FEBRUARY 2013
From the Rector On 3rd December I joined the local RC
Deanery for the end of their meeting to plan for Christian Unity Week and I
stayed on for lunch, as it was in the Priory.
Our Christmas ‘season’ started off with the
Christmas Sing Along on 30th November. It was a lovely evening with
a great line up of entertainment, thank you to Ronnie Scott for co-ordinating
the event. The Church was decorated on 14th December. Janet Edgely
and her helpers did a wonderful job on decorating the Church for the festive
season, a sincere ‘thank you’ to you all. On Sunday evening of the 16th
we had our Nine Lessons and Carols service followed by refreshments in the
hall. The Primary School Carol service was on the 18th and the Leinster singers had their annual Christmas concert in
the church on 22nd. Everybody
was in good Christmas spirits on Sunday 23rd for our family service.
We had a great turn out, not least due the Good News Club nativity play which
involved 26 children including 4 junior leaders! We had three services over Christmas, starting
with our midnight Holy Communion, 8.30am Holy Communion with hymns and our
Family Christmas Day Holy Communion Service at 11am which all went off well and
with very good numbers in attendance. The
31st saw our annual New Year ’s Eve service at 11pm to welcome in
the New Year. The service finishes just before midnight and it is a delightful
way to welcome in the New Year.
On 20th January for Christian
Unity Week I went to St. Aidan’s, Brookfield
Rd, where I preached on ‘the road to Emmaus’, Bill
Mullaly from An Solas Methodist Church read the Gospel. Bishop Eamon Walsh
presided. I thought it was interesting for the other ten RC parishes to go out
to West Tallaght. God Bless, William.
FESTIVAL
OF HANDS. SEPTEMBER 27th - 29th ST. MAELRUAIN’S
PARISH. For
some time now, some members of the flower guild have been thinking about having
a flower festival in St. Maelruains. For those who may not know, the flower
guild is made up of a group of ladies that provide and arrange flowers for the
church on a monthly basis. . Some parishioners provide flowers in
memory of their loved ones on anniversaries. For the flower festival, we have
engaged the help of florist Richard Haslam . Richard holds a National Diploma
of the Society of Floristry and is a member of the American Institute of Floral
Designers .He was a member of the Interflora gold medal winning teams at
Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows.
While we thought about the flower festival, our
thoughts brought us to think about all the talent in our parish and in the
wider community of Tallaght.
If you are a visitor to the parish coffee morning, you
will have sampled the delicious homemade scones, tray bakes, coffee and lemon
cakes, to name but a few, all made by the volunteer team that runs
that event. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit and have a tea or fresh coffee and
sample these fine handmade goodies during the festival………….
At the Crafty Chatters afternoon, you can see a group
of women knitting and stitching the most beautiful handmade items. Fashionable
hats, gloves and scarves are knitted along with baby cardigans, bootees and
finest christening shawls. Items of crochet, patchwork, cross stitch and
embroidery are all being created…..we should display them for all to see and
demonstrate each craft…..
There are some keen photographers among us…..some have
even won prizes! Why not have a display of photographs, perhaps with a theme.
Maybe a photographer would be at hand to tell us about how to select a camera
to start, or a story behind a picture…
What about all our friends who paint . Wouldn’t it be
nice to see their work and hear their story about the various masterpieces
painted with watercolour, acrylic or oil…….
Then there are the people that turn out beautiful wood
turned items and handmade wooden items. Have you seen a wood turner turn wood
on a lathe? Have you played whist? Would you like to see how it’s played? Do
you or your children ever make jigsaws? Let’s make one together!
All the above along with more will make our Festival
of Hands on September 27th to 29th.
We hope to open with a concert in the church on
Thursday 26th and close with a service on Sunday 29th at
5.00 pm. We are hoping that the Archbishop will attend if he is not already
booked for that date.
Will you join us to help make this event a success? We
need people right now, to help in all areas such as fundraising, advertising,
catering, security, general help that whole week end.
