| December 2016 Newsletter | |||
As I mentioned in the
previous Newsletter the Carmelite Convent in Firhouse had their final mass on
Sunday 6th November. Hopefully a Christian organisation will take
over the premises so the beautifully chapel, which was only built in the past
ten years will be remain open to the public.
On 11th November we welcomed the ITT for their
remembrance service in the Church. The College has now reached over a quarter
of a century and the list to remember is ever increasing. Following the service
we went over to the Peace
Garden (remembrance
garden) in the College grounds followed by lunch. Thanks you to Sr Bernadette
for organising the service.
On Saturday 12th
November I attended the Tallaght Person of the Years awards in the main
ballroom of the Red Cow Inn. It was a delightful evening and it is heartening to
see the community of Tallaght come together in such a positive way. When ‘new’
Tallaght was developed in the 1960’s there were no facilities and it was up to
the community to provide them. The vibrancy of the community continues with the
‘second generation’ committee running the awards. It was lovely to see the
daughter of Phillip Preston, last’s years recipient (for his work as youth development officer
with Tallaght Rugby Club), who very
sadly died during the year, present this year’s award to Simon Sweeney of
Kiltipper Ramblers. Well done to all the recipients and to the organising
committee.
We continue to have tours
of the Church and grounds for school children led by local historian Tomas
Maher. I enjoy their enthusiasm and curiosity about not just about the
structures of the parish but for also for the beliefs of the Church of Ireland
in general. Some of the question I am asked would challenge the best of
theologians!
May I take this
opportunity to wish all the readers of the Newsletter a very joyful Christmas
and a happy New Year, and repeating, the verse in this year’s Mothers’ Union
Christmas cards, ‘please remember the magic of Christmas is not in presents but
in His presence’.
God bless William.
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Christmas
in St. Maelruain’s
Sun
18th December: Children’s Carol Service at 11am and
Nine
Lessons and Carols at 7pm
Sat 24th December: ‘Midnight’ Holy
Communion at 11.30pm
Sun
25th December Christmas
Morning Holy Communion with hymns at
8.30am -
Sun
25th December Christmas
Morning Family Holy Communion at 11am
Sat 31st December New Year’s Eve Multi Cultural Service at 11.15pm.
ENVELOPES Church giving
envelopes will be available in the Church Porch at the end of the month. If
anybody would like to join the envelope scheme, keeping in mind the tax rebate
available to the parish, please ask the Rector or contact the Parish Office 462
6006.
THE CHURH OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
If you
would like to subscribe to the Church
of Ireland all Ireland weekly newspaper please
contact the Parish office.
CHURCH REVIEW Subscription of €40 is now due on orders of the
Diocesan Church Review Magazine, please send payment to Parish Office as soon
as possible. If you do not wish to continue with you subscription or if you
would like start receiving the magazine, can you please let the Parish Office
(462 6006) know before the end of December.
HONORARY TREASURER Our Honorary Treasurer
Jim Bird, after many years of service, has decided to stand down as of the
Easter Vestry 2017. We are very grateful to Jim for all the work he has put
into this position over the years, through good times and bad. As we come to
the end of 2016 we are making parishioners aware of Jim’s retirement in the
hope that someone in the parish will take on the job, keeping in mind that
there will be assistance from the parish office. If interested please contact
the Rector at 086 803 0239.
MOTHER’S UNION
/ FAMILIES FIRST On
November 14 Amy gave us a very interesting talk on her experience of walking
the Camino in the summer. She brought along her rucksack packed for her walk
and had carried it each day rather than have it delivered to the next
destination. Contrary to what you might think Amy said she had found it
liberating to carry her rucksack from place to place and not be reliant on anybody
else. They reached their destination by early afternoon each day as they
started early in the morning to avoid the intense heat of the mid day sun,
having started later in the morning the first day and found the heat too much
by early afternoon. When they finally reached Santiago de Compostela on the
final day they were all delighted but still had about hour to go to reach the
cathedral which is the final destination of all the pilgrims on the
Camino. we would like to thank Amy for taking the time and trouble to give us a
most interesting talk and maybe encourage some of us to take to the high road
of the Camino.
