No real double decker bus passes through the village of Windgap, Co Kilkenny, but a virtual one gets hopped on a lot.
This voluntary help approach allows people with an idea to get involved in village development, get their one-off project completed, then hop off the ‘bus’ again if it’s the case that they don’t want to commit to committees for too long.
It has certainly been a busy bus. You only have to look round to see that. There’s a new playground, car park and lake amenity area at the junction into the village that softens the impact of the “bit shook” old creamery and school. There’s a Windy Loop walk that leads uphill by the well-kept GAA grounds and round to the distinctive four-acre grotto that is the village’s USP and reflective space. The current school has been extended, the ICA hall done up and the old League house cherished. On the day I visited, the finishing touches were being put to the stonework on a revamped forge frontage that gives the street corner a new focal point.
“It’s a voluntary system that works for us,” agree Kate Moloney, Noreen Hayes and Jimmy Walsh, some of the Windgap workers who are gathered round the table in the ICA hall.
“Some people wouldn’t want to be on a committee all the time but they have an idea to do something and they do it. The playground would be an example. Two young mothers saw the need and set about making it a reality and they have. It’s a great resource and meeting place for everyone. The youth club happened that way too.”
On the development “bus” at the moment are plans for a mobile shop and the biggest project yet – the revamping of O’Shea’s Hall – a one-time ballroom of romance.
BRAINSTORMING MEETING –
SNOWBALLED FROM THERE
As we speak, there’s tea and home baking on the table and a great sense of community. The crowd includes natives, newly-returned sons and daughters and those who have chosen to settle here, bringing their interests and talents to the community skills pot.
I hear of a watershed meeting chaired by then parish priest Fr Nicholas Flavin in 2012. Great things have come of it, by all accounts.
“The community was very fragmented before that,” Noreen Hayes says, “but we all started thinking of things we could do and a lot of things snowballed from that.”
In terms of community development, the role of everyone is acknowledged but credit is given particularly to the GAA over the years and to the “late, great James Power” for his part in getting the lake amenity developed and more.
“He has left a great legacy,” say the group.
“From the point of view of rural development agency LEADER, Windgap would be an absolute star,” says Patrick Lydon of the Camphill community, which has a house in the village.
“I take my hat off to what is happening here,” he says. “There’s such good leadership. It is very remarkable in a parish that is so widely spread. A lot of things have happened over time and they have all added up to something very valuable.”
Fundraising for projects has been inventive, ranging from calf-rearing and vintage runs to a fashion show featuring 150 local models.
CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE
Love of their home place is very obvious in the discussion.
“We’re 20 miles from Kilkenny, Clonmel and Waterford,” says Jimmy Walsh, “but we’re the centre of the universe as far as we’re concerned.”
Family surnames keep recurring in the conversation, proving that generations of families are involved in community projects. It proves also that the example of parents when it comes to citizenship and community involvement is rubbing off on the children. The fact that numbers are up in the school is a positive sign for everyone, with 113 pupils since September.
“One less than a new post,” says principal Margaret Lowry.
An autism unit, a learning support room and new offices have been built, with much of the funding raised locally. “It’s a fantastic community,” says board of management chair Kathleen Moran, “with a lot of people working very hard to bring projects about.”
CAN-DO ATTITUDE IN ABUNDANCE
The resurgence of new families in the area has also been important, according to youth club leader Rachel Murray.
“They’ve found Windgap an attractive area to live in and they’ve added to the energy here. I think the reason they’ve gotten on so well is because they have a can-do attitude in abundance as well.”
Three men – Pat Walsh, Nicky Haw and Dermot Houlihan – were particularly involved in the forge project.
“The corner was a bit of an eyesore so we wanted to improve it,” says Pat. Showing great initiative and commitment, six local men trained in stonework with master stonemason Seamus Davis under an Education and Training Board Scheme to do the work – skills that will come in useful in future. “We have a list of jobs waiting!” laughs Noreen Hayes.
I leave impressed by how the combination of vision and hard work can really put a village and its people on the map. CL
• Hold a brainstorm meeting. Ask “what does our village have and what does it need?”• Think “double decker hop-on and hop-off bus”. Dream.• Never be afraid of a challenge.• Go door-to-door to talk to people about village plans.• Include the diaspora via a website.• Get small things done. This inspires the next person.• Look over ditches at pieces of waste ground – ask what could be done with that?• Respect everyone’s opinion.• Make a book out of Irish folklore-commission children’s school stories from 1937 for your area.• Have local people do a stonewall building course through the ETB – Education and Training Board
No real double decker bus passes through the village of Windgap, Co Kilkenny, but a virtual one gets hopped on a lot.
