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Adding a splash of purple to the community

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HELPING: Sisters Janine and Imogen O'Connor, daughters of Rotarian Angela O'Connor, pictured with Anne Alcock (Rotary President), Br Keon and Br Matthias planting crocus corms at the Friary. 

 

By Michelle Crean

Each spring a beautiful purple carpet of crocus blooms in many communities across the world - including Killarney - to raise awareness of the Rotary fight for a polio free world.

Last spring, a magnificent display of purple crocuses bloomed on the lawn of St Mary’s Church of the Sloes, thanks to the purple crocus corm planting, as a visual reminder of the world-wide Rotary Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Next spring, inspired by the example, a section of lawn of the Franciscan Friary adjacent to the KDYS driveway at Fair Hill, will mark the same message, while spring beauty brings hope and cheers eyes, minds and hearts.

World Polio Day on Saturday, October 24 had to be anticipated slightly ahead of schedule, due to the Level 5 lockdown, and crocus corms had to be quickly planted by Killarney Club President Anne Alcock with the assistance of some the Franciscans and Imogen and Janine O’Connor (Rotary member Angela’s daughters) on Wednesday, October 21.

"They will hopefully all come up purple, because purple has become the symbolic colour in the Rotary fight against polio, inspired by the colour of the dye painted on the finger of a child, to signify that they have received their potentially life-saving polio vaccine," Anne said.

"These are just some of the great ways that supporting Purple4Polio can result in great Rotary projects for outreach into our own local communities."

In August of this year, Rotary and its partners across the world celebrated a significant milestone, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) certified the African region, which includes 47 countries, free from wild polio.
This leaves just Pakistan and Afghanistan as the two remaining polio endemic countries in the world. But despite the momentous progress, more challenging work lies ahead to eradicate the disease for good. Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million each year to support global polio eradication efforts.

To get involved, and make a difference, visit www.rotarygbi.org/join.
The Rotary End Polio Now enthusiasts in Ireland are the Rotary clubs of Killarney, Dingle, Antrim, Athlone, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Dublin Central, Dublin North, Dun Laoghaire, Letterkenny, Mallow, Newry, and Newtownabbey.

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Five local postmen retire with 185 years service

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Five local postmen retire with 185 years service

RETIREMENT NIGHT: Pictured at the retirement party held at Killarney Racecourse on Saturday, October 3, celebrating a combined 185 years of service with An Post, are Connie Brady, James Foley, Terry Potts, Pat Cronin, and D.J. Cahill.


Five well-known local postmen celebrated their retirement at a special function held at Killarney Racecourse on Saturday night, October 3.


The event brought together current and former An Post colleagues to mark the combined total of 185 years of service delivered across Killarney and surrounding areas.
Delivery Services Manager Terry Potts retired after 43 years with An Post. He began his career in Dublin, where he worked for 10 years, before moving to Killarney in 1993 for a further 33 years.
Pat Cronin completed an impressive 51 years of service between Killarney and Farranfore, spending 44 of those years delivering post on the Farranfore route.
James Foley served 35 years with An Post, delivering on routes across Killorglin throughout his entire career.
D.J. Cahill marked 32 years of service based out of Killarney post office, delivering mail across Killarney town, Killorglin, Kilcummin, and Headford.
Connie Brady retired following 24 years with the postal service, spending 17 years in Killarney town before completing his service in Killorglin.
The celebration offered local postal staff an opportunity to gather and catch up ahead of the busy Christmas rush.

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New Streetscapes murals launched at College Square

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A colourful collaboration between the Kerry Local Creative Youth Partnership (LCYP) and the Architecture Kerry Festival at Kerry County Council launched yesterday evening at College Square.

Titled Streetscapes, the open-air public art installation officially opened at 5pm on Thursday, accompanied by a performance from the Killarney Youth Drumming Band THUMP! under the guidance of Urs Wenk from Drum Dance Ireland.


The public art project features a series of wall murals depicting Killarney through the eyes of local children, exploring freedom, play, and potential future evolutions of the townscape.

The artworks reimagine Killarney’s iconic landmarks and streets, blending youthful imagination and curiosity.


Supported under the Creative Ireland Programme, the installation is mounted on the gable wall of Reen’s Life Pharmacy in College Square, where it will remain on public display until March 2027.


Speaking at the launch, Daniel O’Shea, Youth Development Officer at Kerry ETB, stated: “Streetscapes is a wonderful celebration of how children see things. Their creativity brings new perspectives to the townscape, and we are proud to support their ideas and their art through this public artwork.”


Deirdre Enright, Co-Ordinator of the Local Creative Youth Partnership at Kerry ETB, acknowledged the community support behind the initiative: “We are very grateful to Reen’s Life Pharmacy who have shared their built space with us. Huge credit is due to the artistic team from Me+The Moon whose dedication to creativity and to children’s art shine through in this work.”


The project forms part of the annual Architecture Kerry Festival and receives funding through Creative Ireland and the Department of Education and Youth via Kerry ETB and Kerry County Council.


Victoria McCarthy, Festival Organiser and Architectural Conservation Officer at Kerry County Council, welcomed the continued inter-agency project: “It’s always a great event for Architecture Kerry and we are so pleased with this collaboration between public sector organisations. It remains a key feature of the Architecture Kerry programme.”
See next week’s Killarney Advertiser for full photographic coverage of the event.

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