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Tag Archives: lahinch

Lahinch Mourns Death of Community Leader

  PEOPLE in Lahinch are mourning the loss of a community leader following the passing of Tomsie O’Sullivan. The long serving community activist died at his residence in Doonboy, Station Road, Lahinch, on St Patrick’s Day. After reposing in Lahinch Church on Friday, his Funeral Mass took place on Saturday morning before burial afterwards in the Old Cemetery, Ennistymon. While Tomsie was involved with numerous community organisations for decades, he is synonymous with the RNLI, who presented him with a Long Service Award for reaching 58 years with the organisation last September. The RNLI was very much a family affair as Tomsie’s children used to help him with church gate collections and flag days.   In an interview with the Clare Champion last year, Tomsie estimated the Lahinch branch used to raise between €6,000 to €8,000 annually over a 28-year period. Born in Main Street, Tomsie’s father, Thomas, who was a carpenter fell off a roof in the early fifties …

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VIDEO: Behind the scenes in Clare with ‘Smother’ crew

THE stunning scenery of west Clare has been enjoying more national exposure recently with the return to screens of RTE’s hit drama Smother. Smother has been supported from its inception by Clare County Council, whose arts officer, Siobhán Mulcahy, said: “Clare County Council is delighted to support and accommodate Smother logistically and behind the scenes, as we value its potential to promote our beautiful county, to provide investment and employment opportunities and to encourage the further development of local talent. “It has also provided us with a valuable opportunity to deepen our engagement and further our partnership with regional film supports such as WRAP and Film in Limerick.” The production has also been supported by Innovate Limerick through Film in Limerick, who have a regional remit for developing the sector in the Mid-West and they have produced a short behind-the-scenes film on the filming in Lahinch. Funded by Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland and the WRAP Fund and with BBC …

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Witness appeal for horse hit and run on Clare beach

CLARE gardai have issued a renewed appeal for witnesses to an incident in Lahinch in October when a man was struck by a horse, whose rider subsequently left the scene. The incident occurred between 2.20pm and 2.25pm on Sunday, October 24, 2021 when a male in his forties was struck by a horse while walking on Lahinch beach close to O Brien’s Bridge, which is located at the Liscannor side of Lahinch Beach. There was a young girl in her late teens with the horse. It is believed that the horse and the girl left in the direction of Liscannor. The gentleman received medical attention as a result of this. Local enquiries have been conducted but the identity of the horse and jockey remain unknown. An appeal is being made for any witnesses who may have any information to assist with the identification of the horse/ jockey or any transport that was used to contact Ennistymon Garda Station on 7072180.

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Clare’s tourism jewels highlighted in awards

THE Burren Ecotourism Network was one of the main winners in the Irish Independent’s ‘Reader Travel Awards, taking the green light award for sustainability’. The judges applauded the network for it’s “contribution to sustainable tourism” which they said helped “make Ireland a greener destination and inspirational example”. Made up of 62 tourism enterprises, from cheesemongers to carbon-neutral hotels, the network’s efforts to conserve the area through training, initiatives and a code of sustainable practices was applauded. “The members promote initiatives like community clean-ups and each business gives out Burren Bags — tote bags that can be filled with rubbish found when guests are out exploring,” the judges said. They added that businesses can also adopt hedgerows and undergo biodiversity training, and support the Burren Pine Project, which aims to restore Ireland’s only native pine species, previously believed to have been extinct. Jarlath O’Dwyer, CEO of the Burren Ecotourism Network said: “We’re proud of the fact we’ve mobilized the community with …

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Lifeguards at Clare resort the busiest in the country

LIFEGUARDS in Lahinch performed 43% of all rescues in water-based amenities in the country in 2020, writes Dan Danaher. Councillor Liam Grant has revealed that lifeguards in Lahinch performed more rescues than counties Kerry, Cork, Donegal and Sligo combined last year. Speaking at a meeting of Clare County Council, he outlined Lahinch lifeguards completed 208 out of the 473 water rescues last year. The Green Party councillor called on Clare County Council to provide a fulltime lifeguard service for the month of June at the busiest beaches in the county. “With the increase in popularity of sea swimming and other water sports, there is now a need for lifeguards every day at the most popular beaches during the month of June.” He congratulated Clare McGrath on her appointment as chairperson of Water Safety Ireland, having done so much work to promote water safety in recent decades. The Lahinch councillor said there is a large increase in the number of people …

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Tourists escape injury in Blake’s Corner collision

TWO American tourists escaped injury after their car collided with a wall at a notorious junction in North Clare this afternoon. The single-vehicle collision happened at around midday at Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon. The BMW car mounted a wall on the west side of the junction where several collisions have previously occurred. The wall which the car struck today has been damaged and repaired several times previously. The two occupants of the vehicle, understood to be visitors from the US, were uninjured. It’s also understood that a National Ambulance Service crew, that had been passing the area at the time, stopped and assessed the occupants to ensure they had not been hurt. There were traffic hold ups for around 30 minutes while the vehicle was removed from the scene. Gardaí from Ennistymon also attended the incident. Blake’s Corner is located close to a bridge on the main road where the N85 and N67 meet and leads to Lahinch and on to …

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New centre to build on work of Clare’s lifeguard pioneers

Volunteers honoured for contribution as foundations laid for Lahinch Rescue and Training Centre FOUR volunteers were honoured for their selfless contribution to water safety and life saving in Lahinch. Tomsie O’Sullivan, Odran O’Looney, Jarlath O’Looney and Richard Devereux have each committed much of their lives to voluntary water safety functions in the west Clare resort. They formed the Lahinch Search & Rescue Unit, fundraised, promoted water safety, and spent many hours on search and rescue missions in the Liscannor Bay area. On disbanding the Lahinch Search and Recovery company in 2018 they donated their existing equipment, including a rescue jetski to their successors, Water Safety Clare. These four gentlemen also became members of Water Safety Clare – a countywide voluntary life saving organisation since the 1930s – which continues to promote and develop the excellent work already started in the Lahinch area. Appropriately, Tomsie, Odran, Jarlath and Richard were invited to a ceremony to witness the foundation being laid for …

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Big Beach Clean removes 1.6 tonnes of litter from Clare coast

VOLUNTEERS in Clare removed around 1.6 tonnes of marine litter from our coasts at the weekend as part of the Big Beach Clean. After a break in 2020, the Big Beach Clean took place over the weekend and Clean Coasts were overwhelmed with the incredible support and commitment shown by communities across Ireland. In Clare, volunteers organised clean-ups in 16 different locations, removing approximately 1.6 tonnes of marine litter. Among them, volunteers from Clean Coasts group Keep Lahinch Clean organised a clean-up that saw also local kids from the surfing school get involved after their class and collected over 10 bags of marine litter. The Big Beach Clean is an annual call to action that takes place in September at the end of the bathing season. Volunteers around Ireland were asked to register their clean up event and take part in a worldwide citizen science project, as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), operated internationally by Ocean Conservancy. This …

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