Donabate Parish Hall has run a number of successful camps this year to cater for local kids they are generally of a cultural & creative nature. They aim to offer a variety of camps to cater for all interests. The most recent was the Lego bricks 4 Kids Summer Camp which was extremely popular with nearly 30 kids taking part. The organiser Alison Bosonnet was delighted with the turnout and said the hall is fab a great space. Regular classes and activities include Irish dancing, Leithinis, Traditional Music, Mother and Baby Group and Cards to name a few! If you are interested in finding out more about the camps and classes or in using the hall for some community activity or event please contact the Parish Office on 01 8434574.

The Mayor of Fingal said recently, “As many people across Donabate Portrane will have seen in recent months an appeal went out from a small group of local residents from the peninsula who were anxious to restore and improve the grave in Donabate Cemetery of the late Eddie Guerrini who was affectionally known locally as “ Neddie”. Cllr Henchy said, “ I am delighted to say this appeal has been a wonderful success and the restoration of “ Neddie’s” grave has been completed in recent months. While the local residents behind this wonderful initiative want to remain anonymous, I just wanted to say a massive thanks as a public representative of my local community for completing such a benevolent kind gesture. It is greatly appreciated.

Donabate Village Open Air Art Exhibition is happening in August! Come take a walk down our open air Art Gallery on Uisce Eireann’s railings at The Hand from 11am to 5pm, Saturday & Sunday. If you are interested in showing your work, there are a few places available. Make contact with Peninsula Art Group by email to mareseart@eircom.net.

Many thanks for the help, advice and support from Corina Johnston, Labour Party local Area Representative. Duncan Smith, TD, Labour Party. Rafe Costigan, Senior Community Officer, Fingal County Council and Cllr Dean Mulligan,Independent4Change.

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. “

Balbriggan’s own Andrew Coscoran recently broke his own Irish 1500m record for the second time in two months. This was another outstanding performance from Andrew at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in Chorzow, Poland in mid July as he finished 4th with an amazing time of 3.30:42, - knocking over two seconds off his previous best that he recorded in Nice in June ! The race was won by Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway in a new European record time of 3.27:14. Kenyan’s Abel Kipsang and Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot finished second and third, respectively in the race. Coming as it does following his recent great form it is another excellent result for Coscoran who is being coached by Feidhlim Kelly. Andrew Coscoran now holds the national record for the metric mile indoors and outdoors. He will now turn his attention to making a final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest later this month. Fantastic Andrew - Balbriggan is proud of you