Lifestyle

NEW Zealand’s popular morning television programme Breakfast, which airs on national station TVNZ, broadcast live from Clare to over 200,000 viewers last week.Kiwi media personality and chef Annabelle White travelled around the country, broadcasting six 10-minute segments from different areas. In Clare, she broadcast live from Lisdoonvarna, where she met with matchmaker Willie Daly, who introduced her to what he called ‘an ideal Irish man’ and from Doolin where she sampled some of the local fare and enjoyed a traditional session. She also broadcast some of the Burren Way, the Cliffs of Moher and surfing off the Clare coast.Darragh Walsh of Tourism Ireland in New Zealand said, “This is a fun and different way to showcase Clare to a wide audience of potential holidaymakers around New Zealand. “What makes this part of Ireland unique and special is its cheerful and friendly character and the wide variety of great things to see and do. Exposure on popular TV programmes like this …

TEENAGERS today are the most repulsive, revolting, rebellious young people since… since… since… me. When I was 11, we moved from quite a small house to what was then a des res in our neighbourhood.Actually, my parents punched way above their weight in the purchase of it but by then, almost all the family was working. Responsible and dutiful, my siblings assisted my parents financially, buying various furnishings for our home. My eldest sister bought a piano. A piano! I discovered instantly an inherent ability to play music by ear, note perfect. I had no desire and never learned to read music then and still don’t but music has always been intrinsic to my soul and I rapidly developed quite a repertoire.Then, suddenly and explosively, I became something my parents had never encountered in the rest of the family. I morphed into a teenager and my bewildered parents didn’t know what hit them. Skirts up to… ahem and big hair. …

AMELIA Earhart was one of the great pioneers of aviation and set many records. She flew solo across the United States, flew the Pacific, set speed and height records and was the first woman to fly the Atlantic. Her connection to Ireland came on her Atlantic crossing when she landed in Derry in May 1932. She lectured all over the country and advertised different products including cigarettes. She also designed her own range of luggage and clothes and with Charles Lindberg set up Transcontinental Air Transport, which became TWA. She is mainly remembered for her final flight, when she set out to circumnavigate the globe. Her first attempt in March 1937 ended in Hawaii, when she failed to take off at Pearl Harbour. Some say the landing gear collapsed, others that a tire blew but there was also a hint of possible pilot error. A few months later she started again but this time flew west to east. She flew …

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To look at Paddy Gleeson, one has to wonder how, at 106, he is still the picture of a man 20 years his junior. “I’m a bit sick today,” he says, but still encourages questions.“He loves to regale tales of his youth,” the nurses at Raheen Hospital advise. Although the hearing is fading slightly, his memory remains sharp, particularly of the harsher period of his life, growing up when the Black and Tans were in town. At 13 years of age, Paddy attended a court sitting in early 1917 when a number of prisoners got up and ran out of the court after the Commandant of the East Clare Brigade, IRA Michael Brennan shouted ‘case dismissed’.  It is understood these prisoners had been jailed in Limerick for refusing to allow timber to be cut in Derrymore, O’Callaghan’s Mills to help with the British War effort.Paddy was sitting in the gallery watching the proceedings take place.    “I was in the court …

FORMED in 1985 by a small group of outdoor enthusiasts, the Clare Outdoor Club has grown substantially over the years and now has over 100 members drawn from Clare and surrounding counties, and, indeed from further afield. “We’ve been a multi-activity club right from the start,” says Hugh Carthy. “Walking and rock climbing shared the early members’ attention with caving and a variety of water sports. The routine is now well established; we generally schedule walks every second weekend and rotate between Connemara and Kerry, with a few forays to the Galtees and Comeraghs for variety. We’ve got a phobia about leaving gaps in the calendar though and alternate weekends, and some weekdays, are filled by anything from sea-kayaking to windsurfing, moonwalks, cycling, batwalks, archaeology walks, film and slide shows and more leisurely rambles in our own back yard – The Burren,” he continues. But according to Hugh, the club is not just about the outdoors. “The social calendar is …

EVERYONE wants to look good in the summer, whether donning the bikini or simply the shorts. According to Teresa Davoren, manager with Ozone Health and Fitness in Ennis, summer is a peak time for toning up and trimming down.“There are certain times of the year when you see an increase in membership. Pre-Christmas is a big one, as everyone wants to be in his or her best party shape. They are catching up with friends and family they may not have seen all year… so of course they want to look great. January is also a very popular time. We all like a fresh start and what better way to do that than by getting fit and healthy to tackle the new year ahead. Summer is another very popular time. We peel away the layers of winter clothes and we don’t want to feel self-conscious about how we look in our summer clothes. There’s really nothing better than being able …

The death of a 45-year-old German foreman on the site of the Shannon Scheme is featured as one of the Irish murder cases in the latest issue of the True Detective. The Irish Free State Government decided to spend one fifth of its entire annual budget on harnessing the hydroelectric power of the River Shannon and on completion in 1929, the outcome at Ardnacrusha was the world’s largest hydroelectric generating station.The scheme’s workforce camp included accommodation for 750 men and a dining room seating 600. At the peak of the power station’s construction, 5,200 men were employed.Most of the engineers and skilled workers involved in the £5.2 million development were German, including Jacob Kunz. Despite repeated warnings, he persisted in keeping his wages and savings on his person, sewing some of the older notes into the lining of his jacket.In the early evening of December 21, 1928, Kunz was found covered in blood holding his head in his hands beside …