Cahir Notes 24th March 2010 ST PATRICK’S DAY PARADE IN CAHIR St Patrick’s Day was celebrated in Cahir with the best parade in years, as large crowds turned out to watch a colourful parade of floats, community groups, marching groups, fancy dress, classic cars, industrial entries and rescue vehicles. The parade was led onto the Square by a lone piper and the Cahir Scout troop flag bearers, followed by the Cahir Park AFC float, which stopped in front of the reviewing platform, where players of the youth team released balloons in the club colours and footballs to the crowd which thronged the Square. Packie Halley was dressed in the team strip of Cahir Park of 1910, but assured us he didn’t play for them in that year! The M.C. Gerry Duffy invited the officers of the soccer club to join him on the stage as the guests of honour for the day. Great fun was had by all on the day The Cahir Scout troop had a colourful float featuring outdoor camping, as all of the scouts, cubs, beavers and venturers marched proudly with their leaders past the platform. Another colourful group was the VTOS Multimedia Arts Course featuring Cahir Youth Club members, led by Tina Looby, all in multi coloured outfits and banners and banging drums. There was a big cheer for the Punter’s Rest float, featuring a bar, staff and customers; Cahir GAA had a large contingent of marching players from the Camogie club and hurling and football teams, Ballingeary Irish Countrywomen’s Association proudly marched behind their banner onto the Square followed by the Cahir Majorettes, led by their leaders Marcella Cantwell and Emma Corcoran, Cahir Community Bingo members had another colourful entry this year, followed by many cars from the local classic and vintage car clubs each in pristine condition, one of which, a 1960’s Ford Anglia driven by Fiona Walsh, in fancy dress, stopped at the platform and was stolen by a local in a gorilla suit! Fiona was reunited with her Anglia later. The local Wild Hogs on their Harley Davidsons followed onto the Square, followed by the Cahir Dive Club float. The Cahir Fire and Rescue Service were well represented as the local fire fighters drove many of their Fire Tenders through the Square to the applause and appreciation of the crowd, pride of place was their recently delivered 2010 ScaniaP270 Fire Tender. Many local businesses entered vehicles and machinery and added to the spectacle and showed that Cahir is thriving despite the recession!   At the end of the parade M.C. Gerry Duffy interviewed Billy Purtill Chairperson of Cahir Park AFC and secretary Ger Hally on the stage. They spoke of the events that would take place in 2010 to mark the 100th anniversary of the club’s foundation, and thanked the town for their support down the years. The new Clubhouse will open on May 5th as part of the centenary celebrations. Cahir Branch of Comhalas Ceolteori Eireann led my Michael Harty played a lively Traditional music set on the platform and were joined by Anita Lonergan who sang a couple of lovely airs to mark the National Day. They were followed by a young local rock group which included Eoin Murray on lead guitar, Dan Fairhurst on Bass, and Niall Maguire on Drums, and who were also joined by other talented musicians. The committee, Patrick O’Donovan, the inexhaustible Tina Looby and I wish to thank in particular Cahir Garda Siochana for marshalling the crowds and traffic diversions and ensuring the smooth running of the parade, M.C. Gerry Duffy for his invaluable stage presence, Patrick Caplice and Hughie O’Donoghue for their help too. Special Thanks to John and Sean Lonergan for providing the public address and sound system on the stage. Also to Grangemore Plants, Cahir for the covered trailer / Stage. Finally Thanks you to all who entered in the spirit of the day and took part in the parade ensuring its success and of course to all the local townspeople for coming out in such large numbers to support the parade again this year. CHELTENHAM CHALLENGE FUNDRAISER What an exciting week! Those of you who bought tickets for the Cheltenham Challenge will know. From one days racing to the next, the leader board changed dramatically as many favourite horses on the day either fell or did not live up to expectation. Of course this made it all the more exciting, as it really was totally up to chance who would eventually win with the most