Building…

t’s only when we start digging back through the archives each year that the sheer volume of stories, interviews and archive additions that we post each January to December actually hits us.

We’re talking hundreds upon hundreds of pages, from the sublime and the serious to the rakish and the ridiculous.

All Greystones life is here, and not just the here and now but our rich, seemingly endless past, and what looks like, at the time of going to press, our bright and breezy, 16-acre park-packin’ future.

There’s a deep satisfaction in adding yet another piece to the town’s great big jigsaw with each new post, the Guide one day hopefully standing as a fairly extensive and damn exhaustive record of one town at one moment in time.

Our town. Our time.

Talking of which, below is a round-up of 2018, highlighting the biggest story of each month, along with a nod to the many people, parties, proposals, panics, pictures, pontifications and press releases that actually left a mark. Enjoy.

January

Despite being a traditionally slow news month, as everyone is busy stretching and yawning – and scratching their assets after Christmas – there were some surprisingly heavy hitters at the start of 2018, including young Simon Power signing with Norwich City, Ms Jade Phoenix bringing her opera posse to town, the bould Katie Bradshaw winning the Greystones Top Of The Shops crown, and St Brigid’s fabulous old building being saved from private developers at the 11th hour.

Nice to see Dr Anna Foy following in her father Pat’s footsteps by opening her Blacklion clinic with Dr Peter Kelly, the Horse Field beside St Laurence’s school getting approval for 74 houses, Jack Ferns and Sika winning our Me & My Pooch competition, we gave thanks and praise to Declan and the Bochelli gang after their Christmas Day Dinner brought in major moolah for the homeless, we caught up with local guitar wonder Niwel Tsumbu, plus Jennifer Whitmore and Niamh Egan as the plans for the new South Beach Playground were revealed.

Lucey Dental won its first big award of the year, we caught up with Benny Taglienti as he began his battle with motor neuron disease, and finally got the happy, loving couple behind the much-loved and much-missed Tino’s deli, Augusto Cassoni and Claire McGarry, to sit down and break buns with us.

The most popular post of the month though was our look back at the life of the late Caroline Dwyer Hickey, the primary school teacher who lived life to the full – swimming with dolphins in Florida, holding the 2012 Olympic torch, teaching school children in Uganda, acting in the likes of Three Sisters and Dancing At Lughnasa – right up to her tragically early passing at the age of 35, on March 25th, 2013. It’s a life that lives on, of course, in The Caroline Foundation, run today by Dermod and Helen Dwyer. From 1,410 naughty nautical hats to 5,208 teddy bears lining Greystones’ seafront, Caroline would have been amazed by the amount of magic that has been created in her name. You can read all about this remarkable woman here, and The Caroline Foundation’s latest adventure here.

February

We started the month with a wry look at that ridiculously outdated and hugely irrelevant tourist guide to Greystones outside the train station, boasting as it does ads for just about every attraction in Wicklow that isn’t in Greystones, added Devil’s Glen to our growing Take A Hike walks, got the ok for our new dog park, saw Crimson Lane withdraw their application to have The La Touche Hotel demolished, and got Pierce Turner to reveal the tracks of his years.

We also reported on the tragic loss of two Beech Court houses to fire over in Kilcoole, crowned the bould Alan Rowlette Greystones Person Of The Year, Heathervue resident Victor Edmonds took us a family journey that incorporated Erskine Childers, Michael Collins and some wild dancing at the crossroads, we happened upon a latenight mini-funeral pyre of drug paraphernalia down at Burnaby Park, work began on The La Touche Hotel development, Coolnagreina got the thumbs up for their Trafalgar Road youth cafe, Anna O’Rourke finally becomes a cover girl, whilst her son, Michael, revealed his two-year battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Pluck’s went on the market, one parent decided to do something about the lack of school places in the town, we gave over archive pages to Church Road and Wicklow Town, some true footballing legends came to town, as did true comedy legend David O’Doherty, we caught the second Chinese Character Festival up at Educate Together, a dolphin was rescued on the South Beach, Temple Carrig got their rocks on, John Byrne talked us through the 76-year history of the Greystones Rowing Club, Miriam Lambert let us know who really pulled the Wanderly Wagon strings, we spoke with Six Nations nuts Kevin and Claire, got the lowdown on grooves from Fiachra Trench and movies from John Connors, and day one of The Beast From The East had the whole town getting a very late, very white Christmas.

The big one for February was probably the homecoming party for golf’s latest pin-up, Paul Dunne, his old stomping ground, Greystones Golf Club, pulling out all the stops, and the pork, for the return of the prodigious son. It was a special night, as Paul had his family – and his hot girlfriend – in the front row, and just about everyone he’s ever met growing up in Greystones sitting right behind them. It was an emotional night. With free food. What more could you ask for…? You can read the full story here.

March

The month began with the sad passing of three much-loved figures in the town – the always-smiling Jay Thomas, Michael ‘The Dude’ Ryan and, in an entirely different breed of Ryans, the bould Carmel.

