January 24th, 2021

Adamstown Parish Newsletter

Weekend of Sat 23rd & Sun 24th January 2021 

Volume 22  Number 3                                                                                     www.saintabbans.com

ADAMSTOWN COMMUNITY CENTRE NEWS

We were notified before Christmas that we have been awarded a €3,000 grant for the renovation of the toilets in the Centre. This grant is through The Wexford Development Committee. With the current level of restrictions it is very difficult to get any work started. We have begun planning now for when we can begin the project. If anyone in the community is available to help with any of the work, please contact any member of the Community Centre Committee.

SYMPATHY

The Community Centre Committee sends condolences to Maurice Duggan, Tomgarrow on the death of his wife Lucille. Our sympathy also to her children Cillin, Shóna and Darragh, parents Brendan &  Pattie her extended family, relatives and friends. May her gentle soul rest in peace.

2021 ARTS & AMENITY GRANT APPLICATIONS OPEN

The 2021 Arts and Amenity grants and Residents Association application grants open from this coming week.

Applications can be made online on Wexford County Council’s website or a form can be requested

by phoning 051 421284. The closing date is Friday 12th February at 5pm. The Residents Association grants are for individual housing estates only. Local Authority housing estates receive their funding directly from the Housing Officer. The Arts & Amenity grants are for voluntary groups or individuals for works such as: community development initiatives, promoting an interest in local heritage, promoting an interest in sport or the arts etc.

LUCILLE (LU) DUGGAN RIP

On Friday 8th January Lu passed away after a long and hard battle with her disease, always brave and with a smile on her face. Maurice, Cillin, Shóna, Darragh, Brendan, Pattie, Petriona, Margaret, Sinead, Brendan (Jun) and Irene would like to thank all our extended family, friends, neighbours for the wonderful support and kind words during this difficult time. From the Duggan and Hogan families.

May she rest in peace.

USEFUL NUMBERS

MABS – Wexford Office, South Main Street.

Contact No: 076 1072 789 or text: 086 4535 494

Email: wexfordmabs.ie. Open Mon – Fri 9am – 12.45pm.

LOCAL LINK WEXFORD – 053 919696276

Email: wexford@locallink.ie

THE HOOK OF FAITH – www.thehookoffaith.com

Pope Francis proclaims “Year of St. Joseph”

With the Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (With a Father’s Heart) Pope Francis recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark the occasion, the Holy Father has proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” from 8th Dec 2020 to 8th Dec 2021.

THE GPO  – OVER 200 YEARS OF HISTORY

(Rosa Fox – Ireland’s Own)

The General Post Office was opened in 1818 and it remains the oldest functioning general post office in the world. In the early days delivering the mail was a risky business in Ireland. The mail-coaches travelling throughout the country were under constant attack. Mail-coach guards rode shotgun with a selection of pistols and swords and sometimes a blunderbuss from the GPO armoury. The advice from the GPO was that bank notes should never be posted. But in case of necessity, notes and even cheques should be cut in half, and the second half left unsent until the first half arrived. The first postmen were called letter-carriers, they were often open to attack by hooligans in the cities. The GPO took the danger very seriously. In 1825 a £25 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of three men who ‘violently assaulted’ a Letter-Carrier. Payment for general post was complicated, calculated by distance and weight. And it was the receiver of the letter who had to pay, often the recipient refused to pay for the letter. Within the Dublin city area, the system called ‘Penny Post’ was much cheaper than the general post. If you had something to post, you had to be acutely conscious of time, letters were shoved through one of the apertures at the front of the GPO, and if you hadn’t posted your letter before the GPO clock chimed six, the charge was two pennies. In 1840 Rowland Hill introduced the Penny Black stamp and this pre-payment revolutionised communications. The street pillar box, introduced by the novelist Anthony Trollope who worked in the GPO was gradually welcomed. The post office provided good jobs for those at the top. But the real power and scope for earnings lay in the job of Assistant Secretary. Sir Edward Lees followed his father into this position when the GPO opened and deftly installed his brother Thomas into a similarly important position. The earnings of the Assistant Secretary were in the region of £1,500, officials and clerks earned £70 per annum. The humble letter-carriers were paid considerably less. But to supplement their meagre income, they were permitted to knock on doors at Christmas time and be given a tip. This practice enabled the Assistant Secretary to keep the letter-carrier’s wages low, while never failing to boost his own. The letter-carrier’s job is much safer today and the wages much better. No wonder the postman’s so cheerful. And the practice of giving him his Christmas Box is a nice custom that, like the GPO itself, still remains intact.

