As part of TradFest 2024, St. Patrick’s RC Church in Donabate hosted the world premiere of ‘Ocean Child’, a specially commissioned musical composition based on the tragedy of the ill-fated Tayleur, which sunk off the coast of Lambay in 1854 with the loss of nearly 400 lives.

Martin Harte, CEO of Tradfest, and FCC collaborated to bring about this beautiful musical composition by Belfast man Neil Jordan and the famed actor Stephen Rea, also a Belfast man living in our midst, did a wonderful, emotive narration on the story of the ‘Ocean Child’.

Our magnificent old church was the perfect setting for such a sad story to be told. It had the gravitas, beauty and calm that was perfect for such an event. Martin’s team transformed the church with stage setting and lighting to create the perfect atmosphere. Thanks to Fr. Pat and the Parish Office and all who contributed to the occasion.

The links with the community are strong. The Irish for Portrane, Port Reachrann, means the Port of Lambay and some people from the island eventually found their way to the Peninsula. Local lore has it that the rescued Ocean Child was handed by a survivor, possibly a Frenchman, to Jane Dockrell, who swaddled him in her shawl and brought him to her family home near Knockbane, the highest point on the Island. Sometime later, the a pastor from Dublin, persuaded them to part with the child as his grandmother had been located in England. Later in life, Jane Dockrell married Charles Smart and came to live in the Burrow, Portrane where she passed on this story to her descendants.

It is important to remember and thank the people many from Fingal, including Donabate and Portrane, who kept the story alive - authors like Peadar Bates, Edward Bourke and Cormac Lowth; divers like Jerry Byrne, Billy Crowley, Laddie De Jong, Myles Dockrell, Paul Fogarty, Tony Morelli, Tom Shakespeare and Ronnie Warren; and boatmen like Liam Butterly and Simon Hoare. Sadly, some are no longer alive, but some are still with us to tell the tale. Our beautiful church, with its stunning Harry Clarke windows, is always our home for all our religious occasions but it’s also a place to have the very best of historical and heritage events.

After another successful festival in September, the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival committee have taken a well-earned rest but are now busy preparing for the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival 2024, from Thursday 12th to Sunday 22nd of September. The festival will feature all the usual favourites, along with some new and exciting events, with something to please all age groups and all cultural appetites. Keep an eye on the Bleeding Pig Facebook and Instagram pages closer to the date for more information. For now, the Bleeding Pig people are busy making arrangements to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year, the celebrations will be on Sunday 3rd March, from 12.30pm until 4.00pm in the Donabate- Portrane Community Centre. This year, the event will focus on a sustainable environment and community, and will feature, among others, workshops about Sustainable Fashion, and Beekeeping and Pollination, Climate Ambassadors from An Taisce, and more. This event is a free celebration of women, no booking is required, and everyone is welcome to drop into the Community Centre and enjoy the celebrations. On Thursday March 7th, the Bleeding Pig Festival will screen a feature film for International Women’s Day. The film, “Driving Madeleine” will be shown in the Parish Hall. Check out the Bleeding Pig Facebook page for more details and information about this event. The Bleeding Pig Festival committee are always seeking new recruits. If you would be interested in getting involved in the festival, which has become one of the local annual highlights, please contact any of the committee members. On behalf of the Bleeding Pig Festival committee, we wish you a happy International Women’s Day, and Happy Easter

CCÉ Leithinis members were delighted to perform at a TradFest fringe event in The Brook Pub, Portrane on the 28th January. Our regular traditional Irish music slow session for Leithinis members, led by Erin, continued every second Friday evening in Donabate Parish Hall. The adult session took place in Keeling’s Pub, Donabate on Friday 26th (photo below) and the regular Trad Session for experienced musicians continued on the first Tuesday of the month in the Brook Pub in Portrane. Our new term of classes in Traditional Irish Music for adults and children (7+) in Banjo, Bodhrán, Button Accordion, Concertina, Fiddle, Mandolin, Flute and Tin Whistle commenced on January 22nd in Donabate Portrane Educate Together National School. The Leithinis Committee would like to wish all our members a very enjoyable St. Patrick’s Festival.

