South Clare

STONE carving, traditional crafts and brush dancing formed a heady cocktail of entertainment to honour Ireland’s famous patron saint on the shores of Lough Derg last weekend.

MEMORIES of the Shannon Scheme in Ardnacrusha, the banshee, old trades, farming in the old days, house dances and other traditions will be recalled in Killaloe this weekend.People will have the unique opportunity to hear the voices of some of Clare’s oldest citizens with recollections of a fading way of life.Killaloe Ballina Family Resource Centre Training and Education Programme, Clare VEC Community Education and Cuimhneamh an Chláir present Come here till I tell ya… Killaloe!Memories from the Cuimhneamh an Chláir archive and the official launch of the Folklore and Oral History Community Education Programme being run at the centre takes place in the Family Resource Centre on Saturday at 6pm.Cuimhneamh an Chláir’s popular listening room experience will travel to Killaloe as part of the group’s attempt to spread interest in the lore and tradition of Clare across the county.The group, who have voluntarily documented more than 500 interviews with Clare’s oldest citizens over the last three years, have already held …

A KILLALOE couple have clashed with a local businessman over alleged representations he made on behalf of a developer, who purchased a local ghost estate where their unoccupied house is situated.Michele Burke and William Buck, who have been forced to pay rent and a mortgage for over four years, while services at Ard na Deirge, Killaloe remain unfinished, have sent Brian Whelan a solicitor’s letter.Mr Whelan has declined to comment on the contents of the solicitor’s letter or a copy of sworn affidavits sent to The Clare Champion by the couple and another property owner, John Ryan, who also can’t get into his house in the estate.In the solicitor’s letter, Leahy and Partners stressed there is no foundation to statements made in recent telephone calls to their clients that they have not paid for the property and have no right of access to it.“Michele Burke and William Buck are the full registered owners of the above property with a State-guaranteed …

A Killaloe transition year student was this week given a unique insight into nanoscience, the “science of the small”, when the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), Ireland’s leading nanoscience institute at Trinity College Dublin, hosted their Spring Transition Week.

The promoters of a new car park on the outskirts of Clonlara are examining the feasibility of hiring a shuttle bus to transport commuters from the new parking area to the University of Limerick campus.

A LOCAL woman who spent over five years in a Magdalene Laundry could receive up to €150,000 in compensation under the terms of a national redress scheme proposed by a new lobby group.Margaret Joyce (67) from Ballina, Killaloe, is one of the 400 women who have applied for inclusion in the Magdalene Redress Scheme, which will be structured by Mr Justice John Quirke, who has been given three months to submit a report on how to proceed.If Mr Quirke accepts the general terms of the scheme proposed by the Magdalene Survivors Together (MST) group, Ms Joyce could receive up to €150,000. The group  presented its proposals to Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Junior Minister for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch at a meeting in Dublin last week.The proposal includes a payment of €20,000 for each year that a woman worked without wages in a Magdalene Laundry and a lump-sum payment of €50,000 each for psychological damage. The maximum amount paid to …

CLARE County Council may be willing to take over two Ardnacrusha housing estates, apart from the operation and maintenance of the sewerage treatment plant, according to a local county councillor.Residens in Keelgrove and Ballyglass have already met South East Clare councillors to make a case for the public taking in charge of these estates.A liquidator was appointed to Keelgrove Construction Limited last November, presenting householders with a new challenge when it comes to dealing with maintenance issues in the estate. There are in the region of 150 houses in total between the two estates.Senior executive engineer Hugh McGrath explained the local area office and the planning department are assessing the implications of a public takeover taking into concern the value of planning bonds.While he said the council would like to be in position to take over at least a portion of the estate, Mr McGrath pointed out the council had to go through a statutory procedure to ascertain the full …

MARGARET Joyce from Ballina, just across the Shannon from Killaloe, was in Dáil Éireann on Tuesday evening to hear Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s apology to the women who had been forced to spend many years in the Magdalene Laundries.