There was great excitement for members of the local Fingal Old IRA Commemorative Society 1916-1921 last week. The Society won a Special Achievement Award at the Underground Independent Film Festival which is in its thirteenth year on the International circuit. The Award was presented to the well known Deputy Mayor of Fingal County Council Cathal Boland at the Awards Ceremony held in Dun Laoghaire recently. Cathal directed the forty-five-minute long Dramamentary of an event which occurred in Ballyboughal in April 1921. Cathal based the film called “Who shot Sergeant Kirwan” on newspaper accounts of the event and the witness statements now stored in the Military History Archives along with the stories told by the relatives involved on the day. Many play the roles of their Grandparents in this Award-Winning film. It was a first and unique experience for the Director, Cast and Production team. Cathal said when receiving the Award that it was a great community event which drew people in and got them engaged. He added that while the Award was made to him the achievement was only possible by the collaborative work of the whole team. He said much of the credit must go to Eric Campbell who filmed, edited, and provided the special effects and his wife who composed the soundtrack. There were no professional actors involved and indeed this was a first also for Cathal. The Society has another film lined up and Cathal says they will go into production early next year.

Our Christmas lights were turned on the other day and we marked the occasion for the community with some hot drinks served by Top Shop and festive carols sung by the Lusk Choir. Many thanks to all who helped put the lights up, to Conrad and staff at Top Shop, to the Choir and to those of you who came to enjoy the moment with us.Did you know that Lusk has a new sports club? The Lusk Ravens basketball club is now in operation out of the Lusk National School Hall and has a weekly academy for 5th and 6th class primary school children as well as ladies’ and men’s training sessions. Check out their Facebook page for more details. This is sure to be a great addition to already very sporting community. Well done to all involved in getting it off the ground.It’s not just basketball that’s available as an extracurricular activity in and around Lusk. Lusk has art classes, an athletics club catering for all track, field, road & off road disciplines, dance classes, a football club, a GAA club, the ICA, various martial arts classes (Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing & Taekwando), pilates classes, beavers, scouts and girl guides, yoga classes, walking groups and many more. If you’d like to know more about any of them or would like to set up a new Chess, Cards or even Tiddlywinks club or have a query on Adult Education and the likes then please contact us and we will help to direct you. Now that the dark evenings are upon us it’s important to have something to keep us active and in touch with others.As always, we are on the lookout for new members of Lusk Action Group. If you have drive, enthusiasm, care about the future of our town and have some time to spare, please consider joining us. You can email us on luskactiongroup@gmail.com.

The Lusk Guild day and time for future monthly meetings has changed. The monthly meeting will now take place on the first Tuesday of the month in Lusk Scout Den from 3.30pm until 5.30pm. In addition to our monthly meetings we also have a range of activities for ladies who like to keep fit. Mon, Tue and Thurs – Tai Chi -Tuesday 11.00 - 12.00 – Chair Yoga - Tuesday 11.30 - 12.30 - Exercises in the Hub /when weather is bad we do exercises in the old church. - Saturday 11am – meet Rush South Beach car park for sea swimming. This is just a small selection of our activities so join us for some fun as new members are always welcome. You can also contact us through our Facebook page. The Lusk ICA Guild is busy preparing for our Christmas Market which takes place on Sunday 4th of December in Lusk Scout Den from 11am to 4pm. We are very happy to welcome back Antoinette with her selection of Christmas Crafts and novelties, Cistín Chic who have a range of festive Homewares, Jacinta with her handmade cards for all occasions , and Linda with her range of jewellery.A warm welcome also to our new stall holders who have a wide variety of crafts and gifts. Doris who has a selection of Embroidered tableware, Jennifer with her knitted hats. From Me To You with a range of Christmas crafts, Linda with her Macramè Fairy’s and Mushroom light sticks, Kate with her Christmas crafts, Milk Bath with their range of Self care and gift products, and Sarah with her woolly knits. No ICA event would be complete without delicious home baking, preserves and chutneys , there will be lots to choose from.. Make sure to pick up tickets for our fabulous raffle and you can also pick up a cup of tea or coffee while you hrowse the stalls.Santa will be joining us at noon so all the boys and girls can let him know how good they have been all year and tell him what they would like. For any further information please contact us through our Facebook page. Caroline O’Malley PRO

In the National Tidy Towns 2022, Lusk finished 4th place in their category just missing out on the bronze award. Overall points increased to 334 from last year in Category E. One of the comments from the judges was “Congratulations to the committee and volunteers in Lusk for a great performance in this year’s tidy towns competition. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing your lovely town again in 2023” Also the annual mass held in St MacCullins Church Lusk on the 6th November 2022 for the deceased who are buried at Balrothery Union cemetery. A gathering was held afterwards in Murray’s pub Lusk with Councillor Brian Dennehy and Councillor Rob O’Donoghue speaking about the workhouse times. A sign has been erected on the site and thanks to Nina Flynn and supporters for their help over the years. Also a warm thank you to the Murray family.”

