Thrive Swords hosted a Five Ways to Wellbeing community workshop to celebrate Mental Health Month this October. The event took place on Thursday 24th October in the Carnegie Court Hotel, Swords and was attended by members of the local community as well as representatives of local groups, services providers and local authority.

The Five Ways to Wellbeing is an evidence-based training offered by Mental Health Ireland to encourage everyone to take actions to maintain and improve personal and mental wellbeing by incorporating principles of Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, and Give into daily life. The workshop was delivered by members of Thrive Swords who shared their experiences and insights regarding each of the Five Ways segments.

Adam Konopka, Thrive Swords member said: “I thought the workshop worked really well because there was a true sense of it being for the community, by the community with members of the community giving presentations on the Five Ways to fellow members of the community.”

Speaking at the event Caroline Brogan, Mental Health Ireland Development Officer and Lead for Thrive Ireland said: “I was delighted to lead the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ workshop today with the dedicated volunteers from Thrive Swords. This event highlighted the importance of the simple actions we can all take to support not only our own mental health and wellbeing but also that of our entire community.”
Thrive is a community-led movement to create happier and healthier communities by conducting projects and events aiming at improving mental health and wellbeing. Thrive Swords is an initiative of Mental Health Ireland and is supported by Fingal County Council. Membership in Thrive Swords is open to all individuals, organisations, groups and service providers from public and private sectors who are interested in mental health and wellbeing, and everyone is invited to join.

For further information please contact caroline@mentalhealthireland.ie or visit Thrive Ireland – Mental Health Ireland

The Club has been busy the last few weeks. Along with regular training four members of the club participated in the ONAKAI National Kata Championships. Boasting competitors from all over Ireland, our club members did fantastic taking home three medals and title of National Kata Champion. Sophia Guildea, Amelia Miller, and Lilia Beaumont had a clean sweep in the Cadet Female Brown & Black Belt category with Lilia taking Bronze, Amelia taking Silver and Sophia taking the Gold and National Kata Champion title for the category. The girls train hard, and it is great to see these results coming through at National level. Also competing on the day was Harrison Beaumont who unfortunately got knocked out just before the medal rounds in his category Boys Under 12 Brown & Black Belt.

1 SL 02 Yamaguchi Sensei Seminar Friday Evening WEB

We were privileged to host Yamaguchi Sensei 7th Dan JKS for a two-day seminar recently. Yamaguchi Sensei is one of the top Instructors in the JKS and he did not disappoint over the two days. On the Friday evening members of JKS Swords along with JKS members from around the country gathered to train in the Fingal Liam Rodgers Community Centre with this dynamic Instructor. Taking the attendees through kihon, kumite and kata, Yamaguchi Sensei inspired everyone with his fantastic karate and superb instruction.

On Saturday morning in Applewood Community Centre Yamaguchi Sensei delivered a stunning 3-hour seminar for the participants. He covered Heian Katas and Bassai Dai for junior members and then the kata Suishu for the senior grades. Over 70 JKS Ireland members were in attendance on the Saturday and JKS Swords was proud to host the event in their home club.

Next on the calendar is a 1-day visit from Watanabe Sensei, JKS Honbu Dojo Instructor. A seasoned competitor and very capable instructor, it promises to be an excellent Seminar.

Our Club is always looking for new members (Children, Young People & Adults). Contact Dermot on 087-8073885 for details on how to join our club. You can also contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club

1 SL 03 Yamaguchi Sensei Seminar Saturday Morning WEB

The 16th Annual Valley walk took place on Saturday 12th October in River Valley, Swords to raise funds for Cancer research. The walk has grown from 30 walkers in the first year to 140 yesterday!

People come from far and wide every year meeting at Peacocks pub car park in River Valley for registration and refreshments provided by Fyffes and the local Daybreak shop. Very quickly the scene became a sea of yellow with the walkers’ Irish Cancer Society t-shirts as they started the 5km walk around the lovely park and woods.

Following more refreshments consisting of Keoghs crisp, Supervalu bars, sweets etc on the Brackenstown road, along with the catch ups and chats, the walkers made their way back by the “Jacko” and finish back upstairs in Peacock’s where they enjoyed much needed coffee and beautiful scones, all donated by Peacock’s.

