ST. P

AT

RIC

K’S

PR

ES

S

TRINITY

2017

From the Rectory…

Dear Friends

I hope this finds you all well and the sun is shining for you. Life in the parish moves on; there is talent and energy very much in evidence around; my job is to support and encourage this so that we can build up the good things of God in our community. The more I serve the church the more convinced I am that the focus of all we do together needs to be Jesus Christ. There is a temptation to keep the house in order first, pay the utilities then – if there’s something left over – to give God a bit of our quality time. However there is a clear imperative direct from our Lord on this. When Jesus visited the house of Mary and Martha, Mary sat focused on Jesus, hanging onto his precious words, while Martha busied herself with what needed to be done around the house. Jesus made it clear to them what their highest calling was... he sum-marises this message when he says “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things of life will be given unto you.” If truth be told we tend to do the opposite in our well-established churches… and we wonder why the Kingdom of heaven is sometimes hard to find…

As we say farewell to our Deacons, Ross and Stuart and later in the summer our Curate, Alan, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the good things they have brought us in their relatively short time in the parish. Alan has planted youth and children’s ministry firmly up the agenda in St Patrick’s; we have been able to encourage the really strong team of leaders and helpers for our children. He has facilitated the arrival of Stephen O’Neill to lead youth work in the parish. As you all know Alan is very shy and quiet but I feel I’ve en-couraged him to come out of his shell a bit more! The good thing is that these various developments have not been in isolation to other great talent stepping forward such as we enjoyed in the Easter Holiday Club. There is a list of people I could go on to thank but I know I will get more opportunities to do this in the future. Considering he has also been Chaplain at Temple Carrig school in his time here, Alan has more than made his mark and it has been exciting and fun to work with him and with Stuart and Ross . The

laughter is sometimes suffocating as they all have a wicked sense of hu-mour . Alan will move to Kill O’ the Grange in September as Rector, Stu-art to Seagoe Parish, Portadown as curate and Ross to the Christ Church group of parishes (Glengormley, St Michan’s & St Werburgh’s) as curate. Stuart and Ross are good, sound young men; it is encouraging to see the likes of them and Alan progressing in ministry in the Church of Ireland. Frank Connolly may be making a Lazarus-style comeback come Septem-ber! Do we have another curate or deacon on the way? Nothing to report but I hope that someone will emerge.

Any developments in the parish are made possible by the support of our regular congregation and team of helpers, often by the prayers and unseen acts of kindness around the parish. It is important to recognise that what-ever happens in the future is built on the foundations of the pas, by the low profile faithful not simply the leaders. In all the vital talk of the need to reach out to the young we must also honour and uphold the faith and wis-dom of the elderly .

Thank you to those of you who completed the parish music survey in which you shared views on a range of options relating to the style and type of music in church. It was encouraging that our existing musical for-mat of choir and organ received widespread support and also interesting and good to see that variety is very popular i.e. soloist, music group, in-strumentals, gospel choir. Please see the summary in this Press.

One of the most important developments in the parish recently has been the work done on stewardship. The starting point for this has been a signif-icant deficit in our finances over the last year. As a church we have to ad-dress a number of important issues :

1. Many people assume we are a wealthy church and may be given the impression there is no need for regular giving. This is simply not the case. We rely on the regular giving of our members. The church is not centrally funded!

2. Out of 500 families on our membership roll only 40 - 45% make any regular contributions to the church. Our school’s contribution rates are between 85-100%.

3. If the families who are on our membership roll but not currently giving subscribed the price of a coffee & scone per week ie. €5.00 then our overall giving would go up by a staggering 70%!

We have to communicate these simple facts to our wider membership so that we can continue to do the good work of God in this place. If we can achieve this goal it will release resources and energy towards the real needs of the parish.

Alpha makes a return in September – after three courses in 2015/16 we will continue again after the summer. The launch will be on Wednesday 6th September, the evening will include traditional and gospel music; the speaker will be Mr Jonathan Aitken – a former U.K. cabinet minister who had a spectacular fall from grace and public life to end up in gaol. Since his release in 2000 he has maintained a strong commitment to church and the Christian gospel as being the real source of truth and hope in life. Part of his transforming experience was the Alpha course which at first he was rather sceptical about. He is an entertaining and insightful speaker who is very honest about his failings and encouraging to those exploring the Christian faith. His talk is entitled “From Power to Prison to Peace with Alpha”. Please come along; everyone is welcome.

Thank you for wading through my thoughts and ramblings to the end of this letter! Enjoy the summer!

God bless,

S ummer has arrived again and thoughts turn to holidays and relaxation. For both myself and

Stuart, it also means that our studies have come to an end! It is a great feeling of relief to finally get there, though it is tinged with sadness, as it means that my time as deacon in Greystones is also com-ing to an end. I cannot believe that two years has passed by so quickly. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Greystones and I would like to take the opportunity to thank David and Alan for all they have taught me. I would especially like to thank you all for the way in which you all made me feel so welcome in the parish. It has being a wonderful experience and I thank you all for your hospitality, warmth and friendship over the last

two years. St. Patrick’s is a very special place and it is you who make it so, a vibrant and welcoming community of faith. It has been a great privilege for me to spend time with you all and it is an experience that I will always treasure.

God bless, Ross

Rev. Ross Styles

S ummer is here and with that is the uncertainty of the weather! Rain, sun and even hailstones have

been the experience for most of us into the buildup of summer. One of the ‘joys’ I have had over the last few weeks has been trying to figure out a particular noise coming from my car. A simple little clicking noise. A simple irritating little clicking noise when I drive the car.

