Tag Archives: Clooney-Spancilhill Community Development Association

AN AMBITIOUS project to boost the production and use of renewable energy is being pioneered by the Clooney Spancilhill Community Development Association. The group is one of three in Clare to enter a partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) with a view to creating an energy masterplan for the area. The blueprint will also offer potential to generate revenue for the area and will draw inspiration from a highly successful community of Templederry, outside Nenagh, who are now raising €1.1m annual for their locality. “We set up a steering group on the environment,” outlined Tom Larkin, Chairperson of the association. “That lead us to applying to the SEAI for funding. We succeeded in securing €10,000 and that involves us signing a three-year agreement with SEAI. We have mentoring from SEAI and Clare Local Development Company (CLDC).” After a tender process, the Tipperary Energy Agency was chosen and a contract signed before Christmas for the creation of a …

THE recently-formed Clooney Spancilhill Community Development Group have been making major strides lately in enhancing amenities in their area. A subcommittee, tasked with looking after local heritage, have completed the restoration of two stone bridges at Carrahan and Rylane, and are already planning future projects. The aim of the Heritage Group, which has around ten members, is to record and protect the history and heritage of Clooney-Spancilhill, and the bridge restoration project got under way after Clare County Council engineers conducted a survey and gave the green light. “People living locally could see one side of each bridge only because of the amount of vegetation that had grown over them,” explained Betty Murphy, a member of the Heritage Group. “There used to be a slipway at the bridge in Carrahan but that was completely overgrown and there had been a problem with dumping in that area too. There was a lot of hard physical work involved in uncovering the stone …