Tag Archives: North Clare

A MAJOR international conference at the Falls Hotel & Spa in Ennistymon in November will be the forum for the launch of a world-wide sustainable tourism destination programme. The Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark, which is hosting the ‘GeoparkLIFE: Tourism for Conservation’ conference, has produced a code of practice tool-kit and a heritage sites and trails management model under its five-year GeoparkLIFE conservation programme, which concludes this December. The associated destination manager guides and supporting tool-kits include an online code of practice in sustainable tourism for tourism businesses, a monitoring app for trails and heritage site management and an online data management tool for planners, managers and communities. The project coordinators say the tools, developed in conjunction with local businesses, communities and conservation agencies, enable a balance between tourism development and the conservation needs of the North Clare region.

THE Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience is now Ireland’s second-best performing tourist attraction after Fáilte Ireland this week published the list of Ireland’s best performing tourism attractions in 2016. The North Clare tourist attraction experienced the most growth in the top five Irish attractions, having jumped by 14% to 1,427,166 visitors in 2016. The most popular fee-paying attraction remains the Guinness Storehouse, which experienced a 10% jump in visitors last year, welcoming 1.6m visitors through the gates. Fáilte Ireland’s annual list of Ireland’s top visitor attractions details the attractions registering strong growth, which is reflective of the strong tourism growth experienced during 2016. Among Ireland’s free-to-enter attractions, the National Gallery of Ireland continues to lead the way with numbers up 5% to more than 755,000. The top five fee-paying attractions during 2016 were Guinness Storehouse; Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience; Dublin Zoo, 1,143,908 (+3%); National Aquatic Centre, 1,037,992 (+4.5%) and the Book of Kells, 890,781 (+6%). Another Clare attraction features …

AN inquest has returned a verdict of manslaughter in accordance with the findings of the Central Criminal Court into the death of 43-year-old Ballyvaughan woman Deirdre McCarthy. Just days before the sixth anniversary of Ms McCarthy’s death, Colm Deely of School Road, Ballyvaughan was sentenced to eight years in prison for her manslaughter. He had denied murdering Ms McCarthy but in early March 2017 he pleaded guilty to her manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court. At a sitting of the County Coroner’s Court in Ennis on Thursday, an inquest found that Ms McCarthy’s death was due to asphyxia, with blunt force trauma as a contributory factor. County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said, in holding this inquest, she hoped it “helps to bring some closure to what was a tortured and arduous journey” for Ms Carthy’s family. Superintendent John Galvin, acting as coroner’s officer, offered his sympathies and those of An Garda Síochána, describing this case as something that has “been going …

A boil water notice affecting over 300 premises in Turlough, in North Clare has been lifted, making the local water safe to consume. The lifting of the notice, on the advice of the Health Service Executive, follows completion of work at the treatment plant and the subsequent recording of satisfactory monitoring results that indicated that the water is now safe to drink. This notice was put in place by Irish Water and Clare County Council in July 2016 due to the detection of low levels of Cryptosporidium in the Turlough water supply. The works carried out at the treatment plant involved the installation of an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system on the supply. Customers can now resume normal use of the water supply for drinking, food preparation and brushing teeth. Katherine Walshe, regional manager with Irish Water, commented, “Irish Water and Clare County Council acknowledge the patience, co-operation and assistance of the general public during the period of the Boil Water …

Remains found in Galway Bay last week are those of a missing North Clare resident, Maria Hennigar, gardaí have confirmed. 35-year-old Ms Hennigar was reported missing on November 22 although she hadn’t been seen since early November. Family and friends of Ms Hennigar had been searching large areas of north Clare despite having no indication where Maria was or if she was actually missing.Hundreds of people joined the searches which also involved the Irish Coast Guard, Clare Civil Defence and gardaí. When part of a body was discovered in the sea near Kilcolgan on November 29, Ms Hennigan’s family was informed and DNA samples were taken so they be could compared to those taken from the body. Maria’s family have thanked the Gardaí and volunteers search teams for their efforts in the search. Today (Friday), her sister, Amanda Hennigar posted of Facebook, “Sadly, we confirm the passing of our sister Maria. We wish to express our sincerest gratitude and appreciation …

NORTH Clare part-time fireman Joe Crosse began a run of 250 miles in three days on Friday (July 29) to raise funds for Friends of Ennistymon Community Hospital. For most people, that would seem like an impossible task but Joe has form in this area. Two years ago, he ran 100 miles around County Clare in just 21 hours. Now he hopes to more than double that, as he loops around North Clare over the course of the weekend beginning on Friday morning. According to the plasterer, he is a “casual runner”. “I have been running on and off for years. I have done a few marathons but Ballyvaughan is my favourite one. I do that nearly every year.” “In 2014, I did 100 miles in 21 hours. I was meant to do it in 24 but I finished in 21 hours. For the last one, I was home at Christmas time and I was bored and I was looking at possibly …

Following advice from the Health Service Executive, Irish Water and Clare County Council have issued a Boil Water Notice on the Turlough Public Water Supply, which serves approximately 260 households in North Clare. The boil water notice has been put in place to protect customers due to the detection of low levels of cryptosporidium in the water supply. It is recommended that all users on the Turlough Public Water Scheme and Aughinish and Turlough public group schemes boil water before use. Irish Water is in the process of contacting all those affected by the Boil Water Notice.

The man who died in a road crash in North Clare on Tuesday evening has been named as Grzegorz Frydrych. The 35-year-old from Poland, who was visiting the county on holiday, lost his life after the car he was travelling in collided with a motorcycle on the Coast road near Doolin. Gardaí have confirmed that his family have been notified and steps will now be taken to repatriate his body home. Three others were injured in the collision, the male driver and a female passenger in the car have since been released from hospital. However,  the motorcyclist, a man from the Doonbeg area, remains in a serious condition at University Hospital Limerick.