Held on Wednesday 13th May 2026
At last weeks AGM, the groups Secretary, Patricia Murtagh, gave her 2025 report on the Centre and Mountain Dew which was very busy throughout the year. Along with the normal groups using the Centre for practices & meetings, a number of parties, memorials and celebrations were managed by Pauline & Mairead and their teams. On a monthly basis Social Dancing, Poker, 25 Card Drive, Trad Session & Speedpool took place. Other events included Table Quizzes hosted by Corduff Handball Club & Corduff Pipe band, two Fior Céilís hosted by Corduff Raferagh Ceili Club, Coffee Mornings were organised for the Irish Pilgrimage Trust, Scoil Phádraig Parents Association and the Bus to Knock fundraiser. The Drama Group hosted Casualty in Crisis, which was a great hit. The annual Big Breakfast occurred in July. A Pan-Celtic Traditional evening was hosted by Carrickmacross Comhaltas with musicians & dancers from Brittany, as well as their annual Class Concert. The Carrickmacross Lions Club Disco was held in August. Corduff Raferagh Active Retirement hosted two large Cluster meetings. A number of fundraising and entertaining events were organised by locals for the Corduff Gaels GAA Boots n Bling fundraising campaign. Santa made a visit to the Centre and the Kids Fancy Dress Halloween Disco was also an enjoyable day. The CMETB delivered three adult education courses – Genealogy, Flower Arranging and a Sound & Lighting Course. In 2025 CoRa Hub was used for remote working on a regular basis by one worker.
Groups that use the Centre include Bright Sparks Playschool and Afterschool, Line Dancing, Set Dancing, Ceili Club, Active Retirement Group, Bowls, Heritage Group, Pipe Band, Social Dancing, Football club, along with smaller groups & classes occasionally. The Centre manager Pauline and her Solas workers, Geraldine, Agnes and Siobhan are always on hand to cater for the needs of the community for Centre activities.
Sponsorship from local businesses for the upkeep of the website is extremely appreciated, and local news transferred from the Northern Standard to the Anglo Celt. A monthly bulletin was launched to help reach as wide an audience as possible with Community Centre and Parish news. Funding was received from various bodies to maintain and upgrade the facilities including Monaghan County Council, SSE Community Fund and LEADER.
Without the input of Staff, Committee Members and Volunteers the doors of the Community Centre could not open, so Chairperson Lorcan Hand thanked the following Pauline Reilly and her Solas staff past and present – Geraldine, Agnese & Siobhán; Rosie Mills; Shay Burns; Mairéad & Mícheál McConnon, John Fox, Gerard Corrigan, Katie Mullan and Shauna McEnaney; Nigel McGivney, the Byrne family, Peter Brennan, Patrick Ward and Theresa Daly. All the groups and organisations that use the facilities and the building throughout the year were thanked and Corduff Gaels, Corduff Ladies and the Handballers were wished the best of luck in the coming year.
Monaghan County Council and all Government departments were thanked for their funding, without funding many of the large projects undertaken would not have been possible.
Lorcan thanked his fellow officers and committee members for all their hard work and dedication as volunteers throughout the year and wished Luke a speedy recovery and like all committee members looks forward to Luke returning to our meetings. The Corduff Raferagh websites ongoing sponsorship by local businesses is very much appreciated.
Congratulations was extended to everyone who got married in the past year and to all the parents who welcomed new arrivals. Sympathy was extended to the families who lost loved ones.
As always, Lorcan & Patricia encourages new members with new ideas to join the committee.
The 2026 / 2027 Committee is as follows
Honorary President – Peadar Marron.
Honorary Vice Presidents – Patsy Finnegan, Philomena Lundy, Peter Brennan.
Chairperson – Lorcan Hand.
Vice Chairperson – Colin McCusker.
Secretary – Patricia Murtagh.
Assistant Secretary – Joan Farrelly.
Treasurer – Conor Comiskey.
Assistant Treasurer – Denis McCabe.
PRO – Bernie Ruth & Linda Kennedy.
Committee Members –
- John Finlass
- Mary Marron
- Margaret Fox
- Tom Fox
- Sinead Finnegan
- Felim McMahon
- Luke Comiskey
- Geraldine Keenan
- Pat McNally
- Stephen McCaul
- Paddy Gollogly
