Friday marks the annual Culture Night throughout Ireland and once again Clare is very much to the fore with over 25 free events around the county. The organisers of Culture Night, the Department of Arts, have kept last year’s theme Explore – Experience – Enjoy due to it’s phenomenal success. Ennis sees the largest array of Culture Night activities. The phenomenally successful Riches of Clare concert series will provide a free concert in Glór featuring Mike Butler, Damien O’Reilly and Blackie O’Connell, to name but a few musicians. Music will also be provided by the Jaskane Café Trio in the Clare Museum and there will be a piping recital by renowned uilleann piper David Power in the Friary on Abbey Street, Ennis. There will also be music on the streets of Ennis provided by the Ennis Gospel Choir, Comhaltas and by a members of the international community in Ennis. Music dominates throughout the county also with traditional music happening in …
Read More »Ennis Chamber welcomes Merriman
Ennis Chamber has welcomed the return of the Merriman School back to the county capital for 2014. Taking place from Wednesday to Sunday week in Glór, Merriman has since its foundation in 1967, celebrated the work of Poet Brian Merriman and the history and traditions of Thomond,as well as promoting interest in all aspects of Irish culture. CEO of Ennis Chamber Rita Mc Inerney said, “Ennis Chamber is delighted that the Merriman School has returned to Ennis this year. The school is a very unique and distinguished festival in the Irish calendar with and impressive programme of topics and speakers. Ennis Chamber would like to encourage the business community to show their support for the festival through their welcome and interest in the programme of events. “The Merriman School attracts a broad range of people locally, nationally and internationally to Ennis over the five days, resulting in an economic boost to the business community. In turn Ennis has much to offer …
Read More »Honouring Clare dead of World War I
One hundred years ago today, July 28, 1914 the Austria-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia and precipitated a chain of events which saw most European nations in a state of war within a week. Over the course of the following five years war raged on fronts as close as England where some south eastern English towns and cities were bombed, to the Western Front straddling France, Holland and Belgium, the Alps, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iraq and even naval battles off the coast of Chile. By wars end, there were 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history. It is beleived that as many as 7,000 Clare men enlisted in Allied forces during World War I and as many as 700 lost their lives. As the centenary of remembrance of WW1 begins, The Clare Peace Park Initiative unveiled plans this week for a planned permanent memorial to all those who took part and lost their lives …
Read More »Clare Youth Society hosts wild musical
CLARE Youth Musical Society will go wild on the Glór stage this Thursday and Friday for their version of The Jungle Book. The society was established by dance teacher Laura-Jane Allis and Speech & Drama teacher Sarah Griffin. Sarah also directed Ennis Musical Society’s sell-out production of Annie earlier this year. Sarah said the group was established to fill a gap during the summer months. “Myself and Laura Jane set it up about three years ago and this is our third production. Because we both work with children and teenagers, we knew that for the summer there wasn’t much for them to do because all of the end of the year shows are in May and June and then July and August are free. We said we’d set up something just to kind of keep the interest going and get the musical element there for young people and, hopefully, they’d find as much passion as we do in it.” The …
Read More »Merriman to look at emotional life in Ireland
Emotional Life in Ireland is the theme of the 2014 Merriman Summer School, which will take place in Ennis, from August 13 to 17. It is, according to the organisers, a timely topic for a country which has yet again been dealing with the aftermath of trauma, as we listen to stories of hidden pregnancies, secret births and unacknowleged deaths. Many of the events will be held in Glór. “How do we deal with our emotions and their consequences? Are we better at it now than we have been? What legacies have been left by our difficulty in understanding and reluctance to deal with our emotions? These are some of the areas for discussion at this year’s Merriman Summer School,” a spokesperson said. The director of this year’s school is Dr Patrica Coughlan, Professor Emerita in the School of English at UCC. She has selected a rich panel of speakers. Social historians, writers, ethno-musicologists, psychologists, a psychiatrist, journalists and critics …
Read More »June Rodgers coming to Ennis
By Owen Ryan NEXT month June Rodgers will be hitting the road for her first ever nationwide tour, while she has a part in Mrs Brown D’Movie, which will also be released during the month. She will be at Glór on June 7 and she said that other commitments prevented her from going around the country up till now. “I’ve been asked for many years to do it, but with other commitments we just never got around to it. People have travelled to Dublin to see shows and they keep saying why don’t you come down. After the Christmas show at the Red Cow we decided we’d hit the road with this show and most of the cast were around which was great, because a lot of them go off and do other things and I may not see them until the following Christmas.” She says that all of her best known characters will be included in the show …
Read More »Marta to go cycling and rafting in Uganda for charity
Rape Crisis faces funding shortfall
RAPE Crisis Midwest is facing a “significant” shortfall in funding this year, with no funding for overheads or rent for their Ennis centre at the Tracklands Business Park. The organisation recently launched a range of promotional products in Glór, with the aim of highlighting the centre and raising funds to allow the valuable work of the organisation to continue in the Mid-West. Over 70 guests attended the launch, with the event attended by public representatives, staff and volunteers of Rape Crisis Midwest, press, An Garda Siochána, Child and Family Agency and other charitable organisations in the locality. The promotional items were purchased after the organisation received a grant from COSC, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. The guest speaker was Marie Donnellan, in her last formal role as Clare Rose. Marie is following the tradition of many other Roses in establishing a relationship with Rape Crisis centres. According to the executive director of Rape …
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