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Flower power blooms in Ballyvaughan

BALLYVAUGHAN’S Flower Power festival will celebrate the enigmatic and unsung local hero, – Patrick Bernard O’Kelly in a festival from next Monday to July 7. O’Kelly (1852-1937) played a huge role in collecting and popularising the unique flora of the karst limestone region in the early 1900s.Glenarra House – the site of O Kelly’s Botanic Gardens and Fern Nurseries – will be open to the public for the week, while an exhibition in Ballyvaughan village hall will display for the first time, samples of plants O’Kelly sent to the National Botanic Gardens, together with memorabilia and photographs of his life. Dr Matthew Jebb, director of the National Botanic Gardens will open the exhibition on Monday at 6pm and will then lead an “orchid hunt” in search of the famous O’Kelly orchid, named after him. The week will include walks, talks, exhibitions, and a botanical painting workshop with Susan Sex. Born in the townland of Kilweelran, O’Kelly lived in Glenarra House, …

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Mayor Moroney accepts chain of office

NEWLY elected Mayor of Kilrush, Paul Moroney, visited St Senan’s National School last Friday to raise the school’s newly acquired Green Flag. The visit was Councillor Moroney’s first official function as town mayor. He was elected unanimously at last Thursday’s AGM at Kilrush courthouse in Moore Street. Councillor Moroney, who is the youngest councillor, was proposed by outgoing mayor Mairead O’Brien, while he was seconded by his former primary school teacher, Councillor Tom Prendeville. His election as mayor means that all nine sitting Kilrush town councillors have served at least one term as mayor. Councillor Moroney, who works at Bourke’s Menswear, Kilrush and is a fire and rescue service member, was accompanied by his wife Alison and their children Lily Ann, Ellie Mai and Archie. The courtroom was packed for the AGM with family members of the late Councillor Stephen O’Gorman also present. Councillor Marian McMahon Jones was elected deputy mayor, having been proposed by Councillor Liam Williams and seconded …

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Finals spot for Senan’s education project

FOURTH class, St Senan’s National School, Kilrush were one of three Munster schools to reach the All-Irelandfinals in the Irish Aid Education for All project. Their project, entitled Education Transformation, was one of the All-Ireland finalists. Entry comprised of a 3m x 7m mural in the school’s PE hall, pen pal letters to City of Hope orphanage in Zambia, where their teacher, Michelle Eustace and a colleague teacher, Dympna Walsh volunteered last summer, board games, posters and their very own song called Stronger for Longer, all promoting education for all. Twenty eight children, along with staff members, left St Senan’s National School at 6am on Tuesday, June 18, to embark on a fun-filled unforgettable journey, where one of the highlights was singing their song, Stronger for Longer, for Hector Ó hEochagáin on 2FM, as well as on stage in Croke Park incorporating bongos, guitars, shakers, concertinas, a violin, dancers, solo singers, group singers and even Gangnam Style into the perfomance. …

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‘Outrage’ at absence of Kilrush tourist office

WHILE Kilrush doesn’t have a full-time tourist office for the summer season, Kilrush Town Council marketing and development Officer Siobhán Garvey has said having a tourism information point in Crotty’s public house means that the information is available year round, seven days per week.

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