Baltinglass Jotter

Pilates and Bfit with Ruth: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12.30 p.m. in Europark, Baltinglass, Wednesdays at 12.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. €40 per 4 weeks. Recorded classes also available. See fb page.

Slaney Quilting Studio in Rathvilly on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for 6-weeks from September 12. Further details from Tomomi at 085 7749774.

Yoga classes with Nuala Keegan in the Lalor Centre. You can contact Nuala at 087 909 0895 or email her at wicklownuala@gmail.com or log on to www.nualakeeganwellness.com.

Baltinglass Sings with Paula Phelan. Wednesdays in the Lalor Centre from 7-8 p.m. Phone 085 788 2385.

Basketball for ladies with Baltinglass Bulldogs based in Scoil Chonglais, every Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Film Club in Baltinglass Library, monthly. Coming up: ‘Casino Royale’ Wednesday, September 20 at 10.30 a.m.

Boxing with Willie Byrne in Grange Con in September. The starting age is 9 years. Training takes place on Tuesday and Thursday. For further details ring 087 2173567.

Slimming World: Baltinglass Golf Club, Thursdays 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Call Tracey at 089 218 5639.

Zumba with Eimear: Mondays at 7 p.m. Imaal Hall, Dunlavin. €8, pay as you go. Text 085 8505312.

Latin Dancing for Fitness & Fun: Tuesday mornings (19 September), Thursday evenings (14th September) at 7.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Enquiries through fb page @Eimear McCarthy.

The Gohery School of Traditional Irish Dancing for children: Bigstone Community Hall. Suitable for ages 4+. €8 per class, payable per 4-week term. Tuesday 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Turn up to join.

Robyn Baltinglass Curren Dance classes for children 4+. Fatima Hall on Fridays from 4.30 – 5.30 p.m. €8 per class. Enquires through fb page.

Culture Night in Baltinglass

Creative Places Baltinglass is delighted to announce the line-up for the Baltinglass Culture Night Extravaganza on Friday, September 22. Culture Night is an all-island annual event that celebrates creativity and the arts.

Curated by local artists and creatives, Mark Caplice, Vincent Gethings, Rachel Kane, and Karen Allison, in collaboration with Wicklow County Arts Office, the Baltinglass Culture Night Extravaganza programme features a rich, diverse, and dynamic range of experiences and live performances for people of all ages to enjoy free of charge.

East Coast Radio will host a live broadcast of the ‘Morning Show’ with Declan Meehan in Horan’s Bar from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Come along or tune in to catch a taster of what’s in store for Culture Night this year in Baltinglass.

From 5pm-10pm, the Main Street Square Outdoor Stage line-up includes performances from:

Amy Barrett, a Dunlavin singer-songwriter; Taylor Hayes, an exciting young performer from Baltinglass with tonnes of energy and charisma on stage; Flowers of Ukraine, a newly formed group of 16 dancers from Ukraine and living in County Wicklow; James Nelson, a Baltinglass native and member of popular singing trio “The Celtic Tenors”; Leslie Dowdall, who first hit the headlines as lead singer with Celtic rock band ‘In Tua Nua’; Mark Caplice, a multi award-winning songwriter, artist, and producer from Baltinglass.

The live performance ends with headliner Jerry Fish, renowned as much for his showmanship as he is for his music. He’s a carnival creator, circus ringmaster–complete with Vaudeville moustache–a playwright, singer, songwriter and poet.

From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. the Baltinglass Library Indoor Stage features: Noel Boland, an up-and-coming country singer / songwriter taking the Irish country scene by storm; Creative Writers from Dunlavin and Rathdangan Writers’ Groups; Suzanne Toomey, a singer and musician based in the hills of West Wicklow; Cormac Doyle, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Baltinglass and will be joined on stage by talented uilleann piper and guitarist Aidan O’Brien.

Across the street from the live entertainment, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Germaine’s, Inis Fáil, Wicklow Marketplace, a local online craft market, and Crafty Craic Candles from Glen of Imaal have selected a range of stallholders to spotlight artists and crafts people from all over Wicklow.

Now in its second year, Creative Places Baltinglass is a community led three-year project that celebrates Baltinglass people and place. Funded by the Arts Council, Creative Places provides an opportunity for places that have had fewer opportunities to showcase their arts in the past, by co-creating programmes which will benefit the local community.

