Tag Archives: Kilrush

A PLANNING application has been lodged for a major residential development in Kilrush. The application, which has been made by A & M Tubridy, seeks to convert the old Convent structure at Back Road, Kilrush. It seeks permission to upgrade the existing stairways, install two lifts and develop 30 apartments. It also seeks to demolish part of an existing outbuilding, reduce ground levels and construct 20 new semi detached dwellings. The old convent is a protected structure and was used as a school for decades. Since education ceased there in the 1990s, it has been out of use. According to the application, the gross floor space of the existing building is 3705 metres square and this would be extended by another 230m2. Half of the apartments would be one beds and the other half two beds, while the houses would all be three beds. One hundred and seventeen parking spaces would be provided. According to the documents submitted, the applicants …

ST PATRICK’S Day festivities will go virtual this year in Kilrush, with the community determined to look ahead to brighter days, while celebrating the local parades tradition that is so dear to local hearts. A 12-strong committee involving business and community leaders has been working hard to ensure people still have the chance to celebrate, despite the Level 5 lockdown restrictions. Taking the theme of ‘Sending Grá’ to family and friends who are away from home on March 17, the virtual celebration aims to engage people of all ages. The streets and shops have been decorated in the town and organisers are inviting people of all ages to submit entries to art and photography competitions and to send in photos of vintage vehicles that would normally be getting polished and ready to take to the streets for the parade. There’s also a Jerusalema Challenge for family bubbles and socially-distanced groups. “The Kilrush St Patrick’s Day Parade has always been a …

THE HSE has confirmed a review has been commissioned into the provision of a new Primary Health Care Centre in Kilrush. Following a public announcement two years ago concerning this development, Councillor Cillian Murphy asked the HSE to provide information on the phase in the current process, a timeline for its completion and opening and an indicative list of proposed services and opening times Councillor Murphy asked at a recent HSE West Forum meeting whether services in the new health centre will be included that will reduce the amount of non-urgent calls the ambulance service usually deals with. The Fianna Fáil Councillor asked if a review of this project had actually started and when could he expect the completion of a report on the centre. He expressed concern that the HSE will make a decision on progressing the centre after the review as this could result in two possible outcomes: one, where the centre would not proceed or, two when …

SHARED bike schemes for a number of Clare towns were mooted at an online Active Travel briefing last week. The event which was attended by an expert panel, including Transport Minister Éamon Ryan, heard calls for a Dublin-based scheme whereby bikes are available for short-term rental at a variety of locations, to be rolled out outside of the capital. “The Dublin Bike Scheme is great, is there any chance of that being rolled out in towns?” Green Senator, Róisín Garvey, who organised the online event, asked. “Is it a private enterprise, because it would work in Shannon, it would work in Ennis and in Kilrush, maybe. People have been talking a lot about this.” The minister noted the popularity of the scheme as well as some pitfalls. “I think we could and should [extend it],” he said. “It is a private scheme. In Dublin, it was JC Decaux who did a deal with the council, they’re the signage company. I’ll …

A KILRUSH-based councillor is to make efforts to extend street lighting between the Shanakyle Road and St Senan’s Graveyard. Independent member of the West Clare Municipal District, Ian Lynch, tabled a motion calling for the extension and seeking details on options and costs for new lights. “St Senan’s Graveyard Group contacted me to see if they could get the lights extended out about 200 metres,” Councillor Lynch told the January meeting of the district committee. “The isolation that people are experiencing through Covid is prompting many to get some bit of comfort out of visiting the graveyard to see their loved ones. Sometimes people have gotten caught in the evening times, on the short evenings. The group asked me to put in this notice of motion. Pre-empting the response, I was trying to get a feel for the cost of putting up these lights. It’s a motion that’s come up several times throughout the municipal district, especially around schools, and …

CLARE County Council has been urged to apologise for the role it played, in the 1920s and ‘30s, in the running of the County Clare Nursery in Kilrush. Last week, in the Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, the high infant mortality rate there was revealed. The deaths of so-called “illegitimate” infants is recorded as 168 during a ten-year period from 1922 to 1932. The commission concluded that the vast majority of those children died at the home. The facility was owned and financed by Clare County Council. At the outset of this week’s meeting of the West Clare Municipal District, Councillor Shane Talty proposed that an apology would be issued by the council at its February meeting.  He said the council was proud of its history but added, “We should acknowledge our dark chapters and if the local authority had a role in that, albeit nobody today can take responsibility, I think at a …

THERE were “continuous requisitions” for coffins at the old County Clare Nursery in Kilrush, according to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Final Report, which was published on Tuesday. The County Clare Nursery, which was on the site of the Kilrush Workhouse on the Cooraclare Road, was open from 1922 to 1932 and it appears a very large number of children both were born and died there. According to the Commission’s report, “The death rate in Co Clare institutions is very high when compared with the numbers in the baptismal record. As the nursery was the only institution for ‘illegitimate’ children in Co Clare it is probable that at least the majority died there.” Between 1923 and 1932 there are records of 168 so-called ‘illegitimate’ infants dying in institutions in Clare, with 27 passing away in one single year, 1926. This figure does not include slightly older children who died in the institutions during the same years. A …

HIGHLY-anticipated restoration works are set to get underway shortly at the Vandeleur Walled Garden, where a new interpretative museum is among the developments planned. Located in Kilrush, the gardens are among the jewels in the crown of tourism in West Clare and were visited recently by Clare County Council officials and project stakeholders. The socially-distanced site visit was in advance of the enabling works getting underway for the restoration and renovation of the old stable block. The tendering process is complete and Custy Construction Ltd, a Clare-based construction firm, has been appointed to this project. The restoration works are funded by the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, under the Department of Rural and Community Development. Additional match funding has come from the council. The main works, due to begin early this year, will include an interpretative museum and new gardeners’ building, along with the development of a new visitor experience design and approach for the complex. “I very much welcome …