< Previous© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 40 The Stamullen Roundup By Grace Tierney O ur village is a changed place since our last edition. I’ve listed details of as many closures/changes as possible below, but this is an evolving situation, so please check locally. What is clear already, is that life goes on here and our community is pulling together (while staying apart) to help everybody. I’m sure I’ve not caught all the kindness and good news in Stamullen here, but I tried. Stay safe all, and keep washing those hands. A group of more than 30 villagers have formed the Stamullen CA Volunteer Group. They’ve organised a delivery service with O’Connor’s Pharmacy and David Farrell’s Butcher's. Centra will join later if needed but are currently managing their own deliveries. The group will get groceries or run errands to the Post Office for the elderly or those who are self-isolat- ing due to an underlying health condition. Ring the butcher or chemist (01-8418018, open 9-6p.m. please order prescriptions in advance by phone) and they will contact them, or ring Lisa at 087-6355519. Please spread the word. The whole village is very appreciative of the efforts of staff in Centra, and the post office, these days. If you need to avail of Centra’s new Tick & Collect delivery service you will find details at www.face- book.com/dunnescentrastamullen or you can phone 01-8834202. The GAA club has also started a food bank for non-perishables and vouchers at Amanda Smith’s office in the village. De- tails from Damien at 086-6016228. One thing we won’t run out of in Stamullen is potatoes, with thanks to Ivan Curran of Broadleas Farm. He recently provided bags of rooster potatoes from his farm- yard and delivered to the elderly. Are you a library member? Both of our nearest libraries (Balbriggan and Duleek) are physically closed but they still host a range of online resources which they highlighted on their open day (29 th of Feb). You can borrow ebooks, read newspapers & magazines, listen to audio books, take a language learning course, or study 100s of online courses (hobbies like baking, pho- tography etc. or improving IT and busi- ness skills - there’s a massive range avail- able). All you need is the barcode from your library card and the PIN. Not a library member? Don’t worry, be- cause of the virus - you can sign up online and get started straight away. https://librariesireland.ie/news/online- services-during-coronavirus www.meathlibraries.ie/onlineresources www.fingal.ie/council/service/fingal-li- brary-eservices-online-courses Many authors are providing live story times, challenges, and worksheets online for young fans. Try https://twitter.com/da- vidwalliams, @OliverJeffers, https://twit- ter.com/sarahwebbishere, and @Derek- Landy for a start. Windows around Stamullen were adorned with amazing artwork for St. Patrick’s Day - a fun variation on the traditional pa- rade which I enjoyed walking past. Many of them are still available to view on the Stamullen Community Alert facebook page, or on a walk. #paddys_panes Families in the village probably know the famous “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” book by Michael Rosen. There was a time © April 2020 The Meath Coaster 41 when I had it off by heart. Villagers are being encouraged to put a teddy in their window so families with smaller children can go for a (socially distanced) walk and spot the bears along the way. There are at least nine out there in the Stamullen wilds already waiting for teddy enthusiasts young and old. Are we going to catch a big one? The East Meath Hospice Association had another great Pancake fundraiser last month and raised a total of €7,600. All con- tinued support is very much appreciated. Congrats to Scott Guildea (Stamullen and Ailsbury badminton player) who has been selected for the Under 17s Ireland Bad- minton team. Congrats also to Jack Crowther who was crowned the winner of the Eminem’s #Godzilla challenge online. Stamullen Closures (correct as at 25 th March) St. Patrick’s Church - all Masses can- celled, St. Patrick’s Day cemetery de- votions postponed, daily Mass for pa- rishioners intentions is celebrated by Fr. Declan at home. www.churchservices. tv is suggested for online Masses or the daily ten o’clock Mass from St. Mary’s in Drogheda is available at www.stmar- ysdrogheda.ie. The church is open daily from 9-4p.m. for parishioners. The Parish Office will be open from 9.30-12.30 on Monday and Friday only, for the moment. Whyte’s Pub is closed. As they say them- selves “Stay safe, stay kind, and mind each other. Brendan, Kenny, Don, Damo, Fran and all the gang.” The City North Hotel closed on the 16 th of March but