East Clare

THE Feakle Festival’s enduring legacy is its commitment to the best in Irish traditional music and this year’s programme is no exception. From ICE, an ensemble of concertinas, the dulcet harmonies of Lumiere, accordion great Donal Murphy and his band to Feakle’s own Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, there is much to choose from. “Music with heart, music with soul, music to inspire, music with fun and laughter, that’s what we look for when putting our programme together,” Gary Pepper, festival director, said. One of the most notable performances at this year’s event is the second performance ever of ICE The Irish Concertina Ensemble, a new departure in Irish music. ICE brings together five master concertina players in Tim Collins, Pádraig Rynne, Mícheál O’Raghallaigh, Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Edel Fox. This innovative group’s performance in Feakle will include the premiere recital of newly-composed material by Tim Collins. Tim, a native of West Limerick, resides in Crusheen and is a well-known …

REPRESENTATIVES of the Killaloe Municipal District welcomed the provision of speed control signs in Ogonnelloe and Tuamgraney but requests to roll them out elsewhere came with a warning that each sign costs approximately €5,000. Councillor Pat Burke raised the issue in a motion that highlighted the effectiveness of the speed control measures introduced in Ogonnelloe and Tuamgraney recently. He asked would Clare County Council consider installing these measures at other villages, particularly on busy regional roads. Responding to the motion, Pat Henchy, executive engineer at the Killaloe Municipal District, said the council is well disposed to provide further speed warning devices but advised this was “all dependent on availability of funding”. He told members at the meeting he was not entirely sure what the cost was for the electronic signs, which flash the speed one is travelling at, but it was in the region of €5,000 per unit. Councillor Burke said the signs were “very effective warning signs and people …

More than 2,500 visitors have so far flocked to see the white tailed sea eagles from the newly installed viewing and information point in Mountshannon since it was officially opened on July 4. Located at Mountshannon Pier and funded by Clare County Council, the new tourism development features telescopes and information displays about Ireland’s largest and most spectacular breeding birds, including the first of the species to be born in the country in 110 years. The facility is being operated by the Mountshannon Eagle Group, Mountshannon Community Council and the Golden Eagle Trust and will remain open until the end of September. Speaking about this new facility, Congella McGuire, Clare heritage officer, said the introduction of the viewing point “has further increased public interest in the local White-Tailed Sea Eagle population, without disturbing them in their natural habitat”. She said since the birds first arrived in Mountshannon three years ago, the council has worked closely with the Golden Eagle Trust …

MORE  than 2500 visitors have so far flocked to see the White Tailed Sea Eagles viewing and information point  in Mountshannon since it was officially opened on July 4 last. Located at Mountshannon Pier and funded by Clare County Council, the new tourism development features telescopes and information and displays about Ireland’s largest and most spectacular breeding birds, including the first of the species to be born in the country in 110 years on Bushy Island in Lough Derg. The facility is being operated by the Mountshannon Eagle Group, Mountshannon Community Council and the Golden Eagle Trust, and will remain open until the end of September. Congella McGuire, Clare Heritage Officer said the introduction of the viewing point has further increased public interest in the local White Tailed Sea Eagle population without disturbing them in their natural habitat. “Since the birds first arrived in Mountshannon three years ago, the council has worked closely with the Golden Eagle Trust and the local …

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has called on the State to acquire Drewsboro House, the birthplace of acclaimed author Edna O’Brien, with a view to turning it into a writer’s retreat and museum. In a letter to the newly appointed Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys TD, Deputy McNamara highlighted the cultural significance of the house, which is located in Tuamgraney. The property, which consists of 7.025acres, failed to sell at auction earlier this month and the Clare TD believes if the State were to acquire the property it would represent “good value for the State”. “The primary importance of Drewsboro is cultural. Readers of The Country Girls and many other Edna O’Brien novels are very familiar with the house. In her memoir Edna describes her childhood home as ‘a large two storey house with bay windows, and could be approached by two avenues an old and a new’,” he stated in his letter to Minister Humphreys. He …

CULLAUN Sailing Club, based in Kilkishen, hosted its first ever inter club junior regatta on Sunday last. Participating in the event were sailors from Cullaun Sailing Club, Killaloe Sailing Club and Foynes Yacht Club. Across the three clubs there were over 40 junior sailors represented on the water for the day ranging from 10 to 18 years of age. Commenting on the regatta Jim O’Sullivan of the Cullaun Sailing Club said, “this is the first time an event like this has been organised and judging by the skills and quality of the sailors it looks like it won’t be the last”. This was a mixed fleet of boats with a Portsmouth Handicap being used to calculate the overall winner. There were Lasers, Feva’s, Visions, Omegas and RS200 boats all competing for line honours at the event. Layla Benfredi of Cullaun Sailing Club came in first overall in her Laser and was closely followed by Sean Hynes and Mike O’Dea also …

Broadcaster, journalist and documentary presenter, Charlie Bird  will mark the 20th anniversary of the first IRA ceasefire in Northern Ireland at the opening of the 2014 Waterways Ireland Scariff Harbour Festival this August Bank Holiday weekend. For over 10 years from the start of the peace process, Charlie Bird was RTÉ’s contact with leading republicans. “This was one of the big dates in the history of the peace process, leading to the Good Friday Agreement,” said Charlie Bird. “I was one of three journalists given the statement by the IRA and the only one to have been given an audio copy of an IRA member reading out the statement. They have now been given to the National Museum in Dublin and, in time to come, will be on display,” he added. The idea for the very first festival in Scariff in 2003 stemmed from the Good Friday Agreement and the foresight of the North South Ministerial Council and the Arts …

He  is known as the Mandiago priest in his adopted home in The Gambia but for the next few months, Fr John (Jackie) Sharpe, CSSP, will be in Bodyke parish. He celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination over the weekend. He has already celebrated his 50 years of service in the Shrine Church he built at Kunkujang, The Gambia in March but his official golden jubilee date falls on July 5. A native of County Tipperary Fr Sharpe’s connection with East Clare goes back to 1965 when he first met Bodyke man, Bishop Michael Moloney, in The Gambia. Having been there since 1937, Bishop Moloney extended him a céad míle fáilte. Reflecting on his 49 years in Africa, Fr Sharpe sits in his Bodyke living room looking out at the beautiful view, content with what his retirement has to offer. He came home in 2009 on sabbatical, after spending nearly 45 years in The Gambia without a break. He was sent …