2007 Gallery Archive
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Christmas Ceili December 2007The Parish Social Committee organised another very successful Family Ceili in McKenna Community Centre. The event was very well attended by a wide range of dancers and families from across the parish. As before Mrs Mary Pollock was the Ban a Ti who kept everyone moving in the right direction. A well deserved supper was provided by the Social Committee before the last set of dances were called. Thanks to everyone involved with this very successful event.
The Story of a Saviour's Birth 2007The annual Parish Carol Service took place on Sunday 30 December in St Josephs Church. The story of a Saviour's Birth, presented by young people from the parish, was told using scripture readings and mime.
Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch December 2007On Sunday 16th December, the Senior Citizen's of Kircubbin community enjoyed their annual Christmas Lunch at McKenna Community Centre. Everyone enjoyed an afternoon of good food and entertainment and it was a credit to all who participated in the preparations. A sincere thank you to everyone involved in making this special event so successful!
Christmas Bazaar December 2007Sunday 2nd December marked the return of the parish Bazaar, following a break of many years. McKenna Community Centre was filled to capacity with eager parishioners who came together to enjoy a great afternoon's craic and entertainment! The Stalls included Christmas gifts, home baking, bric-a-brac, books, games, toys, games of chance, tombola, plants...to name but a few! & even Santa took time out of his busy schedule to make an appearance! For over 3 hours the Rickety Wheel spun and with many great prizes on offer, everyone waited eagerly to hear their number called. Thank you to everyone who donated wonderful prizes for the Rickety Wheel and the various stalls. Above all, thanks for the great support received from those who dug deep into their pockets and purses to make it a rewarding event for our Parish.
Remembrance Day Services 2007On Thursday 8 November the Newtownards Branch of the Royal Air Force Association paid a visit to the war graves in Mount St Joseph's. They were hosting a visit by Watson Ennis of Edinburgh who was stationed in Portaferry during the second world war. He served in the Air Sea Rescue arm. The social committee provided a light lunch after the visit.
Saturday 10 November at 11.00 am saw the annual act of Remembrance of the war dead at Mount St Joseph's graveyard
Air Cadets from Regent House School with their Officers placed the traditional Crosses on the graves of the Polish and other nationalities who lost their lives in the area during WW II. This was followed by a short prayer service led by Fr Mc Bride.
Afterwards refreshments were provided in Ballycran Old School where a display of photographs explaining the role of the RAF base at Ballyhalbert was mounted.
Annual Mass for All Souls at St Patrick's 2007The morning of Friday 2 November, The Commemoration Of All The Faithful Departed, was unusually mild and sunny as parishioners gathered at St Patrick's Church, Lisbane, for the annual Mass for all those buried in the surrounding graveyard..
St Patrick's is the original parish Church, dedicated to our national patron in 1777. Our ancestors in the faith abandoned it in 1876 in favour of the present Churches.
St Patrick's present status is that of a Mortuary Chapel which means that only one Mass is celebrated there each year.
About 110 people were seated and another 10-15 had to remain outside.
Fr Mc Bride blessed the graves before Mass and afterwards the congregation were invited to refreshments in the Saltwater Brig Restaurant next door by the owners Mr and Mrs McCarthy which made it a great social occasion as people from all over the Upper Ards renewed acquaintances.
Beetle Drive 4 2007There was a very good turn out at Ballycran School for the recent beetle drive. Not only were there prizes for the first beetle drawn in each of the 12 games, prizes for the best looking beetle were up for grabs too!
A determined effort by the children to win each round and attention to their drawing skills made for a very lively evening. Despite the keen competition there were thankfully enough prizes to ensure that virtually no one left empty handed!!
Family Ceili Night in McKenna Hall 2007On Sunday 26th of August the Parish of Ardkeen Social Committee hosted a very successful family ceili night in McKenna Hall. Young and old attended from all corners of the parish and beyond with experienced and new ceili dancers enjoying the great music provided by well known Ceili Band, Trasna. The hall resounded to The Walls of Limerick, Waves of Tory and Sweets of May, to name but a few of the tunes played. For the beginners there was plenty to learn whilst the Siege of Carrick and High Call'd Cap enabled the more experienced dancers the opportunity to demonstrate some more complex steps.
