The village of Creggs is looking particularly festive this week with the new Christmas lights throughout the village and the Christmas tree in the village centre.
It has been an eventful year in Creggs with the village advancing in the Tidy Towns competition, completing a new digital storymap project and a newly rejuvenated Creggs Harvest Festival.
The festivities in Creggs got off to a wonderful start on December 1st when Fr. Donal Morris blessed the village crib and this was followed by a visit from Santa to Creggs where he got to meet and greet all the local children in a family-friendly event in Creggs NS. A new calendar was launched by Kilbegnet Historical Society featuring inspirational figures from Irish history and this calendar is now available in O’Roarke’s Spar.
Last Sunday, a successful Senior Citizens Party was held in St. Mary’s Hall, where a sumptuous meal was enjoyed by all followed by some Christmas carols.
Work is continuing around the village, accessible picnic seats have been installed in the park, new Pride of Place signs were erected and drainage works were carried out at Barrack Street around the pump with the co-operation of Galway County Council. A new bridge was installed in the Wildlife Garden, thanks to Inland Fisheries for their co-operation in relation to this project.
Work has also been carried out in the local area, including clean-ups in local graveyards and significant work has been carried out on the roadway leading to Stoneham’s Lough.
A number of successful plays were staged in Kilbegnet Hall throughout the year, including Hubcap Theatre’s ‘The Parish’ staged on May 26th and Fit-up Theatre are currently presenting three plays in Creggs as part of a theatre festival being held throughout county Galway.
Tidy Towns adjudicators visited in early June and there were weekly clean-ups in advance of this. Creggs has steadily increased marks each year and this year a major effort was made to ensure that the upward trend continued.
A new committee for Creggs Harvest Festival was established with lots of new faces and this year’s Festival had lots of fun events for all the family and we are looking forward to a bumper Festival in 2025.
Creggs Rugby Club is currently celebrating 50 years and recently launched a book to mark 50 years of the club and is also preparing for a dinner dance on December 29th, 50 years to the day that the first game was played, when Creggs faced Nenagh Ormond.
There is also ongoing development at Creggs GAA pitch. Plans for development have been agreed with Galway County Council and the club hosted a successful family fun day in conjunction with the Harvest Festival where the annual Mountain v Valley tournament was held for the Paul Devaney Cup, with the Mountain emerging victorious and the Cup being accepted by Paul Devaney Jnr on behalf of the Mountain team.
The Defibrillator Group is also continuing to work on the installation and maintenance of defibrillators around the village. A new defib was installed recently at Friaryland Cross and new signage was erected in the area.
The annual nativity play at Creggs NS takes place this Thursday night and gets underway at 7.30 in the school hall.
Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning in St. Mary’s Church are always a focal point of people getting together over Christmas. Mass on Christmas Eve is at 7.30 pm and Mass on Christmas Day is at 11.30 am.
The following day, St. Stephen’s Day, is another social occasion in the village, with the Creggs Charity Walk getting underway from outside O’Roarke’s at 12.30. The proceeds of this year’s charity walk will be split between Galway Hospice, Mayo Roscommon Hospice and the Sunshine Room at Creggs NS.
Chairperson of Creggs Rural Development, Sean Beirne this week thanked all who gave of their time to ensure that events in the village were a success throughout the year. This includes members of local committees as well as participants on Rural Social Schemes, TUS schemes and Community Employment Scheme, local businesses and many local volunteers. He also extended thanks to the many people working in local authorities who helped in the development of the village including Galway County Council, Roscommon County Council, Inland Fisheries, Roscommon Leader, Galway Rural Development.
‘I would like to thank all who gave of their time and energy for the betterment of the village in 2024. Lots of good work has been carried out and we have lots more plans for 2025 and look forward to your continued support for the coming year.’
‘I would also ask people to shop local this Christmas and support our local shops, bars, garages and other small businesses. Your business means a lot to our local businesses. These are the businesses that support our work around the village and we would ask that you give them your support at Christmas and throughout the year.’
