Tag Archives: Fanore

Members of the Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walking Club recently completed the Four Peaks Challenge and, while climbing Carrauntoohill, they were instrumental in saving a man, who was stranded near the Devil’s Ladder. With 6.30am starts each day, the group, led by chairperson Mary Clarke and mountain guide Gerry Reidy, from Ennistymon, criss-crossed the island of Ireland in three days, from June 3 to 5. Gerry has more than 20 years’ mountain-climbing experience, having completed four or five of the seven summits, including Denali in Alaska and Mount Elbrus in Russia. The weather was against them over the few days and, on their final challenge, Gerry recalled the difficult conditions and meeting a man in severe difficulty. “There was a waterfall coming down the Devil’s Ladder against us, but we worked as a team and got everyone up and down safely,” Gerry said. When they came across a fallen runner, on his own, wearing only a singlet and shorts, who was suffering hypothermia, …

AN Ennis girl who was holidaying in Fanore recently got more than she bargained for as she was on an expedition to find interesting items on the beach, while on holidays. Sophie Rynne was walking along the beach in Fanore with her mother, Priscilla, searching for something rather unusual, a mermaid’s purse, but uncovered another curious item in the process. “We were looking for a mermaid’s purse. It’s the egg case of a dogfish, which is part of the shark family,” she said. They had found one on the beach in 2010 and have been on the look-out for one again.However, on this occasion, they spotted something else altogether, a plastic bottle with what looked like a note inside. “I said, ‘oh is that a message in the bottle’. I said I’ll walk over and see what it was. We saw there was something rolled up inside it. We weren’t sure and it looked like one of those colouring sheets. …

Clare County Council will provide updates on conditions at the county’s Blue Flag beaches on its Twitter and Facebook accounts from Saturday next. The updates will feature latest sea, water quality and weather conditions, as well as tide in and tide out times for Ballycuggeran (Killaloe), Cappa, Fanore, Kilkee, Lahinch, Mountshannon, Spanish Point, Whitestrand Doonbeg and Whitestrand Miltown Malbay. The updates coincide with the commencement of lifeguard cover at County Clare beaches this June Bank Holiday Weekend. Lifeguard cover will be provided at Clare’s Blue Flag beaches from 11.00am to 7.00pm this Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Cover will continue on Saturdays and Sundays during the month of June, while there will be full-time time cover at these locations as well as at Bishops Quarter (Ballyvaughan) and Seafield Quilty during the months of July and August and the first two weekends of September.

AN inquest has returned a verdict of manslaughter in accordance with the findings of the Central Criminal Court into the death of 43-year-old Ballyvaughan woman Deirdre McCarthy. Just days before the sixth anniversary of Ms McCarthy’s death, Colm Deely of School Road, Ballyvaughan was sentenced to eight years in prison for her manslaughter. He had denied murdering Ms McCarthy but in early March 2017 he pleaded guilty to her manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court. At a sitting of the County Coroner’s Court in Ennis on Thursday, an inquest found that Ms McCarthy’s death was due to asphyxia, with blunt force trauma as a contributory factor. County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said, in holding this inquest, she hoped it “helps to bring some closure to what was a tortured and arduous journey” for Ms Carthy’s family. Superintendent John Galvin, acting as coroner’s officer, offered his sympathies and those of An Garda Síochána, describing this case as something that has “been going …

Gardaí have confirmed the search for a Belfast man missing in North Clare since earlier in the week has been called off following the discovery of a body in Galway. The search for the 22-year-old man from Belfast, who has been missing since Monday afternoon, was stood down following the discovery of a body near Salthill in Galway on Wednesday evening. Drone technology had been deployed during the week in the search for the 22 year-old who was reported missing after he failed to return to his tour bus which had stopped at Ballyreen, on the Wild Atlantic Way, between Fanore and Lisdoonvarna, at the designated time of departure. Volunteers from the Doolin coastguard responded when the alarm was raised around 2.30pm and they conducted a sea search. Land based teams were also engaged in combing the cliff top and shoreline while the Shannon based search and rescue helicopter was also involved. The search was co-ordinated by the gardaí backed …

Once you reach a certain age, New Year’s Eve should be spent in front of the telly, watching whatever rubbish is on, but sometimes you want to do something completely different. This New Year’s Eve, I found myself in a car, heading for Fanore in the company of Joe Queally, RNLI stalwart and Dave Courtney, a former Coastguard helicopter pilot. Our mission was to climb Sliebh Elva and light candles for the souls lost at sea and for our own families. Even leaving Ennis, the rain was coming down but by the time we hit Fanore and joined Doolin Coastguard, Tom Doherty and his partner Celine Kennedy, it was coming down like stair rods. I confess, I wasn’t well prepared. I forgot to bring my waterproof trousers and had to borrow a pair from Tom. My boots weren’t best suited to the conditions either. I really needed wellies to properly deal with the lakes of water that flooded the trail. …

Clare County Council is urging visitors to Clare’s beaches this June Bank Holiday Weekend to take responsibility for their rubbish by bringing it home with them. The Council has employed additional resources to deal with the increase in litter that has resulted from the rise in visitor numbers to beaches such as Kilkee, Lahinch and Spanish Point. The local authority says it is also installing additional refuse facilities at Clare’s Blue Flags in an effort to minimise littering while litter wardens have been deployed to monitor littering activity. “Our beach is a fantastic resource for the wider community and it’s up to us all to ensure that we take home what we bring to the beach”, said Cyril Feeney, area engineer with with th council. He added, “The council wishes to acknowledge those who have used the public bins to dispose of their litter. These bins are emptied regularly each day but often reach their capacity due to the unprecedented …

The International Blue Flag has been awarded to nine Clare beaches, including Whitestrand, Miltown Malbay, Ballycuggernan, Whitestrand Doonbeg, Mountshannon, Cappa, Fanore, Spanish Point, Kilkee and Lahinch. Green Coast Awards were also awarded to the beaches at Bishops Quarter (Ballyvaughan) and Seafield (Quilty) The 2016 Blue Flag and Green Coast Awards were accepted on behalf of Clare County Council by Cathaoirleach James Breen and Claire McGrath, Clare Water Safety Development Office,at a ceremony in Portmarnock, Co. Dublin. The Blue Flag is a prestigious environmental eco-label awarded to over 4,000 beaches and marinas in 49 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean. The award, which is operated in Ireland by An Taisce, on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), represents high standards in water quality, environmental information and education, environmental management and safety, services and facilities. The Green Coast Award recognises beaches for their clean environment, excellent water quality and natural beauty and …