At first, when I heard the noise I thought (hoped!) it would disappear. As it continued, I tried to figure out

the pattern of the annoying noise so I could tell my mechanic (Robbie, an incredible guy in Wicklow Town!) who could fix it. How long do we leave a problem before we actually try and fix it? I know it can depend on the issue, but quite often we tend to either look the other way or ignore, or pretend that there is no problem!

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 “‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’” Do we really believe or trust Jesus’ words here? Belief can be a mind issue but trust is a verb! It’s active, it desires response.

When Jesus speaks these words he is aware of those that will hear them or read them! The question this raises is how do we respond to Jesus? We all have areas that we would love to gloss over, ignore, or pretend they don’t exist, but what if Jesus wants to takes these areas of ugliness from us and give us something beautiful in return?

It’s all good and well me acknowledging a noise in my car, but I needed to take it to the garage for it to be sorted! I believed Robbie could fix it so I trusted him with my time, my money and my car!

How much do we trust Jesus with our time, our money or our pressing is-sues? Look for stories of those around you that have believe and trusted Jesus with areas in their lives. Better still, share your story and encourage those that will listen.

As I write this I am aware that is this my last article for the Press. I have loved my time here in St Patrick’s. The time has flown by and I feel privi-leged that as a family we have been able to journey with you as a parish over the last few years. Thank you for making us feel so welcomed and part of the ‘St Patrick’s family’. This parish is so blessed to have David as the Rector and I have enjoyed immensely the adventures we’ve had together and I look forward to hearing and seeing all that God has in store for you all here in Greystones.

Blessings,

Rev. Alan Breen

Plant and Book and Coffee Morning

Saturday, May 20th was a typical Irish May day – initially fine, then cloudy with outbursts of sun, finally deteriorating into heavy showers. Disappointing, as the previous Saturday was a glorious summer day. However, despite the showers the crowds turned up to the Plant & Book Sale & Coffee Morning. People enjoyed the display of bedding and perennial plants, a bountiful mass of tomato plants and a goodly supply of books, and, of course, the coffee and chat. The coffee providers were kept busy as people hurried indoors to avoid the rain. Many thanks to eve-ryone who provided plants and books, to the Warnocks for allowing us to use Knockdolian and to all the help-ers on the day. Parishioners and members of the com-munity were very generous with their support and as a result we have been able to send over €1,800 to the Bishops’ Appeal fund for Famine Relief in East Africa. Thank you one and all.

Soup and Sandwiches Lunches

The Soup and Sandwiches ladies have hung up their aprons and soup ladles for the summer months. Thank you to our loyal supporters who enabled us to send €950 to relieve famine in East Africa. The main purpose of the Lunches is social rather than fund raising but people are asked to donate €5 to cover costs and anything over is given to charity. We hope to resume service on the third Tuesday in September, the 19th at 12.30pm in the Swann Hall. In the meantime, have a lovely summer.

Ruth Handy

Parish Register

Baptisms 19 March 2017 Naomi Breen

26 March 2017 Lauren Alice Carroll

Austin John Guilfoyle

Jacob Michael Fitzpatrick

27 May 2017 Harry James Donnelly

We wish these little ones and their families every blessing.

Funerals 10 May 2017 Douglas Thomson

30 May 2017 Emily Campbell

31 May 2017 Georgina Kenny

3 June 2017 Matthew Kemp

May they rest in peace.

S ummer is approaching, as too is the regret for not working harder on my ‘beach body’ over the win-

ter and spring! Summer also signals an end to my in-ternship in Greystones. So it is that my mind has dwelt on the notion of ‘endings’ for some time now. I am reminded of a scene in my one of my favourite movie series (no, not Star Wars this time) – The Lord of the Rings. In the last movie of the series, The Re-turn of the King, at the end of the movie (slight spoil-er alert), the characters are saying their goodbyes to one another. For some, these goodbyes would be per-manent, as some were setting out on a long voyage over the sea, and the sense of loss and sadness is pal-

pable. One of the characters utters these words; “Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” Sometimes we see goodbye as a difficult thing, perhaps even something that should be feared and avoided when possible. These are altogether natural feelings; the separation from those we love, whatever the context, is hard to deal with, and there is comfort and security in keeping everyone together, close at hand. I often think what might have happened if Jesus and his disciples had fol-lowed that course? After all, there was much more work that they could have done together. Their friendship was only just beginning (three years in compari-son to some of our friendships seems like so little). I suspect that the disciples certainly did not want to see Jesus ascend to heaven, and I wonder if Jesus didn’t want to stick around for a while longer too! Yet when we look at the bigger pic-ture, Jesus had to leave so that the Holy Spirit could come. In John 14: 16, Jesus said ‘[a]nd I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever’. Jesus, in human form, was limited in how he could help the disciples in the task he had set them. However, God the Holy Spirit was not limited by time or space or human constraints. In promising the Spirit to his disciples, Jesus was promising it to all his disciples. You and me, and all those who came before us and will come after us in this great crowd of witnesses here on earth; all have the Holy Spirit to guide and help us, to comfort us and to live within us. Jesus’ goodbye paved the way for the Holy Spirit. Goodbyes might be tough, but we all experience the truth behind a goodbye in our lives-leaving behind our comfort zones, and the people we love, encourages us to open ourselves up to new expe-riences, to be guided by God’s Spirit, and to take risks we may never have taken before. As I say my goodbyes I’m reminded that I enter into a new season, one that has many unforeseen and unknowable opportunities, but with God’s grace, will provide growth and opportunity. I pray that as each one of us encounters such seasons in life, we will trust in the Lord’s goodness to lead us and guide us. Amen.

Rev. Stuart Moles

CHILDREN’S SUMMER ACTIVITIES IN ST. PATRICKS Come along to Summer Sunday Club during the 10.30am service!

