Donabate Tidy Towns would like to thank Helen and Gerry Lynders from Lynders Mobile Home Park for their very generous donation of €250. The donation will be put to great use around the village for buying new plants for flower beds located around the village and new equipment for our volunteers when planting or carrying out a clean-up of their local area or taking part in the monthly clean-up of the village. Keep an eye on out Facebook page for details of our monthly clean-up or you can contact us through Facebook or send us an email at tidytownsdonabate@gmail.com. The U10s boys from St. Pat’s GAA helped John Lovatt from Donabate Tidy Towns with a clean-up of the beach down at the Burrow in Portrane. It was such a pleasure for John to work with the army of St. Pat’s U10s and bring an awareness of the environmental issues and pollution affecting our coastline. John explained that litter can be washed up onto the beach as well as being dropped there. The challenge was to bring the bags of collected litter back more than a kilometre to The Green in Portrane. This proved no problem to the boys who solved the problem with ingenuity, great teamwork and real determination. Comhghairdeagas and GRMA mór to the boys and their coaches, parents, siblings and John Lovatt who assisted in the task. If you would like to volunteer with your local Tidy Towns you can do so by contacting us via email or Facebook as given above. You could, for example, volunteer to look after and maintain your local area or estate as many of our volunteers do, please contact us and we will provide all of the required equipment. Alternatively, you could join us for our monthly clean-up or some of the projects we are currently working on in areas such as increasing biodiversity in the locality.
In 2022 despite the difficulties experienced with Covid early in the year the Parish Hall was busier than ever once restrictions were lifted in late Spring. The wide variety of daily activities took off, including Senior Citizens, Youth Club, Irish Dance, Pilates, Bridge & Cards. A number of new activities also started e.g. Egg Heads & Youth Drama Classes. The Cultural & Creative slots when the hall suspended daily activities enabled for e.g. the Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society to put on two excellent productions in April & November. There were also a number of exhibitions held over a few days in Photography by the Through the Lens group. This arrangement also facilitates children camps to take place. Some one day cultural, creative & craft events also took place in the Parish Hall. These included the launch of Lambay Cinema Club, The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival Art Exhibition and FCC Inclusion Day when the Parish Hall Committee & Leithinis CCÉ jointly hosted members of the Ukrainian community in a cultural event. One of the highlights of the year was the Christmas Craft Fair run by The Christmas Festival Group. Next year we hope to continue to serve all the growing & diverse needs of our community as best as we possibly can. Again we wish the entire community a very Happy & Healthy New Year. If you have any queries re the use of the Parish Hall, contact Bernie in the Parish Office on 8434574.
2022 was a very successful year for Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCÉ. The number of music students attending Monday evening classes in Donabate Portrane Educate Together continued to grow. Our expanded offering now includes Flute, Tin Whistle, Button Accordion, Concertina, Bodhrán, Banjo and Fiddle at beginner and improver level, for adults and children. Registrations for our Spring term are now open and places are still available. Our Friday Evening Slow Sessions hosted by Erin McGahan in Donabate Parish Hall grew in popularity throughout 2022 and offer our students the opportunity to play tunes together and build on what they have learned at class. Our students played at various events in the Parish Hall throughout the year including Fingal Inclusion Week in November and the relaunch of the Donabate Parish Hall in August attended by local community groups and representatives. Our Annual Fundraising Raffle in September, held in Donabate Town Centre, was a great success, raising funds and awareness of Leithinis CCÉ activities. The funds were used to purchase instruments which are then rented to students taking lessons at the Beginner level. The regular Traditional Music Open Sessions for experienced musicians resumed in 2022 and attracted a growing number of participants from all over the North County. These Trad Sessions are hosted by Denis Stack and take place at 7:30pm on the first Tuesday of every month and details are available on our Facebook page. We hope you enjoy these photos of our Christmas Slow Session at the Donabate Parish Hall on the 2nd December.
