Donabate Parish Hall has over the summer completed some further work on the hall - some internal & external painting was undertaken, the floor was given a top up sand & varnish; but the main work was the installation of special acoustic panels in the ceiling to improve the quality of sound in the hall; in layman’s terms reduce the echo and noise!

This will make the hall a very desirable place especially for Cultural & Creative Activities & Events. The cost of these works was funded by the Parish Hall Committee with grateful assistance from Fingal County Council Community Department. The electrical work to facilitate the installation was done by CP Electrical & Security and the installation of the boards by EK Property Maintenance this was very specialist work and completed to a very high standard by all of the local trades people! A special mention to EV Kidds over a 100years in business in Floor laying & Restoration and easy to see why - they promised to do this extra work for FREE after the hall had had some use and true to their word, came back this summer and did it to an excellent standard.The Parish Hall was back to full swing at the end of August but may still have some availability left for Weekly Activities and in the Cultural & Creative Slot in October & November - any queried to Bernie in the Parish Office in the mornings 01 - 8434574.

Our next walk coincides and links with the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival, so it is local - Saturday 10th Sept- starting at 12noon at The Parish Hall - walking to the Shoreline then on to Tower Bay short stop at Wayne’s Coffee Box - then down to Portrane and the Burrow walking along Rogerstown Estuary up Marsh Lane and back to the Brook for Pizza and Trad at 4pm! Bus or walk back to Donabate for the train ! Sound good - join us! Adults only & sorry no dogs - please wear the right attire especially footwear for the walk - we will do a good average pace ok. You can do the SHORT walk by waiting at the Brook and enjoying some refreshments while the LONG walk adds a loop of the Burrow as a few extra kms! Contact Carolyn 087 9284307 or Breda 086 8693243 for information or if interested!

After a short break last month from our regular activities, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed is back at full swing again.We have our weekly exercise classes on Monday mornings; on Tuesdays it’s croquet at Newbridge House and from 10:30pm to 12:30pm on Thursdays we have a get-together for coffee, tea and a chat at the Scouts’ Den on the Portrane Road. At other times, some members tend our plots at Turvey Allotments, and from time to time we have outings to places of interest. We are always open to new members. So, if you’d like to join us, please come along to the Scouts’ Den any Thursday morning, or call Jim on 086-3694316. You’ll be made feel very welcome.

The Peninsula Pedallers is a local cycling group that meets every Sunday at 09:30 at the Donabate and Portrane Community Centre. We are a community cycling group, not a sports cycling club, which means we want our cycles to be sociable occasions and we welcome cyclists of varied ages, genders, confidence and abilities. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Mark at 087 9607662 or Mary at 087 2340764.

The Donabate-Portrane Heritage Audit was launched recently at local landmark, Stella’s Castle, Portrane by Mayor of Fingal Cllr Howard Mahony. Cllr Mahony and Heritage Office Christine Baker spoke of the importance of Heritage and congratulated Sinéad Begly for such an beautiful publication as well as thanking the many locals who contributed to it. Light refreshments were served and free copies of the audit were presented to those gathered on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Fingal Heritage Office commissioned Sinéad Begley & Associates to conduct a heritage audit of the Donabate-Portrane Peninsula to identify heritage sites and features, and to provide recommendations on the best way to highlight and interpret these. It is intended that this report will provide a framework and promote a strategic and consistent approach to the development of heritage resources and interpretative materials for residents and visitors to the area. The value the local community places on heritage is evident in the action of local groups and individuals involved in recording, communicating, protecting and celebrating the unique character of Donabate and Portrane.

What wonderful weather we have just enjoyed, but now we must get down to the serious business of deciding what to do for the Autumn and Winter ahead! Active Age is here with great ideas and a brilliant Programme of classes to help you decide! For those new to the Peninsula Active Age for All (AAfA) was launched on the Donabate Portrane peninsula in 2015. It is a community organisation that provides social and recreational activities for those over 55 aimed at promoting health and wellbeing with an emphasis on enjoyment. New members are warmly welcomed. We run an extensive programme of classes from Sit and Get Fit, to Pilates and Yoga and Tai Chi and Stronger for Longer. With something for every level of fitness. We also provide language classes, Singing & Music and Drama. As part of our community work we offer some free activities - Croquet, Indoor Bowls, and Boules. Registration for all classes - paid and free - will start on the 5th of September and will continue on the 6th and 7th in Donabate/Portrane Community Centre. Details of dates, and times of classes and our programme is available on our website activeageforall.com. If you need any information about AAfA or our activities please email activeageforall@gmail.com Or Text only to 0868806808.

