South Clare

CONCERTS are back on the musical menu in Sixmilebridge, with the unveiling of a new schedule by the Sixmilebridge Folk Club. Renowned for organising the very successful annual Shannonside Winter Music Festival and a calendar of eclectic concerts throughout the year, the activities of the folk club were adversely affected by the pandemic and the sound of music in the village was temporarily silenced. All that is set to change as the committee has regrouped, and while it is not currently feasible to resurrect the festival in its past form, priority is being given to organising a series of concerts in Gleeson’s Bar in Sixmilebridge over the coming months. The first of these will take place on Friday, February 10 at 8pm. This concert will feature Brian Donnellan and Michael Landers and will be led by fiddle player Mark Donnellan from Kilmurry, who picked up his music from his father Francie, one of the original members of the Tulla Céilí Band. Mark has played …

GLOWING tributes were paid to a Clonlara resident for her invaluable contribution to her local community during a recent presentation. The legacy left by Theresa Gleeson (70) was aptly summed up by Clonlara Community Creche deputy manager, Laura Woods when she stated:“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” Ms Gleeson was given a photograph includes images of St Senan’s National School, the local church and Clonlara Community Crèche as symbols of the indelible mark she has left on the local community. The mother-of-two was on the national school board of management for 25 years, she volunteered for the local church for years and has spent 38 years working in childcare. The crèche caters for 74 children that are looked after by 21 staff. In 2001, Ms Gleeson was named the Clare Person of the Year during this period when she was honoured at a function in …

CLARE hurler Diarmuid Ryan has been awarded an MIC GPA Sports Scholarship for the coming academic year, in recognition of his sporting achievements.  Now in its second year, the MIC GPA Scholarship scheme is a collaboration between Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), and is open to GPA members who have applied for and are successful in securing a place on MIC’s postgraduate programmes in education and the liberal arts. Two scholarships are offered on an annual basis. Limerick camogie player Caoimhe Costelloe has also been awarded a scholarship. Diarmuid Ryan is a first year Professional Master of Education (Primary Teaching) student at MIC. The Cratloe clubman has played inter-county hurling for the Banner since 2017 and is nominated for an All Star award for his performance in Clare’s All-Ireland Championship campaign this year, where they reached the Semi-Final stages. Diarmuid attended Limerick’s Ardscoil Rís Secondary School and was Vice-Captain of the Harty Cup winning team …

LABANE and Ardrahan Community Development Association (LACDA) is inviting members of the public to take part in a family cycle on the ‘Old Galway Road’, in south Galway on Sunday next (August 14) This part of the Old Galway Road is still marked by a series of 18th-century milestones. The milestones are set in the roadside verges between Kilcolgan and Gort at intervals of one old Irish mile, which equates to around 2 km. The surviving milestones are relics of an earlier era of travel by coach, cart and horseback, and date to around 1750. The roads at the time were gravelled surfaces between stone dykes, typically 21ft wide. As services like coach travel and mail coach delivery were charged by the mile, the milestones were important in keeping order on the daily commerce of the highways. LACDA is currently engaged in a project to record and conserve the milestones, with generous support from Galway County Council and the Heritage Council. A …

A SOUTH-EAST Clare resident has been forced to replace five showers in her home due to frequent water breaks and changes in pressure, writes Dan Danaher and Owen Ryan. June Kirwan, who lives near the entrance to Corbally United FC, revealed decreasing and increasing water pressure when there is a water break on the busy regional road breaks her shower, particularly if it is being used at the time. “I had plumbers out to check everything in the house and our problems with water pressure. After spending so much money, they realised the problems are caused by changes in the water pressure,” Ms Kirwan told The Clare Champion. “When there is a water break on the road, they reduce the water pressure and then increase it again when it is fixed. If anyone is in the shower, I am in trouble. It is going to break the shower with the pressure coming off and on.” Residents are becoming increasingly frustrated …

IRISH Water is to commence works in late January replacing just over 1km of problematic watermains in the Parteen and Westbury areas. The works are expected to continue until mid-April and will require occasional water supply outages and an overnight traffic management system between the hours of 7pm and 7am. The section of works will take place between Athlunkard Bridge and the Corbally/Clonard crossroads (R463). The project team has pledged to ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours notice before any planned water outages. It is anticipated that outages will be at night and generally no more than four hours in duration. The upgrades involves the replacement of problematic watermains with new modern pipes and will help provide a more reliable water supply to the local communities. Gerry O’Donnell, Irish Water said, “We understand that this type of work can be inconvenient, and our work crews will make every effort to minimise any disruption these necessary works …

FLOOD relief works that were due to begin in Springfield, Clonlara next week, have hit yet another hitch, it was revealed to council members last Monday (May 10). The matter was raised by Councillor Michael Begley who ask officials for the revised completion date for the works, which were first mooted in 2016. The works, which are designed to finally remove the risk of severe flooding that has hung over the area for more than a decade-and-a-half, had already been dealt a blow by pandemic restrictions. There had been widespread relief at the prospect of them finally getting underway. “We’re now waiting for two reports,” Councillor Begley noted, at the monthly meeting of Clare County Council. “One of those is from the hydrologists and the other will come from the consultants thereafter.” Chief Executive Pat Dowling noted that the latest obstacle to the works is “quite new”. “A particular matter has arisen,” he said “We have to await the outcome. …

THE developers of a windfarm in South East Clare have made updated information available in response to public queries over the potential impact on health and property prices. RWE Renewables Ireland Limited, which describes itself as one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, said it is half-way through an eight-week pre-planning consultation process and keen to engage with the community living close to the 320-hectare site which is 6km south west of Killaloe and 1.5km north of Bridgetown. The German company also said that, to date, the exact locations of the eight proposed turbines in the Fahybeg Windfarm have not been pinned down and that studies to determine these are underway. “So far we have been contacted by residents by phone, text and by email and some residents have asked to meet with us in person,” said a letter issued by the company. We have managed to meet them in their gardens over the last couple of weeks, taking …