|
 Sunday 11th
December Christmas Tree Lighting Crib with real animals - Carol Singing Children's Activities Town Hall 4pm Santa’s Arrival - Church Car Park 5pm |
| NEWSLETTER NO. 349 Volume 11 | Mí na
Nollaig agus Eanair (Dec/Jan) 2005/2006 |
| December: ‘decem’ which
meant ten – the tenth month of the old Roman year. Flower: Holly & Narcissus January: From the Roman god Janus who had two faces – to look both backwards into the old year and forwards into the new one at the same time. Flower: Carnation & Snowdrop |
|
Minutes |
The monthly meeting was held on Monday 7th November
in OLH. and Pat Egan chaired it. This was the first meeting of
DCC as a Company Limited by Guarantee. Sympathy was expressed
to Deirdre McDonagh and her family on the recent death of her
father, Leo last month |
|
A Seasonal
Lesson
|
It was a year in the late ‘70’s and November
had arrived. No mid-term break for Halloween at that time. It was
customary
then for the practice of the carol singing for the Carol Concert
to start in November. |
|
Dalkey Special Olympics Athletes
in Belfast!
|
Most of you would be aware of the existence of “Tivoli
Tigers Gym Club”, previously using the premises of St. Josephs
School, Tivoli Road now the club practices at Holy Child School
in Sallynoggin. |
|
Dalkey
United
|
On Friday 6th November Mr. Barry Mullen of Dalkey Football Club was presented with the gift of a Defibrillator for the Club. This machine was given in memory of Mr Paul Stewart of Convent Road, Dalkey by his many friends. Paul died while playing football of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome on 16th September 2004. He was 30 years of age. His family and friends hope that by placing Defibrillators in Sports Clubs and community areas, they can be used for on-site help until the emergency services arrive.
|
Cuala
GAA - Sale of Non-shed Christmas Trees |
|
|
The
Dublin Tidy Towns Award Presentations for 2005
|
 |
Paddy Rigney and myself drove through monsoon weather to proudly
attend the Dublin area Tidy Towns presentations at Skerries Mills
on 7th November. June Barnett Well done and thanks to Brian Meyer who took the trouble to purchase graffiti remover and did a great job removing the unsightly graffiti from the wall at Sue Ryder and St. Patrick’s School |
Lost Friend |
I am writing from Canada and seeking help. Denise Charlton I appreciate any assistance that you can give me. Thank you. Any information can be left in the DCC post box in OLH or email:info@dalkeyhomepage.ie |
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LIBRARY
NEWS
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This book comes with a beautiful foreword by Maeve Binchy. She wrote "Lifeis full of stories, hopes and dreams. It's lonely and sad to keep them toourselves. I think we have a sort of duty, really, to write them down and share them around. So I salute the Dalkey Writers' Workshop and wish their anthology great success." The Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County librarian, Muiris O Raghaill, in launching the book in the Dalkey Library on 17th November, spoke of how writers and poets were traditionally thought of as 'lifting up' and ennobling their area and community. Dalkey was honoured and privileged to have a book with such an excellent standard of fascinating writing. Criona Garvey, of the Workshop, expressed particular appreciation to the library staff for their support. The book costs €10; for each one sold €3 will be donated
to
Blackrock Hospice. It can be bought in such shops as Dalkey Book
Exchange,
Eamonn's Bookshop, Easons, Dubrays, and Books Upstairs. It's an
ideal Andrew Furlong Coming soon: The 24-hour online reference library Borrowbooks Project |
|
The Old Man's
Hat, an annual celebration of Christmas. Date: Wednesday December 14, 8pm Venue: Dalkey Heritage Centre The event will feature a series of readings from Christmas stories,
with |
DALKEY PLAYERS |
Dalkey Players will present their production of
Arthur Miller’s
powerful play, ‘THE CRUCIBLE’ at the Town Hall, Dalkey,
for four nights from Wednesday, 7 December. ‘The Crucible’,
which had its first production in the mid-fifties, is one of Miller’s
most important plays. It compares the hunt for communists—mostly
in the entertainment industry—by Senator Joe Mc Carthy and
the HUAC (House of un-American Activities), with the terrifying witch-hunts
in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. People’s lives were destroyed,
if not by fire and the rope, then by not being allowed to work. The
truths of the play still resonate today. |
Annual Art Exhibition held by Dalkey Community Council 19th & 20th Nov. 2005 |
| The exhibition was attended by artists and invited guests at the
opening on 18th November opened by John Keating a resident of Dalkey
