2024 Has Begun: Congratulations to Ms. Lynch on her Retirement.

CHURCH NEWS:

Last Sunday, we remembered the anniversary of Kitty Noonan. Ar dheis Lamh Dé go raibh a hAnam dilís.

Epiphany Masses: - Friday 5th - Vigil Mass, Ballingarry at 7pm. Saturday 6th - Granagh at 10.00am

The Epiphany is the celebration of God manifesting as the baby Jesus and revealing Himself to the world. The holiday also marks the day the Magi visited baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Jesus' baptism is also celebrated during Epiphany. The holiday is also sometimes known as Three Kings Day.

Christmas Ceremonies: A busy weekend of ceremonies over Christmas. Sunday, the communion children attended mass along with some of their grandparents, aunties & uncles. They are always in great voice, accompanied by Roisín & Emma. Sunday evening there was a huge crowd for Christmas Eve mass with Roisín and the choir enhancing the ceremonies. Sadie Hanrahan brought the Baby to the Crib which was so fitting as this time last year she was seriously ill in hospital. Thankfully Sadie has returned to good health and will be receiving her Communion next year. The Church was looking very festive and many thanks to Anne O'Rourke for her skills in making the wreath and flower arrangements.

Thought for the Week:- The great thing about the past is that it shows you what Not to bring into the future.

GRANAGH N.S.

We send our congratulations to Siobhán Lynch, who is retiring from her position as Deputy Principal and Teacher in Granagh National School. Siobhán has been an integral part of Granagh school for the past thirty five years and she has dedicated her career to the school, its students and the entire community. Siobhán has taught all the classes at different times and so got to know all the parents over the years. She has even taught two generations from some families.! From my own children's time I can remember when they got into first class, the lessons really started. Spellings & tables every night and tests on Friday. At the time it seemed a lot to get through but later in secondary school, that learning stood to all her students. Many of those students have their own children now and they will be starting that circle all over again.

We would like to thank Siobhán for her dedicated service to the school and the parish and we wish her a happy, healthy and busy retirement - she will be greatly missed by all staff and pupils – both past and present.

The school community was delighted to be able to honour Siobhán at Mass on December 15th, followed by refreshments in the school.

Enrolment: Granagh National School is now accepting enrolments for Junior Infants, starting in September 2024.

The Admission Notice and Admission Policy, including the Admission Form, are available on the website www.granaghns.weebly.com, or through the school office by contacting Maureen at (061)399081 or emailing office@granaghns.ie. The closing date for receipt of application forms is January 26th 2024.

GRANAGH PLAYERS:

After a little break for the Christmas, its back to rehearsals again this week for the cast of The Hucklebuck. Brendan Bowyer, singing the Hucklebuck became the signature tune of the showband era and this genre of music packed dancehalls throughout the 60s. The song became a dance sensation in Ireland for the man who fronted The Royal Showband. Bowyer and his fellow singer Tom Dunphy left The Royal Showband in 1971 and formed the Big Eight, playing the Irish ballroom circuit in the Summer and Las Vegas in the winter, before the band moved full time to Nevada. After semi-retirement, Brendan returned to touring Ireland each year with his daughter, Aisling and a six-piece band, performing his showband hits, dance music and contemporary songs. He lived in Las Vegas until his death in May 2020.

Jim Chawke will take on where Brendan left off and he's hoping his hips will have loosened out sufficiently by the end of this month....!! He will be ably assisted by Susan Moran and Patricia Sheehy who will sing hits from the Cadets and Eileen Reid. Grace Griffin & Janet Leahy are getting the set painted. Lines are still being learned off, hoping it all comes together for performance dates, Fri, Sat, Sun, 26th, 27th ,28th Jan, and 2nd, 3rd, 4th Feb.

CHOMHBHRÓN:

Our sympathies to Gráinne Noonan, Kilmore on the death of her dad, Gerard Histon, Ballinvirick, Askeaton, who passed peacefully at home on Dec 24th, surrounded by his family. Sadly missed by his loving wife Gerardine (née Bourke), daughters Gráinne (Noonan) and Debra (O'Keeffe), son Niall and partner Katie, sons-in-law, brother Pat, sister Kathleen, grandchildren, relatives, neighbours and many great friends.

He was reposed at O'Grady's on the 26th. Requiem Mass was celebrated in Cappagh Church, with burial afterwards in the local cemetery. Ar dheis Dé go ráíbh a anam dilís.

TRÓCAIRE THOUGHTS::

From Caoimhe de Barra, CEO. At the edge of a camp where displaced people have fled catastrophic hunger in Somalia, there is a schoolroom. Its students are often weary, sometimes dirty from long journeys, and almost always making do with less than perfect conditions and less than ample supplies. But the fact remains: there is a schoolroom here. I am picturing this schoolroom today, at the beginning of a new year.

Picturing how around the world, even during desperate crises and through the heartbreak of war and conflict, we must remember that who we are – and what we do – matters greatly in this world.

It was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.”

Not as a way to gloss over the injustice and suffering in the world, but instead to remind us that hope and change go hand in hand – and that we all play a part. At the beginning of 2024, I want to thank you for hope and change.

For the hope of a schoolroom at the edge of a camp for families who’ve been displaced by crisis... for the change it brings. For the hope of a survival kit that will help a mother keep her little ones warm, with clean water to drink, after fleeing war. For the hope of mental health supports even while war and conflict continue, for children who’ve been traumatised by violence. For the hope of medical supplies and dignity kits, and emergency food baskets... and for the changes to people’s lives that result. War and conflict are terrible things. Injustice, poverty, and crisis as well. This year, with so much suffering, you could have turned away.

Instead, there is a schoolroom at the edge of a camp in Somalia. A family with food to eat in South Sudan. A child in Ukraine, with blankets and clothing for winter. Emergency supplies in Gaza.

It is the start of hope. A flicker of human kindness, stubborn and steadfast, despite all the darkness.

Please keep the light alive in 2024. Who you are matters, and what you do makes a difference.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with Peace, Joy, Prosperity, and countless new Memories.