2nd July: “Abraham - Bravely Going Where No One Had Gone Before”

9th July: “Joshua - A Courageous Man”

16th July: CSSM Youth & Family Service

23rd July: Family Service

30th July: Family Eucharist

6th August: “Joseph - Banished By The Brothers!”

13th August: “Jacob - God Knows It All”

20th August: “Ruth - Best Friends Always”

27th August: Family Service

YOUTH MINISTRY (over 12 yrs) AT ST PATRICK’S CHURCH

** During school term time **

with our Intern Youth Worker Stephen O’Neill

YOUTH GROUP meets during the main service at 10.30am.

The teens will come to church as usual, leave at the same time as

Sunday Seekers, and come back for communion.

Every Sunday except the 4th Sunday of the month.

YOUTH CLUB is held on Saturdays from 7 - 9 pm in the Swann Hall

Did you

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St Patrick’s Church Bugle Club Join us in Bugle Club for

a mix of fun, games and fellowship.

The club is for boys and girls in 3rd to 6th Class.

We meet on Wednesdays at 6.30pm

in the Swann Hall during term time.

Enrolment for the year is in September.

Email us at: bugleclubstpatricks@gmail.com

or call one of the leaders:

Tony Goodwin 086 8799 742

Claire Evans 086 1500 125

Genevieve Harden-O’Connor 086 3676 274

Janet Caffery 087 657 4128

The topic for our March meeting was “Why Greystones?” and “My Favourite Thing!” Members and friends told why they are living in Grey-stones – born there or just like the sea air and they showed their favourite things from an onion chopper to a photo of their grandchildren, one member brought a candle holder which was used in her house before electrici-ty was installed. We were delighted to welcome Mary White and the Austral-ia MU Provincial President Rev. Anne Kennedy who was visiting Ireland from Melbourne for the World Wide Conference. Anne was very interested in attending a MU meeting while here and Greystones was privileged to have her join us. She enjoyed the evening and everyone was delighted to meet her.

“Get Started Move-In Packs: Branch members were most generous in giv-ing items for the Get Started Move-In Packs which we brought to the Council meeting in Castleknock on 24th April. Alan from Focus was there and thanked everyone for their generosity towards this most worthy cause.

Holy Week: As in previous years we met for the Monday evening Holy Com-munion Service in St Patrick’s.

130 Years of Mothers’ Union In Ireland: On Sunday 7th May members came together in All Saints Church Raheny for a service of thanksgiving for 130 years of Mothers’ Union in Ireland, which started in Raheny Parish in 1887. Archbishop Michael Jackson, MU Chaplain Canon David Mungavin and many clergy were present. Lady Christine Eames spoke at the

“Faith in Action”

service about the part MU has played and continues to play in the Christian care for families around the world, an example of which is the Literacy Projects in Africa which can change women’s lives. After the service a cherry tree was dedicated and planted in the grounds of the church, followed by refreshments in the hall. Trustees baked 13 cakes, each to commemorate a decade of MU. It was a beautiful day – the sun always shines on the Mothers’ Union – and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Ready, Steady, JUMP was the title for our meeting on 15th May. All was revealed when Patricia Feldwick told us about her tandem parachute jump in aid of charity. I think we were all amazed at Patricia’s bravery and her de-scription of stepping out of the plane attached to another person and feeling the air rushing past her was – sorry Patricia – hair raising. Well done to her and thanks for telling us all about it.

Annual Outing and Lunch: Our outing was on Thursday 15th June to Castletown House where we enjoyed refreshments on arrival, viewed the Grace Kelly Photo Exhibition and then went on a guided tour of the House. We headed to Barber-stown for lunch in The Victorian Tea Rooms and a walk around the shops in the centre. We always have a lovely time on our outing and this was no exception!

Christ Church Cathedral 800 Years Celebrations. Elizabeth and I made ten Monks’ Habits for the Dublin & Glendalough Diocese primary schools Monks Tours of Christ Church Cathedral which is part of the Cathedral’s 800 years celebrations. The children, aged 7-10, will be taken on a tour of the Cathedral and told how the monks lived and to add a bit of “reality” each child will wear a Monk’s habit and be lead on the tour by “their Prior”. It’s a wonderful way to tell the children about how the monks lived, what they ate etc., and the Habits will add some fun to it all.

When I first started in MU over 30 years ago I used to look at the programme of upcoming meetings and think ‘I’ll go to that cookery demo’, or ‘that doesn’t look interesting’, or ‘I don’t like the sound of that’. However, I very soon realised that the content of the meetings, although always interesting, was not the important part of an evening. The important and enjoyable part was the fellowship with a group of lovely ladies and the wonderful projects MU is involved in, so in 30 years I’ve made so many friends in MU and we know that we are always there for each other – so I’m a committed MU member. Our meetings are open to all so take the step and join us for fellowship, interesting topics and fun evenings. We meet next on Monday 18 September at 8pm in the Garden Room.

Daphne Townsend

Barbara Donnelly School

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NEWS from St Patrick’s National School

SCHOOL WINS SCIENCE & MATHS AWARD

St Patrick's National School recently achieved a Science Foundation Ire-land Discovery Science and Maths Award for STEM Excellence 2017.

This award acknowledged the children's engagement with STEM in:

• Science

• Technology

• Engineering

• Maths

• STEM showcase.

Feedback on their Log of Evidence stated:

Congratulations on your award! Your Discovery Blog is well laid out and provides a great insight into all of the fantastic STEM work going on in the school. The school garden is very impressive, and I particularly enjoyed your habitat study. Well done to all!

Check out the Discovery Blog at http://stpns.weebly.com/ to see examples of the school’s recent STEM projects.

The school will receive a special plaque, as well as certificates for the children, and an award badge for their website!

