Lifestyle

Antiques, original photographs and files, as well as a small library of Irish aviation books, owned by the late Irish Times reporter, Arthur Quinlan, are to be sold at auction. Arthur was raised in Quin and spent most of his career reporting out of Shannon Airport, from 1947 to 1997. Arthur settled on the North Circular Road in Limerick and died in 2012, just shy of his 93rd birthday. He retired at age 87 and was Ireland’s longest-serving journalist, covering Shannon Airport and the Mid-Western District. For over 50 years, he reported on Shannon’s momentous, sometimes tragic events, and interviewed many international figures who passed through the airport when it was a compulsorily stopover into Europe. Among them were Hollywood stars, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant and Marlene Dietrich. He also interviewed every North American president, from Harry S Truman to George Bush, as well as Russian leaders. European royalty, including Princess Margaret and the Duke of Edinburgh, future popes and …

CLARE ICA is to spearhead a countrywide survey to determine the scale of population movement in parishes. At a meeting in Doonbeg last week, which was organised to examine the role of rural women in the West Clare community, Clare ICA PRO, Mary Neylon said a count she carried out in June found that 92% of married women in Kilmurry McMahon came from outside that part of the parish. Ms Neylon was one of the speakers at the West Clare Family Resource Centre-organised meeting, which heard from several people on the challenges facing women in the county. The meeting heard that, while these figures pertained to one community of 165 households, it is likely that other parishes in West Clare would have comparable figures. In 19% of cases, both spouses had settled in the community, having moved from elsewhere. Ms Neylon feels if a bigger count or survey was carried out in Clare, the findings could be revealing. “I think …

THE day Siobhan Mungovan started walking was the day her father, Noel almost keeled over. Aged three and diagnosed with Spina Bifida, walking wasn’t on the list of what was expected of the now 28-year-old Connolly girl, who, these days, works in the planning department of Clare County Council. Siobhan, who along with Clare Champion journalist, Carol Byrne, has written Me and My Backbone, My Journey with Spina Bifida detailing her life with Spina Bifida, clearly recalls the circumstances surrounding her first, albeit unsteady, steps. “Dad roared out to Mam, ‘where are my fags, Ger?’ Mam didn’t take a blind bit of notice because he’s always roaring for something. Lo and behold, out of nowhere, Siobhan gets up with a wobble and takes herself across the floor to get the fags,” Siobhan recalled, ahead of the book launch on November 7. “He was shocked, obviously, that I walked but he was more shocked that I knew what fags were,” she …

Every year at Hallowe’en, pupils from the Ennis National School go around Ennis on their Hallowe’en Hobble. Enjoy our pictures from the event. [doptg id=”40″]

WHILE the torrent of complaints about Irish Water and water charges is on the rise, students in Ennis have just completed a conservation programme that cut their school’s use of water by 75%. Coláiste Muire girls have saved 2,635,000 litres of water since the two-year programme began and this week collected the prestigious Green Flag for water conservation. The 2.635 million litre water conservation was measured through regular readings by the school caretaker and verified by the environmental section of Clare County Council. The College Road school had already won Green Flags for energy conservation and litter reduction when the water project began in 2011, and are the first secondary school in the town to make it a hat-trick of the An Taisce flags. “The programme, dubbed by the students Operation Water Conservation, was led by the Green School committee, with representatives from all the classes and years. The committee undertook an audit of the school, checking dripping taps and …

Now in first year at St Flannan’s College, Jack Feeney left his old primary school with a nice dividend, when he won €3,000 worth of books in a national spelling bee competition. Jack surprised teachers and pupils when he turned up to personally deliver the consignment of books. The competition, which is run by Eason’s, attracted entrants from 1,000 schools across the country. Each school held their own spelling bee competition, with the winner qualifying for their respective county final, which Jack won in Clare. He followed this by winning the provincial final in Youghal, thereby qualifying for the national decider where he finished third. Inch NS is a four teacher school where Rosemary Corry is principal.

MOST of us are too busy organising our own affairs to even consider Hallowe’en and the misery caused by fireworks. Each year, we are asked to keep our pets indoors or locked away safe and, each year, veterinary practices all over Ireland are full of dogs and cats that have become victims to fireworks, bonfires and their own terror. Pets are terrified of the noise and can be driven to extreme behaviour. Some will go off their food, hide for days under the bed or in other small spaces. Some will bite and growl at their well-meaning owners trying to comfort them; this can result of the poor dog being thrown out into a much more terrifying environment. Some dogs are so frightened that they run off to get away from the noise and get lost, many ending up in the dog pound or, worse, under a car. There is help at hand but, to give your dog the best …

Over 50 firefighters will display their cleaning skills at seven locations throughout the county to raise money for children with special needs. The Clare Fire and Rescue Service has teamed up with Clare Crusaders Children’s Clinic to organise a charity car wash this Saturday from 10am to 4pm. People can get their car washed outside fire stations in Ennis, Shannon, Scariff, Kilrush, Church Street car park in Ennistymon; SuperValu, Killaloe and the Square, Kilkee. All donations will go to the clinic. Senior assistant fire chief, Tom Burke, said the fire service is delighted to be associated with the clinic, which provides hundreds of children in the county with free therapy. He encouraged anyone who needs their vehicle washed to consider supporting the event.