MU Cork Diocesan Festival; Clogher MU activities; Media review – Plaque unveiled for suffragette Isabella Tod; Mother launches range of Down Syndrome dolls
CEO of Mothers’ Union to speak at Cork Diocesan Festival
Reg Bailey, the CEO of the Mothers’ Union will be the guest speaker at the Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Mothers’ Union Diocesan Festival on Saturday next 16th March.
During the Service in the Church of Saint Peter, Carrigrohane, County Cork, the Bishop, the Right Reverend Paul Colton, will commission Patsy Devoy as new Diocesan President of the Mothers’ Union.
Also to be commissioned are: the Reverend Isobel Jackson (Diocesan Chaplain to the Mothers’ Union), Oriel Lester (Diocesan Secretary) and Hazel Sherlock (Fund-raising and Communications Coordinator).
All are welcome at the Service which starts at 12 noon.
Clogher MU activities
A Diocesan Quiet Day was held on Saturday 23 March 2013 in Rossorry Parish. The Day began with Holy Communion, celebrated by the Bishop and assisted by the Rector of Rossorry, Canon Arthur Barrett.
The Speaker was Rev Grace Clunie, who is the director of Celtic Spirituality based in Armagh. At the end of the meeting Grace was presented with a Prayer Shawl knitted by Eileen Bleakley of Irvinestown Branch. This idea was formed by two American ladies who decided this would be their ministry to the church in which they worshipped. To find out details about the knitting and background of the Prayer Shawl go to : www.shawlministry.com
The Spring Diocesan Council will be held on Thursday 23 May at 7.30pm in St Macartin’s Cathedral Hall, Enniskillen. Branch Leaders, Secretaries and Treasurers are expected to attend this meeting, however all branch members are welcome to attend. The Council Meeting will be preceded by a Bring and Buy Sale at 7.00pm.
In November the Trustee Body held a meal, to say thank you to Geraldine Beattie for all her efforts in the past six years as President. Diane Whittaker, very kindly, offered her home for the meal which she supplied and cooked herself. The meal was first class. Everyone enjoyed a very relaxed and pleasant evening. Geraldine was presented with pink pearls which, as the photograph shows, seems to have been a big suprise. A small presentation was made to Diane to thank her for her kindness in opening her home and also cooking and providing the meal for the Trustee members.
MEDIA REVIEW
Plaque unveiled for suffragette Isabella Tod
News Letter – The woman who pioneered the suffragette movement on the island of Ireland has had her name stamped onto the fabric of Belfast.
Liberal unionist Isabella Tod formed what was believed to be Ireland’s first Suffragette Society in 1871 in the city.
And on International Women’s Day on Friday Dr Myrtle Hill, former director for the Centre for Women’s Studies at Queen’s University Belfast, spoke at the unveiling of the plaque in her name.
Asked why it took so long to commemorate someone who was such a prominent figure of her time, she said: “I think it was identifying a place where she actually lived because she moved around quite a bit – she was a single woman, and a professional woman.”
It was not just getting women the vote that motivated her.
“(She was) very important in terms of educational reform for women, opening up opportunities for women to enter university, and she was very active in all sorts of other social reform,” she added.
One such campaign was against the Contagious Diseases Act, something which granted striking powers to the police.
Designed to prevent the spread of venereal disease to soldiers, it gave officers the right to stop any woman on suspicion of being a prostitute and order them to undergo medical examination.
But throughout her campaigning, she was peaceful, she said, concentrating on lobbying and giving talks rather than the window-smashing antics of the later suffragettes.
Tasked with unveiling the plaque, Baroness Blood – an Ulster woman who sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords – told the crowd of around 40 huddled beneath awnings and umbrellas on Botanic Avenue: “In Northern Ireland, in many ways, we’re better off. But when you think of what Isabella Tod fought for some of those issues are still around today and we need to be fighting for them.”
She mentioned in particular the suppression of women in the Middle East and central Asia.
Dr Margaret Ward, director of the Women’s Resource and Development Agency, said: “I’m a historian so she’s not unknown to me. But I realise she might not be known to a lot of people. I think that’s the fate so many women have. There are a lot of women, many made huge contributions in terms of social progress, who are not known.”
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/plaque-unveiled-for-suffragette-isabella-tod-1-4882888
Mother launches range of Down Syndrome dolls for daughter, 13, so she can ‘see something beautiful’ when she plays
A mother has created a range of Down Syndrome dolls inspired by her daughter, who is affected by the chromosomal condition.
Connie Feda, 49, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, set about making a mini-me version of her youngest child, Hannah, after she complained that none of the dolls in a toy catalog looked like her.
But in a bid to give other children like hers ‘a friend for life’, Mrs Feda turned her Dolls For Downs project into a full-time occupation and her plastic figurines are set to hit the market in May.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2291646/Mother-launches-range-Down-Syndrome-dolls-daughter-13-beautiful-plays.html#ixzz2NPpBqos9
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