WELL DONE to everyone involved, and a special note of thanks and congratu-lations to Ms Jordan who leads the school's STEM programme.

GARDEN HEAVEN!

Over recent years, St Patrick's NS has developed an exceptional school garden under the tender loving care of a dedicated team.

Under the expert leadership of Mr Mac Grianna, a thriving vegetable and fruit garden has been nurtured where the selection for summer 2017 includes potatoes, cabbage, beans, mange-touts, onions, pumpkins, squash, kale, several lettuce varieties, and a wide selection of herbs, as well strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb! Check out the 2

nd Class (Oak) blog ‘Garden Heaven’

on the school’s website at http://www.stpns.ie/blog.

The sensory garden is overseen by Ms Creed. This is a lovely space, with a natural seating area, accessed through a willow arch. Plans for develop-ment over the coming months include some tree planting at the back of the space as well as the development of seasonal flowering programme.

The garden is complemented by an outdoor classroom area, with benches where groups can complete written assignments while others work on their gardening tasks! This area is looked after by Anto, the school’s fabulous caretaker.

Ms Morgan coordinates the polytunnel, where advanced-stage beans and mange touts, rocket, tomatoes and a selection of lettuces are thriving.

Exciting news from Bloom 2017 as Ms Morgan has won a digital solar-powered weather station for St Patrick’s NS. Congratulations!

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Should you

have a concern,

suspicion or

allegation

regarding child

welfare in the

area of ministry to children in this

parish please contact a member of

the parish Safeguarding Trust

Panel listed below:

Canon David Mungavin 287 4077

Karen Crean 087 983 5266

Robin George 287 5723

Vivienne Adams 087 242 4536

The Rector and Select Vestry are committed to uphold good practice in our ministry with children and young people.

T his past 10 months I’ve been here has flown by it’s crazy to think it’s already June.

When I started back in September we only had 2 youth coming each night for the first month to now having between 12-15 on average a night. In my time we have had a confirmation group come through and having a group meeting on Sunday mornings. We had a youth Alpha up in Temple Carrig with the 3rd years which had over 120 students attending. The youth workers in the Nazarene, Presbyterian and Hillside church with Alan, Stuart and I facilitating it.

I’ve had the pleasure of helping out at Bugle Club which I have absolutely loved and it’s been great fun to be part of. Tony, Claire, Genevieve and Janet are doing incredible work with them on Wednesday nights. Tony is so dedicated he missed watching his team Arsenal getting destroyed in the Champions League to do Bugle Club on a Wednesday night. Now that’s dedication!

We had an Easter camp with just under 100 children passing through over the week where I was humiliated thanks to Alan’s “brilliant” idea to dress me up as different things throughout the week. Thanks to the amazing work of Janet that became a reality very quickly. Thank you so much Janet and Louise who made my life a lot easier with helping me with ideas and sup-plies with my group.

We also had the creation of a Youth Service on the 3rd week of the month that I got to be a part of. Big thank you to Alan and Stuart for providing prayer, teaching, game ideas and showing up to these. Thanks to Jackie for providing music and thanks to Flo who has done hot dogs afterwards the last few weeks which have always been cooked to perfection!

I am now also working down in Newcastle Parish as well on Friday nights where we already have numbers in the low twenties.

So I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to Janet who has helped me the last month she’s made my job a lot easier. Thank you to the parents for bringing your teenagers along on Saturdays it’s been great having them. Thanks to the confirmation groups parents for bringing them along on Sun-day mornings. Thank you to David for his support of both me and the youth group. And lastly a thank you to Alan and Stuart. You’ve not just been great fun to be around but have helped me with advice and encouragement throughout the entire year.

It’s been a great year and I look forward to seeing what September brings

Stephen O’Neill

A nother very enjoyable session came to an end on Saturday April 8th when we held our Annual Display. It was a wonderful occasion for the girls,

their families and our GB leaders.

We were delighted to welcome many friends of our company to share our spe-cial day, including the Girls’ Brigade Vice-President, Mrs Carol Fox and the National President, Mrs Margery McElhinney. Mrs McElhinney presented the prizes to the girls at the end of the display. She also presented some special awards. It was to all of our great delight that Alison Norman and Joyce Ferns were commissioned as officers of the Girls’ Brigade. This is the culmination of a lot of hard and work and we are very proud of their achievement. We wish them many more happy years of Brigading!

Congratulations also to Ms. Hilda Bleakley on earning her award for 35 years service as a GB officer. Lucy Fitzsimmons earned the Brigader Brooch this year, which is the highest award a girl can attain at company level. Well done to Lucy who also earned her 12 year attendance award.

In the course of a lovely sunny afternoon, the girls showcased all their talents and hard work. There was plenty of smiles and laughter along the way. After-wards we all enjoyed some well-earned refreshments.

So, we have hung up our GB runners for the Summer break. We will be back and ready for the new session on September 9th. In the coming year GB cele-brates 125 years since its foundation in Sandymount in 1893.It has grown in this time to an international organisation whose vision is to transform girls’ lives and to enrich God’s world. We give thanks for 125 years of Girls’ Bri-gade and ask God’s blessing on our year of celebration.

New members are always welcome. Come and join the fun!

Girls’ Brigade meets in the Swann Hall from 4 to 6 pm on Saturdays. New members and helpers are always welcome!

For more information please contact: Anne Fitzsimmons (Captain) 086 826 9630 or email us at gbgreystones@gmail.com.