After a Covid-19 absence of two years, the Donabate Christmas
Lights Festival is back and what a success it was at the car-park of St. Patrick’s Church in the village on Saturday, December 3rd at 4.30pm. For the past 10 years or more, this much-loved local tradition has attracted huge crowds to the village to enjoy some seasonal festive refreshments and entertainment. This year was no different, with festive entertainment and refreshments for kids of all ages! And we had a real surprise in store to provide some seasonal entertainment. The organisers would like to thank Fingal County Council for sponsoring the event and for the beautiful Christmas tree and lights. Local electrician, Karl Harte, came back from retirement to oversee the installation of the festive lights around the village. Karl and his team have installed the festive lights around the village for more than 30 years, and we owe huge thanks to Karl for ensuring that the village looked festive and bright! We are very grateful to Tesco and SuperValu for their generous sponsorship of the event. SuperValu donate the delicious warm Mince Pies, washed down by Mulled Wine courtesy of Tesco. We are also grateful to Fr. Pat Reilly and all at St. Patrick’s Church for accommodating this event. Just across the road from the church, in St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, the festive. Donabate Christmas Craft Fair also made a welcome return. from 12-6pm, local crafters and artisans showcased their arts and crafts. Santa himself was in the Parish Hall, in person, from 2.30-5pm. The organisers would like to thank the team of Elves who give up their Saturday to make the day such a success. The day wouldn’t have happened without them. Later on in the evening, the businesses in the village showcased their goodies and offers with a Christmas Market in the Town Centre. All in all a wonderful day was had by all!!!
The Peninsula Pacers had a very good year in terms of walks after covid restrictions were lifted.They did some dedicated short walks mainly led by Carolyn e.g. The Royal Canal, Ardgillan Castle and around our own Cliff Walk. These walks are at a slow pace, approx 5/6kms, require reasonable fitness level, have some stops and can have some history/heritage. The longer walks are at a faster pace, approx 10/12kms, require fairly high fitness levels, have a short stop and focus is on walking although we do include some history/heritage when we can. We aim to go by public transport mainly train most of the time & walks are once a month usually the 2/3 Saturday of the month.Last year we went to eg: The entire Donabate Portrane Peninsula, Rush to Loughshinny, Rogerstown to Rush, Balbriggan to Laytown. This year we intend to do a few new walks eg part of the Boyne Valley Camino & Howth Tram Trail and repeat some old walks. In November 2022 - no prizes for guessing we did the Poolbeg Lighthouse from Sandymount! If you are interested in further information please contact Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 or Des Carthy 087 7846813
Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed wishes our members and the wider community a happy and peaceful New Year. Despite the disruptions caused by Covid restrictions at the start of 2022, the Men’s Shed had a full, active and interesting year. We added to our regular weekly activities of exercise classes on Mondays and tea and chat gatherings on Thursdays with croquet at Newbridge House on Tuesdays, negotiated on our behalf by Active Age for All with Fingal County Council – a big thank you to both. Those working on our plots at Turvey Allotments, rented from Fingal County Council, had a very productive year with a bumper crop even better than previous years. We also resumed our occasional outings with visits to the Casino Model Railway Museum in Malahide in February, a guided tour of Newbridge House in March, the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin in May, the Custom House Visitor Centre in June and the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire in July and most recently a pitch-and-putt outing to Deerpark in Howth in November. During 2022, we completed two long-standing projects delayed by Covid, both sponsored by grants from Fingal County Council. In February, we installed a storage shed beside the Scouts’ Den and in September we completed the awning at the rear of the Scouts’ Den. We rounded out the year with a Christmas dinner in Keeling’s, our first since 2019. A great night was had by all, great food, great music and songs but, most importantly, great company. If you wish to join us, please contact Jim on 086-3694316. We are always open to new members and new ideas on how we can expand our activities.
One of the most unusual names for a festival in Ireland has to be the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival, which takes place on the peninsula of Donabate and Portrane every September.
It takes is name from a sea cave on what is known as Lady’s Walk on the cliffs that link Donabate and Portrane. After pondering a number options based on the name of other caves on the Lady’s Walk, with such glorious names as the Priest’s Hole, local historian Peadar Bates put forward the name for the festival.And the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival goes from strength to strength. It started off in 2013 as a two-day event showcasing local artists and performers. Nine years later, it is now a 14-day event featuring national acts, performers and a short film festival. It also ties in with the Fingal County Council artists-in-residence scheme. The festival won ‘Fingal Community Group of the Year’ in 2015 and the Local Authorities’ Members’ Association awards in the arts and culture category in 2018.
As in most situations, Covid-19 disrupted the festival in 2020, but it roared back last year and in September this year.Preparations are already underway for the festival next September, and the next outing for the festival will be on March 5th 2023 when an event to celebrate International Women’s Day event is planned.
