Lifestyle

THE search to find this year’s Clare Rose of Tralee has begun with the reigning Rose strongly recommending the experience. Current Clare Rose Victoria O’Connell officially launched the search, encouraging others to get involved while fondly remembering her time in the competition and special moments during her reign. She said, “Entering and becoming the Clare Rose has been one of the proudest moments of my life so far, being able to represent my county on a local, national and international base is a fantastic feeling that words just can’t describe.” She continued, “This is not only on a personal growth and confidence level but the friendships I have made for life. “Also the many many reunions and events I have attended over the years with my fellow Roses and Rose Escorts. “From the week in Tralee to the opening of the German Christmas markets in Frankfurt and our planned walking of the St Patrick’s day parade in Fifth Avenue, New …

A COUNTY Clare architect, currently working in the Middle East, has joined forces with an African fashion designer, to launch a new brand of clothing. Tom Byrne from Kilkee has teamed up with Christine Omollo, a talented and experienced Kenyan designer and both have lent their name to the new brand – TOMOLLO Fashions Limited. Tom, originally from Dublin, moved to Clare when his quadruplets were babies. A former Kilkee Town Commissioner, he already had very strong Clare connections and spent his summers in Kilkee growing up. Tom’s mother Mary Lillis from Kilkee, was born in Harlem, New York in 1928. Tom had his own architectural business until 2009 before moving in 2012 to the Middle East, where he is now managing multi-billion euro development projects. Tom admired Christine’s fashions online and they corresponded and planned the business over two years, resulting in the formation of TOMOLLO. It wasn’t until the annual St. Patrick’s Day Ball in Bahrain this year …

A 64-YEAR-OLD Yorkshire greyhound fanatic is still on track with his happiness goal after taking his most profitable “gamble” by moving to South-East Clare. Terence Roberts has written a new book “All Because of Daisy” initially for his family and close friends to help explain why he left them to come to live in Ireland and why he stayed. Thanks to his new environment and eye-opening experiences, the retired probation officer is making sense of his own life, his past, present and future. The book chronicles the characters, people, culture and community he has fallen in love with in Ireland. Terence was born in Ruthin, North Wales, but grew up in the old industrial heartlands of West Yorkshire after moving there at the age of four. After joining West Yorkshire Probation Service as a volunteer in the mid 1980s, he later qualified as a probation officer at the University of Huddersfield and then worked for more than 25 years in …

FOR many teenagers their mid-term break away from school is a time to kick back, take it easy and relax. Not so for 16-year-old Claire Cuddihy from Lissycasey who this February is set to take on an incredible challenge with the aim of raising mental health awareness as well as funds for a well-known charity. Claire is preparing to complete not one, but an amazing, seven marathons over the course of just one week in aid of Pieta. The student of St John Bosco Community College, Kildysart, will be taking on a gruelling 42km run each day, getting back out on the track every day for seven straight days in a row. Speaking to The Clare Champion ahead of her marathon challenge, she laughs as she considers the daunting challenge she has set herself. More seriously, however, she adds her strong belief that the issue of mental health needs to be highlighted, while she also wants to raise awareness and …

A cheque for almost €6,000 has been presented to Pieta House, the proceeds of the Keep’er Lit tractor run, which took place in Kilmurry on December 17 last year. It was organised by 16-year-old Shay O’Sullivan from Kilmurry. “We’re very proud of him and he’s a very driven fella,” said Shay’s sister Shauna this week. “When he came up with the idea we just said we’d get behind him if he was willing to do it. He put in an awful lot of work. There were sponsors’ prizes and everything on the night. “The weather hampered it a little bit, it was frosty weather so he didn’t get the turnout that he deserved. But he did great work, he raised close to €6,000 for Pieta House,” she added. The tractor run began at Sixmilebridge mart, then went through Newmarket and Quin, going back through Kilmurry and back into Sixmilebridge. There were around 75 participants on the night, and Shauna said …

CONTROLLING the water levels on the River Shannon and the Head Race Canal continues to be a key aspect of Ardnacrusha Power Station, according to an experienced retired electrician. Looking back on his 44-year stint in Ardnacrusha, Francis Moloney (73) from Clonlara has outlined other statutory obligations staff fulfilled, apart from vital electricity generation. In the winter time, he recalled during high water levels Ardnacrusha was responsible for maintaining certain levels on the River Shannon. “People working up along the Shannon in places like Killaloe and Portumna would report what the water levels were to staff in Ardnacrusha where they are logged to determine the input into the River Shannon, which dictates what generation is going to be done at a particular time. “If the levels in the River Shannon go above the statutory level, you commence spilling of excess water down the Old River Shannon where people like Bertie Poole would operate the gates at Parteen Weir on behalf …

A SHANNON man is preparing for the toughest foot race in the world through the Sahara Desert to raise awareness and funds for sudden adult death syndrome treatment. Matthew Halpin will take on the six-day, 250km Marathon Des Sables through the famous desert where he will potentially face 50 degree temperatures. It’s happening in April and Matthew is doing it to commemorate his late friend Kevin Hayes, and to raise funds for Heart House, which is a free family heart screening clinic at the Mater in Dublin.  Thirty-two years of age, Matthew now works for MeiraGTx and moved back to Shannon last October after a decade in Cork.  Speaking about his late friend Kevin, he says, “I was in college with him in UL, I did industrial chemistry, he did industrial biochemistry. In UL you go on work placement in third year and we were both placed in Eli Lily in Cork, we lived together down there. We really bonded …

Ahead of a special commemoration at Clooney Cemetery at 1pm on Sunday, January 23, at which he will be the guest orator, Dr Tomás Mac Conmara writes about the controversial Civil War executions of Clare republicans, Con McMahon and Paddy Hennessy.   Readers of the Clare Champion on 3rd March 1923 were informed of the outcome of a Clare GAA Convention, held over the previous week. It was announced that the new County Secretary of the GAA in Clare, a position of some significance, was twenty-three-year-old, P.V. Murphy, better known as Vincent, from Knockanimana, outside Ennis. No reference was made to the man he replaced. Five weeks earlier, when it carried a brief report on eleven Anti-Treaty IRA prisoners, executed by the Free State on 20th January, the Clare Champion referred to two men shot in Limerick as ‘C McMahon’ and ‘P. Hennessy’, with no elaboration on their identity. The men, both from Clooney, were IRA Volunteers, Con McMahon and …