points. However, early in the day on Friday, on the last day of racing, we in the “office” realised there was no catching up to Roger McGrath who certainly knew his horses and scooped the 1st prize of €1000. In second place winning €300 was Jeanette Kennedy and third place went to Maureen Calvert who won €200. Congratulations to all. As you all know, it would be impossible to hold this Challenge without the help of many kind people. Without Helen Quirke, Manager of Cahir Business and Training Centre, this very popular fundraiser simply would not take place, also all the “Sassy Lassies” in the Enterprise Centre who worked so hard answering calls and emails, all the committee members and shops that sold tickets, Tim Shanahan, Laura Butler and Patrick Caplice who provided cover when needed, Callum Andrews and Shannon Taylor who helped so much in the “office”, Joe Walsh for giving us use of the “office”, The Lazy Bean for the lovely lunches and of course all those who bought tickets and took part in the exciting Cheltenham Challenge, Thank you so much, it really was great fun. I already can’t wait for next year’s Challenge. CAHIR ACTIVE RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION. Fitness classes continue in Duneske Leisure Centre. Sessions take place at 11am each Thursday morning. All members and interested people are welcome to join in this beneficial activity. Results of 25 Card Game held on Friday 19th March. 1st place with 11 games were; Peg Reidy, Agnes Hyland, Rena O'Connor and Breda Ryan. Lucky Table, Tom Morrissey, Tom Burke. John O'Connor, Joe Ahern. Raffle; Mary Whelan and Chi-Chi Caplice. The next game will take place on Friday 26th March. Card enthusiasts are more than welcome to join us each week in the Catharine McAuley room of Cahir Day Care Centre starting at 8pm. Information regarding Cahir Active Retirement Association may be obtained by contacting the Secretary on cahiractiveretirement@gmail.com or by phone on 052 74 441892. SCARBOROUGH GREETINGS Here is a message from Scarborough to tell all our friends in Cahir that we were thinking about you all on St Patrick’s Day. We had a great party in the Spa pub, with music from "The Wild Colonial Boys" with a buffet of white Galtee pudding and the Irish theme was crazy. Hundreds of people turned up and a toast was made to the people of Cahir. We sang the song "Que Sera Sera" for Jean Van Der Werve who died last week. Jean and her partner Jack travelled to Cahir on Mike Manning’s trip every year for ten years. We all remembered Jean on the night. The party started at 9pm and ended at 3am. It was a night to remember. We look forward to seeing Tom Shanahan and all of you again in Cahir soon, God bless....Mike Manning. Thank you for the lovely message Mike. Very sad to hear about Joan, she will be missed by all, please give our condolences to her family. BOOK LAUNCH Locals are invited to the official launch of The Dáil in the 21st Century authored by Ardfinnan based political scientist, Dr. Anthony O’ Halloran. The book will be launched by Deputy Pat Rabbitte in Kilcoran Lodge Hotel, Cahir on Friday April 9th at 8 pm. Master of Ceremonies for the proceedings will be Dr. Douglas Butler. The book is published in hardback by Mercier Press, Cork. SOUTH TIPP HOSPICE HEADSHAVE A sponsored Head shave/ leg wax took place in The Gatehouse on Friday 5th March last. It was in aid of the South Tipperary Hospice Movement. Some very brave men stepped up to the plate and were either shaved or waxed. Our very own Cllr. Seanie Lonergan, Paul Conway, Paul Frazier, Joe Murphy, Eddie Kendrick, Pat Dolan and Willie Sullivan all succumbed to either Steve Maguire’s shaver or Lorna Flynn’s waxing pot To date, the fantastic sum of over €4,000 has been raised with still more yet to come in. If you still have a sponsor card and wish to return it, please call Alice Ward on 087 6610242 or Paul Conway on 087 4139698. The final total raised will be announced once all sponsor cards are in. Alice Ward and Paul Conway would like to thank all those who took part in the sponsored event, Steve Maguire, Lorna Flynn, Jason Maher for holding it, all those who gave spot prizes or sponsored someone and everyone who came along on the night and bought tickets. It was a most entertaining night, for a very worthwhile cause. CAHIR GARDEN AND FLOWER CLUB The Club will hold their monthly