SYMPATHY

We extend our deepest sympathy to Liz Furlong and family, Tomgarrow on the death of her mother Mrs.Nancy (Anne) Hayden, Ballyleigh, New Ross in her 96th year. Our sympathy also to her sons, Jimmy, Paschal, Thomas, extended family, neighbours and friends, she was predeceased by her daughter Breda.  A private family funeral took place on Saturday 23rd.

May her gentle soul rest in peace.

CHURCH NOTICES

IN MEMORIAM

Sun 24th 10.30am – Nicholas & Mary Byrne, Kellystown (A)

Fr. Nolan will continue to say Anniversary Masses if you would like to have a Mass offered for your deceased family or friends, just contact him.

FEAST DAYS

Sat 30th Jan – St. Aidan – Bishop of Ferns.

Mon 1st February – St. Brigid.

Tues 2nd Feb – The Presentation of the Lord

World Day for Consecrated Life.

The Presentation of the Lord – This feast is a remembrance of the Lord and Mary, mother of the Lord. With candles in their hands, the people go out to meet the Lord and to acclaim him like Simeon, who recognised Christ as ‘a light to reveal God to the nations’

Wed 3rd Feb – St. Blaise, Bishop and martyr.

Letter from Bishop’s House re: Blessing of Throats.

In light of Covid-19 restrictions, it will not be possible to physically bless throats this year. Priests are invited to read a prayer of blessing online on the day itself, or on the Sunday preceding.

Glorious St. Blaise:

O Glorious Saint Blaise,

who by your martyrdom

has left to the Church a precious witness to the faith,

obtain for us the grace to

preserve within ourselves this divine gift,

and to defend, without human respect,

both by word and example,

the truth of that same faith.

You who miraculously cured

a little child when it was at the point of death

by reason of an affliction of the throat,

grant us your powerful protection in like misfortunes;

and, above all, obtain for us

the grace of repentance,

together with a faithful observance of our Church,

and avoidance from offending Almighty God.  Amen.

Throat Blessing of St. Blaise

Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr,

may God deliver you from ailments of the throat

and from every other evil.

   in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

DID YOU KNOW?

The expression ‘getting someone’s goat’ is based on the custom of keeping a goat in the stable with a racehorse as the horse’s companion. The goat becomes a settling influence on the thoroughbred. If you owned a competing horse and were not above some dirty business, you could steal your rival’s goat (seriously, it’s been done) to upset the other horse and make it run a poor race. From goats and horses it was linguistically extended to people:

in order to upset someone, ‘get their goat’.

A THOUGHT FOR THESE DARK DAYS – Remember –

‘Not Everything is Locked Down!

Sunrise is not locked down

Fresh air is not locked down

Family time is not locked down

Friendship is not locked down

Creativity is not locked down

Prayers are not locked down

Hobbies are not locked down

Hopes and dreams are not locked down

Kindness is not locked down

Learning is not locked down

Conversation is not locked down

Imagination is not locked down

Sunsets are not locked down

Hope is not locked down

Cherish what you have

Stay at home & make the most of your time

May you be safe

May you be happy

May you be well.  Amen.

THE END OF AN OLD FAVOURITE – THE PEAT BRIQUETTE

Bord na Móna peat briquettes being phased out.

The first industrial-scale harvesting of peat or turf began in 1825 at Mona Bog beside the Shannon and continued until the end of the 19th century. In 1850, Colonel Kitchener in Co. Kerry discovered how to produce peat briquettes while experimenting with peat charcoal in an attempt to

manufacture gunpowder. The modern Irish peat industry was established in the 1930’s. With the onset of the Second World war and the widespread rationing and shortages of imported fuels government policy aimed to replace the shortages of coal with turf. In 1950 Bord na Móna provided

the fuel for the first sod peat fired power station in Portarlington.  By 1970 800,000 tons of peat was being compressed into 315,000 tons of briquettes, sold in 12.5kg bale of 24 individual briquette pieces. The iconic ad for the briquettes featuring the Marino Waltz, on T.V. from 1986 for many years will be remembered by many of our older folk. It even inspired one of the Boomtown Rats, Patrick Cusack, to adapt it as his stage name – he became known worldwide as Pete Briquette. During those years the briquette was advertised as being the cleanest and most convenient fuel available, but times have changed, with Bord na Móna now moving from its brown to green strategy. Friday 15th January was the last day of peat milling on Bord na Móna lands and once existing stocks are used up, the briquette will be no more.  As the news was announced people all over Ireland rushed to buy ‘the old sod of turf’ as a souvenir and reminder of a changing times.

REFLECTION

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.