They wrecked our home and left us with nothing
I AM old now, old beyond my years. Exposure to violence, beatings, abandonment and abuse has scrawled lines on my heart and face that will never be removed. I am facing the end of my life with the most terrible memories suffered in city during our “Tiger” years. Little did I think that my life would end like this.
About the founder
IT HAS been 21 years since Billy Higgins first set foot in Limerick and since then his name has become inextricably linked to the development of Southill.
The friendliness and warmth of the people on the south side of Limerick city led him to begin a series of exchange programmes between Southill and his home city of Boston and to fundraise for community developments in an area, he says, that is like his second home.
Southill Junior School, Limerick
SOUTHILL Junior School was established in 1972 and caters for children from Junior infants up to second class.
It is located in Southill and is attended by many local children, who often start at age 3 by attending the preschool, which is on the same grounds. foto by Keith Wiseman www.kwisemanphoto.ie
Adare, Southill and Boston all singing form same hymm sheet
In a heartwarming tale of two cities and sweet Adare, three very different communities can now bound together through music,each community is now supporting and helping one another.
Billy Higgins puts together an Irish Golf Classic you can t Beat
South Boston’s Billy Higgins continues his efforts to support young people in Limerick, Ireland through the Southill Children’s fund which was formed in 1985. At that time, Billy Higgins and State Sen. Jack Hart shown at last year’s Limerick-Boston Golf Classic held in IrelandHiggins had gone to Southill, a section of Limerick and witnessed firsthand the problems kids were facing growing up in a housing project that much reminded Higgins of his own childhood grown-up in South Boston’s lower end.
Trauma of Southill kids as bad as in war zone
Southill children are as traumatized as children living in war zones according to a renowned education psychologist.
In an open letter to Limerick City Council, the parish priest of Southill, describes the shocking findings of psychologist Stuart Shankar, who spent time in the troubled estate last year.
People need help now not later, says Boston activist
I DRIVE up to O’Malley Park and Southill these days and it’s very depressing how bad things have got,” says Billy Higgins, the retired Boston businessman who has donated thousands of euro to the community for over the past 20 years.
Billy is sitting in a cafe in Roxboro on the day Limerick Regeneration Agency publishes the master plan that aims to transform Southill over the next 10 years. He recognizes the history of the occaission but he says people living in Southill need help now and not just over the course of the next decade. Existing problems can’t be put on the long finger with the promise of regeneration.
Grandmothers despair at being forced from Southill
Local Criminals in Southill are forcing families from their homes through campaigns of intimidation and violence[/caption]Criminal intimidation tearing the heart of the community, as Council services all but ceases
A CITY grandmother who was forced to abandon her house in Southill after a campaign of intimidation as described how seeing her house being demolished on TV “tore through my heart”.
The woman, who wishes to be known only as J., had been forced out by “gangs of teenagers and children as young as six or seven” and at the bidding of local criminals.
Adare choir ‘on song’ for US trip
Choir members will pay their own fare and raised money for other expenses through concerts, table quizzes and a golf classic, according to director, Tracey Fitzgerald. “It’s the first time the choir has done anything like this. We got involved because I know Billy Higgins, who has been doing work for Southill for over 20 years […]
Holy Trinity Abbey Choir to perform in Boston
Limerick, Ireland and South Boston have a special bond – singing. That bond started in the 1980’s when the first troupe of young Irish singers came to South Boston from their Southill community. One of those original performers was Tracey Fitzgerald. She never lost her love for music and went on to become a distinguished […]
