The Christmas Story in Trees at St. James's Church, Crinken

From the 4th to the 6th December this year St. James's Church is welcoming everybody to their Christmas Tree Festival. The event has been very well promoted both on their social media channels as well as during the Christmas in the Village event which took place in Shankill village a week ago.

The festival is part of the church's 175th anniversary events and tells the story of the birth of Christ through Christmas trees and verses from the Scriptures. 

There are around 40 Christmas trees in the church decorated by local schools, community groups, and businesses. The beauty of the event is not only in the design of each and every tree, but also in the way all the trees have been arranged together to set the scene for what the organisers have called the "Journey to Bethlehem". 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/crinkenchurch

As you enter the church, you will be warmly welcomed by one of the church volunteers and handed a brochure, which details the story of each tree. You can then go around the church to have a look at each tree as the story of the birth of Jesus unfolds in front of you with every Christmas tree and every quote attached to each and every one of them. From natural fir trees to trees made of books and other materials, every single tree tells both the story of Christ but also the story of the community who put so much effort into preparing it for this special occasion.

 

Before you leave the church, you are invited to sample a few refreshments in the hall and share your thoughts with the other members of the community. Also, someone will most probably invite you to the Carols by the Candlelight event which is going to take place next Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

A truly inspiring event open to everybody and revealing a great sense of community overall. The admission is free, but, if you wish to make a donation, you will be happy to find out that it will be used to support the work of The Storehouse (a project to create a food bank for people in need this Christmas).

Christmas Cheer in the Village

There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a community coming together in preparation for Christmas. The colours and the joy of the season are unique every year.

Today, everybody gathered in the village for the three events that marked the beginning of the Christmas celebrations in Shankill.

 

Christmas in the Village

Although the weather was cold and rainy, the atmosphere was great on Shankill Main Street, where from 1 pm to 6 pm everyone could browse the festive stalls selling glittering gifts, cards, decorations, and crafts and warm up with mulled wine, crepes, doughnuts, mince pies and other treats.

The children could take a ride on the carousels besides Brady's Pub and also try out the obstacle course. Santa made a very special visit to Shankill bringing gifts for all the children present in the village. Street performers, jugglers and live music performed by the Bray Gospel Choir and Tumbleweed made the day even brighter and happier for everybody.

Swan Winter Craft Fair

This event was organised by SWAN (Supporting Women & Networking in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown) and took place in Stonebridge Community Facility. Lots of businesses and crafters sold their items ranging from handknitted gifts to stocking fillers for dogs and cakes.

St. Anne's Parish Christmas Fair

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. everyone could drop in to St. Anne's Resource Centre to warm up with hot food and drinks and have some pancakes and mince pies. The organisers also included a Wheel of Fortune and lots handcrafted items and cakes for sale.

To add to the overall seasonal joy, everyone could enter lots of raffles at each of the three locations with prizes from hampers and vouchers to meals, cameras and money prizes.

Shankill Library

Shankill Library is a single-storey Carnegie Library, built in 1912 (architect R. M. Butler) and set in a quiet, semi-rural area of Shankill, not far from the Wicklow border. 

In the past it was used as a courthouse, a technical school, a dance hall and even a temporary church.

The building is set back from the road in its own garden. The Tudor-style library has an interesting façade, which consists of materials such as smooth and roughcast render, brick, squared rubble and smooth granite. 




Its architectural style was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and the entrance has suggestions of an Irish Romanesque doorway.

The building was renovated in 1978. 
Further details about the library and the different projects and events organised there can be found here. 






The road that leads to it has taken the name the Library Road and is known locally as a very quiet area, with lovely houses.

Shankill Wins in the 2015 Tidy Towns Competition & Dun Laoghaire Tidy Districts Competition

Shankill has been awarded a bronze medal in the 2015 Tidy Towns competition. The score was 302, an increase on the 2014 score. Check out the full report here. The competition, which is organised by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and sponsored by SuperValu, attracted 862 entries this year.

The second prize Shankill won this autum is The Best Village > 3000 People at the Dun Laoghaire Tidy Districts Competition. Further details here. Rathsallagh Shanganagh Clifton Estate Management Forum also received a prize for the Most Improved Housing Estate at the same competition. The Tidy Districts competition is run annually by Dun Laoghaire County Council to 'publically recognise the huge effort put in by local communities in enhancing their environments and making them better places to live and work in.'

Well done to the committee and the volunteers who work so hard to keep Shankill so nice and tidy!

Ireland's Biggest Coffee Morning in Shankill

  

Brady's of Shankill are hosting an Ireland's Biggest Coffee Morning event in aid of Harold's Cross / Blackrock Hospice on Thursday, the 17th September, between 10 a.m. and midday.

Anyone can host a coffee morning and you get your Bewley's coffee free of charge. Further details here. 

A great initiative. Well done Bewley's and Brady's!

Brady's of Shankill also recently won the Bar Food of the Year and the Charity Event of the Year prizes in the 2015 Bar of the Year Awards. Congrats!

Rathmichael Parish & School Garden Fête

Saturday, 5th September, was a lovely sunny day, just perfect for the annual Rathmichael Parish & School Garden Fête.

It was a great day out for everybody from midday to 4p.m. in Rathmichael School Grounds with lots of bargains, scrumptious food, jazz music, and lots of sun.

The event was very well organised with different stalls and tents for books, jewelry, clothes, bags, food, nail art, and many more. Delicious burgers, sausage rolls and refreshments were served for the whole duration of the event.

Shankill Shopping Centre

This is the best piece of news so far for the people of Shankill.

The work on the shopping centre opposite St. Anne's Church recommenced on the 22nd June 2015 and everything is expected to be finished by the beginning of September according to Labour Councillor Carrie Smyth.

Rumour has it that the supermarket which will open in the newly renovated shopping centre is ASDA.

Shankill Shopping Centre has been vacant since 2007, with the exception of a small number of units amongst which O'Donnell's Pharmacy and the Envy Beauty Salon.

The company in charge of the redevelopment is Bilaro, a Lithuanian retail group, which has around 500 stores across the Baltics, Bulgaria, Poland and Spain. According to the additional information from the Acting Senior Planner in the Council's Planning Department regarding Shankill Shopping Cetre:
”The developer has the full of life permission to build out the development. The redevelopment of the site is almost completed and the newspaper reports suggest that the developer Bilaro is trying to sell it on. As the site is secure there is nothing further the Council can do except to monitor and check for works to recommence.”

St. Anne's Church

St. Anne's Parish is the only Roman Catholic Church in Shankill. It was built in 1933 and is a wonderful building outside and inside.

There is also a resource centre right next to the church, which was opened by Bishop Martin Drennan on the 19th November 2000.

The church's website has a lot of information and resources and can be found here.