are still taking calls/queries on 01-6906666 / info@citynorthhotel.com. The Silver Banks housing estate launch has been postponed. DNG is working from home (phone 01-8418100). The Vet has detailed instructions on their door (book appointment in advance, no chil- dren, one person with the animal etc). Priscilla’s is closed. The annual Make A Wish parish cake sale has been postponed. You can still donate online at www.makeawish.ie. Local GAA, cycling, soccer, and Scout- ing have been cancelled. The schools are closed, but you probably already noticed that! Got Stamullen news? Send it to Grace (087- 9074145) or grace@meathcoaster.com © April 2020 The Meath Coaster 42 St. Mary’s Church of Ireland L iving in these difficult and challeng- ing days, nothing is familiar. The very difficult decision to suspend services in St. Mary’s Church of Ireland had to be taken to protect the health and well-being of parishioners. When Christian worship has taken place for many years in one place it is hard to halt. However this crisis is unprecedented and we all know that in order to stay to- gether we must keep apart. At times of crisis people often find com- fort and hope in scripture and prayer. Modern technology is helping the com- munity (and people beyond the communi- ty), come together each morning at 10.30 am for Morning Prayer. Easter In addition, During Holy Week there will be a Reflection at 8pm each evening, be- ginning on Palm Sunday which is the 5 th April. On Easter Day there will also be a ser- vice on line at 10.30 am. In order to access these services you need to like the “ Church of Ireland, St. Mary’s Church, Julianstown” Facebook page and then join the live link. A daily prayer is posted on the page too. Please keep safe and keep your distance. Facebook There is a parish Facebook Page. If you have not liked it, you might choose to do that. "Church of Ireland, St Mary's Church, Julianstown". § F logas, as Official Energy Partner to the Irish Men’s Sheds Association, is delighted to support its new #CallThem- ForACuppa campaign, launched to en- courage people to phone those who are socially isolated during COVID-19. Many older people have socially isolated them- selves to reduce the risk of contracting the virus and the Irish Men’s Sheds As- sociation is highlighting that while people can’t call in, they can make a phone call. Eoin O’Flynn, marketing manager, Flogas Ireland, said “We’re delighted to support this very timely initiative, as we know there are people in Ireland, espe- cially older people, who now face weeks, perhaps months, of very limited contact with the outside world. A simple phone call has the power to make the difference to someone’s day.” Barry Sheridan, chief executive of the Irish Men’s Sheds Association, said, “Ss we always say that the ‘kettle is the most important tool in the shed’. A key part of any day in a shed is gathering around the table, having a cup of tea and a chat. The next time you’re sitting down for a cuppa, think of someone who is at risk of social isolation and give them a call.” § #CallThemForACuppa Flogas supports the #CallThemForA- Cuppa Campaign by Irish Men’s ShedsEmail: bettystowndental@gmail.com Web: www.bettystowndental.ie Triton Road, Bettystown, Co. Meath (between Funtasia & Tesco) Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic the Chief Dental Officer (CD)) has restricted dental practice to emergency treatment only. In the case of a dental emergency please contact us through our usual number 041988645. To all our patients keep well and stay safe. From the dental team at Bettystown Dental Dr Matthew Crinion B.D.S. (NUI) Corns, Callouses, Verrucae, Ingrown Toenails, nail surgery and other treatments State of the art Gaitscan analysis pressure plate used in the assessment of foot, back and leg pain. Orthotics prescribed to stabilise foot function and rehabilitation Opening hours 9.00-6.00 Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: Saturday 10.00-1.00 Niamh Tully , BSc (Hons) Pod. MCh.S. S.R.Ch Main Street, Laytown, Tel: 041 9888492 Chiropodist / Podiatrist (State registered) The Foot Clinic DUNLEER County Louth Ireland Emergency Work Only Emergency Service Only© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 44 Sacred Heart Laytown T he Season of Lent has been most unusual for us this year. Often peo- ple will make a small sacrifice during the season with a view to focusing on what is important in life. Children might give up sweets. Adults may give up smoking or the consumption of alcohol. Some will take on charitable works. In particular, in our Catholic tradition, we have a Trócaire box in our homes to remind us of those less fortunate than ourselves. Prayer, Fast- ing