The Peninsula Pacers recently headed to Deerpark Woods in Virginia Co Cavan for a 6/7km medium length walk through the woods around the Park Hotel & beside Lake Ramor. It was a beautiful, interesting walk with all the colours of autumn. The day began with rain but soon cleared and was bright & sunny. We did a car share & it only took just over one hour to the start of the walk - toilets available in supermarket in the town - free parking in this area & at the lake - coffee truck at the lake also. We ate late lunch in the Riverside Hotel - which was delicious & very well priced! Our next walk is on Saturday 6th January 2024! to Carlingford. This was the walk that had been planned before the poor people of that area were flooded, we hope they will be able to rebuild their lovely village. Further details from Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 or Des Carthy 087 7846813. We wish you a Happy Christmas & a Healthy and Fit! New Year.

As reported last month, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed had a fascinating visit to Leinster House in October, arranged for us by Senator Clifford-Lee. Our guide, Fidelma, related the history of the building from its use as a townhouse for the Fitzgerald family to its acquisition by the state for use as the seat of the Oireachtas and explained the rules and working of both houses of the Oireachtas. In November, the Men’s Shed continued its visits of historical buildings with a tour of Dublin’s GPO, where our guide, Caitríona, told us about the details of the use of the GPO as the headquarters for the 1916 Rising and we watched a short film which graphically presented the rising from the reading of the proclamation to the execution of its leaders. In early December, the Men’s Shed will be holding its annual Christmas dinner for its members. And speaking of Christmas, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed wishes all its members and the wider Donabate Portrane community who have supported our activities over the year a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Anyone who is interested in joining us, please contact our PRO, Jim, on 0863694316.

Donabate Parish Hall is almost 220 years old. For the first 100 years it was the Catholic Church, then the new red brick Catholic Church, St Patrick’s was built opposite and the Parish Hall became a community hall just 120 years ago. Since then a number of dedicated volunteers have assisted in the day to day running of the hall as caretakers of the building & the grounds. In the past, about 50 years ago there were the two Gavin sisters, Kathleen & Bridget who ably looked after the day to day running of the hall.Some of the most recent caretakers who work or have worked tirelessly for the Parish Hall and by extension for the community include, Martin Naughton from Portrane & Vincent Kearns from Donabate As the oldest working hall in the Dublin area, so many people have been involved with its running & caretaking. If you have old photographs or information of the Parish Hall & the centre of Donabate and or of any people who may have been caretakers etc please contact Parish Office.The Parish Hall wish all of their users a Happy & Healthy Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Our regular Traditional Irish Music Slow Session for Leithinis members, led by Erin, continued every second Friday evening in Donabate Parish Hall (shown in photo) and has become very popular with new members. The regular Fast Sessions for experienced musicians continued on the first Tuesday of the month in the Brook Pub in Portrane (shown in photo). This event is attracting musicians from all over the North County. The Leithinis AGM took place on November 13th and we were glad to welcome Mary Whelan from the Dublin County Board. Leithinis members, both adults and children, played a number of music sets at the annual Winter Fete in Donabate Portrane Educate Together National School which was very well received. The Leithinis Christmas Slow Session for members takes place on the 15th December. Our last music lessons before Christmas are on the 11th December and resume on the 8th January. The Leithinis Committee would like to wish Nollaig Shona to all our members.

