Tag Archives: Flagmount

A COMMUNITY information meeting will take place in North East Clare to highlight the work of an important water quality initiative.  The event, which will focus on the catchment of Lough Graney, will be held at Lough Graney Community Hall in Flagmount at 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 5. The Graney Catchment is one of six pilot catchments in Ireland which have been selected for inclusion in a new €20 million European Union funded project called ‘Waters of LIFE’. The initiative aims to address the decline in water quality in Ireland’s most pristine and sensitive river catchments, like the Graney Catchment, which covers East Clare and part of South East Galway. Pristine, or near pristine waterbodies (rivers and lakes), are called ‘high-status objective waterbodies’ and are assigned a ‘Blue Dot’ to distinguish them as ‘the best of the best’ among Irish waterbodies. Blue Dot waterbodies are mainly located in remote and lightly populated areas, with many of them found in upland …

EAST Clare resident Hilary Dully is to make a key contribution to the Write By The Sea 2022 Literary Festival in Kilmore Quay, Wexford, next month. Living in Flagmount for the last 25 years, Hilary has made a huge contribution to the social and cultural life of the area. She will be a much-anticipated presence at Write By The Sea, when she adds her experience to a talk entitled ‘Wexford Women of The Revolution’. A documentary filmmaker, film teacher and writer, Hilary has a family connection to Marie Comerford, a staunch Irish Republican from Wexford, who witnessed events from 1916 to 1923, and was an active supporter of Cumann na mBan. This year, Write By The Sea runs from Friday, September 23 to Sunday September 25. It will be officially opened by keynote speaker Professor Kevin Rafter, Chair of The Arts Council, at 6pm on Friday, September 23. Other key contributors already confirmed include Claire Keegan, Roddy Doyle, Martina Devlin, Liz Nugent, Manchan Magan and Lucy Caldwell. “It’s been said that one of the key …

The Currakyle Ambush is not as well known as some War of Independence actions, but that is about to change THE East Clare Memorial Committee are to mark the centenary of one of the lesser known, but highly significant incidents in the War of Independence in this county. Supported by Clare County Library under the Decade of Centenaries Project Awards, the committee will commemorate the Currakyle Ambush, when, according to local lore, ‘two took on 200’. The event will take place in Flagmount Hall at 8pm on Friday, October 29 and will involve a lecture from Dr Tomás Mac Conmara and the recounting of stories and songs. Chairperson of the committee, Councillor Pat Hayes, outlined the importance of remembering the Sixth Battalion of the East Clare Brigade. “Often commemorations centre on events in relation to The Scariff Martyrs and The Feakle Ambush,” he said. “This event will help to raise awareness of those who came from Flagmount, Killanena and Upper …

GREATER efforts must be made to keep key local link roads passable during the current winter lockdown, according the Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District. Councillor Pat Hayes made his remarks at this week’s meeting of the district committee noting that during the recent lengthy spell of sub-zero temperatures, there were particular issues around Flagmount and between Feakle and Scariff. In a motion calling for a review of the Winter Gritting Plan, the Fianna Fáil member noted that the Feakle-Scariff road and the Gort-Tulla road are among some key routes currently excluded from the plan. “These roads need to be included as a matter of urgency for the safety of motorists,” he said. “Now that people have to stay within 5km of their homes, it’s particularly important that they can safely access local services. If you take O’Meara’s in Flagmount, people have to be able to get there safety for essential food and supplies. I’m calling on the council to …

THE latest East Clare festival to fall foul of the Covid-19 restrictions is the hugely popular Féile Brían Ború, which organisers have decided to call off in the interests of public health and safety. Chairperson of East Clare Tourism and member of the organising committee, Arlene White, said that while the decision had been a tough one to make, hopes had been gradually fading over the last couple of weeks. The 2019 festival took place on the second week in July, and in the context of the roadmap for re-opening the economy, organisers couldn’t envisage a similar gathering on the shores of Lough Derg in just over five week’s time. “Last year, we had 2,000 people for the fireworks display, and we just couldn’t have crowds of that size in the context of the coronavirus restrictions,” Ms White explained. “Our organising committee also arranges the Killaloe St Patrick’s Day parade, and once we had to call that off, we started …

CHRISTMAS comes but once a year but in the lakeside community of Flagmount, young people get to celebrate it twice, as each year they create from scratch their own Christmas dinner, complete with turkey, Brussels sprouts and carols. The Lough Graney Youth Club members, from the ages of 12 to 20, design the three-course menu and prepare starters, cook a turkey and bake desserts for up to 25 people. As team leaders, Rebecca Smyth from Killanena, Louise O’Connell from Flagmount and Ella MacNamara from Caher, explain, this is the one time of the year when the whole group comes together. “We’ve been doing this for six or seven years, since we all went into secondary school,” Louise said. “It’s nice we all make the food together and we all have different parts we look after. Some people will be on the apple crumble and some people will be on the turkey and then we all come together to eat it …

THE lack of housing and employment have emerged as key issues to safeguard the future viability of rural shops in East Clare. O’Meara’s grocery and agri-business supplier is the only retail outlet in Flagmont village, operating out of the same premises since 1897. It was all started by John O’Meara. His great grandson, Thomas O’Meara, has been managing the shop since 2010, with valuable assistance from his mother, Annette. It provides a valuable service to people in East Clare from 9am to 8pm, six days a week and 9am to 1pm on Sunday. The key to its success is it provides, in the words of Thomas, a “bit of everything”, grocery, fuel, convenience goods and a large variety of agricultural supplies. The long hours in a rural shop mean it is very much a “vocation” for this family-run business. Asked if there is a magic wand solution to keep rural shops alive, Thomas says there is no quick-fix solution, but …

FOR 50 years, children have been learning to swim and lifesave in Lough Graney, thanks to a community initiative supported by Irish Water Safety Clare. On Saturday, July 29, the thousands of people who learned to swim will be invited back to the shores of Lough Graney to celebrate this milestone. To mark the occasion, the community will run a number of free, water-based activities. On the day, two locals who both participated in the swimming lessons, Ken Collins and John O’Mara, will take to the water to show off their skills, as part of a charity swim, in aid of Raheen Hospice. Each year, the swimming lessons take place over the last two weeks in July and between 50 and 60 children partake each week. People come from all over East Clare and South Galway to join in and learn how to swim. This annual event has been made possible by a team of dedicated local volunteers, including Kathleen …