Tag Archives: book

AN historian who wishes to “bring out of the shadows the stories of the extraordinary women of Ennis who played their part in creating an independent Ireland” in a new book is appealing to the public for their help. Dr Martin Walsh is currently researching and writing a book on the women of Ennis Cumann na mBan and their lives before, during and after the revolutionary period in Clare. As part of his research he hopes to be able to talk to the relatives of these women to learn more about them, and he is urging readers of the Clare Champion who may be able to help to get in touch. For more on this story and all the latest news from the Banner County, pick up this week’s Clare Champion or view our digital edition which is available HERE.

The owners and curators of Kilbaha Gallery in West Clare, have put together a comprehensive guide for artists who are considering a professional career in art and are trying to navigate a path through the industry. The aim is to be of some help to ALL artists, but particularly those at the early stages of their career, to help them understand the nuances of the industry, as well as, perhaps, to claim more autonomy over their own career paths. “The art industry can often feel somewhat vague, and not just to people outside the industry, looking in, but to those within it too,” says Liz Greehy, co-founder of Kilbaha Gallery. “Even though we can only write from our own experience, and from our own very specific end of the industry, we do feel that this e-book just might help bring a bit of clarity to the various directions an artist can take.” The contemporary art landscape is changing. It is …

A lifelong friendship with Irish actor and singer, Richard Harris, is featured in a new book written by well-known Kilkee fisherman, lifeguard, diver, restaurant operator, and Marine Rescue Centre founder, Manuel Di Lucia. The 83 year old has published a new book about his action-packed life living in the West Clare popular seaside resort. Entitled “You Will Only Live Once”, it will be launched in Sheils’ Showrooms, Ennis on June 14 at 5.30pm. The proceeds of the book will be divided between the RNIL, Kilrush and West Clare Cancer Centre in Kilkee. His thirty years of fishing experience proved very useful when Mr Di Lucia and his wife, Doris, opened a seafood restaurant in 1973 in a premises owned by film star and friend, Richard Harris, which the couple were looking after at the time. “Richard Harris came one day to see us with a friend. We made lunch for him with lobsters, crayfish and crabs. He said that is …

West Clare based American writer, Tara Darlene Smith, has released a powerful new memoir exploring war, relationships, mental health and healing “I knew nothing about Ireland at the time, I certainly never imagined that one day I’d be living here as a writer,” says Tara Darlene Smith as she reflects on the odyssey of releasing her first book. Twenty years ago, in 2004, the then 22-year-old arrived at Shannon Airport as a US soldier en route to Iraq. The brief stopover gave her enough time to purchase a silver shamrock necklace in a green box labelled “Tara,” which she wore every day at war. Thirteen years later, she returned as a civilian and a tourist to begin what she calls a “love affair with Clare”. It has been, she says, “a journey of healing the traumas of childhood and of war” and “discovering a sense of peace I never thought possible”. In her candid and gripping memoir entitled Sunflowers in …

More than two thirds of couples are meeting online, according to the author of a new book “Third Time Lucky at Table L2”. The increasing popularity of online dating has prompted a Broadford woman to provide a guide with useful tips to navigate what can be a “quagmire” for those who are ill-prepared to distinguish between a virtual lothario and a genuine lover. It is a book about internet dating, demonstrating what to expect when looking for love online interspersed with true stories of romantic adventures and misadventures. The book will be launched in the Washer Woman, Ballina, Killaloe on Saturday, September 2, at 7.30pm. Now living in Ballina, Killaloe, her book has a happy ending as she chronicles how she found love just across the river with her current partner. “I was at a wedding recently where the couple met on “Plenty of Fish”, which was where I met my partner, Kerry Blake, who is in my final chapter,” …

WITH a love for music that goes back to his childhood, it’s little surprise that Ennis author Ollie Byrnes has decided to write a book on the subject. Ollie is currently working on his latest publication ‘Music in Ennis’, examining the history of music in the county capital from 1950 onwards. Already he has amassed a wealth of information for the book including nearly 300 high quality photographs. Speaking to us about the planned publication he outlines, “For many years the writing of a book on music has been on my mind but I could not think of an angle, something that had not been done. Then a friend said “why not write a book on the Ennis scene, taking in all musical styles”? Recalling where his love of music began he says, “As a child, I heard the finest of Irish traditional music played live in my parent’s living room on the Gort Road, just off Marian Avenue. The …

SHANNON historian Gearóid Ó Faoleán has written a sequel to his 2019 book on support for the IRA in the Republic during the Troubles. A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, Volume 2: 1980-1989 was released earlier this month. “I did the 70s the last time and the book finished off at 1980, so it’s just continuing. Also, with the 30 year rule you couldn’t even do the 90s yet, you’d have to wait until 2029 to get those details,” says Gearóid. Now based in Belfast, he works in publishing, with the new book having been written as a side project. “Lockdown was about a year after the first book came out. Everyone had spare time so I kicked off again.” The true extent of support for the Provos south of the border in the 1980s is hard to quantify, he believes. “It was much harder to tell than in the 70s. By the time you’d …

Rose Dugdale, who spurned a life of privilege to join the IRA, is the subject of a book by writer Sean O’Driscoll A DÉBUTANTE presented to Queen Elizabeth in 1958, young Rose Dugdale had a life of privilege among England’s upper class at her feet, but instead she turned her back on her upbringing, joined the IRA and spent most of the 1970s in prison. Her extraordinary life story has now been told by Ennis journalist Sean O’Driscoll in his second book, Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber: The Extraordinary Life of Rose Dugdale. Dugdale co-operated with the book and Sean spoke frequently to her during his research, while he says he was aware of the privileged revolutionary from his youth. “We used to visit cousins in Dublin and we’d pass Portlaoise prison and my mother or father  would say that’s where Eddie Gallagher (the father of Dugdale’s child, whom she married while in prison) is. On the way back down passing …