The Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) was founded in 1910 in Bree, Co. Wexford. Here in Taghmon the I.C.A. will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2023. The I.C.A. is open to women of all ages from all backgrounds. Becoming a member is a great way to make new friends, learn a new craft, become informed about local and national issues, enjoy social outings, and fundraise for charities. The Taghmon guild was formed in December 1963. It was the first club of its kind in the village. Over forty members enrolled. We had no proper facilities, just an old school building which was in poor repair. But we scrubbed, washed, polished, and painted to secure a nice meeting place. It quickly became a hub of activity over the years. Our founding committee comprised of Mrs Joan Dier R.1.P. (President), Mrs Molly Quigley R.I.P.
(Secretary) and Mrs Eileen Anglim R.I.P.(Treasurer). In 1964 the local curate, Fr. Pat Jordan, asked the ICA to arrange a Christmas party for the old people of the area, later known as ‘The Senior Citizens Christmas Party’. The first party was held in the local cinema. It was such a success it has continued to the present day. In those early days summer outings were also arranged for the senior citizens. A trip to the seaside was top of the list. Tramore, Courtown and Duncannon were the most popular destinations. Prior to the outing a venue was located to facilitate the serving of the food. A bus was hired, and everyone looked forward to very enjoyable day. Since the guild was formed, we have had many highlights.
(a) Drama where we have had many successes and won many awards at local and national festivals.
(b) Creative Dance competition where we represented Wexford Federation on four occasions at the National Concert Hall, coming second and third.
As a consequence of these competitions, we were asked by Kathleen Watkins to appear on her programme ‘Faces and Places’ on RTE 1 and this was filmed in the Wexford Arts Centre in July 1988. This programme went out on air on the following St. Stephens Day. A visit to the Spring Show in the R.D.S. and a Christmas shopping trip to Dublin in early December was arranged annually. Our summer outings can include visits to gardens, historical sites, places of interest, shopping and an evening meal is enjoyed by all. During the winter months we attend musicals and plays, flower and cookery demonstrations. In later years we moved to the Scout Hall and that is where we hold our meetings on 3rd Wednesday of each month. After guild business we have a guest speaker or demonstrator who will talk on various topics of interest. We hold a competition at each meeting and the guild member with the most points at the end of the year will be presented with the Tom O’Donnell Trophy.