Our December meeting on Monday 12th will be ten pin bowling in Tallaght Leisureplex at 8pm followed by refreshments. All are welcome so please give Valerie a ring if you would like to go as we need numbers for the Leisureplex. Cost will be 10e approx. Saoirse contribution for December is sweets and biscuits. Thanks a mil.
See you then.
Our December meeting on Monday 12th will be ten pin bowling in Tallaght Leisureplex at 8pm followed by refreshments. All are welcome so please give Valerie a ring if you would like to go as we need numbers for the Leisureplex. Cost will be 10e approx. Saoirse contribution for December is sweets and biscuits. Thanks a mil.
See you then.
TABLE TENNIS We would like to wish all our members a “Happy Christmas”
and look forward to seeing you all back mid January. We would like to wish
Bobby Wilson well following his recent brief spell in hospital. Looking forward
to seeing you back in January, Bobby! Best wishes also to Brian, who hasn’t
been well recently. We hope you’ll be back with us soon.
FLOWERS FOR CHRISTMAS
The Church will be decorated for
Christmas on December 17th from 9 am to 1pm.
All donations of
flowers, greenery and help will be appreciated. All are welcome to join us , no
experience necessary! Please come along, share the atmosphere and have a cup of
tea or coffee with us.
I would like to
thank everybody who has helped with the flowers during the year, in particular
to the ladies on the flower rota who ensure that there are fresh flowers in the
Church each month, as well as for the festivities. Your help is very much
appreciated.
Thanks also to the
people who donate beautiful flowers at Christmas, Easter and Harvest. We
are always looking for new people to join the flower rota. It involves putting
flowers in the Church for one month of the year. The month is always shared
with another person. Perhaps you would like to do the flowers in a
particular month in memory of a loved one. Again, no experience needed as
there is always plenty of help available.
Please contact Regina at 4522930 or
0861255161, if you would like to help. Happy Christmas everybody and a happy
and healthy new year.
BOYS BRIGADE
We had our Enrolment
Service on Sunday 13th November followed by some tea and coffee
which went very well. As these notes go to print we will be running the night of the
Christmas Sing-a-long as usual. The night will involve a movie night for
Company section and some festive arts and crafts for Juniors and Anchors. We
will be finishing up on Friday 16th December for the Christmas
Break and the Boy’s will have a fun Christmas Party. We have a shortage of Boys
this year and we are actively looking for new members. So if anyone has a boy
that may be interested please come on down we would love to have them.
Friday evenings: Anchors 7pm – 8:00pm Juniors 7pm - 8:30pm Company 7pm - 9pm
GIRLS BRIGADE The Girls’ Brigade is a
great, safe place for girls to make friends while learning lifeskills and
having fun. We are now open for another season are accepting new
members. We meet every week from September to April in St Maelruain’s
Parish hall where the girls learn dancing, singing, and arts &
crafts. Our Explorer group (aged under 9 years old) meet every Saturday morning
from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Our older girls (aged 9 years old and up) meet
every Wednesday from 7pm to 8.30pm/9pm. If you are interesting in joining
please contact Fiona Monahan
(086-8519163) or go to www.girlsbrigadeirl.ie for more information.
BOWLING CLUB We are looking
forward to our Bowling Club Christmas Dinner which is being held in Lucan Golf
Club on Friday 16th December. Our Captain Alan Stewart wishes all our members a
very Happy Christmas .
WHIST DRIVE The Christmas Whist ‘Turkey’
Drive is on Monday 19th at 8.00pm in the Main Hall. All Welcome!
CRAFTY
CHATTERS The
Crafty Chatters will meet on Tuesdays
6th and 20th December, from 2 - 4pm in St. Maelruain's
Parish Hall. If you are doing nothing please come and join the very
friendly group and if you don’t want to do any crafts just come for the cuppa
and have a chat!!
PARISH COFFEE Just to remind everyone that the Parish Coffee Morning will take a break
in December but will be back on Friday 27th January 2017. We wish
everyone a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year.
Sunday Services
8.30am Service Holy Communion each Sunday. 11.00am Service Holy Communion: 1st and 3rd
Sundays of each month. Morning
Prayer: 2nd and 5th
Sundays of each month.
Family
Service: 4th Sun of each month. 1st Wed of the month Holy
Communion with prayers for the sick 10.00am
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