“Proud of Our Past, Confident of Our Future”

Pride of Place. Hard work? Yes! Worth it? …Most definitely!!

AOH-Hall-600x397

On 10 July the Judges visited Dromiskin, Co Louth, a community that prides itself in being age and environmentally friendly.

The judges were introduced to the following local organisations who shared their stories and outlined their hopes:

  • Residents’ Associations
  • Dromiskin Tidy Towns Volunteers
  • St. Joseph’s GAA Football Club, Community Employment Scheme
  • Tús Scheme
  • Senior Citizens’ Committee
  • Youth Club
  • Coffee Morning Group
  • Historical and Gardening Societies
  • St. Vincent de Paul
  • Credit Union
  • St. Peter’s National School
  • Local Businesses
  • Athletics and Soccer Clubs
  • Fit For Life Young Musicians And Dancers

Credit Union Cottage and Medicinal Garden

Danes, Czechs and Argentines All Playing Their Part

A mix of young and old, national and non-nationals welcomed the judges.  Local Councillor, Liam Reilly spoke about the assimilation of newcomers into the community and the roles they are playing in local organisations.

  • How lovely to hear of the retired Danish lady, an attendee at the coffee mornings, who joins her new friends for daily walks?
  • Or the newcomer from the Czech Republic, one of the runners in Dromiskin who had made many new acquaintances through Fit for Life?
  • And the latest member of Tidy Towns from Argentina.

Dromiskin is a certainly an inclusive community brimming with diversity and pride.  

 

 

A Whistle stop tour of Dromiskin with entertainment laid on by fiddlers, dancers, harpists, and historians…

Even some young models in “Ballrooms of Romance” attire were involved in entertaining the judges in an event provided by curator Dr. B Flanagan. Another proud resident Pauline Bray Mc Knight escorted the visitors around the local estate, Church View.

Dancing at the Crossroads

The tour of the village was not without incident!

The highlight of the judges’ visit to St. Ronan’s Villas was to be a tree planting ceremony at a prominent location in the estate.   Says Co-Ordinator John Hanneffy:

I was shocked when minutes before the arrival of our esteemed guests, we discovered that an overly enthusiastic CES worker had overstepped his brief and had already planted the tree!

John located a spade and quickly unplanted the tree, and the ceremony went ahead with judges blissfully unaware of the panic that had unfolded minutes previously!  The CES worker remarked that at least the tree had an hour’s good growth!

Bog Oak sculpture

Dromiskin Dundalk: Proud Of Our Past and Confident Of Our Future

Locals demonstrated their celebration of their unique heritage such as:

  • The Round Tower
  • Celtic Cross
  • Church ruins
  • Ancient monastic site
  • Souterrain
  • Crannóg
  • Viking past

This is reflected in the slogan, chosen for the 2014 branding ceremony:

Bródúil as an tréimhse atá thart – Muiníneach d’ár Todhchaí” (Proud of our Past and Confident of our Future)

In recognition of this fact, the recently launched heritage trail provided visitors with entertaining focal points of the village. The locals were extremely happy with how the day went and in resident Pat Mulligan’s words…

Pride of Place. Hard work?… Yes! Worth it? … Most definitely!!

Peace Garden

Rainy Day But Sunny Attitudes In Ardee

Visit 10th July

 

The judges paid a visit to Ardee, Co. Louth on 10 July to see the Tidy Towns Together Eco Tribe project. Despite the rain there were nothing but smiles from the local schoolchildren eager to present their hard work!

Eco Tribes was first organised by Louth Tidy Towns Together in 2013 and continued successfully in 2014. It involves seven Green Schools partnering with seven Tidy Towns groups. The challenge was to create new wildlife habitats in Louth, in derelict, abandoned or neglected sites, bringing lessons learned in school into the wider community.

Green Fingers Galore!

Each school was asked to create an Eco Tribe and Secret Name/Tag. They had to develop, design and create a bed  for a herb garden or meadow on a site selected in the local community.

The seven schools chosen represented all areas of Louth. The judges visited each site and got to see some wonderful work such as:

  • The Snowdrops from Scoil Mhuire na Trocaire Ardee.  Theirs was an age-friendly theme with a bed created at the Ardee Day Care Centre. Residents of the centre will be able to enjoy this unique space at their leisure.