The National Juvenile Track and Field Championships took place in Tullamore in July. It is the highlight of the Athletics Calendar, and this year LSA had two athletes competing. Éabha O’Farrell competed in U16 girls’ 3kg Hammer and Anna Gavigan competed in U19 Girls’ Discus. Both had qualified for this event by winning their respective competitions in the Dublin Championships in May and June.This was Anna’s final competition as a “Juvenile” and she signed off in style by winning the Discus Championships with a throw of 45.95m and setting a new U19 Championship record!This was Anna’s third major Championship win this summer. At the start of June, Anna won theSenior Girls’ Discus in the All-Ireland Schools Championship representing Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan. Three weeks later she had her best success to date winning the 150thNational Senior Track and Field Championships.Anna is a great example of the Long Term Athlete Development policy. She has been training and competing with LSA since 2014 but it was only in 2018 that she began to win medals in the Dublin Championships and qualify for national finals. Later that year she started to train with coach Gerry Ronan, and has gone from strength to strength since then.Our younger Juveniles may well be inspired by being coached by a National Champion – Anna is part of the coaching team with Fiona’s group at our Thursday evening training session, and she also coached at our recent summer camp.Meanwhile, Éabha is another up and coming LSA Juvenile Athlete, also coached by Gerry Ronan. Éabha set a new LSA club record for 3kg hammer when she threw 36.80m to finish 5th in the National Juvenile Championships. LSA Juvenile training will recommence in September – watch out for details on Social Media.We always welcome new volunteers to help out with our growing club.For memberships queries or to get involved please do so on our gmail account on lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com. Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA via our social media pages! Or facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy or even Instagram instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ Twitter twitter.com/LSARunning. For additional information on the above please visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

Donabate Parish Hall autumn programme starts at the end of August with a large array of activities taking place every day, these range from Irish Dancing to Cards, from Montessori to Senior Citizens, from Traditional Music to Bridge. In October/November daily classes will be suspended for a number of weeks to facilitate Cultural & Creative events. These will include Photography Exhibitions and an Active Age for All Display to name but a few! There are still a few spaces available on the programme but it is filling up fast - we hope the addition of the new acoustic panels will create an even better ambience for all our activities & events to take place in! For further information please contact Bernie in the Parish Office

At Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed, we are continuing our activities over the summer months. We have exercise classes on Mondays, croquet at Newbridge House on Tuesdays, a cuppa and a chat at our Thursday morning get-togethers at the Scouts’ Den and work on our plots at Turvey Allotments at other times as the need arises.We also have regular outings to places of interest, most recently to the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, the Custom House Visitor Centre and the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire, three very different but interesting venues. These outings usually end with lunch at a local eatery. If you are interested in joining us, drop down to the Scouts’ Den any Thursday morning between 10:30am and 12:30pm or call Jim on 086-3694316. We look forward to seeing you.

We belong to the Walking Ireland Group which is part of Sports Ireland. There are over 400 groups in the country.We do SHORT EASY WALKS/TRIPS - 5km for most people require average fitness & we also do LONG MODERATE TO DIFFICULT WALKS which are 10/12km and can be hard so one needs to be fairly fit and able to keep up with the group.We try to vary the walks but sometimes we will repeat them especially as we try to be environmentally & cost friendly; we use trains & buses as much as possible! We are out to keep fit but also to have fun!!!! Our most recent outing with 15 people was after taking the train from Donabate to Balbriggan, we walked from there to Laytown some 11/12km along the beach with the tide out, going through some forest area which emerged near a great pedestrian bridge which lead directly into the Village Inn for some good food and well deserved refreshments! We returned by train from Laytown to Donabate after a great day out! Our next walk coincides and links with the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival, so it is local - Saturday 10th Sept- starting at 12noon at The Parish Hall - walking to the Shoreline then on to Tower Bay short stop at Wayne’s Coffee Box - then down to Portrane and the Burrow walking along Rogerstown Estuary up Marsh Lane and back to the Brook for Pizza and Trad at 4pm! Bus or walk back to Donabate for the train ! Sound good - put in your diary and contact Carolyn 087 9284307 or Breda 086 8693243 if interested!

Pacers Trip to Epic Museum and the Custom House - On Saturday the 18th June the Peninsula Pacers embarked on a slightly different trip. Eight of us ventured into Dublin to visit the Epic Museum and the Custom House. Both venues being on Custom House Quay and an easy walk from Connolly Station it was more about exercising the mind rather than the legs! First stop was the Epic Museum in the CHQ building which tells the story, or rather a lot of stories, about the emigration of the Irish to all parts of the world. Beginning with the defeat of the Irish at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, which resulted in the ‘Flight of the Earls’ from 1607, to the present day. The departure of the Earls was a watershed in Irish history, symbolising the end of the old Gaelic order. You won’t find leprechauns and pots of gold here but you will learn the stories of Irish emigrants who became scientists, politicians, artists, poets and even outlaws.Following a relaxed lunch in the CHQ building we strolled down the quay to the Custom House where we were delighted to find that admission, and an official guide, were free.After a very interesting and informative hour, and having plumbed the long-suffering guides’ knowledge to the depths, we left him in peace, did the obligatory photo shoot and wended our way back to Connolly Station, There we were pleased to discover that we had time for a little refreshment before the train home. All in all a very enjoyable outing a great easy paced walk albeit in an urban setting and we can strongly recommend visits to both of these venues.