Tag Archives: Clare deaths

AN Ennis family has been left heartbroken following a tragic diving accident in Lanzarote. 18-year-old Hernán Lopéz Shanahan, son of Leona Shanahan from Ennis, lost his life while free diving at Playa Chica on the Canary island. During his now short life he had lived in Ennis, France and Lanzarote.  Hernán went to primary school in Ennis Educate Together before moving to France with his mother and later to Lanzarote where he was a student. Ennis remained close to his heart and he regularly returned to see his extended family including grandparents Cornelius and Nora Shanahan. A resident of Tías in Lanzarote, Hernán was a student of Underwater and Hyperbaric Activities at the Escuela de Pesca in Arrecife. His death on August 29 was met with shock and among the local headlines in Lanzarote were, “The death of young Hernán Lopéz Shanahan makes Lanzarote cry.” Paying tribute to her grandson Hernán’s grandmother Nora describes this headline as “touching” with the sentiment evident by the huge …

GARDAÍ are conducting an investigation following the discovery of a man’s body in a campervan at one of county Clare’s best known resorts. Gardaí were called at around 3.20pm on Sunday in relation to a campervan parked in the carpark at Lahinch. After enlisting the assistance of fire service personnel, they gained access to the vehicle and found the body of a man in his 50s inside. It’s understood the death is not being treated as suspicious but as a tragic incident. Gardaí sealed off the scene while fire service personnel erected privacy screens around the vehicle which was located next to where hundreds of people were walking the prom. Two units of Clare County Fire and Rescue service from Ennistymon station were mobilised to the incident along with National Ambulance Service paramedics. At the time, the campervan had been parked in the carpark adjacent to the popular promenade in Lahinch. Gardaí spoke with the occupants of other campervans in …

TRIBUTES have been paid to a Clare club hurler and much-loved son, who died while holidaying in Greece overnight, writes David Raleigh. The deceased, who was in his 20s was named locally as Niall O’Brien, died after being struck by a car on the island of Ios, it’s understood. Mr O’Brien had been a star player with Broadford GAA Club, and was on holiday with a group of 20 friends when the accident occurred. His body is to be taken to Athens for a post mortem, an informed source said. Police on Ios have been contacted for comment. Mr O’Brien, from Castletroy in Limerick, and who was a third year student at the University of Limerick, was also a valued member of Castletroy Golf Club. “Niall was a brilliant sportsman, he was a serious hurler, he was huge into golf and gaa, soccer, everything really,” said a source. “He was an unassuming lad, and he had recently recovered from a …

One hundred years ago today, July 28, 1914 the Austria-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia and precipitated a chain of events which saw most European nations in a state of war within a week. Over the course of the following five years war raged on fronts as close as England where some south eastern English towns and cities were bombed, to the Western Front straddling France, Holland and Belgium, the Alps, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iraq and even naval battles off the coast of Chile. By wars end, there were 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history. It is beleived that as many as 7,000 Clare men enlisted in Allied forces during World War I and as many as 700 lost their lives. As the centenary of remembrance of WW1 begins, The Clare Peace Park Initiative unveiled plans this week for a planned permanent memorial to all those who took part and lost their lives …