Labour party local area representative Corina Johnston said recently that she and her party are monitoring the proposed travel infrastructure for Donanabte. She said, “As the population of Donabate is projected to grow to over 20,000 over the next 10 years it is imperative that the necessary infrastructure be prioritised and delivered. The Council received the following update at a recent meeting: “FCC recently appointed consultants for a number of schemes on the Donabate-Portrane Peninsula: (1.) Phase 2 of the Donabate Distributor Road project to improve access to Donabate and Portrane from the M1-Lissenhall Interchange for all road users especially pedestrians and cyclists; (2.) Active Travel Routes to increase local connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists. (3.) Traffic study to examine efficiencies and safety issues at the M1 Lissenhall Interchange. (4.) A new greenway scheme alongside the existing Donabate Distributor Road. Preliminary design work is commencing on these schemes with further progress expected in subsequent years. Johnston went on to say “ A Works contract for the Broadmeadow Way Greenway have been finalised with other elements being procured and tendered shortly. Tender for the Pill River Bridge Kilcrea junction section of the greenway will go to tender in early 2024. -A tender process is underway to appoint a works contractor on the Donabate Pedestrian Bridge linking new residential developments at Corballis East and West with Donabate Train Station,Donabate Village and Newbridge Demesne. Work to commence early in 2024. -A CPO is under consideration by An Bord Pleanala for the Portrane Road Enhancement scheme from Carrs Mill to the National Schools. The tender process is completed for the Turvey Avenue Enhancement scheme where no footpath currently exists on Turvey Avenue with works to commence in the coming weeks. -The design report for walking and cycling infrastructure on R126 from the end of the Donabate Distributor Road to Seaview Park Portrane have been prepared. Subject to land take agreements and environmental screening, it is intended to proceed to planning in 2024. -Consultation and route option design continues on the Fingal Coastal Way and the Donabate Urban Framework Plan will be progressed by the Planning & Strategic Infrastructure Department.”
Corina Johnston added, “It is my firm belief that vital infrastructure should be delivered either prior to or in tandem with development in our towns and villages. While I welcome the necessary design and planning work that has been carried out it will be of no benefit to the people of Donabate if they are not delivered. We in the Labour party intend to pursue these matters.”

What a month for LSA all across the club. Our membership has now reached 435, with 200 adult members, 235 Juveniles and Under 20s.Our Juvenile coaches have been busy returning to training with the focus on the Cross-Country season and looking ahead to the Indoor Track and Field season. Our Juvenile athletes took part in the Dublin Cross Country League series with races in Lusk and Tymon Park. Well done to all. Congratulations also to our coaches who have successfully completed Athletics Ireland Coaching courses. Our Juvenile coaches have also been inspiring our younger members: Dara Carr and Eimear Caulfield both have represented Ireland in the recent European Masters Athletics Championships in Pescara, Italy. Dara competed on the track in 100m, 200m and as part of a 4x 400m relay team that placed 4th overall. Eimear was the proud winner of a Gold medal as part of a winning Cross country team! Our adult members have been in top form. Our Fit4Life group is making sure to #nevermissaMonday. Many of our Intermediate and Advanced groups of athletes are now focused on the Marathon, inspired by recent top performances by our Berlin Marathon participants. But whether it’s a 2 hr 38-minute marathon, a 38-minute 5k, or helping out at our Juvenile training and events, there’s the Power of Support in LSA.

Last year Tradfest came to Fingal as it extended & embraced not only Dublin City & Temple bar but Dublin County & Fingal. The launch was held in the Seamus Ennis Centre in the Naul and then Tradfest put on other wonderful Trad Music events in Malahide & Swords Castles. This year they are celebrating the roots of Irish Trad Music by also hosting events in smaller and unique buildings and locations in Fingal, like the Parish Hall in Donabate. Traditional music came from Homes, Halls & Hostelries! or Parlours, Parish & Pubs! In list of venues, we are in there with Dublin Castle & The Button Factory! Donabate Parish Hall is one of these special places, beautiful and old world and which thanks to the assistance of FCC Community Dept. has fantastic acoustics which enable it to be used as a great venue. Martin Harte a Parish man, CEO of Temple Bar Company is the driving force behind bringing Tradfest out to Fingal and Donabate Parish Hall. We are steeped to have Gerry O’ Connor another Parish man and legendary world-famous Banjo player perform two separate concerts in the Parish Hall - lunchtime & late afternoon - on Sunday 28th January 2024. This is a very exciting happening for the Peninsula & Donabate Parish Hall & Tradfest so check out their website for all events & booking for other venues in Fingal & Temple bar - it is a great festival and we are truly delighted to be a part of it. Contact Parish Office re queries re availability of Parish Hall for use for classes, activities, events & public meetings on
Ph: 01 – 8434574

