Samhain - into the Winter:

BEREAVEMENT MASSES:

GranaghBallingarry: Sunday 8th Nov; 10.30am: For the annual November mass, where we remember the deceased of the whole parish, who have passed in the last twelve months. It will be via the Webcam on www.churchservices.tv/ballingarry.ie

Banogue: Sunday 8th Nov, 10.00am: The Mass of Remembrance for those who have died since last November. It will be via the Webcam on www.croomparish.ie/webcam

"ALONE ":

This wonderful service manage a national support line and additional supports for older people who have concerns or are facing difficulties relating to the outbreak of COVID-19. Professional staff are available to answer queries and give advice and reassurance where necessary. The support line is open seven days a day from 8am to 8pm by calling 0818 222 024.

TROCAIRE - GIFTS of LOVE:

It's coming up to that time of year again and maybe you might like to help families who are affected by poverty, injustice, displacement and Covid-19.

If you buy a sustainable and ethical gift from the Trócaire Gifts range, the recipient receives a beautiful card with details of the Gift. The gift is sourced in that country and given to a family in need, helping them change their lives.

Your choice of gifts include; - €5 - Soap can save a life by stopping the spread of diseases such as Covid. €8 - Chicks provide families with eggs and a source of income. €15 - Fruit seeds, vegetable seeds and the vital tools farmers need to provide for their families. €15 - Solar Lights, provide families with six hours of safe and free light.

€20 - School Lunch is a life-line for many children in Somalia, this provides four children with a lunch of maize and beans every school day for a month. €30 - School Kit, education is the pathway to a better future, this pays for school fees, teachers’ salaries, books and pencils. €50 - helps Grandparents provide for and raise their orphaned grandchildren. €50 - Goats provide food and extra money for families. €55 - Mother & Baby Kit, health is the greatest gift any family can receive. €65 - Honey Bees, a healthy buzz to families in Kenya. €85 - Trees, improve soil and water conservation.

€100 - Water, clean water will help improve sanitary conditions & it will also provide irrigation systems to help families grow food.

€150 - Gift of Shelter will provide cover and safety for families who have lost their homes or land in Myanmar, Guatemala and Honduras.

€150 - Quarantine Care Kit (new gift), provides families who are in quarantine in Sierra Leone with all the supplies they need for two full weeks – food, water, phone credit and other essential daily items.

€200 - providing families in Sudan with an ox plough, hand tools, farm clothes, a wheelbarrow, watering cans and seeds, so that they can start again.

€300 - Crisis Resilience Kit (new gift), you are providing shelter, solar lights, warm blankets and other daily essential items to help families cope. This is not just a gift, it is a means of survival.

See www.trocaire.org or phone 1850-408-408.

' A PAGE FROM MY LIFE '

You might have heard on the Ray D’Arcy Show where he invited his listeners to send in five hundred words on a memorable event, or a story simply worth sharing. There was a huge response , they were inundated with over 2,500 entries, from authors of all ages and all walks of life. I heard snippets from those stories last Friday and they were funny, heart-breaking, poignant and surprising … moments in peoples' lives where everything changed.

The judges included – bestselling authors Donal Ryan (The Spinning Heart), Emilie Pine (Notes to Self), Emer McLysaght (the Aisling series) and Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl). Should be a great read.

The sale of the book will benefit ' LauraLynn ', Ireland’s Children’s Hospice – a much-loved charity that helps provide services to children with life-limiting conditions and their families.

BOOK from LOCAL AUTHOR:

' The Canary in the Mine ', by Pat McLoughlin, Newcastle West. This is Pat's first novel about a diverse collection of Irish emigrants coming together in 1950s London. Some are there out of economic necessity while others are there to escape from the claustrophobic society that was 1950s Ireland. In their daily struggles, the full spectrum of conditions, emotions and feelings are experienced, they all have a story to tell. Available at Hayes' Newcastle West, O'Gairbhes' Rathkeale, O'Mahonys' & The Limerick Writers Centre. All proceeds are kindly being donated to the Friends of St. Itas.

TEAM HOPE:

If you can support the TeamHope appeal, the sooner you purchase your Christmas Shoebox online, the quicker Team Hope can arrange for them to be delivered! www.teamhope.ie

DID YOU KNOW:

1st Nov, 1986;- The first case of BSE or "mad cow disease" is found in cattle in England.

2nd Nov,1957;- Laika the spacedog, the first animal in space on board Sputnik 2.

3rd Nov, 1952;- Clarence Birdseye markets frozen peas.

4th Nov, 1922;- Howard Carter discovers tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt.

5th Nov, 1946;- John F. Kennedy elected to US House of Representatives.

6th Nov, 1991;- The last oil fire in Kuwait, set by retreating Iraqi troops, is extinguished.

7th Nov, 1975;- Kidnapped director Tiede Herrema freed.