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SADNESS has been expressed in Ennis with the news that the popular Coote’s bakery will be closing on Saturday after decades in business. According to the Coote family the “hard decision” was made to shut the bakery due to “forever rising costs” which have made it no longer sustainable to continue. However they have assured that Coote’s shop on the Kilrush Road will remain in business. A post on social media on behalf of the family, accompanied by a photograph of the bakery’s ovens, stated this week, “For the bones of 70 years, these oil ran ovens have produced millions of Coote’s pans, thousands of apple tarts and hundreds of other products. “Over those years generations of the Coote family have worked tirelessly day and night along with a great team of long term bakers to serve the people of Clare and beyond. “Unfortunately due to the forever rising costs across this industry it is no longer sustainable so we …

CLARE’S artistic community have shown their true colours of generosity by finding various ways to support the people of Ukraine. From selling artworks to raise funds for charities helping those affected by the war with Russia, to offering to give lessons to refugees who have found shelter in Clare, a number of local artists across the county have offered their support. Among those is Lahinch-based artist Michael Hanrahan who recently auctioned off one of his paintings with funds raised going to the Red Cross to help the people of Ukraine. He has also offered to provide water colour classes for Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in North Clare, believing the power of art may provide some kind of therapy for the new arrivals. Michael, who travels the world teaching watercolour painting on cruise liners, painted a view of the Algarve in Portugal while visiting the country earlier this year. He said that when news began to emerge of what was …

Tiger Woods will be playing golf in the Mid-West this summer with confirmation he is to participate in the 2022 JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor. The fifteen-time Major champion will join a world class field including Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Leona Maguire, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau at the charity event which takes place over two days on July 4 and 5. Woods, who has 82 PGA Tour wins and has led the Official World Golf Rankings for a record total of 683 weeks in his career, will also be golfing in the company of celebrities such as Mark Wahlberg and Niall Horan among many others. Coming off the back of an unforgettable return to competitive golf at last weekend’s Masters, this will be Woods’ fourth appearance at the fund-raising event which supports charitable organisations throughout the Mid-West of Ireland. Tournament host, JP McManus, expressed his delight at the news: “Tiger has been a great friend …

NEWS that the sale of turf is set to be banned from September has drawn criticism from one Clare Oireachtas member but been defended by another. The proposed ban is being justified on environmental and public health grounds by the Green Party, but Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe has said it is excessive. Green Party Senator Róisín Garvey defended the move and said that people will still have the right to save their own turf and will be allowed to rent a bank if they wish to do so. She also said that people who would have bought a load of turf for the winter can purchase timber instead, which she said is more cost effective and provides more warmth. “It has a higher calorific value, so you get more heat off it.” Senator Garvey said that 1,300 people per annum die due to air pollution, and that turf is a particularly problematic fuel. “The people burning it in open …

WORK is still ongoing on the possible development of a rail spur to Shannon, Minister Eamon Ryan has told the Dáil. Clare TD Joe Carey asked for a report on progress with regards to the provision of a rail spur to the airport from the Ennis-Limerick line, and when he expects a study to commence. Responding, Minister Ryan said, “As stated in the National Development Plan the issue of a rail spur from Limerick to Shannon Airport is being considered in the context of the Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (LSMATS). “As the Deputy may be aware, that strategy is being developed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in collaboration with Limerick City and County Council, Clare County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. “A draft strategy was published in September 2020 and was open for public consultation for eight weeks. “Since the conclusion of that public consultation exercise, the NTA has conducted further analytical work to inform the next iteration …

HUNDREDS of East Clare homes are still waiting to receive their forms, almost two weeks after Census night. The CSO has put the delay down to “a number of factors including enumerator vacancies in a small number of areas, a householder being unable to receive a form in person or an enumerator not having sufficient access to the premises to leave a census form in a secure location”. While a spokesperson described the number of homes without forms as “small”, local estimates put the figure at at least 500. It is understood the issue affects areas including Flagmount, Feakle, Scariff, Killaloe and Broadford. “If you were writing a book about this, people just wouldn’t believe it,” said Councillor Pat Hayes. “It’s very unsatisfactory and I’m totally annoyed. I understand there was a staffing issue for the CSO, but the solutions that were put in place to solve the problem clearly didn’t work. “You’d imagine that in the modern world this …

Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship Round 2 Cork 1-19 Clare 1-17 It was more Biddy Late than Early as Clare’s luckless Under 20 campaign ended in the cruelest possible manner for the second time in seven days in O’Garney Park Sixmilebridge on Wednesday evening, reports Eoin Brennan. Within touching distance of victory against Limerick only to be agonisingly floored by Cathal O’Neill’s dramatic injury-time 1-1 blitz, amazingly Clare would be struck down by an almost identical smash-and-grab operation as Cork fired the last four points to also steal a one point win. Having led for one hour and 45 minutes of their two hour campaign against last year’s Munster finalists Limerick and Cork, Clare somehow ended up with only gut-wrenching heartbreak. Granted, it’s a result business but someone somewhere must be pulverising a Clare voodoo doll as it’s almost unthinkable that this would happen a second time. After all, aside from a three minute spell following Diarmuid Healy’s spectacular volleyed …

A BIRD’S eye view on the past is what a dedicated group of Quin residents are hoping to share, after a year spent delving into the fascinating heritage and history of the area.  With the restrictions of lockdown putting a new focus on everything local, many communities have had the opportunity to find out more about their immediate environs. A thriving village with many non-native residents, Quin also boasts an abundance of features of historical interest. These stretch back into the Bronze Age and the Knocknafearbreaga Alignment of standing stones close to Clooney. They also include Magh Adhair, the inauguration site of the Dalcassian O’Briens and, of course, the magnificent Franciscan friary, dating to the 1400s.  As lockdown began to ease last year, Quin Heritage Group was born. Almost 12 months later, a committee of four have gathered a wealth of images, videos, articles and surveys which they have made available through a state-of-the-art website. Yvonne Gallagher, Siobhán O’Sullivan, Michael …