That Was The Year That Was 2020

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Safe trip, Bridie…

he one good thing about a year like 2020 is that when, once again, all those plans to get your life together didn’t work out, you can now blame Covid-19.

It’s certainly a year that most of us will want to forget, but 2020 has also brought out the best in people.

Right out the gate, there were volunteer groups springing up all over Greystones, Delgany and beyond, as those with time and expertise on their hands set out to help others who might be suddenly struggling to cope with our ever-changing new normal.

And if this hasn’t been quite life during wartime, that invisible enemy took a firm hold of our every lives, and made many of us think about the bigger picture.

For some, tragically, they had no choice but to readjust their mindsets, as loved ones slipped away in what felt like the middle of the night. And far from home.

Still, life in in this town went on, and on, and on, something we realise every single evening, as we try yet again to wrap up another Greystones day and hit the couch before 10pm. Thankfully, as we looked back here, most of the stories in 2020 – and there were more than 100 every single month – proved to be largely joyous ones.

So, here is a selection of some of the bigger ones, broken down month by month, Greystones’ everyday taking a few telling shifts pretty early in the year…

JANUARY 2020

t was the month that saw St David’s Senior beat Arklow 3-0 to bag the Wicklow/Wexford League Championship title, when Temple Carrig’s Cross Country senior girls team won the overall title section in the East Leinster XC as the rugby boys headed for the Leinster finals after beating Rathgar, when Cairn Homes made a planning application for another 354 new Greystones houses to add to the 426 recently approved plus the 250 already built (and there’s plenty agus plenty more where that came from), we spoke with Fernanda as she took over Maria Sweeney’s dog grooming on Theatre Lane, bringing her V.I.Pets puppy love all the way from Colombia, we learnt that the new Greystones Community College land hadn’t yet been bought from Cairn Homes (and, by the end of 2020, it still hadn’t), and we spoke with defiant Charlesland resident Monika Panova as she began her battle with cancer.

Mae & Lucky proved the deserving winners of Me & My Pooch 2019, podcaster extraordinaire Andrea Splendori reminded everyone that it is very, very good to talk, Burnaby resident Sean FitzPatrick had a little trouble with his outhouse plans, award-winning caterer Andrew Holmes set up his Kitchen 28 deli over in sunny Kilcoole, we spoke with Ann Teehan about going back to our roots with the shopping list as her eco-friendly refill station opened on Hillside Road, the fantastic Mr Dave Fox bid farewell to all his golf buddies as he packed his bags for England (and they’re still packed, thanks to Covid), The Cliff Walk was named the country’s Favourite Local Attraction in the Reader Travel Awards 2020, and, within a matter of days at the end of January, we lost both Nancy Falkow McBride and Anto McCann…

FEBRUARY 2020

The month started with Covid-19 already knocking on our doors, Fiona Roche quickly telling us all to get off our faces, Greystones scored yet again at the Leinster finals of the Irish Restaurant Awards, we said goodbye to Greystones’ Dernaun Hayden and talked to Jodie Neary and Jennifer Whitmore as the former took overthe latter’s council seat, plus, we finally got around to crowning Greystones’ Most Beautiful Baby 2019 (the rockin’ Jason Fawcett), a 1910 Jack B Yeats painting of Greystones went to market, and awards magnet Chakra got themselves a Michelin plate.

Cairn got the go-ahead for another 354 houses up Glenhoren way (to add to their recently-granted 426), Charlesland suffers a spate of robberies thanks to a gang that specialises in overpowering people just as they arrive home, Simon Harris calls out the social media trolls, John Brady TD saw Sinn Fein’s electorial gains as “a vote for change”, Temple Carrig boysscored at the Leinster Cross Country Championships, Coillte started their attempt to turn Kindlestown Wood into a plain, John McGowan caught the count down at Shoreline as five Wicklow TDs were crowned, toddlers Winter and Max managed to find each other after a Zoom adventure park connection, thanks to social media, Fiona McGough’s uncle Patrick soon found out what a Greystones welcome is after he left his €600 holiday money at the airport, and the notorious Farrelly brothers offered up some Valentine chat-up lines.

The Kelly Drain gang continued to fight WCC’s instruction to feck off away from that ancient mass path, local historian Rosemary Raughter told us all about the gruesome killing of Delgany man Thomas Doghtery back in October 1798, all our festivals began falling like drunken revellers, and The Tonight Show came to The Whale, so our fine political candidates could get their words of wisdom out to de nation.

