Tag Archives: ballyvaughan

A NORTH Clare hotel has reopened, securing 20 jobs, after it was bought by a prominent local business family. The Hylands Burren Hotel in Ballyvaughan reopened on Friday having been purchased by the Quinn family, who own holiday cottages, a craft shop and Italian restaurant L’Arco in the village. Madeleine Taylor Quinn is a former TD, senator and mayor of the county. According to Ms Taylor Quinn, retaining jobs in the area is vital. “The hotel has 20 staff and these have been kept on. Keeping people employed is critical and especially being able to offer secure employment is very important. There will also be a spin-off for other businesses in the village. The hotel had a very good reputation when it was owned by the Hyland family and later owned by a family from Donegal, before being owned by Canadians. They have had it for the past two years and we bought it from them,” she explained. While the new …

Phil Spencer, co-presenter of the hit Channel 4 TV series Location Location Location, and Classic FM, one of Britain’s largest radio stations, has linked up with Tourism Ireland to showcase Clare and the Wild Atlantic Way as the ideal ‘location’ to British holidaymakers this autumn. As part of its autumn campaign in Britain, Tourism Ireland has been working with Classic FM and Phil Spencer to produce four online films – including one film all about the Wild Atlantic Way. The films will be promoted on the Classic FM website over a four-week period, until mid-October. The campaign is expected to reach about 6.5 million people across Britain. The Wild Atlantic film features great footage of the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher and O’Brien’s Tower, Doolin and Ballyvaughan. Phil will also promote autumn breaks to Galway and Ireland over the coming weeks, through on-air mentions on Classic FM and he will tweet about Ireland to his 133,000 followers, from his Twitter …

The Dean of Colombia University’s School of Art, a twice nominated Turner Prize painter, a former Danish Minister for Culture and a leading art theorist from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago are among the confirmed participants in a programme of events marking the 20th anniversary of Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan. From July 17-20, works by some of its most successful and high profile alumni will go on show, with a symposium exploring alternative models of education, featuring contributions from groundbreaking Irish and overseas art education innovators. Irish-born American painter and printmaker and twice Turner Prize-nominee, Sean Scully will also receive an honorary doctorate. Located at Newtown Castle, the Burren College of Art specialises in delivering a range of contemporary fine art programmes including photography, sculpture, painting and digital media. Postgraduate programmes at the college have been accredited by National University of Ireland, Galway since 2002. Mary Hawkes Greene, president and founder of the Burren College of …

Clare County Council was working on Wednesday to make a North Clare road passable after  heavy rain caused severe damage to it,  cutting off nine families. Thunder showers on Tuesday caused flash floods on multiple roads throughout the county making them temporarily impassable. When the water subsided, however, a segment of the L 10283 near Ballyvaughan, was washed away with it. The road is part of the route for the Burren Marathon which takes place this weekend. Local man James Keane managed to get to his home at Faunrooska but only after abandoning his car and using a tractor to cross the water-logged section of road. “The road is a cul de sac. There are nine houses beyond the section that was torn away. When I came home I just had to leave the car and get a tractor to bring us back across to the house because of the water but today [Wednesday] it was impassable even with a …

HUNDREDS of cyclists will set off from Ennis this month for a very special fundraising event and to remember an avid member of a local cycling club, who died suddenly last year. This year’s Dolmen Challenge Tour is being dedicated to the memory of the late Seamus Mullane, a keen cyclist and member of Dolmen Cycle Club. The father-of-four was also known to many through his work with Aer Lingus in Shannon and, more recently, the court service in Ennis. As part of the cycle, the participants will pass the Mullane family home in Kilnaboy and will mark a minute’s remembrance at the nearby graveyard. The cycle will take place on April 27, leaving from the Woodstock Golf and Country Club on the Shanaway Road at 10am. As well as honouring the life of the late Mr Mullane, the event will also raise money for the valuable work of Doolin Search and Rescue. According to John Colleran of Dolmen Cycle …

HUNDREDS of cyclists will set off from Ennis this month for a very special fundraising event to remember an avid member of a local cycling club who died suddenly last year. This year’s Dolmen Challenge Tour is being dedicated to the memory of the late Seamus Mullane, a keen cyclist and member of Dolmen Cycle Club. The father of four was also known to many through his work with Aer Lingus in Shannon and more recently the court service in Ennis. As part of the cycle, the participants will pass the Mullane family home in Kilnaboy and will mark a minute’s remembrance at the nearby graveyard. The cycle will take place on April 27, leaving from the Woodstock Golf and Country Club on the Shanaway Road at 10am. As well as honouring the life of the late Mr Mullane, the event will also raise money for the valuable work of Doolin Search and Rescue. According to John Colleran of Dolmen …

BALLYVAUGHAN-based writer Karen McDonnell has won the 2014 WOW award for poetry.  The prize is awarded annually by Wordsonthewaves, which publishes an anthology of fiction and poetry by shortlisted and winning writers. Two of McDonnell’s poems were long listed with one, Upstream, the Bliss of Heaven making the final shortlist. Part of a historical song-cycle, the poem’s subjects are Margaret Roper and her father Thomas More, who was condemned to death in the reign of Henry VIII. Commenting on his choice for the WOW! Poetry Prize, judge Knute Skinner wrote: “Is there a word out of place? I don’t think so.” McDonnell’s travel writing, fiction, non-fiction and poetry have been published in The Irish Times, Crannóg, The Clare Champion, by the Clare Poets, and in Los Angeles by the litzine poeticdiversity which will publish a second extract from Unsettled, a West Bank Journal in its Spring, 2014 issue. McDonnell is currently working on her first poetry collection, People this Little World. …

By Nicola Corless BALLYVAUGHAN-born singer Peter O’Donohue will be appearing at Belfast’s Grand Opera House next weekend, alongside some of the best opera singers in Europe, in  NI Opera’s new production of Verdi’s masterpiece, Macbeth. Peter will be singing in the 40-strong chorus, one of the most geographically-representative opera choruses ever assembled in Ireland, with members drawn from Derry  in the north, Wexford in the south, Ballyvaughan in the west, and Newtownards in the east, plus many places in between. “Macbeth is an opera that has it all – a well-known story, drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat and incredibly beautiful music. The chorus is sounding amazing and it’s great fun to be singing with people from all over Ireland,” he acknowledged. Shakespeare’s tale of murder, madness and all-consuming lust for power, which is well known to generations of English students, inspired Verdi to write some of his finest, most gripping music. In this new production, director Oliver …