Tag Archives: Doonbeg

A PUBLIC meeting takes place at 8pm tonight (Thursday, November 24, 2022) in Doonbeg Community Hall to launch a campaign for a new playground in the village. Local business woman Rita McInerney, of Doonbeg Development encouraged people to attend to kick off the process to provide locals and visitors alike with the facility. “There was a playground in Doonbeg, but it fell into disrepair,” Rita said. “The great news is that we have had a lot of families with small children move into the village, especially during Covid, and there is definitely a demand for a playground. It would also be another amenity for visitors in the summer.” A site at the back of the hall, beside the school and naoínra, is one which Rita said would make an idea playground. “It’s central and it’s safe and there’s a real opportunity now to develop it,” she said. “What we’re looking for now would be to create a committee, ideally with …

THE water supply in west Clare has gone “beyond breaking point”, a meeting of local councillors heard. Councillor Gabriel Keating put forward a motion at the recent meeting of west and North councillors asking that Irish Water, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the County Council resolve the “long standing frequent bursts and outages due to the poor condition of the asbestos watermain situated in the raised bog rampart on the N67 south of Doonbeg Village.” He said that the N67 south of Doonbeg is deteriorating and is a health and safety hazard, as well as “a regular inconvenience to the residents of the area due to the frequency of bursts over a number of years”. Councillor Keating said that dealing with the issue every time there is a leak is costly, even if an overall project requires a good deal of funding. “I’d love to know how much each leak costs,” he mused. He said that people are left without water …

A GROUP in Doonbeg have developed a heritage trail featuring 29 points of interest around the Long Village. It can be accessed at walking.doonbeg.info/heritage-trail/ and it features stories, pictures and archive records from the 1901 and 1911 censuses, along with school children’s stories and pictures. Local resident Aisling Ryan said, “Burren Beo organised a heritage keeper’s course and on the back of it they gave us a little grant to go back to our community and develop a project. Three other ladies, Jacquie Wade, Elizabeth McEntee and Betty Condon, and myself put together this heritage trail.” Describing the trail, she said, “The Heritage Trail has 29 points and each one is along a walking trail, it’s along flat terrain so it’s suitable for young and old. You use the map to click on a point and it gives you a small bit of information about the place, it might be a house that used to be an old shop, it …

GARDAI have confirmed that Donald Trump will not be coming to Clare next week, as had been expected. It is understood that preliminary preparations had been made for his visit, but it was confirmed this morning that it will now not be going ahead. While there had been few signs of any security activity in Doonbeg, Gardai had been on the brink of making more concrete preparations for Trump’s arrival. Trump had been expected to visit Doonbeg along with Greg Norman, who designed the course is now CEO of LIV Golf, ahead of a possible LIV tournament at Doonbeg. Mr Trump has not been to Doonbeg since he stayed there in 2019, during his Presidency. Indeed he has actually not left America since his time in the White House ended, and earlier this week he accused the FBI of taking passports belonging to him as its agents executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago home recently.

THREE years ago the arrival of Donald Trump saw one of the most extensive security operations in Clare’s history, and he is due to visit his property in Doonbeg again this month. In 2019 Gardai from around the country spent a few days in Clare for the visit, but sources this week say that the operation this time will be far less significant. Last week it was said that Garda preparations on the ground around Shannon Airport had not begun, as full details of the Trump visit were not available. However, local Gardai expect that the vast majority of the Gardai involved in security this time will be drawn from the Clare division, with perhaps a small bit of assistance from neighbouring areas. Even if it were required, Gardai say that bringing in members of the force from other parts of the country would be far more difficult now, with many hotels in the region already fully occupied due to …

Unquestionably the outstanding final of a much-anticipated weekend of county Féile action as Western Gaels eventually edged out neighbours Doonbeg 3-10 to 3-5 to cement the Division 3 honours in style in Shanahan McNamara Memorial Park in Doonbeg on Sunday evening. With both sides managing to get the better of Kildysart/Coolmeen at the groups stages on Friday at the same venue, they understandably passed up the opportunity at a group decider in lieu of Sunday’s derby showdown that definitely lived up to expectations. Indeed, it had to take extra-time to finally separate the sides in a thrilling end-to-end seesaw wrestle for supremacy that saw the lead change hands on no fewer than six occasion over the prolonged 50 minute decider. In the end, the peninsula amalgamation of Naomh Eoin, O’Curry’s and St Senan’s Kilkee prevailed thanks in the main to the outstanding leadership of captain Brian Keane who led the charge with a handsome 1-9 tally. He was greatly aided …

A NEW Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) class has opened at Doonbeg National School.  Called An Ghrian, it will provide children attending mainstream school with additional support throughout the school day. School principal Neil Crowley said, “We would have seen that there were children with these needs in the school and we wanted the best approach to support their needs as best we could.” He has no doubt that the An Ghrian will make a big difference to the children accessing it. “Oh, definitely. The supports are there to give them the best access to education required.” Mr Crowley said a lot of work has been done over recent months. “We are very excited about our new class and we have seen so much work completed for it by the staff over the last few months. “The Special Class Teacher and the team of Special Needs Assistants, have closely worked together to make our new class a welcoming and supportive learning …

A group of Doonbeg residents organised a special commemoration ceremony recently for the 80th anniversary of the crash landing of an RAF flying boat in Doughmore Bay. Dan Danaher chronicles this fascinating tale involving the tragic death of nine airmen, the heroic rescue of two colleagues, an eye witness account of the wreckage, salvaged items such as a 1940 aircraft tool kit box, and relatives’ accounts of the extraordinary bravery of those who risked their own lives to help save the lives of others. HISTORY hung heavily in the Doonbeg air recently as Colm Gowran commemorated the loss of nine airmen following a tragic crash-landing 80 years ago. A hush descended on the crowd gathered on Doughmore Beach during a minute silence after the Ennis Brass Band member played “The Last Post” on his trumpet, marking the end of a soldier’s day. This signalled the finale of a poignant ceremony organised by a local committee remembering the 11 airmen involved …