an artist who has exhibited in Ireland and Europe at present giving
art classes in the National Gallery. Chairman Susan McDonnell introduced the evening and presented a gift to Colleen Hogan from the Council in appreciation for her enormous contribution, her dedication and innovative work when she was Chairman and representative on the Community Games and her years as Editor of the Newsletter. Colleen has recently resigned from the Council and will be missed both for her work, as an advisor and friend. She was given a great ovation from those present. Susan then introduced John Keating who opened the exhibition speaking from an artist’s point of view. He was pleased to see so many different medias and styles in the works. The value of exhibitions not only giving the opportunity for works to be viewed and sold but also the meeting of fellow artists to view each other’s works and exchange ideas. I am sure fellow artists could empathise when he told us that he will do anything rather than start a painting but once started can not leave until finished. John was presented with a small gift having proved very popular speaking to artists during the evening. The exhibition was open for the two days competing with the Embroidery exhibition in the Heritage Centre and the John Short exhibition in Dalkey Arts. We had a good attendance but unfortunately sales were not good, selling eleven paintings and fourteen woodturnings sold. The artists found the new method of postal entries better as we did not have the huge queues of previous years; though a lot more work for the organisers. We were shocked to receive a number of oil paintings that were still wet and this caused a lot of problems in hanging. My thanks to all who helped us over the weekend, the Functions Committee and Council members and loyal friends, Padraig Thornton, John Holland and Padraig, Our Lady’s Hall, Parish Council, Noel McDonnell and Terry Wheatley for transporting frames. Colette |
Dalkey-Anglesey
Link and the Festival Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre |
| The staff at the Heritage Centre and the selected artists for the
Interreg supported Art Residencies attended the final Art Exhibition
on the Welsh side in Llangefni, Anglesey on November 18th. The standard
of the work from artists John Adams, Simon Dalton and photographer
Edel Byrne was very high and a large number of sales took place.
There will be an opportunity for Dalkey residents to view the work
around Easter 2006 in the Gallery at the Heritage Centre.
Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre continues its own busy season of Art Exhibitions with ART 10 an ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION from Thurs Dec 1st – Sun 4th Dec. and ART CIRCLE An exhibition of paintings, textile, photography, ceramics & mixed media from Wed 7th–Sun 11th Dec. ART CIRCLE is a group of Hungarian, Irish and English artists
that have come
together to exhibit their varied work. They are offering the public
a unique
and diverse collection of one off art pieces. Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre |
Loreto
Reunion |
As I walked through the gates I turned for one last look at Loreto
Abbey Dalkey. As the song goes “that was the summer of ’69
and those were the best days of our lives”. |
Notices
for the Christmas New Year period |
REFUSE COLLECTIONS: These dates not confirmed at time of going to
print but information can be checked from the DLRCoCo website
at www.dlrcoco.ie/env Stamps to Our Lady’s Hall, Castle Street, Dalkey. NEWSLETTER: The next issue of the Dalkey Community Council Newsletter
will be the February issue, published on Friday, 3rd February 2006.
|
There
is always something to smile about in December |
This is the season to smile and be silly. If this is your special
and favourite time of year you will have no trouble running around
and being sociable. Action orientated, energetic, generous, fun
loving, and Santa Claus friendly. Until next time |
Feeding Birds |
| Birds have such a delicate balance between being able to fly and
keeping their body weight constant that their bodies can only store
small quantities of fat in the winter time otherwise they could be
reducing their ability to fly and escape predators. That is why birds
must feed constantly especially in the winter where they have to
be able to put on enough fat in the day to keep them warm at night
without hindering their flight the next day. It is why very small
birds such as Goldcrests and Long tailed Tits are often one of the
last birds moving around in the dusk catching insects before settling
down for the night. Feeding birds in the garden is one of the ways
we can help birds and is also a good way to get to see them up close.