Mary Pollock the Ban a Ti, had the floor filled for every dance and by 9.30 everyone was ready for a rest and time to sample an excellent supper served by the organising committee.
Soon everyone was back on the floor for the second half of the evening and a mixture of set dances and old time Irish waltzes all too quickly brought the first of what will hopefully be a regular event to an end around 11 o'clock.
Thanks to everyone who organised and supported this very popular event. Keep an eye on the Parish Bulletin for the date of next Ceili Night.
Rectory Park Fun Day 2007The residents of Rectory Park organised a superb Fun Day for all at the Community Centre in August 2007
In our poor summer it wasn't exactly a surprise that the weather wasn't great on the day.
Despite that, good organisation ensured the event was a great success. Looking forward to next year's!
Local parishioners visit Lourdes 2007In early July 2007 a number of our parishioners joined the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Whilst there they acquired and lit a candle at the Grotto for the intentions for all members of our parish.
From L-R
Victor Kennedy, Margaret Breen, Linda Clancy, Mary Edge with the candle lit in the Grotto for the intentions of the parish.
Bishop Patrick Walsh celebrates the Eucharist with other Clergy from the diocese.
Seamus and Lila Bell Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebrations 30 June 2007Seamus and Lila Bell celebrated the Golden Jubilee of their marriage on 25 June 2007. A reception was held in the McKenna hall on Saturday 30 June at which Seamus and Lila were joined by family and friends.
Cemetery Sunday 2007The families and friends of the Parish of Ardkeen were welcomed by Fr McBride to Mount St Josephs for Cemetery Sunday on a pleasant sunny afternoon. The ceremony commenced at 3pm with Fr McBride, Fr Mulholland and Fr Kelly officiating from the stand overlooking the graveyard. With reflective reading and prayers the ceremony was an opportunity for us all to take time and remember those members of our families and friends who have passed away. An extra special effort was made to ensure the cemetery looked its best and a sincere thank you to all who helped in this regard.
After the ceremony was over everyone was invited to come to the St Joseph's school house where light refreshments had been prepared by the ladies of the social committee. This was well attended and visitors were pleasantly surprised to see the inside of the recently refurbished school house. A special thanks to the members of the parish choirs who gathered together in the gallery of Mt St Josephs, to Bridie and Joe for helping with the ceremony and to everyone who gave up their time so willingly to ensure that this was a very special day for the Parish.
Annual Parish Treasure Hunt 2007On a glorious June evening 39 cars took part along with some parishioners in a mystery tour around the parish leaving from and returning to Mc Kenna Community Centre.
The winner was Bobby Adair from Ballygelagh who alone managed to unearth all 15 clues.In joint second place were Paddy Hughes from Ballygelagh and Brendan Mc Carthy Ballycranbeg.
Thanks to Joe Gilmore for giving this entertaining journey, to Jim Breen for the music and the Social Committee for the lovely supper.
First Holy Communion 2007The First Holy Communion Mass 2007 took place on Sunday 3 June in Mount St Joseph's.
30 children from the parish joined with their families for this special occasion.
The children and teachers from St Mary's provided the beautiful singing and music.
Afterwards everyone was invited back to a great reception in the School.
Despite the downpour it was a very special and grace filled day.
Eucharistic Ministers' Retreat 2007On Saturday 26th May 2007, the Extra-ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist from the Parish met in Rubane House for a short retreat, led by Fr Brendan McKeever, CP, of the Passionist Retreat Centre, Crossgar. The Retreat provided an opportunity for a morning of prayer, reflection and discussion, the central focus of which was the Eucharist and the supporting role provided to the Parish by the ‘Extra-ordinary Minister of the Eucharist’. Established ‘Ministers’ will be re-commissioned and 8 new ‘Ministers’ commissioned at Masses during the weekend of 9th/10th June (Feast of Corpus Christi), for service over the 3 year period, June 2007 to June 2010.