MARCH 2020

It was the month Chakra made the incredible gesture of free takeaways for frontline workers, our beauty spots got shut down, Temple Carrig’s rugby team bounced back from defeat to become holders of the Vinnie Murray Cup 2020, St Laurence’s kids produced our absolute favourite 3 minutes of joy with some monkeying around, we caught up with some Greystonians on keeping on the sunny side of the lockdown whilst volunteer groups popped up all over town, and there was panic buying all over the shop.

With Covid-19 beginning to make itself very present in the world (even Ciara Kelly got the fecker!), we put out the call for people to check on their more vulnerable neighbours, and a week or so later, we took the town’s Paddy’s Day Parade online. We also put out the Save Our Shops beacon across the sky, calling on people to choose Greystones over Bezos, local movie producer Sarah brought the story of St Patrick to the screen, we rounded up all of Shay Clear’s ramble chats on Delgany history, the Martin family got a Michael D welcome, Greystones’ Sea Girls splashed out for Women’s Aid, Greystones GP Dr Nicola Cochrane got caught in a Lesbos refugee camp attack, Bray said hello to new unmanned and dang swanky hotel, The Firefly, we spoke with Lou & Belle’s Ali Gibbons about her new Mummy Mornings, Lou & Belle, and we caught this year’s all-starry-eyed Women At The Whale to mark International Women’s Day.

The Holy Rosary Church services moved online, St Laurence’s did it again by going Full Diddley-Aye Potatoes for Paddy’s Day, Greystonian Karl Long reported from inside China on how they were battling Covid-19, Alison Banton joined the rest of the world by moving Brooke & Shoals online, Greystones doctor Paddy Barry quit his position as a senior house office at Royal Perth Hospital and flew home to help the HSE here, Shoshanna Hayden reflected on her two weeks in The Mater Hospital, the Kilcoole-based CALT Dynamics designed a 3D printable protective visor, Fiona Roche offered up some words of wisdom and practical advice for lockdown, and we gave people a chance to pay tribute to departed loved ones during these difficult, socially-distanced times…

APRIL 2020

It was the month that we got some shocking news about the Marina Village development, Sinan at Las Tapas joined in giving frontline workers free dinners, the mighty Mary Hackett went all around her house again and again (and again) for her beloved Open Door, local historian Rosemary Raughter reminded us all that we’ve been here before when it comes to merciless viruses.

Local filmmaker Alan McCarthy captured the silence of Greystones in lockdown whilst Jake McKone took us back to the 1990s with his Super 8 gem, Lesley Ann Devereux made it all the way home from Peru just as lockdown squeezed ever tighter, Neil Smith told us how he became a Seoul Survivor, and Temple Carrig kept our spirits up with 100 Ways To Beat Self-Isolation and a sweet Zoom rendition of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day. Elsewhere, an application for big swanky houses beside the Dart station got the thumbs down,  Jodie Neary reckoned it was time we let our green spaces go a little wild, there was a concerted effort to move the N11 rush hour onto buses, award-winning chef and caterer Andrew Holmes offered up his Day In The Life, Denis Dwyer stepped into filmmaking alongside Alex Fegan with Abbeyfeale, local psychologist Niamh Delmar advised us on holding onto ourselves, Delgany coffee roaster worked out a novel way of helping local cafés.

Amanda Sweeney went Full Sinead O’Connor for charity, Google took a look at how habits are changing in Wicklow, there was a spot of overcrowding bother at Kilcoole beach resulting in the closure of all local car parks, Thank You Thursdays began, as we gave a weekly round of applause to the nation’s frontline workers, Enniscorthy eejit Denis Constantin was jailed for violating lockdown restrictions whilst Garda grabbed a Greystones ganja gangsta, Harris warned of easing the Covid-19 restrictions too early (he was right), Bernard’s high-end and very high harbour restaurant was still off the menu, Iarnród Eireann ruled out a second track for Greystones, Shenda Burchell triggered a frenzy of homemade PPE masks, Newcastle teen Evan Dargan Hayes took matters into his own home and started making face shields with his 3D printer, Greystones teens returned after a four-week Atlantic boat trip to find a very different Ireland, St Patrick’s National School kids got creative with all their extra downtime, there was a call from an 80-year-old GG reader for the town to give over a set time each day for the elderly to stretch their legs.

