Local & Diocesan items of interest
Local, community and diocesan items of interest for all.
LOCAL:
WICKLOW HOSPICE MEMORY TREE – SEEKING VOLUNTEERS
The Wicklow Hospice Memory Tree will be located at Kilquade Arboretum from 21st November through the month of December. If anyone would like to volunteer to cover a 2 hour slot please contact Allison Ryder in Wicklow Hospice. Wicklow Hospice is very grateful for your support with this important fundraiser.
ADVENT PRAYER RESOURCE:
Many resources are available to help us prepare during Advent. One such is the Be Still resource from the Hallow app. There is a free version of this app and it is also possible to try a free trial for the full version. See Be Still | Hallow to access this worthwhile resource.
DELGANY THURSDAY GROUP:
Event ; Christmas Lunch.
Date ; Thursday, 4th December, 2025.
Time ; Assemble at the venue at 12.45 pm.
Venue ; Parkview Hotel, Newtownmountkennedy.
Cost ; €30.00 per person.
To Book ; contact Peter 086 830 7644,
Violet 087 756 0153 or
John 086 356 6527.
Note ; Please book by Monday 1st December so we can tell the hotel
how many will be attending.
GARA Notices:
A total of €2,115.00 was raised for the Wicklow Hospice on Friday last, 26th September.
National Concert Hall for the Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society’s production of My Fair Lady. This will take place on Saturday, 15th November, at 2.30pm, for the matinee. We are booking 36 NCH tickets and a 36 seater bus. We need to fill the bus, in order to make the trip viable. Booking can be made each Monday, starting 29th September, at Kilian House before the Chair Yoga class. Bookings will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Cost will be €55 for bus and My Fair Lady ticket. Cheques are preferred if available. If the trip does not go ahead all monies will be refunded. A committee member will be there from 12.45 pm for approximately 20 minutes to collect monies. You must be a GARA Greystones Member in order to travel. Forms will be available at Kilian Centre
For those who have not yet paid your Membership, please do so now so that you can partake in all GARA activities. Kathleen Redmond will be collecting GARA Membership fees of €25, for the year 2025 to 2026, at Kilian House on Mondays from 12.45 – before the Chair Yoga class. Please complete the form and bring the membership fee to Kathleen.
Any cheques should be made payable to Greystones Active Retirement Association.
Regular GARA activities: GARA Greystones is the local active retirement association for the over 55s.
We serve the Greystones, Delgany, Kilcoole and Newcastle areas. All are most welcome to join !!
GARA Greystones activities are now back in action: Activities take place in Kilian House, behind Holy Rosary Church.
Monday 1.15 pm to 2 pm Chair Yoga
This class is aimed at working on maintaining mobility and balance.
Both are vital components of health as we get on in years.
Monday 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm Informal Art Group
Guidance with Art is given by Ann O’Neill.
This is a relaxed group space for every level, from beginner to those with some experience.
Tuesday 10.45 am to 12.45 pm Indoor Short Mat Bowling
Newcomers are most welcome and you will be encouraged to join and learn the ropes.
Leading the way to healthy and happy lives in the years ahead !!
Last Friday of the month
We also have a Coffee Morning with a speaker on the last Friday of the month.
Full details on GARA Greystones and its activities, membership, trips and outings from: 087 2845 465 or garagreystonesplus@gmail.com.
We look forward to a great year with you !!
DIOCESE-WIDE:
ADVENT CONVERSATIONS, GLASTHULE
CROSSCARE CHRISTMAS FOOD POVERTY APPEAL
As the cost of living continues to rise, more families than ever are turning to Crosscare for help. This year, almost 3,000 people – including 1,200 children – sought basic food support, while nearly 12,000 affordable meals were served in the Portland Row Community Café.
More than 10% of people in Ireland are now at risk of food poverty, and emergency parcels alone can’t address the growing pressures families face. Crosscare’s Food and Support model combines choice-based food access, low-cost meals, one-to-one casework, and wraparound supports such as welfare advice, budgeting help, and improved access to healthcare, education, and employment.