and Almsgiving are the catchphrases of the season. This year is different. This year, we find ourselves sacrificing much more than would be normal. Maybe more so than a normal Lent, this year we are more con- scious than ever of what is really impor- tant in life. Faith, family, friendship, free- dom. The image of Pope Francis standing almost alone in St. Peter’s Square speak- ing to the world is an image of the alone- ness that many people experience. His meditation that evening invited us to re- flect on Christ calming the storm on the lake for the terrified apostles in the boat. One of the apostles cries out “Lord, do you not care”. To feel that nobody cares, that nobody will come to our rescue, is a feeling of despair and it is one that many people feel, even outside of the medical emergency in which we find ourselves, but perhaps it is more pointed now. The ceremonies of Holy Week leading to Easter each year, invite us to journey with Jesus, during his time of despair and aban- donment. They lead us to the last Supper where Jesus washes the feet of his disci- ples, giving them an example of service to inspire them in their service of their own brothers and sisters. On Good Friday, we stand with Mary at the foot of the Cross and experience with her the death of her good son, who did nothing wrong and did not deserve this punishment and death. But most importantly, through the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the power of God to conquer the worst that this world can throw at us when Jesus is raised from the dead. Whereas, it is likely that the Easter cer- emonies in most churches this year will be celebrated without a congregation, we can, each of us, still enter into the spirit of those three days. They may help us to live the difficult days which we now must now undergo. Service of our brothers and sis- ters is already all around us, with so many carers, volunteers and good neighbours with offers of help. The sadness of loss is something that many of us will bear, but remember that Easter celebrates the one who has the power to restore all the rela- tionships in a new and eternal way, in the life where love has no end. This is Easter. RTE will broadcast Holy Week and Cer- emonies from our Cathedral in Mullingar this year. Some recordings of ceremonies from Laytown Church can be viewed on the Laytown Church YouTube channel. And people in countries who as of yet do not have the opportunity of social distanc- ing or washing their hands in clean water, could still do with our help. Remember to visit www.trocaire.ie We pray for a swift end to the current pandemic, for the suc- cess of all those working on the discovery of a vaccine and wish all, in whatever cir- cumstances we find ourselves, a Blessed and happy Easter. §© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 45 A time to reflect and not necessarily to act . . .y… B efore I say anything, I would always recommend you speak with your pro- fessional financial adviser before making any changes/decisions with regards to the products/services I discuss in these col- umns. Each person’s individual circum- stances warrant specific advice that may make their decision different from what others have done. I never advocate try- ing to time investments, more to work off your personal circumstances and the time that you have to invest. The last month has seen quite a change for us all, with the threat of a virus forcing us to change our behaviours and we have had to give up some freedoms many of us probably took for granted. So, in this new world, with so much uncertainty facing us possibly over months or years, what is the best action to take with investments and/ or life assurance policies? I have to say that I have not received any- where near as many calls from clients as I had expected over the last few weeks. I re- ally hope it’s as a result of educating my cli- ents in the past on the ups and downs of in- vestments and the importance of not letting our emotions/feelings affect our decision. I would be reiterating this more than ever to clients, particularly ones who do not need to make any decisions on their in- vestments. The investment markets go up and they go down, people are confident when they go up and are more risk averse when they go down. To me, this is no dif- ferent and to make a financial decision now without any professional advice may be a bad decision. Life Assurance Pensions Income Protection Investments Financial Planning Drumgoole Financial Services is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland Oran Drumgoole QFA Phone 087 668 6624 Office 041 981 2080 oran@drumgoolebrokerage.ie www.drumgoolebrokerage.ie Some investors