Regional

Gerry Woods’ and Clare Roots Society publication brings the history of Ennis’ Old Mill Street to life “PRESERVING the history of an area gives us all a sense of place,” says Gerry Woods who, this Friday, releases a new book in conjunction with Clare Roots Society. The book, exploring the history of Old Mill Street, including Cornmarket, Considine’s Terrace and Old Cloughleigh, is a collection of articles, including on sport, poetry, maps and photographs. Unfortunately because of Covid-19 restrictions an official book launch cannot take place, however the publication will be available locally with all proceeds going to the Clare Roots Society. The contents of the publication were originally to be included in an upcoming book on Hermitage, but due to the quantity of material available on the area the decision was made to publish the history of Old Mill Street separately. Gerry says he was “very pleased” when he was approached by Larry Brennan of the Clare Roots Society …

THE first Aer Lingus flight from Shannon to London in 18 months took off from the Clare airport this afternoon. Arrival times from London into Shannon are 16:10 on Monday through Friday and Sunday, with arrival time on Saturdays scheduled for 15:45. The service will operate for ten weeks during the closure of Cork Airport for runway upgrade works. Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said it was great to see the service back in what has been and continues to be an extremely difficult period for the aviation sector. “The connectivity provided by Aer Lingus at Shannon has always been a valuable contributor to the regional economy,” said Ms Considine. “The hub status of Heathrow for businesses to connect with the global marketplace is crucial, and the inbound Heathrow service helps drive tourism into the region.” “We are working closely with Aer Lingus and our other airline partners to build on the service and to resume long-haul services,” she added. …

UNIVERSITY students led by an Ennis woman have put their best foot forward to raise much needed funds for various organisations including a local community hospital and nursing home. Community Liaison Officer at the University of Limerick, and Ennis native, Gabriella Hanrahan spearheaded the fundraising efforts which encouraged students to get some exercise while also doing some good for worthy causes. She believes that higher education students are an “untapped resource” and is encouraging communities to get in touch to explore ways student volunteers can support local initiatives. Speaking to The Clare Champion about the fundraiser, Gabriella said, “Covid has created enormous challenges for organisations that traditionally fundraise to provide additional supports and services to communities. Covid also had the effect of reducing volunteering opportunities.” She explained that the students committed to doing 40km of exercise with some walking, cycling or running, and they donated the money raised to animal shelters and activities for residents in nursing homes. They raised …

CLARE Youth Service is offering young people the opportunity to put the best face on things with its new online course. The service in conjunction with the Creative Youth Partnership, is offering a new online make-up course for young people aged 15-17, starting Tuesday, September 14 and running for six weeks. This is an opportunity for young people who might be interested in make-up artistry as a career to gain some experience and meet some new people. Through Zoom, young people will meet a qualified LCETB make-up tutor, who will take them through a different aspect of make-up application and skin care each week. This is also a chance to take part in the wide range of online activities which Clare Youth Service has been offering. Young People will log on through Zoom, with permission from an adult/parent, starting Tuesday at 6pm until 7.30pm. Each young person will be given a pack in advance to ensure they have all they …

Ennis councillors to further discuss reinstating railings around restored O’Connell monument in the county town MEMBERS of the Ennis Municipal District have remained on the fence when it comes to the possibility of reinstating wrought-iron railings around the O’Connell monument. Councillor Johnny Flynn has urged the municipal district to start a public consultation process on the potential of reinstating a portion of the railings at the Height. Workers have had “unpleasant dealings with people who occupy the area” around the Height, and railings would help prevent litter in the area, he told the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. Councillor Flynn said the work would “complement and enhance” planned public realm works in O’Connell Square and Bank Place as well as the conservation works on the O’Connell monument. “Such works could also be seen to be complementary to proposals incorporated in the current Part 8 planning application for welcome public realm upgrades to O’Connell Street and Barrack Street,” said …

THE WATERS off county Clare are once again the focus of attention for eye-opening marine life action. Last week, a group of scuba divers observed a large gathering of Basking Sharks engaged in what is believed to be courtship behaviour and in doing so, captured some amazing footage. Little is known about the behaviour of the giant creatures, the second largest fish in the sea and, like many, sadly now an endangered species. The man responsible for the footage Mark O’Leary of UL Sub Aqua Club was on a dive with friends from Kilkee Sub Aqua Club when the opportunity arose to film the graceful creatures. Mark told The Champion this week that he and his friends had been planning a regular dive when some jet skiers told them at Kilkee pier that there were Basking Sharks in the area, so the group deliberately went out looking for them. “We found them pretty fast in around 70 metres of water,” …

THE easing of pedestrianisation in Ennis’ town centre has been labelled as a “mess” with calls for an alert system to be put in place to warn people when traffic is about to be let back on the streets. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed by the Ennis Municipal District that the public is to be asked its views on pedestrianisation next month. A survey to “capture the public’s mindset” on car-free streets is set to be launched by the local authority in mid October. Full details have to be finalised but it is anticipated that the public consultation process will be open for up to two weeks. Since August 30 restrictions on traffic in Ennis town centre have been lifted except for Monday to Friday from 11am to 2pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 6pm and Lower Parnell Street where the current road closure applies until the end of September. Councillor Mary Howard insists this has led to …

A PHOTOGRAPHIC archive chronicling the evolution of Shannon town and the broader region is set to be made available globally. The Special Collections and Archives Department at University of Limerick’s Glucksman Library has been awarded significant funding to digitise the Shannon Development photographic archive. UL’s Special Collections has been awarded around €125,000 (£107,365) in funding from the Wellcome Trust to catalogue, conserve, digitise and increase accessibility to the key photographic archive, which boasts around 25,000–36,000 original photographic negatives. The funding is part of an overall award of almost €500,000 (£427,809) granted by Wellcome to the collaborative project ‘The New Jerusalems: post-war New Town archives in Britain and Ireland’, granted to a network of archives services to catalogue and conserve eleven post-war new town collections. This funding award from the global charitable foundation is significant for UL, as it will allow the Glucksman Library to hire dedicated project staff and to purchase the necessary materials to catalogue, digitise and rehouse the …