Successful 1st Weekend - Granagh Players.

PARISH CLERKS COLLECTION: Coming up this weekend 1st Feb. As you all know, Kathleen is one of the best, she gives her time selflessly, 365 days of the year and is there for every Church celebration, baptism, weddings/rehearsals, communions, confirmations and funerals. Please show your appreciation.

GRANAGH PLAYERS: First weekend down and Dvd recorded. Everyone in top form and managing to dodge the flus and bugs going around !! There will always be first night nerves but everyone is in the same boat. We had great audiences each night who were very supportive of the cast and gave them great encouragement. Our three new members gave wonderful performances - David Manning, Emma Noonan & Carmel O'Carroll. All our volunteers were kept on their toes, supplying teas, tearing up tickets, unending supply of glasses to be washed and our car parkers vigilant as always. Borrowing a quote - ' It takes a village to run the Play ' - couldn't be more exact. It was great to meet up with our long-time supporters as well as many first-time visitors. In his attire, Kevin Fitz was complaining of feeling a much cooler breeze Sunday night... so we hope, for his sake, the snow and hail stay away next weekend !! Performance Dates: - Fri 31st Jan, Sat 1st & Sun 2nd Feb at 8pm nightly. In the Community Centre. Tickets on the Door. Adults E10. Students E5.

BEES & TREES TALK: Wed 29th January at 8pm Ballyagran Hall. Pauline Walsh of Tigin Honey will be talking about Bees and Emer O'Flaherty about Biodiversity. Light refreshments will be served afterwards. Contact Kathleen King for further details or to register your interest - 087 1620679, kathleen23@yahoo.ie. All Welcome!

COLLECTION THANKS: Many thanks to those who contributed to last weekends' collection for Limerick homeless. Amount received in Granagh €194.80 & in Ballingarry €281.22. Thanks to collectors Joan & Neilie Brosnan, Mary O'Carroll-Lynch and Theresa O'Keeffe. GRANAGH N.S: Enrolment for Junior Infants September 2020. Application forms are available from the school office. Contact Maureen at (061)399081 or email office@granaghns.ie Closing date for receipt of application form is January 31st 2020.

GRANAGH UTD. F.C. What a weekend for the Club, the U12s & U13s matches scheduled to kick off, twenty three hours apart, one in Granagh, the other in Dublin. No doubt there was disappointment with the results, but everyone was very proud of their performances and team spirit. U13s v Salthill Devon, Sat 25th;- Unfortunately it was not our day as we came up against a very strong Salthill Devon. The boys can be very proud of the effort they put in over the hour. They battled for the entire sixty plus minutes, when it would have been easy to throw in the towel. The team did exceptionally well, beating some tough teams along the way. Thank you to everyone for getting the field and dressing rooms ready for the match and to the parents for providing food. Also a big thank you to Seamus and Janice Twomey for the hospitality back at the Rock Bar. Full squad - Aaron Deane, Conor O’Shea, Jack Mulqueen, John Hayden, Jack Fitzgearld, Darragh O'Carroll, Adam Hourigan, Cian McDonagh, Paul Murphy, Jack O'Kelly, Bryan Horgan, Niall O'Brien, Jack Ahern, Paul Griffin & James McCarthy. U12’s v Shamrock Rovers, Sun 26th;- We set off on Sunday morning with great excitement, our captain fantastic James Murphy presented Shamrock Rovers with a memento of the day. The game started at a ferocious pace and Shamrock dominated from the get go. Our team threw everything they had at Shamrock Rovers, the boys chased and blocked everything and everyone that moved towards goal. While the result wasn't to be favourable, we are extremely proud of the bunch of young guys that gave it their all. We await the quarter finals to see who our opposition will be in the regional stage. Thanks to all who travelled to support, we can honestly say they did ye proud. Team was Darragh O'Donoghue, Lewis Ferguson, Alex Sheehy, Liam Power, Conor O'Shea, Jack O'Kelly, Paul Murphy, Liam Kingston, James McCarthy, Luke Hourigan, Diarmuid Kiely, Geordan Twomey, James Murphy and Edward Purtill. Sincere thanks to the team sponsors - Pat and Yvonne Hourigan of Hourigan Family Foods, Cllr Richard O Donoghue of O’Donoghue Construction, Seamus and Janice Twomey of the Rock Bar, Tom O’Gorman of O’Gormans Foodstore & Catherine Ahern of Rainbows Hair Studio. Well done to the teams and management for getting to the last thirty two, in such a massive competition. Still on a positive, the U13’s still have a regional quarter-final to look forward to v AK United.

DRAMA FEAST: No shortage of plays in the locality, over the coming month. Banogue Drama present - ''The Mating Season" a comedy by Sam Cree to be performed on Fri 7th, Sun 9th, Fri 14th, Sat 15th & Sun 16th of February at 8pm nightly. West Limerick Drama Festival - three plays in Knockaderry Hall with adjuciator Gerry Stembridge. Thur 6th - Knockaderry/Clouncagh, "Entertaining Angels". Friday 7th - Canavour Players, '' The Cobwebs Glory". Sat 8th - New Hope Theatre, " For Better for Worse ". Abbeyfeale Drama - " Love Knots ", a comedy by Jimmy Keary to be performed on Tue 4th, Thur 6th Sat 8th, Sun 9th and again on Tue 11th, Thur 13th, Sat 15th & Sun 16th in Fr. Casey's Clubhouse. The 68th North Cork Drama Festival is fast approaching - 6th to 14th March.

CHURCH NEWS: First Communion dates - Granagh Sat 2nd May & Ballingarry Sat 9th May. Confirmation Wed 20th May. Fr. Dan's Books - As Fr. Dan makes preparations towards his retirement, he is tackling his book collection. If anyone wants to take away some books, he has left them on the altar rails, beside the Confessional. He would prefer people to take them rather than send to the skip.

ST BRIGID’S DAY: The customary celebrations for the feast of St Brigid will take place at St Brigid’s Well, Shanagarry, Newcastle West on Saturday next, February 1 at 7.30pm. The celebrations will include Rosary by candlelight and prayers – all are welcome.

10k RUN/WALK: Sun 2nd Feb. 12pm. The Milford Hospice 10km Run/Walk will take place at the University of Limerick. Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd places in both Male and Female categories. Entry fee includes a custom running top as part of your registration fee. The event is open to everyone, however you must be over 18 years of age to compete for prizes in the event. Registration for the event is €25 per person and proceeds will go directly to Milford Hospice. Race number and running top collection Saturday 1st February from 12 noon to 15.00 at UL Sports Arena main reception.