“Seek, serve and follow Christ”

Girls’ Brigade

entertained their

families and

friends in fine

style at their

Display on 8

April 2017 in

the Swann Hall

below: Well-deserved prizes & trophies galore at the Girls’ Brigade Display

Ms. Hilda Bleakley receiving her award for 35 years as an officer of Girls’ Brigade —Congratulations!

bottom: The Swann Hall full of children once more at the

Waste Watchers Easter Camp

WASTE WATCHERS Creativity, fun and learning at the Easter Bible Camp held in

the parish centre

Girls in their house colours on Sports Day

TEMPLE CARRIG SCHOOL

below clockwise: Face painting and the

dunk tank at the Family Fun Day;

Principal Alan Cox, School Secretary

Catherine Young and Mr Gavin Ó Briain; boys competing on

Sports Day

Temple Carrig School

~ An Update ~

I t has been a very eventful 3 months for Temple Carrig School. Between winning the GAA and Rugby and having a successful

Family Fair, Sports Day and more. On 5th May, Temple Carrig boys A team in GAA won against Coláiste Chraobh Abhann in Emmets GAA club, cheered on by the 1st Years. We won the B grade last year and this year won the A grade. We also had a competitive and successful day at East Leinster Athletics, some of us going through to Leinsters and five students qualified for All Irelands on 3rd June. The girls rugby also had there first match of the year on 2nd May. While they did lose they had a great day out playing against Wilson’s Hospital. Well done to all the girls. Temple Carrig school won the Father Godfrey cup against Wesley College at their first attempt, 12 points to 10 points in Donnybrook stadium on 10th March. History was made. The whole school came and supported that day. We had a very fantastic Family Fair on 6th May thanks to a great team of organisers and volunteers. Altogether €10,000 was raised for the school. Some of the teachers had the pleasure of being dunked in the dunk tank, some students also volunteered. We had our Annual Sports Day on 19th May. A very competitive day where each house shows off their colours and each person competes for their house to earn points which are added up at the end and the house with the most points are the winners. Medals are given out to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of each event. Tinakilly just edged Kilruddery by half a point to win the day. Well done to everybody. The school started their first state examinations on 7th June. The third years returned to school for the opening day of their junior certificate examina-tions. It is a first for the school. Their first exam was English. Congratulations to the TCG girls band ‘Taken’ on winning the popular vote for Greystones Battle of the Bands. The school also hosted astro-athletic events coming up to East Leinsters and Leinsters. We invited schools including Alexandra, Andrews and Wesley to come and compete against us in various different athletic events. We also created a book called Temple Carrig Tales with all the students creative writing work which in sold in the village book shop. A great achievement for our writing students.

Emma Goodwin

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Early School Memories Knockdolian House and garden hold many childhood memories for me. I attended my first school there, quite a number of years ago. It was a small school with about eight pupils. Miss Brigid Scott was our teacher. I was five year sold when I commenced school. I cycled down from Coolagad on my small bicycle accompanied by my Mother. She pushed the pram inside which resided my new baby sister Olive. The narrow road from Redford curved between fields edged with wild hedges. Blacklion had cottages either side of the road, some houses and two small shops. Church Lane had fields either side with some hous-es set back from the narrow road. Very few footpaths but very little traffic.

My memories of school were very happy. We did not start too early, I think perhaps ten o’clock and fin-ished at lunch time. Our lessons con-sisted of spelling, reading, sums and writing. Writing involved copying a headline and keeping your letters within the correct lines.

I had no brothers so school was my first introduction to boys. I had a great belief in equality. The Knockdolian garden was a wonderful place to ex-plore at mid-morning break. We enjoyed climbing trees and playing hide and seek in the shrubbery (no “health and safety” in those days!) I remem-ber one boy, John, who was a very good tree climber. Ione day he and I had a falling out. I must admit I hit him with a conker following something he had done. Miss Scott took us into the schoolroom and we had to sit at our desks. We then had to write out “I must not…” ten times - plus a little lec-ture. Peace was established again.

After a few years at this lovely school Miss Scott retired and we all moved to other schools. It was a gentle, happy and carefree introduction to school life.

Yvonne Acheson

A HUGE “THANK YOU” to all my friends in St Patrick’s for all the 90th birthday wishes I received recently. It was a great day

and even better to get family and friends together for a chat. Millions of thanks to all—here’s to the next (?!) years!

Much love, Rhona Booker.

Sunday Seekers

W e’ve seen an average of 25 children each week since the beginning of January this year which is just fantastic. The children attend either the

Junior group (from Junior Infants to First class) or the Senior group from Sec-ond to Sixth class. The teachers and helpers have loved working with the chil-dren on many themes taken from both the Old and New Testament; Who was Abram and why was his name changed, God’s promises to his people, in par-ticular his promise to Noah, the Potter’s house, the story of Ruth and Naomi. We also covered some of the great work of Saint Paul, who is Jesus and what miracles he performed, and the real meaning of Easter, to name a few.

Each week the children have made crafts relating to the theme of the day, which we hope have gone up on your fridges at home! Apart from learning about the scriptures, the children have played wonderful games, learnt “Jesus Loves me” in sign language (ASL), made some wonderful creations with pot-tery clay, and sung songs. We try to make Sunday Seekers a wonderful place to learn and have fellowship together.

We have only a few weeks left of Sunday Seekers for this year, but we will finish with a great Celebration on 18th of June. The children will take part in the service — get ready for some actions! We hope everyone will have a won-

derful summer break, and we might see some of you at CSSM from 9 – 21 July.

The Sunday Seekers Team

SALES, SERVICE,

BODY WORK

PROMPT PERSONAL ATTENTION

Farrankelly, Delgany, Co. Wicklow

TELEPHONE: (01) 287 4224 FAX: (01) 287 7188

rodneyevansmotors@gmail.com

An imaginative journey in learning

Tel: 086 849 4529

smileysunflowers@rocketmail.com

St Patrick’s National School Grounds

www.smileysunflowers.com

Weekly Art Classes

(5-12 yr olds)

Join Artzone and unleash your creative side!