Blacklion vet Alan Rossiter had some lockdown advice about our four-legged friend, the Jade McCann documentary, Sunshine On A Cloudy Day, was released online, The Bear Paw Deli came out of hibernation and joined our other eateries by embracing takeaways, and we said goodbye to the bould P.J. Keaveney…

MAY 2020

We started the month rounding up the thousands of old Greystones photographs we resurrected from the Bray People vaults and uncovered all the other Greystones out there in the world as our annual Top Of The Shops vote got underway a week before we announced Dylan Hatton Donegan as the winner of our Splash Of Colour art competition and Nicolas Walle collected another of his Battle Of The Bands prizes.  The formation of a bee pollination path through Greystones and Delgany was launched too.

La Touche Hotel developer Greg Kavanagh suddenly found himself being sued by his own brother, Mary Hackett took us back to the night The Men’s became gender neutral, and Bailey & Pim brewed up some hero fuel.

Carita Bramhill knitted up some woolly hearts too, whilst budding rock god Dylan E. Crampton talked about playing the long game, Heidi Ellen Love made the move from movie stuntwoman to local fitness guru, David & Emma went against the grain of shops closing to open Washt!, Fiona Roche revealed her typical Day In The Life, followed a week later by SuperValu’s Paddy Holohan, news of wind farms off our coast blew a little harder, arsewipes vandalised Bray’s 15th-century Oldcourt castle, and Ann-Marie Greene went Full Slaphead for Open Door, whereas the bould Peter Lawlor took 6,000 steps.

The Poets Wall on Theatre Lane brought together 30 rhyming love letters to our town, Kilcoole Beach was closed ‘for the summer‘ after lockdown violations whilst the Gardaí stepped up beach and park patrols, and a wheelchair user got into some serious trouble on our slippery harbour jetty.

Misunderstood angels forced a marina boulevard closure yet again, Burnaby Park was chosen as one of Wicklow’s havens for those most at risk from Covid-19, local media stepped up to the plate when it came to keeping communities informed and connected, Michael D’s poem, Take Care, inspired a new HSE Hold Firm campaign, two friends painted 50 stone messages of love and hid them around the town, photographer Eamon Flynn’s archive shots put Greystones in a very, very good light, we spoke with frontline hero Maria Messitt about spending eight weeks working in her Covid-19 unit without seeing her young son back home in Kilcoole, and Joe Sweeney made OAPs a chipper offer they couldn’t refuse.

May was also the month that we said goodbye to four much-loved Greystonians – Betty Lowe, Andrew Kenny, Simon Herriot and Gerry Fallon…

JUNE 2020

The month started with the GAA legend that is Jimmy Hatton looking back on his long and illustrious career, Gemma and Eugene Kerrigan celebrated their 80th birthdays, the mighty Three Q’s getting K’Od by this bastard lockdown (as others stepped cautiously back into the light), young eco-warriors Katie, Clara and Issy tidying up our South Beach (inspiring Café Gourmet to offer free coffee for big-hearted beachcombers), Goldilocks Nicky getting the chop for Open Door (and raising €2,800 in the process), and we stupidly decided to start putting together A-Zs of everything around here.

Starting with shops (bejiggers, takes forever!), the likes of Belmont Demesne and Powerscourt started to emerge back out of that first lockdown, Taiwan With Love came to town with buckets of PPEs, we spoke with Stephen Stokes about heading off his Wicklow Way trek for Greystones First Responders and Sarah down at Greystones Family Resource Centre about keeping it together.

Greystones took a knee for George Floyd as America’s race war took another nasty turn, there was a momentary and perhaps misguided protest as Greystones’ tallest tree got the chop, Boots opened up a safe room for anyone suffering domestic abuse, we talked to landscaper Dermot Davis about helping people’s gardens truly blossom, caught one of  Kindlestown Park’s regular outdoor bingo bonanzas.

The call went out once again for a pontoon for de peoples and a lifeguard at The Cove (unsurprisingly, big response to the latter), the hippies down at The Grove wanted to know what happened to their ramshackle and somewhat dangerous North Beach access, we addressed the growing rumours that Mrs Robinson might be joining Three Q’s on the dole queue, the chemically very balanced David Dodd won out Best Shop vote, and the Greystones Players took their shows online for Lockdown InterActs.

The comically-named property gurus Schnittger Bourne moved into that long-vacant La Touche Place place, the Cramptons came alive in a different form for Mute The TV, big plans were unleashed for that cute little Helena Cottage, Niall Woods released the first of a series of summer 2020 singles, Noel Bollard got his running shoes ready for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, and Kilcoole Primary School’s Class of 2020 flew the nest.

