Lanesboro Ballyleague Notes
Getting Married
Spaces are available for the Accord pre-marriage courses on 7th/10th October and 15th/16th November. You can make bookings online at www.accord.ie or phone 043 33 47222.
Lough Ree Golfing Society
The next outing of the society is to Longford Golf Course on Saturday 17th August.
As well as this outing the society are having an outing to Longford on Wednesday the 7th August to facilitate golfers who are home in Lanesborough for the Gathering Weekend. All interested in taking part in this Wednesday outing please contact Frank at 0879730611 so that the society can arrange a time sheet. The Society is planning to book the tee from 10 am onwards. Hope to meet some new friends and old for an enjoyable day’s golf.
Gathering Time has Finally Arrived
Yes, the Gathering Festival time has finally arrived with events kicking off this Friday evening. Excitement is beginning to rise and anticipation for a great weekend in Lanesboro is high.
The Marquee was erected last Saturday and Sunday in the field at the back of Joe and Martha Farrell’s Yacht Bar and we look forward to it being overflowing with people and the sound of music all weekend.
There has been on time change to the schedule. The Historical Readings presented by Bernadette Clancy in the library will now commence at 8pm.
Tickets for Brendan Bowyer dance on Saturday 4th are on sale in O’Brien’s and cost only €15. There has been a great interest in the return of Brendan Bowyer to Lanesboro after such a long time and tickets are selling very fast. There are still a number of tickets remaining.
The Knights of Leon are the band highlighting Sunday night. They are a tribute band to the Kings of Leon and they have gained a huge reputation throughout the music world as one of the best tribute bands eve. This is also a night not to be missed. They will be preceded by local band Storyhorse from 8.30pm pm with the Knights of Leon on stage from 10 and they will be followed by two wonderful world renowned DJ’s Tommy K and Kieran Feeney aka Disco Apes.
Friday night will be busy with the official opening in St. Mary’s Hall at 7pm followed at 7.30pm by the Historical Audio Visual of the Parish. At 8pm there will be Historical Readings in the Library hosted by Bernadette Clancy. Both of these events will be available in the Hall and library throughout the weekend and there is no doubt but both exhibitions are a must and not to be missed.
From 8.30pm to 10.30 there will be a kiddies disco in the marquee and it is hoped that all parents will bring their kids to what should be a fantastic night in the marquee for our young people. It will bring back memories of the afternoon hops of years ago in the parish hall for those of us old enough to remember.
From 11pm there will be a welcome home hooley in the marquee where we will welcome everyone back to Lanesboro for the weekend and the music will be supplied by local group Actin’ De Maggot. This event is free and we encourage everyone to come along.
On Saturday there will be a fishing competition taking place on the hot water stretch all day. At 3pm there will be walk through the woods with Nature Conservationist Sue Moles. At 5pm there will be a tour of the power station with places limited and prior booking essential.
Sunday afternoon on the banks of the Shannon there will be a Vintage show, with boats in the bay and afternoon entertainment and food in the green area.
All weekend our local Brushstrokes art group will hold an exhibition in the Parish Hall
Golf Classic Saturday week
The memory of Paul Enright will live on when a Golf Classic in his name will take place at Longford Golf Club on Saturday week 10th August. The sum raised for the Golf Classic will go to the Oncology Ward of Galway Clinic and all golfers are asked to bring along their golfing friends to support a wonderful cause and acknowledge the memory of a great man. To compete will cost €200 for a team of 4.
Cystic Fibrosis historic Swim
A young person in our community has been suffering with the Cystic Fibrosis condition since birth. The young person has fought bravely and courageously through all that they have been through since birth. A major fundraising drive in our area has begun and it will conclude on this coming Monday 5th August when a sponsored swim will take place from Kilnacarrow Bridge to Lanesboro. As far as I know in my time a sponsored swimming event from the Bord na Mona bridge at Kilnacarrow bridge to Lanesboro has never taken place and it will be a historic event for all the swimmers taking part. The event is being hosted and marshalled by Lanesboro Triathlon club and it promises to be an event worth being on the bridge and Shannon banks to cheer home the swimmers.
This young person’s battle deserves out massive support and sponsorship cards are available throughout the town and also in O’Brien’s. Please be generous and make this historic event a huge success.
Be an active part of Lanesboro Library this summer
Lanesboro Library – Summer Reading Buzz
Summer Reading Buzz – Pick up an entry form in your local library and collect some surprises on the way – you can enter as often as you wish!