Early on, we also got to talk to Michael Kunz about his striking murals in the centre of Kilcoole, keep daily tabs as that Beast From The East turned the town into a winter blunderland, we saw our Welsh twin town Holyhead getting battered by Storm Emma, Nicola Lawless was voted town cathaoirleach, there was another fire failing at Gailscoil na gCloch Liath, Mia Parsons looked back on, oh, 75 years of warbling, we explored the hollow shell of The La Touche Hotel, and Greystones held its very own Doggie Parade.

Our Paddy’s Day MC got into a spot of PC bother (the Girl Guides soon gunning for blood, as they do), whilst the parade itself was a surprisingly cold and muted affair.

Meanwhile, everyone’s favourite house on the hill, the Fox’s old place up on Windgates, was once again put on the market, there was a body found on Bray beach, we called for a life in non-plastic, and talked to Delgany diamond Wen Wang-Whelan about the tattoo declaration of love parents of children with Down Syndrome were getting around the world, and we finally got to talk to the great photographer Jack Clarke and explore his 1980s portraits of local characters.

Also, just as the search for Pete Scully made national news, over 100 Bikers Of Éire descended upon the harbour, adding their silver machine roar to the defiant cheers at Michael Ryan’s wake in Dann’s, we caught up with Late Late Toy Show sensation Maiú Levi Lawlor as he made his Whale debut, spoke with Cian Hall about taking on the title role of Playboy Of The Western World, and we headed down to the Greystones Coast Guard’s HQ to find out more about a local tribute to the Rescue 116 crew.

The biggest post for March was, surprisingly, the second of the town’s Stepping Stones: Battle of The Bands, with the likes of Emily Beattie, Talk Like Dog, Sam Cox & Lauren McBride rallying the troops as they set out to become this year’s rockin’ champs. In the end, it was Talk Like Dog who pipped everyone to the post, with Emily Beattie and the duo of Ben Rowsome & Nathan Flanagan – aka Hail & Rain – also walking away showered in glory and, yay, prizes.

April

We started the month with Lorraine O’Brien, the leading light behind Bray’s long-running youth theatre, Dry Rain, caught up with the poor Greystonian Dart commuters stuck on a late evening train between tunnel #2 and tunnel #3, the 9.25pm train into Greystones turning into the 12.30am bus from Bray, spoke with Greystones AFC coach Declan Bollard as the club goes from strength to strength, and we gasped at the beauty of those bright yellow rape fields up on the Cliff Walk.

We also reported on local nutters Andrea Splendori, Ross Thompson and 11 others taking on 74km charity run in Spain, there was a robbery at the Carphone Warehouse in Meridian Point, blockhead Ali McCann headed to Detroit to compete in the First Lego League World Championship, Rachel Casey continued her incredible work for Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital, we spoke to Carol Hunter from Grandparents For Repeal, work began on upgrading Chapel Road, we reported on Lucy Lou’s Dreams after the Killincarrig kid was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, wondered if anyone is awake at Greystones Dart Station, and spoke with the mighty Robert Mooney about his burgeoning – and nicely polished – furniture designs.

We also caught up with 12 Angry Kids over at Kilcoole’s Colaiste Chraobh Abhann, had a chinwag with some hardy Greystones Tidy Towns volunteers tidying up Windgates, a new secondary school was confirmed for Charlesland, demolition work began on The La Touche Hotel, eh, reimagining, we unleashed a free hi-res archive of old Greystones Harbour shots, a bunch of enterprising Temple Carrig kids unleashed their TC Foam Rollers for the sports market, we caught up with the very groovy young Delgany actor Finian Lennon as he takes part in Disney’s big-screen adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl, political hopeful Alice O’Donnell is selected as the town’s Peace Commissioner, we spoke with the professional monkeys up at the Calisthenics Sports Club in Gaelscoil na Gloch Liath, and had tea and cake with Laura, Lou and Niall as they arranged a memorial cup for their old buddy, Matt Kemp.

The big one for April was the shocking accident that occurred in the early hours of Saturday 14th, when local teenager Tara Houlihan had to be rushed to Beaumont Hospital after being discovered lying on Kilcoole’s main street at 3.50am. Tara had seemingly been the victim of a hit and run, but the story was more complex, and tragic, than that, a Greystones man handing himself in at Bray Garda Station as the man behind the wheel. By September, Tara was back home with her loving family, and reportedly doing well.

May

The month started with our South Beach once again getting its Blue Flag – hurrah! – as we revisited the S.O.S. down at SoBe, caught up with marathon girl Niamh Fortune as she did Hell & Back for Greystones Cancer Support, sat down in a Dublin pub with Phelim Drew to talk about the songs his father taught him, gasped as international poetry came to The Hot Spot and no one protested, marvelled at young Ashford filmmaker and vlogger Sean Treacy, whilst up at Redford Cemetery, Mark Kinsella marked what would have been the 2nd birthday for Baby Alannah.

