Minutes

"The McCabe Cup for sports awarded by Mrs. McCabe and Oliver, how nice to have Mrs. McCabe present and she was presented with a floral bouquet. The Cup was presented to The Cuala GAA Sports, received by Brendan Spillane who spoke with great enthusiasm about the Cuala Club. Some seven hundred young people are involved, together with their parents who take an active interest. A great testimony to the work of these dedicated sports people."

Mrs McCabe and Brendan Spillane at the presentation

My thanks to the Functions Committee who did a super job.- Colette Doody - Functions Manager

Dalkey and Killiney Hill also had some uncommon flying visitors during the summer with a flock of Crossbills feeding around the hill for a few weeks in late summer. Some year’s large flocks of Crossbills arrive in Britain and Ireland from Scandinavia after a successful breeding season and this was one of those years with flocks reported all around the country.

As their name signifies crossbills are instantly recognisable by the curved mandibles (mandibles are the birds upper and lower bills) which cross over when their bills are closed - they are the only type of bird which exhibits this characteristic. The mandibles cross either to the left or the right, and enable the bird to pry open the tight scales of cones and extract the seed from within them. The male bird is a striking bright orange/red brick red colour while the female is a dull green-yellow, which provides her with good camouflage when she is sitting on her nest.

The crossbill uses a variety of different calls and sounds, including a loud piercing cheeping call whilst in flight and this was usually the way one would recognise them as they flew from one group of conifers to the next where they would hang upside down from the cones as their powerful bills tear them open to get at the highly nutritious seeds inside.
MR
On Tuesday 4th October 2005 there will be an illustrated talk “ The Changing Face of Ireland’s Birds” by Dick Coombes in the Kingston Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, 8:00pm,

On Sunday 9th October 2005 there will be an outing to Knock Lake and Rogerstown Estuary, meeting at 10:30am. Take the M1 to Balbriggan interchange, then the R132 towards Balbriggan and park after 1km near the tennis club on the right.
See "East Coast Sites" on branch website www.birdweb.net. for Knock Lake Map

For further information check our website at www.birdweb.net

FÉILE FILÍOCHTA 2005

We have received many requests for help from the public who have realised that a neighbour is building an extension/addition that will affect their property. In many cases, their neighbour may have told them of their intention to build, but the extent that it will affect the neighbouring properties has not been fully appreciated.
We recommend that the plans of any new development near you be inspected in the Planning Department of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, County Hall, Marine Rd, Dun Laoghaire even if you have spoken to your neighbour about the proposed development.
Initially, a site notice is displayed on the site outlining the proposal. The plans are lodged in the planning department within a two-week period after the erection of the site notice.
The public has 35 days following the receipt of the plans with the planning department to lodge their objections to the proposal, accompanied by a €20 fee payable to the planning department of the County Council.
An application may be declared invalid by the planning department, in which case a new notice has to be displayed by the developer and your original objection letter will be retuned to you together with your fee. When the new application is lodged with the appropriate site notice in the planning department, observations/objections should be sent in with the new planning reference number with the €20 fee.
Additional information may be requested from the developer. Once this has been furnished to the planning department, the public has 14 days to comment on this information. No further fee is required.
Once the planning department has made a decision, anyone who has previously lodged a submission/objection about the particular application, may appeal the decision to An Bord Pleanala within 28 days of the date of that decision, accompanied by a fee of €210 .
Following the lodgment of the appeal, any member of the public may send a submission about the particular development to Bord Pleanala, accompanied by a fee of €50 .
Bord Pleanala will make their decision in the following few months; their decision is final.

Planning Committee

The Annual Art Exhibition will take place in Our Lady’s Hall, Castle Street, Dalkey on Saturday and Sunday, November 19 and 20, 2005.

Artists from the area are invited to submit paintings for this popular event.

• Entry Forms, together with full payment, must be submitted by post only (no entries will be taken at the door), to Colette Doody, Grange Court, Rockfort Avenue, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, telephone 285 0280.
  There will be a charge of €3.50 per picture.
• Entry Forms will not be accepted after October 27.
• Confirmation of entry will be sent to all applicants and will include Exhibition number(s), together with disclaimer form.
• Paintings, framed, clearly labelled and ready for hanging must be brought to Our Lady’s Hall on Friday, November 18 at 12.30pm. Paintings must be accompanied by signed disclaimer and exhibition number of painting(s).
• Only two paintings per artist will be accepted.
• “ Not for Sale” exhibits will not be accepted.
• Exhibition is limited to 110 paintings from local artists only.
• As insurance cover ends at 6pm on Sunday, November 20, entrants must arrange for collection between 5pm and 6pm on that date.
  
