Get ready for a fantastic evening of music, fun, and community spirit!

Donabate Portrane Educate Together National School is delighted to host a Parents’ Night Out on Saturday, 22nd November 2025 at the beautiful Shoreline Hotel, Donabate.

The night will feature live performances from the amazing Killer Ceol and Kim Gallen, guaranteed to bring energy and entertainment throughout the evening.

Tickets are only €25 and include: Live show entertainment; Finger food buffet; Tea and coffee. Drinks will be available to purchase at the hotel bar, and don’t miss the raffle on the night with great prizes up for grabs!

This will be a wonderful way to enjoy a night of great music and laughter while supporting our local school. Tickets are limited, so book early and join us for a truly memorable evening!

Tickets are available online—secure yours now at:
https://donabate-portrane-educate-together-national-school-pta.sumupstore.com/product/killer-ceol-and-kim-gallen-concert

A complimentary shuttle bus will collect guests at 8:00 PM from Donabate Church and drop everyone back at Donabate Village at 11:00 PM, courtesy of the Shoreline Hotel. This convenient service ensures a safe and easy journey to and from the event.

Thanks for helping us spread the word!

To help drive improvements in Donabate, Fingal County Council has announced the establishment of a new Town Team and launched the Donabate Town Centre First Health Check Plan. Together, they aim to make Donabate’s town centre a more viable, vibrant, and attractive place to live, work, socialise, and do business.

The Town Centre First policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into town centres. It advocates for a holistic, place-based approach to sustainable urban and rural development.

In September 2024, local residents, community groups, business owners, and other stakeholders in Donabate worked with Fingal County Council’s Town Regeneration Office to create a 15-point Action Plan to help guide the future of the town centre. The actions cover public realm improvements, tourism, better use of existing infrastructure, future strategic planning, placemaking, and arts, heritage and culture.
Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O Leary, said: “This Health Check has been made possible only by the time and energy given by the Town Team and others. Many local community groups, stakeholders, businesses and residents have shown their commitment to improve the town centre of Donabate by participating in through this process that benefits their town and all its residents.”

A Town Team has been established in Donabate chaired by Dr. Louis Gunnigan PhD, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building. Speaking at the launch Dr. Gunnigan thanked those who have given of their time to date to set up a Town Team and prepare a plan for the town: “The new Town Team is up and running and is making progress already with applications for funding for some of the actions identified.”
John Quinlivan, Director of Services for Economic, Enterprise, Tourism and Cultural Development in Fingal County Council added: “I welcome the establishment of a new Town Team and commit Fingal County Council’s ongoing support to the delivery of the Health Check Plan.”

Declan Ryan, Town Regeneration Officer for Fingal County Council commented: “I wish to thank the new Town Team and all those who participated in the capacity building workshops. The Town Regeneration Team in Fingal County Council will support, where possible, the work and ambition of the new Town Team.”

The Town Team are now actively seeking local volunteers who may wish to assist with the delivery of the Town Health Check plan. Anyone wishing to get involved can contact the Town Regeneration Office: townregenerationoffice@fingal.ie

The Donabate/Portrane Community First Responder team has been active for over two and a half years, responding to life-threatening emergencies within both communities.

All members are volunteers and rely entirely on donations to purchase additional defibrillators—both for responders and for public access points across Donabate and Portrane.

The group is currently exploring new ways to raise funds for this vital equipment. One of the latest initiatives is a poster campaign featuring a QR code that makes it quick and easy for people to donate. These posters will be displayed in local shop windows, in the hopes to encourage more residents to contribute.

Cllr Corina Johnston and Duncan Smith TD have welcomed the announcement by Dublin Bus that it intends to commence an additional 33D direct return express bus service from Portrane to Dublin City Centre on 28th September next.

Johnston said; ”over the last 2 years Duncan Smith TD and I have been campaigning for an additional 33D Bus Service following representations received from commuters. Many commuters who frequent this service on a regular basis highlighted the need for an additional bus service as the current bus is full to capacity on a regular basis with many commuters standing. Despite our many representations the NTA and Dublin Bus refused to provide an additional service on this route. Last year we provided statistics of daily capacity on the current service with the assistance of commuters which we then provided to the NTA and Dublin Bus. We were delighted to be informed in November last year that Dublin Bus intended to provide an additional bus service this year. At a recent meeting with the CEO of Dublin Bus, on this and other issues, Duncan was informed that an additional 33D express Bus Service would commence on 28th September next”

Johnston concluded; “while welcoming this additional return direct bus service from Portrane to the City Centre, I believe that additional express bus services will be required to meet the additional demand as the population continues to grow. Notwithstanding the recent publicity in respect of proposals to introduce new hybrid trains on the Northern Commuter Line in 2026, and proposals to extend the DART to Drogheda, I understand there will be limited capacity increases for commuters at peak times. We intend to vigorously pursue this issue and will keep you informed of developments.

Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society is delighted to announce the upcoming performances of the comedy “Wife after Death” by Eric Chappell, from the 6th to the 8th of November 2025 at 8PM in Donabate Parish Hall.

Hopefully you won’t laugh yourself to death at this reprehensibly irreverent story of finding out, and falling out, but we give no guarantees!

DIRECTED BY PAUL KEOGH, The story begins with the funeral of comedian, TV personality and National Treasure, Dave Thursby. Dave’s glamorous widow has arranged a ceremonial to remember, complete with horse-drawn hearse and an attendant dog. A mystery female guest arrives, dressed in a flamboyant outfit, and upsets the proceedings with a devastating announcement.

As the days progress other revelations come out of the woodwork and friends and colleagues begin to realise that they really didn’t know Dave at all!

The cast are: Karen Parker as Laura, Claire Humphreys as Kay, Jill Murray as Jane, Marissa Magner as Vi, Dave Costello as Kevin, and Paul Keogh as Harvey.

Performances will be in Donabate Parish Hall on Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th at 8PM
Tickets are €12 per person and can be purchased online on TicketSource.eu or at the door.

Donabate Dramatic Society is also extending an invitation to all people in the community to become patrons of the society and support the local arts. The annual fee for patronage is €60 per person, and it includes two tickets for to their biannual productions along with light refreshments.

If you want to become a member or a patron of DPDS do not hesitate to contact donabateportrane.drama@gmail.com. And don’t forget to follow Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society on Facebook and Instagram!

The arrival of winter hasn’t slowed the activities of Donabate Portrane Shed. After a bumper crop this autumn, the plots at Turvey Allotments are being prepared for the winter with a major clean-up. But time is also being found to plant winter crops of onions, sprouts and even winter lettuce.

The Men’s Shed music group, Gerry and the Plonkers, has also been busy, with several gigs in October. They started the month with a concert for the lovely people - carers and service users - at the BASE Community Centre in Mulhuddart and a couple of days later for Lusk Seniors’ coffee morning in the Community Cottage. They finished the month by playing at the Active Age for All 10th anniversary celebrations in the Shoreline Hotel. In mid-November, the Plonkers will be providing the entertainment at a Men’s Day organised by the Irish Men’s Shed Association in Donabate Portrane Community Centre and at the St Michael’s House Christmas fundraiser in mid-December.

As the winter approaches, the Men’s’ shed is organising some outings for the group, starting with a visit to Dublin Castle towards the end of November. We will also be continuing our regular weekly activities, exercises classes, croquet at Newbridge House and Thursday morning get-together for tea/coffee and a chat. So, if you, or a loved one, would like to join us, please call Jim on 086-3694326.

Recently, the new Donabate Town Team launched the Donabate Town Centre First Health Check Plan in Donabate Parish Hall. The Town Team, along with FCC, aims to make Donabate’s town centre a more viable, vibrant, and attractive place to live, work, socialise, and do business.

In September 2024, local residents, community groups, business owners and other stakeholders in Donabate worked with Fingal County Council’s Town Regeneration Office to create a 15-point Action Plan to help guide the future development of the town centre. The actions covered public realm improvements, tourism, better use of existing infrastructure, future strategic planning, placemaking, and arts, heritage and culture. Earlier in March 2024, the Donabate Portrane Liaison Group produced the Donabate Framework Plan in consultation with the local Community which had ideas for the centre of the village. The new Town Team, building upon these ideas, has taken on the challenge of working with the community to deliver a rejuvenated town centre. We wish them the very best.

The launch event was organised by the Town Team committee, led by their Chairperson, Dr. Louis Gunnigan. Members of the original group and current group members attended. The Active Age for All Photography Group and friends put on a great display of photographs of Donabate Village - Town Centre then and now.

Present on the day also was the Lord Mayor, Tom O’Leary, and FCC officials John Quinlivan and Declan Ryan along with our Community Officer Rafe Costigan. Local Councillors Corina Johnson and Eoghan Dockrell and Fr. Pat Reilly PP were also present at the event.

A very different event took place recently in the Parish Hall. Indie-folk band ‘Djouce’ has been hard at work on a new project called “Change & Continuity”, supported by Fingal Arts Office. Over the past few months, the band has been writing and recording right here in Donabate and Portrane, creating four new songs on the topics of folklore, change, community and the future of the peninsula.