meeting on Wednesday 31st March in Cahir House Hotel at 8pm. There will be a demonstration by Mildred Stokes. Club Competitions as follows; Beginners, An Easter Basket any size. Intermediate, “Simply Spring”, 76cm/30inches. Advanced, “Spring Contrasts”, 76cm/30inches. Old and new members, all welcome on the night. PREMIER HARRIERS HUNT CLUB The Premier Harriers are organising a sponsored ride from Durrow in County Laois to Cork Racecourse in Mallow in aid of the Hospices of each county they travel through. Counties Laois, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick and Cork Hospices will all benefit from this unusual fundraiser. The ride will start in Durrow on Easter Saturday the 3rd April and should reach Cahir by Saturday evening. The Chairman, Gerry O’Donnell tells me he will have more information next week, so watch this space for details. ROSEMOUNT NOTES The Resident's Committee of Rosemount will meet on Wednesday, 24th March at 7.30pm in The Shamrock Lounge in Cahir. All welcome to attend. CAHIR ANGLERS ASSOCIATION The Quiz night that was due to take place on Friday 26th March has been postponed and will take place instead on Friday 9th April. The venue will be The Shamrock Lounge, Castle Street, Cahir. DAFFODIL DAY FRIDAY 26TH MARCH. Daffodil Day is the Irish Cancer Society's annual fundraising campaign supporting free cancer patient care and information services across the country. It's a day for all of us to come together and pin a daffodil to the nation. Your support will make a huge difference, a day for all of us to give hope for a brighter, cancer-free future for ourselves and those we love. Wear a daff on Friday 26th and show your support. OUR LADY OF MERCY PRIMARY SCHOOL. The Parents Association have informed me that a good quality second hand book sale will take place in the girl’s primary school on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th of March from 2- 3pm each afternoon and from 7-8pm in the evening. We ask parents to have a clear out and send in any adult and children’s books that are in good condition for the sale. Your support, as always would be greatly appreciated. TABLE QUIZ A Table Quiz will take place in The Abbey Tavern on Thursday 1st April. It will start at 9pm and tables of 4 will be €20. All proceeds will go to St. Johns Children’s Cancer Ward of Crumlin Childrens Hospital. There will be a raffle on the night. Any donations can be made to The Abbey Tavern, The Hill Inn or by ringing Emma on 085 1624359. Your support is greatly appreciated. CAHIR CAMOGIE CLUB NOTES? Many thanks to all who attended the St. Patrick's parade under the Camogie Club flag. It was great to see so many of our new members out wearing the club jersey. Congratulations to Emma Buckley, Keely Halpin and Roisin Howard who have been selected on to the county U14 Panel. Training continues for U14 and U12 teams every Saturday morning at Duneske from 10.30am with the U14 also out on Wednesday evenings from 7pm. Meanwhile, we still have indoor training on Wednesday evenings in Colaiste Dun Iascaigh for Junior and Senior infants as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd class from 7pm. BEECHPARK RESIDENTS Its spring clean time now that the weather is better and the evenings are brighter. So we will have a clean up next Saturday 27th March. There is a lot of litter around the estate and we hope we will get a good turnout of helpers. We will meet at the new car park around 2pm. Bags and gloves will be provided. We will have an extra prize of a beautiful Easter egg with the 50/50 draw on Easter weekend! Our last month’s winners were Anne Maire Grant, Anne Burke, Christy Griffin and Pat Whitney. We wish all our residents a Happy Easter and hope the Easter bunny brings all the children an Easter egg. We offer our deepest sympathies to our Chairperson, Breda Gallagher and family on the recent death of her husband Brian Gallagher. May he rest in peace. We would also like to wish Billy Coffey a speedy recovery. COLAISTE DUN IASCAIGH NEWS TRANSITION YEAR AND TOASTMASTERS Since December the Transition Year students have been working with local Gardai and Toastmasters as part of a Youth Leadership Program. They participated in a Public Speaking course under the auspices of Sgt. Peter Butler of Cahir and worked and entertained at the annual Older Person’s Party this year. They