Tag Archives: East Clare

A PUBLIC information session will be held on the proposed upgrade of Main Street in Scariff at the Killaloe Municipal District Office in Scarriff on Wednesday, February 22, from 5pm to 8pm. The proposed works, which are being carried out by Clare County Council under the town and village renewal scheme and overseen by the planning department of the local authority, will include road and footpath alignment works to improve safety and accessibility of all users, and hard and soft landscaping works. Clare County Council says the proposed public realm enhancement scheme is being guided by the Scariff Tidy Towns and Environmental Improvement Strategy, which was developed in 2013 in consultation with various community groups. The €111,764 project is 85% funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and is expected to be completed by mid-2017. The development is one of four community infrastructure projects in Shannon, Kilkee, Clarecastle and Scariff benefitting from funding under the Town and …

County Clare experienced its first snow of 2017 today (Thursday).  The snow was was mainly on higher ground early on but as night approaches it may well become more widespread. The gardaí and AA Roadwatch have issued warnings in relation to travel, asking motorists and pedestrians to exercise particular care. Met Éireann has forecast more sleet and snow  arriving from the north west through Connacht and into Munster. Clare Champion photographer John Kelly braved the cold to capture some of the beauty of the snow-capped high ground.

LOUGH Derg and its Islands: A Voyage of Discovery by Road and by Water, is the latest publication by East Clare historian Gerard Madden and Tipperary man Shane Creamer. The book will be launched this Saturday at 8.30pm in the Mountshannon Hotel by Éanna Rowe of Waterways Ireland and contains the only map of Lough Derg showing all the access points to the lake by road. According to Gerard, to map out the whole lake to travel around it by road, you would need to buy three separate Ordinance Survey maps. “This is the first time where you have one map of Lough Derg showing all the access routes to the lake,” he said. It is also a great angling resource, as it names all of the known spots around the lake. The authors have also seen to it to name 376 of the islands on Lough Derg. To date, the Ordinance Survey Discovery Series only provides names for 113 …

A 78-YEAR-old East Clare man has appeared before a sitting of Killaloe District Court, charged with possession of child pornography. The accused man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is charged with knowingly having in his possession child pornography on April 30, 2009, at an East Clare address. Garda Aidan Sweeney outlined at this week’s sitting of Killaloe District Court that, of the images that are the subject of these charges, 81 fall under category 1, which is the most serious and relates to images depicting children engaging in explicit sexual activity or witnessing explicit sexual activity. A further 116 images, which are also subject to the charge before the court, relate to category 2. Judge Patrick Durcan was asked to determine whether the case would be dealt with in the district court or the circuit court, and he refused jurisdiction. He remanded the defendant to Killaloe District Court on November 1 for the preparation and service of a …

ANDREW St Ledger, a well-known native woodland specialist will be hosting two Heritage Week events in East Clare this week on behalf of The Woodland League and CELT ( Centre for Environmental Living and Training ). On Saturday, Andrew will be in Peppers Bar and Restaurant in Feakle from 2pm to give an overview, and a presentation on The Great Forest of Aughty, an active Native Oakwood Restoration project in East Clare and South Galway. “I have been conducting walks and talks in the Raheen ancient oakwood for many years and have subsequently become acquainted with the owner of the estate of 400 acres, William McLysaght. This is the place where the famous 1,000 year old Brian Boru oak tree is situated. William donated a four acre site of the estate to the local community and I was involved in persuading them to convert this into a community native woodland restoration project, with two NGO’s I work with, The Woodland …

PEOPLE who Google Scariff from now on could be directed to a galaxy far, far away as a planet with the same name is to feature in the eagerly-anticipated Star Wars: Rogue One film. Filming for the eighth instalment of the Star Wars franchise took place in West Clare in May. It took the county by storm and it seems Clare’s association with Star Wars is set to continue with this latest announcement. Director Gareth Edwards revealed that the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One would feature the planet Scarif at the Star Wars Celebration event in London recently. He outlined it is based on a paradise world and that they had to go to a paradise to film it. Sadly, East Clare lost out in this regard, as filming was done in the Maldives. However, that is not to say that Scariff won’t benefit from this latest revelation, as locals believe it has firmly put the town on the galactic …

DROMANDOORA will play host to UK British Blues Award winner Bex Marshall, at a venue that hopes to introduce East Clare audiences to an eclectic mix of performers. Bex has toured the UK, USA and Brazil in the last 12 months alone and has performed at Clonakilty Guitar Festival, headlined Crane Lane Theatre in Cork and The Rуisнn Dubh in Galway. Now she and  her three-piece band will take to the stage at Sam Doyle’s Music Club on Friday night. The British artist was nominated to the top three in Best Solo/Acoustic Artist 2015 in the European Blues Awards and won an award at the UK Blues Awards 2013 for Best British Blues Vocalist and Album. She has been compared to Bonnie Raitt, Joan Armatrading and Janis Joplin. Bex was personally chosen by Sam Andrew, Janis Joplin’s guitarist throughout her career, to be the voice of Janis on his 2014 European tour with San Francisco Nights. Ennis man Aiden O’Neill …

THE theft of village signage has been described as “epidemic” by local Councillor Pat Hayes, who highlighted that signs have been stolen in four villages in East Clare. Councillor Hayes said Feakle, Caher, Flagmount and Killanena have had signage taken. He said some thefts have occurred in recent weeks, while others were some time ago. He said it is not the directional signage, which is usually the common problem, but in this case it is the larger signs for the villages themselves. “It seems to be specific to this side of the county. Directional signposts are also missing. The GAA one in Caher was taken down and a couple of business ones were taken as well. It seems to be an epidemic for the last while. I would very much be appealing to the public out there. There might be huge value in those signs but it is the communities that put them up and maintain them. They are part …