Stephen Donnelly took over fellow Greystonian Simon Harris’ post as Minister For Health, Temple Carrig threw up six winners at this year’s Young Philosopher Awards, just as Margaret Kennedy received the Lambeth Award for her disability rights campaigning, Greystones gardaí stepped out for slain colleague Colm Horkan, and Paddy Dunne was celebrated with a Memorial Golf Classic for Blackrock Hospice, whilst the children of Helen Banks paid tribute to their mum. In June, we said sadly goodbye to Tommy Moody and Claudio Meneses…

JULY 2020

The big ones for July was Greystones’ fishermen finally being allowed to land their catches at – hey! – Greystones harbour, although by the end of the year, relationships with the harbour master, Bernard, were reportedly beginning to sour once again (more of which anon) and the launch of our Love Thy Neighbour campaign, encouraging Greystonians to shop in Greystones.

The month started with a sense of communities adapting to this new reality, with the Kilmacanaogue Artisan Farmers’ Market taking the weekly shop back outdoors, and the likes of Ciara’s Kitchen moving online, whilst our growing reputation as a handy film set grew with the return of Vikings, RTE’s Tracks & Trails coming to town and, most importantly, a major media campus sticking a flag in the old IDA grounds beside Shoreline.

As Covid-19 took an ever-firmer grip on the country,
Whitmore called for a maternity leave extension but our male TDs voted otherwise, and as we got a peak inside Chapel Road’s latest estate, there was an application for another 99 houses next door, a new craze for laughing gas proved to be no laughing matter, and Harris got on his trike over a new skate park in Kilcoole, a park instigated by clever 14-year-old Jake Mitchell.

Those Grove groovers organised a protest over their disintegrating, dangerous and illegal North Beach access, asswipes put Lough Dan into lockdown, Sonny’s opened on Church Road, proving that you can be a success story in the time of Covid, a fundraising campaign was launched to get terminally-ill 52-year-old Greystones mum Maria Hermita home to the Philippines, there was some surprise musical chairs at The Beach House, and Stephen Donnelly helped launch the Covid-19 tracker app.

We spoke to Dave & Steve about literally rolling in dough as The Happy Pear opened their bakery corner, John Brady TD questioned the many tourist flights jetting in from the USA, a new development right in the heart of Kilcoole got the green light, and so we took a look at the most iconic building on the site, Urell’s shop.

We caught Noel’s Redford house party as young Bollard completed his one-day marathon for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, caught up with the Gino’s Gelato gang as another happy success story hit Greystones, the controversial 41 social houses for a Charlesland site was first announced, Graham Norton gave Greystones author Cathy Sweeney’s debut short collection some Twitter love, Lucey Dental brought Covid-19 testing to town, and Mary Coughlan was ordered by Wicklow planning to tear her playhouse down.

Something Nice once again won Greystones’ Póg Mo Cone vote, we unearthed a bobsleigh Olympian from Greystones, after a political and social media campaign, swimming teachers John Murphy and Lucina Howley were able to continue their classes on the South Beach, we spoke with jetsetting chef Ben Dineen about taking over the Horse & Hound menu, and news came through of Greystones’ fresh-out-of-the new school being put on hold.

With Western Building Systems quick to shift the blame, Bray pulled together to battle racist graffiti, Blacklion residents pulled together to battle an encroaching new pavement, and Farrankelly residents pulled together to battle a prison camp wall. In July, we said goodbye to the mighty, mighty Joan O’Hanlon…

AUGUST 2020

Every August 16th, we raise a glass to mark the passing of The Patron Saint of Greystones, Mr Ronnie Drew, his 2008 final curtain date shared with Aretha in 2018 and Elvis in 1977. Gotta be a connection there. It was also the final time we ‘d get to wish Bridie Mooney a happy birthday, the Queen Of Greystones hitting 91 in 2020.

The month started with our annual search for Greystones’ Yummiest Takeaway, won in 2020 by a very deserving Daata, Katie Taylor added yet another belt to her, eh, notch, carpenter Vincent McDonnell continued his protest outside the new Greystones Community National School over non-payment of his €11,000 bill, and we finally pulled together our Glendalough gallery.

Greystones artist Holly Pereira somehow managed to make New Ross look beautiful, Gemma O’Doherty was arrested at an anti-mask and anti-RTE protest on a Kilmac flyover, and a bunch of Wicklow artists ripped From A Little Help From My Friends a new one in aid of Wicklow Cancer Support.