The Snowdrops

 

  • The Sally Gardeners from St. Francis National School, Blackrock produced a beautiful herb garden in the shape of their school crest in a derelict site in Blackrock. They cleverly incorporated willow grown in the park and residents from local estates will maintain the garden.

 Sally Gardeners

  • The Blackthorns from St. Peter’s National School, Dromiskinb used recycled tyres placed in the shape of a human body to place their plants in a neglected area beside the old AOH Hall. The medicinal qualities of all the herbs and plants were explained to the large attendance at their public event.

 The Blackthorns

  • The Honeysuckles from St. Paul’s National School, Walshestown reflected the maritime history of Clogherhead with their fish-shaped bed on the site of an old handball alley. A visit to the school from a local fish merchant rounded off this maritime theme.

 Honeysuckles

  • Na Laoracha Coill from Collon National School chose a high profile neglected site in the centre of the village green where they created four planting areas. For their public event, children dressed up in turn of the century clothes reflecting the old market square tradition.

 Na Laoracha Coill

  • The Rosemary Railway from Scoil Brid, Ardaghy, chose a dull pathway into the local playground and brightened it up no end with their colourful planting and design
  • The Thyme Travellers from Muchgrange National School, Greenore, created a secret garden in a derelict site and were helped greatly by neighbours and friends to beautify the area.

 The Thyme Travellers

The Benefits of Hard Work!

The Eco Tribes project has proved successful with benefits accruing to local schools and communities throughout County Louth. These benefits have been social, environmental and educational and help cement the relationships between school and the wider community. Most importantly, there have been tangible results with concrete additions been made in enhancing the presentation of villages and communities throughout Louth

The judges departed knowing that the Eco Tribes Project is in very small capable hands.

For more information about Ardee’s Eco Tribes Project, visit the Eco Tribes website or Check out Eco Tribes on Facebook.

Ardee large group

 

 

Sundial Shows Best Possible Light!

By working together we were able to portray Blackrock in the best possible light

blackrock judges

The whole community stepped up to the mark on Friday 11 July when judges and other officials visited the village of Blackrock, in Co. Louth.  The judges were welcomed at the community centre by children from St. Oliver Plunkett’s school.

After that, the Blackrock Tidy Towns outlined how the community groups in the village work together for the benefit of the whole community. The judges met representatives from the Community Centre Committee and Rock Celtic F.C. before being taken on a guided tour of Blackrock park starting from the prestigious Blackrock sundial.  Did you know that this is the largest sundial in a public place in Ireland?

blackrock judges2

The local school children from St Francis’ and St Fursey’s schools introduced them to their “Eco-Tribes” gardens featuring ecologically friendly planting designs.  A short break at the Seomra Glas in the biodiversity garden, organised by local children and parents was followed by meetings with representatives from Blackrock Athletics Club and The Geraldines G.F.C.

A walking tour of the promenade and Main Street area during which the Tidy Towns Team explained the various projects that had been undertaken in recent years to bring Blackrock village up to the award-winning standard it currently enjoys.

The Luxury Tour

Representatives from Blackrock Seaside Traders and Seaside Festival Committee met the judges. A volunteer from the local CrossCause charity explained how the community supports underprivileged children in Romania and Ghana.  A minibus tour of Blackrock village followed where the judges saw some lovely sights such as:

  • The Romanesque St. Oliver Plunkett’s church
  • The Dundalk Golf Club grounds,
  • The preserved freshwater Hamilton Marsh
  • St. Francis’ school where the principal and children introduced their brand new state-of-the-art facility.
  • Personnel from the Community Employment Scheme
  • Goirt na Mara and Rock Court housing estates
  • Traditional Irish musicians from the Blackrock Music School

Some Lovely Parting Words

Blackrock Tidy Towns would like to thank everyone who helped make this such a memorable day for the village.  By working together, we were able to portray Blackrock in the best possible light, and everyone really did their bit to make sure this happened.

Tidy Towns Chairman, John Horan

For more info about their community and their project, visit the Blackrock website.