Here’s a video of all our work in the grotto since it started last year. It has been a beautiful transformation & is now a fitting centre point to our village, with a new public space for people to sit & chat. It was a huge community project & we can all be proud of the facility we now have.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help bring the project to fruition. From sandblasting the stone, clearing the old wall & plants, to cutting trees, ground works, building, plastering & painting the new wall, creating the plinth, putting in the flowers, sensory & chalkboards, planters, picnic bench, information boards, decorative stone, bollard lights & village pump.
There are so many people to thank, so we hope we don’t leave anyone out. Among the many who helped are Martin Stack, Fergie O’Connor, John Kennedy, Tom Kennedy, Conor Mulvihill, Cathal Fogarty, Tom Tydings, Davy Walsh, Maggie Kenny, Aine Kennedy, Maureen Walsh, Lorraine McElligott, Fiona Enright, Ann Collins, Mary Mulvihill, Donie O’Keeffe, Liam Doyle, Sean Hannon, Patsy Sheehan, Ned O’Connor, Mattie Joe Mulvihill, Dave Griffin, Padraic Fogarty, Kevin Mulvihill, Eoin Kennedy, & Joe Dee RIP.
A special mention to Kerry Council workers for pouring the concrete, installing the bike racks, information boards, & park benches, Mary Finucane for the excellent paint & restoration job on the statue of Bernadette, Jimmy O’Carroll for sandblasting the stone, Paddy Fitzell & John Fitzell for creating the beautiful memorial seats in the grotto, to ESB & Eir for moving their poles, & to Tom Kennedy for giving us the extra land beside the grotto.
Of course, none of this could be done without funding, so we want to sincerely thank our local councillors, Mike Foley, Jimmy Moloney, Robert Beasley, Tom Barry, Aoife Thornton & Mike Kennelly, Kerry County Council, Andy Smith, & Veolia Connect.
As you can see, it was a massive undertaking, involving vast numbers of people & organisations. We hope it is now used as a focal point in the village for years to come. As always, thank you to our community for your continued support.
Also, if you can, please support our Christmas raffle on AsdeeVillage.com or in John Pius Walsh’s, Jack J’s, or Tom O’Sullivan’s.
A beautiful community process of building relationships and friends