By John F. Kelleher
Deaths:
We extend our deepest sympathy to the families, relatives and friends of the following who died recently Hannah Lane Aubane, Nora Mary O’Mahony Cockhill, Marie O’Riordan Tullig, Paddy O’Callaghan Farran, Nora Mullane (Nee Kelleher) late of Aubane and Lee Road Cork and Julia Mary O’ Donoghue Kilmacrane.
Ar dheis De go a raibh a namam dillis
HB Ice Cream Sunday:
Aubane hosted its second HB Ice Cream Sunday on Sunday the 27th May, in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland. It proved to be a huge success with a considerable amount €1050.00 rose on the day for Down Sydrome Ireland. The main organisers of this event were Kathleen & Jerry Kelleher. The afternoon commenced at 2pm and finished at 4pm at the Aubane Community Centre. It was great to see such a large attendance on a beautiful summers day. A special word of thanks to the following who gave generous contributions on the day – Denis Kelleher Haulage, Sean Kelleher Electrical, The O’Riordan Family and Tim Lehane Roofing Contractor. Entertainment was provided in the form of music and song by Breda Moynihan, John O’Sullivan Tullig of Duhallow Bouncing Castle provided a bouncing castle inside! A special thanks to the above mentioned provided their services free of charge. And of course there was more than enough ice cream to go around too. Thanks to all for supporting this worthy cause. Well Done to Kathleen & Jerry.
On Holidays:
It was great to see Frank Egan (nee Kelleher) late of Mushera and now Canada holidaying in the local area
Fr James Sweeney receives the Lord Mayor’s Civic Award
More than 500 guests witnessed Cork’s Super Six Citizens being honoured in
Cork City Hall on Thursday, 17th May 2007. All six received the Lord
Mayor’s Civic Awards at this highly prestigious and historic ceremony.
Among the six was Fr. James McSweeney (a native of Tooreenbawn
and who is a Curate in Ballyvolane in Cork) whose positive message in his
preachings was especially emphasised. “In recognition of his outstanding
leadership at Community and Parish level and his dedicated fundraising
efforts” read the citation presented to Fr. James by the Lord Mayor of Cork,
Cllr Michael Ahern. The Aubane Community were delighted to see one of their own receive such a well deserving and prestigious award. This is not the first award that Fr James has received an Award for his excellent work that he does. Well Done Fr James.
The Mc Sweeney Family Toorenbawn receive a very prestigious Award from Bothar.
On Monday, 21st May 2007 at the Commons Inn in Cork, Peter Ireton, CEO of
Bóthar and Jeremy Meehan of Bóthar’s Cork Office co-ordinated a very special
evening of celebration in honour of the McSweeney Family, Tooreenbawn,
Millstreet (especially paying tribute to Gerard and his brother Fr. James)
in acknowledgement of their superb work for Bóthar over the past number of
years. In attendance also were many other families whose wonderfully
dedicated work for Bóthar received richly deserved high praise. For Fr.
James it had been a very busy week having addressed a very large audience
following his acceptance of one of the Lord Mayor’s Civic Awards at Cork’s
City Hall on Thursday, 17th May 2007. On behalf of the Aubane Community I would to congratulate the Mc Sweeney Family on receiving such a very prestigious award.
Batt O’Keeffe TD in Aubane for Presention
The Aubane Historical Society (AHS) organised a local launch of its latest publication and presented a copy to Minister of State, Batt O’Keeffe TD on Saturday 12th May 2007. It is called “Fianna Fail and the decline of the Free State” by Brendan Clifford and is dedicated to Jack Roche.
Jack Lane of the AHS welcomed all and apologised for the short notice. He explained the background to the publication and that it was a continuation of the story published by the AHS in Sean Moylan’s memoir and dealt with developments after the war over the Treaty and the coming to power of the first Fianna Fail government.
