Notable Events in the Community

Inse an tSagairt Mass

1981 – Celebration Mass

Mass was celebrated at our Mass Rock Inse an t-Sagairt which had not been done since Penal times and this has now become an Annual Parish Event. This is also attended by people from surrounding areas; this also led to a local film/documentary being made about it.

Bonane Centenary

1992 – St. Fiachna’s Church

The Centenary year for our Church, was marked by a two-day event including mass celebrated by Bishop Diarmuid O’Sullivan assisted by 21 priests, followed by a dinner dance and the launch of two books, one on the history of Bonane and the other by a local poet Michael Daly.Our Cemetery, St. Fiachna’s is one of oldest Christian burial grounds still in use today.

Tullaha National School

1998 – School Opening

When our school was in danger of being closed the community rallied together, enormous effort and lobbying went into this project and having raised £17,000 towards it in 1998 our new school was opened by the then Minister for Education, Michael Martin. This is still a very proud achievement for our community. Today it is full to capacity and has been awarded the Green Flag on three separate occasions and is also a Health Promoting School.

Millenium Celebrations

1999/2000 – Community Coming Together

In the autumn of 1999 it was decided to hold a Millennium Party in the Parish to allow for young and old to celebrate the new Millennium together on their own turf. It took months of preparation to get the venue, an old factory building, ready. All the work was carried out voluntarily. The night attended by young and old was a resounding success and was spoken about far and near. As a result there is now an annual New Year’s Party held in Bonane for everyone in the community.

Bonane Photography Book

2003 – Bonane Women’s Group

We have a Women’s Group here in the Parish who after undertaking a Photography Course, designed and published a Photography Book, “Bonane. Its people and the places we call home!” in 2003. This was a fabulous success and is held in high regard. It has led to many surrounding communities following in their footsteps. They also rose over €2500 by making and then raffling a quilt, this money was given to a local cancer charity. At present they are rehearsing to stage their first play which was written locally – this took to the stage in March 2009 and was an instant success. So much so that it is to be staged again!

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/every-picture-tells-the-new-story-of-fionn-s-bonane-1.378109

Pride of Place

2008 – National Award Winners

Since the establishment of Bonane Community Co-Operative Society in 2002 the main aim has been to “To improve access to historical sites in Bonane”. This has been done to date with great integrity with no less than 100% given by the community on a united front at every stage and for every project undertaken. This culminated in being awarded with our highest achievement to date when we were crowned Pride of Place National Winners for Care of the Environment in 2008.

http://www.munster-express.ie/business/president-mcaleese-announces-2008-pride-of-place-award-winners/

Other Notable Events in the Community

In 2002, the CAIT programme was run at Tullaha N.S.. We received computers and were also given classes in computer skills, which was available to young and old. We were one of only two communities in South Kerry to be awarded this and it was attended by over seventy member of our community. This also led to our website Bonane.com being developed. Bonane Community Co-Operative Society Ltd.

Community Spirit

We have a very strong sense of community in Bonane and this has led to many groups being formed:

We have the Community Alert in the area which has installed high tech alarms in the houses of all the elderly.

Life in Bonane

We also have a Rambling House held here in Molly Gallivan’s during the winter months and the older members of our community really enjoy this. This is also the venue for our renowned annual new year’s celebrations. We all quietly go home at 12.01…