Tag Archives: Quin

A QUIN woman, with an aggressive form of cancer, has hit out at the fact that so many sick people have to fight to access life-saving treatments. Maria Meade’s oncologist has recommended a break-through drug, but currently her health insurer doesn’t automatically cover the cost for patients at her stage of illness. A year-long course of Pembrolizamub, an immunotherapy treatment, will cost at least €150,000, a price tag which Fianna Fáil Deputy Cathal Crowe compared, in the Dáil, to paying a second mortgage. Maria and her husband Tom describe themselves as “very private people”. Speaking publicly on sensitive health issues is the last thing they would ordinarily do, but the couple said they have been left with no choice. After some physically gruelling surgery, carried out in the depths of the lockdown, Maria is cancer free. Her oncologist has told her that her best chance of staying that way is to start a course of the break-through drug, also known …

A CLARE-born Capuchin priest has produced a series of on-line reflections with messages of support and hope in challenging times. Fr Flann Lynch is a native of Quin and celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his priesthood earlier this month. A member of the Capuchin community, he spent much of his life in ministry overseas and worked with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, before returning to Ireland where he now lives at the Ards Friary in Creeslough, County Donegal. Inspired by the difficulties of the lockdown and ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Fr Lynch has most recently created a meditation for those experiencing grief. “I’ve called it ‘Grief, A Stepping Stone’ and it’s a response to the huge amount of suffering that is in the country at this time,” Fr Lynch said. “We have had a situation where people haven’t been able to be present at the death of loved ones, or to attend funerals in some cases. People have been telling their stories …

HOLY wells have long been a source of comfort in times of trouble, and in East Clare a monastic site, sacred to sixth century saint, has not only a well, but also a rare ‘plague stone,’ believed to cure disease. “Luchtigern, a sixth century local saint was said to be able to cure any type of pestilence,” explained Quin historian and writer, Michael Houlihan. “His church and holy well stand on the northern shore of Fenloe Lake, a few miles southeast of Quin village. Keeping in mind that vaccines did not become commonplace until the mid to late nineteenth century, any type of contagion or airborne sickness took a huge toll on the local population. People did what they could to seek some kind of intervention. Many reached out to the saint.” As a resident of the East Clare village, Michael has long been aware of the folklore of St Luchtigern. His current research on the holy wells of Clare …

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 …