  All exhibitors are invited to the official opening of the Exhibition on Friday, Nov18 at 8pm.

Name: ……………………………………………………………………………….……

Address: ..…………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………….. Tel No: …………………..

Entry 1: ………………………………………………………………. Price: ..………...

Entry 2: ………………………………………………………………. Price: ..………...

Signature: ………………………………………………………………………...………..

Post completed form to: Colette Doody, Grange Court, Rockfort Avenue,
Dalkey, Co. Dublin

to arrive no later than Thursday, October 27.

Last month we told you about our very athletic boys and girls going to Mosney representing not just Dalkey but Dublin in the Community Games All Ireland National Finals. There were some great performances over the weekend of 27 and 28 August:
Under 12 Girls 100 metres – Lauren O’Leary was fourth in her heat on the Saturday and ran a super semi-final on the Sunday but just missed making it to the final.
The Under 12 Boys Relay Team was second in their heat and qualified for the semi-final later on the Saturday afternoon. They narrowly missed out on a place in the final, finishing fifth.
Under 12 Girls 600 metres – Orla Patton ran a great race in semi-final finishing seventh, one spot away from a place in the final.
Under 16 Boys Discus – James Thorne threw a very credible distance of over 24 metres, which is a new personal best throw.
Under 16 Boys Marathon – Michael Cassells ran a superb race and finished in seventh place helping the Dublin team to win the overall Team event.
Well done to all concerned and many thanks to Conor Crowley for managing the team for the weekend.
AND SO TO THE SWIMMING
Nicola Davis represented Dalkey and Dublin in the National All Ireland Finals (held in Dundalk) on the weekend of 20 and 21 August in the under fourteen backstroke (two lengths), she, along with her sister, Julie and Maria and Orla Macken also represented Dalkey and Dublin in the under thirteen squad 4 x 1 length freestyle. Although the girls did not get through to the finals they had a wonderful day and did us all proud just like all our participants in the Dalkey Community Games.
Well done everyone and here’s to next year.

Dalkey Health and Family Expo 2005 took place on Saturday the 3rd of September in and on the grounds of St. Patrick’s School on Harbour Road. A fascinating day was to be had for all the family building the awareness of health for the community of Dalkey. Many of the local health and holistic therapies were represented e.g. shiatsu, acupuncture, osteopathy, as well as many of Ireland's top health food brands e.g. blazing salad organic breads, natural life health supplements, dennis healy organics.

Children's entertainment included face painting, balloonists, live music, bouncy castle and the highlight was storytelling with Bridgid Mc Loughlin, Gordon Snell, Mary Kingston and Ryan Tubridy throughout the well attended sunny day. The event was organised by local Oliver Mc Cabe from the Select Stores health store. The day was such a success that the Dalkey health and holistic community will be at the RDS October bank holiday at the Health Show 05. So if you missed out this is your second chance to see them in action at this national event.

Killiney Hill Park is a wonderful inspirational place to walk, sit or be. It is unique amongst Dublin Parks in the quality of its topography and distant views over sea, coast and land. Indeed, natural landscape of this quality is seldom experienced in such heavily populated urban areas anywhere. It is rich in wildlife.

Parks and Landscape Services and Birdwatch Ireland conduct a habitat conservation programme in Dalkey Quarry. There are quite spectacular views from the park, over the city, the bay, and Dublin and Wicklow mountains. Killiney Bay is said to resemble the Bay of Naples and this comparison is reflected in local Italian-sounding names: Vico, Sorrento, Monte Alverno, San Elmo, Capri. In 1987 extensive reconstruction of the park's infrastructure, including the granite tower portion of the Tea Rooms, took place with the aid of a grant from the Department of the Environment, and the park was formally re-dedicated. The Park's topography is quite dramatic. Its highest point at the obelisk is 170m above sea level. The steepest slopes are on the Eastern side, embracing the curve of Killiney Bay. Slopes on the Western (landward) side are more gentle except in Dalkey Quarry where sheer 30-40m high cliffs enclose flat, sheltered areas at road level.

