West Clare

  The sound of gentle crackling of flames fills a room that is sprinkled with numerous black and white family photos. The seaside breeze hisses beneath the rafters at the home of Carrigaholt’s oldest resident. As she speaks, Margaret Boland’s eyes glisten with thousands of memories. This is the 103rd birthday she has celebrated and some might forgive her for growing tired of the ritual.   “I’m 103,” Margaret proudly exclaims, with a wink. “You wouldn’t think it, would you?” She has lived through a century, experiencing events that have been confined to history books for most. Yet she has hardly set foot outside of West Clare. Born and reared in the rural seaside village of Carrigaholt, she bid farewell to her siblings at a young age as they set sail for New York. “She stayed behind,” her daughter Margaret Jr explains. “I think she just liked to be home to look after her mother. She died at 84.” A …

LABASHEEDA hosted its 18th Dan Furey weekend of set dancing last weekend. Secretary Liam Woulfe said it was quite a success and said that there had been a lot of effort put in by a large number of people from the community.

EMMET Greaney, secretary of the Kilrush Fianna Fáil Cumann has challenged Clare’s three Government TDs to “stop this Government from further attacking the weak and vulnerable”. In a statement issued this week, he claimed the disadvantaged area and the disabled persons’ schemes now face losing funding from local authorities across the country. “From the viewpoint of my sister, I have seen first hand how such funding to the disabled helps both families and the community as a whole and how it creates a better standard of life for those with disabilities,” Mr Greaney said. “Galway County Council last week admitted that because of the shortfall in the household charge payments across the county, payments to these schemes would be cut or postponed. This sets a precedent for the rest of the country. Cork has now begun deferring such payments, leaving the possibility of the same happening here in Clare,” Mr Greaney claimed. “These grants and schemes are used to improve …

THE 18th annual Dan Furey weekend of set-dancing will be held in Labasheeda this weekend. It will start on Friday evening and conclude on Sunday. The headquarters will be the local community centre. The festival in memory of Dan, who dedicated his life to teaching the dances of the Labasheeda area, has become the focal point for the community over the years. Dan Furey and his friend, James Keane, came to national and international prominence in their latter years particularly through Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy and travelled all over Ireland and abroad teaching set and step dancing. The festival will be officially opened on the Friday night at 9.30pm by Fr Tom McGrath, who spent over 40 years in Kenya as a missionary priest. He is now retired at home in the company of his mother, Bridie, and sister, Mary. Stephen McDonagh is a local historian who, along with heritage officers from Clare County Council, in conjunction with Heritage Week, …

More than 12,500 people have visited Loop Head Lighthouse in Kilbaha since it was officially opened to the public on  May 18, figures released on Tuesday show.

WHILE Kilkee Marine Rescue primarily concentrate on rescuing or recovering people from the water, one of their members became exceptionally well acquainted with Croagh Patrick in Mayo last Sunday.

MILTOWN Malbay teacher Niamh Quinn will shortly depart her post at Quilty National School to begin a one-year work placement in Papua New Guinea.Niamh is volunteering with VSO, the international development charity that recruits volunteers and places them overseas to work in some of the world’s poorest countries. For the next year Niamh will be based at the Madang Teacher Training College in the town of Madang in Northern Papua New Guinea as a teacher-training advisor. She will be paid a local living allowance by VSO and will live close to the college.Speaking about her trip, Niamh said, “I am really looking forward to the challenge that a new job and a new country will bring. “Hopefully, my relatively short time in Papua New Guinea will make a difference to the educational needs of the region.”The quality of education in Papua New Guinea is at a low level, especially in rural communities, as many children cannot attend school due to …

KILRUSH town councillor Ian Lynch has revealed that, on a recent visit to the US, he found that representatives of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland were unaware of plans to utilise Shannon Airport as a cargo hub.Councillor Lynch was speaking at last month’s meeting of Kilrush Town Council, following a motion from Councillor Tom Prendeville asking that the members call a special meeting with interested organisations to examine ways and means of assisting local businesses to withstand the recession. He suggested the initiative could include marketing and promotion, a renewed Shop Local campaign, a rates-remission scheme for vacant commercial outlets, attracting industrial investment and the creation of sustainable employment opportunities.“Towns like Kilrush must fend for ourselves. It is vital that we take every opportunity available to promote our town to ensure we are attractive for new business development,” Councillor Lynch commented.However, he then revealed there appears to be a lack of communication between some State agencies involved in the employment …