Gus Toomey R.I.P.
Gus Toomey was born in Poulaphouca in 1925. He went to school in Ballymore, upon leaving school he worked in the construction of the Poulaphouca Dam.
Despite being only 16 years old, he joined the Irish army in 1941. At the end of the Emergency he left the army and went to Belfast to enlist in the Royal Air Force. He did his basic training in Wilmslow,Cheshire. His first posting was back to Bishops Court, Northern Ireland. He went on to serve in Egypt during the Suez Crisis and was also stationed in Gibraltar. He left the R.A.F. after twelve years. He lived and worked in Birmingham until 1991 and then returned to Ireland.
He had a passion for football; he played for the Combined Services in Gibraltar and later Grantham in Lincolnshire. When he returned to Ireland he became Chairman of the Ballymore Soccer Club.
He was an avid attendee of League of Ireland matches and in later years he supported Kildare County. He had a keen interest in all sports especially Gaelic Games, boxing and cricket. He worked and socialised in the anvil Bar. He retired from working behind the bar and went to live in Liffey heights. He had a great store of knowledge and a great recall of old characters and old footballers. He loved a pint and a chat about sport or old times over a few.
He will be missed by all who knew him.
I LOOK AT YOU, MAVOURNEEN
(To my granddaughter, Maeve, nearing three)

I look at you, Mavourneen,
Remembering
How, mute, we had awaited, then endured
Your infinite gestation,
And my grateful heart melts.

I look at you, Mavourneen,
Noting
Your precocious eyes glisten
At well deserved rebuke,
And my empathic heart melts.

I look at you, Mavourneen,
Divining
The years when I am gone
When you must face life’s slings and arrows,
And my impotent heart melts.


SFG (26/09/07)



“FROM THOSE DEATH LEFT BEHIND”
Amanda Evans, formerly of Liffey Heights, lost her dad, Jimmy/James Evans on 29th October 1990 when he took his own life. He was 37 years old with a wife and four children and extended family.

Suicide is an uncomfortable topic; families recovering from a sudden death or illness can grieve and work through anger, loss and the “Why, why, why…”
Families coping with the aftermath of suicide cannot grieve in the normal way; pain is replaced with anger, self recrimination and blame: “Did I miss something? Was it my fault? Did I not love enough?”
One can’t even imagine the hurt, the devastating sense of rejection, the awful feeling that those left behind weren’t worthy of living for……..
And the only person who can answer those questions is gone.
Amanda Evans has written and published a book “From Those Death Left Behind”. It is a beautiful book; essays and poems written to her inner self and to her Dad with excerpts also from Yvonne and Christine.
Next month, Amanda talks to The Bugle about her recovery from the shocking suicide of her Dad and her hope that her work will help other families cope with suicide. - Rose
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Credit Union Policy
Regarding a submission received from a local resident concerned about new Credit Union lending policy, we have passed the questions raised with management at Naas Credit Union. As The Board of Directors were not meeting until after our copy deadline, we will hold the matter over until our December edition. Editors
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Letter to the Editors
Ciggie (Davoren) here....I had to just send an email to say how beautiful the church was last weekend; we were all 'in town' for Mammy's Anniversary Mass and were blown away by the decoration of the Church for Halloween / Harvest time. You don't see this done in many churches and it is to be highly recommended. Kathleen told me it was all down to Mary Campbell, so well done Mary!!!
Also, we went back "home" on Sunday for the brilliant & hilarious Wags & Wellies match - thoroughly enjoyed it, my son is going to try and get some of his friends to run something similar (for Charity and the laugh), so give Ballymore a big clap on the back for me, won't you? Sometimes when I go back home I get the feeling I've never really left it and that's a very nice feeling! Anyway,enough ramblings for now. Hope to see you soon around the village.
Best wishes
Ciggie


Sheila Byrne graduated from D.I.T. Cathal Brugha Street on November 3rd, with a degree in Hospitality Services Management.

Thank You
A Big thank you to everyone who came to my recent ‘surprise’ birthday. Even though I knew something was up, I was still speechless (and I know that doesn’t happen often) when I came into the house. The Charity Box idea was great. Some of you might know that a good friend of ours suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, so I decided to pass on your generous contribution to the MS Society of Ireland.
Thanks again
Eoghan Barrett.

Village Green Garden Club

Niall Hatch from Birdwatch Ireland held the October gathering of the Ballymore Eustace Village Green Garden Club enthralled with tales of the exploits of Irish native garden birds.
Niall who is a regular on Derek Mooney's show has a huge following in Ireland and has over the last few years educated us all to the variety and needs of our wonderful garden warblers and has also highlighted the dangers both environmental and other which which threaten some of these species.
The Thursday night talk went way beyond its alloted time because no one wanted to call a halt to such a fascinating insight into the tiny but determined feathered friends who have survived huge changes in their habitat over the last 30 years or so.
He also mentioned campaigns which Birdwatch Ireland has carried out to save endangered species. Once the corcrake was widely heared in Ireland but now there are only a couple of hundred pairs as a result of changes in farming practice and machinery.
Thanks to a campaign that has seen farmers paid and encouraged to offer protection to this threatened species, the corncrake it is now slowly moving back from extinction.
But Birdwatch Ireland need help to carry on their work of conservation and you can join them by looking up their website WWW.birdwatchireland.ie.
All the members of the club agreed that it was a wonderfully entertaining and informative night and well worth dragging the weary body out of the comfort zone of the sitting room sofa.
The next Village Green meeting promises to be equally exciting on Thursday Nov 29. Seamus O’Brien from Kilcuragh gardens and formerly with the Botanic gardens, Glasnevin will give a talk on classic garden plants. Put it in your diary now. 7.30 sharp.As always new members are always welcome as are former members who might like to return.

YOUR Youth Page
Bored of Being Bored?I know I am anyway. Why are we bored though? have we just given up? Have we gotten used to being called "delinquent's" Have we gotten used to the sneers from all the older people? I haven't & I hope to God you all haven't. Why have we become so bored? There's a Youth Club on every Friday night, which is ok. There's discos on in Naas every so often. There's a cinema in Naas. A shopping centre in Newbridge. So why are we still bored?So for my boredom I have decided to write into The Bugle & ask them for their help & I'm asking you all the teenagers in Ballymore for your help. Lets stop being bored.

Film ReviewSuperbad*****If you haven't seen Superbad yo have not lived. It is probably the most funniest film ever. Its about these three friends who want to get drink for this girls party who one of the boys likes. The movie is just about what happens on the night of the party & what they have to go through just to impress the girls.Its a very random & dry movie. Its definately a movie to go see with your friends & not your parents as there's a few scenes were if you were there with your parents you would be major morto!The three main characters are Evan, Fogell & Seth. Seth & Evan are best friends & they have little arguments what are just SO hilarious. In order for them to get the drink Fogell has to get a fake id & for his name he picked "McLovin" which is a hilarious scene.Highly recomended to go & see. You can see it in Storm Cinema's in Naas at 3 o'clock or 6 o'clock!


We’ve received a genuine note from the Youth of Ballymore stating that they are NOT responsible for the oiling/waxing of the fencing on the River Walk.

We will give two 25 euro vouchers for the best contribution from any person (12 – 18)
Received by the Bugle next month. Film Reviews, CD or game reviews, etc. Over to you.
This comp. Will be judged by the youth page editor, who wishes to remain anonymous.