East Clare

THE O’Brien’s Bridge Trail Head and Canoe Trail Project is to benefit from government funding of €200,000, it has been announced. Minister Heather Humphreys announced the funding of 38 projects under Measure 2 of the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme. The scheme provides funding for the development, promotion and maintenance of outdoor amenities such as trails, walkways, cycleways, and blueways. Deputy Joe Carey welcomed the allocation saying, “This is fantastic news for the community of O’Brien’s Bridge. This funding will enable the local community to develop much needed amenities on the River Shannon which will be used by residents and visitors alike.” The project will provide a series of four canoe trails together with a trail head at O’Brien’s Bridge. Visitors and users will be able to access O’Brien’s Bridge via a floating pontoon jetty.  The Clarecastle-based TD paid tribute to the huge efforts made by local community leaders and residents who worked closely with Clare County Council to advance the …

QUESTIONS have been raised about plans to install a ‘tranquillity mooring’ at a location close to Holy Island, on the Clare side of Lough Derg. Waterways Ireland, who applied for permission at the end of last year, have been asked to explain how anti-social behaviour and noise pollution will be avoided. In addition, county planners have requested more details of how sensitive local sites will be protected. They have also asked Waterways Ireland to consider the cumulative impact given that the visitor plan for Holy Island provides for two 50-seater ferries taking passengers to and from Inis Cealtra. Plans for one other moorings – one at Castle Bawn, Ogonnelloe  – is also the subject of a Further Information (FI) request. Plans for another mooring at Scariff Bay was also lodged last year. This has since been deemed invalid on technical aspects of the applications. Consultants who worked on the mooring plan noted that the lake is currently used for recreational …

ARCHAEOLOGICAL concerns have prompted planners to seek further details from developers looking to build a 36-home estate on the outskirts of Tulla. Earlier this year, Rockfort Developments applied for permission to build 14 detached homes as well as 16 semi-detached and six terraced houses on the outskirts of the town, off the L4078, with a pedestrian connection to the exiting footpath into the centre of Tulla. Now, following reports from An Taisce and the government’s Development Assessment Unit (DAU), as well as two submission from nearby residents, county planners have asked for significant Further Information (FI) on the proposals. The site, of just over 1.8 hectares, is located inside the 50kmph speed limit in an area zoned for low-density residential development under the Tulla Settlement Plan. It is currently a greenfield site, bounded to the north by the Cúirt na bhFiach estate, to the east by O’Halloran’s filling station, and to the west by a single private home. To the …

SCARIFF is reaching out to communities across the country, thanks to Irish Seed Savers who are to become ‘Seed Guardians’ for ten projects around Ireland. Under a new initiative, Seed Savers is to provide training and mentoring in seed-growing and seed-saving to ten community gardens from as far afield Kildare, Leitrim, Dublin and Mayo. Support will be provided by experienced facilitators, who will guide the projects through the steps to enhance seed supply and reduce reliance on food seed imports to grow their own produce. The organisation believes that by supporting communities to grow and save their own food seed, it will improve overall access to seed and foster greater community engagement with the full food supply chain, from seed to plate. The ten community gardens groups chosen to participate in the Community Seed Guardian Programme are: Mud Island Community Garden, Dublin; Monart Farm, Wexford; Kildare Town Community Garden, Kildare; Millenium Community Garden, Tipperary; Gairdín Gortahork, Donegal; Rossinver Community Garden, …

AS A wheelchair user, 29-year old Jessica Keegan has always made the most of the cards that life has dealt her. A native of Manchester, Jessica was born with cerebral palsy, a condition which restricts her movement and affects her balance and coordination. She spent much of her childhood in Feakle and attended Dromindoora and Flagmount national schools and later Scariff Community College. “Feakle is beautiful,” she said, “but it’s not such a great place to be if you happen to use a wheelchair. It’s really hard to access services from there and you can end up being very isolated.” Jessica, a graduate of Mary Immaculate College, describes herself as “bubbly and sociable”. Her friends and the staff of Enable Ireland Adult Services at Quinn’s Cross in Limerick, are a lifeline for her in what has been a time characterised by isolation and loneliness. But while the pandemic has presented huge challenges, Jessica has faced them with characteristic courage and …

FRUSTRATION has been expressed over vandalism at an ancient site in Tulla, linked to a seventh century saint. Last weekend, locals discovered graffiti covering a celtic cross and ancient carved stone at St Mochulla’s Well, located close to the Hill of Tulla. It is the second incident in recent years and while it is not believed, locally, to be linked to the spate of disturbances and thefts at the nearby graveyard, the situation has caused significant annoyance. At the end of 2019, a huge local clean-up effort was mounted to prepare for planned celebrations of the founding of Tulla. “It’s disheartening that this is the second incident in two years,” said Tim Humphries, Chair of Tulla Tidy Towns. “After the last incident in 2019, we had gotten lots of support for a big clean-up in the area, ahead of the planned celebrations last year for Tulla 1400. This time around, it’s a bit worse because whoever did this has used …

SATURDAY will see the start of the very first Clare Drama Radio Play Festival, which takes to the airwaves on Scariff Bay Community Radio (SBCR). The inaugural event brings the station together with the long-established Clare Drama Festival to ensure that actors and their audiences get to enjoy the finest local theatrical productions in their own homes. Proceedings kick off on the East Clare community radio station with a special festival programme hosted by Eoin O’Hagan at 8pm on Saturday next. Thereafter, the drama will continue on Saturdays, and Sundays, presented by Festival PRO Tom Hanley, from March 7 until the final night on Easter Sunday, April 4. “The Clare Drama Radio Play Festival is a perfect addition to the schedule of SBCR and an antidote to the continuing lockdown for both the listeners to the local station as well as the devotees of amateur drama throughout Ireland,” a spokesperson for the station said. “This brand new drama festival is …

A VERY special lady celebrated her 100th birthday last Saturday at Raheen Community Hospital, where she has been a popular and cherished resident for the past three years. Peggy Tuohy (née Smyth) was born in Cleaveland, Ohio, where she spent the first six years of her life. When her family returned to Ireland, they lived in Kilbarroe and Peggy attended national school in Feakle and later Annaghneal. The eldest of seven siblings, Peggy went on to study home economics in agricultural school in Portumna, while also helping her mother to look after the family. Peggy worked in Dublin for a time as a carer for an older person before she met and married her husband Frank. The couple had six children Helen, Marie, Harry, Fergal, Gerard and Deirdre and Frank passed away in 1998. Three of Peggy’s children live in America, and she has 13 grandchildren 13 great grandchildren and one great great grand child. Frank  was a farmer so …