East Clare

Seventy students from St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla and a number of teachers from the school completed a climb of Croke Patrick on Monday in aid of a Kenyan project that they have a very special connection with.

The community of Tulla was thrown into sadness recently at the death of Brian Culloo, the former principal of Drumcharley and St Mochulla National Schools.

Ahead of the mayfly fishing season, a Scariff angler has made a thrilling catch that yielded a 9lb 9oz trout, measuring 29.5in long, in the Scariff River.Joseph O’Shaughnessy and his brother, Brendan from Scariff set out fishing last Wednesday morning thinking it would be similar to every other angling experience on the river in their 20 years fishing there. With their largest trout weighing 2lbs over those two decades, little did they think that there was a trout of more than 9lb to be caught.But that changed when they felt the draw on their line at 11.45am. Initially thinking they had hooked a pike, a closer examination revealed it was not. The fish was hooked by Joseph who, exhausted after half an hour of a tough struggle, passed the rod to Brendan, who continued the titanic battle to land it. A total of 45 minutes passed before they succeeded in reeling in the hefty trout.The O’Shaughnessy brothers are from a …

The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) has received a string of complaints on its website regarding the closure of toilet facilities at Mountshannon Harbour last weekend.The voluntary body of waterways enthusiasts has had a number of its members post complaints on its forum page that they were unable to access the toilet facilities, which are run by Clare County Council.Clare Jordan, chairperson of the Lough Derg Branch of IWAI, said, “Among our own members there has been a lot of talk and concern about onshore toilet facilities. All of the harbours have had issues with toilets. We are coming into the May Bank Holiday weekend now and we will be hoping they be open this weekend, as it is probably one of the busiest weekends in the area. Toilets being locked up is usually a hot topic for discussion at our branch meetings and one I would expect at our next meeting,” Ms Jordan added.She highlighted that with the …

EAST Clare businessman Pádraig Giblin and his wife, Anne, are to embark on a business initiative in the area, which will provide up to 100 jobs locally, after they got the green light to develop a hotel and leisure facility in Tuamgraney.It is expected that between 50 and 80 jobs will be created during the construction phase, while a further 20 to 30 seasonal jobs will be provided when the complex is operational.The proposed mixed-use tourism, recreational and commercial development has three elements to it, including an 18-bedroom hotel, with a function room, restaurant, bar and lounge. The next element is eight apartments, which includes five two-bedroom and three three-bedroom short-term chalet self-catering accommodation units, all serviced by the hotel. The third aspect to the development is a leisure complex, with a leisure pool, changing rooms, recreation and exercise rooms.Earlier this week, Clare County Council granted planning permission for the proposed development, subject to 27 planning conditions.Speaking to The Clare …

A public meeting is to be scheduled in the coming weeks to inform the people of Quin as to why a new playground, which was completed earlier this year, has not yet opened.

East Clare is to benefit from a new traditional music festival this year as renowned guitarist and fiddle player Ged Foley sets the wheels in motion for the inaugural East Clare Fiddle Festival from June 30 to July 3.

Selected as the pick of the bunch to represent Ireland at the Canada Blooms flower-arranging show, Feakle woman Mary McKee returned from the international competition recently with a bronze ribbon award.