Hutt Valley Irish Society
The Irish Press
June, 2010
THE LOCAL ROSE OF TRALEE
This annual event was held on Saturday 24 April.
We had three fine contestants and three experienced Judges.
The contestants, for those not present, were Danielle
Lee, who is well known to members, and is currently working in
the Probation Service in Porirua; Deirdre Finn, Irish-born but
now living in New Zealand and working in a pre-school centre in
Kilbirnie; and Ashley MacKenzie-White, originally from Dunedin
but now a wellington resident working for the Ministry of Culture
& Heritage and studying part-time at post-graduate level.
After the usual interviews and on-stage grilling
from an intimidating compere, the Judges selected Ashley to represent
us at the National Final in Invercargill.
Our congratulations to Ashley, and our best wishes
for the National Final, and a big thank you to Deirdre and Danielle
for their contributions to making the evening the success it was.
NATIONAL ROSE OF TRALEE
If you haven’t made arrangements to be in Invercargill
for the National Final, you are probably too late now, and will
just have to rely on the Mulligans and the Duffys to provide fair
and un-biased reports of what transpires.
There are seven contestants this year:
* Laura Young (Auckland). Her Irish heritage comes
from her paternal Grandmother and her maternal Great Grandparents.
* Kimberley Farthing (Waikato). Her Irish heritage is from her
maternal Great Great Grandmother who was born in Antrim and paternal
Great Great Grandmother who was born in Limerick.
* Anna Rose Mills (Taranaki). Her Grandfather's four grand parents
immigrated from County Tipperary, County Rosscommon and from County
Cork.
* Ashley MacKenzie-White (Hutt Valley). Her mother’s family come
from Bray, south of Dublin, in County Wicklow. She also has Irish
descent through her father.
* Karen Lynch (Christchurch). She was born into a farming family
in Macroom, Co. Cork.
* Elizabeth Sara (Otago). Her Irish connection is through her
maternal grandmother from Kells, Co Wicklow.
* Nicole Gourley (Invercargill). Her Irish ancestry comes predominantly
from her Mother's family, from Galway, while her father's great-great-great-grandfather
was from Northern Ireland.
If you haven’t already, you can cast a vote for
Ashley on the Rose website at www.roseoftralee.co.nz/contestants.html.
Of course, these are entirely unofficial.
Invercargill have organised a busy schedule of events
for the contestants, and have retained David Duffy to take photos.
As we will have representatives present, you can expect to get
full details of the event and lots of photos next month.
A BUMP IN THE ROAD
And now for something a little different. Hugh Vaughan
will present a talk about the history of the North West of Ireland
where he grew up, oral family history and his search for his relatives
in Ireland and Australia - the inspirations for his stories.
A Bump on the Road is a book of short stories emanating
from the innocent years before secondary school, and the growing
out of it.
A Bump on the Road reflects an observant child in
Ireland attempting to understand the world around him. Family,
the church, the troubles, secrets, ghost stories, leaving home,
myths and legends - all this comes under the microscope of a child
growing up.
He will talk about all these and more, at the HVIS
on Tuesday 15 June 7.30 – 8.30. Entry is free and copies of his
book will also be available for purchase.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Financial members will be sent an official Notice
of the AGM, but if you haven’t got around to paying your subscription
yet (Shame on you!) treat this as both a reminder that the AGM
is for CURRENT FINANCIAL MEMBERS, and that you should pay your
subs!
Anyway, the AGM will be held at the Club at 3:00pm
on the afternoon of Sunday 27 June 2010.
It will involve, of course, along with other matters
of business, the election of the new Management Committee. This
group is vital to the future functioning of our Society, so you
need to consider it carefully. All positions should be considered
as vacant, so if you think you have something to contribute, or
that it’s about time you took your turn on the Committee, please
get in touch with either our President Shirley on 04 566 7323
or Bryan on 04 938 9525.
In particular this year, we need to appoint a new
Secretary and a new Treasurer, as well as the perennial need for
Bar Managers, and someone to write these Newsletters.
So please give some serious thought to what you
can do for YOUR Society.
POT LUCK DINNERS
Next time you’re in the Club, please take a moment
to put your name on the roster for coordinating the food.
These popular events rely for their success on the
willingness of everyone to help out – oh, and of course to bring
along superb food!
