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| For the first time since COVID, it felt that the u3a were “almost” back to normal when we held an extremely successful Monthly Meeting. The new venue worked well but we will have to work harder on the coffee provision. Apologies for the delays – as with all problems I blame COVID for the loss of organisation knowledge – but it will be better next time. It seemed very fitting that the first talk in our new venue in the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library was by the director Roddy Hegarty who gave an extremely entertaining and wide-ranging presentation on the special significance of Armagh and how this led to the foundation of the library and its various collections. This will be a hard act to follow! Congratulations are also due to Tim Hanna for organising the special showing of My Brilliant Divorce which was brilliant, entertaining and funny. Let’s hope we can have more of these. |
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 Margaret Oaks Has arranged another event for March 9th when we will visit the Newry Catering College. As always there are only limited spaces available and those who attended the Monthly Meeting had a chance to sign up but there are a few places left. If you are interested contact Margaret ASAP on tro111@hotmail. |
 We are working hard to arrange a coffee morning for near the end of this month. A number of us have been a little dissatisfied with the large impersonal space in the hotel and, as a result, we have been searching for a more convivial venue. We have approached the Golf Club and it looks like the next event will be there. We are still in negotiations but Monday, March 27th is a possibility. As always I will let you all know when the arrangements are confirmed. |
 This will take place on …Friday 24th March in the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library. As before this has “lots” 🤣 of coffee from 10.30 am with the presentation starting promptly at 11.00 am. This month’s talk is by Jim “TJ” Smart who will talk about the Life and Poetry of Rev WF Marshall Tyrone. From what I’ve heard this is more than funny! |
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| In addition to all the “brilliant” opportunities on offer by Armagh & District u3a, members can also enjoy a diverse range of talks, workshops and courses on Zoom. These events are a great opportunity to try something new. They are brought to you by members with a passion or talent to share, as well as specialist guest speakers. This month for example, there are free online Yoga and Pilates short courses, a course on how to tackle cryptic crosswords and more. A couple of the upcoming talks catch my attention,Life on the Edge: The dawn of quantum biology, with TV’s own Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey, and one of Britain’s best-known science communicators.Genetic Genealogy: Making it Work for You We will provide the highlights of what’s on offer each month but I highly recommend you investigate the full range. You can even subscribe to receive a monthly update. To see all that’s available and when these happen just click on the link below. u3a Learning Online at ….. https://www.u3a.org.uk/events/educational-events |
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| March Calendar |
| Hill Walking Group This group complete walks along country lanes, in forest parks, hills, and mountains. Walks are usually 2-4 hours. They meet weekly on Thursdays at the Armagh Palace car park by the children’s play park and depart promptly at 9.30 am. For more information contact, Caroline at cbgood@doctors.org.uk and add your mobile number to join the WhatsApp group. Tuesday Walkers For those seeking a more gentle walk and talk. The schedule for this month is……..March 7th – GosfordMarch 14th – Loughgall ParkMarch 21st – BenburbMarch 28th – Dungannon ParkThe group meets on Tuesdays at the Palace car park near the children’s playground at 10.00 am.For more details contact, Patricia McConville at patriciamcconville@btinternet.com. Cycling group. Given that poorer weather is likely over winter the group will probably meet infrequently. Cycling is mostly on secondary or minor roads, occasionally on major roads. Distance cycled is approximately 30-35KM (3hours) with a coffee stop along the way. Members must have their own bikes, helmets and Hi-Vis tops and be comfortable with cycling on roads. Communication is by a WhatsApp group.Those interested or requesting date information should contact Peter Good at pdgood@doctors.org.uk and add your mobile number to join the WhatsApp group. Pilates Classes are underway once more with 2 classes each Wednesday (10.30am and 11.30 am). At present these are full but we often have vacancies,If you are interested contact Margaret at tro111@hotmail.com Bridge – Online GroupThe online sessions are held on a Wednesday at 7.00 pm using the BridgeBase Online platform which is very easy to use, for full details of how to play online contact, Dennis at denu3a@gmail.com Bridge – Face-to-Face Group The face-to-face sessions are each Monday held in the Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich Memorial Library between 2.00 and 4.30 pm. We have a beginners group who are starting from scratch and a playing group for those with a little more experience. This is more social than Competition Bridge and we can arrange partners on the day. If you are interested please come along or contact, Patricia at patriciamcconville@btinternet.com u3a ChoirThe choir meet at 9 vicars Hill on Wednesdays between 3.30 and 4 30 pm, so come along and get those vocal cords working!If you are interested contact Kathleen at Kathleen.daly41@icloud.com. Local History GroupAnother piece of great news! After the COVID hiatus, the Local History Group meetings have restarted. The group meets in the O Fiaich Library on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 11.30 am.For further information contact Mary McVeigh on mtmcveigh@hotmail Possible Tai Chi ClassesNegotiations are continuing on the day, time and venue but its looking increasingly likely that we can get these up and running. The idea is to have a taster course of 4/6week to see if classes could be viable in the long term We hope to get more details out to you later this month. |
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