Local Faces: Rose Kearns
THEY used to be the new club on the block, but after nearly 20 years, numerous awards and a hosting of the Irish Photographic Federation awards four times in a row, Ballyfermot-SatSun Camera Club is now an established part of the terrain.
“I can’t believe it, we were always the new club, how did this happen,” asks SatSun Club Secretary Rose Kearns, who has been a committee member ‘since AD’.
The club was formed in 2003 following a funded urban initiative, which saw residents interested in dabbling with photography take part in a series of weekend workshops.
“The urban fund was for all sorts of projects in disadvantaged areas,” said Rose.
“The aim of it was to learn photography and produce a Ballyfermot calendar. We did that, and that was the end of it, but people were interested in photography, so we said we wanted to set up a club and were told to do our own thing.
“At the time we didn’t know you called your club by the name of the area you were from. We called it SatSun after merging people from the workshops on Saturday and Sunday. The name stuck but I think we were one of the first clubs to have a name like that.”
Based out of the resource centre, the SatSun club has approximately 20 members but “are always trying to grow the club,” according to Rose.
Rose Kearns
“It is a friendly club, we don’t put pressure on members to do anything. We are laidback but we do have competitions and a league. A new girl who joined us was relieved, she thought you needed to know about photography and cameras but that is not the case.
“Our motto is to have fun and learn, that’s the whole point. Some clubs are very competitive, but we do enter national competitions and do very well at national level.”
In the last couple of years, Dublin City council approached the club to take pictures of back gardens for entrants in the pilot scheme Ballyfermot Bloom, which expanded to South Central Bloom this year.
“It is a good opportunity for us to get out and meet new people,” said Rose.
Born and bred in Ballyfermot, Rose was very nearly a full-time Australian, having lived there for 10 years.
She married childhood love Pat Kearns from Moycullen in 1982, moved to Sydney in 1983, worked in a prominent medical advice and solutions company, and now has dual citizenship.
Rose Kearns
However, in 1993, she came back to Ireland as her father John O’Brien was suffering from Motor Neurone disease.
“It gradually got worse, he passed away in 1995. Then of course, I didn’t want to leave my mother (Rosaline) but 18 months later, she died of a heart attack. At that stage, we had been here for three years. It wasn’t the plan, but we had new jobs, and were living in the family home on Drumfinn Avenue.”
The connection with Ballyfermot was a big factor for the couple to remain in Dublin.
“I love Ballyfermot. My parents did too. I was raised to have pride for the area. But I was of the age where I do remember the stigma of it being viewed as a ‘rough’ area, and people being afraid to mention where they were from in job interviews.
“As a kid I was not ashamed. I got my first office job at 17 and was happy I didn’t lie to get the job. I’ve worked ever since.”
Rose recalls the strong community support when the Elephant Supermarket was bought and turned into Ballyfermot Sports and Social Club.
Rose says SatSun is more than just a club
“People were invested in the centre, there were fundraisers. My family was involved with Ballyfermot United soccer team, who were big supporters of the initiative. My brother Paddy, who lives in Sydney to this day, was a carpenter and made the first bar for the club. Other lads did things like painting. It was a real community event.”
She cites Cllr Vincent Jackson (Ind), a close neighbour as a model resident, who during the summer, helped different roads kickstart clean-ups.
“His family would do the leaflet-drops to start up a clean-up, then on the day, they would bring along tools and bags, but then encourage residents to start up a WhatsApp group to keep it going, as he can’t be at all these different clean-ups every week.”
Looking ahead with regard to the SatSun club, Rose says members are looking forward to getting back together, and they plan to host their end-of-year awards and schedule day trips in the months ahead.
““They are a good crowd. A previous member Maria, was 68 when she joined us. Her husband died and her daughters pushed her to do it. Maria was with us for 17 years and became a great photographer. Sadly, she has medical issues now, but still carries her camera with her in hospital. We still keep in touch. That’s what I love about it, the club is more than just a club.”
If anyone is interested in a bit of fun and learning photography, call Rose at 086 857 4818, or contact the club on Facebook or email satsunpc@yahoo.ie. We have members from all over, not just Ballyfermot, but members from Lucan, Chapelizod, Kimmage, Clonmacnoise, Blackhorse Avenue.
