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LOCAL NEWS ARCHIVE - FEBRUARY 2003
[Main
Local News Page]
A dark cloud of
grief and sorrow has hung over the area of Cornafean in the past week since the
tragic death of Mrs Brenda Chipperfield (nee O’Reilly) formerly of Cloncose,
Cornafean. Brenda, who was 29
years old, died in Oldchurch Hospital, Essex on last Monday week following a
road traffic accident near her home in South Hornchurch, Essex. Brenda, who
celebrated her wedding to her husband Barry last July, was expecting their first
child at the time of her fatal and tragic accident. She worked as a nurse and
had spent over a decade living and working in England. <?xml:namespace prefix
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Brenda received
her early education at Coronea NS and later studied at Loreto College, Cavan
where she completed the Leaving Certificate before pursuing the Pre-Nursing
Course at Cavan College of Further Studies. She then moved to England to take up
a position as a Trainee Nurse at Oldchurch Hospital, ironically the same
hospital where she was later to die so tragically. A very capable, popular and
caring nurse, Brenda’s career continued at Whipscross Hospital where she spent
a number of years working in the Intensive Care Unit and more recently in the
Kidney Dialysis Unit.
Before moving to
England to train for her nursing career, Brenda played a very active part in
community and sporting life in her native Cornafean. As a child, she was among
the first group of girl Altar Servers recruited for service by Fr. Owen Collins
and his Pastoral Team in Coronea Church in the early 1980’s. Two decades
later, it hard to believe that Coronea was one of the first Churches in Ireland,
if not indeed the first, to have girl Altar Servers and Fr. Collins’
innovation at the time generated significant national media coverage. Brenda
took immense pride in the part she played in this success. Later on she
participated in quite a number of Cornafean Scor na nOg teams, and was a keen
member of the Cornafean Foroige Club but it was as a talented Camogie player
that she made some of her greatest achievements.
In 1986 she
starred at midfield on the Cornafean (Corlis-Coronea) primary school team that
won the County Primary Schools title by beating Crubany in a memorable final,
played in the grounds of Loreto College, Cavan. Brenda played an outstanding
role at midfield that day alongside Annette Burns and their powerful joint
contribution was the key to Cornafean’s win. This was the first major success
for Cornafean after the local club had been reformed in 1985 and it set the
scene for a number of years of great success by Cornafean on the camogie field.
The same year, Brenda was a member of the Novice panel who won the County League
and Championship double, before proceeding to win the County Junior Championship
in 1987. She starred in the forwards a year later as Cornafean won the 1988
Intermediate Championship, thus rounding off a magnificent three-year run of
success for the local Camogie teams.
Brenda’s many
friends will remember her as a truly wonderful person, with a bright, friendly
and vivacious personality and a very deep, warm and generous heart. She was
immensely popular with everyone who knew her, both in her native Cornafean and
further afield. Her gentle and caring nature found apt expression in her chosen
career of nursing, where she worked hard and made tremendous personal sacrifices
in building a career where she would be able to help and care for those in
greatest need. Throughout the long time she spent living in England, she
remained tremendously devoted to her family at home in Cloncose and she always
kept in very close contact with her parents, brothers and sisters.
Her wedding to
Barry on 5th July last year was a very happy occasion for Brenda and
her entire family and afterwards Brenda and Barry enjoyed a wonderful month-long
honeymoon in Australia. Their joy was enhanced later in the year with the news
that Brenda was expecting their first child. Sadly, the desperately tragic
circumstances of her death have now robbed Brenda, her husband and her family of
their dreams for the future. Our deepest sympathies lie with her husband Barry,
her father Seamus, her mother Dympna, her brothers Eamon, Sean and Kieran, her
sisters Aoife and Derbhla and with her large circle of extended family and
friends.
Her Funeral will take place today (Thursday) at the Corpus Christi Church, Lowshire Lane, Collier Row, Essex at 12.15pm. A Special Mass for the repose of her soul will be celebrated in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Coronea on next Sunday, March 2nd at 12 noon.
The Cornafean Vintage Ploughing Association are holding their Annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Night in McSeains on Tuesday next 4th March. There will be musical entertainment by James Clarke and this very popular annual event is once again set to be a great success this year. The Vintage Association are holding a meeting in McSeains on this Wednesday night, 26th February, at 9.30pm
The local Vintage Tractor Club are holding a meeting in Colette’s Bar, Killeshandra at 9.30pm on next Friday night. Among the items on the agenda are the preparations for the forthcoming St Patrick’s Day Parade.
