St. Johns Parish Heritage Group - Annual Report 2012. St.

Johns Parish Heritage Group concludes its tenth anniversary year in style.
The tenth AGM of St. Johns Parish Heritage Group was held on 13th March 2013. The following Officers were elected for the coming year. Chairman: Ciaran Egan, Vice-Chairman: Eamon Leonard, Secretary: Mary Mullally-Keane, Asst. Secretary: Marian Gavagan, Treasurer: Christopher Keane, Asst. Treasurer: Margaret Egan and PRO: Liam Byrne. Mel McGerr was confirmed as Chairman of the Rindoon Sub-Committee. The Chairman thanked everyone who supported the Group during the past year. 2012 was the tenth anniversary of the foundation of St. Johns Parish Heritage Group (in July 2002) and a review of the year shows that it was a very busy one for the Group. A total of twelve monthly meetings were held. On 26th March a very successful launch of the updated "Rindoon Conservation and Management Plan" was organized in St. John's Community Centre, in association with The Heritage Council and The Irish Walled Towns Network. The plan was written by Kevin Blackwood of Blackwood Associates and launched by Minister for Arts, Heritage, and Gaeltacht Affairs, Jimmy Deenihan TD. The launch was reported in the local papers and on RTE television. On 29th March the Group was informed that it had been shortlisted for the 8th Annual Athlone Rehab People of The Year Awards. This is a great honour for the parish and confirms the commitment and enthusiasm of the Group's volunteer members and supporters. The awards took place in the Radisson Hotel, Athlone on 27th April and an Athlone Crystal vase was presented to the finalists. A very enjoyable Fr. Sean Kelly Memorial Lecture was held in St. Johns Community Centre on Wednesday 4th April. The speaker was Regina Donlon from St Johns and the title of her talk was "The Irish danced while the Germans sang - Irish & German social and cultural traditions in the American Midwest 1850 1900 a talk about living conditions and social interactions between Irish and German immigrants in America during the second half of the 19th century. To celebrate our birthday in July a booklet outlining the achievements of the Group in it's first decade was produced and a well attended Parish Party Night was held in Kelly's Lounge, Lecarrow. Also in July the judges from Pride of Place visited the parish to view the conservation works at Rindoon and The Warren Loop Walk. After a thirty minute illustrated presentation in St. John's Community Centre the judges were taken on a guided-tour of the Rindoon peninsula. The weather stayed fine and the day was very successful. The Pride-of-Place Awards night was held in Thomond Park, Limerick on 3rd November and the Group was represented by Liam and Mai Byrne.

St. Johns Parish Heritage Group - Annual Report 2012.

On 22nd July a fundraising boat trip was organized. The trip was a sellout and everyone enjoyed the day. The Group would like to thank Michael McDonnell of The Viking Boat for his generosity. The Group's conservation project at Rindoon was nominated by Roscommon County Council for the art@work scheme 2012. It was the first time that a community group was nominated. Eleven artists visited the site and the proposal "An Exploration Through Ancient Forms of Navigation and Mapping" by Linda Shevlin from Boyle was accepted. After visiting the parish and meeting the locals her finished works were presented to a very appreciative audience in St. John's Community Centre on 17th October. Linda very kindly presented two pieces of her work to our localart collection. Heritage Week 2012 was celebrated on 26th August with a Heritage Display at St. John's Community Centre. This was a continuation of our 10th Anniversary celebrations and there was a good flow of people who came to view the photographs and documents from our ten years of endeavours on behalf of the people of the parish. Last year also saw continued work at the Medieval site at Rindoon. The collapsed gate house was reinstated, thanks to a generous grant from The Irish Walled Towns Network. In addition a number of archaeological investigations were undertaken. Following additional work during 2012 and thanks to generous funding over the past four years, the Hospital at St. Johns (behind St. Johns Guesthouse) is now fully conserved. Though money is now scarce St. Johns Parish Heritage Group hopes to continue the work of conservation at Rindoon until all the buildings there are similarly secured. The Group would like to sincerely thank all those involved with the Rindoon project over the past 4 -5 years and we hope that this co-operative effort will continue long into the future. The Heritage Group representative Mel McGerr has been appointed Chairman of the overall Steering Committee for the Rindoon project. In October Rindoon featured on the Winning Streak programme, the second time we appeared on RTE during the year. The annual church gate collection in support of the old cemeteries was taken up in October. As a result of local generosity and a generous cemetery grant from Roscommon County Council the gate into Kilcommon graveyard was galvanized and refurbished. It is planned to do the same for the gate into old St. Johns graveyard during 2013. The final event of our anniversary year was a very enjoyable concert held in Culleen Hall on February 22nd. A large and appreciative audience was entertained by tenor Eoin Hynes and various guests, including local talent. A big thank you to everyone involved with this event and to everyone who helped in any way to make the past year such a successful celebration of our first decade. With so much still to do, we would welcome new members. Finally, heres to the next ten years! Thank you.