The walk organiser, Margaret Harris explained, “My A team of ladies continued to sell raffle tickets, and at one stage the queue stretched across the room. We had 43 raffle prizes donated by local businesses in River Valley, Boroimhe and Swords and some walkers donated lovely prizes also. Katie from Irish Cancer Society Research spoke about the latest developments in Cancer research. We finished off with a few words from myself and a hotly anticipated mega raffle. The Microphone etc was kindly set up by Chris Power. This event is very much a community event with our local councillors supporting it every year. Hopefully we can get to do it all again next year.

By Mike Power

Hallowe’en really means ‘the eve of the hallowed (‘holy) Saints Day (November 1st). The ancient Celts in Swords also had a holiday ‘Samhain’ at this time of year celebrating the end of harvest and the beginning of Winter. This feast-day was then adopted by the early Christian church here, becoming the traditional time for lots of spooky fun as we know it today.

For much of it’s long life, Swords served a largely agricultural hinterland and many of the local traditions associated with this time of year such as ceasing to pick blackberries (angry spirits); putting out food for roaming spirits; wearing straw hats and lighting bonfires, are all connected with farming.

I can’t do any better in describing Sword’s ancient spooky ‘atmospherics’ of Hallowe’en, than quoting a piece from my forthcoming book ‘Swords: History and Heritage Community Guide’. This imagined historical scene happens up at Killeek to the west of Swords, beside the river Ward there. Killeek is a place with an ancient pagan heritage.

A line of torches led from the river to the sacred ash grove. It was Samhain for the tribe, their world poised between light and dark.. The soft light from a full moon glistened on the beads of frost on the ancient ash tree. A rhythmical, hypnotic chant came from the lines of people waiting to enter the sacred grove. Nearby a clutch of half wild dogs snarled over a wild boar’s head. From the river the Ollamh (Teacher) of the tribe brought a , cup full of water made from holly wood, holding it high in front of him, his pupils walking respectfully behind. The clothes he wore were dyed purple from berry dyes and his cloak draped him from head to toe. On his head he wore a wreath made from oak branches, the magic tree, the antlers from a buck doe on his head. When he entered the grove, a profound hush came on the people nearby. Entering the grove, the Ollamh sprinkled the water on the roots of the ash, a charm to ensure a good harvest in the coming year, and to placate Carnonos, the antler god. The chanting now began again, ringing around the valley’s flanks, louder and more fiercely. Triumphal fires were lit. In the people Hope was born again.

Autumn brings with it the return to school and routine after-school activities and Swords Karate Club has been busy as students returned to training after the summer holidays. All classes are working hard and refreshing their karate skills with the ai of improving enough in time for Grading examinations in December.

October promises to be a busy month with visits from two Japanese Instructors. At the beginning of the month, we will host Yamaguchi Sensei 8th Dan JKS for a two-day seminar, while later in the month we will have a visit from Watanabe Sensei for an evening seminar. Both Instructors come with a high pedigree of JKS karate, and both are Instructors in the JKS Honbu Dojo in Japan. We are looking forward to their sessions immensely and will have a short report of both in our next news.

We hosted JKS National Brown & Black Belt training recently and Dermot Sensei covered kihon, kumite and kata in the technical session. Focusing on creating dynamic power with the whole body, the visitors from other JKS Clubs from around Ireland as well as Swords members worked on techniques from the grading syllabus for brown and black belts. Everyone had a great morning training and catching up with each other since Japan.

The members of Swords Tidy Towns had a fantastic day at the National Tidy Towns Winners Awards in Abbeyleix recently. We picked up two awards the All Ireland Circular Economy Award and our 6th Silver Medal in a row. We must congratulate Abbeyleix Tidy Towns for organising what was a very enjoyable day out for everyone. A big hello to our shared table guests from Arklow Tidy Towns and Maynooth Tidy Towns.

To celebrate Climate Action Week, Seatown Road Green Team held a Swap Shop Day at Seatown Road Day Service.

This was a partnership project between Seatown Road Green Team and Circular Fashion Ireland and funded by Fingal County Council. Prosper Meath Day Service, Ashbourne, were so kind and gave a lending hand in Seatown Road Swap Shop.

