Noticeboard 08/06/2008

St. Maelruain’s Church of Ireland, Tallaght Village http://www.stmaelruains.ie/
Rector: Rev. William Deverell – 086 80 30 239
Shared Curate Rev Obinna Ulogwara – 495 8710 Auxiliary Priest Rev A. Bennett – 628 2353

Sun 8th June 2008, 1st Sun after Epiphany
8.30am Holy Communion. Matthew 2: 1-11, Pg. 966; Mark 1: 4-11, Pg. 1002
11.00am Morning Prayer.

Mon 9th
7.30 - 8.00 Mothers' Union dinner in Bewley's Hotel, Newland's Cross.

Tues 10th
8.00pm Whitechurch Mothers' Union breast awareness talk, Old School House, Ms. Terry Hanan, Tallaght Hospital.

Sun 15th, 2nd Sun after Epiphany
8.30am Holy Communion
11.00am Holy Communion

Mon 16th
8.00pm Whist Drive in the small hall.

Tues 17th
7.30pm Music Group practice in the Church. Singers and musicians welcome.

Wed 18th
8.00pm Select Vestry meeting in the Long Room of the Parish Centre.

Thurs 19th
8.00pm 'Christianity Explored' introduction, upstairs in the Parish Centre.

Sun 22nd, 4th Sun after Epiphany
8.30am Holy Communion
11.00am Morning Prayer

Tues 31st
2.30pm School Board of Management meeting in the school.

Thurs 2nd
8.00pm 'Christianity Explored': Jesus, why did he come? Upstairs in the Parish Centre.

Parents: T.V video showing Christian cartoons in vestry should your younger children require. Parents may continue to listen to the service on the vestry loudspeaker.

CRECHE

There is a Creche available for babies and children up to four in the kitchen of the Parish Centre. No Creche on Family Sunday. Children may be left off after 10.45am. For more info, click here.

CROSSROADS

ARE YOU IN YOUR 20s 30s OR ABOVE? ..ARE YOU BORED?
AT A LOOSE END? AT A DEAD END? AT A CROSS ROAD?
WISH TO SEE NEW FACES AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS? CHECK THIS OUT

Crossroads is based in Dublin, a club for young Church of Ireland people. We have membership of approximately 70 people ranging in age form 25-40 with a mixed 50:50 male: female split.

The club plans a variety of activities each month including weekends away, go Karting, hill walking, horse/greyhound racing, bowling, pitch and putt, visiting historic buildings, theatre nights, musical nights, BBQs and social night out in Dublin and surrounding counties. We have a regular event where we meet on the last Thursday night of each month in the bar of Buswell's Hotel.

Committee members:
David Thomas 085 727 2019,
Doreen Reidy: 086 087 4990,
Mary Daly 087 223 0103,
Sean McCabe 087 944 5722,
Steven McGarry 087 764 7868,
Hazel Williams 087 636 3101,
Robin Cole 086 370 2838

crossroadsireland@eircom.net

Rector's Letter - June 2008

A Word from William…..
On the May bank holiday Monday, Obinna and I were asked to bless the house of one of our Indian parishioners as they moved into their new home. It is an Indian tradition that they put a pan of milk on to boil and let it boil over to symbolise that there would always be plenty in the home. It occurred to me as we waited for the milk to boil that my Mother lived in fear of the milk boiling over!

For Pentecost Sunday I borrowed the fluttering ‘flame’ from The Metro café / bar opposite the church which I placed in front of the Holy Table. Being Christian Aid week we watched a video clip on rising sea levels due to global warming and what affect it was having on countries like Bangladesh. We had a retiring collection for the tragedy in Burma with the funds raised going to Christian Aid, who were an established presence working in Burma prior to the cyclone.

We are looking forward to our Summer Sale on 7th June. As we still have an outstanding debt from the re-slating of the Church roof last Summer we are hoping to have as much support as possible to make this year’s sale a big success and help put the parish ‘back in the black’.

In recent weeks I gave 5 school tours of the Church and grounds. I recently attended the graduation ceremonies in St. MacDara’s School, Spawell and Jobstown Community School. It is encouraging to see the enthusiasm of young people. May I take this opportunity to wish those sitting both State and College exams all the very best with their studies.

I hope all our Losset readers have an enjoyable summer and let’s pray that we don’t have similar weather to last year’s!

God bless William.

Table Tennis Club

This year St. Maelruain’s Parish Table Tennis Club entered two teams into the United Churches Table Tennis League. Our first team played in Division 1 and it should be noted that this year there was in fact a Premier League formed to cater for very strong table tennis teams that had entered the league. The team was made up of Andrew Seymour, David Gibbons and Sharon Gibbons while the Club’s second team played in Division 2 and comprised Bobby Wilson, David Gould and Stuart Gould.