Lusk Heritage Group are delighted to make available a wonderful new collection of short stories entitled Tales of Gaels and Bales, written by Lusk’s very own Jim Monks, the treasurer and founder member of Lusk Heritage Group. These twenty three amazing short stories were years in the writing, some were recorded and preserved on audio by Jim Hawkins from Swords, while more of them were gathering dust on Jim Monk’s cluttered bookshelves at home. Aidan Arnold, Chairman of the Lusk Heritage Group and a good friend of Jim’s for the last fifty years, finally realised their potential as a treasure trove of local Fingallian folklore. He set about pulling the stories together into a single volume. He searched out and met a young Bulgarian girl called Yoana Topalska, living in Rush, working in Skerries and studying art, who produced 14 stunning illustrations for the book. Aidan, in cooperation with Lusk Heritage Group, has now published this beautiful little book which he feels deserves pride of place on every bookshelf in Ireland. The stories look back at much more than our history.You’ll meet the Dunne family from the Nevitt. In 1848, at the height of the Famine, Paddy and Sarah and John, Pat and Sally, went over the road, down the hill of the Nevitt, on their way to the North Wall of Dublin and a voyage to a foreign country. Jump forward 100 years to Paddy Farrell, a man totally at peace with himself, warm outside from the good log fire in the pub, warm inside from three bottles of ale, but World War 11 was about to change all that. Paddy’s only son Boot Farrell who deserves a book all to himself. Join Boot on his hilarious first visit to Skerries where everything that can possibly go wrong does go wrong. You never know where you’ll find yourself or who you’ll meet between the pages of Jim’s Tales of Gaels and Bales. You could be in Lusk, Rush, Skerries, Ballyboghill, Balbriggan, London, Santiago or New York, but everywhere you’ll find yourself in the company of real people, genuine laughter and simple human kindness. Tales of Gaels and Bales is available now to buy in local outlets. It will make a perfect stocking filler and Christmas present for anyone interested in Lusk, in Fingal or just curled up on the sofa enjoying a good book and a laugh.

At the November Council meeting Cllr Rob O’Donoghue welcomed the implementation of the Safer Routes to Schools programme at the junction of R127 bypass and Raheny Lane.The Safe Routes to School Programme was developed in Partnership with the NTA and Green-School in 2020 as a response to the need to support schools to increase walking and cycling to school. The programme aims to improve safety at the school gate by providing ‘front of school’ treatments to alleviate vehicle congestion, improve walking and cycling access for students and increase the number of students who cycle to school by expanding the volume of cycling parking. The Lusk site is one of the first schools chosen for works in Fingal under the programme. As part of the Safer Routes to School Programme for Rush & Lusk Educate Together School, the Active Travel Unit in FCC included within the design the inclusion of an additional crossing point of the R127 to serve both the bus stop, the schools via the pedestrian bridge and the Sports Hub in Rathmore Park. Earlier this month, the contractor commenced works on the site, to install the necessary pipes to carry a power supply to the new signalised traffic lights, located close to the Lusk Sports Hub entrance. On 26th of November upgrade works were carried out at the junction to build it out, with existing kerb lines to reduce traffic turning speeds and provide a safer crossing point for vulnerable road users.Cllr O’Donoghue thanked the Council Management and school principles in RALET and LCC for their progressive thinking on the matter stating, ‘The new lights will provide a safe crossing point for parents and childing using the schools and Sports Hub facilities. The School Principles have really led the way in facilitating both a safer transit for local students to the schools and with the recently installed pedestrian gates between the Hub and the schools, there is better connectivity between these important community facilities.’

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.

LSA WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR MEMBERS AND THE COMMUNITY OF DONABATE & PORTRANE A SPECIAL HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR in 2023. Come join us as LSA take over the Donabate Parkrun on December 17th 2022 for some Christmas fun and treats. If your New Year’s goal is to get fit, keep fit or improve your running goals, LSA is the club for you. To join the club,w please contact our Registrar on lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com. You can access our webpage on lambaysportsathletics.ie for more information. We are also on Facebook – www.facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy or on Instagram @lsadonabateportrane or on Twitter - @lsarunning

On Saturday and Sunday the 25/26th of November Through the Lens, the Donabate & Portrane Photographic Group, held their second Photo Exhibition in the Parish Hall in Donabate. With over 40 framed prints of photos by members taken both locally and in far flung places there was plenty to look at. The annual Through the Lens calendar was also displayed and on sale. This year we are proud to support the Donabate & Portrane Tidy Towns who work so hard to enhance our locality with clever floral displays. The calendar, as always, contains only photos taken on the peninsula with the aim of providing seasonal views. It makes an ideal gift to send to family and friends abroad. We will be selling the calendars at the Christmas Market in the Parish Hall on December 3rd, the evening that Donabate Christmas lights are turned on. We were delighted with the attendance at our Photo Expo and the amount of interest shown in joining the club. For anyone who would be interested in joining, or finding out more about the Through the Lens club look us up at www,throughthelens.ie, or email to info@throughthelens.ie Our sincere thanks to the Parish for the use of the Hall, especially Bernie in the office and Martin who did the opening and closing of the hall.

Registration for classes, to run from the end of January to mid May, will take place on the 9th and 10th of January 2023.So, to get rid of all that Christmas indulgence, come and sign up for one of our fitness classes that range from Pilates to Chair Yoga and not forgetting Sit and get Fit, Stronger for Longer and Yoga. What a choice! For those who want to get those sluggish brains working again we have Intermediate Spanish and French and Singing & Music. Our free activities of Croquet, Boules and Bowls and Pickleball and Table Tennis are always popular so come early and Register to ensure your place.ACORN tablet CLASSES – last session coming up The last session of ACORN classes will take place in the New Year. If you want to understand the basics of ‘computer speak’ and would like to learn about using a tablet computer, then let us know by text on 086 880 6808. Comments such as “I love how I can see my children when I call them.” “My daughter can put my medical appointments into my diary, without having to be with me!” “I can read the headlines with my breakfast.” You don’t have to be an existing member of Active Age to join this class. See our website www.activeageforall.com or email activeageforall@gmail.com or Text only 086 880 6808 for information about any of our classes or activities.