OVERFLOW parking may have to be provided at one of East Clare’s premier tourist attractions due to the boost in visitor numbers in recent years.  The increase in popularity of the Two Mile Gate Lakeside Amenity Park, which includes a state-of-the-art aqua park and a Blue Flag bathing area, was widely welcomed at the recent meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District Committee. With Ballycuggeran Woods on the other side of the main road from Killaloe to Scariff, some concerns were raised about parked vehicles obstructing the route. The matter was raised by Councillors Joe Cooney and Pat Burke, who were told that the Council is exploring options to facilitate visitor demand.  “Fantastic work has been done around Two Mile Gate,” Councillor Cooney said. “Lots of people stayed local during Covid and have found out about it. The problem now is parking in the area.   The place has been chock-a-block in recent days. That’s fantastic to see, but we need …

THE STAGE is set for the return of the Kilmurry Harvest Festival which runs from this Thursday, August 4,  to Sunday next.  Proceedings get underway with a Quiz Night at the Pumphouse Bar on Thursday evening from 9pm. This is a table quiz for teams of four, at a charge of €20 per table. Haulie Hannon will be the Quiz Master.  Those with an eye for style will be blown away by Friday night’s fashion show, also taking place at the Pumphouse. That gets underway at 8pm. The looks have been put together by High Street Fashion, Freya, CD2 and more. Hair and makeup for models will be looked after by Flair Hair Salon, with music from Devanney’s Goats.  This year’s harvest festival will put a focus on health and wellbeing and Saturday will provide opportunities to get out and about in the fresh air. On Saturday, Exercise with Noel gets underway at Kilmurry Astro Turf Pitch at 10am. This …

ABDUCTIONS by fairies, and other nefarious activities of Ireland’s ‘sídhe’, are detailed in a new book by Quin’s Michael Houlihan. The Kerry man, who is a founder of the Quin Heritage Group, has not been sitting on his laurels for long and Irish Fairies – A Short History of the Sídhe is now available in local bookshops.  The recent Púca controversy proves the persistence of superstitions around fairy folk, and Michael outlines where this mischievous character sits in the pantheon of the sídhe, alongside creatures like the banshee, the fairy queens Clíodhna and Medb, the nobles Aengus Óg and the Dagda. “For thousands of years, the Irish have believed in ‘the fairies’,” Michael said. “In present-day Ireland, however, as in so many modern societies, fairies have been retreating, almost to the point of extinction. Nevertheless, the question might still be asked, what if the fairies were not created or imagined, but remembered?” As well as considering that key question, the …

PRESSURE is mounting on public representatives in East Clare to show that a recent major funding investment will pay off soon for the town of Scariff.  That was the view of two members of the Killaloe Municipal District committee when the group held their July meeting. Both Councillor Joe Cooney and Pat Burke sought an update on progress with the Scariff Rural Regeneration Project, particularly the car park element.  Last January, an allocation of just over half a million Euro was made by The Rural and Community Development towards a multi-service centre, improvements to the centre of the town and the development of a town car park.  “There is a lot of concern in Scariff over the lack of parking,” Councillor Cooney said. “The main one is that if we leave it until the regeneration project, it could be a long way down the road.” Councillor Burke agreed that the issue of parking is a challenge. “Pressure is really coming …

A FARMER has had to use silage bales to prevent illegal encampments beside a graveyard in East Clare, in a situation described as “crazy, outrageous, and scandalous”. At the July meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District, incoming Cathaoirleach Alan O’Callaghan appealed to the Council to put in a long-term solution, saying the problem at Ballysheen Graveyard is an ongoing one.  “The ground was given to Clare County Council for the graveyard, in order to facilitate parking,” the Kilmurry man outlined. “Unfortunately, it was being used for other things. A local farmer hat to put bales out. I would not be in agreement with them being taken away, until something long term is actually done in order to stop the issue of illegal encampments. “When pressure is on in other places, that’s when encampments arrive there. Kerbing might work. We have to remember that the farmer has forfeited several bales of silage.There are a good few there.” The Fianna Fáil member …

MONDAY, August 1, will see a gathering in East Clare to commemorate two Old IRA volunteers, who were involved in a number of ambushes at the height of the War of Independence. Following extensive research, the family of Captain Mattie McGrath and his brother Dinny of Annaghneal, will remember their contribution to the fight for Irish freedom, and that of their comrades in the Sixth Battalion of the East Clare Brigade. The brothers were involved in up to six ambushes on Crown forces in East and South East Clare, including attacks like the high-profile Glenwood Ambush. “We knew a bit about Mattie and Dinny when we were growing up, but we’ve found out a lot more since then,” said Mike McGrath, a nephew of the men. “The Sixth Battalion organised ambushes all over East Clare, during the War of Independence, with Mattie and Dinny involved in many of them.” Research by Mike’s nephew, Seán, and his daughter Aoife, show that …

TOURISTS coming into East Clare could be at a serious disadvantage if they are driving an Electric Vehicle (EV), due to a lack of rapid chargers.  That was the view expressed by Councillor Pat Hayes who made an appeal, at the July meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District committee, for better infrastructure to support EVs.  “I’m being asked every day about this and I’d like a progress report,” he said. “I’m wondering about the rapid charging points in particular. If someone comes off the motorway and wants to charge their EV in Killaloe or Scariff, we don’t have a plan for that yet.” The Caher man pointed out that as more motorists make the switch to EVs, charging infrastructure needs to keep pace. “There’s a huge amount of people moving to electric cars and asking where the fast-charging points are,” he said. “The fact is, we don’t have any. There is urgency around this now. We need at least one …

Joseph Woulfe believes the energy crisis means we must continue to burn turf   EVERYONE in our family visits the bog almost every year. It’s our pilgrimage in some ways. it has been done for generations – to use what nature offers in our locality to heat us through the winter period. I remember my late father, Charles, building a special timber wheelbarrow to bring the sle’an turf from the bank and carefully laying the sods out to dry in the summer sunshine at Jack at Rita Moroney’s Bog near Mullagh. On the way home from a hard day’s work, we would be given a treat (or perhaps you could call it a bribe) of ice cream at Sexton’s Shop in Mullagh or the Crosses of Annagh. Over time, we moved to a more mechanised bog system in Kilmihil where the Coughlan family use a hopper. In primary school, we learned all about fossil fuels, how they grew and, over …