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Lifestyle

Mistaken Identity

By Michael McNamara, Rice College, Ennis. Second place, junior Clare Champion Short Story Competition FIVE days a week, for eleven years. It is never duly crowded and it takes me from Maynooth right into Connolly Station, only an eleven and a half minute walk from the door of my office in Google buildings on Barrow Street. I have always liked the process of commuting; every phase of the journey is always a pleasure to me; the regularity of it. Nineteen or twenty of us gather on the small platform of our station to catch the 8.16 each morning. Most of them are colleagues, graduates who excelled in the modern world of finance or information technology, each one striving for that seven figure salary and casting furtive glances in my direction, a look of envy in their eyes. I had reached the summit and gave them something to aspire to. It was a group that rarely changed and when occasionally a …

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Brooke’s Magazine

By Sean Hanrahan St Joseph’s Secondary School, Spanish Point Third place, senior Clare Champion Short Story Competition A FIVE-storey building. On the inside it gleamed. Everything in the inside, from the outside it seemed. Efficient, busy and organised, it was something like a dream. And this is where Carla would work now, the famous Brooke’s Magazine. James Brooke was smart, handsome and young. Worked hard, kissed ass, always quick to number one. Eventually so successful, he made his own company and was done with taking orders from people; now he takes orders from no-one. But he is still kind and friendly to all, not some. He makes very sure that he knows everyone. Carla entered his office. “Welcome Carla, I’m James Brooke.” “I know Mr Brooke. It’s a pleasure.” Their hands shook. There was something about her, a sensuous look. She knew everything about him, she read his book. “Well good luck Carla.” he said with a smile. “Thanks for …

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Summer of 1954

By Sarah Flynn, Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon Second place senior Clare Champion Short Story Competition HE worried at a scab on his hand until a small dot of blood came to the surface. He looked up as a woman approached. She merely nodded politely and kept walking.  He continued to wait. His attention turned back to his hand and he patted at the scar. He noticed a fly buzz around his nose until it perched beside him on the seat of the bench. It was a warm summer’s day in 1954. The paint on the bench peeled and hung limply in parts. He looked at his watch. Quarter past two. Not much longer now. He looked down at his shoes….how strange; he had come out in his slippers. He chuckled to himself at his foolishness and lifted his legs out in front of him. He had odd socks on. He should have worn his Marine uniform. Nancy always likes how he …

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St John Paul and the family rosary beads

By Fr Brendan Quinlivan Come Sunday, I will be able to boast that I had the privilege of meeting an officially canonised saint of the Church on a few occasions. Having been lucky enough to spend a few years in Rome during my studies for the priesthood, I met St John Paul a few times. One of those privileged moments stands out in a particular way. It happened in September 1992 when the Pope beatified 17 Irish martyrs on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Students of the Pontifical Irish College returned to Rome early that year to assist the influx of Irish pilgrims who came to participate in the beatification. An added bonus was that we were invited to serve the beatification mass at which Pope John Paul II was to be the celebrant. Early in the morning, a bus arrived at the gates of the Irish College to transport us to St Peter’s. Since we shared …

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I am

By Aoife Daly, St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe Junior winner, Clare Champion short story  competition. THE nearby crash of waves can scarcely be heard over the fierce murmurs and mutters of the tacticians and the pounding heartbeats of the warriors. Fervent prayers uttered from trembling lips, the melody of battle songs celebrating past triumphs, the screeching, grinding sound of sword against whetstone all meld together to form a vibrant and powerful cacophony. My eyes flash open and slowly I rise from the Grey Rock, Craig Liath, reliving that memory from one thousand years ago. Gliding across the air, I gaze at the ever-changing landscape beneath me, the trees I saw rise and fall, the rapid rushing river that grew from a mere trickling stream and the jade green fields dotted by towns and cities. I watch the land go by, seeing a glimpse of a long forgotten past, the present, tainted by the human emotions of greed and hate, and …

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An important journey

By Ellen Brogan, Coláiste Muire, Ennis Senior winner,  Clare Champion Short Story competition IT’S  a cold September morning as I stroll through the park with my granddaughter. It’s her birthday and I wanted to do something special for her. I have brought her back to my home town; to the park I used to play in as a young girl. I want to explain to her what life was like for me growing up under such strict rule, waking up every day with fear in our hearts, how one’s life can be turned upside-down in the space of a day. Everywhere I look, a new painful memory is evoked. As I glance through the trees, I spot the roof of the Hochstadt University where my parents once worked. They were professors of music and engineering. Through the park railings on the left, I see the butcher shop my grandfather owned; so many memories come flooding back to me. Suddenly I’m …

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Junior category winner Aoife Daly, St Annes Killaloe with John Galvin, Clare Champion Managing Director.

Telling tales for the ‘Champion

THIS year’s Clare Champion Short Story Competition not only attracted its largest ever number of entries but it also saw some previous entrants scooping top prizes. At the presentation of prizes in De Valera Library, Ennis last Thursday night, Clare Champion editor Austin Hobbs said the competition has been a huge success since its inception. “It has been an incredible experience over a number of years and we are delighted to see huge participation in it,” he commented. He said the competition gives young people a chance to let their imagination “run riot a bit, without having to worry about the parameters of the Leaving Cert or Junior Cert structure”. Clare Champion managing director, John Galvin, added that over 270 young people had submitted entries, the largest number ever to enter the competition. He complimented all who had taken the time to write a story. “After a hard day at school, not to mention homework, it’s not easy to put …

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Fly Shannon, St John Paul II did

ON Saturday last,  Bishop Kieran O’Reilly launched the St John Paul car sticker, which features a picture of the man who will be canonised this Sunday, taken when he visited Shannon in 1979. The car sticker features the last recorded photo of the pope on Irish soil, just before he flew to the United States. The stickers encourage people to use the airport when flying and they are available locally, free of charge. The picture on the car stickers was taken by photographer Padraig O’Reilly, who lives in Fergus Drive. Almost 35 years afterwards, he still remembers the image as one that was very hard to get and it caused him a great deal of stress. It was actually his first day working as a freelance photographer, after leaving his job with Shannon Development. The Clare Champion had commissioned him to cover the Pope at the airport, where he was to get a picture of his Holiness meeting President of …

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