteen Black and Tans country. This run did not conclude the day’s sport. Finding soon again hounds were settling into what looked like being a good run when they unfortunately ran whack into a double-stranded strong electric fence which stopped them in their tracks. Hounds on Wednesday also caught a brace and a half on top.

From Lisronagh on Thursday one of a brace from behind Slievenamon Golf Club ran towards Clonacody left-handed across Jossestown lane and got to ground in a stick pile near Mr Tom Horan’s farmyard.  Finding in Ballinlough Bog they crossed the Jossestown Road. Huntsman and field had to make a wide detour to keep in touch. When they made contact hounds were checked by a well-known local landmark, Killerk rock, where they had probably marked to ground. Finding by the Moyle near Ballinlough bridge running through Ballinlough they caught their fox just short of the Jossestown Road.

Little could be done with an over supply of foxes in Ballyhomeen cover causing hounds to split.  Getting them together a move was made to Orchardstown, drawing down from Donoughmore the cover at the ‘Ha’penny Bridge’, getting one of these away, hounds in the large fields were really travelling.  Hunting strongly back towards the Lisronagh / Donoughmore crossroad they caught him just short of Donoughmore church. They failed to find again drawing the long glen across the road and re-crossing the road into the stud farm, Derry drew almost down to the Halfway House on the Clonmel Road and back to the ‘Ha’penny Bridge’ finally calling it a day at 4.30pm.

Wishing our sporting landowners and all readers of the column, home and away, a very Happy Christmas and good hunting for the rest of the season. Always remembering there is no such thing as a poor days hunting, some days are just better than others.  (E.A.N.)

With the White Heathers
From their meet at Rocklow on Sunday, first draw at McCarthy’s bog held a brace.  One of these pressed hard in cover crossed the Clashawley near the old railway bridge.  Hounds hunted well in good scenting conditions putting their fox to ground near the Fethard / Cashel Road. Returning to the bog they hoped to pick up the one they left behind.  No luck however as Charlie had taken his departure. Finding again at Ballybough bridge hounds hunted to the road where their fox having run the road went through Rocklow House entrance. Running to the covert behind the house they crossed the river, ran through Grangeduff to O’Flynn’s covert where they marked to ground.  Returning to Halley’s it took quite a while to find again. A fox seen on foot earlier was found lying in the Gorse Clumps close to the roadway.  Running almost the same line as before, onto the road at O’Keeffe’s gate down once again to Rocklow entrance and on to the covert.  A few circles around here they hunted across the river and checked by Rathcoole graveyard.  Cast forward they hit the line once more and marked to ground in the same earth where their second fox of the day found refuge. As it takes considerably longer on foot back to the next draw than on horseback it was decided to blow for home at 3.30pm.

The Ballyluskey White Heather Harriers meet on Sunday next, 23rd December, at Peppardstown; on St. Stephen’s Day at Drangan; on Sunday 30th December at Loughcopple and on Sunday 6th January at Coolbawn.  All meets at 11am.

Cllr. O'Brien Clinic

Cllr. Jimmy O'Brien wishes to inform that he will hold a clinic every second Tuesday, commencing on Tuesday 15th January, in the Tirry Community Centre from 2pm to 3pm. For further information contact 087 6914648. Cllr. O'Brien would like to take this opportunity to wish readers a very Happy Christmas and to say that he looks forward to continuing to represent the people of Fethard and surrounding areas in 2008.

Fethard Childcare Committee
The next meeting of Fethard Childcare Committee will take place on Wednesday 9th January at 8pm in the Tirry Community Centre. This meeting is open to the public so if you would like to become involved or feel that you have something to contribute you will be very welcome on the night.

Fethard & Killusty Community Christmas Lotto
 Results
For the weeks leading up to Christmas, Fethard & Killusty Community Lotto have six extra free draws every week for 3 x Christmas Hams and 3 x Christmas Turkeys. This is in addition to the €10,000 Jackpot, €150 ‘Match Three’ prize and 3 x €50 Lucky Dip draws every week. The last draw before Christmas will take place on 19th December after which we take a two-week break, commencing again on 9th January.

The numbers drawn on Wednesday 12th December were: 1, 4, 16 and 17. There was no Jackpot winner and one ‘Match 3’ winner who received €150:

 John Murphy, Kilnockin Road, Fethard.

The €50 Luck Dip winners were:
Margaret Ryan, Coolmoyne Cross, Fethard;
Elaine Daly, Coolmoyne, Fethard;
Dermot Darcy, St. Patricks Place, Fethard. 

Winners of the Christmas Turkey Vouchers were:
Richard O’Brien, Rocklow Road, Fethard;
Anna Bradshaw, 49 St. Patricks Place, Fethard;
Cathy O’Brien, c/o Annie O’Brien, Main Street, Fethard. 

Winners of the Christmas Ham Vouchers were:
Anne Connolly, Main Street, Fethard;
Breede Ryan, Coolmoyne Cross, Fethard;
Brigid Hennessy, Kilvemnon.

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

Christmas Mass Times
Abbey Church
Christmas Eve, Monday 24th December at 9pm;
Christmas Day, Tuesday 25th December at 9.30am and 11.30am.

Parish Church
Christmas Eve, Monday 24th December at 8pm;
Christmas Day, Tuesday 25th December at 8.30am and 11am.

Killusty Church
Christmas Eve, Monday 24th December at 9.30pm;
Christmas Day, Tuesday 25th December at 10am.