FROM
THE RECTOR A few years ago I was involved with the
Pauline Circle, an Ecumenical discussion group, when we moved our Bible Study
group to a Tuesday I was no longer able to attend their meetings. At the
beginning of June I received a phone call from the Pauline Circle asking me to
give an address which I agreed to do with the knowledge that I had already
prepared to speak at a Pentecost Novena in Greenhills Church on the subject of
the promise of the Holy Spirit as we wait between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost
Sunday. I find the readings of the Acts of the Apostles between Easter and
Pentecost challenging as it confronts us on how the early church exploded in
numbers and how the Apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit. I fear
that we often ignore the third person in the Trinity, imagine the madness of
having a smart phone and not being connected to the internet? Is that what we,
as Christians, are doing by not being connected to the Holy Spirit?
We
had our Confirmation Service in Christchurch Cathedral on Sunday 9th
June. It was a lovely occasion and it was a pleasure preparing Tirzah, Jake,
Lauren, Nathan and Beyonce for their Confirmation. We were lucky to be able to
take photos outside the Cathedral before a deluge of rain.
On Tuesday 11th
June the staff of the Engineering Department from TUD (Tallaght Campus) came
over to the church for a tour, our doors were open for ‘Tallafest’ (a fun day
held in Tallaght Village) on 22nd
June when we had a heritage walk at 1pm beginning with a talk in the church then
at 2pm we had a historical talk on the WW1 dead of Tallaght. We also had a tour
of the church and graveyard lead by local historian, Tomas Maher on 11th
July. Into September we continued to have tours of the Church and graveyard by
various groups who I hope enjoyed their visit and went away with a better
knowledge of our Church and history.
The Great Rope of Tallaght is 1.5-kilometre sculptural thread of rope
that weaved its way through the streets of Tallaght from 13th – 15th June and our Crafty Chatters crocheted
bunting flags for their section of the rope. We were delighted to have that
section of the rope in Church for July.
At
our Family Service on 28th July said goodbye to our Indian
parishioners Monsey and Shiney and their children
Jaden & John as they move to Boston,
US. We were sad to say goodbye but wish
them well in their new life in America.
On Thursday 22nd August
there was a Coffee Morning to let people see the refurbishment of the Small
Hall and it’s facilities. It was also an opportunity for parishioners to thank
the volunteers organised by our ‘Coffee Mornings’ for all their hard work over
the summer for the painting of the hall and the sanding and varnishing of the
floors. Thank you to all involved in the refurb, you did a fabulous job and all
your hard work in very much appreciated by the Parish.
On 26th September
I attended the ICA’s Ecumenical Service to remember past members. It was a
lovely opportunity to catch up with all the ladies that I know from the wider
community who are members of our Crafty Chatters and to give them advanced
notice of our upcoming Harvest Service and Christmas Sing Along (Friday 29th
November!).
Bishop Eamonn Walsh has announced his retirement as the auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Dublin. He was here to welcome
me to Tallaght and has made me welcome not just at his rural deanery lunches but
also his Christmas priests lunches in his own home. He always showed great
interest and kindness, not just to myself but also to my family. He will be missed in Tallaght.
God Bless
William
FUNERALS On Monday
26th August the funeral of Hilary Gibney took place here in St.
Maelruain’s. We extend our deepest condolences to Hilary’s husband Brian, to
her daughter Ruth and to her extended family and friends. Hilary was also mum
to her late daughter Rachel who passed away shortly after being confirmed by
Archbishop Donald Caird.
The family of Hilary Gibney would like to
express their appreciation for all the support that they have received at this
difficult time. In particular, they would like to thank Janet Edgely and the
Mother’s Union and Flower Guild for their kindness and help in organising the
reception after Hilary’s funeral and the beautiful flowers for the Church.
We were so sorry to hear of the sudden death of Carol Fox
whose funeral took place in Taney Parish Church on Saturday 28th September.
Carol was the founding Captain of our 26th Girl’s Brigade Company,
we are very grateful to Carol, and her family, for the 45 years of service that
she gave to the Company. We express our deepest condolences to her husband
Donald, children Nicola, Craig, Bruce and Alec and their families and to
Carol’s wider family and friends.
BAPTISMS The Baptism of Emerson Hugh Temple, son of
Craig Temple and Lyndsey Black took place on 8th June and on 23rd June we had the
baptism of Maeve, baby daughter of Femi and Florence Oshisaya, on 24th
August we had the baptism of the children of Femi and Lola Abadahun, Fife (6),
Moy (2) and Sammy (1), we welcome all these children into Christ’s flock and
pray for them and their families.
HARVEST Our
Harvest Service will take place on Sunday 13th October at 3.30pm
when our speaker will be Frank Sage who will tell us of the work of Storehouse
who provide Christmas hampers for people in need in Tallaght. The service will
be followed by refreshments in the Hall.