Fully Qualified Art Teachers work to a structured curriculum

producing new and exciting portfolios every term.

Fees: €100 per 8 week term (7.5% sibling discount)

St. Patrick’s Parish Centre, Greystones

Mondays @ 4.30 pm

To book call: 01 4990614 / 086 8159073

or see www.artzone.ie.

PAMPERED PETS

DOG MINDER & CAT VISITS

DOGGIE DAY CARE & HOLIDAYS

HOME FROM HOME

SOCIALISED HAPPY DOGS

TWO WALKS A DAY & LOTS OF TLC

LARGE GARDEN TO PLAY IN

ANY REQUESTS NOT A PROBEM

PLEASE CALL 0877655094

Rodney Evans

Services

Bunk Beds, Children’s Beds

Loft Beds, Mattresses and

Bean Bags

Small and Large Storage Units

for Rent

Farrankelly, Delgany

Co. Wicklow

Call Geoff on 086 600 9341

There are only

Christians out on

Sunday mornings…

S ome time ago the Rev. David told us a story about his youthful time in

a parish in Scotland and how good it was over there. He went on to relay a story of an older man whose ambition was to visit every Anglican Church in Scotland. The man was of limited means and his mode of transport was to stick out his thumb and hitch a lift. One morning David was zooming on his way to Church to get ready for the service and passed a man hitching on the side of the road. David was in a hurry as he had parishioners to attend to, so passed the man on the side of the road and kept going.

David robed up and was in full flight after the Gospel reading when an older man walked into the back of the church and sat down. When the service was over David stood at the back of the church to greet parishioners and wish them a happy Sunday. Lastly the older man walked to the back of the Church where he explained to David his ambition to hitch his way to every Anglican Church in Scotland. The penny dropped with David that this was the same man he had passed on the side of the road earlier that morning. David asked the older man was it difficult to get a lift to church by hitching, to which the man responded – “Yes, there are only Christians out on Sun-day mornings.”

We, in the Vestry, want to ensure that anyone who would like to get to church on a Sunday, can do so. We are looking for two things:

1. People who (or who you know of) might like a lift to church

2. People who would be willing to offer someone a lift to and from church.

Please contact me,

Richard Lowe (086 2347145),

and we can get the wheels in motion!

St Patrick’s Music Survey Results (Easter 2017) 1) Do you enjoy singing in church?

2) What musical style do you prefer?

3) Would you like more variety in our style of worship?

4) Outside Sunday mornings, would you like to see the continuation of a specific, Youth/Creative worship church service?

St Patrick’s Music Survey – a questionnaire was circulated and responses

gathered up to Easter this year. Thank you to everyone who participated. Here is a summary of the general findings :

Total Number of Respondents: 115

Key findings: • A clear majority of respondents enjoy singing in church with a slightly smaller majority also desiring more variety in the style of worship.

• Overall the favourite style was Music Group, followed by Traditional, then Gospel Choir.

• If those who said they like to sing are analysed separately the favourite style was Traditional followed by Music Group, then Gospel Choir.

• Some respondents gave multiple styles the same preference: therefore, the count for each of the chosen styles was increased by one.

A selection of the results:

Enjoy Singing in Church Yes 97 No 14 Maybe/Sometimes 4

2nd Preference for Style Traditional 14 Choral 14 Gospel Choir 29 Soloist 23 Music Group 12

3rd Preference for Style Traditional 10 Choral 15 Gospel Choir 17 Soloist 19 Music Group 21

Favourite Style if a person enjoys singing Traditional 39 Choral 6 Gospel Choir 30 Soloist 15 Music Group 33

Favourite Style if a person does not enjoy singing Traditional 0 Choral 2 Gospel Choir 2 Soloist 4 Music Group 8

NB all data is available in soft copy upon request.

Membership of St. Patrick’s Church, Greystones

What it take to keep our Church going:

“A Coffee and a Scone”

Benefits of membership • Community of Worship

• Baptism, Confirmation, Weddings and Funerals

• Sunday and weekly Services

• Crèche, Sunday Seekers, Youth group, Choir,

Coffee & social after service

• Bible – Alpha course, Bible Study group, Healer Prayer

• Social: Mothers’ Union, Girls’ Brigade, Badminton,

Tennis & Table Tennis Clubs, Bugle Club, Hill Walking Group,

Indoor Bowls Club, Youth Club…

• Counselling / comforting ear

• Schools – we have growing active schools

• St. Patrick’s National School

• Temple Carrig School

We have 500 households and 1,500 people in St. Patrick’s parish. It costs c.€250,000 to run this Parish every year

We have an outstanding bank loan of €189,697 for the Parish Centre, Church upgrade and Rectory refurbishment (down from original €2,200,000) – this costs us €28,000 per year to service and has 8 years left.

Where does the money come from?

In 2016 our Parish ran a deficit of €41,000

Giving to our Parish

• Less that 50% of our member households contribute to

the Parish financially.

• If those households were to give the equivalent of

“a coffee and a scone” (€5) every week it would

raise nearly €100,000

• If those households were to give the equivalent of a daily

Irish Times purchase it would raise over €220,000

We estimate that 10,000 voluntary hours are given to support

St. Patrick’s Church and Parish

St Andrew’s College is an independent, interdenominational,

co-educational preparatory and secondary school, catering for

students of all nationalities.

For further information please contact the Admissions Office, St Andrew’s

College, Booterstown Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

Telephone: 01 288 2785 Fax: 283 1627

Email: information@st-andrews.ie

FELTON McKNIGHT

SOLICITORS ‘Thorough & expert service; courteous & confidential.’