It has been a very busy month for AAfA getting members settled into classes. We still have places left in Chair Yoga, Yoga and Singing & Music. As you know AAfA is for those aged over 55 years and all are welcome. We had a great response to our event for Positive Aging Week, a free singing class followed by refreshments and a lunchtime concert. It was a resounding success! The Caintóirí, Gerry & The Men’s Shed Plonkers, Peig McManus and Enid Hughes also took part. Members danced home to the lively music of the Plonkers as the band played us out. Proving that all are aging positively! This event was sponsored by DPCC and Age Friendly Fingal. Another event is planned for Inclusion Week on Wednesday November 15th. In conjunction with The Bleeding Pig and DPCC we are organising a Dementia Friendly Coffee Morning. Starting at 11.00 a.m. with an informative talk followed by refreshments and music by The Caintóirí and Gerry & The Men’s Shed Stompers. Hope that you can come along and support Inclusion Week. All are welcome. For Information about Active Age for All please visit our website activeageforall.com or email us at activeageforall@gmail.com or TEXT only 0868806808. Our photos are from the Positive Aging Week Concert.

It was a proud day for Donabate Tidy Towns when it was recently announced that we reached 2nd place in our category and 12th in the whole of Dublin. We applied for the Tidy Towns competition a number of months ago hoping to get some useful feedback from experienced adjudicators in terms of projects completed and work projects we could complete over the next year. We did not expect to score so well and needless to say we were overjoyed with the results and the feedback. Of course, there were plenty of suggestions and ideas for the village which we look forward to planning and implementing over the coming weeks and months as some of the projects require more planning and funding than others. We would like to thank the volunteers who helped and participated in the Tidy Towns activities over the last year. Without your hard work and dedication none of the completed projects and progress around the village would have been possible and this was reflected in the report. Quite a few of the volunteers often do so very quietly and in their own time and do not seek any gratitude for the work that they do but we would like to extend our thanks to each one of them. We will be holding our rescheduled AGM at the Donabate Portrane Community Centre on Tuesday the 24th of October at 8.30pm. We will reflect on all the hard work that has been done by both the committee and volunteers over the last year, plans for the coming year and we hope to share these with you in due course. We would be really interested in hearing everyone’s thoughts and ideas for the village or for your own area/estate. Tidy Towns would be happy to work with you and provide as many resources as possible to help you with any projects you had in mind. We would also like to hear how Donabate Tidy Towns could bring in new volunteers and support the existing volunteers more. We hope to see as many people there as possible.

Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society is delighted to announce the upcoming performances of two Irish plays from the 23rd to the 26th of November 2023 in Donabate Parish Hall. “A Galway Girl” directed by Aengus Gordon and Áine Dilleen is a one-act play by Geraldine Aron about the life of a rural Irish wife in the 1950s. Maisie and her husband Dermot. Sitting at opposite ends of a table and rarely addressing each other directly they recollect moments of their married life in London. The anecdotes they relate are both humorous and heart-breaking. Their story is filled with disagreement and bickering but also loving moments and affection. “Playing the part of Maisie gives me an insight into the strength and courage of women of that generation in Ireland, who under an austere Catholic regime, rendered it impossible for women to leave violent and unhappy marriages”, said Christina Fahy, former member of the society and who is back on stage this season playing the part of Maisie. The second play is “Bedtime story”, directed by Lisa Buckley. This one-act comedy, written by Sean O’Casey in 1951, depicts the odd things and misfortunes that may happen to young Catholic bachelor John Jo who has just spent the night with seductive Angela in his Dublin lodging. Full of remorse and afraid of ruining his reputation John Jo finds himself in a situation with which his conscience cannot cope. The play bursts with farcical elements, dark humour and sharp social satire. On stage there will be seen some familiar talents but also some first time actors with the society, while behind the scenes a production team has been assembled to ensure that every other aspect is well looked after when bringing the plays to life on stage. Mícheál O’Dea, long-time member, actor and producer of the society is delighted to be back in the production team after a small break: “I am looking forward to co-producing these two one acts plays with some new directors and actors alongside Italian production manager Valentina Falcone”. Tickets cost €12 per person and can be purchased online on Eventbrite.ie or at the door. Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society is also extending an invitation to all people in the community to become a patron of the society and support the local arts. The annual fee for patronage is €60 per person and it includes two tickets for 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!