TAIZE We had our first
Taize service on Sat 28th September, we intend to have a service
on 4th Saturday of each month in St. Maelruain’s, as part of the
local Vine initiative and everybody is welcome.
The service is informal, similar to our family service but giving people the opportunity
to give their opinion about the reading. We had tea / coffee after the service
at the bottom of the aisle with roughly thirty people in attendance, primarily
from the wider community. I hope that this service with be successful in addition
to our Sunday services facilitating people who find it difficult to attend on a
Sunday morning.
BOWLS Our club reopened on Tuesday 17th September. Our match
secretary Audrey is busy organising dates for our league matches. We look
forward meeting up with other teams when our league matches start. We send good wishes to Muriel and Jim and hope they will
be back bowling very soon.
WHIST DRIVE Our next Whist
Drive take places on Monday 154h October in the Small Hall, all
welcome!
CRAFTY CHATTERS Crafty Chatters will be held on the 1st and 3rd of each month
(8th and 22nd October) Tuesday's of the month from 2 - 4pm in the Parish Hall.
You are very welcome to come and bring along
whatever craft you are working on or learn a new one! We hope you all had a very enjoyable summer & look forward
to seeing you all.
PARISH COFFEE MORNING Teams worked in relay over several weeks in the old
Parish Hall during the summer We are very grateful to our volunteers,
John Donoghue, John Bright, Ivan Rafter and Alex Bryan for all the hard work
they did for us and to a donator for providing the paint and also to all our
attendees who gave donations to fund the project. It was a lot of work
but we also had a lot of fun.....the phrase 'you missed a bit' was taken to a whole
new level!! Thank you, from Regina, Vivienne and Barbara
Our
next coffee mornings will be held on Friday 25th October, and 29th November at
10.30am - 12.30pm. No meeting in December. Come along and bring a
friend, for a cuppa and a chat. All welcome.
MOTHERS UNION We had our Opening Service
in September and had a good turn out and Rev Avril gave us an interesting
address so we thank her for that.
Our next event is on Saturday 12th October when we will visit Newbridge House
near Donabate. We will meet at the church at 10am and hopefully share the
drive out. If you would like to go please let me know as I have to let the
staff know. I already have some names. Saoirse are looking for tea towels.
On Saturday October 19th the Mothers’ Union in the Diocese
are holding a Fashion Show in The Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan at 7.30pm. Please
phone Jean Denner 847 3323 for tickets if you would like to go, cost €15.
Another date for your diary is Friday 13th December, our December outing will be to the
Civic Theatre to see ‘Snow White’. The show is at 6.30pm and we will meet at
5pm for something to eat first. Please let me if you would like to go.
We look forward to a good turn out for our outings. All are welcome. Thank you. Valerie
BOYS BRIGADE Boys’ Brigade has started back on Friday evenings after the summer break:
Anchor
Section: 7.15 - 8.30pm Junior Section:
7.15 - 8.45pm Company Section: 7.15 - 9.15pm . If you know of any boys who would be
interested in taking part please contact the Parish office 462 6006, we’d love
to have them.
TABLE TENNIS The club is back in full swing after the
summer holidays. We are delighted to have taken delivery of two new tables,
thanks to a grant from South Dublin County Council.
The
first two nights back were spent assembling the tables but we have them all
ready for play now. Many thanks to the members who arrived, complete with
screwdrivers and spanners to help with assembly. We play on Thursday
nights in the Parish Centre from 8pm to 10pm, over 18 s. Everybody welcome,
beginner or advanced players. It’s a great way to keep fit!! Come along
and give it a try.
FLOWER GUILD We were very sorry
to hear that Hilary Gibney, who was one of our members, had passed away
after a long illness. Hilary was a member for many years, she will be missed
and our thoughts are with her family.
As
the Harvest is upon us, we will be decorating the Church on Fri 11th
October, from 10am to 12pm. We would be very grateful for help and for
donations of flowers and greenery. If anyone would like to drop in an
arrangement, done at home or some flowers, please call Hazel at 451 3608 to
arrange. Thanks to all the ladies on the flower list for their continued help.
BIBLE
STUDY of
the readings for the following Sunday continue on Tues evenings at 8.00pm
upstairs, Parish Centre, all welcome!
TIDY TOWNS Preparations for
the ‘Tidy Town’ competition are well under way, the competition is no longer
just about cleaning up and prettying up with floral baskets and planters but
includes efforts to promote wildlife along with the history of the town /village taking part. St.
Maelruain’s has been a site of Christianity since Celtic times so we are at the
centre of history in Tallaght. The committee meet in the Parish Centre once a
month on a Thursday evening, it would be great if some parishioners could get
involved, please contact William if interested.