This voluntary help approach allows people with an idea to get involved in village development, get their one-off project completed, then hop off the ‘bus’ again if it’s the case that they don’t want to commit to committees for too long.
It has certainly been a busy bus. You only have to look round to see that. There’s a new playground, car park and lake amenity area at the junction into the village that softens the impact of the “bit shook” old creamery and school. There’s a Windy Loop walk that leads uphill by the well-kept GAA grounds and round to the distinctive four-acre grotto that is the village’s USP and reflective space. The current school has been extended, the ICA hall done up and the old League house cherished. On the day I visited, the finishing touches were being put to the stonework on a revamped forge frontage that gives the street corner a new focal point.
“It’s a voluntary system that works for us,” agree Kate Moloney, Noreen Hayes and Jimmy Walsh, some of the Windgap workers who are gathered round the table in the ICA hall.
“Some people wouldn’t want to be on a committee all the time but they have an idea to do something and they do it. The playground would be an example. Two young mothers saw the need and set about making it a reality and they have. It’s a great resource and meeting place for everyone. The youth club happened that way too.”
On the development “bus” at the moment are plans for a mobile shop and the biggest project yet – the revamping of O’Shea’s Hall – a one-time ballroom of romance.
BRAINSTORMING MEETING –
SNOWBALLED FROM THERE
As we speak, there’s tea and home baking on the table and a great sense of community. The crowd includes natives, newly-returned sons and daughters and those who have chosen to settle here, bringing their interests and talents to the community skills pot.
I hear of a watershed meeting chaired by then parish priest Fr Nicholas Flavin in 2012. Great things have come of it, by all accounts.
“The community was very fragmented before that,” Noreen Hayes says, “but we all started thinking of things we could do and a lot of things snowballed from that.”
In terms of community development, the role of everyone is acknowledged but credit is given particularly to the GAA over the years and to the “late, great James Power” for his part in getting the lake amenity developed and more.
“He has left a great legacy,” say the group.
“From the point of view of rural development agency LEADER, Windgap would be an absolute star,” says Patrick Lydon of the Camphill community, which has a house in the village.
“I take my hat off to what is happening here,” he says. “There’s such good leadership. It is very remarkable in a parish that is so widely spread. A lot of things have happened over time and they have all added up to something very valuable.”
Fundraising for projects has been inventive, ranging from calf-rearing and vintage runs to a fashion show featuring 150 local models.
CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE
Love of their home place is very obvious in the discussion.
“We’re 20 miles from Kilkenny, Clonmel and Waterford,” says Jimmy Walsh, “but we’re the centre of the universe as far as we’re concerned.”
Family surnames keep recurring in the conversation, proving that generations of families are involved in community projects. It proves also that the example of parents when it comes to citizenship and community involvement is rubbing off on the children. The fact that numbers are up in the school is a positive sign for everyone, with 113 pupils since September.
“One less than a new post,” says principal Margaret Lowry.
An autism unit, a learning support room and new offices have been built, with much of the funding raised locally. “It’s a fantastic community,” says board of management chair Kathleen Moran, “with a lot of people working very hard to bring projects about.”
CAN-DO ATTITUDE IN ABUNDANCE
The resurgence of new families in the area has also been important, according to youth club leader Rachel Murray.
“They’ve found Windgap an attractive area to live in and they’ve added to the energy here. I think the reason they’ve gotten on so well is because they have a can-do attitude in abundance as well.”
Three men – Pat Walsh, Nicky Haw and Dermot Houlihan – were particularly involved in the forge project.
“The corner was a bit of an eyesore so we wanted to improve it,” says Pat. Showing great initiative and commitment, six local men trained in stonework with master stonemason Seamus Davis under an Education and Training Board Scheme to do the work – skills that will come in useful in future. “We have a list of jobs waiting!” laughs Noreen Hayes.
I leave impressed by how the combination of vision and hard work can really put a village and its people on the map. CL
• Hold a brainstorm meeting. Ask “what does our village have and what does it need?”• Think “double decker hop-on and hop-off bus”. Dream.• Never be afraid of a challenge.• Go door-to-door to talk to people about village plans.• Include the diaspora via a website.• Get small things done. This inspires the next person.• Look over ditches at pieces of waste ground – ask what could be done with that?• Respect everyone’s opinion.• Make a book out of Irish folklore-commission children’s school stories from 1937 for your area.• Have local people do a stonewall building course through the ETB – Education and Training Board 
SHARING OPTIONS