A special thanks goes to Claire Burke and Anthony Iyere for acting as substitutes for the second team when Stuart Gould sustained a soccer injury which kept him from playing table tennis for from early in theseason. Our first team finished in 2nd place in Division 1. The Division was won by a strong Castleknock team who did not lose a match all season. We only lost one match ourselves but we had too many draws.

Our second team were again unfortunate that Stuart Gould got an injury, however, as I have already mentioned, Claire and Anthony played in his place throughout the season.

Our second team finished in 2nd place in their Division where Irishtown managed to go through the season dropping only one match to finish top of Division 2. The 2nd team did however win the Cup competition beating a strong York Road team 6 – 3 in the Finals which were held in Rathdown school on 12th April 2008.

Well done also to David Gould won the individuals competition in Division 2. This was an excellent achievement for David given the quality of players in that Division. This year we had an excellent turnout from this Club at the league’s Annual Championships in the Irish Wheelchair Association’s premises in Clontarf. Twelve members of our Club in all participated in the event.

The Championships were held in January and hopefully all of you who played in the tournament enjoyed the days play. Congratulations to Anthony Iyere who won the Mens Open Doubles with his partner Roger Dowds of Raheny and Anthony also won another doubles competition with William Gallagher from York Road. Also, well done to Claire Burke for getting to the finals of the Ladies Open Doubles with her partner Yo Yo Shuang Tu from York Road club.

This year for the 1st time that I can remember in the Club’s history, St Maelruain’s came 2nd in the competition for the Morrison Rose Bowl. This trophy is awarded to the Club whose members win the mostmatches/games atthe Championships. Winners of the Rose Bowl this year were York Road.

The UCTTL’s AGM was held on Wed 16th April in Irishtown. Andrew Seymour stepped down from the position of President of the League having served in the position for the last 3 years. Andrew was appointed Chairman of the league for the coming year while Bobby Wilson was re-appointed to serve on the General Purposes Committee for the coming season. Congratulations to Anthony Iyere who won the Ernie May Memorial Trophy and to Kevin Davis on winning the St. Maelruain’s club trophy.

While there was some fall off in the numbers attending club nights in the new year, given the number of members that we have in the club, I would be hopeful that we will enter a minimum of 2 teams into the UCTTL next season.

Anyone interested in playing league table tennis please let the Match Secretary know as soon as possible next season as there is a tight timeframe between when our Club re-opens and when entries have to be submitted to the League.

To round up the winter season, we organised a night out in Joel'sRestaurant recently and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves.

That’s it for another season…..roll on 2008/2009. – Andrew Seymour

Boys' Brigade

Our annual display was held in the parish centre on May10th, when our Inspecting Officer was Philip Daley, National Director of The Boys' Brigade in Ireland. We were very pleased to have Philip join us for the occasion and hope he enjoyed his evening with us.

Also with us on the evening was Bairbre Ann Harkin from Make a Wish Ireland, which was the company's chosen charity this year. The boys did various fundraising for Make a Wish throughout the winter and were able to hand over a cheque for €1800 to Bairbre Ann. Well done boys! This money will help to make a wish come true for a boy or girl who is not quite as well as we are at the moment and it's lovely to think that we have been able to help in some small way. We have also had a coffee morning for The Laura Lynn Hospice Foundation and hope to hand the proceeds to the Battalion at the end of the summer.

Well done to all the boys who worked so hard for the various items for the display. We have a lot of young boys this year who practised hard.

Awards presented on the night were as follows:

100% attendance : Alex Lin and Denzel Ezekwe,
Manor Kilbride Cup: Evan Bailey,
Whitten Cup: Senan Barrett,
Junior Scripture Shield: Denzel Ezekwe,
Recruits Cup: Jordan Aherne,
Company Section Scripture Shield: Robert Styles,
Captains Shield: Alex Graham,
Millenium Shield: Senan Barrett,
Squad Cup: Robert Styles.

Thank you to Peter O'Callaghan and the 1st Dublin Co Band who play for us every year. Thanks also to the ladies in the kitchen who made and served the tea after the display. Finally, thank you to all the staff who turn out voluntarily every Friday and attend various meetings and courses on a regular basis: John, Terry, Evan, Linda, Susan, Sarah and Rachel.

Following the display, Company Section had a pitch and putt night in Sammys in Bohernabreena, where they were joined by past members Graeme O'Meara and Ian Singleton, who took some time out from their studies to come along. It was great to see them back .....best of luck to them in the Leaving Cert in the next few weeks.