June is the annual Mid-Winter Christmas Pot Luck,
so get planning now. We offer Kathryn’s special recipe Mulled
Wine, and urge everyone to make an effort to bring a ‘Christmas-themed’
dish for dinner.
So that rounds off a busy day for the HVIS – AGM
at 3;00pm and then the Pot Luck.
MUNSTER GAA
I have been advised that Failte Ireland and Munster
GAA have a pilot project whereby they have allocated tickets for
tourists for the Munster championship matches. These tickets can
be bought in the following Discover Ireland centres: Cork, Kinsale,
Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Killarney, Tralee, Dingle, Waterford,
Dungarvan, Cahir, Blarney and Midleton. I have yet to discover
if the tickets will be available online, but check the website
www.discoverireland.ie.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
HVIS continues to move with the times! You can now
receive Twitter text messages direct to your cell-phone, and stay
in touch with what’s happening.
So you can join Twitter yourself (if you haven’t
already!) and elect to receive message to your cell-phone by ‘following’
Hutt Valley Irish Society or @huttirish
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH FACEBOOK
HVIS has a presence on Facebook. It is a way of
staying in touch with our friends and members, wherever in the
world they may be.
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who
can help us out by looking after this communication channel, so
please contact me either on info@huttirish.org.nz or by calling
04 938 9525.
Mark Your Diaries NOW !
| Friday- Saturday 4-5 June |
National Rose of Tralee Final |
| Sunday 27 June |
Annual General Meeting |
| Sunday 27 June |
Mid-winter Pot Luck Dinner |
| Sunday 25 July |
Pot Luck Dinner |
GREETING CARDS
We are delighted to know that Emma Coffey has landed
on her feet with a job in London, while disappointed she is on
the other side of the world!
And we wish Lucy McAuliffe (our 2009 HV Rose) and
partner all the best as they try their fortunes in northern Queensland.
And we send Ashley McKenzie-White south to the National
Final of the Rose of Tralee with our best wishes and strong support.
VISITING THE COUNTIES
County Tyrone. There are several local Council sites
for Tyrone, so I picked just one that for Omagh, at www.omagh.gov.uk.
It is a colourful and easy to navigate site, with the now usual
list of tools for transacting with the Council. I was particularly
taken by the advertising of a One day Irish Language Course on
June 5, and immediately below it a very colourful advert for a
Springwatch Wild Day Out!
The official online tourism site for all of Northern
Ireland is at www.discovernorthernireland.com.
It has a section called 48 Hours in Tyrone & The Sperrins, which
sets out a range of activities and attractions, providing information
which indicates one could have a very busy and enjoyable 48 hours
visiting the county!
I NEVER KNEW THAT ABOUT... CO TYRONE
The Ulster American Folk Park grew up around a tiny
cottage from when came the Mellon family, one of America’s (and
the world’s!) wealthiest families.
President Ulyssess S Grant was the 18 US President,
and was descended from John Simpson of Dergine, Ballygawley.
Tyrone Crystal, one of Ireland’s three great crystal
makers is based at Dungannon.
The Wellbrook Beetling Mill at Cookstown, built
originally in the 18th century continues to operate today. Beetling
is the final stage of the production of linen, and involves the
pounding for many hours of the fabric with hammers.
YOUR LOCAL GAA CLUB
The Wellington GAA is a growing and active group
drawing members from the whole region. Check them out at www.wellingtongaa.com
or email them at wellingtongaa@gmail.com
or telephone Daithi on +64211861099 or Kav on +64210658659.
CARDS OR MUSIC NIGHTS
Do you enjoy a game of cards? There’s one
on at the Club on the first Friday each month. Call Anne on 2329962
to check dates, times, and other arrangements. Or come along on
the third Friday of the month for our music session. No arranging
needed – just turn up!
ACKNOWLEDGING THE SUPPORT OF:
Notices:
If you'd like you Newsletter by email, write to:
info@huttirish.org.nz
Remember the Hall is available for Hire. All this helps your Club
financially, so recommend us to your friends.
Don't forget the Club is open every Friday 7 p.m. to 1 am, and on
Sundays 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Published by: Hutt Valley Irish Society, 12 Raroa Rd,
PO Box 31-469, Lower Hutt, 5040. Phone: (04) 569-6139
info@huttirish.org.nz
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