St Johnston and Carrigans Donegal

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2018 ST JOHNSTON AND CARRIGANS COMMUNITY NOTES



Coffee Morning: There will be a coffee morning on Halloween Morning 31 October from 10 to 1 pm in St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre in support of the Centre’s fundraisng. Please come along for tea and coffee and lovely goodies.

Collection: There will be a collection at the weekend, 13 and 14 October, before Masses at St Baithin’s Church, St Johnston in aid of Friends of Letterkenny Hospital.

Lunch Club: The next Lunch Club will be on Wednesday 24 October. Times 11 am to 1 pm in the Resource Centre. New members always welcome and why not bring a friend or two?

Music: The late Tommy People’s book “From Tune to Tune” is available in St Johnston and Carrigans FRC by popular demand. Cost €40. To honour Tommy, a link to an online tribute to him can be accessed through the community website www.stjohnstonandcarrigans.com.

Harvest: Ballylennon Presbyterian Church is having its Harvest Thanksgiving celebrations on Sunday 21 October at 7.30 pm. Following the service there will be refreshments. All welcome.

Saturday Walk: The Walk and Talk Group is having the monthly Saturday walk Saturday 27 October when the destination is Glenveagh where we can have the option of the gentle walk into the castle or the slightly more challenging Bridle Path. Transport will leave St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre at 9am. If anyone wishes to go then phone the centre on 074 91 48551 or contact Sarah at the local shop.

Scrapbooking: Scrapbooking will take place in the Centre on this Saturday and also Saturday November 3 at 11 am. Have you got lots of old photographs lying around in boxes, drawers etc and would love to be able to put them into an album to keep? Find out how to organise and preserve your photos and precious memories. Create beautiful scrapbook albums - where you will be able to share and enjoy your photos and stories. It’s great fun! Lots of crafting materials, tools and products will be available for use. Demonstrations, Safe Photo Storage, Page Layouts and lots more! Please contact Mary on facebook page Scrap-a-Holics for more information.

History: Taughboyne History Group will hold its next meeting on Wednesday 24 October at 7.30 pm in the Resource Centre computer room. The recent launch of their first publication “Vanishing Memories” in the Centre was very successful and the book is selling nicely in the Resource Centre and other outlets. Most outlets are local in the St Johnston and Carrigans and Newtown and Killea areas however the book is available from Eason’s in Letterkenny. There are two versions one big size and a smaller size which is ideal for posting abroad as a gift. Only €10.00 per copy. We hope the launch will lead to us gaining some new members. Please think about it! Proceeds will go towards Resource Centre funds. For further information call 91 48551.

___________________Update: Here is the community employment scheme update for St Johnston and Carrigans Community Employment Project. The has the following vacancies on its Community Employment Project (funded by DEASP). Three Assistant Youth Workers and one Environmental Worker in St. Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre. One Environmental Worker in Taughboyne Church, Taughboyne, Carrigans. This is a good opportunity to return to work in a supportive environment. Training available within budgets. Contact St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre on 074-91 48551 for Job Descriptions and Application forms.

Service: St Johnston Presbyterian Church will hold its harvest thanksgiving evening of praise on Sunday 14 October at 7.30 pm. Refreshments will follow and all are welcome. Just a reminder Monreagh Harvest Service this Sunday at 7.30 pm.

St Baithin’s NS: St Baithin’s National School was delighted to be chosen as part of the Tesco Community Fund during July and August this year to help raise funds for our polytunnel. Many thanks to all the parents who helped us by using their blue tokens. Well done to all the pupils who joined the 2018 summer stars reading adventure in their local library this summer. Summer stars is an exciting reading based programme which is available free of charge to all children across the country. The summer stars programme provides the whole family with an opportunity to explore the full range of event and facilities which are available in their local library such as story time session, children’s activities, access to talking books and games , computers and internet access and of course children’s books for all ages. Past pupil Ciaran Coll will be celebrating ten years playing with Finn Harps by staging testimonial events in the coming months. Ciaran and his organising committee have been very busy planning and organising events to celebrate his testimonial. Well done to all the parents and any past pupils as well as a few members of our staff who took part in the 10 k run and 3k walk in memory of the late Jim Shiels. The run was organised by Finn Valley AC. All funds went to the very deserving causes of Letterkenny University Hospital’s Oncology Department and to Donegal Hospice. Past pupil Raymond Peoples undertook a 480 cycle from Cairnryan in Scotland to Holyhead to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society in memory of his late father, Edmund. Raymond travelled some of the toughest roads in the UK completely alone. Well done Raymond! The school will be closed on Friday October 26 for the Presidential Election.