Doing a fine old school job on the new stone wall on Chapel Road, Donegal lads Raymond and Emlyn revealed all, we finally caught up with everyone’s favourite ice cream man, 92-year-old Jinx Hill legend John Burke, some shy Greystonian won over €70,000 on de lotto, Greystones Family Fun Day went off without a fight, and in glorious sunshine, we had our John Sweeney-vs-Scientology moment with a busload of anti-abortionists, half of Delgany village went on the market, the notorious Halfwit Gang decided to bully some under-10s [smashing GG’s Beetle windows for becoming news, and thus inspiring freelance halfwits, such as Jacob Lee, left, to start trolling us].

Aine Kearns presented the no side to the Repeal vote, a Dublin Bus driver was viciously attacked at a Lower Kindlestown stop, Orla Leonard and Pyper Ludlow talked to us about their Million Woman March over the recent cervical cancer scandal, some celebrities – and Ciara Kelly – stepped out for St Catherine’s, those beautiful yellow fields up on the Cliff Walk provided the backdrop for a community-aided arrest, Anne Bateman handed in her GCS badge, the diddley-aye squad went a little crazy over Harry & Meghan’s wedding hitting town, De Valera’s 1918 arrest in Greystones was re-enacted at the train station, Greystones U14s lads were victorious in Belgium, bagging the Tom Morris International Rugby Tournament title, whilst Temple Carrig Minor Boys bagged the Leinster Cup, we spoke with Love/Hate‘s John Connors about his upcoming Greystones fundraiser,

And the biggest hit of May 2018? That would be those beautiful yellow rapeseed fields, the setting for approximately 3.67billion selfies, and beautiful enough to make the national papers. We rounded up the best of the many, many loving shots, and even some video, to capture this true natural wonder. We reckon there must have been at least ten proposals amidst all the heavenly landscape of yellow flowers. And one or two fairly immaculate conceptions too, no doubt.

June

As the summer kicked in, we hit the ground gunning with budding young rock god Eoin O’Faherty, caught up with portrait photographer – and part-time Greystones Player – Sheena Griffin, and boogie woogie giant Gavin Povey, whilst a very rude word was hiding in plain sight on Greystones’ main street.

There was also the little matter of the gangland shooting at Bray Boxing Club that ended in tragedy, ex-Pat Paddy O’Byrne had a good old moan about the new harbour, Dylan Crampton released the first of three kick-ass singles, the chimney stacks at The La Touche Hotel were destroyed, the Strip & Dip’s barenaked ladies set a new Guinness world record with a streak on a secret Wicklow beach, we caught Phelim’s homecoming gig, and Greystones Rugby Club played host to the Wooden Spoon Special Needs Tag Rugby.

We added the Bray Head cross to our Take A Hike guide, Greystones was hailed as a foodie haven, the No Fry Zone gang reckoned their goose was deep-fried with the granting of a takeaway license beside those Blacklion schools, and buddies Dee Brennan and Grainne White got the fright of their big 10th-year Woodlands Montessori anniversary night out when a whole bunch of parents and happy kids sprung a big surprise down at The Cove. We also caught up with the groovy high-fliers at Sugarloaf Gymnastics, Rie Maruyama talked us through her free Monday night tin whistle classes, Mooch celebrated their first year in the town with a big birthday bash, and a new Guide interview, the Greystones Way signposts popped up all over town just as, fittingly enough, that new Chapel Road pavement was unveiled.

This was also the month when the Pear twins had a love-in with Greystones Tidy Towns, the great Daniel Day Lewis was the guest of honour at the turning of the turf at The Wicklow Hospice, the cry went out not to feed chubby Sailing Club mascot Stitch, Anne Sexton showed us around her groovy Pilates palace, David O’Reilly tried to sell us a copy of his new thriller, The Amber Enigma, Susan Chestnutt followed Anne Bateman out the GCS door, young Harris swung by for the raising of St Brigid’s digital flag, we had a mooch around those new Marina Village apartments, formerly of this parish, and Father David Halpin walked away from the priesthood after having “fallen in love”. Nice.

In a new strand, checking out gone-but-not-forgotten Greystones landmarks, we hooked up with history buff Rosesmary Raughter to explore Killincarrick House, which would later become The Woodlands Hotel,  Wicklow suffered 42 gorse and wildland fires in just 48 hours, the Pear twins hooked up with Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal for a Netflix special, and, ever helpful, we launched Your Greystones Week, rounding up daily what the following seven days have in store for the town.

The most popular post in June 2018? That would be the mighty Michael Clarke, who was heading off to the Special Olympics, to show off his medal-winning skills in running and soft ball throwing. Like all good people, Michael was shy when it came to blowing his own trumpet, but, luckily, he had his mum, Paula, by his side, as we talked training, taking the podium, and being somewhat terrific. You can check out that interview here.

July

The month started off with the sad news that the huggable Maureen McFall had passed, and we countered by launching this year’s Póg Mo Cone search for the town’s yummiest 99. This was the month when we also said goodbye to John Cave MBE, a man instrumental in bringing Holyhead and Greystones together.
As news broke of Jade McCann’s diagnosis with stage IV leiomyosarcoma, we revisited her March 2016 Beauty & The Blog interview, caught up with Bridget & Eamon funny girl Sharon Mannion, and former pop idol, now Beach House quizmaster Mike Morrissey.

