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Clare links for one of Ireland’s oldest citizens

THE son of a former Loop Head Lighthouse keeper continues to break records for longevity, recently celebrating his 108th birthday.  One of Ireland’s oldest citizens, Mathew Crowley was born In Askeaton, County Limerick in 1914. The son of James Crowley, Principal Lighthouse Keeper at Loop Head, Matthew’s mother was Amelia ‘Millie’ Crowley (née Colfer) from Fethard-on-Sea in Wexford.  Plenty of hard work and lots of excitement may be the secret to a long and happy life, as Matthew played in a central role in Britain’s war effort from 1939 to 1945, before later working for Irish Lights. Matthew was recruited from Ford Motor Company, Cork City, Ireland, to Ford Motor Company, Dagenham in Essex. With the advent of World War II, aircraft engine production superseded automobile engines, and Matthew’s subsequent designation was as an ‘essential worker’ for the British war effort. With the advent of the Hawker Hurricane fighter airplane, he was initially recruited to the assembly team of Hawker-Sidley …

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Flagmount’s Hilary for major literary festival

EAST Clare resident Hilary Dully is to make a key contribution to the Write By The Sea 2022 Literary Festival in Kilmore Quay, Wexford, next month. Living in Flagmount for the last 25 years, Hilary has made a huge contribution to the social and cultural life of the area. She will be a much-anticipated presence at Write By The Sea, when she adds her experience to a talk entitled ‘Wexford Women of The Revolution’. A documentary filmmaker, film teacher and writer, Hilary has a family connection to Marie Comerford, a staunch Irish Republican from Wexford, who witnessed events from 1916 to 1923, and was an active supporter of Cumann na mBan. This year, Write By The Sea runs from Friday, September 23 to Sunday September 25. It will be officially opened by keynote speaker Professor Kevin Rafter, Chair of The Arts Council, at 6pm on Friday, September 23. Other key contributors already confirmed include Claire Keegan, Roddy Doyle, Martina Devlin, Liz Nugent, Manchan Magan and Lucy Caldwell. “It’s been said that one of the key …

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Clare man’s central role in Ireland’s Aga Khan glory

THE WORLD famous Aga Khan trophy could be making its way to Clare next month to mark the role of a Tuamgraney man in Team Ireland’s victory in the Nations Cup last week. The glittering prize is one of the most sought-after in international equestrian sport and was donated by Aga Khan III in 1926. Chef d’Équipe, Tuamgraney’s Michael Blake, ensured that Ireland took back the coveted cup for the first time since 2015 in after a tense, but thrilling, jump-off against France. An elated Michael, who is also celebrating early qualification for the Olympics in 2024, told The Champion the nail-biting finish was a little tighter than he would have liked. “We did take our foot off the gas at point, but when it came down to the penalty shoot-out, we showed we could put the ball in the back of the net,” he said. On returning to Clare last Monday, one of the first things Michael did was …

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Wait goes on for Shannon Aldi decision

WELL over a year after Clare County Council rejected Aldi’s plans for a Shannon store, An Bord Pleanála has yet to make a decision on an appeal. A spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála this week said that its inspector has already completed work on the case, but it still has to go before the board of An Bord Pleanála. She was unable to say when this would happen, but that the agency is dealing with a significant backlog. While the board usually goes along with the inspector’s recommendations, that is not always the case. Indeed, on a previous occasion an inspector had recommended allowing an Aldi store to go ahead in the town, only for the board to overrule them. There has been much anger in recent years over how Shannon has developed, and the Council’s decision to block Aldi’s proposals led to more disquiet in the town. When the most recent Aldi application came before the Council, it was …

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Green light for Clare school’s expansion plans

SAINT Aidan’s National School has received the green light for a single-storey extension, that will consist of two special educational needs classrooms and one mainstream classroom. The planners’ report said that the “extension measures (to maximum dimensions) 33.7m in width, 22.3m in depth and 5.4m in height. “The design of the proposed building will be similar in design and scale to the existing building and will contain a series of pitched roofs, albeit with more contemporary finish.” It also says the application included “the extension of an existing covered bike shelter located to the rear of the existing school building in the playground”. “The proposed bike shelter will be extended by an additional 2.7m which will allow for an additional four Sheffield stands to accommodate eight bicycles.” The application also included the extension of the existing car parking area to accommodate six cars. Regarding zoning, the planners’ report stated, “The proposed development site is located on land zoned within the …

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Artist ‘reflects’ on Clare’s landscape in latest exhibition

LOCAL artist  Dympna Bonfield will launch a new exhibition of her work this September in glór. The exhibition, titled Reflections will run upstairs in glór gallery until Saturday, October 1. The exhibition comprises 25 vibrant paintings inspired by the unique landscape of Clare and will be launched on Thursday, September 1 at 6.30pm by Joe Lynch. Dympna exhibits work both nationally and internationally. After spending many years living and working in Dublin she returned west, to her native County Clare. Much of her recent work can be seen to reflect this move, and draws inspiration from the surrounding landscape resulting in a new found freedom of expression that reflects the essential character and culture of the west of Ireland. This exhibition takes us on a wonderful, winding road of seashores, surf and sea-swells, of soft bog cotton, of furze, of stony Burren, of childhood, of sand, of home, of friends, of solitude. From an early age Dympna Bonfield was interested …

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Ennistymon Book Town Festival eagerly anticipated

LITERATURE lovers will flock to North Clare on the last weekend in August as Ennistymon once again becomes a Book Town.  For the eleventh year, the bustling town will become a reader’s paradise, with book shops popping up in vacant premises and taking over the Courthouse Gallery and Teach Cheoil.  On offer at stalls and shops will be new, used and antiquarian books, fiction and nonfiction, for all age groups, including rare County Clare items, GAA histories, children’s books, and literary and light reads.  “This year, our challenge has been to find empty shop units and that’s a great testament to how Ennistymon has flourished in recent years,” said organising committee member, Jon Heddon. “Over the years, we’ve had seven or eight units annually that we would have used. Now, those premises have come back into use and it’s just great to see that. “We will still be able to accommodate all of our regular booksellers, from all over Ireland, …

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€10m spend on housing in Shannon in first six months of year

JUST under €10 million was spent on residential property in Shannon town in the first six months of the year. According to figures from the Residential Property Price Register, there were 46 transactions during the first half of 2022, with a total spend of €9,978,750. That gives a mean price of €216,929. April was the quietest month of the year, with a mere four transactions, while there were nine in January and May and eight in each of the other three months. The largest sum paid was €560,000 for a house at Tullyglass Hill. The least costly transaction, for which full market price was still paid, was the sale of a property at Brú na Sionna for €90,000. The level of activity seems to be slightly higher than pre-pandemic, with the 46 transactions in the first half of 2022 slightly more than the 38 in the first half of 2019. Councillor Gerry Flynn said that there are finally some private …

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