Book: Vanishing Memories which recounts local perceptions of history and heritage with a bit of folklore which was gathered by pupils in the 1930’s as part of the National Folklore Collection is now for sale at €10 a copy from local outlets. The stories in the book were collected by the pupils from their older friends and relations so the stories go back a lot further in many cases than the thirties. The book would make a wonderful gift and many people in St Johnston, Carrigans, Killea and Newtowncunningham and other adjacent areas will relate to many of the stories and perhaps even to the writers. The book is well illustrated throughout. There is a large copy for visually impaired or if you just prefer a bigger copy. There is a smaller but identical copy that resonates better with those who like to shelve their books and who like compact books.

Ulster Scots: The Ulster Scots will hold a traditional music evening on Friday 22 September in Friels Hotel Raphoe. Anybody who wishes to participate is more than welcome. Starting time 6.30 pm.
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 Launch: Taughboyne History Group are due to launch their first publication “Vanishing Memories” on Friday night 28th September at 7.30pm in St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre. Vanishing Memories is a selection of stories reproduced from the Schools Folklore Scheme of 1937-1938. This scheme related only to national school children in the Republic of Ireland. Thirteen schools within the three parishes of Taughboyne, Allsaints and Killea participated in this scheme and accounted for 524 stories. Over two winters the stories were read by our group and eventually 84 of them were selected and all of the thirteen schools are featured. The selected stories give a fleeting but panoramic backward glance into a way of life that is heritage and history and allows an opportunity for the people of today to compare just how good or otherwise those times were. The book will be launched by Ronan McConnell who is a well-known enthusiast of local history studies and it will be available for sale on the night at only €10.00 per copy. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. All are welcome.

Public Meeting: There will be a Public Meeting and Information Session which is part of a feasibility study currently being done to explore options to create a greenway (walking and cycling path) linking St Johnston to Carrigans. Any interested groups or individuals are invited to attend. All views and opinions are welcome. This will be on Tuesday 25 September at 7.30 pm in the Resource Centre. This project is under St Johnston and Carrigans FRC in conjunction with SUSTRANS.

Clubs: Homework Club 1 for Third and Fourth Class is Mondays from 3pm to 4. Stretch and Grow 1 (for Junior and Senior Infants) is Wednesdays from 2 to 2.45 pm. Stretch and Grow 2 (for First and Second Class) is Wednesdays from 3 to 3.45 pm. The Thursday Homework Club for Fifth and Sixth Class is 3 to 4 pm.

Walk: The Walk and Talk Group meets every Tuesday at 7.15pm at the Resource Centre for enjoyable walks which suit all abilities and speeds. Tea and a chat afterwards in the Old Playgroup, €2 per participant.

Training: Access to Further Education Training (FET) and Employment QQI Level 5 (BTEI) will start in St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre on Thursday 18 October from 10 am to 2 pm. The course will end in April 2019. No previous qualifications are required but good literacy skills are needed. An interest in further education and in being trained in employment skills is essential.

