Lifestyle

TWO local cancer charities have benefited from an epic cycle undertaken recently by members of a Clare cycling club. On the last Saturday in August, members of Riverside Cycling Club Ennistymon undertook the huge challenge of cycling from their home town all the way to Croagh Patrick in Westport, Co Mayo. As if the total distance of around 175km wasn’t enough, the group then went on to climb Croagh Patrick in the same day. All this was in aid of some very worthy local cancer care charities – Cancer Care West, and Sláinte an Chláir, that have greatly helped some of the club’s past and present members. One member in particular had a very important and relative story to tell to highlight his appreciation for both organisations with his recent health scare in 2020. Tony Shannon spoke very candidly in advance of the event on Clare FM about his own struggle with receiving the bad news that he had prostrate …

THE annual Burren Ramble for the RNLI Lifeboats took place recently, writes Joe Queally, and from early morning hundreds of people gathered at the car park at Fanore beach to get ready to ramble through the finest landscape on planet earth. The music created by the light breeze blowing and the waves from the sea along with the silence from the mountain was the music and song to get people in the mood for a beautiful day out. The Ramble hit on out for the waters and the wild on the stroke of noon and this year the theme was ‘The Village of our Childhood’ in Fanore. The early part of the Ramble brought people down to the mouth of the Caher river as it spilled into the Atlantic Ocean. People stood in silence for a moment and thought of the people that were lost at sea and shared the pain and loss with the families who had to carry …

MORE than 1,300 competitors flocked to the shores of Lough Derg on Saturday to participate in the return to east Clare of a major adventure race. Last weekend saw the second staging of Quest Lough Derg, an arduous challenge for athletes in Killaloe and Ballina following the inaugural event in 2019. Fine weather, with temperatures reaching 22 degrees, allowed athletes and supporters to maximise Quest Lough Derg and its stunning location, sold-out since August. The race makes itself accessible to athletes on all levels, from beginners to experienced racers, with its three routes: the 22km ‘Challenge’, the 45km ‘Sport’ and the 69km ‘Expert’, starting and finishing at various points in Killaloe and Ballina. Competitors were able to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of Tountinna, Garrykennedy, Ballycuggaran and Moylussa. After the event, competitors were treated to hot food, music and a festival-like atmosphere at the finish line. The winners of the Expert Route were Shaun Stewart and Laura O’Driscoll. The Sport Route …

A WEALTH of history and information has been included in the new Discover St Flannan’s Guide, which was launched in the Killaloe Cathedral recently. Killaloe Ballina Historical Society secretary, Deborah Dudgeon applied for grant funding from the Heritage Council to cover some of the professional costs St Flannan’s Cathedral is incurring due to its current conservation and development. The Heritage Council provided some funding to enable the creation of the guide, with John Rice of Glance Promotions covering the cost of printing 1,000 copies. Dr Judith Hill, an architect and historian, who is involved in the conservation development plan for St Flannan’s joined forces with Ms Dudgeon to produce a new cathedral guide, which is now available to pick up free of charge at the cathedral. Ms Dudgeon, who did the layout and design, said they felt it would be nice to give visitors a guide brochure as it is now open from 10am to 7pm daily. “Judith had researched …

CLARE will hold its first ever Pride festival over the course of a weekend later this month. It will kick off on Culture Night, Friday, September 23, with ‘‘Queering the Green’, a queer poetry book launch and reading at Mna ag Gaire (Ennis Women’s Shed) in Ennis. The reading will feature three of Ireland’s leading queer poets, Liz Quirke, Simon Costello and Clare’s own Sarah Clancy.  The following day  the show will go on with an LGBTQI+ youth event in Shannon including dance workshops and drag bingo. This will be followed by the grand weekend finale –  a no-holds-barred over 18s party featuring drag queen and kings and DJs at the Oakwood Hotel in Shannon.  As well as being a celebrated poet, Sarah is one of the organisers of Clare Pride, and speaking about it this week, she said, “We have a few events on, it’s small and contained, we’re not having a week long festival. “We have three different …

THE CALL has gone out to schools in Clare from Irish Olympians, sprinter Phil Healy and fellow athlete, David Gillick, who have joined forces with Fyffes in a quest to find ‘Ireland’s Fittest School’. Coupled with monthly and spot prize rewards, one successful school will have the distinction of being chosen as ‘Ireland’s Fittest School 2023’, the prize for which will be a visit from Healy and Gillick and €5,000 worth of sports equipment. Last year, North Donegal primary school, Scoil Na Croise Naofa, in Dunfanaghy, fought off stiff competition from the large volume of competitors to be crowned the overall winner. The commencement of the competition coincides with the resumption this month of Fyffes children’s fitness programme of live school visits following a two year break during Covid. The upcoming schedule will see some 7,500 pupils from schools throughout Ireland, North and South, participate in an interactive Fit Squad session between now and March next. Registration for the competition, …

NOT content with finding Ireland’s Fittest Family, Davy Fitzgerald is now on the hunt for Ireland’s Fittest Farmer. The Clare hurling legend will be presiding over the competition which will be held at this year’s Irish National Ploughing Championships, at Ratheniska, County Laois, from September 20-22. The three-day event will see ploughmen and women from across Ireland compete to be named Ireland’s Fittest Farmer. The contest will be held as a fun way of sparking a vital discussion about the physical and mental health of the nation’s farmers, aiming to get all farmers thinking and talking about their health, physical and mental, to make sure they are in top condition to run their farm business. Davy, who has been busy filming the next season of Ireland’s Fittest Family as well as his own show, Davy’s Toughest Team, says he is “delighted to be attending the Ploughing Championships this year”. “I’m encouraging any competitive Irish farmers to come down to Zurich’s …

A DIGITAL tourism marketing campaign offering a five-day getaway break to County Clare attracted more than 34,000 entries from across the United States and Canada. Hosted by the Cliffs of Moher Experience and supported by Tourism Ireland, Aer Lingus and Clare tourism operators, the ‘Epic Trip’ competition targeted the North American market and reached an audience of 3.4 million people via Cliffs of Moher Experience social media channels. The winning couple, Peggy and Daniel Haukup from Wichita in Kansas, arrived in Ireland this Tuesday. Their prize includes Aer Lingus direct scheduled return flights from the USA with AVIS car hire and a five-night stay in County Clare with attractions and activities included. “The success of this digital marketing campaign is the result of a collaborative effort involving Aer Lingus and Tourism Ireland and is evidence that an inter-agency digital marketing campaign can be very effective at capturing a wider audience,” stated Geraldine Enright, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience. …