There was tragedy at Powerscourt Waterfall when 15-year-old Lewis Fleming from Ballymoney fell to his death, town engineer dug in his work boots over the Rathdown footpath stand-off (and so it went ahead), Simon Ruddy upped his Cease Using Single-Use Plastic campaign, Geraldine Butler bid a tearful farewell to McCauley’s, and having worked there since day one, 25 years ago, Cairn Homes new Farrankelly development was causing neighbouring houses to shake, rattle and roll their eyes.

Mark Boggins and his buddies went for a hop, swim & a jump in aid of MND, Seanie went back to the drawing board as his Burnaby plans were rejected once again, Cllr Derek Mitchell bigged up the plans for a new Delgany to Greystones greenway, with the very sexy townhouses complete and the apartments just about ready, we had to admit that the La Touche was actually looking damn good.

Luisne set out to put Kilcoole’s heritage on the map, Anvil got ready to bid Bray’s main street farewell after 49 years, with the Greystones Community National School renting at the rugby club, the secondary kids found themselves holed up at the Greystones Lawn Tennis Club, Greystones’ Mark Dodson saved a mother and son up in Drumnatinny beach after the paddle boarders hit troubled waters, and Bray businesses backed the town’s anti-racist campaign with a video chorus.

Greystones’ and Bray’s rowing clubs came together for a little fundraising paddle that raised a staggering €61k, as the month closed, scumbags had a busy weekend, St David’s extension work started its engines, and St Catherine’s secured a new home right in Kilcoole (just beside Luisne).

August was also the month that we began our annual 100 Days 100 Greystonians a little early, given the need for a few sunny faces to counter the constant stream of lockdowns. We also sadly said goodbye to Willie Doyle, and the ridiculously great Brian Keeley, whose stunning sunrise and nature shots brightened up the Guide daily for many a year.

SEPTEMBER 2020

The big ones in September were the passing of Bridie Mooney (what a funeral that was) and  Joe Sweeney handing in his badge after, oh, 3,782 years down at his world-famous chipper. We were still getting over the shock, when Joe’s eldest son, John, passed away.

Talking of Greystones chipper, overnight, Guilio’s was no more, and Moretti’s would soon take its main street place., whilst we officially crowned Daata’s as this Greystones’ Yummiest Takeaway 2020. Elsewhere, we launched our annual Greystones Rocks photography competition, looked back at the final day for Patterson’s garage,  Scum & Scummer tried a midnight raid on Café Grey and Relish, St David’s once again slid up the Sunday Times Top 400 Schools poll, hitting the #112 spot, and the winners of the Bee Route Short Story competition were announced.

The Tyners up at Minmore Farm in Shillelagh raised over €60,000 for Wicklow Hospice and the Irish Cancer Society with their 120,000 fundraising sunflowers, whilst on a slow news days, we reported on Greystones’ Climate Solutions called for the 120kph to be reduced to 80kph, and concerned Guide reader Stephen Hone reckoned Greystones’ air pollution was at a certifiably unhealthy 167.

Proud Mary Killilea put on her walking boots and raised €2,600 for Greystones Cancer Support, as Greystones Community College set up home in a tennis club, Whitmore expressed concern over Ireland placing last for the second time for investment in second-level education, there were clear signs that all was not well down Marina Village way, we talked to Andrea Splendori and Ross Thompson as they prepared for their mental health charity run to Galway Bay, and Greystones’ KBC Bank was KO’d by head office.

Brooke & Shoals were up for yet another award, Hozier offered himself up for a coffee date in support of Irish Hospice, the long and winding search for cyclist Chris Duff had a very welcome happy ending, Greystones’ councillors were given a WCC walk through our new harbour park, Temple Carrig got a Covid scare, and Greystones Rugby Club president Victor Megannety handed over the reigns to Barry O’Beirne.

An innocuous press release about ‘Covid mobility measures’ being installed on Church Road went unnoticed – and then, 1.6m complete and utter bollards popped up overnight – whilst the annual Declan Clarke Golf Classic raised €3,300 for Greystones Cancer Support, and Yvonne Sinan upped her Designer Xchange dream into the little shop that could as Y&Co opened its doors.

After a spate of thefts, the gardaí issued a guide to keeping your mutt safe from arms, we spoke with artist Aga Grandowicz about her stunning underwater mural down at the Park & Ride, Newtown’s Ollie and Fiona Hughes picked up €30,000 on Winning Streak, Greystones United AFC’s Senior team beat Shamrock Celtic to lift The Charlie Byrne Cup, and the fundraising started for Greystones first-ever sensory garden.