They recently gave the community a sneak peek with a performance in The Brook Pub, and followed it up with a recording session in The Parish Hall. Each of the songs will be released over the coming months, and the full film of the project is planned for Spring 2026.

Again, we wish our local musician Denis Cahill and his group the very best. djouceband@gmail.com
Our community is expanding and the Parish Hall is working hard to meet some of their needs as best as possible, with additional Daily Activities and Block Events. In the first few weekends in November, Through the Lens Photography Group will have a photography exhibition and Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society will perform a play, neither to be missed.

If you have any queries please contact the Parish Office on 01 8434574

It’s that time of the year again when the Through the Lens calendar will be going on sale. We will be starting sales at our annual photo exhibition in the Parish Hall on the 15th & 16th November. This year we are delighted to be supporting a very worthy cause, the Donabate Special Olympics group who are working hard towards competing in the Irish Special Olympics in Dublin and Meath next year (18th to 21st June). So far 16 athletes have been selected to take part with hopes for a few more. They train in the disciplines of basketball, equestrian, gymnastics, athletics and young athletes, all of which are ongoing not just for the Olympics.

It costs over €500 to send each athlete, with their chaperones to the Irish Games so you can understand that some serious fund-raising needs to be done. Through the Lens are really happy to be able to help in some way with our calendar sales which we will share with the Donabate Special Olympics. So please remember folks the more we sell the more we can help.

Donabate Parish Hall have just received a modular Riser Stage with grant aid from FCC. This is part one of a full large low stage and hopefully part two will come next year in a similar grant application. The stage can be put together relatively easily, if one knows how. So it will require a short course of instruction of a few hours to master the method of assembly for any groups that may be granted permission to use it. The Riser Stage compliments the acquisition, through grants in recent years, of other equipment to support performances and participation in activities and events of an entertainment and cultural nature.
We have had Céile House, Official Launch of the Parish Hall, Film ‘Angel’, Tayleur Events, Dramatic Productions, TradFest Fingal, Leithinis Inclusion Night, Musical Performances, Peninsula Voices and recently ‘MusicFest’, all of which either benefitted or would have from the use or a Riser Stage. In the past, a riser had to be rented for some events or we had to do without! One group, Music Makers, that was initiated by Breda Dockrell and Jim O Donohoe and run by a group of four Noel Dowling, Sean Collins and the aforementioned, who were brought together under the umbrella of the Parish Hall to see if, over the year of providing a venue to do music, there was interest and commitment. They are now, as planned with the assistance of FCC, setting up under their own structure , organisation and team/committee with Noel and a new team taking the reins. They will continue to offer a much needed platform for people to develop their musical talents and confidence.

The Parish Hall is in full swing now with Daily Activities. Here is a flavour: Senior Citizens, Pilates, Youth Club, Irish Dancing, Leithinis Irish Music and Cards!

There are also a number of Blocked Events taking place. So put the dates in your diaries.

Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society are putting on their autumn/winter production from Thursday 6th November - Sunday 9th November. (Patrons Night on Friday!)

Through the Lens Photography Group is exhibiting some of their photography work from over the year from Friday 14th November - Sunday 16th November.

The Farmers Market, which began this summer, took place during August and September in the green space beside the Church. It was a very welcome addition to the amenities and atmosphere in the centre of the village on a Saturday afternoon. We hope that it too will be a regular feature in the future.

If you have any queries to the Parish Hall please contact them on 01 8434574between the hours of 9:30hrs - 12:30hrs and they will help in any way they can.

September was a busy month for Gerry and the Plonkers (Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed music group), with three gigs. The first was for the ladies of Lusk ICA, where the Plonkers had the pleasure of playing to an appreciative audience who didn’t just listen but got up and danced the night away. Next was at the Community Showcase Afternoon in Donabate Portrane Community Centre. This was an opportunity for local community groups, including the Men’s Shed, to highlight their activity and hopefully recruit new members. Lastly, the Plonkers played in Malahide Castle at the end of September, too close to going to press to include photos.

But as we keep saying, Men’s Shed is more than Gerry and the Plonkers, maybe just not as photogenic (apologies lads!). The plots at the allotments kept many of our members busy right through the summer, but the fruit of their labour was bountiful last month. There was also our weekly exercise classes, croquet at Newbridge and our Thursday morning get-togethers at the Scout’s Den.

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed is always open to new members and suggestions for new activities. So, if you, or someone close to you, would like to join us, just call our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316. Don’t be shy!