Carrie Ann Moran from Circular Fashion Ireland held a workshop and spoke about the importance of initiatives like swap shops and circular fashion.

Seatown Road Green Team would like to thank and acknowledge Swords Tidy Towns, Swords Woman Shed, Fingal County Council, Best Wear Drogheda, Ashbourne Green Team, Fingal Community College, Circular Fashion Ireland and Carrie Ann Moran for their support and donations

On Sunday 21st July, 6 members of JKS Swords along with their Sensei, Dermot OKeeffe 7th Dan JKS, departed Dublin to participate as part of the JKS Ireland Squad in the 6th JKS Karate-do International Cup 2024 & The 6th JKS Karate-do International Para Cup 2024 in Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium (Tokyo, Japan). 40 countries were in attendance with over 1000 competitors taking part.

Following a grueling 18 hours of travel (and fighting the jet lag), JKS Swords members took to the tatami on Tuesday 23rd to take part in the 2 hour International Seminar under Kagawa Shihan, Kanayama Sensei and Yamaguchi Sensei. Wednesday 24th saw the Squad members and supporters familiarize themselves with the competition venue as the Irish Coaches, Judges and Referees took part in important information meetings. Thursday 25th & Friday 26th saw the International Cup in full swing with Individual events on the Thursday and Team and Family events on the Friday.

While there were no medals for the younger members of the Squad on this occasion, they all performed with distinction, giving their all in Kata and Kumite and showing high levels of sportsmanship and respect towards their fellow competitors. The young Squad members were exemplary representing their Club, Organization and Country during these Championships and everyone is very proud of them. The future is bright for this young Squad. JKS Swords would like to thank everyone who supported them in this journey.

Approximately 700 people attended Vintage Picnic hosted by Age Friendly Fingal on Thursday 25th July 2024 in Swords Castle. This lively festival offered an afternoon of creativity, music, dance, and exercise for over 55s and was testament to the enthusiastic and motivated older people of Fingal.

Those in attendance participated in a wide range of workshops, including graffiti art, mandala creation, vintage clothing demonstrations, and tie-dyeing. For those inclined towards physical activities, professional instructors led sessions in Yoga, Zumba, and Tai Chi, allowing participants to try out new activities, or simply relax and enjoy the festive atmosphere.

Light garden games were provided by the Fingal Sports Department, and for those needing a bit of relaxation, chair massages were available. For aspiring musicians, workshops in African Drumming, Ukelele and Bodhrán were provided by tutors from the IIMS, Balbriggan.

The crowd were entertained with live musical performances from local groups; Gerry and the Plonkers from Donabate and the Blanchardstown Ukulele Group (BUGS), showcasing the talents of Fingal’s older residents. The headline acts, the Blue Bells, and the Ronan Collins Showband, created a festive atmosphere that reverberated throughout the grounds and brought the crowd to their feet.

Vintage Picnic 2024, which was attended by Fingal County Council’s Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly, the Mayor of Fingal Cllr Brian McDonagh and Minister Darragh O’Brien as well as our local Councillors, brought together older people from across Fingal in an environment that fostered connections and new learning experiences. Most importantly Vintage Picnic highlighted the need to provide new opportunities for older people, to continue to learn, develop and grow, and to have fun!

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Brian Mc Donagh said, “I was delighted to attend this great event in Swords Castle which is being enjoyed by our Fingal residents of the over 55’s generation. Their enthusiasm and willingness to have a go at all the many activities is fantastic to see. As well as their ongoing invaluable contributions to society they are an inspiration to us all showing that life is meant to be celebrated, whatever our age.”

The young at heart volunteers of Swords Tidy Towns once again didn’t hold back this summer. It was concert after concert. I have to say Swords Women’s Shed gave us a good run for our money in the energy department. The wonderful Events team led by Paul Barnes at Fingal County Council spoiled us all for choice. They are to be applauded for their professionalism and for the wealth of talent they brought to Swords this Summer, Nathan Carter, Sister Sledge, Essentially Cher, The Blue Bells and others, not forgetting Vintage Picnic.

It was a very busy year for our hard-working Tidy Towns team and these concert opportunities to let our hair down were not going to be passed up, it was full on party time. For now, cowgirl and cowboy hats and boots have been stored away in anticipation of next year’s star attractions.