Early in the month, Wicklow County Council announced a third N11 lane – about time! – the La Touche Legacy gang launched their 30th shindig, the Greystones Baton Twirlers hit Euro Twirl 2018, we spoke with Mary-Kate, David, Ciara and Colm about their new Escape Rooms on Hillside Road, a petition was launched for a Cove lifeguard, Carolyn Flynn won a €3,500 diamond ring in a WH Five Loaves competition, John McGowan caught up with this year’s Two Marys Golf Classic, GG had a grand summer’s day out on Silver Strand and Wicklow’s other Cliff Walk for our Take A Hike guide, Banger Brothers Rob Thomas, Jonathan Hoblyn and Iain Fisher headed off on a 4-day, 1,200-mile car ride for Men’s Cancer Alliance (must check if they made it back), and we spoke to Dublin filmmaker Frank Berry as his highly-acclaimed Michael Inside played The Whale.

Róisin Keddy left some love on the rocks and hid them around Greystones, Muireann revealed how to find our inner selfies, we got in the ring with karate kids Jake Carroll and Leah Kiernan, we took a flight over 1950s Greystones, Wicklow Tourism put together a rather spiffing tribute to our wonderful town, Greystones Golf Club’s U18s were crowned Leinster champs, we got the lowdown on the suffragette protest 100 years ago on Greystones harbour, the whole town went bananas for The Jungle Book outdoors at The Cove, Russell Brand popped by the Pear to get spiritual, and fed, we finally got to meet our idol, Elvis Alan Presley, and triggering a bizarre, and disheartening, saga, Eileen Jackson was forced to resign from St Patrick’s National School over changes to the Church Of Ireland’s admissions policy.

The big one was the frightening four-day fire up on Bray Head, our local firefighters joining with Bray and others to keep those flames away from family homes up on Windgates Hill. Their work was incredible, something that the town quickly recognised. We had a few words with Ciaran Hayden on the frontline, whilst the firemen themselves thanked the town for their generosity and support during those different days. One Cliff Road resident, Niamh Delmar, summed up the gratitude felt by those whose homes were saved by these brave men…

August

The month started with a 1990s train cab ride through Greystones, we got to talk to the swingin’ Derby Browne about channeling The Andrew Sisters, and the WW2 ÉIRE sign on Bray Head resurfaced after those recent fires, their excavation actually the result of painstaking work over the last few years by local history buffs Denis Slattery and John Byrne.

Talking about the view from above, we managed to round-up David Hoctor’s incredible drone shots of Greystones, we talked to Kilcoole GAA guru Thomas Messitt about the town’s incredible fundraiser raffle, whereby a €105 ticket could win you a brand new €40,000 house in The Willows, John McGowan caught this year’s Rowing Regatta, a sudden spate of parking clamps had the town up in arms, and on their bikes, Chakra were up for their 927th award, whilst attempts by Wicklow County Council to move a notoriously difficult tenant from her mobile home in Delgany to Farrenkelly didn’t go quite to plan. It was enough to have other estates in the town circling the wagons.

We were also lucky enough to get an early tour of the new South Beach Playground with two of its fundraising ringleaders, Niamh Egan and Jennifer Whitmore, joining the official opening party a week later, the town’s sillier residents were out in force for Airplane! on the beach, whilst Joshua and Matthew Barrington followed in their great, great uncle’s snowprints when they took on the 13,000ft Eiger, Fassaroe’s Charles Barrington having been the first man to do so back on August 11th, 1858. Talking of important August dates, we marked the 10th anniversary of Ronnie Drew’s passing with a little tribute, pointing out that August 16th has a lot to answer for, claiming Elvis in ’77, Ronnie in 2008, and Aretha in 2018.

The stations of the craic were 90 – does that make any sense? – at the Holy Rosary’s Family Of Families gathering, with all sorts of silly games on offer, including giving Father Daly an early bath. In another part of town, Niamh Fortune handed over her Hell & Back haul to Greystones Cancer Support, we gathered rockers young and old to discuss the sorry state of Greystones’ nightlife, there was a major fire at Kilcoole’s Riverside, Albert Kerr’s hopes of saving Calary quarry as a water park were quashed, just as Ciaran Lally’s dream of an East Coast Greenway from Greystones to Wicklow began to become a reality, our swanky new all-kids-welcome playground got some national love, Kelly Drains hit another blockage in their attempts to turn their new Drummin site into a full-scale depot,

John McGowan caught Ciara’s Classic for Crumlin Children’s Hospital, the town’s kids – young and old – went potty for the return of Harry Potter at The Whale, whilst young Greystones filmmaker Ciaran Cullen made his debut there a week later. At the end of a dark month for the Church Of Ireland, the sorry St Patrick’s schools admission saga limped on.

