Category Archives: News

What’s happening in U3A Armagh

March Meeting

Our March meeting will be held in the Cardinal O’fiaich Library, Moy Road, Armagh on Friday 22nd March at 10.30am. 

Our speaker this month is John Woods founder of Linwoods Health Foods. The talk will be about living a healthy lifestyle including food, mental attitude, exercise, purpose in life and living a long, healthy and happy life.

Our AGM will be on Friday 19th April (before our speaker that day) so please think again about putting yourself forward for the committee (ideally before our next committee meeting on 8th April).

Finally, just a reminder that EVERYONE attending the monthly meeting should contribute a £1 to the “pot” whether you have coffee & biscuits or not as it makes sense to “balancing the books” at these monthly gatherings. Also, could everyone please sign the U3a Attendance book which should be beside the coffee dispensing table.

February Meeting

We are holding our February meeting in the Cardinal O’Fiaich Library, Moy Road, Armagh on Friday, 16th February at 10.30am. 

Our speaker this month is Billy Stewart, Crime Prevention Officer for ABCCouncil .

The Committee recently decided that EVERYONE attending the monthly meeting should contribute a £1 to the “pot” whether you have coffee & biscuits or not as it’s becoming more and more difficult balancing the books! Also, could everyone please sign the U3a Attendance book which (hopefully!) will be fairly close to the coffee dispensing table.

November Meeting

We are holding our November meeting in the Cardinal O’fiaich Library, Moy Road, Armagh on Friday 17th November at 10.30am. 

Our speaker this month is Canon Jim Campbell and he will be giving an illustrated talk on the life and times of Sir John Lavery, Artist.

Coincidentally the National Gallery of Ireland is hosting a major exhibition entitled “Lavery On Location” which runs until mid-January 2024 and has apparently been described as “exceptional” and “dreamy, dreamy, dreamy.” So hopefully we’ll all be inspired to jump on the train to Dublin to see for ourselves!

October Meeting

Our next monthly meeting will take place on Friday, 20th October in The Cardinal O’Fiaich Memorial Library & Archive.
The speaker will be Mark Flynn based at Portadown Fire Station who will gove a talk on the topic of Fire Safety and Safety at home.
Coffee and biscuits will be available from 10:30 and the talk will start around 11:00 a.m.

JUNE COFFEE MORNING

Just a reminder that we are holding a coffee morning for all in the Cardinal O’Fee Library, Moy Road, Armagh on Friday 23rd June at 10.30am. Basically this will be an opportunity to pay your membership subscription etc in person (cash or cheque) and if you have any questions for the Committee, here’s your chance! (We would ask for a small contribution of £1 towards the coffee & bickies.)

Membership forms 2023-24

Membership of Armagh U3A is open to all retired or semi-retired people.

Costs – There is an annual fee of £20 for membership. There may be other charges for refreshments or for the costs of the facilities used.

A form for new members can be downloaded by clicking here.

A renewal form for existing members can be downloaded by clicking here.

If you have any queries regarding membership e-mail:
membership@u3aarmagh.org

April Newsletter



This will be my last Newsletter as my time as Chair of our committee is at an end. I try to be as positive as possible in these newsletters but on this occasion, I bear only bad news.
Despite repeated pleas for volunteers to become members of the committee we have had no success in recruiting. If this situation does not change and we have no nominations for these posts at the AGM I am afraid we would be in the position of seeing our u3a cease to exist as running the organisation would become untenable. This happened last year to the Dungannon u3a and I would hate to see us in a similar position.
At the upcoming AGM, we will need a new chair, a new membership secretary, a new committee secretary and some new committee members. The executive committee meets once at the end of the month between August and May to plan the events for the next month, to review the financial status of the branch, to discuss how best to support the groups, to help establish new groups and interact with u3a central.  Usually, new committee members are expected to hold one of the key positions (chair, membership secretary, treasurer, committee secretary, business secretary, group coordinator) after a year or two as a sitting member. These are not onerous tasks and entail a day or two commitment each month.  So if you want our u3a to continue the only solution is for members to become willing to be nominated and seconded to join the committee and that nominations are forwarded to the committee before the AGM.
All that needs to be done is for the name of anyone willing to become a committee member to be emailed with a proposer and seconder to denu3a@gmail.com before April 24th.
A decision as to the viability of our u3a will be the key issue on the AGM agenda. Please don’t let this be the very last Armagh u3a newsletter