Photography Competition – ‘Summer in Longford’ Photographs will be displayed in local libraries for the month of September
Caring for your pet, learn about responsible animal ownership –pm with the Knights of Leon with Longford Co Council Veterinary Dept. and Irish Dogs Trust – Wednesday 24th July at 3pm (all ages)
Summer Surfing at Lanesboro Library. Want to improve your computer skills or just want to know how to email and use social media?
Tailored Internet Courses to suit your needs; Introduction to social media Facebook & Twitter; Learn how to use the Internet for Internet Banking, Motor tax etc. Learn how to upload photos on your laptop or PC; Keep in touch with family & friends using Skype; Touch typing and Basic computer skills; How to use your IPAD to get the most from it.
€50 for 5 weeks (1 hour per week)
For more information contact Lanesboro Library 043 332 129 or email Stella at lanesborolibrary@longfordcoco.ie
Make your booking now
The annual one day retreat to Lough Derg will take place on Sunday 25th August leaving Ballyleague Hall at 7am. Last year there was a great demand for this annual one day retreat and early bookings are advisable. The bus will pick up pilgrims at Scramogue, Rooskey and Carrick-on-Shannon. The cost of entry to the island is €40 and the bus fare is extra. For bookings and further details you are asked to contact Mary at 043-33 21969.
Lanesboro Triathlon Club
Club race at Longford’s Triathlon Club ‘Lord of the Dring’ Triathlon: Well done to all members who took part in Longford’s Triathlon club sprint triathlon on Saturday last. A huge turnout from the club made it a very exciting day for all. Congratulations to Marie Sudway & Mark Kenny who were first female & male home in the club race. The ‘Smooth Operators’ were the winning relay team, so big congrats to Laura Clyne, Mark Mimnagh & Colm Mc Garvey. Thanks to Longford Triathlon club for allowing us host our club race with them, and congratulations again on hosting such a fantastic event in Dring. A great night was had post-race, where some fantastic awards were presented from best hair style to counting most cattle on a bike course!!! Please see our Facebook page ‘trilanesboro’ for further details.
Sponsored Swim: The Lanesboro Triathlon Club is hosting a sponsored swim in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. The swim shall take place on the August Bank Holiday Monday (5th Aug) at 2pm. The charity we have selected is Cystic Fibrosis Ireland; an organisation which does fantastic work on behalf of people with CF in Ireland. For more information on the work carried out by CF Ireland please visit http://www.cfireland.ie The swim course runs from Kilnacarrow bridge (Born na Mona) to the bridge in Lanesboro. If you don’t know where Kilnacarrow Bridge is, don’t worry, we’ll have boats on hand to ferry swimmers to the start point from Lanesboro and its downstream from there. We’re asking for as many swimmers as possible to take part and help raise funds for this worthy cause. For those who think that the distance will be an issue, you can volunteer to swim as part of a relay team. Support boats will be on hand to give breaks along the way as well as kayaks which will also provide safety cover for swimmers. Sponsorship cards are available from club executive, so if you think you can take part, or even if you can’t take part yourself and are willing to raise funds on behalf of another club member for this excellent cause, please drop us an e-mail to sponsoredswim@trilanesboro.com confirming your interest. We’ll then get a sponsorship card to you as soon as possible. For those people who may want to take part in the swim but don’t want to have to collect sponsorship, you can donate to this very special charity by going to this link http://www.mycharity.ie/event/lanesboro_tri_sponsored_swim. So, if you can it would be great to hear back from you. In your reply, please give your name and say whether you will swim the full course, would like to form part of a relay or would rather collect sponsorship on behalf of another club member who will be taking part. We also plan to have an event T-shirt for every swimmer so please tell us your preferred T-shirt size as well. Many thanks and look forward to hearing from you.
Out and about: Best of luck to all club members taking part in ‘Shadowman Athlone’ on Sun 4th Aug. Up to 15 members shall take on the 1.9k swim in Coosan Point Athlone, the 90k cycle around Lough Ree (all cyclists shall be passing through Lanesboro on the Sunday morning, so please keep an eye out for them and show your support) and the 21.1k run to the finish line.
