Tag Archives: Clooney

WORKS on a new footpath and pedestrian crossing for Clooney will begin in a matter of weeks and the local community development group will be informed shortly about the time-frame, writes Fiona McGarry. The matter was raised at the July meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District when Councillor Pat Hayes tabled a motion seeking an update. The Fianna Fáil member noted that Clooney and Quin had been added to the East Clare district in recent years and that Clooney now has an active community group. “The group are proposing to create a sense of a centre for Clooney,” Councillor Hayes said. “They have raised issues around paths and crossings and I would like to thank the Killaloe district team for their efforts to move this up the line and get greater funding opportunities for the works,” he said. “The works will clearly show the commitment of Clare County Council to the community of Clooney. The council should always embrace efforts …

GARDAI are investigating reports of a suspicious approach to a child outside Clooney National School on Wednesday afternoon. It is understood a male in a van approached a child and said that the child’s mother had asked him to pick the child up. However the child declined to go with the man, and he drove away. The incident occurred outside the school at around 3.05pm. Gardai have asked that anyone who saw anything suspicious or who has dashcam footage would get in touch with them. They have urged parents to warn their children not to accept any unsolicited lifts. In a subsequent email to parents, principal Shane Greene wrote, “This is an extremely serious and upsetting incident. I would ask that we all remain vigilant. parents should remind children not to leave the school grounds until their car is visible after school.” Owen Ryan

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 …

A CLOONEY beekeeper is in a strong position to add to his growing collection of awards following his selection as a finalist in the Irish Food Awards. Michael Curran’s Beekeeping and Honey Harvesting has been in operation for over 30 years and the apiary currently has in excess of 200 hives at his home and in various locations throughout East Clare. A key member of Banner Beekeepers’ Association, Mr Curran has won a multitude of awards at national level. Now operating as a full time commercial business in Clooney since he retired from work in 2013, Mr Curran has won awards in the Clonmel and Phoenix Park Honey Shows, fourth prize in a major show in London in a line up of a few hundred competitors and wins accolades on an annual basis. Most of these awards are based on the overall taste, look and presentation of his honey. In 1985, he started beekeeping as a hobby and now breeds …

LONG planned weddings have had to be cancelled all over the county in recent months, much to the disappointment of those who had been all set to walk down the aisle. Amy Ryan from Quin had been due to marry Tommy Considine from Clooney in August but now those plans have been put on ice. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world but you put a lot of effort into planning it and then it kind of goes up in smoke,” says Amy. The couple have been together for nearly 11 years and she said that calling it off was the right option for them. “It’s gutting for everyone. We looked at what other people had done, getting married and Zoom and all that but we’re a bit traditional.” Prior to a recent address from the Taoiseach, when proposed phases of reopening the country had been laid out, they had still planned to go …

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 …

Peter Duggan has been hurling all his life. Now, the Spancilhill man is ready to see Clare bring home a Munster title, he tells Sports Editor Seamus Hayes His name has scarcely been out of the limelight since the hurling championship got underway seven weeks ago, which isn’t surprising given that, in four games, he has amassed a tally of 1-42. Peter Duggan has had the bug to play for Clare since he first started hurling in his back garden as a youngster. That desire to wear the saffron and blue grew stronger from the day he represented the county in the Primary Game at half-time of a Munster championship fixture involving Clare in Thurles. “Seven of the current panel, including Tony Kelly and Jack Browne, played in the Primary Game that year and that drove us on. Even when we were preparing for the Primary Game in Clareabbey, we used to see the then senior players going in and out …

There were a number of outstanding individual performances as key games were played in the Clare senior hurling championship this Saturday afternoon. Extra time was required as Clooney-Quin and Feakle battled to remain in the title race in Shannon where a tour de force from Peter Duggan who contributed 2-13 proved decisive in Clooney-Quin’s 2-22 to 2-14 victory over Feakle who now must focus on the battle to avoid relegation. The winners held a five point lead, 1-8 to 1-3, at the end of the opening half. Feakle had drawn level by the three quarter stage and led by three points as the game entered ‘injury time’. The game was in the third minute of ‘added time’ when Duggan found the net to level the tie for the fourth time. They went on to dominate the extra period. Cratloe and Crusheen were also battling to remain in the race when they clashed at Cusack Park and here a contribution of …