The weather was wet, grey and dismal as 14 stalwarts (not being put off by a drop of rain ! ) gathered at Donabate/Portrane Community Centre for a trip to Glasnevin Cemetery and Casino in Marino. On arrival at Glasnevin Cemetery we met our guide for the tour, Grainne. Our first stop was at the Daniel O’Connell crypt which is beneath the cemeterys’ most conspicuous architectural feature, a round tower, the tallest in Ireland. It was a fitting place as Grainne explained that Daniel O’Connell,’ The Liberator’, was the founder of the cemetery. It was opened in 1832 as a non-denominational graveyard, the first of its kind in Ireland, and is the final resting place of some 1.5 million people. Since the first burial on 22nd February 1832 the Glasnevin authorities have maintained a record of every single burial in the cemetery. We finished our tour at the grave of Michael Collins near the main building;. After a lovely lunch in the cafe we set off to our second destination of the day Casino in Marino. The Casino ( casino= small house, not a gambling establishment) was built as a summer or pleasure house for James Caulfield the 1st Earl of Charlmont and is all that remains of his 18th century demesne at Marino. All in all a very enjoyable day, the weather relented and both places were fascinating with excellent guides.Just a reminder that Registration for our Spring Term takes place on the 9th and 10th of January between 11.00 - 14.00 so come along and meet your friends and sign up for one of our classes. You have such a choice from Pilates to Singing and Art to Yoga, Tai Chi, Sit and Get Fit to Stronger for Longer. Our age profile is from 55 to 90 so I am sure you will find something to suit you. Reminder Our AGM will take place on the 17th of January at 11.00a.m. and we hope to have a speaker at it to talk about the Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme. To finish we would like to wish all our members a happy and healthy 2023!
Corina Johnston, Labour Party Area Representative has questioned the relevance of The County Development and Local Area Plan given a recent planning decision by An Bord Pleánala. Johnston said; “The decision of An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for the controversial Corballis East SHD (Strategic Housing Development) in contravention of the County Development and Local Area Plan is a further indication of how irrelevant the County Development and Local Area Plans have become in the planning process within Fingal and indeed throughout the country. This controversial application has been objected to by the vast majority of people in Donabate, public representatives and Fingal County Council.” Johnston said; “In my own submission to the Board I raised the issues of densities, heights,mix and the impact on the highly sensitive landscape and also that the application is a material contravention of the current County Development Plan and the Donabate Local Area Plan. “ Johnston added; “In their decision the Board overruled their own inspector and the recommendations of the council’s planning department. The Board justified their decision based on National Policy and the fact that Donabate is “recognised as a Strategic Development Area”. The fact that it is designated as such is no justification for disregarding the existing character of the area. This land was zoned residential although controversially rezoned in 2003. “ Johnston continued; “While this application was under consideration by the Board local residents discovered an archeological monument (souterrain) on this site which had failed to be discovered during previous inspections and which could be seriously affected by this planning application. In response to representations from Duncan Smith TD and I the National Monuments Service confirmed that this monument will be included in the next review of the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP). Johnston concluded; “Although An Bord Pleánala have made this decision I am totally convinced that this is the wrong type of development on this site in Donabate for the reasons outlined and the potential implications on the recently discovered souterrain. Should this development proceed as per this permission the people of Donabate will become even more disillusioned with the planning process and realise the futility of public participation in the County Development and Area Plans.”
by Adrian Henchy
It was a great honour to be in the Shoreline Hotel on Sunday November 13th for the official launch of the book “ The Story of Hockey in Portrane” marking the 100 years of Portrane Hockey Club from 1919-2019. Wonderful to see so many great friends and players from down through the decades who gave their all to the purple & white of Portrane Hockey Club. My own memories and joy from playing and been involved in this great family and community club is just immeasurable. Great credit to the author of the book Mr. James Bennett for the painstaking work that went into putting the book together “ The story of hockey in Portrane”. He received enormous assistance and encouragement at all times from my own father Paschal or “ Percy” Henchy as they call him in hockey circles. As we mark and celebrate the last 100 years of Portrane Hockey Club many of those years just about surviving to where we are now today in 2022 one of the fastest growing hockey clubs in Leinster, fielding 7 Adult teams in the Leinster hockey leagues and almost 300 juveniles from our academy right up to our Under 16s, ensures a very bright future for Portrane Hockey Club. Family names like the Neville’s, Byrne, McCann, Conway, Henchy’s that are connected all the way back to the foundation of the club continue to this day. and the club are also indebted to new families into Donabate like the Van Dreumel, Patterson, Lloyd, Shoebridge and McCarthy families who together with so many others have the club in such a strong and healthy position in 2022. Portrane Hockey Club were delighted to welcome Jack Chambers Minister for Sport, Howard Mahoney Mayor of Fingal, our own Club Development Officer Cllr. Adrian Henchy and Kenny Carroll from Hockey Ireland along with many Former and Current players, Committee members and supporters to help launch our book. It was also wonderful to be joined on this occasion by former local TD and legendary Portrane Hockey Goalkeeper Mr. Sean Ryan. The book is available to buy from the club on Amazon.portranehockey.clubzap.com/products/9852/purchases/new Here’s to the next 100 years and many more great club memories and friends made.