Death
On Saturday morning 20th July, the entire area was shocked and saddened when news of the sudden death of Emmet Gray broke. It was news that shocked and stunned the entire area that such a young and popular young man died so suddenly. Timmy as he was known to us all was a man of impeccable way and manner. His demeanour endeared him to absolutely everyone young and old. Emmet was predeceased by his late mother Mai. His life and times will fondly remembered and never forgotten by the legion of people that had the pleasure to know him and have work done for them. His popularity was clearly seen by the turnout at both his reposing and again at his Funeral Mass and burial. Emmet shocked departure has left emptiness in our hearts but has left us with a smile on our face as every time we think of him we think of all the wonderful memories he left us with. His remains reposed at Farrell’s Funeral Home on Tuesday and his Funeral mass took place in St. Mary’s Church on Wednesday. He was laid to rest in Clonbonny cemetery. To his wife Siobhan, daughter Saoirse, father Brian, sisters Ann, Sharon, Jennifer and Amanda relatives and a multitude of friends we extend our most sincere sympathy.
Engagement
Congratulations to Joey Rooney, son of Joe and Mary Rooney, Rathcline and Jenny Rice daughter of John and Mary Rice, Cloontuskert who announced their engagement last week.
Rathcline GAA
Championship 2013 – It has been confirmed that Rathcline’s second round championship game will be against Carrickedmond on the weekend of the 10th August. Day, time and venue have yet to be decided. Please keep an eye on fixtures for more details.
Galway Races – The inaugural Rathcline GAA Race day will take place on Monday 29th July. We are proud to announce that Bernard Keane – Supervalu Lanesboro is sponsoring the event and we are most appreciative to Bernard for his generous contribution to the big day. The club hope to replicate the success of that achieved by Longford County Board at Punchestown only on a much smaller scale which will satisfy the needs of our own club. The occasion will present our parishioners, members, supporters and friends a fantastic afternoon of horse racing on opening day of the 2013 festival. Let’s hope the weather stays fine and all to enjoy the day. More to follow on next week’s notes.
Best wishes to the Gathering Committee who are hosting a fantastic suite of events on the August Bank holiday weekend coming. Full time table of events can be seen on www.joeobrien.ie.
Congratulations to Joey Rooney and Jenny Rice on their engagement this weekend. We were all wondering what was wrong with Joey’s right knee this year through the Reserve League campaign, but it has now become obvious he was doing a lot of practice for the popping the question!
Club Rathcline Lotto Draw – The Jackpot total of €800 was not won this weekend with numbers drawn as follows: 9, 22, 37, 40, 42, and 44. Congratulations to our four €25 winners this week as follows: (1) Kathleen Smith – Lisduff, Longford (2) Peter Skelly – Rathcline (3) Anna Kenny & Patrick Mulvihill – Fermoyle (4) Gerard Heneghan – Rathcline Rd. Last weekend’s draw concludes the current Lotto annualised campaign. In total there was exactly €10k given out in prize money over the last 52 weeks. We have had 199 different winners including 3 Jackpot winners. The lotto was hugely successful and the club benefited enormously from the campaign. Preparations are ongoing for Phase 2 of the Lotto campaign and it is hoped to have the fundraiser rolled out in the next couple of weeks. Many thanks to all our patrons who participated in the last lotto and we look forward to your support for Phase 2.
Rathcline GAA extends its deepest sympathies to Gray Family – Lanesboro on the sudden and sad passing of Emmet on the 20th July last. The club also extends its sympathies to the Crooke family – The Green on the passing of George on the 18th July. May they both rest in peace.
Longford Ladies – Congratulations to Longford Ladies Senior Team who had a fantastic win over London in the Leinster Championship Final in Pearse Park on Saturday. Special mention to the Rathcline contingent on the panel: Claire, Paula, Noleen & Lauren.
Shannon Gaels – Coaching for U6, U8, U10 and U12 will continue in Clonbonny on Friday in Clonbonny from 7pm to 8pm as normal. Please note that there will be an Under 8 Blitz in Clonbonny on Wednesday evening coming 31st July, starting at 7pm.
Our Under 12 team play Killoe in Emmet Park on Thursday evening coming 1st August in Round 4 of the mini league. Throw in time is at 7pm.
Western Gaels – U14 – Preparations are now in full swing for the second round of the championship which is scheduled to take place next Tuesday evening 6th August against Mostrim in Clonbonny at 7:30pm. Given that this game is at home, we hope to see sizable local support for the team. Many thanks to Walter Burke and Tom Irwin for their help and advice in preparing the team for the big game on Thursday evening last.
