Patrickswell notes 7th May 2009

CHURCH NOTICES
Listed readers for masses this coming weekend, May 9-10, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, are as follows; Saturday at 7pm Simon Hayes, Sunday at 10am Sam Milburn, Sunday at 12noon Joanne Tierney. Eucharistic Ministers. Saturday at 7pm E.O’Byrne, R. Madigan, J.Tierney. Sunday at 10am, N.Murray, P.J.O’Grady. Sunday at 12noon B.Enright, N.Quinn, P.Kirby. Please arrange a replacement if you are unable to fulfill any duty allocated to you. Weekday masses are at 9-30 am Monday to Friday. The weekly prayer meeting takes place every Monday evening from 8 to 9pm. and all are welcome. The Eucharistic Ministers rota to the end of June is now available from the sacristy. Donations from the Trócaire boxes this week amounted to€540. Good wishes to all the children of the parish, who will receive their First Communion this Saturday. The ceremony commences at 11am, and all are welcome to attend and support this special occasion in the lives of the children and their families.

GAA
Patrickswell GAA Club is hosting a weekend of celebrations for the GAA’s 125th birthday and the 25th anniversary of our immensely successful 1984 season. This Saturday, May 9, at 8pm in the Cú Chulainn Lounge, the club commemorates 1984’s County Hurling Title winners – the Senior “Three-in-a-Row” champions, our Minors and U14s. To mark the GAA’s 125th birthday, Patrickswell will honour every team that achieved a “first” in their respective competitions. Everyone is welcome to join our festivities at the Cú!! On Sunday there will be a parade from the Shrine to the clubhouse at 1.30pm. The afternoon is packed with exhibition matches, involving past and present players. Don’t miss the action! At 2pm, the Juvenile boys take to the field. The Camogie ladies get underway at 2.45pm and the Senior Hurlers tussle at 4pm. Entertainment and refreshments are available in the Clubhouse and there will be a Memorabilia Display to accompany them.

FINE GAEL
The AGM of the Willie O' Brien Fine Gael Branch took place recently in Patrickswell. This branch incorporates Patrickswell, Clarina and Crecora. The meeting was attended by Deputy Dan Neville, Councillors Rose Brennan and Leo Walsh. Apologies were received from Cllr Richie Butler. A presentation was made to Cllr Cormac Hurley in recognition of his service to the area as public representative over the last ten years. Deputy Neville gave a summary of the Fine Gael Health Plan which had been launched that day. He also paid tribute to Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny TD, whom he said had reunited the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party .The candidates for the local elections also spoke and were wished well on June 5. Constituency Chairperson and member of the branch, Michael McNamara, was thanked by members for his continuing contribution to Fine Gael in the constituency .Life President of the branch Ned Costello also addressed the meeting. The following officers were elected on the night; Chairperson Mary O' Brien, Assistant Chairperson John Leddin, Secretary Liam Shinnors, Assistant Secretary Fintan Walsh, PRO Michael Hayes, Assistant PRO Darren Moloney, Treasurers Tony Quinn and Ned Hayes. Anyone interested in joining the branch should contact one of the officers and will be most welcome. Young Fine Gael Members also attended the meeting. The next meeting of the County Young Fine Gael takes place on Sunday, May 10, and anyone from the area interested in joining should contact PRO Darren Clancy 087-2124419.

TIDY TOWNS
Apologies to the County Council for the disparaging remarks regarding the grass cutting last week. Prior to last week’s notes appearing, the mowers also appeared in force on Tuesday, and all areas have now received attention, and grateful thanks for that. There was a full attendance for April’s monthly meeting last Tuesday, which was mostly taken up discussing the summer planting scheme. An ambitious plan was drawn up by the end of the evening, which will surpass anything we have attempted to date, but we are confident that we will be able to bring it to fruition. It will require doubling up on our watering rota during the season, and if anyone would like to offer their assistance during that period, a few evenings per week maybe, we would be very interested to hear from you. Members were out in force the following evening weeding the entire stretch from the church footpath down to the end of McSweeney’s wall, and that has made a tremendous difference approaching the village from Collopy’s Cross.

CONCERT
Rehearsals for the concert in June, in aid of Milford Hospice, will commence this Wednesday, May 13 at 8-30pm. Another varied and interesting combination of acts and performances are on the cards, and all taking part are eager to see how the running order shapes up. No doubt there will be a few alterations before things are finalised, but whatever happens, another exiting and enjoyable show is guaranteed.

GOLF SOCIETY
Our Ennis outing took place recently and the results are as follows;
Overall winner was Dessie Foley with 36 points. Category 1- Winner Gary Kirby 35 points, Second Kieran Carroll 34 points. Category 2- Winner Benny Nolan 31 points,
Second Jimmy O’ Rahilly 30 points. Front 9- Winner Alan Purcell 20 points, Back 9-Winner Tom Bennis 21 points. A special word of thanks to our sponsors on the day the Cu Chulainn Bar. Our next outing will be held in Gort, on Saturday May 16, with a Tee Time of 10 to 11.30. James Devine came first in a singles qualifier competition in Charleville recently with a fine score of 44 points. Kieran Darcy and Terence Murray won the Open Fourball Competition in Adare over the Bank Holiday weekend with a score of 45 points which included two birdies, one at the 15th and one at the 18th.

ROSARY
The Rosary will be recited at Our Lady's Shrine in Patrickswell next Wednesday,May 13 at 7pm, and all are welcome to attend.