By Ken Duffy

Swords Tidy Towns pledged fifty percent of their annual St Patricks Day bucket Collection in support of Ukrainian refugees. We presented Lt Annie Carroll (Area Director of Units for Dublin Fingal) and Sgt Claire Dignam of the Swords Red Cross with a cheque for 500 euros to go towards their Ukrainian Refugee fund. Also in the picture are Rose Brennan STT and Darren Breen STT. Our donation was made possible firstly by our hard-working members who volunteered to do the Bucket Collection and by the generosity of the people attending the St Patrick’s Day Parade on the day. Swords Tidy Towns wish to thank each and all for their support and friendly banter towards our volunteers, it made our day, as always you did your town proud.A big congrats must also go to Fingal County Council particularly Paul Barnes and Fiona O’Reilly for their organisational skills in putting on such an enjoyable St Patricks Day Parade. The crowds that thronged the streets were cheering everything, they were in massive form, we were blessed with the weather, it turned out to be, a perfect storm, if you’ll excuse the pun.

The funeral of Frank Lawless in Rolestown Cemetary on April 18,1922 was one of the last occasions at which Michael Collins, Eamonn De Valera, Arthur Griffith and many who later fought on opposite side during the Civil War would stand together. This iconic moment and the life and legacy of Frank Lawless will be commemorated by Fingal County Council as part of their Commemorations Programme with an exhibition and Commemorative film Peace to the Ashes. Frank Lawless was born in October 1870 to Joseph and Mary Anne Lawless in Saucerstown, Swords. He was the driving force of republican activity in Fingal taking part in the 1916 Rising as Quartermaster of the Fingal Volunteers. He spent much of the years between 1916 and 1921 in prison and was elected as MP for Dublin County in the 1918 election while incarcerated, taking his seat in Dáil Éireann when released. He was present for the pivotal Treaty debates and voted in favour of the settlement, before being tragically killed in an accident outside Swords in April 1922. Broadcaster and filmmaker Donal Dineen was struck by a powerful photograph that emerged from the research on the funeral’s significance carried out by our Libraries department which extends not only to Fingal but to Ireland where we see among the mourners Arthur Griffith beneath the large Celtic cross marking the Lawless family plot. He uses this as a starting point to his collaborative commemorative film titled –Peace to the Ashes a work commissioned by Fingal County Council Arts Office. The exhibition and film will be available to view in the Atrium in Fingal County Council Offices Swords from April 25th as well as online on Fingal.ie and on the Council’s Social media channels. The iconic image of the funeral of Frank Lawless reproduced here is Courtesy of RTE Archives.

The Photo Artist John Byrne who created the Italian Quarter Mural the Last Supper in Dublin City has been commissioned by Fingal County Council to do a mural in Swords. John is looking for six local men aged between 19 and 39 with long hair to partake in his photo shoot at the end of June for his Swords mural, he asked if Swords Tidy Towns would put out feelers for him, hence my post. No monies will change hands just the opportunity to be immortalised within John’s mural. If you are interested or you know of somebody who might be interested, please contact me Ken on 0866008313

The Parents Association of Malahide Community School is holding a Plant Sale on Friday May 6th from 3pm to 6pm and on Saturday May 7th from 10.30am to 5pm. It takes place in the school canteen and there will be lots of colourful flowers window boxes, hanging baskets and more for sale. Everyone is welcome so please come along and support our first fundraising event in over 2 years.

Malahide Historical Society are pleased to announce the launch of our new website at malahideheritage.ie. The new, more modern format, as well as being easier to navigate, will facilitate the addition of more content as the Society plans to share more from its extensive archive of material on the history and heritage of Malahide, Portmarnock and surrounds. Click on the link above and save us to your Favourites. The Society is open to new membership. For an annual fee of only €15 members will get priority access to our winter/spring series of monthly talks on local and national historical topics (shortly to recommence in person) - receive three issues per year of our Newsletter - get opportunity to take part in occasional field trips - support the society in its work of promoting interest in local history, carrying out historical research, running talks, maintaining the website and running a museum in the Steward’s House, Malahide Castle Courtyard (due to reopen this summer). Come join us - email us at malahidehistoricalsociety2@gmail.com PADDY RYAN, President.

