The Rambler from Clare was a name used by the famous circus entertainer from Feakle, Johnny Patterson and the Minstrel from Clare is a recording by the late Willie Clancy. Less well known is the Minstrel of Clare, a musical play that opened on Broadway in 1886 starring Chancellor John Alcott and featuring a score written by him. Better known as Chauncey Alcott he was the most famous Irish-American singer/songwriter of his generation and his stage career lasted from the 1880s until he retired in 1925. His life story was the inspiration for the film My Wild Irish Rose. Released in 1947 by Warner Brothers, it starred Denis Morgan, Andrea King, Arlene Dahl and the great Abbey actress Sara Allgood. It received one Oscar nomination for best music.Alcott’s mother had been born in Ireland but her family had all emigrated when she was only eight years old. His biographies list him as having been born in Buffalo, New York and …

CLARE County Council has warned of the dangers and legal implications surrounding both backyard burning and uncontrolled burning of bog and gorse fires in the county.The timely reminder to the public coincides with the promotion of their annual public information campaign and the release of new figures, which show a sharp decrease in the number of forest, bog and gorse fires attended by the Clare Fire and Rescue Service over the past two years.The Clare County Fire and Rescue Service attended 31 forest, bog and gorse fires last year, which represented a 90% decrease when compared to the high of 262 call-outs in 2010.  The number of call-outs to forest, bog and gorse fires recorded in 2012 is also a significant decrease on the 76 call-outs that took place the previous year.Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Daly has emphasised the need for householders and landowners to be vigilant and conscious of their obligations under current environmental legislation.“The burning of waste, …

THERE were no major surprises as the race for the U-21B Hurling Championship got underway on Saturday, although the size of the margins by which both Corofin and Broadford lost will surprise some. The remaining three quarter-finals will take place this weekend.

CLARE had a slightly lower birth rate than the national average in the third quarter of 2012, when 430 babies were born to women with addresses in the Banner County.The Clare birth rate at the time was 14.7 per 1,000, a little lower than the average for the State of 15.7. It was marginally lower than the Munster average of 14.8 per 1,000.Sixty-nine percent of the babies were born to married parents and 31% to unmarried. Overall, 17% of the children were born to parents who, though unmarried, share the same address.Nine teenagers in Clare gave birth during the three-month period. Thirty-eight women aged between 20 and 24 also gave birth, 83 aged between 25 and 29, 155 aged between 30 and 34, 118 aged between 35 and 39 and 27 aged over 40.The average age of women giving birth was 32.5 years and the average age of a woman giving birth for the first time was 30.4 years.The average …

Scariff-Ogonnelloe 2-15Tubber 1-10 SCARIFF-Ogonnelloe became the first team to get over the opening hurdle in this season’s U-21 Hurling C Championship when they accounted for Tubber in the C title race at O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge on Friday night.

Scariff-Ogonnelloe 2-15Tubber 1-10 SCARIFF-Ogonnelloe became the first team to get over the opening hurdle in this season’s U-21 Hurling C Championship when they accounted for Tubber in the C title race at O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge on Friday night.

  THE turf fire flickers in Willie Keane’s front room. Outside, the bracing March wind cuts through Kilkee as the evening light slowly gives away to the night sky.While embracing the warmth wafting around the sitting room, Willie is probably more at ease mixing it with the slings and arrows of Irish weather. His 56 NACA Irish senior titles and 16 Clare championships attest to that. At the height of his career, Willie was beaten just once, in a 10-year spell, while running in the national championships. Yet he recounts a time when running on the roads near his parents’ home in Lisdeen, was a source of embarrassment to himself. “When you’d meet a car, you’d go inside the ditch. You’d be ashamed to be seen on the road. There was a kind of a stigma,” he remembers. Football was Willie Keane’s first sporting love. His father, Willie, had played football with Blackweir and Willie Junior passed most of his …

THE All-Ireland schools and the Irish Universities’ cross country championships were held at Jordanstown University Belfast on Saturday last in atrocious weather conditions.