We believe in giving people a hand up, not a handout. Every donation helps someone stabilise their life and move toward independence.
Please support our 2025 Christmas Food Poverty Appeal. Your donation – big or small – will help provide food, stability, and a pathway towards independence for those who need it most. Donate at www.crosscare.ie or call 01 8360011.
MY ADVENT PAUSE
“Something Different for Advent – My Advent Pause”: With Advent on the horizon, St Peregrine’s Partnership is offering all connected with our partnership of parishes and beyond a little gift to encourage you to make a little space to look after yourself during this busiest of seasons. This free booklet is your personal, do-it-yourself retreat (based on the Sunday Gospels of Advent) to help you find moments of peace, hope, joy, and love in the middle of your busy life! Take from it what you need and go at your own pace. This is our Advent gift to you! Use and share it as your gift to yourself. Download, print or share it from the News section of our website, from our Facebook page or from this link. For those wishing to journey the retreat, pray the scriptures and meet with others following the retreat we will meet each Tuesday in Advent at 10:30am in Littlepace Church.
RELIC VISIT
ADVENT RETREAT, WHITEFRIAR STREET
CONCERT, GARDINER STREET CHURCH
The choral group Visionaries will give a Christmas Concert in St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, from 4pm to 6pm on Sunday, December 14. Visionaries is a choir of some 50 voices, singing in four-part harmony. The members of the choir are visually impaired, and any money raised will be for Fight Blindness. They will sing seasonal and Christmas pieces. Please come along to support them and to enter into the spirit of the season. Tickets: €10 (available at the door).
PALESTRINA CHOIR
Upcoming Palestrina Events:
10th November – Scheduled broadcast date for Palestrina Choir feature on Nationwide on RTÉ
14th November – Pro-Cathedral Bicentenary Mass at Pro-Cathedral
16th November – Concert at 3.30pm celebrating the Bicentenary of Pro-Cathedral at Pro Cathedral. Vivaldi Gloria, Mozart Laudate Dominum, Ave Verum Corpus, Handel Hallelujah Chorus and other choral favourites. Palestrina Choir and St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral Girls’ Choir, members of Marlborough Baroque Orchestra and soloists Eva Waters and Sarah Richmond.
18th to 23rd November – Rome trip to take part in the Jubilee of Choirs in the Vatican and celebrating Palestrina 500. This includes a prestigious joint concert alongside the Sistine Chapel Choir.
13th December – ‘The Joy of Christmas with the Palestrina Choir’ National Concert Hall.
21st December – Carol Service at 3.30pm at Pro-Cathedral
UNIVERSITY CHUCH
#YML
Registration is now open for the second intake of the Diocesan Certificate in Young Adult Ministry – #YML. Running over six Saturdays, the aim of this Diocesan Certificate is to build up the capacity of Youth Ministry and Youth Ministry Leadership throughout the Archdiocese of Dublin. It is a highly practical course where participants are given new experiences and key resources, including gaining vital skills to put into practice in their local context, while also being grounded in key church documents such as Christus Vivit. For more information and to send on any queries, please contact natalie.doherty@dublindiocese.ie. An information session will be announced for November. Registration is open and can be accessed here: https://forms.office.com/e/Et8sXCxNtC
LUMEN DOMINICAN CENTRE
The Lumen Dominican Centre nestled on the Sion Hill Campus in the heart of Blackrock, Co. Dublin is a hive of educational activity for adults of all ages. Lumen advocates for lifelong learning and human flourishing in a spirit of community through the ethos of the Dominican sisters. It is committed to the dialogue between faith and culture. Classes return in a couple of weeks and run in the daytime (Tuesday to Friday) and one evening a week. Subjects range from ballet, yoga, sacred dance, languages to art history, philosophy and the Bible. In the coming Autumn term Lumen is launching a new choir ‘Cantus Lumen’ (Song of Light). No auditions or experience are necessary, and it will be an opportunity for new and old students to enjoy the benefits and fun of choral singing. To book visit the website lumenop.ie or call the centre at 01-2882075. All are welcome.