The Cavan County Final of Senior Scor is to take place in Killeshandra Community Centre on Saturday 8th March. The first rounds originally scheduled for this weekend have been cancelled and all participants will take part in what should be a very enjoyable and varied County Final on next Saturday week.
GAA Membership
Cornafean GAA club is now accepting applications for club membership for 2003. The membership fee this year is €10.00 for adults and €5.00 for children.
The deadline for applications is this Friday, 28th February, and club Registrar Seamus Doyle will process all applications received by that date. Once again we would ask existing and prospective members not to leave their applications until the very last minute.
The Annual General Meeting of Cornafean Community Development Association, originally scheduled for Wednesday night, 26th February has been postponed to a later date, as a mark of respect to the late Brenda Chipperfield.
END
Over the past
eighteen years, Cavan College of Further Studies has firmly established itself
as one of the leading further education centres within the North Midland region.
The College, which now boasts a student population of over 700, is holding its
annual Information Day at its premises in Cavan Town on Thursday, 27th
February, from 11am until 9.00pm.
This affords
both Leaving Cert students and mature students who wish to return to education
the opportunity to discuss course options within the college. Additionally the
College staff extends a special welcome to all parents who wish to call in to
discuss with them their children’s course options.
There will also
be information available on such issues as maintenance grants, career guidance
and the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme for the long-term unemployed
wishing to return to study.
In previous years there has been tremendous interest in the annual Information Days, and they have consistently attracted large attendances from all over the North Midland and North Eastern regions. This year the College, under its newly-appointed Principal, Colm McEvoy, have extended the opening hours on the Information Day until 9.00pm, meaning that those currently in employment can now visit the College without needing to take time off work.
The local Walking Club are inviting members of the public to join them next Sunday, 23rd February in an organised walk which will leave McSeains at 2.00pm sharp. Walkers will have the option of taking either a relatively short route or a longer one, and one does not have to be an experienced walker to join in the fun.
Cornafean GAA club is now accepting applications for club membership for 2003. The membership fee this year is €10.00 for adults and €5.00 for children.
The deadline for applications is 28th February, and club Registrar Seamus Doyle will process all applications received by that date. Seamus very patiently does a wonderful job each year in looking after this cumbersome task and in deference to him we would ask existing and prospective members not to leave their applications until the very last minute.
The Annual General Meeting of Cornafean Community Development Association will be held on next Wednesday night, 26th February in McSeains, starting at 9.00pm. The Community Development Association, under the leadership of Dessie Harrington, Jim Hannon and others, has done some great work on behalf of the local community in recent years and the Association plays a very important role in representing the interests of the locality and also where necessary in co-ordinating and helping out the many voluntary, social and sporting groups in the area. As such, it is worthy of the support of everyone in the area. New members are heartily welcome to attend the AGM, and all existing members are also requested to attend.
On Saturday last, a number of local people made the long trip to Dublin to support the Peace March which was organised to call for a peaceful settlement to the Iraqi crisis. Over 100,000 people are reported to have attended this event and its success, along with that of similar events worldwide, sends a very strong signal to world leaders that war is not an answer to the problems which seem to have beset the world since the barbaric attacks on New York and Washington on September 11th, 2001.
Congratulations to Philip N. Brady, Arva who was named officially by the Cavan Association in Dublin as the Cavan Person of the Year, at a function in Dublin on last Saturday night. As we all know, Philip spearheaded a massive fundraising effort last year on behalf of St. Luke’s Hospital Dublin, and nobody who attended the All Stars Charity Match in Arva last August will ever forget the magic of the occasion. Philip, who is a member of one of Cavan’s best-known and most respected families, is a worthy recipient of this honour and we heartily congratulate him on this honour.
On Saturday last, a number of local people made the long trip to Dublin to support the
The Cavan GAA County Board are holding their annual oral examination for GAA Gaeltacht scholarships on next Saturday, 22nd February, in St Clare’s National School, Cavan, starting at 10.00am. Students must be aged between 11 and 18 years. Many local students have successfully availed of these very worthwhile scholarships over the years.