Wills and estate planning

Enduring Powers of Attorney

Wards of Court applications

Transfer of Property

Mental Health Law

Re-mortgages

Property sales and purchases

Call us on 01 2874341

or visit us at

www.feltonmcknight.ie

a tradition of legal excellence

ACTION ARTS GREYSTONES Building confidence through

Drama, Song & Dance.

Activities include Musical Theatre, Drama, Songs, Modern dance,

Theatre Games, Speech & Drama Exams.

Venue: Swann Hall, St Patrick’s Church, Greystones.

Day: Wednesday afternoon.

Children aged 4 – 12 welcome. Come along and try it out or secure

your child a place by calling Hazel Lowry A.I.B.S.D

on 087 686 9329

End of year show will be held at the Mermaid Theatre, Bray

OPUS II The music shops with

the personal touch

4 High St, GALWAY

Phone: (091) 500300

Email:

opus2galway@eircom.net

131 Oliver Plunkett St, CORK

Phone (021) 427 9611.

Email:

opus2cork@eircom.net

www.opusii.ie

Yamaha Instrument Specialist

NATIONWIDE MAIL ORDER

St. Patrick’s Indoor Bowls Club

Sadly we finished our season on a sorrowful note. Our Captain for the last two years, Dougie Thompson, died, having battled with his illness for some time. He will be badly missed, particu-larly his exuberant good humour and his loud cries of “Turrrrn, turrrrrn” as his woods veered off course away from the jack. We thank Iris for stepping in as Captain in Dougie’s absence, ensuring that everything contin-ued smoothly.

Unfortunately we were not successful in the League matches, failing to reach the final, though we started off very well and the teams enjoyed themselves. At our AGM the following elections were made: Captain – Iris Martin, Vice-Captain – David Warnock, Treasurer – Carmel Morrisey, Secretary – Ruth Handy, Committee members –Alberta Kemp, Brenda Rice, Sally Ryan.

At a very friendly and relaxed end of season dinner in the Bray Golf Club Flo Fennell and Chancellor Mungavin handed out the trophies to the winners of the domestic competitions as follows: Doyle Cup (Mixed Scratch) Winner – Liam Morrisey, RunnerUp – Iris Martin; Greenlee Cup (Ladies Handicap) Winner – Sally Ryan, Runner Up – Carmel Morrisey; Thompson Cup (Mixed Handicap) Winner – Carmel Morrisey, Runner Up – Liam Morrisey; Fennell Trophy (Men’s Handicap) Winner – Nigel Cruise, Runner Up – Alan Bell, Pairs Competition Winners – Nigel Cruise and Ruth Handy, Runners Up – Brenda Rice and Robert Adams; Webster Cup (Triples) – Harry Lew, Brenda Rice and Rebecca Cruise.

We re-open on Tuesday, September 12th. in St. Patrick’s School at 7.30. We would be delighted to welcome new members, just drop in any Tuesday or Thursday to try your hand at this intriguing game. All that is required is the willingness to learn, a modicum of skill, appreciation of strategy and a little bit of the killer instinct!

Ruth Handy

The last story Dougie ever told me:

“I was in the Navy you know—four years.” “Really Dougie? Royal or Merchant?” “Royal. Aye, I took the Queen’s shillin’… they even gave me a medal.” “Wow! How interesting!” “Aye! I saved the lives of two hundred men.” “My goodness, that’s amazing!” “I shot the cook.”

I will always remember him with a tear of laughter in my eye. Jo Douglas

Mac Sherry’s Pharmacy

Whitethorn Centre, Kilcoole

Tel 287 0400

9 am-6.30 pm Mon-Fri 9 am-6 pm Saturday

Prescriptions &

Medical Supplies

Cosmetics & Perfumes

Ear Piercing by Appointment.

Hill’s Garage Greystones Servicing & repairs to all makes of cars at our premises on

Hillside Road,

Greystones.

Tel: 287 4510 / 287 4507 Fax: 287 6473

Everything for Plumbing!

Serving Dublin’s plumbing needs for nearly 100 years

Opening Hours:

Monday to Friday 7.30am to 5.30pm Saturday 9.30am to 1pm

Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays

8a Sallymount Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

p: 01-496 0553, 496 0602, 496 3739

f: 01 496 0875 e: sales@smallmans.ie

St Patrick’s Table Tennis Club We would like to send our sympathy to Carol

on the sad loss of her son Matthew.

The Club ended the season on 3rd May with a very enjoyable tournament and BBQ. Rodney as usual acting as ‘Master Chef’. We were joined by Monkstown Club for the evening as has been our custom for several years and

many friendships have been made between the two clubs.

We hope everyone has an enjoyable summer and look forward to starting at the beginning of September. As always we hope that some more people will join us on Wednesday evenings at 8.30pm.

Contact Audrey Warnock on 087 2053838 or 287 5068.

St Patrick’s Tennis Club

We meet at the National School for play on Tuesday and Thursday summer evenings from 8pm. We are very lucky to have such a great facility.

Unfortunately our numbers have become very small and at the moment we only have six regular players which means that if anyone is on holiday or has other engagements we may not even have four for a game of doubles. So we are hopeful that there other people out there who used to play or would like to play but do not feel good enough to join Greystones Tennis Club but would enjoy some light-hearted tennis with us.

We sometimes have friendly matches with Kilternan parish club. As they are stronger players we mix in with them to get good games rather than having a match format.

Audrey Warnock

St Patrick’s Parish Fayre

It will be held in October, but now is the time to start sorting through books and collectibles. We will nominate dates and a process in the near future

outlining when and how we will start collecting.

