JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1997

HISTORIC ORDINATION

Pictured above is Fr.David Cribbin with his parents Mary and Philip Cribbin, after his ordination on the 4th January.
This special event was followed by Fr.David's first Mass on Sunday, the 5th January which was a very moving occasion both for his family and the entire community. The presence of students and lay missionaries from a number of countries brought a truly international flavour to the ceremony.
After the Mass, Fr. David gave his first blessing in the S.M.A. House where Fr. Noel Mullin presented him with a camera, on behalf of the community. We look forward to publishing some of his photos from the Philippines in the future!!
A very enjoyable evening followed, where local talent provided the entertainment, including our own Fr.Tommy on the harmonica!
We wish David the best of luck in the future and look forward to hearing from him.

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The Beavers returned fully refreshed after the summer holidays. Sixteen eight-year old Beavers graduated to Cubs and seventeen new Beavers joined the Club, bringing our present total numbers to twenty five. Our ten week term consisted of games, crafts and outings. Also, during the year, our Little Beavers worked hard to achieve their badges, which will be presented at the end of the year.

At Halloween, we had a fancy dress party, with lots of witches and ghosts creeping around the den, playing snap apple, penny dip and other games. The highlight of the term was a visit to Peter Pan World, where Beavers from throughout the district joined in the fun.

Unfortunately, our Christmas outing to the cinema had to be postponed, but we are looking forward to this early in the New Year.
Mary McNulty

CUBS/SCOUTS

The Cubs/Scouts started back on September 24th. On October 1st, sixteen Beavers came up to Cubs. We had local tracking and compass work.

During the month of November, we ventured off to Renville Park. It was an outing full of fun and excitement. We did tracking, we had nature study and we played some games. We had lunch in the park. The weather was excellent for the event but just as we were about to head home, the clouds opened and down came the rain. However, a good day was had by all.

In December, we had a talent night where all the Cubs had a chance to do their party pieces. We had a Christmas party, with lots of singing and dancing. On December 7th we had our Christmas Outing to the Leisure Dome. There, we played Bowling and went to Laser Quest. A very enjoyable event was rounded off with chips and burgers.

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Claregalway Branch of the Progressive Democrats --- Local News

Item I
Bobby Molloy has informed the Claregalway Branch of the Progressive Democrats that he has been making continuous representations to the National Roads Authority to provide funding to enable the completion of the Lydican section of the Claregalway/Oranmore Road (N18). He was hopeful that funding for this will be provided during 1997.
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Item II
Praise was given to Galway County Council at a recent meeting of the Claregalway Branch of the Progressive Democrats in respect of the Traffic Calming Measures placed in Claregalway village. Bobby Molloy was at the meeting and was requested to make further representations to the Council for similar traffic control measures to be installed at Loughgeorge. He was also requested to promote the development of Galway Airport during 1997.
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Item III
Bobby Molloy recently informed the Claregalway Branch of the Progressive Democrats that the Irish Autistic Association has purchased a farm in Claregalway with the intention of providing sheltered employment in the form of organic farming. The Branch membership welcomed the news and wished the development success.

For further information re any of the above, contact JOSEPHINE HOGAN, TEL: 798446 (home); 703177 (work).

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Junior Badminton

The Mixed Doubles Junior Championships held on Saturday, 11th January was a very enjoyable tournament. Congratulations to all the children from the club who took part. A special mention here of all the U-10 members who played and who show such great promise for the future. Stephen Keane took the title with his partner from Maree B/C. Congratulations to: Ailish Cahalan who reached the final with her partner Damien Hehir from GLTC; also to Niall Farrell and Claire Kelly who reached the semi-final.

The U-12 final was an all-Claregalway event with Michael and Katie O'Connor beating Paul Loughlin and Maria Moran in a very exciting game; congratulations also to David Cahalan and Michelle Kirrane who reached the U-12 plate final.

Cathy Casserly and Christopher Keane overcame Caroline Garrett and Alan Flaherty (Tuam B/C) in the U-14 final in what was also a very exciting and competitive game.

In the U-16 event, the honours went to Enda O'Connell and Cathy Casserly who beat club mates Robert Lennon and Sharon McNamara.

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TEA TREE OIL.

Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) is the strongest natural antiseptic known to man. This natural antiseptic can be used on a daily basis. Tea Tree Oil is for external use only, although it can be used in the mouth for mouth ulcers, etc. as long as it is not swallowed.
When purchasing Tea Tree Oil and Tea Tree Oil products, one must be sure it is Melaleuca Alternifolia, as there are some 110 other species of Tea Trees.
In Australia Tea Tree Oil is classed as medical product and a bottle of pure Tea Tree Oil is looked on by many Australians as a First Aid Cabinet in a bottle. Australian Bodycare own their own plantations and manufacture a range of therapeutic products. Tests have shown that Tea Tree Oil is the perfect solution for oily spotty skin such as ACNE.
In addition, it heals and prevents fungal infection like Athlete's foot, ingrown hair, thrush, etc.
For further information: - contact Evelyn Kitt (091)798485

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Claregalway have now qualified with Barna for the "A" semi-finals and are joined by the qualifiers from Group 2, Oranmore and St.Michaels. So the most difficult part of the league has yet to come; it's a knock-out league cup from now on.

