Tag Archives: Carron

FARMERS in the Burren are said to be in “dire straits” after almost three months with virtually no rainfall. Despite the thundery downpours experienced in recent days across Clare, much of the north of the county has escaped, with drought-like conditions posing challenges for farmers. “It will be 13 weeks from the Spring Equinox to the Summer Solstice this weekend,” noted Burren IFA Chairman Michael Davoren. “In my lifetime, I haven’t seen a three month spell without rain. There’s been a slow drought since early Spring, which has badly hit the winterages. The wells and the springs of the Burren are in danger of running dry at this stage.” Mr Davoren estimated that grass growth is down between 30 and 40%, with some farmers having to use sileage to feed their cattle. “It threatened to rain at the weekend, but there wasn’t a drop. The winterages need a good dousing. The rain will come eventually,” he said, “but you can’t …

Carron will host the Clare lady footballers’ first league game, when they play Waterford at 2pm on Sunday. All-Ireland intermediate finalists in 2016, where they lost by just a point to Kildare, Clare are likely to field up to four débutantes this weekend. With a number of key players from last year not involved this season, Clare will field a much less experienced team. Younger players like Lizzie Roche, Anna Courtney, Amanda Mulcair, Tara Kelly and Nicole O’Doherty are very likely to feature on Sunday, as Clare comes to grip with the absence of Louise Henchy (retired), Niamh Keane, Emma O’Driscoll and Laura Egan. Eva O’Dea is still absent due to a long-term knee injury, picked up in Clare’s 2016 All-Ireland semi-final win over Tipperary. Manager Neil Moynihan is hoping for the best against what are senior opponents. “Home advantage will be no advantage whatsoever when you’re playing the likes of Waterford, who are a senior team. We played them …

UP to 300 householders in North Clare will have to continue boiling domestic water supplies for several more months at least. Irish Water is undertaking work to introduce measures to protect the water sources after the detection of cryptosporidium in both the Turlough and Carron water supply earlier this year. However, the utility has admitted that the work “is likely to take some time” and potentially it will be the end of the year before all of the work is complete. Separate boil water notices were issued for the Carron Water Supply Scheme, which serves approximately 20 houses, on May 4 and the Turlough Water Supply Scheme, which serves approximately 260 households, on July 5. Both notices were put in place to protect customers due to the detection of cryptosporidium. Irish Water stated that it is currently progressing with the installation of filtration and ultraviolet disinfection units in order to address the vulnerability of the water sources at both locations …

Four time Irish Hillclimb champion, Simon McKinley, from Meath, has been killed after an accident during the Clare Motor Club’s Hillclimb at Scalp Hill, near Carron. The accident happened towards the end of the event, after all competitors had successfully completed the course a number of times throughout the day. The event at Carron was the first round of the 2015 Hillclimb Championship. Initial reports suggest that McKinley’s car, a Lant RT4, left the road at a tricky left-right combination and rolled several times. An investigation into the accident will be carried out. Simon McKinley is survived by his wife, Deirdre, who also competes in Hillclimbs and their year old son, Rory. Tomorrow’s hillclimb at Ballyalban has been cancelled as a mark of respect.

A  325 acre residential farm in the Burren, where the parishes of Carron and Ballyvaughan meet, is to be sold at public auction. Described as a ‘one off’ property by Vaughan Hannon, auctioneers;  Glenslade, Carron offers any purchaser huge potential for farming in the Burren, with support, both knowledge led and financial based, from organisations such as BurrenLife. The owner, who was previously involved in the BurrenLife project and REPS, farmed a sucker herd, claimed entitlements in 2014 and had a lot of work done to improve the farm, such as rainwater harvesting, which feed water to troughs throughout the land. The house is a two storey farmhouse with a new roof; however the house is in need of modernisation/renovation. Offered as one lot, the public auction will be held in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis on May 15.

EXCAVATIONS at Caherconnell are revealing some interesting practices undertaken by Ireland’s early Christians, according to Dr Michelle Comber, director of The Caherconnell Archaeological Field School at Carron. “It is traditionally accepted that Christianity arrived in Ireland some time before the middle of the fifth century AD. You might be forgiven, then, for assuming that Christianity and Christian practices could be found throughout Ireland within a century or two of this date,” she said revealing that recent excavations by the Caherconnell Archaeology Field School are proving otherwise. “It was discovered in the summer of 2013 that Caherconnell cashel or ‘caher’ (a circular drystone enclosure containing dwelling houses and other domestic structures) had been deliberately constructed over the top of an earlier burial mound. This small mound covered two limestone cists. Although disturbed at one end, their contents were still present. The smaller of the two cists contained the remains of a young child, between one and two years of age, and …