The company is looking for more leaders for the coming year. We need some young, energetic persons to join us on Friday nights. It is always much appreciated to have volunteers to come along to share a particular interest on a once off basis, but we also badly need people who will commit fully to being a full time leaders on Friday nights. Training is available through Batallion courses throughout the year. The Company has quite a few boys under twelve now, so if you think you can give a commitment to help, please contact John at 452 2930 (after 6pm) or the parish office 462 6006.

The Company hopes to re open in late September. Letters will be sent to current members advising details nearer the time.

Thank You
Our treasurer Ann Gould has stepped down this year, having looked after the finances for the last few years. Ann has done a great job for us, taking in subs and paying our various bills along the way and we are very grateful to her. During her time as treasurer, we also enjoyed the support of Billy Gould who has always been on hand to collect at the display or indeed to help out in any way he could. We will miss their long association with the company through the years. Very many thanks to you both!

We are grateful to Barbara Barrett who has agreed to take over from Anne for the coming year.

Mothers' Union

On Saturday 17th May, St Maelruain’s Mothers' Union members and friends were joined by Clondalkin Members for our annual ‘day out’.

This year we travelled to the historic town of New Ross to visit the Dunbrody Famine Ship which is an exact replica of the original ship built in 1845.

On the way we stopped for refreshments at the Dolmen Hotel Carlow and most of us had time for a leisurely stroll in their gardens which sweep down to the river Barrow.

The Dunbrody carried thousands of Irish people from the Great Famine in Ireland to America.

Costumed actors on board brought to life the characters of real Irish people who made the epic journey crammed together in dreadful conditions for the voyage which lasted 50 days!! How times have changed.- now we can cross the Atlantic in 5hrs!

Some of us availed of the opportunity to freely access their vast database of emigrants who sailed from Ireland via Britain in the 19th century. and found ancestors who had left Ireland during the famine years for America.

Some retail therapy in New Ross followed…if you have the feet of a leprechaun…..no better place to find a selection of footwear than New Ross!

On the return journey, we again stopped at the Dolmen in Carlow where we were served a fabulous dinner, the place babbled with our chat and laughter!

Thank you to Valerie and Gail for organising the trip …not to mention Slieve Bloom Coaches for their excellent entertaining guide and driver…. - Miriam Gibney Hon. Sec.

Bowling Club

The final of the Rohu competition took place on Friday 4th April in Glenageary Parish Centre and we congratulate Whitechurch for winning this competition, which was a very exciting game. The Price competition took place on Thursday 10th April in Lucan Parish Centre and we congratulate Castleknock for winning this competition very well both matches were played in a very sporting manner. We congratulate both our teams for getting into the finals and we would like to thank are subs who stood in for these competitions.

The Bowling Dinner took place in the Stillorgan Park Hotel and 19 members attended the evening, unfortunately Imelda Bird was unable to attend, as she was sick. It was a very good night food and music was excellent and we thank Bob for organising this event. It was lovely to meet up and chat with other clubs and we congratulate all Clubs who received trophies on the night.

The AGM of the Bowling Club took place on Tuesday 13th May in the Parish Centre. New members are very welcome to join when we return in September.
Heather Wright

Condolences

We express our deepest condolences to two parishioners who recently lost their brothers and to their families. To Madora Furney on the death of her brother Ivan and to Regina Donohue on the death of her brother John. Our prayers and thoughts are with them.

Baptisms

Jack, son of Conor and Wendy Seery was baptised by the Rt. Rev. Walton Empey in St. Maelruain's on 22nd March. Jack’s granny Harriet Grant-Freemantle, is a parishioner.

Lee Poole son of Leslie Poole and Andrew Phipps was baptised on Saturday 24th May. We pray for Jack and Lee and their families as they begin there Christian life.

Thank You

The Donoghue family would like to say thank you to everybody for their kind thoughts and prayers and to those who sent cards following the death of Reginas' brother, John Griffith, after a very short illness. Thank you to the members of the Mothers' Union and the table tennis club for their support and to all those who attended his funeral. It was much appreciated by us. We will miss him........... he was "simply the best" brother and friend! - Regina.

In Memory

Many of you will have noticed the new benches at the church door and in the new part of the graveyard. They were kindly donated by Ronnie Wallace in memory of his sister Eveline Wallace. Eveline worshiped here in St. Maelruain's for many years. It was a lovely gesture and since they have been in place many people have taken advantage of using them particularly while the weather was so pleasant over the past few weeks.

Country Air Association

The Country Air Association offers financial assistance to parishioners who have difficulty in finding the necessary funds for a basic summer holiday.

They are particularly anxious to help families with small children where unemployment or any other disadvantage has left them in strained circumstances.

They are equally seeking to help older people like pensioners who may have family abroad to give them an opportunity to visit their relatives or to have a break away from home in a guesthouse etc.

