All About Cork: Evening of song at Our Lady’s on December 13

Our Lady Crowned Church, Mayfield, is hosting a festive evening of song on Friday, December 13, at 7pm, performed by Our Lady Crowned Church Choir and guests, including conductor Michael Joyce.

The event is fundraising for the church’s Lourdes 2025 trip. Tickets are €10, and children go free.

The Parish Pastoral Council of Our Lady Crowned Church has also organised the annual Christmas giving tree.

Anyone can take a tag from the tree at the back of the church and then attach it to their gift, marking on your tag the boy or girl and the age, or the adult male or female.

These should be returned to the church on or before the weekend of December 14 and 15. The gifts will be distributed that weekend to families in need.

On the same weekend, the church will have their popular annual Christmas-cake raffle. The 10 Christmas cakes have been made, decorated, and donated by Mary Hurley.

Our Lady Crowned Church, St Joseph’s Church, and Holy Family Church are inviting the community to bring a potted Christmas poinsettia to the church to be placed at the nativity scene.

The plant can be in thanks for something you received during the past year or in memory of a loved one. Poinsettia plants can be dropped to the church the week before Christmas Day.

Visits to the sick and housebound will take place the week prior to Christmas Day, with details available in the parish newsletter. If you are not on Fr Charlie’s list and would like a visit, please contact the parish office on 021 4551276.

The Cork and Ross pilgrimage to Lourdes will take place Friday, September 19, to Wednesday, September 24, 2025. They will be travelling with the diocese as a family of parishes, which includes Our Lady Crowned Church, St Joseph’s Church, and Holy Family Church.

Full details will be available in the new year in parish newsletters: See [url=https://olcmayfield.ie/newsletter/here.

Remembrance event

Members of the community are invited to attend the Mayfield Tree of Remembrance launch this evening at 7pm.

The Christmas Tree of Remembrance is on Iona Road and, at the event, which is organised by Lotamore Family Resource Centre Cork CLG, a candle-lighting ceremony will take place and Mayfield’s Men’s Shed Choir will perform.

Trees of remembrance are a special way of honouring friends and family members who cannot be with you during the festive season, a time when people will miss their presence most.

All are welcome this evening, and are invited to place a note of remembrance in memory of their loved one on the tree itself, as a tribute to them, either at the event or any time throughout the pre-Christmas period.

Craft event on award shortlist

Mayfield Pride Crafting Day has been shortlisted for LGBTI+ Community Event of the Year at the Gay Project’s Out & Outstanding in Cork awards.

The Mayfield event took place in July and was well attended by old and young members of the community, who created art including Gelli prints, paper crafts, textile crafts, and more to display in Mayfield during Cork Pride.

The event was hosted by Mayfield Community Development Project in their premises on Old Youghal Road, a collaboration between Mayfield CDP, Mayfield Arts, Mayfield Health Action Zone, Foróige St Joseph’s, Newbury House Family Centre CLG, Cork City Council, and Cork City Partnership.

The Sexual Health Centre also ran an information stand about their services, while Gay Project and LINC provided leaflets about their supports in the city.

The group shared their joy with the nomination, saying they have their fingers crossed that they can bring the trophy back to Mayfield at the awards ceremony.

Community education talk

Mayfield CDP was invited to present as a case study research on the role of community education for lone parents.

The Cork Access Network (CAN): Transforming the Framework of Community Education conference took place at the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs last week.

Siobhan O’Neill, the Mayfield group’s new outreach worker, is funded by Community Foundation Ireland to connect lone parents with community educators and education services.

A spokesperson for the group said: “It was heartening to see the passion and value the agencies in attendance place on community education.”

Swimming lessons

Swimming lessons for children are available at Lota Pool in Lotamore, at one of five times: 5pm, 5.30pm, 6pm, 6.35pm, and 7.10pm.

This course entails seven weeks of swimming lessons of 30 minutes’ duration. Lessons will take place on December 11 , with further dates scheduled for January and February.

The goal is to improve a child’s ability to swim confidently, and swimming skills will improve as a result.

Text or ring Diarmuid for more information and booking on 086 0460333.

Letter of commendation

To mark International Volunteer’s Day on Thursday, December 5, a well-deserved letter of commendation was presented to Glanmire community first responder John Sreenan by Stephen O’Flaherty from the National Ambulance Service, in recognition of his service to the community.

Last June, John resuscitated Henry, a Glanmire local, after a cardiac event. He and the other members of the Glanmire community first responders are always available to help those living in Glanmire and surrounding areas in the event of an emergency.

Litter collecting

The Mayfield and St Luke’s Tidy Towns will meet on Saturday, December 14, for their ‘Santa Hat’ litter pick and last outing of the year. The group meet every second Saturday to pick up litter, and also do other things to make the area more appealing, including planting and painting.

Anyone interested in attending the festive litter-picking session or getting involved in the group in the new year can contact councillor Joe Kavanagh at 086 2307507.

Children’s yoga

A new six-week block of children’s yoga classes, with Grow and Glow with Yoga, is starting in Mayfield.

The classes will begin on Wednesday, January 22, at the following three times. A 30-minute class at 2pm for three- to five-year-olds; a 45-minute class at 2.45pm for six- to nine-year-olds, and a 60-minute class at 3.45pm for 10- to 13-year-olds.

The classes will be located at St Joseph’s Community Centre in Mayfield. For more information or to book a place, email growandglowwithyoga@gmail.com or call 086 0306999.

Have Mayfield news to share? Contact amy.campbell@theecho.ie