Ho Ho Ho, Christmas in the Village!

What a beautiful day everyone had on Sunday, 27th November, when Shankill Main Street was turned into a winter wonderland for the second edition of the already long-awaited Christmas in the Village festival.

Supported by DLR County Council and Shankill Business Group, the event was a wonderful celebration of the Christmas spirit and the result of local initiative and hard work.

A wide range of surprises, from Santa’s Grotto, the Petting Farm and the Festive Market Stalls to the Kids' Zone and live music took place from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m., marked midway by Santa's appearance driven by who else but John Brady, owner of Brady's Pub. While waiting for Santa, everyone went around the market stalls to buy Christmas gifts. The already well-known Shankill calendars, which are done every year by the award-winning Shankill Tidy Towns team and feature photos sent by the village's professional and amateur photographers, were on sale as well.

Here is a special photo we took with the permission of the Shankill Tidy Towns team. We are proud to share it with everyone and to say a big congratulations to them for their amazing work in the village, which this year brought them the overall prize winner of the 2016 Tidy Districts Competition.

All the children were extremely excited to meet with some famous Star Wars characters as well as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who made many friends in the street and brought lots of smiles and hi-fives.

At 3:30 p.m. Santa showed up in the village and was welcomed by everyone as the rightful bringer of joy, gifts and childhood memories.

  

A huge thank you and well done to the organisers.
Now the Christmas spirit has officially arrived in the village!

Volunteers needed for SCAN

SCAN (Shankill Community Association Newsletter) is the monthly community newsletter that was delivered to households monthly free of charge until about two months ago. It won 1st prize for Community Services in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's Community Awards 2011. Now SCAN needs volunteers who will help continue writing and delivering the newsletter. If you have some free time or know someone who does, please ask them to contact SCAN on scanshankill10@eircom.net. More about the history of SCAN here.

Thank you, Rosalie!

Shankill is a safe and beautiful village and we want it to stay the same at all times.

An incident however happened recently not far from the Centra shop in Shankill (some sources mentioned the Holly Park area more exactly).

Rosalie L., the brave make-up artist from Shankill, who was assaulted by an unknown man in his 40's on the 3rd January 2016, has chosen to write a Facebook post about this traumatic event so that people can be more careful when they walk alone in the dark.

You can see Rosalie's Facebook message below.

Hey everyone. I was debating whether or not to post this as I didn't wanna worry people or seem like I am looking for...
Posted by Rosalie Lockhart on Monday, 4 January 2016

The case is under Garda investigation and it is understood that house-to-house enquiries are ongoing in the area.

Thank you, Rosalie, for helping to keep our village safe!

The Christmas Story in Trees at St. James's Church, Crinken

From the 4th to the 6th December this year, St. James's Church invites everyone to participate in their enchanting Christmas Tree Festival. 

This year’s festival, framed as part of the church’s 175th anniversary celebrations, beautifully brings the story of Christ’s birth to life through more than 40 uniquely-decorated Christmas trees and carefully chosen Scripture verses. 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/crinkenchurch

As you enter the church, a friendly volunteer welcomes you and hands you a brochure, which outlines the meaning behind each tree. You can then wander through the space, discovering how the Christmas story unfolds: each tree represents a different moment, accompanied by a relevant Bible verse. The variety is truly striking from natural fir trees to imaginative creations made from books and other recycled materials. Together, the trees form what the organisers call the “Journey to Bethlehem.”

The festival isn’t just about visual beauty; it reflects a real sense of community. Local schools, community groups, and businesses have all contributed, putting their creativity and care into each design. The result is a harmonious blend of faith and local spirit.

 

Before you leave, you are invited to enjoy some refreshments in the church hall, chatting with others and sharing your impressions. And, if you wish, you can return for the Carols by Candlelight service, held next Sunday at 6:30p.m.

Although admission is free, donations are welcome and all proceeds will support The Storehouse, a food-bank project serving people in need this Christmas. It’s a heartfelt way to celebrate both the season and the community.

Christmas Cheer in the Village

There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a community coming together in preparation for Christmas. The colours and the joy of the season are unique every year.

Today, everybody gathered in the village for the three events that marked the beginning of the Christmas celebrations in Shankill.

 

Christmas in the Village

Although the weather was cold and rainy, the atmosphere was great on Shankill Main Street, where from 1 pm to 6 pm everyone could browse the festive stalls selling glittering gifts, cards, decorations, and crafts and warm up with mulled wine, crepes, doughnuts, mince pies and other treats.

The children could take a ride on the carousels besides Brady's Pub and also try out the obstacle course. Santa made a very special visit to Shankill bringing gifts for all the children present in the village. Street performers, jugglers and live music performed by the Bray Gospel Choir and Tumbleweed made the day even brighter and happier for everybody.

Swan Winter Craft Fair

This event was organised by SWAN (Supporting Women & Networking in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown) and took place in Stonebridge Community Facility. Lots of businesses and crafters sold their items ranging from handknitted gifts to stocking fillers for dogs and cakes.

St. Anne's Parish Christmas Fair

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. everyone could drop in to St. Anne's Resource Centre to warm up with hot food and drinks and have some pancakes and mince pies. The organisers also included a Wheel of Fortune and lots handcrafted items and cakes for sale.

To add to the overall seasonal joy, everyone could enter lots of raffles at each of the three locations with prizes from hampers and vouchers to meals, cameras and money prizes.

Shankill Library

Shankill Library is a single-storey Carnegie Library, built in 1912 (architect R. M. Butler) and set in a quiet, semi-rural area of Shankill, not far from the Wicklow border. 

In the past it was used as a courthouse, a technical school, a dance hall and even a temporary church.

The building is set back from the road in its own garden. The Tudor-style library has an interesting façade, which consists of materials such as smooth and roughcast render, brick, squared rubble and smooth granite. 




Its architectural style was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and the entrance has suggestions of an Irish Romanesque doorway.

The building was renovated in 1978. 
Further details about the library and the different projects and events organised there can be found here. 






The road that leads to it has taken the name the Library Road and is known locally as a very quiet area, with lovely houses.

Shankill Wins in the 2015 Tidy Towns Competition & Dun Laoghaire Tidy Districts Competition

Shankill has been awarded a bronze medal in the 2015 Tidy Towns competition. The score was 302, an increase on the 2014 score. Check out the full report here. The competition, which is organised by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and sponsored by SuperValu, attracted 862 entries this year.

The second prize Shankill won this autum is The Best Village > 3000 People at the Dun Laoghaire Tidy Districts Competition. Further details here. Rathsallagh Shanganagh Clifton Estate Management Forum also received a prize for the Most Improved Housing Estate at the same competition. The Tidy Districts competition is run annually by Dun Laoghaire County Council to 'publically recognise the huge effort put in by local communities in enhancing their environments and making them better places to live and work in.'

Well done to the committee and the volunteers who work so hard to keep Shankill so nice and tidy!