Patrickswell news for w/e September 30th.

CHURCH NOTICES: Listed readers for this weekend October 1-2, The Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, are as follows, Saturday at 7pm James McCarthy, Sunday at 10am Ann Higgins, Sunday at 12noon Frances Lynch. Eucharistic Ministers, Saturday at 7pm Mary Collins, Mary Bennis, Breda Carroll, Sunday at 10am, Michael O’Mara, Mary Enright, Michael Punch, Sunday at 12noon, Seamus Enright, Patricia Barry, Rory Bennis. 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 the usual time of 9-30 am Monday to Friday. The weekly prayer meeting takes place at 8 pm on Monday and all are welcome.

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

HOLY LAND: Members of the Prayer Group embark on their long awaited pilgrimage to the Holy Land this weekend, and all good wishes go with them for a safe journey, and for an enjoyable and memorable time together. May they find it a truly rewarding and spiritually uplifting experience.

COLLECTION: Many thanks for your contributions to last weekend’s church gate collection. The total raised for the Brothers of Charity Services was 630Euro.

PHILOMENA O’BRIEN R.I.P: There was a large attendance at the removal of the remains of Philomena O’Brien on Friday evening, and again at her funeral mass in Patrickswell Church on Saturday. Known to all and sundry as Philly, she was the Parish Clerk in Patrickswell Church for the past twentythree years, and she carried out her duties there conscientiously and with great dedication during that period of time. She travelled up and down to church on her bicycle in all sorts of weather, making sure that the church was open and ready for whatever was happening, a wedding, funeral, baptism, parish mission, daily or Sunday masses. Philly could always be relied on to be there, and her death is a great loss to the parish, but first and foremost to her family of course. We offer our sympathy to her husband Matty, her sons Mike, Matthew and Terence, daughters Bridget and Catherine, her sisters Mary and Theresa, and all her extended family. Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis agus leaba i measc na naomh go raibh aici.

 HARVEST FAIR: The Harvest Fair, which was deferred last weekend as a mark of respect to the late Philly O’Brien, will now take place this Sunday, October 2, in the grassed area of Marian Park, from 2-6pm. There will be a variety of stalls, a barbecue, and children’s entertainment. If anyone has any items or goods to donate for any of the stalls including home baking, home made preserves, books, plants, or garden produce, it would be greatly appreciated. It promises to be an enjoyable afternoon for all the family, and everyone is cordially invited to attend. All support will be greatly appreciated.  If anyone is interested in booking a stall, or for further information, please contact Teresa at the Patrickswell Community Resource Centre on 061-320303, or e-mail patrickswellcrc@gmail.com

SCRAP STURDAY: The free collection and disposal service for all your unwanted scrap, which is being operated by the GAA as a fund raiser for the club, takes place this Saturday October 1. The collection will operate from the car park at the clubhouse from 9am until 5pm.

BOXERCISE: Boxercise classes take place every Wednesday evening from 7-8 pm in Mungret GAA Hall. The first class is free. For more information contact John on 087-9115411.

GOLF SOCIETY: We held our penultimate outing in Charleville last weekend, and once again Mother Nature was very kind to us with some lovely sunshine. Our turnout  was very good with 44 members taking part. No doubt all of these players had one eye on our upcoming Captain’s Prize, which will be held in Waterford Castle Golf Club on Saturday October 22. The scoring was very tight as will be seen from the results. A special word of thanks to Gerry Ryan, on securing the sponsorship for the day from Tara Oil Limerick. The results of the outing were as follows;
1^st Dessie Foley 36points(B3), 2^nd Ger Considine 36points(B9), 3^rd Liam Quinlan 36points(B9), 4^th Kieran Carroll 36points, 5^th Gerry McDermott 35points (B9), 6^th Jimmy McCarthy 35points. Front 9 Dara Shanahan 18points, Back 9 Daire Bucke  19points. As places on the Time Sheet for the Captain’s Prize will be limited, it is very important to respond quickly to the text you will receive from our Secretary, Gerry Molyneaux.

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION: Those wishing to learn how to access services for those with Learning Difficulties and Special Educational Needs are invited to drop into an information evening that will take place in the Newcastle West Community Centre, on Thursday October 6 from 2-8pm. Featuring a range of locally based services and voluntary support groups, it is open to parents, guardians, teachers and students who have an interest in special educational needs. Children are welcome to attend, as entertainment will be available at the event. For further information contact Theresa on 069 79113.

GET FIT DANCE CLASSES: Get Fit Dance classes have started in Patrickswell GAA Hall on Mondays, and will run for 8 weeks from 8-9 pm. Free to those in receipt of social welfare payments, these classes are supported by County Limerick Local Sports Partnership & West Limerick Resources. To book a place, phone or text Irene on 0872298204.

BASIC COMPUTER CLASSES: Basic computer classes will be offered to people in receipt of Social Welfare payments starting this September. Taught by volunteer tutors and running over six week courses for 1½ hours per week in Patrickswell, this initiative aims to help people increase their confidence and ability to use computers and the internet. Participants will only be asked to pay a nominal charge to cover venue hire.  For further information or to book a place contact Irene at West Limerick Resources at 069 66298.