East Clare

KILLANENA athlete Richard McArthur has added another five gold medals to his collection, following the Munster Masters Indoor Athletics Championships held in Nenagh recently.The athletics enthusiast scooped the gold in the 60m sprint, the long jump, the high jump, the 200m run and the 56lb weight without follow at the masters over 45 indoor event just before Christmas.Richard said the medals will build on the success he has been having in these events since he first took up the sport when he was 18. He competes with St Cronan’s Athletics Club in Ennis since the club in Killanena wound down but he trains for the most part at home in Killanena.Taking gold at these events is nothing new to Richard and tops his four gold medals that he secured at the same event last year. However, he still believes it is all to play for in the All-Ireland Masters Indoor championships, which take place in Nenagh on January 23.Speaking about …

East Clare is renowned for its music and passion for the arts but this year, the region’s celebration of them grew as two new music festivals were introduced.

Concern over the lack of drainage work on roads throughout East Clare has been expressed by local councillors.

The surface of a road near Scariff could disappear in a year or two unless substantial repair works are carried out, a local county councillor has warned.

WHEN East Clare resident Terri Shoosmith left school, she never thought she would pursue an academic career in history, let alone Irish history but today she finds herself in the midst of a PhD, looking at settlement and change in the barony of Tulla prior to the Famine.Terri, originally from Brighton in the UK, lives in Faha just north of Killanena. She readily admits when she left school, she did so with an F in history.“I hated the subject with a passion. This was in England, of course and they wanted to teach us colonialism, imperialism and the industrial revolution and I slept through 10 years of history and came up with an F. I had no intention of going into it. I did love history, in that I was very interested in the past how people used to live but I wanted to know things like what did they eat for their dinner, how did they tell the time, …

CHRISTMAS and the new year can be a difficult time for bereaved families, the loss feeling more acute as families come together at this time. Seeking help can seem daunting and sometimes difficult to access but in East Clare help is at hand with the launch of a new counselling service.After extensive re-structuring, the counselling service run by East Clare Community Co-op will re-commence this month.The service was initially set up for families in need in the area to provide bereavement and separation counselling but following a re-examination of the service, it has now been re-structured and includes a wider panel of counsellors, who specialise in children’s issues, mental health, sexual and addiction issues.The Family Support Agency has provided East Clare Community Co-op with a grant for bereavement and separation counselling and donations from the public for books in the reception in the co-op will provide the funds for other forms of counselling.The service is confidential and will take place …

SCARIFF’S Joe McGrath is a well-known and popular member of the community involved in many local projects. Just recently, he was one of the main speakers at a major national conference.

PLANS are at an advanced stage to mark the 90th anniversary of the Glenwood ambush, which took place in Belvoir, Kilkishen on January 20, 1921. The site is one of the entrances to the Glenwood estate and work is progressing well on restoring the stone walls and piers at this entrance.