Tag Archives: Tulla

THE joy and enthusiasm brought by Swiss native, Cornelia Wahli, to her adopted home in Tulla, was remembered at her funeral mass last Sunday (June 12). A passionate environmentalist, Cornelia came to Ireland as an au pair, bidding farewell to her native Frauenfeld in Thurgau, Switzerland. She lived for a time in Dublin, and later on Tory Island, before moving to Clare and becoming deeply involved in community life and environmental activism. She was a prominent member of The Clare Public Participation Network (PPN) and the instigator of climate initiatives including ‘Operation Deplastification’ and ‘Slim Your Bin’. Cornelia had also made a major submission to the forthcoming Clare County Development Plan. In it, she urged people to work towards an organic and chemical-free Clare over the coming decades. She told The Champion, at the time, that the inspiration for this vision was her granddaughter and other children whom she hoped would grow up in a flourishing environment.  In Tulla, Cornelia …

BOOKS that belonged to a Tulla teenager who was a tireless advocate for others with cancer, have been donated to charity as part of her legacy.  Labhaoise Fitzgerald passed away in January of 2021, after a seven-year battle with a rare form of brain cancer. Even in the later stages of her illness, she had been an active member of Barretstown Youth Leaders’ Council, advocating for others affected by cancer.  Since her untimely passing, Labhaoise’s friends have also been involved in fundraising in her honour. In recent times, Labhaoise’s family donated around 100 of her books to the Let’s Fund It organisation, which supports the Irish charity sector. These books will be given to children receiving support from the charity Hand in Hand, and will be included in the hospital care bags donated by Let’s Fund It. It was Labhaoise’s wish that other children would get to read them and share in the joy and happiness that the books brought …

ST JOSEPH’S Secondary School has been recognised for a project designed to raise awareness of mental health supports and resources.  The Tulla school was Highly Commended in the Young Social Innovators (YSI) Ireland Mental Health Awards, supported by the Health Service Executive (HSE). Students were praised for their I-CAN project, entitled Make Our World Healthier. The project was developed in response to a perceived lack of accessible resources to help young people manage their mental health throughout the pandemic.  The students wanted to provide young people with a physical tool that they could use to combat stress and anxiety. They developed the innovative I-CAN – a tin containing advice, activities and information resources for young people to help them cope in tough times. In the future, the team plans to make I-CANs available to other schools in the area and hopefully on a national scale. This year’s YSI programme saw participation from 6,123 Irish teenagers from 209 schools and organisations …

HOUSING planned for Tulla will create 42 construction jobs and bring an investment of around €3.75 million to the East Clare town, if given the green light. The assertion was made by Woodhaven Developments which is looking to build 36 new homes on a greenfield site, close to Glebe House, on Church Road. The company, which has already secured permission for 17 houses and a commercial centre nearby, on the site of the former St Joseph’s Secondary School, told planners the development will help to meet housing need in Tulla. The site is just over 1.5 hectares and the housing density proposed equates to 23 homes per hectare. Woodhaven has noted that, on sites like this, the guidelines would recommend a range of 30 to 50 units per hectare. The company has argued that the location of the site on the edge of town, inside the speed limit, means a lower-density estate should be allowed. The application has also warned …

TULLA’S traditional music venue, Cnoc na Gaoithe is to host two free concerts this Friday (May 20) and next.  On May 20 at 8pm, fiddle maestro Liz Kane from Letterfrack, Connemara will take to the stage alongside acclaimed accordion player Danny O’Mahony from Ballyduff in Kerry.  On Friday, May 27, multi-instrumentalist Fergal Scahill, best known as the fiddle player with We Banjo 3 will perform along with Tyrone native Ryan Molloy, an accomplished contemporary classical and traditional piano player.  Admission to both concerts is free but must be pre-booked due to limited seating. Bookings can be made on Eventbrite.com. The concerts are support by Clare Arts Office and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, under the Local Live Performance Support Scheme (LLPSS). Earlier this month, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, announced details of live events to be staged using the €5m in funding allocated to local authorities for the …

IRELAND has the highest death rate in Europe from Ovarian cancer, with more than 75% of patients only presenting when the disease is at a late stage. Tulla’s Anne Murphy works as a nurse with Clare Cancer Support and also works on raising awareness of ovarian cancer, having been diagnosed with it ten years ago. “My sister and myself were diagnosed at the same time. I was diagnosed with Stage 1 and my sister Gráinne was diagnosed with late stage. She died 22 months after being diagnosed,” says Anne. Anne herself had her treatment and is still in good health, which she feels is largely down to the disease not having progressed very far by the time of diagnosis. Research was commissioned lately on Irish women’s awareness of the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer and some 80% did not recognise the symptoms, a statistic Anne describes as “very stark”. To try and push home what people should look for, an acronym …

UKRAINE will be to the forefront of a musical fundraiser in Tulla on Saturday (March 26), when a wealth of East Clare talent with gather in solidarity.  Moved by the plight of those who have been forced to flee their homes, a group of local musicians and singers will perform in the the square in Tulla, throughout the day, to raise funds for the refugees from the Ukraine.  Among those performing will be Aisling and Leah Hunt, Andrew Mac Namara and Michael Landers, John Canny and Mark Donnellan, Mary Mac Namara and Risteard Crimmins, Cushla,  Àine and Cara Murphy. They will be joined by a group of local singers under the baton of Joan Culloo Mac Namara. The fundraiser will run from 10am to 5 pm. All money raised will be sent to the Irish Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

FLOODING concerns have been raised in Tulla by several residents close to the site of a new social housing development. Michael O’Callaghan is among a number of people who contacted The Champion on the issue. He farms 38 acres of land beside the Council’s site and said that since the end of last year, up to 20 acres have been subject to unprecedented flooding. That is despite the fact that rainfall levels have been low. He said that local knowledge suggests that culverts which normally drain the lands close the to the site have been blocked, possibly during excavation works on the Council’s site. “Water from the farm flows underground, beneath the social housing site,” he said. “It’s the view locally, based on our knowledge of the area, that culverts have been blocked. The natural flow of water from the land is not continuing in the way that it used to.” Mr O’Callaghan said the flooding situation worsened towards the …