Lifestyle

TWENTY years ago, PJ Kennedy (RIP) walked the 500-mile Choctaw ‘Trail of Tears’ walk from Oklahoma to Mississippi. With the National Famine Commemoration (May 3 to 12) launched this Friday in Carrigaholt, PJ’s wife, Maureen, last week recalled her husband’s month-long walk with the AfrI charity in September 1992.

Clare Education Centre has recently become involved in the STAYON European Union-supported educational initiative. Last week, partners from Norway, Sweden, Greece and the UK attended a three-day meeting in Clare to progress the project.

Orla Hannon from Pollough in Sixmilebridge is one of 16 designers of a unique Dublin tour guide, which was designed for people with Down Syndrome by people with Down Syndrome.

WE have seen where traditionally strong parishes are being forced to amalgamate to compete in underage GAA competitions. Looking at the reported number of hurling and football players who have emigrated in recent times, how long will it be before the same will have to happen at adult level or before the authorities are forced to reduce the size of teams in order to allow clubs compete?

CAMMOGE Point in Poulnasherry Bay doesn’t betray its tragic past underneath the mid-April sunshine.Located near Clarefield, not far from Kilkee, the isolated stretch of stony beach was once a short cut from the extreme west of the county to Carnacalla near Kilrush. About three-and-a-half miles could be shorn from the journey to Kilrush by crossing the mouth of Poulnasherry Bay. The route was availed of for hundreds of years and, in fact, a ferryboat operated from Cammoge Point until 1927. However, the picturesque point was the scene of total devastation on December 12, 1849, when a boat, returning from Kilrush, sank. Forty-one people drowned within a mere 30 yards of completing the journey. In a detailed contribution to The Other Clare in 2006, historian Paddy Nolan outlined the nature of the tragedy and the context that led to it. On the morning of the multiple drowning, the boat, which was designed to carry 12 people, sailed to Kilrush. The majority …

In the story of her own life experiences, Aoife O’Connor from Midleton in Cork tells an all too familiar tale.

Cuimhneamh an Chláir, Clare’s award-winning oral history and folklore group, documents seasonal customs that were important rituals in the calendar year. Customs and beliefs surrounding May Eve occupied a central role in folk superstitions and many strategies were observed in respect of this day. The stories are the direct words of those recorded.

Coláiste Muire is looking forward to visits from Ireland’s top celebrities including Roz Purcell, Brent Pope and other well-known celebrities to their school this Saturday as part of Cycle Against Suicide.