West Clare

CARRIGAHOLT was particularly busy last weekend and should be equally packed this coming weekend for the four-day May Bank Holiday Weekend Oyster Festival. The festival will open in Keane’s at 9.30pm where the festival queen will be crowned. Saturday will feature a shell craft competition, for children, on the beach from 12 noon. A children’s puppet show, an escorted family cycle, raft race, a Carrigaholt’s Got Talent karaoke competition in Morrissey’s and dolphin watch trips will also feature on the Saturday. A food and craft market will be located in the village square while on the Sunday, oysters will be prepared and served in the marquee. Sunday will also feature traditional music sessions, a guided family walk, an angling competition and the oyster opening championships at 3.30pm. Street entertainers will be trying to win prize money. Judging will be carried out during the festival and winners will be announced from 6 to 9pm on Sunday. Stalls will also be available …

THE West Clare Kidney Support Group will hold their annual fundraising walk on Sunday. The route will be from Kilrush to Cooraclare, departing the town square at 3pm. This year, the proceeds from the walk will be donated to the Clare branch of the Irish Kidney Association. The figure collected in 2010 amounted to over €22,000, which was presented to the Clare branch of the Irish Kidney Association.All walkers are asked to have registered prior to the event. They can do this by collecting a sponsorship card from committee members. There will also be an opportunity to register on the day of the walk. This can be done at the square in Kilrush or at the church gate in Cooraclare village. Christy Curtin, Mayor of Clare, who has participated in the walk over the years, will cut the tape at 3pm. All registered walkers will be supplied with a t-shirt and a cap.At 2.20pm in Cooraclare, a bus will collect …

Kilrush will host a series of events from May 20 to 24 to mark the return to the town of Ireland’s foremost cycle race.

Parents of Doonaha National School pupils are using the power of social media by launching a Facebook campaign called ‘Save Small Schools – Ireland’ to allow the voices of all small schools to be heard. This follows a parent-teacher meeting in response to the ‘Value for Money’ review by the Departments of Education and Finance.

Organisers of this summer’s Feile Sona Festival in Kilrush will hold a 5km family walk/run and an egg hunt on Sunday, starting at 3pm from Kilrush Marina.The event is being organised to raise funds for this year’s Feile Sona Family Festival to be held from July 1-3 in the town.“We organised last year’s festival so that families could have a fun event in Kilrush, one which would provide entertainment for all generations. “We recognised that everyone’s pockets are feeling the pinch of current times and the festival was about having fun with out that burdening cost,” festival organiser Ian Lynch said. “We have been thinking of events throughout the year that stick to the ethos of the family festival, which bring families together to have fun without a huge financial cost. We decided to organise next Sunday’s activities as a way of encouraging families to do stuff together, have some fun and also raise some funds for Feile Sona 2011,” …

Raidió Corca Baiscinn has been working with children in 11 South West Clare national schools to produce the series The Place Where We Live. Since 2009, fifth and sixth class pupils have researched their home townlands and the names of the places where their schools are. Each half hour programme involves the children presenting their local area through stories, history, songs and music. Eight of these programmes have been broadcast already but to celebrate the completion of this series, all 11 programmes will be broadcast during the month of April. The programmes will be broadcast on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3.30pm.The following are the broadcast dates for the remaining schools: Shragh National School, Monday, April 18; Querrin National School, Tuesday, April 19; Kilkee National School, Wednesday, April 20; Carrigaholt National School, Monday, April 25; Gaelscoil Uí Choimín, Tuesday, April 26. These are fascinating programmes, delving into the history and folklore of South West Clare and are sure to appeal …

KILKEE town councillors have expressed disappointment at the lack of money available to upgrade the East End car park, the Post Office Lane and other necessary road works in the town.

LAST weekend Kilkee Marine Rescue marked the 30th anniversary of their establishment in 1981.