The biggest story of the month was the senseless, violent attack on Cillian Darbey as he walked home along Bellevue Road on Sunday, August 5th. The gang jumped from a passed car – believed, at the time, to be a navy Ford Focus 06 – and beat Cillian unconscious, this random act of violence leaving the entire town shaken. It was a problem we addressed with youth worker Dermot O’Brien, whilst you can read the original news story here.

September

We took it easy at the start of September, relaxing ourselves by pulling together all the wonderful paintings of Greystones committed to canvas over the years, checking out all the Met Opera, National Theatre and Bolshoi Ballet live satellite links being beamed into Greystones, and compiling all the groovy after-school activities around these here parts.

This is also the month when we said goodbye to the Carmelite nuns in Delgany, as they prepare to sell up and move out, after 164 years in the village, Mungavin dug his high heels in, Chris de Burgh announced his Greystones debut at The Whale, in aid of Greystones Cancer Support, Mary-Kate Hardy transformed an old piano into a heaving, sweeping work of art, we unearthed Minister For Health Simon Harris’ early career as a young playwright, his debut production, On The Run, hitting the stage at St Patrick’s Hall for a 5-day run. Not bad for a 13-year-old. Following in Simon’s footsteps, Lisa Collins released a biography of her father, the late, great anti-smoking campaign figurehead, Gerry, the book boasting the fitting title, The Man Who Moved A Nation.

Talking of talented young kids, we also got to meet up with friends Leah Elliot and Garret Keogh, as they limbered up for their next Junior Beast Of The East triathlon, and got groovy with young Eurovision hopeful Ella Meakin Griffin, whilst over at Firehouse Bakery, tasers were finally being employed to sort out those lazy-ass parkers who keep hogging the footpath. And that reminds us – as Greystones Tidy Towns struggle to attract new members, we asked the simple question, is Greystones a town full of lazy-ass clicktavists…? Sweetly, the Tidy Towns gang scored at the National awards shortly after.

Talking of awards, Something Nice won this year’s Póg Mo Cone, having bagged the title last year too. Nice ice, baby!
And staying on the happy front, Ciaran and Kim Hayden celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a good old-fashioned disco in The Rugby Club. Jaysus, they even got down and did the rowing boat dance. And the conga. The following month, Kim was picking up an international award for her, eh, abstract nursing.

We were also lucky enough to get Formula 1 photographer Ian Thullier to take part in our Kick Up The Arts, whilst on the awards front, Chakra and Three Q’s got the cheese at this year’s Food & Wine Awards, and Dr Anna Foy and Dr Peter Kelly saw their new Greystones Family Doctors shortlisted for Establishing GP Of The Year at this year’s GPBuddy.ie National GP Awards. They won, of course.
Over in Kilcoole, there were cheers and jeers as news of a major new housing and retail development on the main street was announced.

Before the week was out, an emergency meeting was called to examine the plans, which were rejected with minor issues by December. Whilst we’re in that neck of the woods, a benefit night was organised to get Benny Taglienti a wet room on the ground floor – now that his motor neuron disease had him confined to his wheelchair – was announced whilst the call went out to help noted musician Paul Fairclough as he battled for survival too.  Jade McCann got a little help from her friends too, as a swarm of scooters went on a sponsored scoot for the Greystones girl living with a rare and incurable cancer.

Over at The Holy Rosary, there were triple waters all round as the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association held a love-in, we reckoned the new Dart timetable might be complete arse, and we launched the first of our Lunches With Elvis by visiting the groovy Café Gray. Oh, and gave the man his stage debut when he rocked The Whale at the 50th anniversary screening of Elvis: ’68 Comeback Special.

Perhaps the most shocking news of the year was the discovery that convicted child killer John Clifford was hiding out on the South Beach, having escaped custody in Belfast. The man was clearly set on making himself at home in Greystones before his arrest in Bray on Monday, September 10th.

The biggest September news though was the closing of Pineto’s, that much-loved Italian chipper that had made us all that little bit chubbier for the last 22 years. We caught up with Fiore and Anna, the couple behind Pineto’s, as they prepared for that final day, September 22nd. And we were there on that fateful day too, as the chips – and, hey, the tears – were in plentiful supply. You can relive that big farewell right here.

October

Jaysus, this is tiring stuff. Early in October, we spoke with such artistic luminaries as Andy Irvine, Dirt Bird and Nuala Sue Collins, Danny O’Brien, Joanne McNally and Paul Tylak. A Circus Gerbola competition went ever-so-slightly through de roof, our weekly raid on the Bray People’s archives came to a pause, as we source a new source, Greystones did The Time Warp again for a Rocky Horror party, and we launched this year’s Vote For Tommaso Or Else coffee competition.