Ardkeen Players - Thomas James Takes a Wife 2007On Sunday 20th May, the local community turned out in force to support the Ardkeen Players’ inaugural performance of Robert Spence’s one act comedy play, ‘Thomas James takes a wife’.
For just over an hour the audience was captivated, amazed and entertained by the Players whose hard work over the past months came to fruition on the night. The evening was rounded off with a great supper, followed by a raffle and the £1800 raised will support parish funds and further productions.
The play was directed and produced by Belle Corr, who played Thomas James’ daughter ‘Agnes’ with Fionuala Torney as her sister ‘Jane’. Ellen Mary Woods played ‘Maggie’ the maid and Christopher Lennon her intended ‘Johnny’. Gerry Corr was ‘Willie Thompson’ the good friend of 75 year old Thomas James Curry, played by Ronan Magee and Breige Arthurs was mischievous ‘Trixie’, pretending to be the new Mrs T J Curry.
Vintage Traction Day at McGrattan's Farm 2007A 'Vintage Day' was organised to raise funds for additional equipment for Ards Hospital. The event was hosted by parishioners Christopher and Nuala McGrattan at their farm on Inishargy Road on Saturday 12th May. There were all sorts of stalls, crafts, plants, displays of vintage tractors and cars; an auction, demonstrations of vintage threshers in full working order and steam engines and lots more. The day finished with a tour of the area by the vintage tractors. The day was a great success with over £3000 raised by the efforts of all sections of the local community.
Sacrament of Confirmation 2007On a beautiful spring day Bishop Anthony Farquhar conferred the sacrament on 16 girls and boys of the parish in Mount St Joseph's Church. Afterwards they and their families returned to St Mary's Primary School for a short reception. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way to make the day such a success. Here's a flavour of the wonderful day.
Apostolic Workers Treasure Hunt 2007The first of the season's Car Treasure Hunts took place on Sunday evening 29 April. We were blessed with the continuing spell of fine dry sunny weather, as the eager participants gathered at Ballycran School House to collect their list of clues. 31 cars took part and the clues proved to be as entertaining and in some cases as elusive as ever, with the last entry dashing back at about 9.00p.m. Luckily, some of the lovely supper provided was still available!
During the supper, numerous prizes were raffled with all proceeds from the night (which totalled £462) going towards the parish Apostolic Works. The winner on the night was Mairead Ennis, followed (unusually) in second place by Peter Quinn and family and the McNamara clan came in third. Thanks to everyone who organised the event and to all who supported it and special thank you to the ladies who provided the lovely supper.
Easter Celebrations 2007The Solemn Easter Vigil coincided with a calm, clear Spring evening.
The Vigil was celebrated at Our Lady's Star of the Sea Church and commenced outside at 9.00pm with the blessing of the Easter Fire and the Lighting of the Pascal Candle before the procession into the Church.
The Easter Fire is lit and blessed by Fr McBride.
The Pascal Candle is prepared.
A light is taken from the Easter Fire to light the Pascal Candle before its procession into the Church.
On Easter Sunday morning, after the last Mass at Mount St Joseph's, our annual Easter Egg Hunt began. It’s much more fun when you find them yourself....... and before the crows get them!
Eager Easter Egg hunters under starters orders before they search the grounds of Mt St Josephs for their prizes.
And they're off!
Happy hunters enjoy their spoils.
Armfuls for everyone!!
Faith Friends Programme 2007Students and former students of St Columba's College, Portaferry and Our Lady's and St Patrick's College, Knock, are being Faith Friends to the children preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation which will be ministered on 27 April 2007.
The children and young people meet once a week in Kircubbin Community Centre for five weeks and discuss and reflect on different aspects of faith. But it’s a mixture of faith and fun.
