Tag Archives: Spanish point

THE Clare Association in Dublin has selected 38-year-old Spanish Point hotelier John Burke as their Clare Person of the Year for 2018. He was named at a meeting of the association on Tuesday night. Last May, John made history, when he became the first Clare man to successfully climb Mount Everest. The mountaineer, who runs The Armada Hotel, made the climb to fulfil a personal dream and also to raise awareness and funds for the charity, Elevate, which he and his wife, Aoibhín Garrihy, established to promote well-being among young people. Aoibhín accompanied her husband to Nepal, where he climbed Mount Everest and, on reaching the summit, he remembered his Clare roots by planting the saffron and blue flag. Afterwards, he described the final night of the climb as hell on earth. He witnessed casualties of the mountain first-hand and could see the fear of death in the faces of other people who were making the climb with him. On his …

A CLARE brother and sister, hailed as heroes after saving a swimmer from a rip current in Spanish Point, have revealed it was “lucky” circumstances that resulted in them being in the right place at the right time. Bernard and Róisín Cahill from Clarecastle dashed from their car after spotting a swimmer in trouble in the sea off the West Clare beach.  The quick-thinking off-duty lifeguards leapt into action, using a borrowed kayak to rescue the middle-aged man and bring him to safety. “We would never normally be coming through Spanish Point that late. The circumstances that surrounded us being there – you couldn’t make it up, it was so lucky. And any other people in the car driving past that situation mightn’t have even spotted him.  It’s mad,” said Bernard. After spending the day working as a lifeguard on Lahinch beach, he and a colleague travelled to White Strand to pick up Róisín, who had also been working as …

Clare County Council will provide updates on conditions at the county’s Blue Flag beaches on its Twitter and Facebook accounts from Saturday next. The updates will feature latest sea, water quality and weather conditions, as well as tide in and tide out times for Ballycuggeran (Killaloe), Cappa, Fanore, Kilkee, Lahinch, Mountshannon, Spanish Point, Whitestrand Doonbeg and Whitestrand Miltown Malbay. The updates coincide with the commencement of lifeguard cover at County Clare beaches this June Bank Holiday Weekend. Lifeguard cover will be provided at Clare’s Blue Flag beaches from 11.00am to 7.00pm this Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Cover will continue on Saturdays and Sundays during the month of June, while there will be full-time time cover at these locations as well as at Bishops Quarter (Ballyvaughan) and Seafield Quilty during the months of July and August and the first two weekends of September.

A training exercise testing the response capabilities of Shannon Foynes Port Company, local authorities and other organisations who operate in the vicinity of the Shannon Estuary will take place at Spanish Point on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. The simulated event, which is being hosted by Clare County Council on behalf of the Shannon Estuary Anti-Pollution Team (SEA-PT), will centre on a major spillage of crude oil having occurred from an oil exploration platform located approximately 220km off the south west coast of Ireland and oil coming ashore at Spanish Point. Other parameters for the exercise will include notification that the source of the pollution has been brought under control and that there have been no casualties on the oil exploration platform.

ON Saturday, St Joseph’s Spanish Point will attempt to win a third Munster colleges title. They will play St Augustine’s College, Dungarvan in Bansha at 12.30pm, as they seek to add to Munster titles won in 1983 and 1995. Four clubs, St Joseph’s Miltown, Kilmurry-Ibrickane, Cooraclare and Doonbeg supply players to the panel, many of whom were part of last year’s team that was beaten in the U-16½ Munster final. St Joseph’s beat Beara from Cork in the first round, Miltown Castlemaine (Kerry), Douglas (Cork) and Causeway Comprehensive (Kerry) to reach the final. St Joseph’s are managed and coached by Paul Reidy (Kilmihil), John O’Sullivan (Miltown), Cathal Crowe (Ennistymon) and Paul Dillon (Doonbeg). Two years ago, the school won the Clare U-15 competition and last year won in Clare U-16½, while they lost the Munster final to Kenmare. Fourteen of the current team are eligible again next year. “We didn’t expect to go on this sort of run but we …

A fisherman, believed to be a non-national but living in Clare, has been rescued after he fell into the sea near Spanish Point. The man, in his 40s, was fishing off rocks  when he fell into the water. The Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard and an ambulance were sent to the scene after members of the public raised the alarm. One passerby waded out into the waves with a lifebuoy and threw it to the man who was safely brought ashore. The man, who was shaken after his ordeal, was uninjured.

ST Joseph’s Secondary School, Spanish Point, recently presented its end-of-year awards, one of which was the prestigious Ceist award. Ceist is the trustee umbrella body that governs St Joseph’s. This year, the award was presented to Adam Clohessy, a second-year pupil, for his quick action in helping to save his father’s life. Living in Kilrush, Adam has been attending Spanish Point ASD class for the last two years. The school felt it was appropriate that he be recognised for his actions in saving his father’s life. Adam explained, “I woke up at 5am and my dad was calling my name. I thought he was talking in his sleep but he called again. It was only then I heard a thump. I went to check him and I found him on the floor. He had fallen out of bed and I tried to help him back in but he just kept falling. His speech was a bit slurred, which eventually made …

Clare County Council is urging visitors to Clare’s beaches this June Bank Holiday Weekend to take responsibility for their rubbish by bringing it home with them. The Council has employed additional resources to deal with the increase in litter that has resulted from the rise in visitor numbers to beaches such as Kilkee, Lahinch and Spanish Point. The local authority says it is also installing additional refuse facilities at Clare’s Blue Flags in an effort to minimise littering while litter wardens have been deployed to monitor littering activity. “Our beach is a fantastic resource for the wider community and it’s up to us all to ensure that we take home what we bring to the beach”, said Cyril Feeney, area engineer with with th council. He added, “The council wishes to acknowledge those who have used the public bins to dispose of their litter. These bins are emptied regularly each day but often reach their capacity due to the unprecedented …