On the feelgood front, we got hold of the new 16-acre Greystones Park plans, the Two Marys Golf Classic raised over €6,000 for Greystones Cancer Support, some mad feckers swam from Bray to Greystones for The Gavin Glynn Foundation, the Happy Pear hosted their 13th annual pie bake-off, there was a huge amount of love – and sweat – for Sheena Brennan as family and friends tackled the Dublin Marathon in solidarity with her chemo year, as Lidl join the fight, young eco warriors Luca and Donncha struck a blow against the town’s use of plastic straws, Greystones AFC legend Pat Smith was remembered with a Sunday afternoon kickabout, Daata went Gaaga at the Irish Curry Awards, the Coast Guards’ new boathouse finally came in, the petition to save 9-year-old Chinese schoolboy Eric from deportation sparked a national outcry, a new primary school for Kilcoole & Newtown was announced, Adrian Hopkins bumped into a deer checking out our Park & Ride, we rounded up the best of the Halloween frights around town, and the thankful Windgates community who gifted the Greystones Fire Station some moolah had it gifted back as a new defibrillator for the town. Boom!

On the sporting front, Éire Óg Minor Football team became county champs, and, hey, Kilcoole GAA became county champs, both on the same day.
On the hot potato front, Kilcoole residents voted overwhelmingly against the new housing and retail development, Mungavin and co pressed on with their St Patrick’s plans, despite the resounding votes of no confidence, a family of felons was rumbled in Greystones, with the teenage sons having their mum as the getaway driver, and Delgany looks set to become the new Charlesland by 2021, according to estate agent Gabriel Dooley.

The whole of Wicklow was shocked by the fire in the early hours of October 5th that destroyed much of the Lakers’ HQ in Bray, but the offers of help, and of fundraising, were flooding in before lunchtime.

Also on the tragedy front, Charlesland father Brendan Bell called on the law for families of people believed dead to be changed from its current seven-year wait, his daughter, Clodagh, having vanished on Newcastle beach three years ago, leaving a farewell note.
Sadly, Greystones will soon be waving goodbye to one of its last newsagents, as Cards’n Things beside Tesco confirmed that they would be moving out and moving on. To make way for another coffee shop. And did we wave bye-bye to Ron Seal too this month…?

We had our second lunch with Elvis, this time hitting the rather groovy new Eleven Deli. The King was well impressed.
Talking of all things joyful, GG finally got a return spin around our coastline with Captain Hopkins at the helm, on what turned out to be one of the finest summer days of the year. In October. And to mark Farrelly’s 60th anniversary, we completed the second half of our exhaustive history of the much-loved Delgany butchers. Exhaustive because those feckers take forever to unearth old deeds. That still didn’t stop us bringing some Bear Paw cake.
Although it opened its, eh, doors on August 22nd, it wasn’t until October 8th that our new South Beach Playground got the official ribbon cutting, with anyone and everyone – and a few no-ones – lining up for de snaps. A week later, some eejits tried to steal the outdoor musical instruments.
This was also the month when Eileen Jackson officially handed in her badge as principal at St Patrick’s National School. One day we’ll all look back at this and laugh. Especially after the court case.

The biggest October story though was the unveiling of the commemorative plaque at Greystones harbour, marking that fateful day in 1910 when suffragettes Hilda Webb and Hanna Sheehy Skeffington hijacked a kish inspection by delivering a different kind of pier pressure on Ireland’s Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, over why women didn’t have the vote. 

The two ladies in question would have been delighted to see the proud young schoolchildren re-enacting what The Irish Times described back then as being little more than ‘an amusing scene’. It was an emotional scene on Thursday, October 25th, as Rosemary Raughter from The Greystones Archaelogical & Historical Society and the boys and girls from St Brigid’s paid tribute to this historical moment for Irish women. You can check out the unveiling right here.

November

The response to this year’s Greystones’ Most Beautiful Baby competition was pretty overwhelming, but then, there are a ridiculous amount of cute babies in this town. I blame the incredibly handsome parents. In the end though, there was one baby who pipped all the other cherubs to the post.
Talking of Guide honours, naturally enough, Tommaso won the Best Coffee gong yet again, with Eleven Deli getting an honourable mention – and a stay of execution – for getting pretty darn close to an upset. And a bloodbath.

We also launched this year’s Greystones Rocks photography competition, always popular, given just how photogenic our particular neck of the woods happens to be.
It was great to catch up with Gary Paine after he finally finished the eight volume in the much-loved Pictorial History of Greystones books started by his late father, Derek. It’s been 11 years since Vol 7, and Gary has spent the last three years putting together this fascinating and deeply researched book. Catch it at Greystones Antiques, kids.

As controversial as ever, this was the month that saw Cllr Jennifer Whitmore welcomed the introduction of extra train carriages on Greystones trains. Outrageous. Talking of controversial, Gaelscoil na Clocha Liath was cleared to reopen on November 2nd, but, hey, the world is watching. At the other end of town, the new Dart and bus timetables have proven so crappy, the local council had to call a special meeting. Holy.
Budding playwright David O’Brien thought it was about time he stepped out from under his mother Lorraine’s shadow, and take Dry Rain into new territory with The Queen Who Cancelled Christmas, a panto that, he insists, isn’t a panto. Even though it is.

Living life on the fast track, Cameron Fenton continued his award-winning streak this month by becoming a finalist in the Motorsport Young Racing Driver Of The Year – and so, we jumped back to our 2017 interview with this promising young driver.

