The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE Fourth of July is known in America as Independence Day but it was also the date that McNamara Park opened and there were celebrations there last Friday for its 50th anniversary.
Colin Fitzgerald was born there back in 1964, one of a small number of children to arrive in the year the estate opened. He was involved with the celebrations and said they had sought to remember those who have died from the original residents.
“Everyone that passed away from those who moved in originally were recorded in a booklet. After that we had a mass, the brass band played before that and we had entertainment then until midnight.”
He said a new structure was put in place to mark the half-century milestone.“There is a brand new statue erected. The council put it up to celebrate it, it’s at the right hand side of the green. There’s a bit of the history on it and it explains the name. It was called McNamara Park after a fella called Michael McNamara, who was head of the county council at the time.” The celebrations were very enjoyable. “It was an absolutely superb evening. I’d say there were two or three hundred people at the mass.”