There are also grants available to carers. If you think that you might qualify for any of the above please get in touch with the Rector (086 803 0239 or 462 1044) as soon as possible in order to have your application processed in time.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Declan Donoghue as he recently received his wings as a Captain with Aer Lingus.

Declan will be based in Belfast and we wish him well in his new position.

Do you enjoy knitting?

Do you have oddments of baby wool? If so maybe you would consider knitting a Matinee Jacket for premature babies. Please ring the parish office at 462 6006 (am) to get a pattern if you don’t already have one.

Mothers Union Members in our diocese produce a supply of knitted bonnets, blankets and jackets for babies that are gratefully received by the maternity hospitals.

Did you know Mothers Union Dublin Diocese of Dublin & Glendalough have a web site? www.dublin.mothersunion.ie - Miriam Gibney

Youth Camps 2008

The Dublin and Glendalough Diocese youth camps are run by 3Rock Youth. The camps are great fun with a host of activities including swimming, tennis basketball, football etc. in an environment where youth will be comfortable learning about God and their faith.

There are two camps, the first runs from 6th July – 12th July and is aimed at 10 – 12 yr olds and second runs from 13th July - 19th July and is aimed at the 13+ age group.

The camps are held in Gurteen Agricultural College in Co. Tipperary. The cost is €220. There is a bus available which departs from The Custom House and also picks up in Lucan. The bus fare is €20.

Please contact the Rector 086 608 3657 as soon as possible if you are interested in either of the camps.

SAVE OUR CHURCHES

Some of you may have read the recent article in The Sunday Telegraph about the ‘Save our Churches’ campaign in England which is being run by the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

Britain’s places of worship provide a vital service to their local communities but are under threat as never before. The campaign is calling for the government to increase funding for the conservation of places of worship; for government grants to be introduced to enable places of worship to become focal points of the community; Listed places of worship to maintain a full rebate for VAT on repair work and that the government should make it easier for place so worship to be adapted for community use.

Perhaps, we here in Ireland should consider such a campaign. We know from our experience of maintaining our Church and buildings here is Tallaght what financial pressure it puts on our Parish!

School News, June '08

These will be the final notes for this school year as things are getting just a little hectic here!

At last the long awaited news has come from An Taisce, that we have been awarded our first Green Flag. We are really over-the-moon about it and very thankful to Ms. Edel McGlynn and the Green School Committee for all the hard work organising everything. Edel attended the presentation of the Green Flag ceremony on Friday 23rd May, three children from the Committee attended with Edel. Now we have to get the flag pole in situ and organise the flag-raising ceremony here!

On 23rd April the children in 3rd, 4th with Ms. Annette Boles and 5th and 6th class were part of a record-breaking attempt called The Big Lesson, children in 120 countries world-wide were taught the same lesson on Access to Education for all children in the world. Thank you to Mr. Charlie O’Connor TD who was our independent witness to the attempt on the day. It was successful!

The children from 5th and 6th class went to the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar on Tuesday 13th May. The title of the exhibition was “What Remains”by Alison Locke and Chris Anderson.

On Monday 26th May the staff will be involved in training in the Maths programme used in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Schools Ready Set Maths.

Our School Tours start on Friday 6th June with Junior and Senior Infants and Edel going to the Lambert Puppet Theatre and the playgrounds in Dun Laoghaire and Blackrock. 5th and 6th class are going to Royal Breffni, an adventure centre on the borders of Meath and Cavan. 1st and 2nd class, with Ms. Caroline Rountree are going to Sealife in Bray and Tallaght Adventure World.
Annette with 3rd and 4th class is going to Lullymore, which is a Heritage Park with an adventure centre. 5th and 6th class will be going to Bushy Park to play tennis on full-sized courts on Thursday 12th June with their coach Ms. Carmel Brookes.

Sports Day will be on Friday 13th June and we hope to raise the Green Flag on that day also.

The long-awaited Arts Festival will be on from Monday 16th to Friday 20th June. Alternative Entertainments have given us a full programme of Film, Construction and Printing and various different genres of Music.

The end of year Service will be on Sunday 22nd June in St. Maelruain’s Parish Church.

The Art Exhibition will be on Tuesday 24th June from 11.30am to 12.30pm.

3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class are going to Citywise on Wednesday 25th for a Sports Day.

6th class Graduation will be on Thursday 26th June.

Ms. Marion Hefferon, our Home/School/Community Liaison Co-ordinator has decided to go to pastures new from September. We really will miss her. Marion has been with us now for 8 years and has been an invaluable asset to our school. We wish her the very best of luck as she returns to her teaching career.

School will close for the summer vacation on Monday 30th June.

Whist Drive, June 2008

The June Whist Drive takes place on Monday 16th at 8.00pm in the Old Hall.