Neala girls sea scouts had a great time sailing on the keelboats recently, having a swim break with the hot weather at the time at the end of last month. Well done to our NTA girls, Laura and Niamh for organising the trip and helming. Also a big thanks to Colum also for assisting in helming . The girls had a great day on the water..

Hard luck to our U16A team who lost to Drogheda in the league play off. A cruel way to decide the league to be honest after the girls topped the table with a 20 plus goal difference but rules are rules. The girls will be back for the new season to give there all again. Also congratulations to the Malahide Utd Under 14 boys tea who won the O’Neill Cup recently. Malahide Utd..2 v Mount Merrion..0 - Goals from Jack O’Keeffe and Finn Byrne secured Malahide United the Under 14 O’Neills Cup over a gallant Mount Merrion. In a close contest goals from Jack O’Keeffe and Finn Byrne secured Malahide United the Under 14 O’Neills Cup over a gallant Mount Merrion. This was a tight contest despite the scoreline and Malahide were worthy winners against a very strong opponent with Cian O’Connor accepting the trophy on behalf of the north coast club.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has announced that matches of the 17th Women’s Softball World Cup will be held in Ireland in July 2023, with Fingal set to co-host the prestigious event with locations in Italy and Spain. The competition, which will have 16 teams from around the world participating, will attract elite players competing for the trophy. This is only the second time the World Cup has been held in Europe, with the final to be played Italy. The event was first held in 1965 and has included world champions from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the USA. The current reigning team is the USA, who have won the title a staggering 11 times. Welcoming the announcement, Mayor of Fingal Seána Ó’ Rodaigh said: “This is a fantastic win for Ireland and is especially good news for the community in Dublin 15 who will be able to see the world’s best softballers competing right on their doorstep. St Catherine’s Park will be a superb venue for what is the premier tournament for women’s softball and help put Fingal in the spotlight as games are broadcast internationally.” AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, said: “Being selected to host a global spectacle like the Women’s Softball World Cup is a wonderful achievement. This is a massively popular sport that encourages participation across all age groups, cultures and communities, and I hope our hosting will help inspire the next generation of female athletes from across the county. We have been working closely with Fastpitch Ireland to show the WBSC that Fingal was the best location in Ireland to accommodate elite athletes with the right facilities to make the tournament a success, so this is a welcome outcome for that joint effort.”Melanie Cunningham, Director of Fastpitch Ireland said: “The awarding of the World Cup to Ireland is a testament to the standing of Team Ireland and the Irish Federation in the WBSC. A lot of hard work has been put into developing the bid with Fingal and we are very grateful for their support and vision to join us in the bid.”

Our recent Transition Year Graduation and an absolutely brilliant musical performance was a great way to end a fantastic year for the Transition Years at St Mary’s Secondary School, Baldoyle. Well done to the Transition Years on an amazing performance and which, under the guidance of Amy White Lambe, took less than 5 days to produce– just brilliant.There is also a newsletter produced for our Transition Year Graduation. Many thanks to Annie Jakob, our SNA, for a tremendous amount of work producing the newsletter. The last photo is from the Musical Performance – a journey down memory lane of the various musicals performed in St. Mary’s. A group of students find a box of old programmes which leads to discussion and a scene from the musical appears. Taking only 5 days to prepare, the Transition Years, with the help of Amy White Lambe, put on an absolutely brilliant performance.Congratulations to all the T Y students who made this such a special event. Many thanks are due to both Mr. Ryan and Ms Convey for all their work throughout this year. A lot of work went into organising the hoodies for everyone. Every week had something on from a trip to an activity to a presentation. They also had a fantastic trip to Achill and finished off the year with an orienteering session in Malahide Castle which was organised by Mr. Nash. Its back to full study in September with everyone ready to hit the ground running. Enjoy your summer!

by Malahide Historical Society

Up until the 1930s only a narrow track ran between Seabank and the Velvet Strand at Portmarnock. The dangerous nature of the road is illustrated by this 1904 newspaper report:

“A Kilkenny tourist was cycling back from the Irish Automobile Club races on Portmarnock Strand and within fifty yards of the Martello Tower (later known as Hick’s Tower) he lost control of his machine, and was thrown over the cliff, a distance of twenty foot, sustaining a broken arm and serious internal injuries. At the place where the accident occurred the cliff has been shored up by a concrete wall, the top of which is level with, and practically a part of, the roadway, so that anyone unacquainted with the locality would run serious risk”.In another later and more tragic incident a postman, John Hatch, died when early one foggy morning due to poor visibility his bike went over the edge. The track was of such concern to the local authority that it sought permission to close part of the road owing to its dangerous nature running alongside the sea cliffs. Permission was granted and the required prohibition sign was erected at both ends of the closed section. At that time it was unique in being the only public road in Ireland to be officially closed to motor traffic. In 1914 a Swords man was fined 5 shillings with 10 shillings costs for riding his motor-cycle along the prohibited road. When the sea wall at Robbs Walls suffered ‘sudden damage’ in November 1928, presumably storm damage, the Council agreed to spend £150 on a retaining wall, the contractor being Messrs. Bissett. The following year the Council accepted the tender of Patrick Bissett for the construction of a sea wall at Robbs Walls in Portland cement at a cost of £1-11-6 per cubic yard or £4-6-3 per lineal yard. Motor traffic was restricted to residents along the way and to emergency services including the clergy and local doctors. Dublin County Council agreed, in 1931, to spend £200 and employ fifteen men and four horses to widen the part of the road running from the baths behind the Grand Hotel to Muldowney. Some more widening was done the following year but the Council received a deputation on behalf of a number of carters using horse-drawn vehicles who had been dismissed from carting stones from Feltrim Quarry and had been substituted by motor haulage. In 1933, approval was received for the expenditure of £5,600 on the continuation of widening, new road construction, etc. on the Portmarnock-Malahide road, which became the road as we know it today.

Malahide Lions Club has started this project where old broken sewing machines will be refurbished and sent to East Africa where recipients can start a small business, do repairs and earn a living.There are hundreds of these old machines just lying around in local homes. So please donate the and give East Africans a chance for a new life!

The St Sylvester’s U15 boys have achieved a first in the Club’s living memory by winning both Football and hurling Féile competitions they competed in this year. In Division 2 football, the team coasted through their games meeting Clontarf (Round 1), OPER (Rd 2), St Vincents (Round 3) before a strong challenge of Templeogue away in the semis to qualify for the final v Castleknock at O’Toole Park.The boys showed the benefit of the hard work throughout the season with an impressive display & winning 4-9 to 1-5. It was a well-deserved Championship win for a talented team that has fight to full strength following a huge number of injuries last year that ruled them out of the top division. No doubt that they’ll be back with a vengeance in the Division 1 league!

In Division 3 hurling, the team welcomed a new coaching team of three from the Syls senior team, Daniel Murphy, Conor Hoyne & Sean Murphy who have worked well with the lads to develop their team dynamic. The boys won all 3 rounds versus Kevins (R1) Whitehall (R2), Skerries Harps (Rd 3) to meet Erins Isle in the semifinals and win 4-14 to 1-6. The final, held at Broomfield was a close game until halftime with a draw 0-6 to 1-3 but the Syls boys rallied and triumphed with the final score 2-12 to 2-4. As is tradition, both teams paraded the winning cups over the bridge from Bridgefield and to the Clubhouse after each win to a delighted membership waiting to congratulate them

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.