Tag Archives: Kilnamona

CHAIRMAN of the Mike McTigue Memorial Group Nicholas Rynne is a grand-nephew of the world champion and said he was aware of the fighter from a fairly young age. “There used to be a picture of him in the old Flan’s bar in Ennis, my father would often be asked about him as well. “We became more aware after the book about him came out, A Bloody Canvas: The Mike McTigue Story, written by Andrew Gallimore. We started to get more inquisitive as we grew up,” said Nicholas. There is a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for the memorial to McTigue. The GoFundMe has a target of raising €20,000 and will be the main source of funding, with one or two other local fundraisers set to take place also. On the idea for the memorial, he said, “Kevin Rynne and myself were talking about three years ago and we decided that we should do something for the centenary …

PROBABLY unknown to most younger readers, Kilnamona’s Mike McTigue is one of Clare’s all time sporting heroes, having won the World Light Heavyweight Title in 1923. With the centenary approaching, the world champion’s namesake Michael McTigue is going to create a new monument to one of Kilnamona’s most illustrious sons. Michael is actually a distant relative of the boxer, while locals Nicholas Rynne, Kevin Rynne and Antoinette McCormack are grand nephews and a grand niece of the man who took the belt. With the Civil War raging around Dublin, McTigue won the title on St Patrick’s Day, 1923, with a points victory over Senagalese fighter Battling Siki. Unlike today when there are numerous belts and four major sanctioning bodies, in 1923 there was just one world champion. At light heavyweight, McTigue was the man. The story of the fight is worthy a book in itself, with Siki having recently become the champion against the odds; McTigue being an outsider but …

MIKE McTigue beats Battling Siki was the headline of the lead story  in The Clare Champion the week after the Kilnamona man took the World Light Heavyweight title on St Patrick’s Day 1923. Sub-headlines read ‘Clareman’s wonderful display’ and ‘Triumph of brain over brawn’. The paper had pictures of the two fighters across its front page, while the lead story described the excitement and anticipation that gripped the county, as people waited for news from Dublin. “Ennis was agog with excitement on Saturday evening, anxiously awaiting the result of the fight between Battling Siki and Mike McTigue for the light heavyweight championship of the world and the heavyweight championship of Europe. “Large crowds arrived from the most distant parts of the county and from 8.30pm onwards, rumours and counter rumours with regard to the result of the contest filled the air. (See rather grainy footage from the fight on YouTube link below) “The suspense was almost unbearable and great was …

TWO Clare men have been keeping postal staff on their toes with a series of riddles designed to test their local knowledge. Gearóid Kelly from Feakle and Tony McTeigue from Kilnamona have exchanged Christmas cards over the last five years. Rather than simply writing a name and address on the envelope, the pair have taken to coming up with cryptic instructions that have, almost always, led to the successful delivery of their post. While Gearóid works in Dublin and Tony in Australia, the two have sent cards and letters to each other’s home address, in the hope that local ties will help postal staff to decipher their destinations. “We’ve known each other since going to college in NUI Galway,” Gearóid told The Champion. The Business Information Systems graduate, an accordion player, met fellow Clare native, Tony, who plays banjo, at the college’s Trad Soc. “We were always up for a laugh and a few practical jokes alright,” he said. Now …

KILNAMONA author Doireann Ní Ghríofa has told us that she is still in disbelief that her debut prose book ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ was a winner at the prestigious Irish Book Awards. The publication is now on the shortlist for Irish Book of the Year, with the winner set to be announced on a televised show this week. The best-selling publication was named Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards recently. Speaking to The Clare Champion she said, “I still can’t believe that ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ has won this amazing award! It’s been such a strange year. To publish a book in the middle of a pandemic seemed impossible, but my publisher Tramp Press have surpassed themselves, as have all the bookshops that have encouraged people to read it. So many readers in Clare have taken it to their hearts, and I’m very grateful to each and every one of them.” The award winning book sees …

ANXIETY among cancer patients has understandably increased during the Covid-19 restrictions, according to a local counsellor. Bridget Haren has revealed that cancer patients are very fearful of picking up the virus if they get any non-Covid-19 illness but still require hospitalisation. Another fear experienced by cancer patients is that their regular check-up or health appointment may be cancelled due to the restrictions. For the last seven years, Ms Haren has provided face-to-face counselling for cancer patients at the . the Sláinte An Chláir Centre in Kilnamona. Following the closure of the centre due to the national restrictions, she is now providing remote meditation and mindfulness classes using Zoom from her own home near Miltown Malbay for up to 20 patients for an hour on Tuesday and Thursdays. The first 30 minutes of the meditation class on Thursdays is devoted to discussion and medication questions for oncology nurse, Anne Murphy from Tulla, who also takes part in the Zoom class. Physiotherapist, …

Inagh-Kilnamona 1-18 Kilmaley 1-14 Inagh-Kilnamona proved too strong for their neighbours and great rivals Kilmaley in the under 21 A hurling championship final at Cusack Park this Easter Saturday evening. A Keelan Guyler goal two minutes before the half time whistle helped them to a four point interval lead and tney were never headed after this. Kilmaley’s goal came in the fifth minute of ‘added time’ and much too late to prevent their neighbours from re-claiming the title they last held in 2016 before losing out to Feakle-Killanena in last year’s final. They were an all round better balanced side and held the upperhand in the key areas.Kilmaley started well and held a three point advantage after ten minutes when the score was 0-4 to 0-1. Team captain Sean Kennedy lined out having been a doubtful starter allk week due to a hamstring injury suffered in the opening minute of their semi-final win over Bodyke-O’Callaghans Mills six days earlier. However …

AN incident on a “dangerous stretch of road” along the N85 resulted in a signpost being “split in two” and the driver having a lucky escape from serious injury. Details of the recent incident have emerged as Councillor James Breen suggested that a crash barrier be installed on the road at the entrance to his property at Ballyknock, Kilnamona. According Councillor Breen this stretch of road been the site of a number of accidents in recent years. “This is a very dangerous stretch of road; 90% of accidents between Ennistymon and Whelan’s Quarry have happened on that stretch of road. Thank God nobody has lost their life yet and I hope in the future nobody will,” he stated. He told a recent meeting of the Ennis Municipal District that he had “no objection” to the council installing a crash barrier on his land. He said that the recent accident in the early hours of the morning resulted in a signpost being “split …