On the shop front, Musgraves took over Donnybrook Fair after founder Joe Doyle decided to slowly step away from his creation. With €15m in his pocket.

On the feelgood front, the Thrift Shop girls made a €10,000 donation to the Lakers, and then, €5,000 to the homeless, the Strip & Dip ladies raised a whopping great €502,183.02 for their fight against cancer, we put out the call for Mike Fisher votes when it came to this year’s Charity Impact 2018 award, and Greystones finally got the kind of swanky, top-of-the-range, overlooking-the-town penthouse apartments it had always deserved. Be the holy, these are nice. Three flights down, Chris de Burgh was soft-rockin’ the bejiggers out of the town’s old folk with a packed-to-the-rafters solo show at The Whale. Nice.

Talking of rock gods, Elvis announced himself as special guest at Benny’s Benefit Bash, and he proceeded to rock the house. Or, at least, one or two impressionable young women. Oh, and Dylan went diddley-aye for his latest single, Irish Sea.
The old Bill Martin and Phil Coulter classic The Ballad Of Ronnie’s Mare was the subject of a new GG archive – mainly because, mysteriously, the old archive on The Ballad Of Ronnie’s Mare had somehow gone walkies.

This was the month that we finally paid tribute to nature photographer and bird expert Cian Cardiff – who has plainly been picking up some tips from his granddad when it comes to capturing the perfect moment. We also spoke with Extraordinary Ideas curator Brian O’Regan about bringing together stand-up, percussion, modern dance, life coaching and kids music lessons for one night. Crazy.

A little more down to planet earth was Laura Wood, waxing lyrical about taking on the title role in the Greystones Players’ production of Juno & The Paycock, whilst also branching out into film with the No WiFi gang. Meanwhile, the Nugents talked us through adapting the backstage and onstage shenanigans of a 1939 radio production of A Christmas Carol. Talk about ambitious.

Actually, talking about ambitious, we gave a shout-out to DIT student Rosa Kirwan, who was awarded a prestigious engineering scholarship, thanks, in part, to her belief in “the importance of sustainable building and energy efficiency“. Darn right.

Rugby giant Nick Poppelwell was presented with a Lions Cap at a special dinner in Greystones Rugby Club, marking the former international’s 48 caps playing for his country. The local lad was one of only two Irishmen on the Lions’ 1993 tour of New Zealand. Talking of sporting legends, we spoke with Kilcoole’s Pappy Frawley about that crazy Win A Kool House raffle that has the whole country panting.
This month’s new housing estate news? Kindlestown Castle is about to get 74 new neighbours, whilst 42 new social houses were back on track at Kilbride Lane. Oh, and that St David’s expansion has been delayed to 2021.

There were calls to save at least part of the Luggala estate from private developers, given that it’s slap-bang in the middle of some much-loved Wicklow walks, cries of both anguish and joy as a new nuclear plant was announced on the Welsh coast, and there were wet volunteers aplenty at the big excavation dig at St Crispin’s Cell. Archaelogist David McIlreavy talked us through some of the finds before revealing all at the Greystones Lawn Tennis Club on November 20th.

On the treats front, we managed to unearth a 1980s plane ride from Dublin to Rosslare, passing through – wouldya believe – little old Greystones.
And how can we forget the sheer joy of the Christmas Lights 2018? Or the madness and mayhem that makes Ladies Night so special each year?

The biggest story of November was actually the coming together of a motley crew to take on the Couch To 5k challenge after a simple shout-out on Facebook. The original hope had been for four or five like-minded souls to sign up. In the end, 42 runners all joined together for their regular training sessions, and for simply working as a team under the training of six coaches, Eileen Strahan, Wendy Larkin, Helen Hunt, Julie Cole Byrne, Sharon Felton and Martin Ó Malley. What a gang.

December

And now that we look back at December, we realise that, yowsa, there’s a humongous amount of Christmas there, right from December 1st. No point in listing all the markets, fairs, Santa appearances, Christmas films, or the cruel Christmas Eve robbery at Delgany’s mini-mart. Instead, just the jingle belled highlights from the festive season…

Including quite possibly the real Santa, coming all the way from Holyhead just to do a quick tour of the town, for which The Man In Red was gifted one of those groovy Gary Paine books. Then he was spotted just a week later, doing his annual four-hour tour of Kilcoole, making sure each and every house got a chance to say hello.
There was a strong response to our Shop In Greystones This Christmas campaign, which was heartening. It may also have something to do with the fact that Greystonians are inherently lazy, of course.

Other special events in December included the Christmas Day Swim, the Jolly Boys & Girls singing their hearts out for Greystones Cancer Support, the annual Lakers carols outside SuperValu, coming together of some of Wicklow’s finest artists for St Vincent de Paul, setting up their wares in Greystones’ Pop-Up Gallery on La Touche Place, the annual Carols By Candlelight at Blacklion Church, the Delgany carol singers, all the fun of the Delgany Christmas Market and the Greystones Harbour Christmas Market, and the Irish-German Society of Wicklow’s Christmas lunch, plus the arrival of 2019’s fundraising Wicklow Calendar, showcasing some of the finest photographs of our fair county this year. And if you hurry, you just might be able to grab one signed by Chris de Burgh.
Back in the real world, we managed to get our hands on the plans and artist mock-ups for the town’s new 16-acre park, plus, The Happy Pear proved yet again that you don’t need meat to bring home the bacon.

