Tag Archives: clare champion

THE children of Clarecastle came together last weekend to prepare the ground for the new playground in the heart of the village. They agreed that many hands make light work and that they would do what they could to get things moving in advance of the big machinery arriving on-site on Monday. It has been a long road but Clarecastle Community Development Ltd (CCDL) is delighted to see the physical work on the Clarecastle community playground commence at last. “There were a number of unforeseen problems with the project, which caused major delays,” said Marie Clare Gorman, spokeswoman for CCDL, “but with the support of Clare County Council, Leader and the local community, we have overcome the difficulties and a playground is in sight.” The playground is expected to be completed and in full use in June, just in time for the school summer holidays. Most of the finance required from the community has been raised and it is hoped …

A HUGE amount of old photographs, postcards, articles from newspapers and other memorabilia is going on display at SuperValu in Miltown Malbay from March 30 to April 6. Most of the material comes from the late Kathleen Kelly and her son, Cyril and daughter-in law-Patsy now have her archive. “Cyril’s mother Kathleen used to take an awful lot of photographs so we have all of those and we decided to let the public see them,” said Kathleen. One magazine article from the 1930s will be on show. “Malachy Hynes was a journalist from Miltown Malbay and he wrote an article for a travel magazine. He wrote about four places and I have a picture of the four of those. It’s laminated and there’s the writing in the middle and the four photographs around it,” said Kathleen. There is also a programme from the 1945 West Clare Show, at which there were 663 entrants and one from the Clonbony races of …

JESSICA QUINN THERE’S ‘barely’ a ticket left for the Ennis Players performances of Calendar Girls, which opened on Wednesday to a packed house at Glór. A “phenomenal” surge in ticket sales has taken place in recent days, with those involved in the charity production crediting the boost to the play’s exposure in last week’s front page of The Clare Champion, media sponsors for the project. The brave ladies of the cast were photographed by award winning photographer John Kelly with just a few Champion’s to cover their modesty. And their daring move even hit the national airwaves. In the run up to Wednesday’s opening night, Cormac O’Sullivan of Ennis Players said, “We’ve been averaging ticket sales 150 a day for the last four or five days, which is quite phenomenal and it was really down to, I think, the front page of The Clare Champion. It was the talk of the county and it made national radio on Friday when …

THE history behind one of the oldest areas in Ennis has been explored in the newest booklet to be launched by the Clare Roots Society. On Thursday, April 3 at 7pm at the Junction in Cloughleigh Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Mary Coote Ryan, will launch Clare Roots Society latest booklet on Cloughleigh. The book entitled Old Cloughleigh Road has been edited by Kathleen Barry and Nora Shanahan and gives the historical background to the area. The booklet shows that the original 33 Cloughleigh houses consisted of a mixture of thatched and galvanized roofs with two rooms and two windows and were subject to annual flooding. These were replaced in the mid 1950s with a new scheme of 24 houses costing £37,000 to construct, consisting of three bedrooms, with two bedrooms having fireplaces and a separate front sitting room, which had the advantage that it could be used as an additional bedroom for the larger families. The major advantage of these …

ON Friday, Rice College Secondary School will host a fashion extravaganza dubbed ‘Shop & Style’ at Treacy’s West County Hotel at 7pm. Proceeds from the fashion show will go towards the provision of additional facilities and classrooms in the newly acquired school building. The event has already garnered plenty of support locally, according to organisers at the school with a host of local fashion outlets set to showcase their upcoming collections in the show. A spokesperson for the school said, “Local businesses and community groups have all rallied to sponsor the show, which promises to be a fantastic evening for all fashion-conscious ladies and gents featuring spring/summer collections from many stores.” Professional models will assisted by some of the Rice College teachers, who have sportingly agreed to participate.  MC for the evening is Ciana Campbell. And if all that style isn’t enough, there will also be a very special guest, which is sure to draw in the crowds. The Liam …

MAUREEN Cronin, whose poetry appears regularly in The Clare Champion, will be featured on RTÉ’s Nationwide on Monday evening next, immediately after the Six One News.   The slot follows Maureen on her usual Thursday trail in Ennis, which includes collecting the parish bulletins for distribution to neighbours, delivering her poem to the ‘Champion, and on the library to talk to Coláiste Mhuire students. The programme has been packaged by RTE reporter, Teresa Mannion and cameraman, Jim Wylde from Ennis.

THE Parish Mission in Doora-Barefield  opens on this  Sunday and runs until Fridaynext. The mission will incorporate the three churches of Doora, Barefield and The Church of our Lady, Roslevan. The mission begins in Doora Church on Sunday with an opening ceremony at 7pm, to which everyone is invited. From Monday through to Friday each morning, mass will be celebrated in the Church of Our Lady, Roslevan at 7am and again at 9.30am. Each evening, from Monday to Thursday, mission ceremonies focusing on a theme, will take place in Doora at 7pm and Barefield at 8.30pm. The mission closing ceremony will take place in Barefield Church on the Friday at 7pm. On Wednesday, a special mass of Anointing of the Sick will be celebrateed  in the Church of Our Lady, Roslevan at 12 noon. According to Fr Jerry Carey, “The parish mission takes place just a week into the season of Lent. We hope it will be an opportunity for …

THIS Friday,  The Pat Kenny Show will be in Ennis to broadcast live from the Temple Gate Hotel. This will be the first time that Pat Kenny will broadcast from Clare in front of a local audience since joining Newstalk last year. As well as bringing you analysis of news and current affairs, Pat will be speaking to Ciana Campbell, chairperson of the Ennis Book Club Festival as well as local authors and book club members. After each serving 15 years on death row for murders they did not commit, Sonny Jacobs and Peter Pringle will be discussing their incredible story of strength and survival, while well -known priest Fr Harry Bohan will be looking at the problems with rural isolation. The show, which will air from 10am, will also hear from local families, businessmen and farmers about the recent flooding, coastal erosion and the effects these have had on day-to-day life. Musical entertainment will be provided by  Kate Purcell.