February was a busy month for Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed. Work on our plots at Turvey Allotments, preparing for the new growing season, started in earnest. Our HSE-sponsored Healthy Eating course continued on Wednesdays, along with our exercise classes on Mondays, our music practice sessions on Wednesdays and our regular Thursday morning get-togethers. We had a fascinating tour of Newbridge House, arranged by Jane with Michael as our guide and a big thanks to Emma for the photographs. We even had the pleasure of meeting with some of the Cobbe family, who regaled us with stories of the history of the house and the family. Our music group, Gerry and the Plonkers, played a free concert in Donabate Parish Hall, as part of the two-day event “Tayleur Tragedy Talks and Tales”, adding a selection of sea-faring songs to their normal repertoire specially for the occasion. If you, or someone you know, are interested in joining the Men’s Shed, please call Jim, our PRO, on 086-3694316. We always welcome new members.

A draft “Framework Plan” was recently shared by Fingal County Council where it stated that “the development strategy for Donabate, as set out in the Development Plan, is to promote the provision of all necessary community, commercial, cultural and social facilities in tandem with new residential development”. It further states that “there was a high level of agreement about the needs of the Donabate community: such as…the need for a civic / cultural / arts centre - a performance space etc. was also highlighted.” While it is great that the need for an indoor cultural centre (that would benefit the entire community) is acknowledged and referenced in this draft framework, we need to see real progress on accomplishing this objective. Presently, there is significant residential development in Donabate without the provision of adequate facilities. Now is the time to locate a suitable site for a cultural centre. If the Council is serious about providing adequate space for social and cultural facilities, then they should commit to this objective. The Tilbury site is a perfect example of a location that would be ideal for a standalone, multi-purpose cultural centre. It is in an excellent location, between the planned developments at Ballymastone and Corballis East. Given there will be thousands of houses built in Donabate in the coming years and we’ll likely have a population of over 20,000 by 2030, we cannot miss this opportunity to build a standalone, multi-purpose cultural centre. The Local Area Development Plan for Donabate clearly commits to providing support for the provision of a “Community / Cultural / Exhibition Arts Centre.” Development Plans cannot merely be aspirational documents. We have a reasonable expectation as a community to receive adequate indoor cultural and social facilities to match the significant residential development in our area. An action plan should be put in place with the Council and community groups to ensure that this objective is realised. If you agree with what I’ve stated here and would like to support this campaign for a cultural centre, please email me at: EoghanDockrellFG@gmail.com

Labour party area representative Corina Johnston recently asked, “Why should the public have confidence and participate in the planning process when objectives in statutory plans are ignored contrary to council policy and the wishes of the general public and elected Councillors?” Corina Johnston said, “The Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029 Core Strategy envisages the population of the Donabate peninsula growing to 12720 by 2029. The population was 11783 in the 2022 census. I believe we have already surpassed the council’s estimate. Construction work has commenced on phase one of 1200 units on council land in Ballymastone. An application for 1020 housing units at Corballis East is with Fingal CC and a decision is imminent. In accordance with the Local Area Plan (LAP) almost 3000 houses remain to be built in Donabate which will bring the population to over 20,000.” Johnston added; “The LAP also has an objective for the provision of a purpose built Multi-Functional Community Facility. To date FCC are refusing to identify and provide a site for this much needed facility in Ballymastone. Duncan Smith TD and I recently held a well-attended public meeting to raise this issue. The meeting was unanimous in their view that the community facility must be delivered in tandem with the housing. A committee was formed (Crossroads) to campaign for this facility.” Johnston continued; ”At a time when the people of Donabate are without adequate public transport, when some parents have to leave their homes at 6:30am to bring their children to childcare outside our parish, when new parents into the parish are unable to secure school and childcare places for their children in Donabate, is it any wonder people are becoming frustrated and angry with the lack of infrastructure in the area? Childcare facilities are now conditioned in planning permissions and are not being delivered on time and in accordance with the scheduling conditioned in the permission. This is totally unacceptable. “Johnston concluded; “for the future of our Community FCC must identify a site now, before every remaining land is either built upon or planning permission granted. The provision of schools, other necessary infrastructure and amenities should be provided in tandem with development.”