The park was once part of the estate of Killiney Castle (now Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel) a prominent residence, at the time, in the district. The original house, Mount Mapas was built in 1740 by Colonel John Mapas. The property. was owned in turn by a Mr. Maunsell, Henry Loftus, Viscount of Ely, Lord Clonmel and Robert Warren, who in 1840 enlarged the house and called it Killiney Castle. He also restored and added to the monuments on the hill. The park was purchased from his son, Robert Warren Junior by Queen Victoria's Jubilee Memorial Association. The obelisk at the summit is a prominent local land mark which bears the following inscription:-
" Last year being hard with the poor walks about these hills and this were erected b.y John Mapas, .June 1742. "
Nearby the "Wishing Stone" dated 1852 is of uncertain origin. Another smaller obelisk a little further along known as Boucher's obelisk has "Mount Mapas" inscribed on it. It may be a memorial to the Mapas family for which John Mapas left monies. From 1751 for a number of years, a lead mine was operated in Killiney Hill from an opening in the rock near the present Killiney Station, known as Decco's Cave. The Telegraph Tower above Dalkey Quarry was built in 1807 as a signalling station to communicate with the several Martello Towers along the coast. It was thus an important element in the defences against a possible Napoleonic invasion. It was also used to communicate with ships in the bay.

Much of Dalkey town developed as a result of the work in Dalkey Quarry, which was the source of granite used for building both locally and abroad. The most prominent structure whose materials were quarried in Dalkey, is the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire harbour started in 1817. The stone was transported from Dalkey via the "Metals" which, as we know, still exists as a local walkway. There is a broken Celtic cross near the Radio Beacon atop Dalkey Quarry. It is said that a previous owner of the property lies buried there. The cross is inscribed as follows:-
" Dust thou art to dust returneth was not written of the Soul " Thomas Chippendall Higgin, July 16 MCMXI ( 1911 ).
The "Tea Rooms" at the main Killiney Hill Road entrance, is a stone lodge built as a keeper's house when the lands belonged to the castle.
Courtesy of DLRCOCO

Overall Developmental Approach: 2005
I would like to thank the committee for their very comprehensive application to the tidy towns competition for 2005. The constant involvement of the all the local committees and businesses in the tidy towns competition is commendable. The application for the tidy towns competition is very comprehensive and outlines the large extent of work carried out by the committee in the area, however a complete 3 - 5 year plan for the area would be ideal. Many of the new initiatives should be congratulated and the introduction of the litter wardens and the talks given by the local businesses to the children is an excellent opportunity to get the local children involved in the tidy towns. The Tidy Towns notice board in the credit union is an excellent idea. The development of the Tidy towns web site is an excellent idea, however unfortunately the adjudicator tried to access it a number of times and some pages were not downloading.
The Built Environment: 2005
Once again Dalkey should be commended on the presentation of the town on the day of adjudication. Dalkey is a lovely small town with oozes charm and character. Many of the shop, restaurants and public houses were very well presented on the day of adjudication. Most notably La Maison, Tiger Becs and Mc Donaghs Pub. Queens public house as well as the Guinea Pig restaurant should all be commended on their appearance. Some of the shop fronts were nicely presented with some nice shrubs, flowers outside them while others were quite simple, yet sophisticated. This contrast is very appealing. The old doctors surgery on Castle street was a little disappointing and hopefully will be redeveloped with a new tenant in the future. The back of the Euro spar in the car park is still an area of concern. This area is in need of some major redevelopment. The adjudicator realises that co-operation is required between the Euro Spar and the council to develop this area, and effort has been made by the tidy towns committee. Possibly this area could be either re-grassed, or cobbled and some nice trees planted here. It will be nice to see the planned developments for the step areas once it is complete. The poster sites, though not ideal is this charming heritage town, were well maintained, clean and the seating area opposite the AIB with the nice planters and information point is an excellent use of this area. Many of the areas in Dalkey were well maintained and it is great to see the redevelopment of the old Vico motors site. Some work needs to be done on some areas of the paving on Castle street, particularly out side Benitos restaurant where the paving has subsided a small bit.

Landscaping: 2005
Once again castle street has benefitted from some lovely flowers which were in full bloom on the day of adjudication. The local businesses should be commended for the involvement in the flowers in the area. Unfortunately the Harry Latham seat was not in situe on the day of adjudication, but will be a lovely addition to the area. The welcome to Dalkey sign at the Barnhill road entrance is a lovely addition, more granite signs in the area will be most welcome. Many of the residential areas take great pride in there gardens with many of them well maintained. St. Patricks Square is a charming area of the town with its own unique appeal. Some kerb maintenance is required along Hyde road, particularly at the fencing of Dalkey United.

Wildlife and Natural Amenities: 2005
Dalkey is extremely fortunate to be able to benefit from its coastal town location. Bulloch harbour is a nice area, giving that rural fishing village feel to the area. The drive along Vico road was very pleasant on the day of adjudication as the sun was shining. All the plans outlined in your application are excellent for the area. The seating along Vico road is a nice area for people to stop and enjoy the splendid view. It was a shame that someone felt it appropriate to dump their rubbish here. A nice information panel here which explains what you are looking at from this area would be beneficial. The commitment being given by locals in protecting their area should be commended, the local swimmers having their own litter collection and the involvement of the community in the development of projects with An Tasice and DLRCC. The family day in Killiney hill is an excellent idea, though the signage advertising it was not very clear.

