The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
AN OLD forge that was owned by the family of two of South Galway’s War of Independence heroes is fighting to stay open as a community venue, due to punitive running costs and the difficulty of fundraising during the pandemic. The 200-year-old building in Shanaglish was run by the family of Patrick and Harry Loughnane, who were killed in one of the most brutal atrocities of the war. In the 1990s, the building was carefully restored by Beagh Rural Development, but today the group is struggling to cover the commercial electricity charges levelled by the ESB. Ordinarily, fund-raising events would help to raise the €600 needed annually to foot the bill, but these activities have all but come to a halt because of the pandemic. The challenge comes at a time when the community is working to mark the deaths of the Loughnane brothers and commemorate their killings. Their story is one that still evokes an emotional response in Beagh …
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