The Playground and Village Park underline the fact that the development of a vibrant community valuing young and old has been at the heart of the Community Council’s activities from its earliest days. While provision for the young people has been seen as important from time to time, the welfare of the senior citizens of the parish has formed a central theme of many discussions since the inception of Muintir na Tíre in Kilworth on that night in March 1959 This has been seen in the organising of social functions such as the summer outing and the Christmas party and alarm security pendants have/ had been distributed from year to year as part of the Community Care initiative dating from 1992.

But, unfortunately, down through the years competing demands for limited funds led to a kind of inertia that prevented the making of big gesture for the elderly. The reason was simple: the cost of providing for the older people was deemed prohibitive. Then in the middle 1990s a consensus began to emerge that not only something should be done, but that something could be done. ‘Kilworth Community Housing Association’ was formed as a sub-committee of the Community Council and it was resolved that a determined effort would be made to secure funding for the housing our senior citizens from whatever source that could be imagined.

Accordingly, the resourceful sub-committee drew on its reservoir of knowledge developed down through the years to prepare applications for grant aid, and the Department of Environment was specifically targeted. A suitable site was identified and the owner, Sean Brennan, a member of an old and esteemed Kilworth family, was approached. Then living in Galway, Sean’s mother Hannah and all her family proved to be highly enthusiastic about the project and offered 1.5 acres adjoining the graveyard for what was a very modest sum.

A grateful Community Council accepted and fundraising commenced. At the end of the day, a sum of £50,000.00 was raised locally and the Department of Environment provided £477,000.00. To the delight of everybody, this enabled the sub-committee to build nine houses and a day centre. Occupants for the houses were quickly secured and on 11 October 2002 the tape was cut by another generous benefactor, Dr Tom Cavanagh, and the name plaque unveiled by Mrs Hannah Brennan, formerly Hannah Heaphy of The Square. As a gesture of gratitude to her, the Community Council named the complex ‘Heaphy Grove’ in honour of all those Heaphy family members who had lived in Kilworth down through the years. Not content to rest on their laurels, the sub-committee renewed its endeavours in the following years and now no less than thirteen attractive little houses are located in Heaphy Grove. The occupiers of the houses proclaim themselves very happy to live here in close proximity to the various facilities of the village and they delight in the fact that they reside in an attractive, secure environment with valued neighbours close by.