The Lang family celebrated St Joseph’s Shankill’s care for their father by bagging them the International Daisy Award, whilst a fundraising campaign was launched to get the remains of former Happy Pear shining light Yuri back to his native Belarus, and St Patrick’s School up in the hills decided to take their classroom out into the woods.

There was a shout-out for an open water swimming challenge but a run of near tragedies off our coast took the shine off that battle-cry, whilst plans to end the Rosslare trains at Greystones didn’t land well, the Kilcoole Lodge Nursing Home failed a Health Information And Quality Authority Covid inspection, we tried a breakfast Sonny side up, and we spoke with Ray Cranley about his canvas celebrationsof Greystones’ and Bray’s days of old.

The month ended with the shock announcement that the Charlesland Golf Club was to close at the end of 2020. Naturally, lawyers have gotten involved. As well as Bridie and John, in September we said goodbye to Pauline Chambers…

OCTOBER 2020

The big ones in October was seeing the lights go back on at Joe’s Chipper after what felt like forever – if not longer – rugby star Reggie Corrigan opening up his swanky Solas gym and shining light Gearoid McKenna bringing his 40 years of being part of the illuminati to de peoples. We also got the Simon Harris lad to offer up some words of encouragement as the lockdown road stretched ever further into the distance.

Elsewhere, the winner of this year’s Greystones Rocks 2020 was Ann McInerney and her beautiful Cove shot In Flow, whilst as we all got deeper into lockdown mode, we decided to pull together 10 Things To Do About Nothing To Do, and put together the new reality for Greystones businesses by listing their new hours and online options, we spoke with Alan and Joellen about making the leap from Aunty Nellie’s to going solo as Sweet Boutique.

Wicklow libraries flew the rainbow flag for the LGBTI community, those wacky Catholic overlords decided it was time to expel the Siblings First policy, Holly Pereira wrote that Bray Love battle-cry larger than life on the Harbour Bar wall, a tidy €280,000 was allocated to neuter Chapel Road as a Scaletrix run, Jodie Neary launched a South Beach Playground clean-up club, and
the Charlesland Golf Club members issued their response to its imminent closure.

The N11 traffic was well and truly Fanacht as the gardaí unleased 132 large-scale checkpoints monitoring lockdown journeys, Greystones lad Mark Flynn and Belfast girl Jennifer Logan managed to have a star-studded lockdown wedding (with video guests including Dame Judi Dench and Jon Lithgow), and Andrea Splendori became bessies with Bressie as they discussed mental health.

Iarnód Eireann announced they were washing their hands of Kilcoole’s and Newcastle’s breaches after one JCB joyride too many, those Church Road bollards meant Meridian Point were suddenly battling a lot more “I’ll just be a minute” double-yellow chancers, we spoke with buddies Pamela Lee and Catherine Hunt as they set out on their world record attempt for the first all-female doublehanded sail around Ireland (and we kept a daily diary of their successful journey), and we caught up with Sunil down at Tiffin as he added yet another plaque to his Charlesland takeaway wall.

Gary Paine took a few leaves out of his fine Pictorial History Of Greystones 1760-2018 book as he recounted the 110th anniversary of a two-day storm that proved a tipping over point for our harbour, Peter McNiff gave us a whiff of his WW2 hero Ted Veal documentary, War & Peace, we discovered some fecker was selling Kilcoole sand on ebay, and we spoke with Tudor and Natalia as they realised their longheld dream of opening their own chipper.

The bould Kate O’Brien’s eight-line poem Before got the thumbs up at the Foyle Young Poets Of The Year 2020 awards, Cathal Shortt and his buddies delivered impressive teen drama Walking & Talking, shot entirely around Greystones, the groovy VillagePod gave the town its own little bitcoin bartering system, and there were calls to change the school week as lockdown played havoc with overcrowding.

Colaiste Chraobh Abhann students did pretty darn well at this year’s Student Enterprise Awards, the Mooney clan gave thanks and praise to all those who had helped them through the loss of their mum, we spoke to Sweeney’s new chef Glenn about bringing some extra yum to Joe’s, and spread the good word on their free toys with every order of €20 or more, we unearthed Greystones’ spookiest Halloween costume.

Temple Carrig deserve a prize all of their own for their fancy dress love-in, work actually started on that St David’s extension, award-winning Bray comedian Adam Burke addressed our groundhog days, the plan to build 232 houses on the old Carmelite convent land in Delgany hit the village like 96,898 tonnes of bricks, and planning for nine houses on Church Lane got the thumbs up.

