Regional

A BIRTHDAY gift has been put to good use by a Sixmilebridge woman who has just donated €1,000 to Pieta House. Angie Togher, a native of Limerick, but living in the ‘Bridge for the last 38 years, fulfilled a lifetime ambition of writing a novel, after she retired from the health services. The book was set aside for some time and Angie thought no more about it until her family organised its publication as a birthday surprise. “They asked Dominic Taylor form the Limerick Writers’ Centre to look after the printing, but kept it all a complete secret until my birthday when they told me that publication was underway,” Angie said. “I was just delighted and got to pick the typeface and the cover before the book was printed.” ‘Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things’ tells the story of Hugh who is struggling to cope with childhood trauma and the death of his wife. He travels to Scotland, his wife’s native …

THE fruits of a literacy project for immigrant families to share their stories that began in a north Clare school has earned a national award for Clare County Council. The Council has been presented with the Chambers Ireland 2020 Excellence in Local Government ‘Best Library Service’ Award for the project, ‘Connections: Stories by Syrian Families in County Clare’. The presentation of the award was made at Shannon Library by the Chief Executive Officer of Shannon Chamber, Helen Downes, to representatives of Clare County Council. ‘Connections’ is a compilation of written and illustrated stories in which the authors – children and adults – recall real places and experiences and imagine a bright future in Ireland and, in particular, in County Clare. The publication is primarily the result of a literacy project shared by children of Ennistymon National School, Scoil Mhainchín, with their parents and siblings. The objective of this library initiative in the ‘Right to Read’ programme was to give space …

THE structural repair and refurbishment works to the O’Connell Monument which were put on hold due to Covid-19 will now commence on June 9,with scaffolding to be erected in the first week. This project is being part funded under the Historic Structure Fund 2020 from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and will take up to 12 weeks to complete (without interruption). The contractors appointed to undertake the specialist repair work are INSP Stone Ltd. T/A Irish Natural Stone, Bouleevin, Boston, Tubber. The loading bay immediately adjacent to the O’Connell Monument will be temporarily blocked off while scaffolding is being erected and decommissioned. A pedestrian management plan will also be put in place.

THERE is to be further disruption to water supplies in a west Clare community this week as work progresses on water main improvements. These works will impact water supply on Tuesday, June 1, and Thursday, June 3 between 10am and 4pm primarily to Milltown Malbay village. They may however also impact on Spanish Point and surrounding areas. These works may also impact on all group schemes fed from the supply including Rinnen and Glendine schemes. Irish Water, working in partnership with Clare County Council, is installing 4.7km of new water main to replace old mains in the area which were bursting frequently. This will result in a more secure and reliable water supplies for local residents and businesses as well as a number of Group Water Schemes supplied from the public mains. This works got underway in October and are expected to be completed by the end of June. It may take 2-3 hours for normal water supply to return …

TWO East Clare artists have put their talents to great use as part of an art raffle which will take place in support of Mountshannon Arts in June. Mel White and Gilli Browne have joined forces to create the collaborative artistic due known as CocoNut. Together, they have created a stunning graphic painting of two fallow stags. Entitled ‘Fallow Me’, the piece takes its inspiration from Mountshannon Arts’ theme of ‘Regeneration’. Mel, also known as Maximillist, is described as a pop artist whose influences range from Andy Warhol to Frida Kahlo. She uses neon to bombard the viewer’s senses, while Gilli invokes movement and texture through palette knife techniques. “We decided to undertake this initiative to help raise much needed funds for the Mountshannon Arts Festival,” said Mel. “The arts offer an opportunity to experience something new or gain a new perspective which is represented in the festival theme ‘Regeneration’. Buying a ticket helps the festival, an important cultural amenity, …

WHILE Clare Museum in Ennis has been closed to the public or has operated under visitor restrictions during the applicable levels of Covid-19 restrictions, it has continued to collect the history of Clare. In December 2020, Clare Museum received from a donor in Vancouver, Canada, a collection associated with the Scott family of Cahiracon House, in Kildysart. The Scotts arrived in Clare when the Earl of Thomond leased Cahiracon in Kildysart to Angel Scott in perpetuity. The Scotts continued to reside at Cahiracon until the mid-19th century and owned land mainly in the Barony of Clonderlaw in Clare. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation, John Bindon Scott was High Sheriff of County Clare. The Scotts are remembered as good landlords in the Kildysart area today, as they did their best to help their tenants during the potato famine. It ruined the family financially and their indebted estate was sold under the Encumbered Estates Act in 1854. The Scotts left Ireland …

WHILE plans for a landmark sculpture in Ennistymon have been paused, there has been no let-up in the debate over the proposed Púca. In recent days, celebrities, artists, historians, folklorists and an MEP have weighed in, in support of Aidan Harte’s proposals for a 2metre high half-man, half-horse on Lower Church Hill. Opposition to the bronze structure has also ramped up in recent days with an online petition under the heading of ‘The People of Ennistymon say NO to the Puca statue’. As of Wednesday lunchtime, it had gathered 244 signatures and is set to be forwarded to Clare County Council by the end of the week. Offers of alternative accommodation for the statue have come from all over Ireland, with folklorist Eddie Lenihan proposing that Crusheen might provide a suitable home. “It may not be the púca as portrayed in Irish folk tradition, but it is a fine piece of sculpture nonetheless,” he said. “Crusheen has grown enormously in …

A PROJECT aimed at ensuring the survival of a part of Ennistymon’s heritage has been granted funding. Ennistymon Tidy Towns plan to carry out a survey of the area’s remaining hand-forged gates with the aim of identifying which of these historic items can eventually be restored. Grant funding for the survey has been awarded to the local group under the recently announced Community Heritage Grant scheme 2021. Brendan P Lynch, chairperson Ennistymon Tidy Towns told The Champion, “This is a great recognition of the group’s involvement in the heritage of the area and in turn will form part of our heritage entry into the national Tidy Towns competition. The Ennistymon Vernacular Gates Survey will, he said, look at all remaining hand-forged gates in the town of Ennistymon and surrounding hinterland and record these to the standard of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH). “This survey will then be used to identify a select number of gates to be conserved …