Make sure feeders or bird table are positioned near to cover such
as bushes or trees so the birds won’t be too exposed when feeding
but not near somewhere a cat could hide.You can buy proprietary bird
food in quantities from 1kilo to 25kilos. Suitable and readily available
foodstuffs for birds include nuts, seeds, fats, food scraps, grain-based
foods, garden fruits and live foods such as mealworms. (see Wings
Shop @ www.birdwatchireland.ie) Nuts: Peanuts are the most popular nuts, make sure they’re bought from a reputable dealer or pet shop. Seeds: Almost any dry seeds from the pet shop will be eaten. Sunflower seeds are particularly popular with tits and Greenfinches. Mixed wildbird seed is by far the cheapest proprietary bird food. These include canary, rape and hemp seed. Sunflower heads, honesty, cabbage and thistle seeds can be kept back from the garden, dried and given to the birds when conditions become hard. Fats:Don’t waste any fat! It’s a nutritious food for garden birds. Lumps of suet may be hung out. Meat trimmings, bacon rinds and table scraps will also be gratefully eaten. What food should be given? Melted fat can be poured over bread or cake scraps to make ‘bird cake’. This is more nutritious if some seeds, nuts, oatmeal, grated cheese or dried fruits are added. Use half a pound of fat to a pound of mixture. Coconut shells and yogurt cartons make suitable moulds. Cheese scattered on the ground beneath bushes in very cold weather should attract wrens and help them through difficult conditions. Fruit: This is usually put out after the turn of the year when wild fruit has become exhausted. Suitable fruits are apples, pears, figs, grapes, currants and raisins, dried apricots and prunes. (Dried fruit should be soaked first). A coconut sawn in half and hung upside down from the branch of a tree is welcomed and much enjoyed by the tits. Apples cut in half and speared on branches may attract wintering blackcaps. Grain-based foods: These are always available in the kitchen and include bread, biscuits and stale cake. Bread should be moistened slightly as this makes it easier for the birds to swallow. Moist bread is also less likely to blow away or be taken off in pieces by the larger, more aggressive birds. Try putting some bread at a distance from your bird table to keep the hungry Starlings, crows and gulls away from the delicacies intended for the smaller garden birds. Maize flakes, oat flakes and even puppy meal are other valuable food sources. Live foods: Mealworms can be bought at pet shops or bred at home. Robins find live food more attractive. Ant eggs (which are in fact pupae) can sometimes be found beneath logs and stones. These too are appealing to some birds. MR Birdwatch dates for the diary: December 6th Eric Dempsey:Travels in Namibia, Kingston Hotel @8pm. December 11th Outing to Blackditch Reserve – meet @10.30am at Birdwatch Ireland Office in Newcastle Village. January Sat 7th 2006 Great Dublin Bird Race – meet at Booterstown DART car park @8am finish at the Yacht Bar, Clontarf, c 6pm. January Tues 10th 2006:“The Secret Life of Bats” talk by Faith Wilson, Kingston Hotel @ 8pm. January Sun 15th 2006 :Outing to North Bull Island/St. Ann’s Park to see a variety of wintering waders and wild fowl; meet at the base of the Causeway @10.30am. For further details on the above check out www.birdweb.net |
On Going Home for Christmas Edgar A. Guest |
He little knew the sorrow that was in his vacant chair; He little knew the gladness that his presence would have made, He couldn’t see the fading of the cheeks that once were
pink, Are you going home for Christmas? Have you written you’ll
be there? From Party Pieces by Nuala Hartnett |
Advertisers please note |
| Advertisers please note the charges for advertising in the Newsletter
are increasing from February 2006. The new charges will be as follows: Half Page - €50, Quarter Page - €30 and small ads (14 words max) – 50c per word. |
| LINK TO : December Diary Events |
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