Health Course: There is a healthy lives, healthy minds, healthy bodies and health families programme coming up. This course is designed for parents and children, providing interactive family cookery classes, BMI Assessment, exercise routines with a trained coach and mindfulness providing a complete package to help make those little changes together to improve physical and mental health, prevent obesity, cope with anxiety, depression and build happy families. The course will commence in September or October. Please call 91 48551 to express interest.

earsons: In response to an article on stjohnstonandcarrigans.com I received the following from Bob Moore in Ontario: “Dear Patrick Gormley, I have been enjoying a visit to the website. I was aware that there is a Pearson family in St. Johnston and was glad to find some photos related to them on your site. My grandfather, John Joseph Kee Pearson, was born in Clar Lough Eske near Donegal Town in 1901, and immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario around 1920. I have a photo of him and his brother and a friend taken soon before he left, at his sister's wedding in the Presbyterian Church in the Town of Donegal. Notably, the bottom right hand corner of the photo shows the mark of Herbert Cooper of Strabane whose archives are now held by PRONI in Belfast. I have also a photo taken in Ireland of my great-grandparents, Robert William Pearson and Margaret Irwin (Spierstown). I have the family tree worked back to around 1800 but was wondering if the Pearsons in Clar Lough Eske are related to the Pearsons in St. Johnston. I have found cousins still in the Lough Eske area, and cousins who have moved away to Belfast and Irvinestown, and as much as we enjoy swapping stories, none of them can add to the tree. I guess one of the questions is always, When and from where did the Pearsons come to Donegal? I am aware of the Plantation of Ulster but I don't think my Pearsons were any of the early colonists. If you can help Bob please email stjohnstonandcarrigans@yahoo.co.uk. Thanks.

Lunch Club: The Lunch Club will be on Wednesday 26 September. Times 11 am to 1 pm in the Resource Centre. New members always welcome and why not bring a friend or two?

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Saturday Walk: The Walk and Talk Group recently went to the Old Railway Walk in Derry. The next Saturday walk will be this Saturday 24 March when we will do the complete Inch Level Walk. This is a popular walk as there are no hills and the scenery is lovely and it is a good one for new beginners. Transport will leave St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre at 9am and return at approximately 2 pm. This walk is open to all members of the community. All persons under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Walkers please bring and wear appropriate clothes, pack a snack and bring money for a bite to eat on the way home. Places are limited so to avoid disappointment book a place by phoning the centre on 074 91 48551 or contacting Sarah Hunter at the local shop.

World Book Day: The pupils of Scoil an Linbh Íosa celebrated World Book Day on Friday 9 March last. The monthly school assembly was devoted to the occasion with pupils dressing up as their favourite book character, and introducing their character to the whole school. A number of pupils also did book reviews on books which they have read recently. The occasion was a huge success

History Group: Taughboyne History Group will hold its next meeting on Wednesday March 28. Time 7.30 pm in the computer room of the Resource Centre. New members and inquirers are most welcome. There is an opportunity for sharing old photographs and information about days gone by and frequently we will look at a DVD of historic interest. If you wish to get in touch, please leave a message 91 48551. Or you can email taughboynehistorygroup@gmail.com.

RES: Regional Employment Outreach Service will be available on Tuesday 3 April 11 to 1 pm in the Resource Centre. Are you unemployed, seeking work, training or education opportunities? The RES offers a free and totally confidential service that provides support with putting together a professional CV, filling out job application forms, preparing for an interview and providing access to emerging job opportunities. If you need its services please call Helen or Mary 074 91 61979. This Service is supported by DLDC and is free and totally confidential.

Crosses: Well done to Joe and Marie Bovaird's St Brigid's Cross fundraiser for different charities. Hundreds and hundreds of crosses were made including small ones for confined spaces and vehicles. A grand total of €3707 was raised. Many thanks to all who gave donations – very much appreciated.

Family Research: Here is an email from Bob Crossin. “I am researching family history and interested in any link to the Crossin/Crossans who lived in Donegal in the 1800’s. My great, great grandfather was Neil Crossan who married Rose McSwinney and had a son, William, who emigrated to the US in 1866. William was married to Hannah McElwee in April of 1866 in St Johnston Church. There is quite a lot of descendants who would like to know more about Neil as William had 8 children and 46 grandchildren - one of whom was my father.” If you can help Bob please email stjohnstonandcarrigans@yahoo.co.uk.