A night of pride and emotion as Cllr Kelly launches Christmas Annual

For Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly, being asked to officially launch the 2022 Christmas Annual took on extra special significance this year.

A nephew of the late Jim Lynch, the Mayor of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District spoke with much emotion at Thursday night’s launch event  as he recalled the pride and dedication which his late uncle showed, not just for the Christmas Annual, but for so many other community groups and events which he was involved in.

Cllr Kelly recalled how Jim had edited his first annual back in 1984 - the year Cllr Kelly was born - and the fact that Jim had edited 37 of the 41 editions was a quite brilliant achievement, he said.

“I would meet Jim for a cup of coffee or a tea and he would give me some great advice,” Cllr Kelly said. 

“I had met him outside An Grianan Theatre one day and we got chatting about this year’s annual and I knew by him that he had a lot of work put into it already. That just summed up his dedication, not just for the annual, but in all walks of life,” he said.

He added that when the family learned of Jim’s death back in September, it came as a massive shock.

“But Jim left some legacy,” he added. 

“He was an outstanding community man and an outstanding Letterkenny man. It’s just such a pity he’s not with us today.”

The launch event, which was held in Letterkenny’s Station House Hotel, was dedicated to Jim Lynch and among the attendance were members of the Lynch family, as well as staff members from Letterkenny Community Centre and some of those who have contributed to this year’s publication.

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Among those to address the launch was Brian Walsh, a member of the Letterkenny Community Heritage Group, who spoke of Jim’s contribution to so many aspects of local life.

Liam O'Donnell of Letterkenny Community Centre and Kieran Kelly, editor, with this year's Christmas Annual Photo: Brian McDaid

Other guest speakers were Donnan Harvey of Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter and Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh.

Liam O’Donnell spoke on behalf of the community centre while Kieran Kelly, who stepped in to edit this year’s annual following Jim’s untimely passing, gave a brief rundown of some of the articles and features in this year’s publication, while speaking of his great pride at being invited to take on the task of  leading up this year’s edition.

The Christmas Annual, another brilliant publication, is now on sale at local outlets.