also continue to visit the Day Care Centre and Nursing home each week, providing music and chatting to the visitors and residents. Last Monday the Transition year students ran their own Toastmasters meeting, chaired by Glen Keane and with speeches from Dean Buckley, Stacey Shaw, Graham Halley, Clara Doheny, Orla Duggan and Jason Carey. They were evaluated by classmates and the audience was invited to participate in speaking about topics ranging from smoking in schools to Jedward. At the end of the evening the students were presented with certificates from Toastmasters and An Garda Siochana by the President of Clonmel Toastmasters Mr. Frank Lynch, the Chairman of Muintir na Tire Mr. Martin Quinn and Superintendent Tom Duggan. Other guests on the night included principal of Colaiste dun Iascaigh, Mrs. Mary Finnegan-Burke and Deputy Mattie McGrath T.D. Sgt Peter Butler thanked the students for visiting the elderly over the winter months and helping at the Older Persons Party in January last. He also thanked Paul Kelly of Snap Media for Producing the The Tenth Anniversary CD for the Older Persons Party and stated that copies can be purchased by ringing Paul on 0868455979. He thanked Miss Anne Mulcahy, Transition Year Student Teacher for her help and Mrs Finnegan Burke for the support of the school. Frank Lynch stated that the students had achieved a high standard of Public Speaking in a short period of time. He invited the adults present who would like to improve their communication skills to come as a guests to the Clonmel Toastmasters meeting that is being held on the Second and Fourth Thursday of April at 8.15pm in the Minella Hotel. Martin Quinn President of Muintir Na Tire said he was delighted to be present. He praised the students and said that Stacey Shaw had given a great talk on Muintir Na Tire. He stated that Muintir Na Tire was going strong since it was founded by Canon John Hayes in 1937 in Tipperary and that there are now over 1500 units of Muintir Na Tire in Ireland which helps to improve the quality of life for all. In 1985, Muintir Na Tire also launched the Community Alert Programme with an Garda Siochana as a result of attacks on the elderly in rural Ireland. He encouraged more people to get involved. SCOR NA PAISTI? Cahir GAA Club was very well represented in last Saturday evening's Scor na Paisti South final which took place at the Clonmel Og hall in Clonmel. First up we had Roisin O' Donnell whose sweet voice gave a beautiful rendition of "Caledonia". Next we had the ballad group who under the tutorage of Maura Grogan gave a great account of themselves singing a lovely old Irish song, Peigin Litir Mor. The group consisting of Laura Casey, Emma Halley, Mary Condon- O' Connor, Kirsty Arbuckle and Sarah Coleman excited the song with lovely harmony and rhythm. In the set dancing we saw a great performance from Aoife Collins, Erin O' Regan, Lauren Enright, Hillary Grogan, Katie Farrell, Keely Halpin, Roisin Howard and Carl Casey who, for the last number of weeks have been coached by Paula O' Regan. Representing Cahir in the Quiz were Conor Brennan along with Darragh and Roisin Howard. This talented trio swept the boards to emerge victorious and will go on to the County Final in Cashel next weekend. We wish them, along with their tutor Mary Howard the very best of luck. Again, well done to all involved and congratulations to all for your great work on the night. SYMPATHIES The death occurred recently of James (Jim) Lynch of Ballydrehid, Cahir. Jim was known all over the county as a diesel mechanic and farmer. He had been ill for a long period of time and passed away peacefully. Sincerest sympathies are extended to his wife Kathleen, his sons Thomas, Martin and Anthony, his daughter Eileen, his brothers James and Tony and his sister, Sister Ann Margaret of Bon Secours, Cork. His favourite song “The Galtee Mountain Boy” by Sam Doherty was played at his graveside. He will be missed by his family and all who knew him. May he Rest in Peace. HAPPY BIRTHDAY A very happy birthday to my grandson Tommy Taylor who will be 9 years old on 5th April, with lots of love from all your family and friends. READERS NEWS AND VIEWS If you have any news, views or notes for the Cahir page, you can contact me on 086 1022014 or email me on caplicetaylor@hotmail.com. By Sunday, because that is when I do the notes. Thank you.