Patrickswell news for w/e April 30th

CHURCH NOTICES

Listed readers for this weekend May 1-2, The Fifth Sunday of Easter, are as follows;

Saturday at 7pm Lena Mary Houlihan, Sunday at 10am P.J.O’Grady, Sunday at 12noon Dan Riordan. 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. Devotions to Our Lady of Fatima will take place before the 7pm mass on Saturday.

Weekday masses are at 9-30 am Monday to Friday. There will be no weekly prayer meeting on Bank Holiday Monday.



PARISH NEWSLETTER

Items for inclusion in the weekly Parish Newsletter should be handed into the sacristy by 9-30am each Friday, or contact Fr. Muiris O’Connor on 353711 or 0866075628. Alternatively they can be emailed to muirisoc@eircom.net



TRÓCAIRE

Last Thursday marked 100 days since the earthquake disaster in Haiti, and Trócaire continues its work there with the donations from parishes countrywide, which amounted to over six million euro. The total collected so far in Patrickswell for the Lenten Campaign is €3774, and Trócaire thanks you all sincerely for your generosity.



BLOOD DONORS

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service requires three thousand units of blood this week, and will be holding donor clinics at the following locations; South Court Hotel, Raheen, on Tuesday May 4 from 5 to 8pm, and at the Community Centre, Pallasgreen, on Thursday May 6 from 6-to-9pm.You can visit any blood donor clinic as long as ninety days have elapsed since you last gave blood. There will be donor clinics in Foynes, Akeaton, Castletroy and Knockainey next week. For more information contact the Donor Information Line on 1850 731137, or www.ibts.ie



WORLD DAYS

Saturday is the first day of May, and in many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations organised by the unions, anarchist, and socialist groups. May Day has been celebrated in Ireland since pagan times as the feast of Bealtaine and in latter times as Mary's day. Bonfires are lit to mark the coming of summer and to banish the long nights of winter. May Day is also a traditional holiday in many cultures. Monday May 3 is recognised by The United Nations General Assembly to be World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Tuesday May 4 is observed as International Firefighters' Day. It was instituted across the world on January 4, 1999 due to the deaths of five firefighters in tragic circumstances in Australia. May 4 used to be Firefighters' Day in many European countries, because it is the day of Saint Florian, patron saint of firefighters.



TIDY TOWNS

The evenings are still chilly, but there was a good turnout again last week as we get back on track with our work schedule. One major job which has been waiting to be completed since last year was the removal of the long leafy shrubs and dog roses from the shrubbery in the green area opposite Lucey’s. This we were able to complete with the arrival of Mike McSweeney and his machine, and we are grateful to him for his time and assistance. Richie Bennis and Mossie Carmody are also bringing another project to completion with the addition of a stone surround to the rose bed. Mick O’Dea has also offered to assist us in replacing the containers which have served us well, but are also the victims of the severe frost during the winter. We also need to level the pile of top soil adjacent to the wall at the roundabout in time for sowing grass seed. Each job done is one less to do, and it all adds to the overall improvement generally.



GOLF SOCIETY

Our second outing of the year was held in Kanturk on April 17, and was very successful with forty members taking part in glorious sunshine. The greens were extremely tricky on the day. The results were as follows.1st Jimmy McCarthy 39 points, 2nd Gary Kirby 34 points (B9). Category A, 1st Timmy Sheehan 34 points, 2nd Alan Purcell 33 points.
Category B, 1st Mick Naughton 34 points, 2nd Dessie Foley 33 points. Front 9 Mark Leahy 19 points, Back 9 Sean McDermott 22points. Lahinch is the venue for our next outing on Saturday May 15.



HAPPY HEART WEEKEND

The weekend of May 13, 14 and 15, is the Irish Heart Foundation’s national fund raising event, and volunteer collectors are required to help them reach their target of €650,000.

The foundation also offers life saving CPR training. For more information contact Ciara Mealy on cmealy@irishheart.ie or call 01 668 5001.



PAINTING CLASSES

Registration for FETAC level 5 painting classes will take place in Askeaton Community Centre on Thursday April 29 at 11am, with the provisional start date for the course set for Thursday May 6 at 9.30am.Classes are expected to run each Monday and Thursday 9:30am-12:30pm until June 17 and resume for the autumn in September. The course is free of charge to those who have not completed the Leaving Cert and those in receipt of means tested social welfare payments (including medical card holders and non-contributory pension). A small charge will be applicable to all other participants. Please note this course is not suitable for beginners. To register interest please contact Theresa at West Limerick Resources on 069 79113.



DAWN CHORUS DAY

A reminder that this Sunday May 2 is International Dawn Chorus Day, an annual celebration of the world’s oldest wake up call, the Dawn Chorus, and the beauty of bird song. For those who want to experience the Dawn Chorus in the wild, it usually starts around 4am, but the best time to hear it is the first hour before sunrise, which means getting up early. If you can’t make it along to an event, set your alarm, open your window and let the dawn chorus in.