Fr. Pat Reilly celebrated his Golden Jubilee of his Ordination recently in St. Patrick’s Church, Donabate with Mass celebrated by Fr. Pat and con-celebrated by Fr. Augustine, Fr. Paddy O’Byrne, Fr. Patrick Hannon and Fr. Richard Sheehy.

Fr. Pat’s family and friends took part in the Readings and Music alongside our Parish Choir..After Mass refreshments were served in the marquee on the green and the music was provided by our Folk group. It was a wonderful evening of celebration marking Fr. Pat’s 50 years serving God with 17 of those years serving the people of Donabate, Portrane and Balheary. We congratulate Fr. Pat on his 50 years and wish him many more happy and healthy years serving the Lord.

Last month members of Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed had two very different history lessons. The warm humid conditions in the earlier part of the month provided the perfect conditions for phytophthora infestans, the potato blight fungus that caused the Famine. So, our entire crop of potatoes at our plots at Turvey Allotments was lost, despite our best efforts. Thankfully the other plants – onions, scallions, cabbage and tomatoes – were not affected. Obviously, the inconvenience and disappointment of our loss was nothing compared to what our ancestors experienced in the 1840s. Our second history lesson was at the Irish Military Museum, near Collon Co. Meath, a hands-on exhibition of weapons and uniforms ranging from the Viking raids to the Vietnam War. If you’d like to join us, please contact Jim on 086-3694316.

Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE’s new term of lessons resume in September. If you are interested in learning a traditional Irish instrument in a relaxed and friendly setting please email us at leithinis@comhaltas.netand we will get back to you with details.

We offer lessons in Tin Whistle, Bodhran Fiddle, Concertina , Accordion and Banjo Classes are small and our teachers are talented and experienced musicians.Classes are held on Monday evenings in the Donabate Portrane Educate Together School.

In addition to classes we have twice monthly ( every 2nd Friday) slow sessions led by Erin in the Parish Hall. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to practice their tunes. We have recently started meeting with other Comhaltas branches to play some tunes Cluain Tarbh CCE’s junior members joined us in the grounds of the Parish Hall in June and a great afternoon was had by all. We are looking forward to visiting their branch over the next few months.The Brook Pub in Portrane host a Traditional Irish Music session on the first Tuesday of every month. The session starts at 7.30pm. This has proved to be very popular. Experienced traditional Irish Musicians come from all areas of the North County to play. Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy a great evening of entertainment. For further information on our branch please see our webpage leithinis.com and our Facebook page Comhaltas Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE.

decide what activities and classes to join in September. We have a full programme for you again for this Autumn with limited spaces, so you need to decide early. To help you to decide, Active Age for All will hold an information day in the Shopping Centre on Friday the 25th of August to talk about our programme of classes and activities for the Autumn and to give general information about Active Age. We will have our new brochure and programme with us, so call in and collect one. Registration for classes will take place on Monday 4th September and Tuesday 5th of September from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. each day. By then we should have our new website up and running, and if all goes to plan, it will be possible to book and pay for your classes online for September.

We also had a very enjoyable Ardgillan Castle Trip. On a beautiful sunny morning last month, the AAfA Camera Club went onan outing to Ardgillan castle. The castle was under renovation and covered in scaffolding so not very picturesque, however there were plenty of other photographic
opportunities. We snapped away in the Rose Garden with its background of Victorian glass houses and walled garden. The wildflower meadows with backdrops of woodland and beautiful seascapes gave us plenty of scope for the perfect photograph. For any information about Active Age for All see our website activeageforall.com or email us at activeageforall@gmail.com or TEXT only to 0868806808.

On Saturday 9th September the Peninsula Pacers will meet at the Parish Hall at 11 30pm for their annual Portrane Donabate Cliff Walk with an extra loop of the Burrow for the longer walkers! This special walk coincides with the Bleeding Pig - Pizza & Trad event in the afternoon at the Brook Pub - this was a great event last year with music and dancing fantastic entertainment at the end of the walk – we hope to have as good a weather this year!