The Annual General Meeting of the Cornafean Vintage Ploughing Association will be held in McSeains on Wednesday 12th February at 9.30pm. All existing members are asked to attend and new members will be heartily welcome.
Preparations are now underway in Cornafean for this year’s Senior Scór competitions. Cornafean will be taking part in this year’s first round on Friday February 28th in Killeshandra Community Centre, and Shannon Gaels, Killeshandra, Kildallan and Arva will be participating on the same night. No doubt, the local enthusiasts in the eight Scór disciplines will have quite a few busy evenings ahead of them in the coming weeks.
Congratulations to Paula O’Donoghue, Gartinadress who celebrated her 21st birthday at a party in Minnie’s, Killeshandra recently.
Tomorrow night (Thursday) the large numbers of Daniel O’Donnell fans in the locality will be gathering in Ballinagh Community Centre when the famed Kincasslagh entertainer makes his annual visit. As in previous years, the proceeds of the concert will be in aid of the Cavan Branch of the Cystic Fibrosis Association. Admission to this very worthy fundraising event is by ticket only. Tickets for can be purchased in advance from any local outlet. The show commences at 8.00pm.
On Sunday last, quite a number of local football supporters made the long trip to St. Conleth’s Park, Newbridge to see Cavan overcome Kildare in the first round of the Allianz League. Despite the wintry conditions on the day, Cavan produced a sparking display to beat the Lilywhites on their home ground. Their win was especially encouraging as Kildare have enjoyed something of an “Indian Sign” over the Breffni Blues in previous league outings. Indeed, until Sunday, Cavan had not beaten Kildare since their meeting in the 1988/89 League season, in a campaign where Cavan eventually reached the League semi-final, where they narrowly lost to Dublin in a pulsating contest. Next Sunday, Sean Boylan’s Meath team are the visitors to Kingspan Breffni Park and the Cavan boss Mattie Kerrigan will be hoping once again to get the better of his home county in what should be a very entertaining game.
Both the Cornafean Novelty Act and Question Time teams
produced fantastic displays at the Ulster Scór na nÓg finals last Saturday
night in Silverbridge, Co. Armagh but unfortunately Lady Luck was not on
Cornafean’s side on the night and both teams were narrowly defeated in their
respective categories.
A large number of people from Cornafean made the long
journey to the Co. Armagh venue for the competition. Indeed, with Belturbet and
Templeport also represented in two competitions each, there was a very strong
gathering of Cavan Scór enthusiasts present among the capacity attendance.
The Novelty Act team of Brian Duignan, Killian O’Reilly,
Teri Masterson, Karen Harrington, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Ciaran Coyle, Ronan O
hArrachtain and Eimer McNamee once again surpassed themselves in their
competition with a hilarious performance of their sketch, “The Hospital”
which was met with a rapturous response from the audience. The hard work of
their trainers Olivia Harrington, Dessie Harrington and Michael McGibney was
very evident in the professionalism and sheer entertainment value of their
display. Unfortunately for Cornafean, they faced some very strong competition
from the Donegal champions, Gleann Suile, with a masterful and evocative musical
drama based on the tragedies of the 19th century Famine in that
county. At the end of the night, Gleann Suile were announced as champions, but
Cornafean can feel very proud with their own wonderful display.
The final event of the night was the Question Time, where
Cornafean were represented by Tomas McGlade, Cormac Geoghegan and Patrick King.
Again, competition was fierce in this contest, with the reigning All Ireland
Champions Aodh Ruadh, Ballyshannon, and the Armagh champions Middletown also in
the fray. Indeed, one can gauge the strength of the three teams by the fact that
each of their clubs have won Ulster titles in Question Time at Scor Sinsir
within the past five years.
Ballyshannon got off to the best start and seemed set for
victory at half time when they led Cornafean by eight marks with Middletown in
third place. However, Cornafean rallied strongly in the rounds of team
questions, and with one set of questions remaining, there remained only two
marks between the teams. Indeed the contest was so close that a number of
“recounts” had to be made to double-check each team’s scores before the
final round. In a dramatic finale, Cornafean answered their final question
correctly, putting the pressure once again on the Donegal team, but
unfortunately for Cornafean, Aodh Ruadh correctly answered their last question
and so took the honours. The Cornafean lads can feel very proud of their
achievements this year in the Question Time and their mentors Annette and Kevin
Geoghegan also deserve particular thanks for training the team to such success
this year.