He was pleased to have a Government Minister present because the Government’s decision to open the Bureau of Military History archive and their decision to also make available the records of the successful applications for War of Independence pensions should be acknowledged. This involves making available tens of thousands of invaluable documents – primary sources of information. This was a great contribution to the study of Irish history. Disputes and disagreements are inevitable but all should accept that maximum information is the key to a proper understanding of our history. The essential requirement for settling disputes and disagreements is very simple – let’s have all the facts. The Government have helped greatly in this.
It was dedicated to Jack Roche in recognition of the great work he was doing for all aspects of Irish culture and history, locally and nationally. He had been a supporter of the AHS’s work for many years and helped ensure its successful publishing efforts in the early years through the support of IRD Duhallow.
Jack Roche said it was a most worthwhile publication and dealt with a contentious period in our history, which has been by and large ignored. He discovered quite a lot that was new to him. He emphasised the lack of history as a subject in our current education curriculum. This was deplorable and he hoped it would be rectified. The work of the AHS was filling a vacuum.
Batt O’Keeffe recalled his previous visit to the Aubane Community Centre about two years ago when he discussed the tourist potential of the area and the development of the Butter Road. He was glad to see the recent improvements in the road.
It was very appropriate to dedicate this book to Jack Roche who personifies all that contributes to a vibrant rural society. He embodies the spirit of those who fought for our freedom in his idealism and the practical projects he has initiated in a variety of areas.
He liked the way that the AHS had recorded local history and also put it in a national context. The material was sometimes challenging and controversial but independent thinking was very important when it comes to the study of history. This latest book dealt with a period that he was particularly interested in.
He noted the strong tendency of immigration in the ‘Celtic Tiger’ years and he saw the challenges of creating strong communities.“One of the means by which our new citizens can become part of us is to share with them our own history, our own unique stories from our own unique places,” he said. It is unfortunate and regrettable that the men and women of the Independence struggle are sometimes denigrated today. A publication like this helps to set the record straight by showing the difficult – almost impossible – choices they all had to face and it thereby tries to be fair to all concerned.
*“Fianna Fail and the decline of the Free State” by Brendan Clifford published by the Aubane Historical Society is available at Liam Russell’s in Cork, Wordsworth’s in Millstreet, Philips in Mallow, Kanturk Bookshop and Macroom Bookshop.
Confirmation & Communication:
Congratulations to all those in the Aubane area who received their communication or confirmation recently.
A Warm Welcome:
I would like to extend a very welcome to Mary & Bernard Crowley and Michael & Marie Fitzgearld who have taken up residence in the Aubane Area.
Aubane Social Club Summer Day Trip :
The Aubane Social Club will this year head for the Beara Peninsula for their Summer Day Trip in early August this year. Anyone who interested in coming along on the day can contact myself at 029 – 70719 for information or any member of the Aubane Social Club.
The Aubane Website Link:
The Aubane Community Website was set up over a year consisting of the History of Aubane, Aubane School, St John’s Well, Places of Interest around the Aubane Area, Aubane Community News and Photographs of the various events that were held during the year. The Link can be seen by logging on to the Millstreet Website www.millstreet.ie under the Aubane Community News. If anyone has any pictures or articles relating to the above that they would like to contribute please forward them to myself John F. Kelleher.or Michael Cashman. The Aubane Social Club email address is <email>
St John’s Well:
The Annual Mass will be celebrated at the well on Monday 25th June at 8.00 pm, the Chief Celebrant will Bishop Bill Murphy Bishop of the Diocese of Kerry. The year the mass will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Erection of the Stations of the Cross St John’s Well is certainly looking splendid at the moment now that trees have been felled, the Stations of the Cross can be visibly seen now from road. The area where the trees once stood has now been landscaped and is really a beautiful recreational area. . Everybody is Welcome.
Graduation:
Congratulations to Katrina Kelleher Aubane, who graduated recently as a guard at the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co Tipperary.
So until the Autumn I hope you all enjoy the Long Summer!!!