MIGHT YOU BE CALLED TO THE PRIESTHOOD?
MARINO INSTITUTE OF FURTHER EDUCATION
Are you looking for food for the mind and oxygen for the soul in the company of fellow travelers? Join the Adult Education Certificate in Spirituality and Human Development Programme. It is open for applications now. For more information, please see the following website HERE.
MANRESA RETREATS
Manresa Jesuit Centre of Spirituality (Clontarf, Dublin) is offering the following course and retreats:
Course: Working with Dreams. Tuesdays, 7 October – 2 December 2025 (8-week course; except Tue, 28 Oct). Would you like to be able to interpret your own dreams? Dream interpretation opens the path to healing, wholeness and creativity. Explore dreams in scripture, learn the symbolic language of dreams and discover the deeper meaning of your life with this eight-week course, led by Paddy Greene SJ and Anne Hession.
Oasis Day. Saturday, 18 October 2025; Saturday, 15 November 2025. Take time to pause with an Oasis Day – a gentle, one-day retreat of reflection and guided prayer, offering quiet space for prayer, rest, and renewal.
Oasis Days
Saturday, 18 October, 15 November, 6 December, or 13 December 2025Take a sacred pause before the year ends. Choose any one of these single-day retreats to rest, pray, and be refreshed in spirit.
Bookings can be made online (manresa.ie), by email at reception@manresa.ie, or by calling +353 1 5529 448.
Visit www.manresa.ie for more details.
ADVENT CANDLES
Visit www.rednuns.com/shop
GENERAL:
YOUTH 2000 Christmas Retreat
Youth 2000 Ireland are having their annual Christmas retreat in Dominican College, Newbridge, Co Kildare on the 12th-14th of December for ages 16-35.
This promises to be a special retreat!! Excellent Speakers, Inspiring talks & workshops, fantastic music, group activities, good food, Adoration with Reconciliation & Healing service and prayer.
There is plenty of time to chill out, meet new people and find out what it means to be young and Catholic today!
This retreat is donation only and there will be free buses arriving from all over the country. To find out more information and to register please visit our website at youth2000.ie or contact us at office@youth2000.ie
ANAM CARA ONLINE BEREAVEMENT INFORMATION EVENING
For some this is a season of joy and anticipation, but for others it can bring great sadness– especially those who are missing a beloved child this Christmas. I would like to extend a special welcome to our upcoming online Bereavement Information Evening, in light of the joys and difficulties this time of year brings to grieving parents. This event is especially designed for those who may not have accessed supports around the grief before, but all are welcome.
This event will take place online on Monday 8th December at 7pm
This Bereavement Information Evening is open to all bereaved parents regardless of the age the child died, or the circumstances of their death. Our guest speaker for the evening will be David Trickey.
David is a leading Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has specialised in working with traumatised children, young people and their families since 2000. He continues to focus on direct clinical work, and the training and supervision of others working with traumatised children, young people and their families.
Register here for Anam Cara Online Bereavement Information Evening
We also offer informational packets, providing information about our supports, grieving processes, and ways to support families through this immensely challenging time. If your parish or community would like a set of packets, or to find out more about the services we offer please email us at info@anamcara.ie or call 085 288 8888.
COME AND SEE
Might God be calling you to religious life with the Carmelite Nuns in New Ross, Co. Wexford? To find out more and get in touch, click here:
ACN IRELAND has launched ‘ACN Church Resources DAC’ which will publish and supply much of the material that was once provided by Veritas. From now on, ACN Church Resources may be a one-stop resource for the various publications you will need. See www.acnchurchresources.ie
RADIO MARIA
Radio Maria Ireland is a Catholic Radio Station, and we seek to be of assistance to the parishes as a guide, resource, and tool, encouraging each one of us to keep growing in the faith on a daily basis. We broadcast 24/7 on three pillars being that of Prayer, and Catechesis, Music, and Human Formation.
