Deel Views – Rathkeale

The Deel Views magazine has served Rathkeale for decades. The 1989 to 2007 versions are online at the Limerick City Library. This online version is not a replacement, but simply a more current and accessible news section. Submissions can be emailed to

April, May, June 2023

	Aim to Create Vibrant, Thriving Town On 30 May 2023 the Rathkeale Community Council reorganised to help residents rejuvenate the town. It now advocates on behalf of the community, petitions for support, and organises projects and events, with the intent of creating a vibrant, thriving Rathkeale where positive experiences make people want to live, shop and visit. Its expanded purpose is supported by a new set of Guiding Principles, an updated Constitution, and a reorganised Executive Committee (Board.) It also incorporated the Team Rathkeale business group, creating one representative organisation for the town. The reorganised Board is led by Chairperson, David Lamont. Vice Chairpersons now focus on specific elements of the mission and have teams. Pat Neville is Vice Chairperson for Place Development. Derek Downes is Vice Chairperson for Economic Development, representing the favoured Business Constituency. Seamus Hogan is the Community Liaison Officer engaging with similar minded organisations and voters. Valerie Foley is Vice Chairperson for Tourism and Events. Podge Doherty is Vice Chairperson for the Treasury. The Council will add a Vice Chairperson for Traveller Interests representing the favoured Traveller Constituency, a Vice Chairperson for the Secretariat and a Board Vice Chairperson. In June, Denis Robinson was appointed Assistant Vice Chairperson for Traveller Interests with a goal to persuade a Traveller to join the Board.
	Rathkeale’s Calum Hogan Wins Big “A TALENTED young Rathkeale jockey enjoyed a memorable evening on the racecourse when partnering his first ever winner at Limerick. … The exciting Hogan only made his racecourse debut at Dundalk Racecourse in February. Friday night’s victory came on just his fifth ride in total after getting a month’s racing experience in the UK with trainer David O’Meara.” – Limerick Leader (26 June 2023)
	Rathkeale in the News So far this year Rathkeale was covered by mainstream media 92 times. 48% of the stories were positive, 11% were negative and 41% were neutral. These numbers are consistent with previous years. Negative news, including stories that make people afraid of the town, generally happen over the Christmas period.
	Solidarity In a display of appreciation, the Rathkeale community showed up in force on 15 June to show solidarity with its firefighters as they seek improved working conditions from the government. The protest included Cllr. Adam Teskey and Richard O’Donoghue TD. The firefighters enjoyed chips delivered by The ChipHouse.
	Frida Kahlo Art Exhibition St. Anne’s School and Rathkeale Together hosted a very enjoyable Frida Kahlo-theme Art Exhibition at the Carnegie Library in June. Initially the 5th class girls made flowered headbands from recycled fabric to represent the colourful head pieces worn by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo dressed in traditional Mexican clothes to represent her culture and show pride in her heritage. The Rathkeale girls proudly wore their headbands on International Women’s Day and subsequently re-purposed them into a large wall hanging. Creative portraits were also on display and sold for €10 to raise funds for the school.
New Path to the Shrine The path to the St. Mary’s Shrine was replaced by Limerick City and County Council in mid-May. It now includes tactile paving for visually impaired pedestrians.	Rathkeale Development Officer Limerick City and County Council has appointed Shane O’Doherty as the Rathkeale Development Officer. The role will be to enhance the social, physical, and economic fabric of the town and to co-ordinate activities of council departments, state agencies, local groups, and local residents.
Flower Up Day Tidy Towns Rathkeale cleaned up the flower tubs and added new ones in town and at the ABP. The children from Church Street and St. Anne’s girl’s school were also out in their areas planting tubs.	€1,300 for St. Anne’s Girls School Yard Last May, over €1,300 was raised to help fund the installation of the soft surface in St. Anne’s girls school yard. Donations were collected in Eurospar by the tireless volunteers from the community who were organised by St. Anne’s School and Rathkeale Together. We would like to thank Derek Downes from Eurospar, all the volunteers and of course everybody who generously donated for this worthy cause. Again, the people of Rathkeale are recognised for their generosity.
	From Rathkeale to Rome Rathkeale native, actor and director Cillian Ó Gairbhí enjoyed the world premiere of his debut film in Rome in June. Titled Anamchara, the short film is an intimate look at a relationship. It was directed by Cillian himself and co-written with Rachel Feeney.
Chewing Gum Off Main Street At Derek Downes request Limerick City and County Council contracted a specialist who did an excellent job cleaning the chewing gum from the footpath on Main Street. This mid-May an operation, requiring special equipment, was completed among with courtesy cleaning of some shop windows.	45 Years of Tadhg O’Connor Tadhg O’Connor Ltd. is a family-owned and operated business that has been serving the West Limerick community for 45 years. The company was founded in 1978 by Tadhg O’Connor Senior, who recognized an untapped market for builders’ providers in Rathkeale. Tadhg’s sons now lead the company, and they have expanded the business to three stores, including a state-of-the-art furniture and electrical showroom. The company employs nearly 100 people.
	The Lights are On — Finally! The new lights from the ABP Meat Factory to Kyletaun were turned on mid-May.
	Dereliction: 2nd Highest in County Limerick 44 derelict properties (11% of the county total) are in Rathkeale, the highest percentage outside Limerick City’s 36%. Excluding the 33 sites in the Ballywilliam Estate (8% of the county total) Rathkeale had 3% of the county’s derelict sites – not good, but not extreme.
~~~	###

Patrons

Beauty Bliss, The Square, Rathkeale. Personal care with facial treatments, microneedling, microdermabrasion, and spray tanning.

The ChipHouse Take Away, Bank Place, Rathkeale. Fresh cut chips, pizzas, kebabs, burgers and much more!

Downe’s Eurospar, Main Street, Rathkeale. Supermarket with bakery, butchers, off-license washing machines and ATM.

Rathkeale Together, Parish Hall, Lower Main St. Rathleale. A group made up of Travellers and settled people working on development and cohesion in Rathkeale.