U16 – The first round of the championship is due to take place on 15th August with an away match to St. Colmcilles. Training this week continues on Tuesday evening (Dunbeggan) and Thursday (Clonbonny).
Minor – The Championship semi-final will take place on Bank Holiday Monday 5th August when Western Gael plays the winners of Carrick Sarsfields and St. Colmcilles at 7pm in Dunbeggan. Once again we ask all parishioners to come out and support the lads in their bid to progress to the Championship final.
Gathering 2013 – Shannon Gaels are organising a choir for a special mass during the Gathering celebrations on the August Bank holiday weekend. Anyone wishing to participate in the Choir can give their names to Brendan Keane. Many thanks to Brendan on his wonderful work to date.
Congratulations to St. Faithleachs who recorded a valuable draw over Padraig Pearses in the second round of the Roscommon Senior Championship on Friday night last. The result puts the Ballyleague outfit in a strong position to qualify from their group with last group game to follow against Clan na nGael.
Wedding
The marriage took place on Saturday 13th July St. Mary’s Church, Granard of Donal Martin, son of James and Anne Martin, Mount Cashel, Kilrooskey and Kathleen Kiernan daughter of the late Madeline and John Kiernan, Kilasonna, Granard. The Bestman was Noel Martin, brother of the groom and Chief bridesmaid was Mary Kiernan sister of the bride.
Page boy was Óisín Kiernan nephew of the bride and Flower girl was Clodagh Martin, niece of the groom. The wedding reception was held in Lough Rynn Castle, Mohill. The marriage ceremony was celebrated by Fr. Simon Caddams assisted by Fr. Ned O’Hara. We wish the happy couple many years of wedded bliss.
Church Gate Collection
The Irish Wheelchair Association will hold a Church Gate collection on this Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August at all masses at St. Mary’s Lanesboro.
Birth
Congratulations to Scott Cassidy and Charlene Maloney, Radharc na Muileann, on the recent birth of a baby girl.
St. Faithleach’s GAA
Senior Football Championship: Our seniors drew with Padraig Pearses on Friday evening last in Ballyforan. Final Score – St. Faithleachs 0-12 Padraig Pearses 1-09. Team: S. Connor, D. Harrison, C. Gunn, C. McCormack (0-1), B. Scally, D. Murray, C. Brennan, S. O’Grady, H. Kenny (0-1), D. Rooney (0-1), A. Dooney (0-1), K. Farrell, D. Hussey, E. Kenny, D. Murtagh (0-5). Subs: C Murtagh (0-3), R. Cox.
Senior League – O’Rourke Cup: Our seniors have a game against Roscommon Gaels this coming Wednesday evening 31st July at 8.00pm in Ballyleague.
Junior Ladies – Championship: Our Junior Ladies had a win over Tulsk on Friday evening last in Tulsk. Final Score – St. Faithleachs 5-08 Tulsk 2-02
Junior Men – Championship: Our junior men were defeated by St. Dominic’s on Sunday last. Final Score – St. Faithleachs 0-09 St. Dominic’s 2-08. Team: A. Manning, J. Walsh, D. Gibbons, J. Hanly, M. Manning, A. Hanly, MF. O’Grady (0-1), J. Quigley (0-4), P. Reynolds, B. Hussey (0-1), A. Brehon (0-1), D. Rooney, C. Farrell (0-1), B. Healy, D. Rooney (0-1). Subs: K. O’Grady, S. Kenny, J. Sweeney. Next championship game is against Clan na Gael on Saturday 3rd August at 7.00pm in Ballyleague.
Junior Men – League: Our junior men have a league game against Kilglass this coming Thursday evening 1st August at 8.00pm in Ballyleague.
Lucozade Sport Club Crusade: St. Faithleachs GAA club is now registered with Lucozade Sport & we are asking you all to collect BOTTLE CAPS from Lucozade Sport/Lucozade Sport Lite Bottles, in order to avail of sports equipment and clothing for the club. Your bottle caps can be dropped into our collection bag in the clubhouse. Many thanks for your support. Texas Holdem Poker: in St. Faithleachs GAA clubhouse on Saturday 3rd August. Registration at 5.30pm and game starts at 6.00pm. Cost €25.
Cards: Every Tuesday in the clubhouse, 9.00pm. All welcome. Winners – Joe/Kevin. Joint runners-up – M Rogers/Michael F & Sonny/Mick. Last game – Walter/Josie. Ticket winners – Padraig, Michael, Jimmy, Michael, Ronan.