Corina Johnston, Local Area Representative has welcomed the new access into Newbridge Park, off the Hearse Road, Donabate. Johnston said; “I am delighted that the proposed pedestrian and cycle access into Newbridge Park off the Hearse Road Is nearing completion. I first became aware of the need for the entrance in 2020 when I witnessed parents with children and some with buggies trudging along a very narrow footpath and dangerous road to access the Park via Newbridge Ave. As a result we raised this issue with FCC at that time and have continued to do so on a regular basis. The provision of this entrance was also conditioned in the planning permission for the Semple Woods Estate and is an objective in the Donabate Local Area Plan.” Corina Johnston also went on to say;”Regrettably it has taken longer to complete than expected however problems were identified which had to be resolved. These included the proximity of the animal paddock within the park to the new roadway and the need to prevent animal access to the public road. I wish to compliment all concerned within the council for resolving this important issue and thus enabling the laying of the access.Hopefully this will now facilitate the completion and opening of the entrance as a matter of urgency. Corina added; “This new entrance into Newbridge Park will connect with the proposed pedestrian and cycle route across a new bridge over the railway line which in turn will connect Corballis, Donabate Village and the Railway Station with Newbridge House and Farm. We have been informed by the council that a procurement process for the appointment of a contractor for this work has already commenced. “

It was everything we could have asked for and more. The Gods delivered the weather because the Gods love Hurling. It was a phenomenal success filled with colour, craic, great skills, great competition, brilliant hurling, and it was really just a sight to behold. We can’t go any further without acknowledging the trojan work done by Niall and Lucy O’Connor. To have the event run in the way that it was is a testament to the spirit and effort by Niall, Lucy and all the organising committee. Thanks to The Shoreline. We continue to build a great relationship. Thanks to Joe, The Piper. Thanks to St Johns for their time and dedication. Thanks to the crew on the shop who were flat to the mat from start to finish. Thanks to all the Mams and Dads, coaches, referees, car parking crew, our Grounds committee and all the officers who helped at different times to make it as special as it was. Thanks to Leithinis Donabate Portrane. It was a privilege to welcome you guys down and we hope to see you again. Thanks to Céire Rhein for all the quality photography. We thank all our members who attended and made the last night a rip roaring success. Finally if we can say thanks and well done to all the players. You were quite simply magnificent.

Attention local artists, do you want to show your paintings at an outdoor exhibition in donabate? We are looking for expressions of interest.Please contact our group, Peninsula Artists on this email mareseart@eircom.net

Calling all visual Artists on the Donabate/Portrane Peninsula. Whether you are Painter, Sketcher or a Doodle, we (the Peninsula Artists group) are inviting you to show your work in an open-air exhibition at “The Hand” in Donabate Village on the weekend of 26th /27th August from 11am to 5pm both days. Uisce Éireann have kindly offered the use of their railings to display your art work. All art work will be hung from the railing ONLY, safely avoiding any damage to the railings or contact with the roses underneath. There will be a nominal charge for each display space. This is to cover public liability insurance. Excess funds will be donated to the local Tidy Town Group. (The group who plant the Roses!). If you are interested in taking part, please email your expression of interest to mareseart@eircom.net.

Did you know that croquet was well known as a sport in North County Dublin? So, where did croquet come from, well that is a bit obscure but wherever it originated it was developed in Ireland in the early part of the nineteenth Century. One famous man Swords native Cyril Corbally and his brother Herbert of Rathbeale Hall, Swords were famous international croquet players, Cyril in particular winning many international tournaments. Cyril went on to help develop the game of croquet as we know it today. When he married Eleanor Colville Cobbe and moved into Newbridge House he set up the lawn to the side of Newbridge House. The croquet parties and games there soon became legendary. In 2019 the lawns were re-opened having been restored to international standard by Fingal County Council with the support of the Croquet Association of Ireland. It is now the home of Newbridge House Croquet Club, which welcomes new members.

We have a wide range of abilities in the club, with some members playing socially and for fun, while others play competitively and on the international circuit. If you wish to join us, you will be given a warm welcome. Check out the website at. nhcroquet.com or email us at nhcc@gmail.com . Sunday afternoons will generally find some members out on the lawn, and you can join us for some trial games, or email beforehand if you prefer. Membership for Year 1 is Euro 55 and all equipment is supplied free, therefore no further outlay is required. Come along to Flavours of Fingal on 1st /2nd July for a chat with some players and have a go. Our next big tournament takes place on 8th July when the Cyril Corbally Cup takes place. This will give you an opportunity to see some of the best players compete for the beautiful trophy. Come along, give croquet a go, soon you will be “jumping through hoops” and you will be hooked.

Leithinis were delighted to welcome Craobh Cluain Tarbh to Donabate for a Junior session. A great afternoon was had by all. A big thank you to Erin for leading the session. Thanks also to Derbhil and Vivienne from Cluain Tarbh for arranging and to our own Ian and Paul for organising and making sure everything ran smoothly on the day Also a shout out to the Parish Hall committee for the use of the grounds. Finally well done to all the junior musicians from both branches. The future of Comhaltas is safe in your hands See you all at the next session.