New ICA guild for Liscannor

LISCANNOR ladies came together in recent weeks to form a new Irish Countrywomen’s Association guild in the North Clare village.

The ICA is well-known for its Boot Camp on RTÉ television and its members’ prowess in home crafts but fun, friendship and support are other important pillars of the organisation and it was these that prompted the women of Liscannor to form a guild locally.

“Eilish Blake started it really. She had the idea. She asked around other women to see if people would be interested in forming a women’s group. We were looking for something which would allow us to get together. There is little opportunity, when you don’t have young children, to meet with other women in the area, except by going to the pub or seeing people after mass.

“I think it is especially important to have something like this over the winter months because in the summer everyone is busy with farming or holidays or tourism-related activities so we were looking for something to bring us together. We decided to form an ICA because that ticked all the boxes and it meant we could formally get together and organise activities,” explained Mary Buckley, public relations officer for the new guild.

The ICA is not new to Liscannor. It was home to a guild in the past. Now some of the people who had been members of that guild are finding their way back into the ICA with the formation of this group.

“We get together for a social or community building thing. We haven’t got into the home crafts side of things yet. At our first meeting we had a pilates presentation and at the next one we hope to have Sergeant Joe Downey from the Clare gardaí giving us a talk about personal safety.

“Liscannor is a small village and we have set this up to bring more of a community togetherness to the place. We have 15 members so far, meeting twice a month, on the second and fourth Monday in the month at 8pm in the community centre in Liscannor. Anyone is welcome to join. This is something for women of all ages,” she said.