Irish Rail promised to do something about the always-flooded Noah’s Arch down at the South Beach, the phantasmagorical Pip transmogified into a possessed pumpkin mutator, a bunch of St David’s girls ran circles around the town for Greystones Cancer Support, whilst Felicity O’Dowd and her fellow school secretaries finally got some official recognition for their work.

We spoke with Lorenzo about bringing authentic Italian pizza to Gino’s, spoke with scuba diver veterans Albert Kerr and Ann McAvoy about their sterling work in charting Greystones’ underwater world, and caught up with Leo and Gearoid McKenna as Ireton’s was given a new lease of light.

In October, we said goodbye to Cathal Martin (aka Cogs), Les and Lynda Martin’s young son having been diagnosed with MLD back in December 2016, and the always smiling, always happy Rita Gahan.

NOVEMBER 2020

The month’s big story was a long-overdue award for one Joseph Mary Bartholomew Elvis Sweeney, as we finally crowned the town’s unofficial mayor Greystones’ Person Of The Year 2020. And given the tough year Joe had just endured, it felt good to see that familiar broad smile again.

Speaking of grumpy Greystones icons, it came as no surprise to anyone (especially those swing voters who found rocking horse heads in their beds) that Tommaso once again won our Greystones Best Coffee competition.

On the other end of the life cycle, we began our search for this year’s Most Beautiful Baby (which turned out to be the irresistible Isobelle) whilst a dramatic sea rescue by teenager Conor Power reminded us all of the dangerous pull of that Irish Sea, Kilmac GAA players bared all for a fundraising Christmas calendar, Greystones rocker Elliot Crampton bravely opened up about being okay with not being okay, AMOC Jewellery cleverly joined the ever-growing takeaway trade.

Our 7.54 Dart got a last minute reprieve, Temple Carrig’s Emily Roe and Colaiste Chraobh Abhann’s Brooke Mullen wowed the judges at this year’s Texaco Children’s Art competition, the Dublin Array wind farm took a step closer to Greystones’ shores, we addressed the fact that the bulk of Greystones revenue goes to our Wicklow relatives, Dylan E. Crampton rocked out for Movember, St Laurence’s parents had enough of construction trucks, our town councillors tried to make sense – and cents – of the new Church Road beer garden makeover.

11-year-old Lucy Finnegan’s Christmas card design made onto the Dogs Trust’s very nice list, pupils at Greystones Community National School put the call out to Minister Foley asking, ‘Eh, what the absolute feck…?‘ whilst Whitmore reckoned things were only going to get worse for Greystones schoolkids, there were plans for Newcastle 40 houses and 13 apartments right in the middle of Hozier Central.

Simon Harris was honoured with a Trinity Law Society Award, we started our Greystones Artists A-Z (and it’s still not finished), the council announced much-needed improvement works to our main three playgrounds, Greystones, Kilcoole and Charlesland.

Delgany residents held a virtual meeting over the Carmelite Colossus that would see a town being built inside a village, Michael D called on us all to help the hospitality business, Happy Pear cookies were KO’d, the East Coast Greenway appeared to be stuck on red, our new bestest friends Cairn Homes looked to add another 600 houses to their sprawling Greystones metropolis.

An Post sweetly introduced free postage to care homes, and sisters Yazmin and Jemima jumped on it, Theatre Lane offered up the perfect lockdown hideaway, with Ladies Night off the menu, the hardy Escape girls settled on a Ladies Day, the Delgany to Greystones Greenway got its feasibility study, Greystones new dog park turned out to be something of a dog’s dinner (and WCC were quick to offer their rebuttal), there were objections to the mooted new Three Trout bridge as flood concerns grew.

31 Loughlinstown Hospital patients tested positive for Covid-19, an original Grand Hotel window frame was restored and reborn as a history centrepiece at the new La Touche development, the Delgany Residents group pushed for a new one-way system to tackle the proposed new development, Daata won Best Vegetarian Takeaway at the Just Eat National awards, Whitmore pushed for a change in greyhound race funding, Cole & Co paid tribute to the patron saint of Greystones barbers with Frank’s Corner.

Tudor down at Moretti’s offered up 12 days of free Christmas dinners for those without a table to go home to, and Mary-Kate Hardy delivered her own 12 Days Of Christmas in shop windows all around town. A special mention has to go out to the incredible video the Greystones 2020 gang put together for our virtual Christmas Lights ceremony, with all sorts of stars alongside ex-Pats and ex-Marys joining in.