All events are free and booking for the main stage is recommended but not essential. See the full Wicklow Culture Night programme at www.culturenight.ie/wicklow.

For further information, contact Síle Stewart, Art Services Coordinator, Wicklow County Arts Office, at 087 4710461 or email sstewart@wicklowcoco.ie.

Times gone by project

Baltinglass Library will host Philip Byrne, (Storyteller in Residence 2023 Mermaid Arts Centre) on Tuesday, September 19 from 6-8 p.m. He hopes that people, older people specifically, will come along to share stories of their childhoods and of how life used to be. It will be a welcoming and informal setting and will be recorded in audio, as Philip’s project is to gather an oral history. Topics could include: -The area where you live and how it has changed -Childhood memories: School Games, Friends, Activities -Your own family and stories about your family -What jobs did you have? Wages, Stories from the workplace, Work practices, Characters -Sports played, Sports followed. -Stories, memories and everything in between. Refreshments will be provided.

Ed-Fest 2023

Balto Kayaking Club held the inaugural Ed fest in 2021 at The Weir in Baltinglass and it proved to be a great success. The event is to celebrate the life of club member Ed O’Brien and bring families together for a fun filled day of madness and smiles.

Loads of games on the river and off the river, loads of toys to play with. This event is open to all Balto Kayak club members and their families. The day is finished off with a Pizza party and the awarding of the Annual memorial Ed fest cup.

Baltinglass Sings

‘Baltinglass Sings’ group will be recommencing on Wednesday, September 13 in the Lalor Centre from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Paula Phelan will be sending out links to new songs that the group will be learning over the coming weeks via Whatsapp. If you would like to join this weekly singing group come along on the evening and give your name and contact number to Paula or phone her at 085 788 2385. Places may be limited at this stage. Participants should be 18 years plus. No singing experience is needed. All songs will be learned by ear.

Free English Classes

County Wicklow Partnership is running free conversational English classes in the Parish Centre on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (except during school holidays). All levels are welcome to attend, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Tea/Coffee will be available during break time. For information contact CWP Office at 0402 20955 / Ann Byrne 085 8006873 or Email: agbyrne@wicklowpartnership.ie

Active Retirement

The local Active Retired group is up and running after the summer recess. Tickets are booked to attend The National Concert Hall for a performance of Oliver, by The Rathmines & Rathgar Music Group on November 11. A four-night outing to Killarney is arranged for November 27 to participate in the Bowling Competition. For details of both these events contact Mary at 087 299 9571.

The following activities have recommenced: Bowling in Fatima Hall on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. Art Classeswill resume in October. Coffee Mornings for September will be in Bia Blasta on Friday mornings at 11 a.m.

Bigstone say thanks to KCC

Kildare County Council recently granted Bigstone Community Centre funding under The Local Property Tax 2023 funding stream. The Community Centre Committee has used the funds to get the inside of the Hall cleaned and painted. These works are now complete.

The Committee wish to thank Kildare County Council for their generous funding to make the hall look so well for the community to use in the months and years ahead.

Local History Talk

Rathdangan Community Council will host a talk by Fergus Kelly in O’Toole Hall, Rathdangan on Wednesday, September 20 at 8 p.m. The topic is: “Farming in Ireland before the Norman Invasion”

Fergus Kelly is a retired professor of Old Irish at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and has published books on Early (Brehon) Law and on Early Irish Farming practise, as well as on the legal position of women in Early Irish Society. All are welcome to attend.

Rathcoran Bench

Residents of Rathcoran were delighted to be able to enjoy the sunshine in the estate this week with the delivery of a Picnic Bench installed in the square area behind the Old Convent. This is a welcome addition to Rathcoran for both older people, parents and children alike. It will also facilitate activities such as art, hairbraiding or simply chatting to neighbours.

The bench is made by Irish Recycled Products from recycled plastic to protect it from Irish weather. It is in the same style as the benches in Tearmann Community Gardens and at Baltinglass Hospital.

Funding for the bench was awarded from the Community Enhancement Programme. The concrete plinth underneath the bench will be paid for with help from Edward Timmins as well as community fundraising.

Whist Drive

St. Peter’s Parish Centre, Kiltegan will host a Whist Drive this coming Friday, September 15 at 8 p.m. Going forward, the Whist Drive will take place every 3rd Friday of the month at 8 p.m. Looking forward to welcoming you all back.