Please eliminate the clutter and damaged items before you decide to set things aside for our collection team. We would appreciate items that you feel will

make a decent contribution to the Parish Fayre.

Please be rigorous in sorting through the items you want to get rid of. We will be rigorous in what we can accept as we have limited storage space

and we want to bring the quality of the Fayre up every year

Thank you! Stephen Keating, Fayre Co-ordinator

Services at

St. Patrick’s

Church,

Greystones

1st Sunday in the month

8.30am Holy Communion

10.30am Parish Eucharist

5.00pm Evening Prayer

2nd Sunday in the month

8.30am Holy Communion

10.30am Morning Prayer

5.00pm Holy Communion

3rd Sunday in the month

8.30am Holy Communion

10.30am Parish Eucharist

5.00pm Evening Prayer

4th Sunday in the month

8.30am Holy Communion

10.30am Family Service

5.00pm Holy Communion

5th Sunday in the month

8.30am Holy Communion

10.30am Family Eucharist

(followed by coffee and scones in aid of Bishops’ Appeal)

5.00pm Healing Service

Coffee is served after every 10.30 am service on Sunday and Wednesday

WEEKDAY SERVICES:

Holy Communion every Wednesday morning at 10.30 am followed by coffee

Morning Prayer on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings 9 – 9.10 am

CONTACT US:

Rector: Canon David Mungavin 01 287 4077

Lay Minister: Frank Connolly 087 1211 575

Youth Worker: Stephen O’Neill 085 869 4201

To volunteer, please contact:

Sunday Flowers: Flo Fennell 086 872 7510

Sunday Readers: Ruth Handy 01 287 5161

Sunday Coffee: Nicola Crean 087 624 0955

Many thanks to all our contributors and advertisers. If you wish to place an advertisement or an article in this magazine, please contact Joanne Douglas in the

Parish Office at 201 0648 or by email at stpatricksparish@eircom.net. See our website at www.stpatricksgreystones.ie or see us on Facebook

Jack Smith

Clubs & Classes taking place in St. Patrick’s Parish Centre

*Choir 9.30am Sundays in church: Jacqueline Mullen 087 232 9269

*Sunday Seekers 10.30am, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Suns: Rev. David Mungavin

*Sunday Crèche 10.30am, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Suns: Melanie Chipperfield 087 283 2373

*Parent & Toddler Grp Mon. 10.30am – 12noon Swann Hall: Parish Office 201 0648

*Mothers’ Union 3rd Mon 8pm Garden Rm: Daphne Townsend 086 891 7710

*Bible Study Group Weds. 8pm Quiet Room: Canon John McCullagh 086 837 0384

*Healer Prayer Group 2nd Weds/month 3.30pm Quiet Room: Lesley Kemp 287 5155

*Bugle Club Wednesday 6.30 – 7.45pm: Tony Goodwin 086 879 9742

*Youth Club Saturday 7-9pm: Stephen O’Neill 085 869 4201

*Soup & Sandwiches 3rd Tues/month 12.30 – 2pm: Ruth Handy 287 5161

*Select Vestry Meeting 4th Mon/month 8pm Quiet Room

*Girls’ Brigade Sat. 4 – 6 pm: Anne Fitzsimmons 086 826 9630

*Social Badminton Club Weds. & Fri. morns Swann Hall: Lucy Mulcahy 086 8322 570

*Table Tennis Club Weds. 8.30pm Swann Hall: Audrey Warnock 087 205 3838

*Bowls Club (play in the National School)

*Tennis Club (play in the National School) Audrey Warnock 087 205 3838

*Hillwalking Group Contact Billy Markham 086 6837169 for details of next walk.

Irish Childbirth Trust Cuidiu Playgroup, Tues. 10am: Ceara McManus 087 346 4054

Meals on Wheels Delivery, Tues. & Thurs.: Geraldine Mooney 287 4741

Ladybirds Tues. 5 – 6pm Swann Hall: Lianne Connolly 087 6866 774

Brownies Mon. 6 – 7.30 pm Swann Hall: Ashlie Christie 085 2497590

Girl Guides Mon. 7.30 – 9pm Swann Hall: Sandra Byrne 087 824 6801

Delgany ICA 1st Mon./month 8pm Swann Hall: Maureen Beirne 287 1227

Greystones Montessori Mon. to Fri. 9 am – 3pm Upper Rm: Lucy Jones 087 963 9679

Speech & Drama Weds. 3 – 7 pm Upper Room: Theresa Casey 087 908 3157

Action Arts Weds. 3 – 6 pm Swann Hall: Hazel Lowry 087 686 9329

Creative Performers Acad. Sat. 10am – 12 pm: Karen Dunne 086 774 2080

Adult & Children’s Ballet Thurs. eve & Fri. 2 – 6 pm: Barbara Donnelly 087 240 8589

Yoga Tues. Weds. & Thurs. eves Upper Rm: A. Renger 087 217 6068

Pilates Tues. 7 – 9pm: Jean Taylor 087 233 1962

Gymboree Fri. 10 am – 12 pm: Gervaise Landy 087 205 7194

Artzone Mon. 4.30 – 5.30pm Swann Hall: 01 4990614 www.artzone.ie

French & Spanish Classes Monday to Thurs. afternooons Georgia Gallagher 087 232 4664

Kung Fu Thursday eve: Gregory Chiesa 083 189 7736

Reading Academy Mon., Tues. & Sat.: Sarah Watchorn swatchorn38@gmail.com

Tai Chi for Arthritis Thursday 10 – 12 noon: Sue O’Sullivan 087 967 3318

Tai Chi Saturday morning & Weds eve: Laurence Reddin 085 1466 981

Weight Watchers Friday 10 – 12 noon: Martina Keohane 086 806 9592

* denotes parish organisation

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