Arts & Culture

SIX Clare pupils have been named as finalists in the sixth annual Doodle 4 Google competition. They are now amongst 75 children from across Ireland who now have the chance of being named Ireland’s top doodler and having their doodle displayed on the Google Ireland homepage for millions of people to see. Everyone in Clare is now being urged to visit www.google.ie/doodle4google and vote for Caroline, Fionn, Samuel, Kyla, Paul and Seán. · Caroline Hamilton from Kilmurry National School, Sixmilebridge (Group 1) · Samuel Hamilton from Kilmurry National School, Sixmilebridge (Group 2) · Paul Hamilton from Kilmurry National School, Sixmilebridge (Group 3) · Fionn Rush from Kilfenora National School, (Group 1) · Kyla Baumann from Knockerra National School, Kilrush (Group 2) · Seán Lineen from St Michael’s Community College,  Kilmihil (Group 4) The 75 finalists were shortlisted by a panel of judges including Ciara O’Shea, Marketing Manager of Dublin Children’s Museum, Imaginosity, Irish artist Christine Crotty of The Swan Academy …

By CAROL BYRNE GLASWEGIAN singer-songwriter Eddi Reader released her 10th solo album on February 7. For many this would be a milestone but for Eddi, she admits she’s not keeping count. Asked if this is, in fact, her 10th solo album, she says, “Oh Jeez I don’t know. I don’t really count”. She acknowledges that such was the extent of the material created for Vagabond that there was enough to create an 11th album. Naming a collection is always a bit difficult for Eddi and she says she typically goes for a song title. “This calls to attention one of the songs but also I try to find the most apt expression of what I think the album is. Vagabond is about travel and I think that’s what we all are as human beings. We get up walking and start experiencing life until the end of it. Within that we have all our adventures and hopefully it turns us into …

By Nicola Corless BALLYVAUGHAN-born singer Peter O’Donohue will be appearing at Belfast’s Grand Opera House next weekend, alongside some of the best opera singers in Europe, in  NI Opera’s new production of Verdi’s masterpiece, Macbeth. Peter will be singing in the 40-strong chorus, one of the most geographically-representative opera choruses ever assembled in Ireland, with members drawn from Derry  in the north, Wexford in the south, Ballyvaughan in the west, and Newtownards in the east, plus many places in between. “Macbeth is an opera that has it all – a well-known story, drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat and incredibly beautiful music. The chorus is sounding amazing and it’s great fun to be singing with people from all over Ireland,” he acknowledged. Shakespeare’s tale of murder, madness and all-consuming lust for power, which is well known to generations of English students, inspired Verdi to write some of his finest, most gripping music. In this new production, director Oliver …

THE props have been assembled, Noeleen Murphy has been busy with the needles and pins designing the costumes and  cast members have been feverishly learning lines, as the opening night of Sixmilebridge Youth Club’s panto draws near. For the past few months, under the watchful eyes of producer, Frances Downes and co-producer, Suzanne Carmody , the club members have been having the time of their lives as they prepare for Hansel and Gretel. The pantomime follows the story of  the brother and sister, played by David Carroll and Caitriona Gallagher respectively, as they set off on an adventure to find a house of candy owned by Witch Winnie Wonka, a role played by Shauna Kerin. The duo’s father Sonny Day, portrayed by Gerard O’Dea, decides to bring a slice of colour and singing to the household, so he hires a nanny named Mary Poppins, played by Liam Togher, as he takes on the role of the traditional panto dame. Ciara …

  Clare Champion staff photographer, John Kelly, tonight added to his considerable collection of awards when he was awarded 2nd prize in the Daily Life and People Category of the AIB PPAI Awards. This follows his first prize win in the News category last year. In total, John has garnered 12 PPAI awards in his 20 years entering the competition. John’s monochrome image, Room with a View, depicts the living conditions of Caroline Sherlock, who shares a caravan with her seven children.

THE Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan has this Wednesday announced details of the 2014 Local and Regional Museums Scheme. The scheme, administered by his department, is designed to support small and medium sized museums across the country. This year, the scheme will allow for the funding of small capital projects on a matched funding basis (75:25) and funding of up to €200,000 is being made available for suitably qualified museum development projects in small and medium regional museums. Projects funded under the Scheme should seek to enhance the cultural offering of museums; to encourage greater access to museums and to promote the use of museums as tourism resources in their locality or region. Minister Deenihan commented, “Our smaller regional museums play a vital role in the life of local communities. They serve not only as tourist attractions, but also as custodians of local history, traditions and customs. They provide all of us with an insight into …

LEGENDARY concertina player, Chris Droney from Bellharbour has been honoured as the recipient of this year’s TG4 Gradam Saoil (Hall of Fame). Chris was born in 1924. His father, James and grandfather Michael (1829-1927) also played concertina and Chris learnt by ear and parental example from the age of eight. He began his musical career by learning two tunes The Wearing of the Green and Clare’s Dragoons. His first public appearance was at the age of 14 in Johnson’s dance hall in Kinvara for which he was paid half a crown. He went on to play in several bands and from 1956 he won ten All-Ireland medals – nine solo and one for a duet with fiddler Gus Tierney. His son, Francis and daughter, Ann have also won All-Ireland titles on concertina. Many of his grandchildren are continuing the family tradition on concertina and some, most notably Daithí, are playing fiddle. In 2004 his contribution to music was honoured by …

TOM Crean is a name that has worked its way into people’s consciousness over the last 15 years. The Kerry explorer’s story is fairly well known now, in part because of Aidan Dooley, who has brought his one-man show, Tom Crean – Antarctic Explorer, around the country for the last 10 years. A Galway man, Aidan has lived in England for years and it was there that he discovered the Crean story. “I came across Crean for the first time when I was asked to perform a museum theatre piece in England in about 2001. I had never heard of him before that. I did an awful lot of research on the expeditions themselves because there was very little written about him. This was before Michael Smith’s book, Unsung Hero, was published. He was in the process of writing the book while I was in the process of finding out more about Tom Crean from a theatrical perspective and that’s …