Tag Archives: lisdoonvarna

A ROAD in north Clare has been closed today, as a crane is to be used to help right a cement truck that overturned there yesterday afternoon. The truck overturned on the R476 at around 4pm, at a location around 1.5 miles outside of Kilfenora, on the way towards Lisdoonvarna. Gardai said that no-one was injured in the accident. It is understood that the accident happened on a section where roadworks have recently taken place.

BUSINESSES in Lisdoonvarna has confirmed they are still open and will continue to trade next September, despite the cancellation of the popular matchmaking festival for the second year in a row. Lynn Connolly, who runs the Rathbawn Hotel, asked if Tesco decided to pull out of Ennis, would people say Ennis is closing for shopping? Acknowledging a marquee will not be permitted to operate this year due to Covid-19 restrictions on large crowds, she believes it was unfair to other business to cancel the entire festival for the second year in a row. She said businesses don’t know if they will be allowed to host musicians yet. “Musicians are booked and are rearing to go. We are in limbo, which is fine under the circumstances, as we all have to stay safe. “We can’t say whether we will have music. We want to have a good September, but we have to follow the government guidelines.” She said businesses were not …

Aisling Drennan found a new audience for, and engagement with, her work online after the pandemic struck THIS time last year Clare artist Aisling Drennan was facing into an uncertain future with all of her scheduled exhibitions were cancelled due to Covid-19. However, the Lisdoonvarna born, London-based abstract painter has managed to turn this setback into an opportunity and is now showcasing her works all over the world and expanding into new markets. Recalling when her shows were cancelled last year she says, “I just felt that everything had fallen apart and I didn’t know how to pick the pieces up and mend them back together. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that – a pure sense of loss of control. Of course, countless people also felt the same in the face of uncertainty.” However, it wasn’t long before she decided to take positive action. “There are times when you have to stand back from a situation and assess …

AN AMBITIOUS reimagining of the North Clare Sports and Amenity Park could see the popular facility transformed. Since 2020, there has been intensive collaborative work involving local schools, artists, clubs, businesses and organisations in the community and local catchment area in creating a new vision for the amenity. Brian Gaynor of Green Pine Consultants presented the initial draft plans to the North clare Community and stakeholders on this week, via Zoom. “We feel these themes will be a very special development for the community of North Clare and our local areas with particular benefit in tourism, education, cultural/heritage and sports fields,” said Lisdoonvarna Fáilte Director, Councillor Joe Garrihy. “The collective and shared commitment of our groups align very much with the concept and proposal under development and we are delighted to share the planning stages with the community now at this early stage for comment, observation and input.” Significant funding support to the tune of €210,000 has been secured towards delivering …

HOT on the heels of the huge publicity boost for North Clare created by the TV show ‘Smother’ and the two-part documentary ‘The Burren: Heart of Stone,’ Lisdoonvarna is set for a visitor boost this summer after inspiring a movie on the world-famous matchmaking festival. Entitled, ‘As Luck Would Have It,’ the movie premiered on the Hallmark Channel last week. It stars Irish actor Allen Leech, who played Tom Branson in the hugely popular ‘Downton Abbey,’ and US actress JoAnne Garcia Swisher from the Netflix series ‘Sweet Magnolia’. The film’s plot revolves around JoAnne’s character, Lindsey, who travels to Ireland to acquire land to build a resort. She decides to enter the local matchmaking festival to prove her investment and win over a handsome local. The film is one of two major television productions to reference the festival in recent years. The multi-award winning ‘Schitt’s Creek’ features a Singles Week in the series four finale, with a serious nod to …

LOOKING for love, without the pub has been described as “a threatening and scary prospect” by legendary Lisdoonvarna matchmaker Willie Daly. Ahead of a Valentine’s Day like no other, the love guru said Irish society remains without a key social and romantic outlet, as Level 5 restrictions mean pubs and restaurants must remain closed. “Irish men in particular are feeling alone and isolated,” he said. “They’re looking for love without the pub and while I’m not advocating abusing drink, Arthur Guinness was always a marvellous back-up and a source of energy for fellas who might have been on the sensitive and conservative side. They came into their own with a few social drinks in the pub and that’s not available now. The Irish man feels very naked at the moment. His mind, body and soul are in a different place. Love without the pub is a strange situation. I’ve seen it at the [matchmaking] festival. Fellas are shy at 7 …

STUDENTS of Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna scooped four awards at this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition. Oisín Jackson won the second prize in the Junior Individual category of the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences. His project was entitled “An investigation into the differences in height of adjoining clints in limestone pavement in the Burren”. In this project he looked in detail at the difference in height of adjoining clints and seeing if prevailing wind may contribute to their formation. As well as getting this award he also got the Geological Survey Ireland special award. Ciara McDonnell was awarded highly commended for her project entitled “House searching by hermit crabs” This project was in the Junior Individual Biological and Ecological Sciences category. In this project Ciara was looking to see if the choice of shell by hermit crabs is related to shell size and their size and shell availability. Anna Mae O’Driscoll was awarded highly commended for …

A 97 year old bachelor farmer who attended the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival for 72 years has passed away without finding his soul mate. Mick Bourke from County Tipperary began attending the festival in 1946 when he was 23 years old and never missed a year until his health began to fade a few years ago. His death caused by pneumonia was announced last week. “Mick was well known and loved by many in Lisdoonvarna and messages of sympathy have been pouring in all week to us, via social media. People are speaking of his warmth, his sense of fun and his razor-sharp dancing skills. He was a legend in Lisdoonvarna and he never gave up hope of finding love in over 70 years, attending”, said Julie Carr, Marketing Manager of Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival. Back in 2016, a party was organised for Mick at the Spa Wells in the village, where he was presented with a cake by Matchmaker Willie Daly. …