In other good news, t was all smiles at Lucey Dental as head honcho Lisa won Leinster’s Most Caring Dentist at the Colgate Caring Dentist 2018 awards. We also got to talk to funny girls Emma & Julie as they brought their viral hit comedy to The Whale, found an inner strength in Jade McCann, as she battles with an incurable cancer, that pretty much floored us.

Perhaps the most shocking, and telling, story of the year came with the destruction of a shipping container decked out by local volunteers as a living quarters for a local homeless man. The local district council deemed the container unsafe for human habitat, and promptly levelled it, after they had removed all the man’s belongings and left them out in the rain. Which caused something of a major upset on local forums – with Derek Mitchell being named and shamed as the councillor who ordered the demolition – before making it to the national media. By Christmas Eve, a mobile home had been donated for the man who has been living in Greystones for the past year. You can do your bit for the homeless by sponsoring a brick as part of the new Ark Housing and Bochelli campaign. Just text HOUSING to 50300 to donate €2.

There’s also the upcoming fundraising concert at The Hot Spot for NCPS so they can bring the train station car park up to Third World standards.

Talking of old, decrepit sites, we took a look at the Bronze Age burial site that has put a temporary stop to Delgany’s Gorteen Way development up on Bellevue Hill. Meanwhile, a little chunk of Kindlestown Wood is being sold off to a private land owner, and no one seems to mind.

On the feelgood front, it was pretty amazing to see Benny Taglienti’s brand, spanking new wet room, built by the mighty Tony Hall, and the love and support of just about everyone within 100 miles of the Joker’s boy. There was also the wonderful Legends Of Wicklow shorts, our local history told in Lego, and with love. Nicely done, Peter Baxter and the createschool gang. And congrats to John Farage O’Brien and his team, who won Public Sector magazine’s Legal Dispute Resolution for a second time, and good luck to Elaine Willis, who has decided to follow her old boss, Stephen Donnelly, into – gulp – Fianna Fáil.

Actually, let’s continue that winning streak, as Greystones filmmaker Dean Kavanagh gets a €20,000 bursary for his work alongside his current collaborator, Anja Mahler, whilst groovy teenager Alana Lewis found herself winning a €1,000 Christmas spending spree at Arnotts, Shoreline pick up Best Overall Leisure at the Ireland Active National Quality Awards, and everyone’s favourite carer, Mary Finnegan, was crowned GP Practice Nurse Of The Year. Boom!

We finally caught up with Alison at Brooke & Shoals too, finding out exactly how the little shop that could has come out smelling of roses. And success.

We also got to wish Caroline and the McNamara clan the best of luck with their latest adventure, as they move from breathing new life into the Horse & Hound to taking on the same task with Pluck’s in Kilmacanogue. And if you’re wondering if there’s a easy and reliable way to do your taxes, the mighty Anna Heney-Jones at Bookworx Accounting Services has an exciting new scheme for small businesses, with a half-hour €50 session that could change your life. And your bank balance.

As the new year approaches, we spoke with Paddy Breathnach about his acclaimed homeless drama Rosie, which the filmmaker will introduce at The Whale on Wednesday, January 16th, local life coach Janice Valentine about her Rocket Into 2019 workshop at The Whale on January 17th, along with local guitar hero Dylan E. Crampton about his prolific year and his upcoming support slot with Hazel O’Connor on Saturday, Jan 19th.
The year ended on a high – or two – as Declan Cox, Bernie Stokes and a host of equally seasoned old party animals gathered at The Hot Spot to try and remember what the hell actually happened during their teenage wildlife years in Greystones.

Earlier in the month, the Hot Spot played host to Kitty’s Christmas Cabaret, where guest of honour Elvis managed to consume nine pints before taking to the stage during someone else’s set. The following afternoon, he really needed that Beach House burger.
Nice to see Delgany golfer Eamonn Darcy getting the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Golfers Association. Which reminds us…

Our big December story reminded us all that it is indeed a wonderful life when you’re surrounded by a community that will jump to your rescue – emotional, financial, spiritual – whenever the need is there. And the much-loved Edgar Swann – former arch-deacon of St Patrick’s Church – certainly needed a little help from his friends this year. And the same goes for his lovely wife, Gladys.

Seeing his beloved Church Of Ireland go against his own sense of fairness and decency in recent months – you can read all about it here – Edgar recently found his badge being taken away for six months by a church that clearly doesn’t want anyone in their ranks not reading from their new hymn sheet. Which is why we awarded this incredibly warm, giving and compassionate man our Greystones Person Of The Year 2018.

The Church Of Ireland have treated Edgar Swann badly. And that means they’ve treated Greystones badly.

May Elvis have mercy on their souls…