Fé-13
Eire Óg 1-2 Claregalway 3-8
Claregalway 2-11 Ml.Breathnach 0-1

Claregalway started the City league with two easy wins over Eire Óg at Tirellin and Ml.Breathnach at the Leisure Centre. The feature of the game at Tirellin was the large turnout of players and the rule on unlimited substitutes was used to the full so that as many players as possible got a run in the green and gold. In a good team display against Ml.Breathnach, Colm James Connealy, Thomas Moran, Robert Raftery were most prominent in the backs; Gary Dillon and Martin Kelly were dominant in mid field while in the forwards Stephen Cunniffe, Barry Cullinane, Alan Greaney, Barry McGrath and Jason Murphy all scored good points. Michael Maguire and Gary Dillon scored the goals.

Fé-10
A panel of 40, managed by John Feeney, Tony Clarke, Gerry Moran and Hugh Farrell and accompanied by some parents travelled by bus to Castlebar for the Inter-county Blitz tournament organised by Castlebar Mitchels. Claregalway played 4 games starting with a win over Kilmeena. They fielded a different team in the second match to give as many players as possible a game but lost to Balla. They then beat Ballinrobe to qualify for the B semi-final which they lost to Crossmolina. Teams from Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Galway as well as Mayo took part.

Co.Development Draw
The Juvenile Football Committee had a very good response to its ticket sales for the County Development Draw. The extent of the response qualified us to put up bonus prizes of £60 per 50 members of the Committee's ticket holders. In recognition and appreciation of the support, the committee also put up a number of smaller prizes for the ticket holders. Club President, and ex-All Ireland star with the Down team of the Sixties, Patsy O'Hagan, officiated at the Draw held at the Club Centre. The winners were: £60 each - Martin Kirrane, Cregboy and Billy Joyce, Bawnmore; £30 each - Vincent Moran, Lakeview, Margaret Rush, Kilclooney, Milltown, and Frank Starken, 6 Retreat Heights, Athlone. Grateful thanks are conveyed to the purchasers of our tickets for their financial support.

Seán Flanagan

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SPECIAL GREETINGS

Congratulations to Bernie and Joe Faherty on the birth of their baby boy, Cian, in October.

Welcome to the Monaghan Family who have taken up residence in Cahergowan.

Best wishes to Julie and Tom McKenna who have taken over management of the Abbey/Summerfield Bar. On behalf of the community, we wish them the very best of luck.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Andy McDonagh, Gortatleva, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary recently.

Congratulations to Kevin Flanagan, Ray Fleming and Simon Kavanagh on their selection for the Connacht Schools Rugby Team which played Warwickshire, Cheshire and Leicestershire Schools on their recent England tour. They play Leinster Schools on Saturday next.

Congratulations to Clodagh Fleming, Cahergowan, who was conferred with a BSc honours degree at UCG.

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THE GARDEN

Autumn is usually a beautiful month with lots of Autumn colours. Unfortunately, with the high winds and rain, nearly all plants lost their leaves early. It's not all gloom and doom however as there are many berrying shrubs and trees around to add colour. The bright berrying plants can often add colour on a very bleak day, bringing a lot of activity to your garden with birds of all type, vying to feed. Trees that give the best show are members of the Sorbus (mountain ash) family. The common mountain ash Sorbus Aucuparia, is covered with masses of red berries this year. A better variety is Sorbus Sheerwater seedling- more orange berry than red. The best of all are Sorbus Joseph Rock with its yellow berries, generally left untouched by the birds and Sorbus Vilmorinii with its pinkish berries.
Another tree that looks really well this year is Malus Golden Hornet, (crab apple family) with masses of yellow crab apples, also left untouched by the birds. As a wall covering shrub pyrancanthas (Firethorn) give great colour. Its a dense upright evergreen shrub. It has dark green leaves with clusters of small white flowers in summer followed by different coloured berries, depending on varieties, red, orange or yellow. In the shrub line there are a number of beautiful plants such as shrub roses or 'dog roses' with their different coloured hips.

Hollys of different varieties berry now. A very good variety is Ilex J.C. Van Tol. This does not need a partner as its self fertile. It has red berries against a dark green foliate and berries very freely. Its great for making holly wreaths, etc.as it is not very prickly.
Other berrying plants are skimmia Reevesiana, Arbutus Unedo, Gaultheira and Celastrus.

Feeding the birds is becoming more popular as we become more aware of the environment around us. Its a great way for kids to learn and care for animals and discover just how many birds there are; robins, blue tits, finches, warbless, etc. If you hang out a bird feeder or bird table and feed them bird seed or peanuts, you will get to see the most amazing colours and great amusement.

A lot of people ask about how to take a hardwood cutting. This is the time of year for it. Firstly, take a pencil thick cutting off your plant, cut below a bud, allow 8 -9 inches and cut a sloping cut above a bud again. So you have a pencil thick cutting 8- 9 inches long. Have your ground prepared, it should be free draining with lots of coarse sand and peat dug into it. Secondly, dip the cutting in hormone rooting powder, available in all hardwares and garden centres. Insert your cutting into the open ground leaving about 3 inches above ground, with the sloping cut up. Firm them in. Plants will have rooted by next spring and can be potted up or planted out. Resist the temptation of pulling them up to see if they have rooted!!! Plants that are easy to propagate this way are Dogwoods, Flowering currant, Forsythia, Weigleas, Buddleias, Philadelphus and winter flowering Virburnum.

Thats it for now, happy gardening in between the showers, 7 weeks to Xmas!
Bosco McDermott, Jnr.,
Glynn's Garden Centre, Lydican, Oranmore.

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