At the end of the night, there was joy for Cavan when
Belturbet’s talented dancers took the Set Dancing title and we wish them every
success in their quest for national honours at the All Ireland Finals in Athlone
next month.
The Cornafean Walking Club is holding a walk on next Sunday, 2nd
February, starting at 2pm sharp from McSeain's.
Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, and enjoy a good afternoon’s
exercise.
Whist Drive
The following were the winners of the Whist Drive in Cornafean on Monday night, 20th January. Top Score Johnny McEnroe 1st Lady Jack McManus 2nd do. Eileen Lynch 3rd do. Mae Sheridan 4th do. Seamus O’Reilly 1st Gent Henry King 2nd do. James Weir 3rd do. Robert Fegan, 4th do. Pat McKiernan Other winners were Eileen Duignan, Annette Sheridan, Tony Smith, Paddy Donohoe, Tommy Cullen, Maura Smith, Wendy Swan and Elizabeth McSeain The next Whist in Cornafean is on next Monday night 3rd February.
The
AGM of the Juvenile Football Committee
of Cornafean GAA club will be held in the clubmrroms on Wednesday next 5th
February at 9.00pm. All parents and others who are interested in the club's
juvenile football activities for the coming year are asked to attend.
A large Cornafean contingent were among the capacity audience at the Ulster Scór na nÓg semi-finals in Kileshandra Community Centre on last Friday night. In each of the eight competitions, the Cavan champions competed against their counterparts in counties Monaghan and Fermanagh.
Cornafean were represented in the Novelty Act by Brian Duignan, Killian O’Reilly, Teri Masterson, Karen Harrington, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Ciaran Coyle, Ronan O hArrachtain and Eimer McNamee, and in the Question Time by Tomas McGlade, Cormac Geoghegan and Patrick King.
Both teams produced wonderful performances on the night and duly qualified for the Ulster Final which will be held in Silverbridge, Co. Armagh on next Saturday night 25th January, starting at 7.00pm.
In the Novelty Act, Cornafean’s hilarious and well-acted sketch proved very popular with the large attendance and their victory came as no surprise when the winners were announced at the end of the night. The Cornafean Question Time team were in top form in the Quiz and finished with a very strong 46 marks after a tough and tightly-contested competition.
We congratulate our local representatives on their success and wish them all the best of luck on next Saturday night. Despite Cornafean’s long record of achievement in these two Scór competitions, it is now 12 years since a Cornafean Question Time team reached an Ulster Scór na nÓg Final and five years since a local Novelty Act reached the same stage.
There will be strong Cavan interest in Saturday night’s final as the county recorded no less than six victories in the eight competitions in last Saturday’s semi-final, making it a very successful evening indeed for Scór in Cavan.
A Bus to the Ulster Scór na nÓg Final in Silverbridge will leave Cornafean at 4.30pm on next Saturday evening. All are welcome to travel.
The Cornafean Walking Club is holding a walk on Sunday 2nd February, starting at 2pm sharp from McSeain's.
Everyone is welcome to join in the fun, and enjoy a good afternoon’s exercise.
The Cornafean Ladies Football Club are holding their AGM on next Saturday evening 25th January in the clubrooms. The meeting starts at 7.00pm. All members, and indeed new members, are welcome to attend.
With the local Scór na nÓg groups still in contention for Ulster honours, preparations are once again underway in the locality for the very popular annual Senior Scór competitions.
This year, Cornafean are scheduled to take part in the first round of the competition on Friday 28th February. Everyone interested in taking part in the Dancing competitions this year are asked to be in McSeains on next Sunday at 12.30pm.
The 2003 Annual General Meeting of the Cornafean Community Development Association will be held in McSeains on Wednesday 26th February next.
The popular local history, “All Lovely Kilmore - Its Churches People and Heritage”, written by Wendy Swan, has been recently re-printed and copies are once again available in local outlets. The first edition of this very enjoyable and well-produced book was entirely sold out with a number of days of its launch in December and due to public demand, it was necessary to produce a reprint. Proceeds from the book are in aid of the Children’s Unit at Cavan General Hospital.
Meanwhile, there is still a limited number of copies available of the equally enjoyable book “Drumcor - Its School & Surrounding District", published by the Drumcor Old School Committee. Copies can be obtained from Bernard Martin, Drumora, or any other committee member.