Malahide Lions Club, the Organisers of the Malahide Classic and Vintage Motor Show, are delighted to announce their new sponsorship partner Carole Nash Insurance Consultants (Ireland) one of Ireland’s largest motorcycle insurance specialists – now offering insurance cover for not just motorcycles but classic cars too. Carole Nash’s support will help ensure a quality event while raising funds for worthy causes. The Malahide Classic and Vintage Motor Show will take place at the Grand Hotel in Malahide on Sunday 22 May and will feature some rare and expensive cars. This will be the ninth running of the event which attracts car lovers and families from across Leinster and is likely to be the only show of its kind in the Dublin region this year. Expect to see up to 100 beautiful old cars on display ranging from old British classics like Austins, Triumphs and Jaguars to American brands and continental marques like Mercedes, Porsche, Renault, Volkswagen… the list goes on…. There will also be one or two special featured vehicles as well as ice cream and games for children. Colm Tully, Managing Director of Carole Nash Ireland, said “We’re really proud to be supporting The Malahide Classic and Vintage Motor Show. It’s a great event for the local community and one not to be missed for Classic Car enthusiasts. There’ll be a fantastic range of vehicles on display, with all of the proceeds from the event going to two very worthy causes!” The Show will open at 11.00am and admission will cost €5 per adult, no charge for children, with the entire proceeds going to two important causes - Ukraine humanitarian relief and Family Carers Ireland.

Junsa Taekwondo recently took part in our first international tournaments since the pandemic , while at home we have been training hard for our upcoming local competition. We have also been training up our more senior members to be corner judges and referees. It’s been busy! Junsa Taekwondo trains in Lusk scout den. For more information on class times contact Master Stuart Russell on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo.

During March and April Lusk Athletic Club athletes took part in a wide range of Indoor and outdoor events with remarkable success. Our Juvenile, Senior and Master’s athletes competed brilliantly in Track and Field events taking home a large haul of medals from the Dublin, Leinster and National championships at the National Indoor Arena and at the highly impressive TUS arena in Athlone. At Parkrun and on the roads many of our athletes continued to set new PBs and major credit is due to the athletes for their dedication in training and to their coaches in Lusk AC who give so freely of their time to help improve all our athletes. In March we had 33 members complete the Bohermeen Half Marathon and close to 100 members took part in the Lusk St Patricks Day Parade. On the 2nd April our latest Fit 4 Life group graduated by running 5k at the Donabate Parkrun some running a 5k for the first time after only two months of training. Well done to all and we hope that this is the start of your running journey. Apart from all the success on the running front, club vice chairperson Aidan McKenna, Kate, Cara and Pat travelled to Lesotho on the 1st April. Aidan and Lusk AC want to thank everyone who took part in events to raise funds for Lusk for Lesotho.

Here we have a few St. Patrick’s Day photos of some of our Juvenile members, who took part in the Lusk St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Our Adult Hurlers and 2011 Boys teams are looking for new recruits, so we have included 2 photos for them. Our U16 Footballers & U14 Footballers and the Lusk players from the U15 Ros Lusca team finally got to receive their medals from last season. The players enjoyed their Awards Night on Friday 8th April in the clubhouse with all their coaches. The medals were presented by our Senior Footballer, Adam Caul. Well Done to all the players and their coaches and we wish them all the best for the season ahead.

Lusk Tidy Towns Association have expressed their thanks to Fingal County Council regarding the tidy towns work programme for 2022, ie for cutting back shrubbery on our Black Raven bed area on the Dublin Road, for agreeing to re-letter our Market Square Sculpture, and also to replace the old flower bed on the green area. The committee are running a school competition on “Be Kind to the Planet”. A clean-up of the Balrothery union graveyard has taken place. This is a yearly project run by Lusk Tidy Towns and Mass is held every November for the deceased that are buried there. As always thank you to everybody who helps ensure Lusk is kept looking well as we head towards the summer. Remember Keep Lusk Tidy and bin that Litter.”