Litter Control: 2005
There was no obvious litter in Dalkey on the day of adjudication with many of the areas litter free. The Litter patrol carried out by volunteers seems to be paying off. The only litter blackspot was the area at the back of Euro Spar in the car park. Small amount of litter was evident in the laneway by the library. The recycling workshops and the recycling information on the notice board in the credit union are excellent initiatives. All the anti - litter schemes adopted by Dalkey should be congratulated.

Tidiness: 2005
The overall tidiness of Dalkey should be commended, with many of the shop fronts, restaurants and pubs fronts being well maintained. The areas that could be possible blackspots are well maintained and the floral displays take away form the unsightly poster sites. The DART station looked well on adjudication day and even though work is being carried out on the DART at the weekend, any work material left was not unsightly.

Residential Areas: 2005
The residential areas in Dalkey are very well maintained. Ulverton road residents and the residents in Termon housing and along sorento road are all very well maintained. The quaint housing along St. Patricks street are lovely. Some main ten acne is required on some of the kerbs along Dalkey Avenue, Saval Park Road, Ardbrugh road and Cunningham road. The garden competition run by the county council every summer is an excellent idea and keeps the importance of garden up keep in residents minds.

Roads, Streets and Back Areas: 2005
Many of the approach roads are well maintained. the new Granite sign at the Barnhill road entrance is a nice addition to the area. It was difficult to see on the day of adjudication as roadworks were going on in this area. The replacement of all signs to granite signs will be most welcome once complete. Many of the laneways off Castle street were overall relatively well maintained. The completion of the Spanish steps area will add to the area and will hopefully be fully complete by next year. The plans to upgrade the playing fields in Hyde road will be most welcome and will benefit the community as a whole. This area is an asset to Dalkey and on the day of adjudication many children were enjoying and organised summer camp in this area.

General Impression: 2005
Dalkey town is a credit to its residents and the work carried out each year is very commendable. The commitment and the involvement of all elements of the community would be envied by other Tidy Town committees. Dalkey is a lovely town in South Dublin and with all aspects of the town being exploited to their full potential. Congratulations on an excellent application and keep up the hard work.

Second Round Adjudication 2005
Dalkey town has an atmosphere with mediaeval echoes brought about by the beautiful warm coloured stone of the two Castles and the later Church of the Assumption. Many beautiful buildings caught the eye including The Queens beside Dalkey Castle. The narrow network of roads and streets adds so much character to the village. However the 2nd round adjudicator was quite taken aback by the lack of litter control, in marked contrast to the situation at 1st round adjudication. A lot of litter was noted on the Main Street, at the car park by the Library, and the Church car park. At the small car park at St. Patrick's Avenue the litter bin there was over flowing. Bags of litter are still being left at Archibold's Castle despite the notice that the collection service from there has changed. Again at Bullock Harbour and on the Colimore Road surprising amounts of litter were noted. In terms of tidiness there were also some surprises. Weed growth at the base of walls in small narrow laneways off the Main Street was noted in several locations. The Library car park was extremely untidy and two bed mattresses were noted at the junction of Colimore Road and Vico Road.

Dalkey Library:
Tuesday, 18 October at 3.15pm, Pine Forest Art Workshop, ages 6 – 12 (max 20).
Thursday, 27 October at 3.45pm, Halloween Art Workshop, ages 7 – 12 (max 20).
Advance notice: Tuesday, 15 November at 6.15pm, Animal Magic Roadshow! (interactive educational show), ages 6 – 12 (max 50).
In Shankill and Cabinteely Libraries on Thursday, 20 October and Thursday, 27 October (respectively) at 3.45pm, there is a Card Making Art Workshop, ages 8 –12 (max 15), get ready for Christmas!

Book Club
The book to read for the meeting on Saturday 5th November @ 10.30am is:
“ Seize the Day” by Saul Bellow.

Book Fest 2005
If you are interested in children’s books don’t miss this years Book Fest the recommended reading guide of Children’s Book Festival. It is full of informative and accessible book reviews of cracking new titles from Ireland and around the world. An experienced team of expert reviewers carefully selected the books. Most of the titles are available in local libraries and bookshops. It includes a list of all children’s books published in Ireland during 2005 and children’s book awards including the Bisto Book of the Year Awards.

For further information phone Dalkey Library at 285 5277