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THE Last of the Light, a new book from Kilkee writer Marc Ó Riain is set to be launched on August 28. It’s a collection of  memories, short stories and images from the Loop Head peninsula.  An electrician by training,  Marc holds an MA in Writing from NUI Galway and told The Champion, “I’ve been scribbling away for years. I’ve a facebook page called An Idler on the Loop and for years I’d have been posting on that, observations on the Loop Head peninsula, ramblings, talking about different places and locations.” The book includes images and various forms of creative writing, according to Marc. “It has five short stories in it, all populated with characters from the Loop Head peninsula or based in the area or about the area, they’re all flavoured with the Loop Head peninsula.  “There are meditations on the Loop Head peninsula, there’s a handful of those peppered throughout it, with colour photographs, there’s about 28 colour …

A SPORTS hall in a newly built complex at Sarsfield Army Barracks in Limerick has been named after Crusheen man Kenny Rodgers, a member of the Defence Forces for the last 17 years and a hugely accomplished athlete.  Members of Kenny’s family were invited to the Barracks last Friday for an event honouring him. In a statement the Defence Forces lauded the contribution Kenny has made over the course of his career. “Private Kenny Rodgers joined the Defence Forces in 2005 and has served his whole career in the 12th Infantry  Battalion between Clonmel and Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick.  “Pte Rodgers is a renowned runner, having won the An Cosantóir 10km Road Race 9 times as well as one virtually held edition in 2021. Kenny served overseas in Kosovo and Chad between 2008 and 2010. Unwilling to stagnate as an athlete, Kenny completed an exercise and fitness course in 2015. This course enabled Kenny to work in the 12th Infantry Battalion …

MORE than €480,000 has been awarded to ten projects in County Clare under the latest round of allocations from the CLÁR programme to help develop local facilities and amenities in rural areas. Seven Clare projects qualified for the maximum grant of €50,000. They include the Kilmaley community walkway; the Lissycasey running track; improvements to the car park at Scoil Mhuire, Lahinch; the provision of multi-use games area at Kilfenora National School; a public walkway around the astro turf pitch at Kilmihil People’s Park, surfacing and lighting of car park at Tulla GAA Club; Kilkeedy Community Group, Community Playground project and the provision of a multi-use astro turf facility at the Crusheen Sports Arena and Community Hub. Funding of €45,716 was allocated for the enhancement of facilities at the playground in Kilkee and €35,753 for safety works at the Scariff Rugby Club car park”. According to Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey, the funding is a practical recognition of the work …

Three people have been hospitalised following a road traffic collision in Clare on Sunday evening. The two-car crash occurred at around 8.30pm on the R474 main Ennis to Miltown Malbay road about 1.5kms east of Connolly. Two units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis station responded to the incident and were first to reach the scene. On arrival, fire crews found two cars had collided almost head-on and that one had left the road coming to a stop in a ditch. The road was completely blocked by the collision. Fire service first responders assessed the three occupants, a man and woman travelling in one car as well as the driver and sole occupant of the second vehicle. Fire crews administered first aid to one man who has complaining of upper body injuries. It took over an hour for an ambulance to reached the scene while a second ambulance that had been dispatched to the incident was diverted …

LOUGH Derg is set to welcome the return of one of Ireland’s largest and most exacting participation events next month Quest Lough Derg adventure race makes a welcome return to the shores of the Shannon on September 10 and with comes the reconstruction of Ireland’s longest pontoon across the river. Over 1,300 athletes will run, cycle and kayak around one of Ireland’s most beautiful inland waterways and over Ireland’s longest pontoon bridge. Quest Lough Derg is a one-day adventure race open to all levels of fitness and experience, offering three routes of different lengths: 22km Challenge, 45km Sport and 69km Expert. Participants from around the country cycle and run along country trails, and kayak across Lough Derg for one of the best scenic tours of the area, starting and finishing at Flanagan’s on the Lake in Ballina. In preparation for the first Quest Lough in 2019, event organisers Elite Event Management came up with the idea to build the bridge …

THE average rent sought for a new tenancy in Clare was €1,145 in the second quarter of the year. At the low point of the recession the average rent here was just €537, but it has since increased by 113%, and things are still getting worse rather than better for prospective renters. During the quarter Clare rents increased by 3.2%, while they were 12.9% higher than at the same time in 2021. At the moment buying a property is very likely to be significantly cheaper than renting a similar one. According to Daft.ie, the typical rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Clare is €765, while mortgage repayments would typically be less than half that, €368, per month.  Renting a three-bed house in Clare costs on average €1,029, while mortgage repayments on a similar property would be €622. This week the website had just 20 properties available to rent in Clare, with only four of those on offer for less than …

SISTERS Susan Campbell and Paula Hickey will illuminate their practice as visual artists with an exciting ‘cyanotype’ workshop at the Courthouse in Kinvara later this month.  Ahead of the launch of their joint exhibition entitled ‘Twofold’, the acclaimed artists will discuss their creative practice and invite others to experiment with this ancient photographic technique. A workshop on Thursday, August 25, from 3pm to 5.30pm will demonstrate the process of cyanotype making. Cyanotype is a centuries-old photographic printing process that creates images in distinctive shades of dark green-blue.  At the Kinvara event, Susan and Paula will demonstrate a new and exciting technique to harness cyanotype as a means of capturing water in flow. The creation of the cyanotypes will involve a process whereby a light-sensitive solution, used to coat a support – such as paper – reacts to whatever is placed on its surface. These experimental techniques exploit its reactive properties and register water in different states of flow. The workshop …

A FAN favourite with several English clubs, Mick Kennedy was heavily involved in Clare soccer, before his untimely death in 2019. A biography entitled Tackle This? The biography of football hardman Mick Kennedy written by Halifax Town fan and club historian Johnny Meynell has just become available for pre-sale, ahead of its launch in October. While born in the UK, Johnny says Mick was always an Irishman at heart and lived in Clare for over 20 years after his retirement from soccer. “His family were from Clare, from what I’ve researched they moved over from Clare to Salford in the ‘50s and then they moved back in the early ‘80s. “When Mick retired from playing in 1994, two years later he moved back to Clare and he lived in Kilmaley. He got into coaching in Kilmaley and later at Lifford and did summer camps.” He remembers watching Mick from the terraces in the late ‘70s, when he was a teenager …