Tag Archives: Quin

NECESSITY is said to be the mother of invention, and that’s certainly true during the Covid-19 crisis. With severe restrictions on movement hitting the sale of thorough-bred horses, Quin equestrian specialist Johnny Hassett has responded by moving his business on-line. The Bloodstock Connection, at Ballyhannon House, specialises in producing what are called ‘breeze up’ horses. These are generally two-year-olds, who are galloped or ‘breezed’ along a track where prospective buyers can assess them before inspecting them at the sales arena. Taking the business into the virtual world was very much a “make or break” response to the coronavirus outbreak. “We made the decision around seven weeks ago,” Mr Hassett said. “It has gone well in that we’ve sold some horses, but the really big benefit has been to raise our profile and keep our names out there. As a breeze up company, we had doubled up on horses, twice as many horses and upped the calibre significantly and the spend, …

LONG planned weddings have had to be cancelled all over the county in recent months, much to the disappointment of those who had been all set to walk down the aisle. Amy Ryan from Quin had been due to marry Tommy Considine from Clooney in August but now those plans have been put on ice. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world but you put a lot of effort into planning it and then it kind of goes up in smoke,” says Amy. The couple have been together for nearly 11 years and she said that calling it off was the right option for them. “It’s gutting for everyone. We looked at what other people had done, getting married and Zoom and all that but we’re a bit traditional.” Prior to a recent address from the Taoiseach, when proposed phases of reopening the country had been laid out, they had still planned to go …

AN EAST Clare man who is a prominent health campaigner and terminal cancer patient is appealing for people to consider the vulnerability of those who are immunocompromised and at high risk from complications of Covid 19. John Wall from Quin said the responsibility to curb the spread of the Coronavirus lies with everyone in the community, and that those who are healthy and likely to only experience mild symptoms, should remember others whose lives are at risk from the illness. Mr Wall, who has terminal prostate cancer and has been actively working with the Health Minister to cut down on red tape for those accessing terminal illness medical cards, also said he believes the care-taker government should remain in place and government formation put on ice until the Covid 19 crisis is under control. He said that he and others coping with terminal illness would advocate as strongly as possible on the issue, in the interests of public health. “I …

WHEN Caroline Lynch from Quin married lively Dubliner Chris Byrne on June 28, 2013, building a dream home in the Banner County was always part of their plan. The Ringsend native was “larger than life”, says Caroline, and made a big impression on her native village. He found common ground with everyone he met and always had a friendly word. When we’d go out to the pub in Quin, everyone was like: ‘There’s Chris,’ whereas they hardly noticed me and I’m the native!” she smiles. While this year, Caroline is fulfilling the dream of raising her family in Clare, she’ll be doing it without her soul-mate, after losing Chris to an aggressive form of brain cancer in the Spring of 2016. Now, her rocks of support are her parents Ann and Des, her five-year-old son Harry, and a wide circle of relatives and friends. But she admits that the void left by Chris’s death has left her feeling “robbed” of …

The communities of Spanish Point, Kilkishen, Shannon and Quin are busily preparing for the adjudication stage of 2018 IPB Pride of Place competition, which takes place next Tuesday and Wednesday. The four communities have been nominated by the Rural Development Directorate of Clare County Council to participate in annual all-island competition, which is run by Co-operation Ireland and aims to recognise and celebrate the vital contributions that communities make to society. The Castle Bog Walk project in Kilkishen, which features in the ‘Community Wellbeing Initiative’ category, will be visited by Pride of Places judges on Tuesday morning. The judges will then move on to Shannon which is representing the county in Population Category 5 (Population over 5,000) in recognition of its many leisure, sporting, social and educational facilities built by an active, vibrant and engaged community. On Wednesday morning, judges will visit Spanish Point which is included in the Islands & Coastal Communities Category of the competition in recognition of …

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the death of IRA volunteer John Ryan of Crossagh, Newmarket-on-Fergus, who was the first fatality of the War of Independence in Clare. Ryan, a member of the IRA’s East Clare Brigade, was killed by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary during a cattle drive on the Blood-Smyth estate in Castlefergus, near Quin, on Sunday, March 24, 1918. To mark this centenary, a group of local historians and republicans has formed the Volunteer John Ryan Centenary Committee and, next Sunday, a series of commemorative events is planned. The committee has already had Ryan’s headstone professionally cleaned and his grave refurbished at Clonlohan Cemetery. On Sunday, a piper will lead a procession from Castlefergus to Liddy’s house in Doora, where Ryan died from his injuries, for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at 2pm. There will be a laying of wreaths at the spot where Ryan was killed, a reading of the 1916 Proclamation and …

Ennis has been named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre in the 59h annual National Tidy Towns Competition, while Kilrush has joined the counjty town in being awarded a Gold Medal in its category. The result was announced at the 2017 National SuperValu TidyTowns Awards Ceremony at the Helix in Dublin. Ennis was marked against strict adjudication criteria and beat off stiff competition from other large urban centres throughout the country. It’s the seventh time that Ennis has been designated Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre, having won the award in 2006, 2008 and 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2016. Ennis was named overall winner of the ‘Gum Litter Task Force’ and ‘Can it’ awards, while the County Capital also picked up a County Award along with Kilrush and Mountshannon. Lisdoonvarna won an Endeavour Award and Bronze Medals were awarded to Quin, Ballynacally, Ballyvaughan and Tuamgraney. The other main competition winners are Birdhill, County Tipperary (Tidiest Village and overall winner), Westport, County Mayo (Tidiest Large Town), and Clonakilty, County …

THE de-zoning of almost nine acres of land land in Quin due to flooding concerns has a potential loss of between €2 million and €2.5m in land sales, a former councillor has claimed. Sonny Scanlon has previously received in the region of €1m for selling land at Madara, Quin, which facilitated the construction of 45 houses in a new housing estate. The former Fine Gael Councillor had planned to provide land to a prospective developer to build phased housing on land adjoining the existing residential estate. However, Mr Scanlon’s plans suffered a major set-back on Monday after councillors supported a recommendation from acting chief executive officer, Ger Dollard, to remove residential zoning from this site and amend the settlement boundary accordingly. According to Mr Scanlon, he had received two offers to purchase this land for €2m and €2.5m from different developers. In a submission to the planning authority by Project Design and Building Services on behalf of Mr Scanlon, it …