In November, we said goodbye to far too many of our friends, including Gunter Starke, Thomas Reid, Noel Corley, Rachael Maher, Mary Elliot and the bould Robert Mowatt.

DECEMBER 2020

It supposed to be the month where we all just sit back and chill, people, but no, you fecks kept GG busy. Even when it’s the season to be jolly lazy. That said, this is a joyous time of year, and we added a few more wide-eyed Greystonians to My Bestest Christmas EVER!, gathered together some more Home Thoughts From Abroad from those who just couldn’t make it back to Greystones for Christmas. Heck, we even provided you with a soundtrack for your festive frolics.

Elsewhere, Fiona Lang did indeed secure victory for Saint Joseph’s Shankill in this year’s Charity Impact awards, Rachel Harper and the St Patrick’s National School gang had to think outside the shoebox for this year’s homeless drive whilst Shannon Moriarty held her annual pet food appeal for our four-legged friends.

Eoin Kieran raised €1,500 for Greystones Cancer Support by running 42km, the call went out to get Sherron St Clair and her family to London for her son’s funeral.

The Glencormac FC lads fundraised for Motor Neuron Disease by getting Santa back to Lapland , sisters Anna and Eva followed up last year’s Christmas baubles with a downloadable poem in aid of W.H. Five Loaves, and Ben Hogan endured 12 Swims Of Christmas and the brothers Crampton released their debut Christmas single for Temple Street Children’s Hospital. Also getting us into the festive spirit was Joe Phelan and his chilled out alpacas.

Young Lucy O’Leary’s clay creations became the hit of the season, Ali Gibbons brought her online baby boutique into the 3D world with a pop-up on Theatre Lane, Fiona Roche made Irish Pharmacy News’ annual list of Top 100 Frontline Heroes of 2020, teenager Niamh Gurrin received an Outstanding Achievement gong at the virtual Climate Ambassador Awards and Temple Carrig kids got an EPA slap on the back for their eco-friendly wig-wam classroom, those Charlesland Golf Club members got lawyered up, and Whitmore raised the plight of Wicklow man Ben in the Dáil, threatened with deportation after living here for 14 years.

Harris and Hozier scored high in Facebook’s end of year review, Aoife O’Connell and her hubby James pulled together a virtual choir for the Lakers, the Caroline Foundation were awarded €800,000 for their cancer research work, and someone in WCC had the truly inspired idea of having a touring music festival drive from nursing home to nursing home.

We spoke to truly bright spark Fiachra Cooke about converting his beloved Audi 80 into an electric car, the Greystones Media Campus got the green light and the Greystones Water Park was officially opened (and we weren’t its only fan).

Conspiracy queen Gemma O’Doherty finally made it to Bray District Court only to have another charge added to her August Kilmac protest arrest, Eithne Hand released her debut poetry collection, Fox Trousers as whilst local science geek Marian Brennan released her children’s book The Inventions Of Finn O’Shea.

There was also the little matter of Delgany being ruled out for that new N11 corridor, Tom Fortune walking out on the vote for social housing on a controversial Charlesland site (with Derek Mitchell, Gerry Walsh and Mags Crean also having their say).

Andrea Splendori produced a documentary on the recent Mindful West run to Galway Bay to highlight mental health awareness, Shoe Lane Coffee were confirmed as the new downstairs residents of Waverly House as we rounded up the town’s latest Monopoly moves, Greystones garda delivered some Christmas logs to some new lockdown friends, there was widespread consternation when a pensioner-bashing certified scumbag got an early prison release, we unearthed an ode to the 84 poem from Riordans actor Johnny Hoey, Glenveagh decided to take a shot at Killincarrig House, Greystones’ nursing home made it onto the vaccination nice list as Facebook and Twitter joined the HSE in an anti-anti-vax campaign.

The Thompsons made it onto Ireland’s Fittest Family, and we took our annual Christmas Eve stroll from Christmas tree to Christmas tree, whilst the cancellation of Bray’s annual New Year’s Day swim had us wondering if our own Christmas Day splash would go ahead (of course it frickin’ did!)…

And we rounded up this year’s Reasons To Be Cheerful and some groovy tunes for a lockdown party just as the delightful and delovely Aisling Leonard made sure we started 2021 right with 21 free days of morning mediation,

In December, we said goodbye to Kitty Ellis, Ronan Lynch and Nan Avery. It was, as Mark Kinsella pointed out and Alan Adamson proved, a very tough year for many families.

Phew! What a year. Here’s to the next one. And the next one. And then GG’s going to have a 25-year nap.