Lifestyle

Tales of growing up in a Killaloe household filled with music were told when Deputy Pat Breen met a local master Irish traditional musician at the National Fellowship Award Ceremony in the United States of America. During his recent visit to Washington, chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Breen was invited to attend the National Fellowship Award Ceremony at the Irish Embassy, where he met up with Killaloe-born Séamus Connolly, the 2013 recipient of the award. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships in the United States are awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which were established by Congress in 1965 and recognise artistic excellence and support their continuing contributions to America’s traditional arts heritage. Since the NEA was founded, they have awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities in the US. Deputy Breen was pleased to meet Seamus Connolly and the …

AN ENNIS teacher, who suffered from breast cancer five years ago, is asking everyone to ‘Ink it Pink’ in October, to honour the memory of those who have died from the disease. Carmel Kelleher also wants everyone to show their support for the women, and increasingly for the men, who are currently receiving treatment for breast cancer and for those who have survived, with a small Pink Ribbon tattoo. Carmel, who had breast cancer in May 2009, had her own wrist tattooed with a pink ribbon in June this year, on the day a close friend died from the disease. “I’ve lost three friends this year to breast cancer. Monica Gallagher came to see me when I was ill myself. Everybody knew Monica, who died recently. Kathleen McGrath, who was also a former teacher and lived out in Scariff, Kathleen was a great friend of mine going back years. Another friend of mine, Claire Clune, a teacher in Caherdavin, died …

THE Irish Association of Barbershop Singers will be ‘United in Harmony’ in Ennis this weekend to celebrate their silver anniversary. With a packed programme of competition, and concerts open to the public, up to 400 barbershop singers will converge on Glór from this Friday to Sunday for the 25th Annual Convention of the Irish Association of Barbershop Singers (IABS). The event officially opens at 7pm this Friday with a gala competition and guest entertainment evening. This will by followed by a winners gala concert at 8pm on Saturday. Both of these events are open to members of the public ­ with 200 tickets available per night. Quartets and choruses will compete for the prestigious category prizes of National Male Quartet, National Female Quartet, Opened Mixed Quartets, National Female Chorus, International Quartet and International Chorus competitions over the weekend, with the convention and the competitions kicking off at 2pm. A team of international judges from all over Europe will preside over …

A delegation from the the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions will travel to Shannon on this Thursday for a series of meetings on the US military use of the airport and Irish airspace. The delegation will meet with representatives from the Shannon Airport Authority, the local gardaí and Shannonwatch. The visit to Shannon follows a petition and presentation to the Committee in June by Dr Edward Horgan, Margaretta D’Arcy and Dr John Lannon of the Shannonwatch organisation. Chairman of the committee, Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said the visit to Shannon Airport is a valuable opportunity to follow up on the petition by Shannonwatch earlier this year. “Central to the petition by Shannonwatch is a call for the Government to investigate the use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace for the transit of US armed troops, munitions and other war material, and for the refuelling of CIA-associated aircraft involved in extraordinary rendition,” he said.

The Adult and Community Education Service in County Clare are continuing their community music project this autumn. Following a highly successful first year in 2013, it is hoped to spread the word and get as many people as possible involved in this volunteer project. An information evening will take place on this Wednesday from 7.30-8.30pm at the organisation’s centre on Clonroad Business Park, Ennis for people interested in both music teaching and music learning. The project aims to provide introductory music lessons for adults who have had little or no interaction with music and to share the satisfaction that participation in music can bring. The project enables and fosters new relationships between tutors and learners over a period of 12 weeks or so and gives learners the confidence to pursue further potential involvement in music. “We are interested in all types and aspects of music, song and dance from traditional Irish fiddle playing to a basic introduction to reading music to …

BÓTHAR founder, Peter Ireton was thrilled to present a €22,000 cheque this week to his own charity, the proceeds of a 62km walk from Limerick to Killaloe and back. The funds that Peter and his fellow walkers raised will be going to fund Bóthar’s fourth African creamery in Rusizi, Rwanda. The creamery is now at the final stages of completion. Aideen O’Leary, from Cork, is currently on the ground in Rusizi, working with local community groups and getting the creamery ready to open later this year. Creameries are an important part of providing sustainable futures for the recipient families, who have received an Irish dairy cow through Bóthar. They become the lifeblood of the local community and start a positive economic cycle of growth and will have a tremendous impact on the lives of the entire community. “This was the third year the walk has taken place and every year it gets better and better. We start out early and …

SCARIFF sisters, Joanne Treacy and Kate (Treacy) O’Donoghue recently climbed Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, in aid of Raheen Hospital Support Services Ltd. Joanne is currently living and working in London and Kate is living in Clane, County Kildare, but both are originally from Cooleenbridge, Scariff, and their native parish is still very close to their hearts. This is why they chose to do the climb in aid of Raheen Hospital. So far, the siblings have raised nearly €1,000. They climbed Kilimanjaro through hail, rain, snow and shine over six days, reaching the summit on the morning of September 6. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa and also the highest freestanding peak in the world. The Scariff sisters trekked the 64km up and down, a distance that equates to summiting Carrauntoohill six times over. Speaking about why they chose to raise funds for Raheen Hospital Support Services Ltd, Kate Treacy said, “The charity we have chosen is very close to …

THERE’S a definite change in the air. The days are shorter and there is a coolness around. The Hogsprickle swallows have left on their long flight to Africa and the warmer weather there. We were lucky enough to see two sets of fledglings and a lucky three chicks from another nest in Ennis that were adopted and successfully reared by over-worked parents. Now they are all gone and good luck to them. Now, it’s up to the adults and the youngsters to get ready for their first days of winter. Luckily, Mother Nature slowly introduces them to the hard times and turns down the temperature. She has provided our wildlife with bramble berries, fallen apples, sloe berries, hazelnuts, damsons and, as we all know, they also make delicious jams and jellies for us too. There are many insects still around but they are getting fewer as the days shorten and the cooler wet weather arrives. So, at this time of …