East Clare

THE local economy benefitted from more than €519,000 thanks to another highly successful summer, with visitors converging in large numbers in Mountshannon to see the successful breeding pair of White-tailed Sea Eagles. The total revenue taken in from May 12 to September 13 this year was €519,800. in comparision, revenue of €508,166 was taken in between July and mid-September of 2014. Speaking to The Clare Champion, Clare heritage officer Congella McGuire said “conservative figures and minimum estimates” suggest that at least 9,000 people visited the White-tailed Sea Eagle Viewing and Information Point at Mountshannon Pier this summer. Last year an estimated 10,000 people were recorded as having visited the amenity over a 10-week period from July 1 to mid-September. Ms McGuire said they are “very happy” with the number of visitors who are coming to the East Clare tourist attraction. She said visitor numbers this summer had not been recorded with the same degree of certainty as last year but …

Scariff Foróige Club has been chosen as one of four youth clubs across the country that will work with Diarmuid Gavin to design and create a garden, based on the theme of time travel, at the National Ploughing Championships. The enterprising youth club supports young people from Tulla, Feakle, Tuamgraney, Bodyke, Scariff and Mountshannon. Nine Foróige members, with youth leaders, parents and local flower expert Martina O’Brien, will travel to Rathaniskha this weekend to build the garden and have it ready for viewing from Tuesday next. Speaking to The Clare Champion, youth leader Tracy Doyle said the nine young people are “thrilled” to be working on the special garden and competing against the other three youth clubs. In May 2014, the youths, who are all aged between 12 and 17, were offered a small piece of publicly-owned land at the Connaught Road housing estate by residents to plant and develop. Tracy said the youth club members were in the process …

More than a thousand people from one East Clare village passed through Ellis Island on their way to a new life in the United States, according to research undertaken on the parish. An online exhibition exploring the Irish emigration experience to America was launched in Tulla at the weekend and focuses on the town’s emigrants and diaspora. The community was chosen as the pilot parish for a research project undertaken by the nationwide organisation, Ireland Reaching Out, with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as part of the Government’s Emigrant Support Programme. The results of the research and the findings of the study were launched in Tulla Courthouse last Friday. As well as the online resource, a curated exhibition featuring eight emigrants was hosted as part of the Tulla Reaching Out Weekend of Welcomes, an annual festival that celebrates local heritage and welcomes the diaspora back into the parish. Epic Journeys Ellis Island brings to life …

AN East Clare woman gave birth in an ambulance in Scariff on Monday afternoon. The woman, who lives in Whitegate, had been driven to the medical centre in Scariff, who in turn called the ambulance service dispatch. The Scariff ambulance was immediately on the scene and the woman gave birth minutes after being placed in the ambulance. The incident follows concerns recently raised at the regular redeployment of ambulances from Clare stations to Nenagh and Limerick. A number of county councillors have stated the incident on Monday highlights the value of having an ambulance centre in Scariff and stressed the need for that service not to be further diluted or stretched. “The ambulance crew based at the Scariff Ambulance Centre received the call on Monday afternoon at 5.10pm. They were informed that a young mother was in labour and required assistance. The ambulance crew were on scene within minutes to assist the young woman. The crew immediately identified that the …

Tulla United has championed ladies soccer in recent years but trainer Murdoch Gleeson noted it was his daughter, Tara, who set the wheels in motion for ladies soccer back in 2010 when she asked ‘why girls can’t play soccer?’ On Thursday last, Ireland played Scotland in an historic U-19 women’s international friendly in Tulla. The impressive Cragg grounds looked immaculate as the sides played out an entertaining 1-1 draw, seven years after the FAI promised the club an underage international match. Speaking to The Clare Champion about his daughter’s eagerness to play soccer, Murdoch said Tara had a strong desire to play for her home club. “I had an U-16 boys team at the time and my daughter Tara asked me one day ‘how come girls can’t play soccer?’ “She’s 17 now so, at the time, she would have been about 11. She would have been playing with her older brother and younger brother basically kicking a ball around.” Murdoch …

INTERNATIONAL visitors with an interest in their ancestral past are expected to converge on Tulla this weekend for the Weekend of the Welcomes. The event, which runs from this Friday to Sunday, has proven popular with those who want to reconnect with their ancestral parish through the Ireland Reaching Out project, which the Tulla Reaching Out committee is actively involved in. Jane Halloran Ryan of Tulla Reaching Out said last year 15 individual visitors from Australia, the USA, the UK and Ireland came to Tulla to trace their ancestral roots and this year they are expecting 22. “This will be the third year. We started it two years ago for The Gathering and it has grown every year. There has been a very positive response,” said Jane,  Ireland Reaching Out Volunteer of the Year award winner in 2013 “People continue to come back and many people will come over on their own and the next year they will bring their …

Scariff adventurer Joanne Treacy has sucessfully raised money for a national mental health charity, climbing 26 peaks in 10 days in the process. While donations are still being collected this week, the London-based neuroscientist believes the final amount should be in the region of €6,500. Joanne is thrilled with the figure raised for the Headstrong charity and the public awareness her peaks challenge has generated about the help that is available for people suffering from mental illness and depression. Although Joanne said she was physically and mentally tired at the end of her charity climbs, she was energised by the huge support she received from family, friends and other hill walking enthusiasts who joined her in the different challenges. Having climbed Knockboy in Cork and Carrauntoohil on Saturday, Joanne travelled to Twomilegate a few miles from Killaloe, where she climbed Molussa, the highest peak in Clare, with a group of 30 people. One girl got up at 5am to join …

A GARDA with strong County Clare family ties has been awarded the prestigious Scott Medal for Bravery, for facing down an armed robber. Garda Michael Bolton, a grandson of the late Teresa and Michael Bolton and the son of the late Michael Bolton from Scariff, was honoured for foiling an armed robbery in Portmarnock, Dublin on November 16, 2012. When he responded to a credit union robbery on a bicycle, the garda encountered two suspects, one of whom pointed a gun at him. The suspect fired a shot at Garda Bolton and he was subsequently forced to dive behind a parked car for cover. The armed raider later approached Garda Bolton a second time, in an effort to frighten him away. Because of the persistence and courage of the Malahide-based garda, the culprits were later apprehended by support units and brought before the courts. The citation for the award stipulated that the Scott Medal was being awarded for “exceptional courage …