Granagh Players are Back

FITNESS CLASSES:

​Wednesday 23rd 7.30pm, Community Centre. We began last week​ with Darragh and he most certainly raised our Cardio levels, with jumping jacks and Russian twists.

​He maintains HIIT ​ classes are best. ​HIT stands for High intensity interval training and it involves a short period of high intense exercise and short period of rest ​. His top 5 fitness foods ​ are - Eggs, Brown Rice, Beetroot, Chlorella and ​​Spirulina.. Male and female attending classes, so everyone welcome. Bring a Mat. Morning Class ?? We have some people interested in a morning class, if we get 8 - 10 people, it would go ahead. Contact Eileen Power if interested.

S​.V.P. COLLECTION:

This coming Saturday night, 26th, St. Vincent DePaul will hold their annual Church gate collection before Mass. In Ballingarry ​, it will be held ​​ Friday 2nd Dec​ at O'Grady​'​s ​ Shop.​

Please give a Little, it Helps a lot.

C​HRISTMAS MARKETS:

​If possible give a call to the following Markets, where you can buy lots of home-made produce and gifts which would make great Christmas presents.

Kilfinny Community Centre - Saturday 3rd Dec, 6.30pm - 9pm.

Drumcollogher Respite Centre - Sunday 4th Dec, 1.00pm.

St. Josephs, Charleville. - Friday 9th Dec, 11am - 3pm.

Cuan Mhuire Garden Centre - Open Daily.

COMMUNITY GAMES:

Congratulations to the local group who took part in the GAA Scór Na nÓg and won the County Final. They will be heading to the Munster Semi-finals in December.

Well done and best of Luck to Theresé Noonan, Ciara English, Grainne Lynch, Nessa Houlihan, David Bennett & Diarmuid Flynn.

BANOGUE Anniversary Show:

Hard to believe, Banogue parish group have been entertaining audiences for the past 20 years.!! This year, Director, Mike Larkin, has decided to present a medley of favourite hits from their past performances. You will hear songs from Joseph, Oklahoma, Grease, Mamma Mia, Hairspray, Annie Get Your Gun. The group will also give a first time performance of hits from that acclaimed musical ' Les Miserables '.

This year it will be for - One Weekend Only - 2nd, 3rd & 4th Dec.

Friday 4th is ticket only in aid of ' CareBright Dementia Unit ', Bruff. Tickets can be got from Patricia Short, Banogue ( 086 - 0850079).

GRANAGH PLAYERS:

The ladies and gents of Granagh Players have been rehearsing for the last number of weeks under the guidance of Jimmy Sheehy. This year, he has chosen Brendan Behan's play - The Hostage. Lots has been written about Behan's life and times and there is even a list of his best quotes.!

He was born into a working class family in Dublin, h

is mother took them on literary tours of the city and was very active in political circles. She was a personal friend of Michael Co​llins​ and gave him the affectionate nickname of ' the laughing Boy'. When Brendan was thirteen he wrote a lament to Collins using that title.

His father was a house painter who had been active in the War of Independence

and who read classic literature to the children at bedtime.

There was also a strong emphasis on Irish history and culture in the home, which meant he was steeped in literature and patriotic ballads from a tender age.

Behan eventually joined the IRA at 16, which led to his serving time in a borstal youth prison in the United Kingdom and was also imprisoned in Republic of Ireland. During his time in prison he studied and become a fluent Irish speaker, writing his works in both Irish and English. He was released from prison as part of a general amnesty given by the Fianna Fáil government in 1946, ​h​e married Beatrice Ffrench-Salkeld in 1955.

Behan's uncle Peadar Kearney wrote the national anthem "The Soldier's Song". His brother, Dominic Behan, was also a renowned songwriter best known for the song "The Patriot Game"​. Another sibling, Brian Behan, was a prominent political activist ​, public speaker, actor, author, and playwright. When the curtains went up on the very first performance of The Hostage in London, October 1958, the play had already been through a series of enormous shifts and changes. First appearing as ​ ​An Giall ​ '​ ,Behan’s play had originally been written in Irish and performed in Dublin earlier that same year.

​ ​It had a modest reception, and despite his use of the Irish language ​ - ​ because "Irish is more direct than English,more bitter" ​​- ​the play did not seem to offend the Dubliners that saw it. ​

Given the international success Behan had already enjoyed, ​ ​An Giall ​ ' ​ in English was inevitable.

He collaborated with Joan Littlewood of the Theatre Workshop in Stratford East on a new, English language version. This second version was ​very​ different from the original, and not just in terms of the language. There were seven new characters, a host of additional musical numbers, new cultural references and the play was longer. ​We know Behan had a serious drinking problem, as he said himself

​ - " I'm a drinker with writing problems " and " The number of people who buy books in Ireland would not keep me in drink for the duration of the Sunday opening time "​.

​​Jimmy has set himself ​ and the cast a huge challenge​ with this unusual play. It offers something for everyone , laughter, tears, joy, and fear intertwine There is a controlled disorderliness about the play, full of spontaneous singing, dancing, drinking and fighting.

​It will be very interesting.!!​

DIARY:

Wed 23rd Nov: - Harvest Concert, Rathkeale House Hotel in aid of West Limk 102Fm

Oct - Nov : - ' Many Young Men of Twenty ' - Schoolyard Theatre.

23 - 26th Nov: - Cecilians present ' All Shook Up '. Lime Tree, 8pm.

Fri 7th Dec: - Castletown/B.gran GAA, Monster Bingo, Charlelville Park.

Sat 10th Dec: - Christmas Jumper Party. For 'Street Children of Haiti '. The Rock Bar

M​on 12th Dec - 45 Drive Fundraiser for Camogie Club, Community Centre.

​Fri 16th Dec: - ​Cuppa's and CupCake​s​ in Aid of the Simon Community 12 - 4pm