may think now is actually the perfect time to invest, as you are get- ting more for your money. If you had in- tended on investing 2 months ago but held off, in some cases you may be investing today at up to a 30% discount on the cost to buy a month ago. A simple comparison would be if you were going to buy a car in January but held off for various reasons. Now you still intended on buying the car but could get it for 30% less, it would ap- pear to be a good idea to buy it even if things were still up in the air. In terms of Life Assurance, Mortgage Protection, Serious Illness cover or In- come Protection, your normal conditions on these plans should apply. In the case of these policies, once you have disclosed all information possible at the beginning of the policy, events that change after the policy has started do not usually alter the conditions allowable to make a claim. If you are unsure or concerned, my recom- mendation is to contact your broker or the company who provided the policy. Many services are still working and offering cus- tomer service support at this time. Wishing good health to all Meath Coaster readers. Have a question? #justcallOran on 087 668 6624 or visit www.drumgoolebrokerage.ie.© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 46 Please mention The Meath Coaster when replying to advertisements The View From The Kitchen Table, By Geraldine Hughes W ell now?!Who would have thought that these were the circumstances we’d find ourselves in this month? I was all ready to write a piece about Easter, and chocolate overload and now it’s the fur- thest thing from our minds. I don’t know what time of the year it is, let alone what day of the week. Like most people who are usually at work, I’m struggling with creating my own routine. If someone had said to me after Christmas that I could have unlimited time out of work, financially supported by the government, with a job to go back to (hopefully), I would have jumped at the chance since I was feeling a bit burned out anyway. Human nature being what it is, I arrived home on March 16 th in tears, knowing that there was no way we were going back to work in the proposed 2 week timeframe. I am a Hair- dresser and not only are we non-essential, the close con- tact we have with our clients makes our job impossible to do at this moment in time. Like many others, I really wanted to keep going, to keep a sense of normality for people, and keep that so- cial contact until it became clear it was dangerous to do so. To put a shape on my new reality, I did what I always do to make sense of things of course, I made a list. I made a list in every room of all of the things that things I wanted done but it grew so long that it overwhelmed me, so I abandoned that and signed up for an online course in Interior Design. I’ve waded through mod- ule 1 which is interesting but seems like a bit of work when all I really wanted to know was how to do up my own house if I’m honest so I’ll struggle to finish it, and given the times we’re living in, a course in Virology or ICU medicine would possibly be more beneficial to society although I wouldn’t fancy anyone’s chances if they were my patient. I have registered as a volunteer but as yet I haven’t been asked to do anything, so here we are with all the time in the world to do all of the things we said we wanted to do, but set against the backdrop of what is going on, it all appears to have little im- portance, except to keep us from going off the deep end. I’d be lost without my phone at the mo- ment, even though its full of misinformation and con- spiracy theories (I do love a good conspiracy theory) mostly it gives us a gateway to a sort of normality and funny memes because we have to keep our sense of humour, bleak as things may seem, so Yay! For technol- ogy, although It’s good to give your head a break from it every now and then. I’m looking forward to see- ing where we’re at when I write next month’s View, until then, stay busy and stay safe.. § Oasis Childcare Centre Mornington Co. Meath Crèche Montessori Playgroup After School Telephone 9888135 + Purpose Built + Fully Insured + HSE Inspected + Fire Certified + Intercom Entry + Large Safety Tiled Playground + Large Car Park + Easy Drop Off and Collection + Small Groups + Dedicated Staff + 7:30am to 6:30pm ONE CHILD! ONE LIFE! 