KAVA NEWS; Oct 29 – Nov 7 Bernadette Burns is having an exhibition entitled “The Uncertainty of History – Remembering Eileen Quinn”. This is a visual arts exhibition which explores family memory as a valid addition to the canon of history. The paintings, sculpture, audio, and artist’s books in this exhibition grew from a diary entry by her grandmother Tessie Burns referring to the shooting of Eileen, her younger sister near Ardrahan in 1920.

Nov 19 – 28: KAVA member Oliver Tennyson will be having a solo exhibition of his artwork in the Courthouse

December 3-5 & 11-12:  KAVA members will be having a post card exhibition over two weekends in December in the Courthouse of A5 size artwork all for sale anonymously (names revealed at the end of the show)

DOORUS COMMUNITY MONTESSORI: This year Doorus Community Montessori marks its 20th anniversary as a Montessori/Preschool. The staff and Committee members are so incredibly grateful to the families that made this possible and the wonderful children that passed through our preschool during the last 20 years. We started small and have grown to three staff with a capacity of 31 children. We are continually grateful to the parents, local Community and businesses, Galway Childcare committee, Tusla and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for all their help and support down through the years. Enquiries for enrolment please email dooruscm@gmail.com or phone 091-638927 DOORUS COMMUNITY MONTESSORI: This year Doorus Community Montessori marks its 20th anniversary as a Montessori/Preschool. The staff and Committee members are so incredibly grateful to the families that made this possible and the wonderful children that passed through our preschool during the last 20 years. We started small and have grown to three staff with a capacity of 31 children. We are continually grateful to the parents, local Community and businesses, Galway Childcare committee, Tusla and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for all their help and support down through the years. Enquiries for enrolment please email dooruscm@gmail.com or phone 091-638927

Kinvara Community Orchestra: is a new music initiative in our area. Kinvara is the home of a new, intergenerational community orchestra! Established by Fiona Buckley, and operating on a voluntary basis under the patronage of Tigh Sayre (Kinvara) and Gort Family Resource Centre, the aim of the orchestra is to provide an enjoyable opportunity for people, young and old, to play music together. The orchestra already has over 30 members with a full string section and an unusual mix of traditional and classical instruments. A group of vocalists also feature in the orchestra and future audiences can look forward to a varied repertoire with a unique sound and style. The Orchestra’s musical director and conductor is well-known musician and composer Garry O’Briain. Orchestra members generally hail from the Burren Lowlands area including Gort, Ardrahan, Kinvara, Ballindereen and New Quay. Members work on the their individual parts at home then join together for full rehearsals on Sunday mornings from 10.30-12.30 in Kinvara Community Centre. Membership is open to reasonably confident musicians and singers who can either read music or learn by ear. The Orchestra is currently rehearsing for a performance at the annual Carpe Diem concert in Sullivan’s Hotel, Gort on Saturday 27th November. Anyone interested in joining or finding out more information should contact Fiona at kinvaracommunityorchestra@gmail.com.

Kinvara Alive continues to try to raise awareness about mental health and wellbeing in our community. One of the primary objectives of our group is to train at least one member of each household, in suicide alertness. This training provides people with the confidence to discuss suicide more openly and share their stories. So far, the group has facilitated and trained almost 200 members of the community in safeTALK and Asist programmes since 2017. Due to Covid precautions, we have been unable to facilitate face to face Safetalk. We encouraged people to engage with the online training options; eSuicide and Living Works Start, both available to access through the HSE website. We have now been advised by the HSE that Safetalk might be possible to facilitate again in the coming weeks. A date has not yet been confirmed but the training will take place on a weekday in Kinvara from 7pm to 10.30 pm and we will simply take names as an expression of interest. Those interested can contact us via our email: info@kinvaraalive.com

Local Link Friday Bus Service: Morning Route: Carron – Newquay – New Line – Kinvara – Gort (Return). Afternoon Route: Aughinish – Nogra – Parkmore – Kinvara – Gort (Return) You are picked up and dropped off at your door or as close to home as possible. This public service is available to everyone. For further details check: www.locallink.ie (Clare Route C8)

or Tel: 065 6719101