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AMBITIOUS PLANS have been unveiled to transform St Flannan’s Cathedral into a “world class” national and international venue for cultural events following a proposed €300,000 investment. State agencies are being asked to support a major refurbishment of this iconic historical protected building as part of the provision of a new downstairs washroom, catering area and upgrading of the vestry, subject to planning permission and funding. The select vestry committee is liaising with Clare and Tipperary County Council on how to increase its use as a cultural and community space. It has engaged conservation architect, Conor Hourigan and historian, Judith Hill to complete a conservation plan for future development. The Dean of the St Flannan’s Cathedral, Roderick Symth and Dean Vicar, Rev Paul Fitzpatrick, are very supportive of plans to increase the use of this iconic building for cultural purposes. They administer clerical duties in the Nenagh Union of Parishes, which now contains the Nenagh and Strabablly group of parishes including …

DOORA National School is one of just 18 in the country to be provided with free library resources by Children’s Books Ireland. There will be a number of other benefits, accruing to the school under the Every Child’s A Reader project. Teacher Geraldine Greene co-ordinated the Doora entry and was told in February that it had been successful, winning the school hundreds of free books in various genres, free art workshops, art materials and online interactive storytelling sessions with Pat Ryan, the school’s champion of Reading. In late April a launch was held and this was followed with events such as art and storytelling workshops. Sadly, parents or visitors couldn’t come to see the school’s new book case or displays, but it is hoped they will be able to come when school resumes in the autumn. Further storytelling events and art workshops continued during May and June, while each pupil received bookmarks, stickers and their personal challenge record pages. When …

Almost two years ago to the day since his last Munster Championship outing, John Conlon returned in commanding fashion to captain Clare to victory in Semple Stadium. Going from being a chief target to defensive anchor made the 2018 All-Star’s comeback all the sweeter as Clare exacted revenge on Waterford’s for last year’s All-Ireland Quarter-Final exit. “It was really sweet. I hadn’t played a championship game in two years so I just said leaving home today that I was going to enjoy every last minute of it. I got a bad injury last year and all I kept saying in my head was ‘hopefully I’ll get to play another championship game.’ “Thankfully today was fantastic. We knew we were coming into it in the right frame of mind as training was super over the last few weeks. And we started to pick up results as well which was good for morale so everyone seemed to be coming right at the …

Clare v Kerry at Mungret, Limerick, Saturday, 12.30pm Very few teams in any code or age grade of the GAA will have experienced as long a wait as the Clare Junior Camogie team for Championship action. After being unceremoniously removed from the 2020 All-Ireland Premier Junior Championship after the tightening of government restrictions late last year meant only one team per county would be permitted to field a team, Clare finally have the opportunity to do their talking on the pitch. They were prepared to compete in a Munster semi-final last weekend, but with Waterford giving their opponents a bye, Ann Marie McGann and Tim McGrath’s charges now enter this final without playing a Championship game, something which is a source of frustration for McGann. “I’m disappointed that Waterford didn’t play the game. We would rather play the game and lose then not play it at all. “They should have said something before this and let us and Limerick go …

Kilmurry Ibrickane v Ennistymon at Quilty, Sunday, 12pm The county champions may be out of contention to commence 2021 with early silverware but it won’t stop the ‘Bricks from finally kickstarting their season and possibly even halting others from getting their hands on the Cusack Cup. With the championship surfacing inexorably on the horizon including a showdown against this weekend opponents, the return of their county contingent to offset recent injury set-backs is pivotal to turning around their fortunes in time for August. However, Ennistymon still remain unbeaten and will be determined to sustain that winning mentality especially after being embroiled in such an unenviable championship group and with ‘Bricks legend Odran O’Dwyer amongst their backroom team, the North Clare side might just shade a tight contest. Clondegad v Doonbeg at Ballynacally, Sunday, 2pm It’s been a full mixed bag of results for Clondegad so far with an opening draw with St Breckan’s and a derby win over Kildysart offset …

THE Ennistymon Púca may have been hitting the headlines all over the world, but Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group believes it has fished out a magical tale to rival that. The local group has been compiling information about the once famous Mermaid of Newhall Lake, with the aim of bringing the mystical figure back into the public consciousness. As part of this members have gathered stories from various sources over centuries about the mermaid and made them available on the group’s website. There has also been a watercolour painting of the mermaid completed, and local composer Seán Lyons has recorded a song inspired by the legend. Eric Shaw of Clarecastle & Ballyea Heritage & Wildlife Group said, “Reading through the Clare section of the 1937 Schools’ Project now held in Dúchas, there are 92 stories of mermaids and 26 of these relate to our Mermaid of Newhall. “In the 1930s, most school children in Clare knew of the …

AN ANTIQUE piece of furniture linked to a man who conspired, along with the legendary wisewoman Biddy Early, in a notorious East Clare murder is to go on display in Kilkishen next month. The blanket box, a large wooden chest, belonged to a James Mac Namara who was accused, along with the husband of the legendary Feakle healer, of murdering their landlord. The item, which was salvaged by local Kilkishen historian Cathal O’Hagan, has been carefully restored and will go on display at the Kilkishen Cultural Centre. “I think it’s fitting on the 161st anniversary of the murder that people would be able to see this,” Mr O’Hagan said. “According to lore, this historic blanket box came out of the farmhouse of James Mac Namara who one night in October 1860 with Biddy Early’s husband Tom Flannery and three other evicted tenants and, with help from Biddy, killed the landlord.” Legend has it that Biddy, who foretold Mr Sheehy’s demise …

Clubs around the county can now sharpen their focus after the draws for this year’s adult hurling and football championships were made in Clareabbey on Friday evening. Despite only five competitive league matches in preparation, the stakes are extremely high as along with the glory of championship silverware, the prospect of two teams being relegated from the Senior, Intermediate and Junior A Championships in both codes means that every club will have to be extremely vigilant throughout. That double demotion dilemma placed a heightened emphasis on the luck of the draws as the flagship championships, which are scheduled to start in August, reverted to groups in order to provide additional matches after only being guaranteed two matches in 2020. Sixmilebridge’s bid for a three-in-a-row of county senior hurling titles was bolstered when seeded in a group with neighbours Wolfe Tones, Clarecastle and newcomers Scariff, none of whom have reached the knock-out stages in the past five seasons. However, the scramble …