Special Olympics.

   We are delighted to have this opportunity to extend our best wishes to the Special
Olympians who have spent the last few days in our local communities. Baltinglass
was host town to  the team from the Seychelles while the North Dakota USA team
stayed in Dunlavin during the buildup to the games. We congratulate them on
getting so far and wish them success during the games.
                                 Some of the delegation from the Seychelles visited Grangecon
National School and were treated to an exhibition of Hurling, which was no doubt
their first experience of the game, and some of their team mates took part in a
football match in the local community sports field. The members who visited the
school were presented with a hurley and a GAA medal each and these must surely
be the first GAA medals awarded to anybody from the Seychelles.
We are privileged indeed to have had these heroes among us for a few days
and we should bear in mind that, while they will not all go home with gold medals,
they have achieved a lot already to get this far.

Finally, but by no means least, we wish to congratulate our own local Olympians on
their enormous achievement in getting to the Special Olympics World Games. They
are Claire Hayes and Ashlene Coleman and we wish them every success in the
games. Claire takes part in the tenpin bowling while Ashlene is in the Equestrian
events. We also send our congratulations to Shauna Bradley on being chosen to
read the Special Olympians oath at the opening ceremony in Croke Park. Let us
not forget all the people behind the scenes. They include coaches, trainers, carers,
host town committees, fundraisers, organizers, and all the thousands of people who
helped in their own way to make this huge event possible.

June 2003

New Road signs.


We have received a number of enquiries about new road signs erected by
Wicklow Co. Council at the entrances to the village. The queries refer to
the crest and motto on these new signs.
                                        Following extensive research into the matter, we
have come up with the following information. The crest is the civic crest
of County Wicklow. The tower represents the monastic settlement at
Glendalough while the green peaks represent the Wicklow Mountains. The
oak trees represent our ancient oak woods. The motto"Meanma Saor"
roughly translated means free spirits, presumably a reference to the people
of the county.
See our Photos For an image of the crest.