LSA February 2024 LSA Masters athletes have been out in force over the last month. Three teams participated in the Dublin Masters Cross Country Championships with Anthony Sharkey finishing 10th overall out of 465 finishers. Overall our Women’s Over 35 team placed 5th in their category; our men’s over 50 team placed 8th and our Men’s Over 35 team placed 11th in a very competitive category. Superb performances all round meant that LSA was the 8th placed club in the Pat Hooper Memorial Cup, which is a relatively new award in these Championships. Meanwhile our track and field athletes got their Indoor season underway at the National Indoor Championships in Athlone and at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown. Our Junior athletes have also been out on the track and later this month our Juvenile athletes will take on their Dublin Championships. For anyone who is inspired to get running, we plan to run another Couch to 5k next month. We always welcome new members and volunteers. If you would like to get involved, please contact us - details below: Adult memberships queries please contact lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (from age 7-18) please contact lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA on our social media pages! Contact us on Facebook .facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ Twitter https://twitter.com/LSARunning Please also visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

In 2021, a new tradition began in Corballis, Donabate. Bryan Kelly Junior and Joey Collins organised a road bowls event on St Stephen’s Day. This is now an annual event that marks and acknowledges long-stating families of (the area or Corballis, Donabate). This competitive game stacks families up against each other with two members representing each family challenging the title. Road bowling (Irish: Ból an bhóthair; also called long bullets) is an Irish sport in which competitors attempt to take the fewest throws to propel a metal ball along a predetermined course/track of country roads. The sport originated in Ireland and is mainly played in Armagh and Cork. The “bullet” or “bowl” (Irish: ból) is a solid iron cannonball of c.18 centimetres circumference and 28 ounces. There are two or more players or teams in a match or “score”. The one with the fewest shots to the finish line wins. For the last couple of years, a “score” has been played on St Stephen’s Day between local Corballis families (Collins, Kellys, Smiths and Davis).

The track starts at the Collin’s Lane and ends just before Corballis farm (Smiths). Expertly stewarded by Bim Collins and Bryan Kelly Snr. This year’s event had a crisp morning, the tide was in on the estuary and the track was in prime condition. The Nevilles were 1st to arrive and the Kellys were last having to travel from the Balcarrick. The 2023 teams and winners were:1st place representing the Davis’s (Richie and Stephen Neville), 2nd place Garth Smith and Joey Collins, 3rd place Cormac, Eddie and Bryan Kelly.
Other teams included Finn and Keith Collins, Daniel Collins and David May and newly invited from Newbridge Avenue Jimmy and James Carolan (who had a tough day 1st time out). The singles event was won by Bryan Kelly Junior.

In January for our first walk of the year we walked 8km of the coastal Green Way - Omeath to Carlingford. We did a car split between the two villages so we could all do the walk - so we started in Omeath with a visit to Cafe Rosa the best cafe ever with coffee & homemade cakes made by Ivan. We then walked along the coast with clear & beautiful views over Carlingford Lough and the Cooley Mountains. After the walk we went to Fitzpatrick’s Bar and Restaurant on the way home, where the food was delicious a great finish to a great day. If you are interested in joining the walking group please contact: Carolyn Smith: on her mobile 087 9284307 or Des Carty: 087 7846813

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed has had a busy New Year. We started a new HSE- sponsored “Healthy Food Made Easy” course on Wednesday mornings for six weeks. Gerry and the Plonkers, our music group, played a free concert in Donabate Parish Hall at the end of January and will perform another free concert there on Wednesday 21st February as part of a two-day event, “Tayleur Tragedy Talks and Tales”, which will commemorate the sinking of the RMS Tayleur at Lambay Island 170 years ago with the loss of nearly 400 lives. We are also planning a visit to the Men’s Shed in Mountjoy Prison. Although work on our allotments continued through the winter, the real work starts soon. If you wish to join us, please call Jim, our PRO, on 086-3694316. We are always open and welcoming to new members.