BAPTISMS On 1st
December we had the baptism of Siennita, baby daughter of Sonja Glass and
Miguel Angel Vasquez Rengifo and on the 2nd Olivia, baby daughter of
John and Jenny McDermott was also baptised. On the 15th December the baptism of
Saoirse Wamui daughter of Lucy Nzeyimana and Victor Haji took place and on
Sunday 6th January we had the baptism of Toby Gibney, baby son of Niall and Sandra.
Please pray for both these children and their families as they begin their
Christian lives.
CONDOLENCES The
funeral of Reg Deegan, Kilnamanagh, took place in his home parish of St.
Mary’s, Crumlin on 28th November. We express our sincere sympathy to
his children; Sarah, Naomi,
Deborah and Philip and to his grandchildren Amy and Michael.
We
also express our sincere sympathy to our Rector, William and to Valerie, Amy,
Lionel and to the rest of their family on the death of William’s Mum, Phyllis.
The funeral took place in Monkstown
Parish Church
on 31st January.
ANNIVERSARY Our
thoughts and prayers are with Lydia Oropo, her children Dimeje and Michelle as
they remembered Alfred on Sunday 13th January in Church, the 3rd
anniversary of his tragic death in Nigeria.
WHIST
DRIVE
The next Whist Drive will take place on
Monday 18th February at 8.00pm in the Small Hall, all welcome!
SCHOOL
NEWS The
Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough Rev. Michael Jackson visited the school on
the 6th December to mark the 30th anniversary of the
school. A tree was planted in the courtyard and a plaque was unveiled to mark
his visit to the school. He called into every class room and thoroughly enjoyed
chatting to the children.
We had our PTA meeting on 8th
January and we have a new committee for 2013. The new committee will meet again
on 11th February to set out how they will work for the good of the
school community during the coming year.
The Board of Management have decided that
all fundraising for the coming year will go towards the cost of extending the infant
playground. We will be bag packing in Dunnes Stores in City West on Fri. 22nd
and Sat. 23rd February. Ms.
Rountree is planning to register for the Flora Mini – Marathon
in June, also to raise money for the playground.
Ms Ann Mulligan joined the staff as a SNA
in December and we said good bye to our part time resource teacher Ms. Suzanne
James also in December and are now delighted to welcome Ms Sarah Fleming two
days a week.
COFIRMATION
CLASSES Confirmation classes
will be starting shortly, if you are interested in confirmation, please contact
the Rector as soon as possible. There will be a pre confirmation day in the
Memorial Hall, Rathfarnham Rd. Terenure (at the junction of Bushy Park Rd.) on Saturday 9th
February, again, contact the Rector for further details.
BOYS
BRIGADE It's hard to believe January has
passed and here we are, thinking of our display again and thinking of items and
projects. We continue to have a full turnout of boys each week and we would
like to thank the parents for ensuring members attend at this busy time. We have plenty of room for more boys.
We meet in the parish centre on Friday night from 7.30. All boys of school
going age welcome
MOTHER’S UNION On Monday 14th
January, we greatly enjoyed our New Year Dinner in the Blazin Grill Tallaght.
8pm Monday 11th February 2013: We will have a talk by Barnardos on
“Working in the Community” and at 8pm on Monday 11thMarch our
meeting will be on Guide Dogs for the Blind.
TEA LADIES FEBRUARY: Iris Harley &
Noelle Lewis.
TEA LADIES MARCH: Regina Donoghue / Vivienne Bright
SAOIRSE:
Hair brushes required as February donation.
Please spread the word about these two very
interesting meetings – we will be delighted to welcome anyone interested.
PARISH COFFEE MORNING We resume our Coffee Mornings on Friday,
22nd February, 10am – 12.00 midday, in the Old Hall. We look forward to seeing everyone
back again, and hopefully some new faces too. Be there, or be square!!