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Contact Oliver 041.988.7526 087.797.0740 iPhones Smartphones Repair Laptop/Desktop Repair & Upgrades Emergency Service Only for All AdvertisersEmergency Service Only for All Advertisers© April 2020 The Meath Coaster 48 Police Force in East Meath T he first organised police force in Ire- land was established under the Peace Preservation Act of 1814. They were a ‘central force’ at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for use in any district that had been ‘proclaimed’ a disturbed area. When peace was restored the force would be either withdrawn or disbanded The Constabulary Act of 1822 established Ireland’s first country-wide police force with four provincial forces known as the County Constabulary. In 1836 these were amalgamated to form the ‘Irish Constab- ulary’. In 1867 Queen Victoria granted the force the right to use the prefix ‘Roy- al’ (Royal Irish Constabulary) and the in- signia of the Order of St Patrick in their motif. The first Police Barracks in East Meath was in Julianstown on the corner of the Duleek and Dublin Roads. It is shown on the Ordinance Survey map of 1836, mak- ing it older than the Barracks in Drogheda dating from July 1837. In 1880/90, Major Pepper of Ballygarth commissioned a new Courthouse in Julianstown, and in 1903 a new Police Barracks was constructed beside it. While construction was underway, the Constabulary moved temporarily to Kennedy’s Cottages (Alverno Tce) in Laytown. On 2 April 1922 the RIC formally ceased to exist and were replaced by the Civic Guard. Renamed an Garda Síochána in 1923. They took over the Barracks in Julianstown with Sgt Patrick McAvinia from Cavan in charge. Sgt McAvinia, for- mer RIC, had the distinction of being the very first registered Civic Guard in the country. Julianstown Station remained in use until 1983 when an Garda Síochána moved to Laytown. Original Police Station Julianstown ca1903 ©This image is reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland ALB69 Photo No.51 RIC outside temporary Barracks Laytown ca1903 ©This image is reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland ALB69 Photo No.6 Courthouse (Left) & Police Station (Right) © April 2020 The Meath Coaster 49 Daily STEAM Challenges The Ultimate Daily STEAM Challenges Helping Kids to Safely Explore K erry-based company, Design- er Minds, normally run Pri- mary Science, Design & Technol- ogy clubs, camps and workshops nationwide. With the schools cur- rently being closed, they have just launched their FREE daily news- letter ‘The Daily Explorer’ which challenges readers to complete a different STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engi- neering, Art & Maths) activity each day. So far the challenges have seen the kids engineering the tallest, strongest towers they can from paper, learn about diffu- sion by creating their own edible art and code fun animated dance parties! Donal Lyne, Director of Designer Minds says “We pride ourselves on providing kids at our clubs and camps with access to a huge variety of different kits and equip- ment, which they may not always have access to in school or at home. However, for our Daily Explorer challenges, we re- alised that we needed to keep it simple, so our challenges can be done with everyday household materials.” Hundreds of girls & boys all over the world have already taken on the chal- lenges which are not only educational and creative, but most importantly - great fun. And the adults are really enjoying it too! Donal explains: “We have many emails and messages from parents who have told us the whole family really look forward to receiving their new challenge each day. There is also a great sense of community online and the kids get a huge morale boost when they see their achieve- ments posted on our Fa- cebook page”. The challenges have very quickly become a must-do daily favourite, but there is a more im- portant side to the initia- tive: By staying active, the challenges aim to help children to develop a can-do attitude to dealing with the restrictions we are all currently facing due to the Coronavirus. Children can participate on their own or with other family members, allowing them to socially interact both at home and on- line in a safe, fun and age appropriate en- vironment, replacing fear and uncertainty with positive memories. Some children are even using video-calling technology to complete the challenges and designs as part of a team with their friends and fam- ily, who they can't currently be physically near. If you know any little Explorers who would love to join in, sign up to receive The Daily Explorer at www.designer- minds.ie/contact or visit the Designer Minds Facebook page at https://www. facebook.com/designerminds.ie . Don’t worry if you missed a few, the challenges can be completed at any time! Designer Minds is Ireland's largest pro- vider of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths) after-school clubs, summer camps and workshops. For more information visit www.designer- minds.ie §Next >