The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING will be held in the Cardinal O’Fiaich Library on APRIL 28th. As usual coffee will be available from 10.30 am with the meeting starting at 11.00 am. An agenda will be sent by email as soon as this is confirmed but the key issue will be the continuation of the branch.­


ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Arrangements are in hand for renewing the annual subscription but of course this will only proceed if the u3a is to continue. This year we will send out an email with the subscription form attached. Payments can be made as either online bank transfer or by cheque but full details will be in the upcoming email


March  Calendar
Tai Chi
The first Tai Chi class was a resounding success with 20 in attendance and several more showing interest in the next 3 classes. These take place in Cardinal O’Fiaich Library at 2.30 pm on Wednesdays of April 26th, May 3rd and May 10th.

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…….
.April 4th   – Ballymoyer
April 11th – Parkanaur
April 18th  – Craigavon Lakes

April 25th  – Navan Fort
The 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 (3 hours) 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 (10.30 am 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
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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 Group
Another 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 ­­

March Newsletter

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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Out-to-Lunch Bunch

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.

February Newsletter

February Newsletter
A Happy New year to one and all Another year, another set of new year’s resolutions! Hopefully your u3a can help you to make them a reality. We have lots of activities up and running, more events planned and definitely something you can participate in and enjoy. Remember its YOUR u3a so if you have suggestions for activities and/or event please let us know and we will explore how we can get these up and running.
On the subject of it being your u3a, another plea for new committee members. A number of officers have completed their term and we have vacancies so if you are interested come and chat. There are still members who have email difficulties that prevent them receiving these newsletters  If you know of anyone who is having difficulties can you let them know that a copy can be found on our web site…..https://www.u3aarmagh.org/
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Given the great time had at the Xmas lunch we are keen to make out-to-lunch events a more regular thing. There is one this week at Dungannon and given this was “sold out” less than a day after being advertised we are actively planning for another in March. Remember to get in quick as these always have limited places and are very popular with members.

A quick reminder to all who have reserved seats for the Armagh Theatre Group performance of My Brilliant Divorce on Friday 10th February at 7.30pm in Abbey Lane Theatre, Abbey Lane, Armagh. The doors open at 7.15pm. You need to pay £10 at the door and this covers a glass of wine/Schloer at the interval.  IMPORTANT NOTE – If you do have places and find you are unable to make it please let Tim know ASAP. This event is currently sold out but you can still apply to be put on the reserve list as it is likely there will be drop-outs. For both eventualities contact Tim at timbohanna1953@gmail.com.

After the enforced COVID break and long search for a venue, the much missed Monthly Meetings are back on the schedule. These will take place on a Friday morning in the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library. The opening event will be on the 24th February. As before this has coffee from 10.30 am with the presentation starting promptly at 11.00 am. Fittingly, the first talk will be given by the Library Director,  Roddy Hegarty on the library and its collection. So come along for a chat and to be entertained.

Oh, just in case you thought we’d forgotten, we certainly have not. There are plans for one of our popular coffee mornings but it still in the planning stage and we are aiming for early March. More details as soon as we have definite news.
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February  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…….Feb 7th   – ArgoryFeb 14th – RossmoreFeb 21st  – Portadown TowpathFeb 28th  – Clare Glen The 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.  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. 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.

Pilates­
Classes are underway once more with 2 classes each Wednesday (10.30am and 11.30am). At present these are full but we often have vacancies so if you are interested contact Margaret. For more information contact Margaret at tro111@hotmail.com Bridge – Online Group The online sessions are held on a Wednesday at 7.00 pm using the BridgeBase Online platform that 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 4.30pm. We have a beginners group who are starting from scratch and a playing group for those with a little more experience.
If you are interested please come along or contact, Patricia at patriciamcconville@btinternet.com
­
u3a Choir 
The 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. 

Possible Tai Chi Classes 
In the dim and distant past we ran Tai Chi classes and we are currently exploring possibilities of resurrecting this activity.  Note this is not primarily an exercise class but a mind-body discipline originating from ancient China, where it started as a famous martial art. These days, it’s practised around the world as an effective exercise for health. Tai Chi can be many things for different people, but regular practise will improve your wellbeing. At the heart of it, Tai Chi is a moving meditation in the form of a series of gentle exercises that create harmony between the mind and body. If it helps 20 million Chinese live to well over 85 years-old then I’m in 😋.  
Also interested? Then tell us by clicking on the button below and leave your details.­
I’m interested in Tai Chi­