A word from William
On 2nd October for the second year in a row I went to preach at the Carmelite Convent’s Harvest service on the Firhouse Rd, opposite from where I live. They had a Harvest Fair before the service.
We had our own Harvest Service on Friday 7th October. The church was beautifully decorated, thank you to Janet Edgely and her helpers for all their work. The Carmelite nuns sent us four baskets of fruit and vegetable, which we were very grateful for. They also attended the service and we were delighted to able to welcome them particularly as their Order is an enclosed Order. We were also visited on the night by Pastors Brendan and Sheila Hade of the new Victory Church in Firhouse, by Pastor Frank Sage of Bethel Community Church, by the ‘Firhouse Ladies’ who I studied the Gospel with and by members of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association. Revd Rob Jones, Rathmines Vicar, came to preach on making Church relevant, especially to younger people.
Janet Edgely held a coffee morning / day in her home on Saturday 8th October in aid of the Church door restoration fund. The event raised in excess of €900. We are very grateful to Janet and to all the people who helped her. This was a terrific sum to raise. Thank you also to all who went along and supported. Following Children’s Harvest on the Sunday morning we were able to sell off the remainder of the goodies along with the vegetables from the harvest service. We were still able to drop down four baskets of vegetables to the local women’s refuge.
I attended a Remembrance Service for families who have been bereaved by drug abuse on Thursday 20th in Kiltalown House, Jobstown, some of you may remember that Kiltalown House used to be the home of the Jolley Family who were parishioners of St. Maelruain’s and the gardens were used as the venue for the Sunday School sports day and picnic. Kiltalown House is now home to Tallaght Rehabilitation Project.
On Sunday 23rdat our 11am service Catherine Whittle, a South African parishioner, spoke to us of her work as director of ‘Luminere’, which is a children’s charity. She raised almost €180 from tea / coffee following the service and she would like to express her gratitude to those who gave so generously.
We look forward to our annual Christmas Sing Along on 9th December where I hope to see many of you there. Please support this event not only as a fundraiser for the parish but it is also a great way to get into the festive spirit and get to know your fellow parishioners.
God bless William.
Mother’s Union
On 1st October we visited Tara’s Palace, Powerscourt , it was good to see extended family coming along, including four generations of one family- mother, daughter, granddaughter and great grandaugter!
Tara’s Palace was inspired by the renowned Titania’s Palace sold out of the country in 1978. Tara’s Palace was meticulously constructed by some of Ireland’s finest craftsmen.
Next Meeting Monday 14th November 8pm
MU Overseas Representative, Sylvia Graham will be coming to speak with us.
SAOIRSE would like hair brushes or toothbrushes
for November donation.
TEA ROTA: Iris Harley
Please note our December meeting will be on Monday 5th December - Beetle Drive and Festive Supper.
REMINDER: Subscriptions due to Pam Stroughair!
Whist Drive
The November Whist Drive will take place on 21st in the Small Hall. Donations of raffle prizes would be greatly appreciated and decks of playing cards. Contact Gerard Moody 494 2714 for more information.
Badminton Club
The Adult Badminton Club meets on Monday
evenings at 7.30pm. As always new members are very welcome. It is a very informal evening and a good way to meet people - with a break for a hot cuppa. You will be given a warm welcome.
Bowling Club
A friendly match with Baltinglass bowling club had to be cancelled, as they did not have enough players on the night.
We welcome Christy Nolan, a new member to our club this season. We wish Christy well and hope he enjoys himself.
Our League match dates have all been arranged, many thanks to Ann and Bill Gould for their work. Our first league match (McIlwaine) was played against Glenageary on 25th. October. Our Club matches for this season have also been drawn, thanks goes to Ann and Denis Kane for their time.
May we wish all our teams a successful and enjoyable season this year. Our Xmas Dinner has been planned for 17th. Dec. in Lucan Golf Club, a night which we all enjoy.”
BOY’S BRIGADE
Our enrolment service will take place on Sunday, November 20th., at 11.00am. The service will be a joint one with the Girls Brigade and we look forward to seeing all parents and friends for the occasion. We will be joined by Peter O'Callaghan and the 1st Dublin Co. band, who will play at the service and there will be the usual opportunity for a chat over a cup of tea in the Parish Centre afterwards.
School News
We had a very busy start to the school year here at St. Maelruain’s. Firstly the website is up and running and we hope that together with texting this will be a new form of communication with parents and this will slowly replace the need for paper. The web address is www.stmaelruainsns.ie
The After School Programme is beginning to take shape so check out the ‘Activities’ page for further details. The Homework Club for our pupils will be run at Cityswise this year from 2.30 – 3.30pm, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have 12 pupils all signed up and ready to go. Two Citywise staff members will collect them from the
school on these days at 2.15pm and the parents should collect them promptly from Citywise at 3.30pm.
This year some School Assemblies will be open for the parents to attend. On Thursday 29th September, 3rd / 4th class hosted Assembly and on Thursday 27th October 1st / 2nd class hosted Assembly.
Funerals
The funeral of Patricia (Mable) Collins took place here in St. Maelruain’s on Monday 3rd October. We extend our sincere condolences to her family Carol, June and James.
On Monday 24th October we had the funeral service of Doreen McKeown. We also extend our sincere condolences to her children Caroline and George and the rest of the family.
Baptisms
On 22nd October we had three baptisms. At 10am Ewan David Mulhall baby son of James and Karen was baptised. At 12pm Kambile Somadina Okoye baby son of Chijioke and Chizua and Chukwuemelie Nicholas Brian Agina baby son of Alphonso and Ukonwa were both baptised. Please pray for these babies as they begin their Christian lives.
Confirmation Service
The Archbishop will be with us in St. Maelruain’s on
Sunday 6th November for our Confirmation Service.
The Confirmation candidates are Liam Cannon, Lionel Deverell, Sean Moore, Brittany Nwakor and Laura Sullivan.
Remembrance Sunday
The Act of Remembrance will take place on Sunday 13th November at 10.45am before the 11.00am morning prayer service.
Blessings
On 1st October we had the blessing of the marriage of
Cathy Clare and Cormac Kelly following their civil marriage in Australia.
Niamh McMahon and Joe McGrath had their marriage blessed here in St. Maelruain’s on Saturday 29th October.
We wish both these couple every happiness in their future lives together.
Christchurch Fundraising
Christchurch Cathedral is hoping to raise €1 million to carry out
vital restoration works on the Cathedral to preserve it for generations to come. They are running a series of events to try and raise these funds including:
NO RESERVE NO FEES AUCTION on 16th December www.sheppards.ie or ph 086 374 4673,
POST AUCTION BALL AND DINNER on 16th December in Castle Durrow, www.castledurrow.com or ph 087 367 3659,
CONSERVATION COURSE 11th and 12th November in Christchurch www.ericadevine.com or ph. 086 244 7996,
CHOIR & ORGAN RECITAL IN DURROW on Fri 9th December www.cashel.anglican.org or 057 873 1243.
Church Review Article
Carol Robinson Tweed came to interview me for an article for the
Church Review on St. Maelruain’s (she was doing a series of
articles on various parishes in the Dioceses) about a month ago. For those of you who do not receive the Church Review Diocesan magazine, there are spare copies of the report in the Church Porch, please feel free to take one!
Carol came back to visit the parish on Sun 23rd for our family service, perhaps to see did the reality live up to the article! I received an email the following day to say how much she enjoyed the service and meeting parishioners at coffee after the service. William.