Radio Maria serves as a valuable guide, resource, and tool for spiritual growth, offering prayers, teachings, and music to deepen one’s faith. We believe that by introducing Radio Maria , we can encourage listeners to discover the spiritual benefits that our programs provide.
To listen, click HERE.
WEEKLY EZINE
Sharing the Good News is the newsletter of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. If you would like receive this weekly ezine, you can do so at https://catholicnews.ie/newsletter/. You are encouraged to invite others to do so too. Send articles and photographs for use in Sharing the Good News to info@catholicbishops.ie.
SUPPORT SERVICES
UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHAPLAINCY
Fr Vasyl Kornitsky is Chaplain to the Ukrainian community and curate in Donnycarney Parish. He can be contacted at 086 2359561 or ugccie@gmail.com. Ukrainian Mass (Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Byzantine rite) is held every Sunday at 1pm in Our Lady of Consolation Church, Donnycarney.
FRENCH LANGUAGE MASS
Mass for the French-speaking Catholic community in Dublin resumed on Sunday, September 14, at 12.30pm in St Mary’s Church, Haddington Road and continues on the second and fourth Sundays of each month at 12.30pm from September to June.
ITALIAN COMMUNITY
Italian Catholic Community Dublin. Masses in Aughrim Street Church on the second Sunday of the month at 12.30pm and fourth Sunday of the month at 5pm (followed by community gathering). Other Activities: Biblical Catechesis (online); Pre-marriage Catechesis: Rosary (online); Book Club (online). Facebook: https://facebook.com/italiani.cattolici.a.dublino/. Contact: Fr Coriolan Muresan. cattolici.dublin@gmail.com / coryolan26@yahoo.it / 012447995.
JIGSAW WICKLOW
Jigsaw offers goal focused brief interventions, maximum eight session, to young people aged 12 to 25 years of age experiencing mild to moderate Mental Health issues.
We offer face to face sessions with young people.
Should you have any queries about our service, please feel free to contact Jigsaw Wicklow on 01 5240796
SUPPORT FOR BIRTH MOTHERS
Information and Support for Birth Mothers whose babies were placed for adoption may be found at www.birthinfo.ie or by calling the relevant section of Tusla at 0818 445500.
TOWARDS PEACE
Towards Peace is a service offering spiritual support for anybody who has been abused, physically emotionally, sexually, spiritually, in a religious/church environment. Towards Peace was established in October 2014 by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Association of Leaders of Missionary & Religious Leaders of Ireland. (AMRI). The Towards Peace office hours are Monday and Tuesday 9am to 4pm and Wednesday 9am to 12noon. For further information phone 01 5053028 or 086 7710533 or visit www.towardspeace.ie or https://www.facebook.com/TowardsPeaceSpiritualSupportService/.
BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT
The Irish Hospice Foundation provides a free Bereavement Support Line. This National Freephone Service is available from 10am to 1pm, Monday to Friday, by calling 1800 807077. Visit www.hospicefoundation.ie for more information.
BETHANY BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT
Bethany Bereavement Support Group is a voluntary community and parish-based service. Our objective is to support the bereaved through the grieving process and our services are totally free of charge and confidential within the law. The name Bethany is derived from the story of Jesus’ friends Martha & Mary who lived in a village called Bethany and grieved over the death of their brother Lazarus. Visit https://bethany.ie/.
AWARE – SUPPORT & SELF CARE GROUPS
If you or those with whom you work wish to connect with people in relation to your mental wellbeing, consider using Aware’s phone-in and Zoom support and self-care groups, support line or support mail. For more information, visit www.aware.ie.
Hearing From You!
We would love to hear from you – what are your doing within the faith community in the Greystones and Kilquade Pastoral Area.
Let us help get the word out there for you! Go tell everyone – but tell us by Tuesday so we can include it for you in the weekend newsletter!
