Tag Archives: west clare

FOUR families in Kilcredaun, Carrigaholt were marooned last weekend when high tide hit the picturesque townland, which is home to a historic lighthouse. The flooding resulted in the townland being rendered effectively an island from last Friday to Monday. A total of six houses were cut off by the flooding. The grounds of the nearby O’Curry’s Irish College were also adversely affected by flooding, following the breaching of the nearby sea wall. A number of houses in Carrigaholt village were also flooded when the village sea wall was breached at high tide, while the approach wall to the village, at the bottom of Moyarta Hill, was also damaged. The entry road to the village was completely impassable at the height of the tides. Geoff Magee, who along with his wife, Sue, runs Dolphin Watch in Carrigaholt, was one of the Kilcredaun residents who found themselves living on a temporary island. He underlined the urgency of repairing the damaged sea wall, …

FOUR families in Kilcredaun, Carrigaholt were marooned on Monday when high tide hit the picturesque townland, which is home to an historic lighthouse. The flooding has resulted in the townland of Kilcredaun on the Loop Head peninsula being rendered effectively an island. A total of six houses were cut off by the flooding in recent days. The grounds of the nearby O’Curry’s Irish College has also been hit by flooding following the breaching of a wall. Meanwhile,  a number of houses in Carrigaholt village were hit by flooding when the village wall was breached at high tide. Locals are very concerned that their difficulties will be exacerbated should further storms hit the area in the coming days.

THE establishment of a visitor centre beside Moneen Church, Kilbaha, next to the location of the Little Ark, is to be discussed in the new year. Councillor Gabriel Keating is to ask for the help of the Diocese of Killaloe to bring his idea to reality. Moneen Church is situated close to Loop Head Lighthouse, which was opened to the public in July 2011. The Little Ark was a large wooden portable box used by then parish priest of Moyarta and Kilballyowen, Fr Michael Meehan, to celebrate mass on Sundays during the period 1852-1857. People were married and babies were baptised at the site. At the time, Marcus Keane, an agent of absentee landlord Westby, prohibited the celebration of mass. Keane tried to forcibly convert the local population to Protestantism. The Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Loyola Hearn, has expressed a keen personal interest in the Little Ark and is hoping to visit the historic artefact in early 2014. At next …

CLARE County Council has written to Kilrush Town Councillor Tom Prendeville on six occasions in an effort to elicit an apology for a comment passed to a member of their staff at a traffic management meeting in Kilrush in February. However, Councillor Prendeville insists that he did apologise in February and claims his apology is written into the minutes of that meeting. While he described the apology as “contrite and sincere”, Councillor Prendeville claims he was contacted six weeks later and told that the apology wasn’t sufficient. The comment was made during a debate on the placement of double yellow lines on both sides of the Back Road, outside St Senan’s National School in Kilrush. Councillor Prendeville opposed this development, which has led to parents having to park illegally when dropping and collecting their children from school. RIMS meetings are believed to be unique to Kilrush Town Council. They are held in camera, deal with traffic management issues in Kilrush …

FOLLOWING his “rejection” by Fianna Fáil at the party’s West Clare Electoral Area convention on Monday, Councillor Tom Prendeville has claimed that he was approached immediately after the meeting and asked if he wanted to be added to the list of candidates. The sitting Kilrush Town Councillor refused to completely rule out running as an independent candidate, labelled Fianna Fáil a rural organisation, said the late Nelson Mandela wouldn’t have been successful at the convention and maintained that he was “shafted” by Fianna Fáil party strategists. Outgoing county councillors PJ Kelly (51 votes), Pat Keane (50) and Bill Chambers (32) were selected to run for the party in next year’s expanded West Clare constituency, which will elect eight councillors. This means that, as of now, Fianna Fáil will have no Kilrush town candidate in the field for the 2014 election. It has also emerged that there is no registered Fianna Fáil member within Kilrush town. Michael O’Neill (15), Tom Prendeville …

KILRUSH town councillor Tom Prendeville has revealed that Fianna Fáil has no registered members in the West Clare capital. “Within Kilrush there is no registered member within five or six miles. We haven’t got the members. People are not coming forward. So don’t be lulled into a false sense of security and say everything is ok. We effectively tonight sent out a message that we are a rural organisation. It’s inconceivable that where we have the municipal capital of the new electoral area, we won’t have a Fianna Fáil candidate. That’s not good for Fianna Fáil. We are in trouble, big, big trouble in the urban areas,” Councillor Prendeville told Monday night’s selection convention in Spanish Point, where he failed to win a place on the ticket for the 2014 county council elections. Responding to news that Fianna Fáil membership is non-existent in Kilrush town, Deputy Niall Collins asked why that was the case. “I’d ask the question why isn’t …

A LOGGERHEAD turtle, which is unsuited to cold water, was obviously uncomfortable in the sea around Quilty, where it was stranded last week. On November 9, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation were alerted after the stranded turtle was discovered. It was subsequently brought to the Galway Atlantaquarium, where it is being cared for. The turtle was given the name Leon after the famous shipwreck in Quilty. Simon Berrow of the IWDG said things are looking up for the unfortunate turtle.  “It’s in the Galway Atlantaquarium and it’s quite active now. The local county council vet in Galway is providing some veterinary input and she’s very thorough. As of Monday, it’s in a bigger tank and it’s now in fully salt water. It had been in fresh water because it was dehydrated and they can absorb water through their skin. It has a bit of an infection on its shell and they’re …

CLARE County Council is considering two expressions of interest in Kilkee Dive Centre, which local town councillors say is extremely expensive to operate. At Monday’s meeting of Kilkee Town Council, Town Mayor Paddy Collins asked for an update on the centre. Kilkee town manager Anne Haugh read a letter from Michael McNamara, corporate services of Clare County Council, where he outlined the latest situation. “Some months ago the council sought expressions of interest from parties interested in leasing the dive centre in Kilkee, consequent of a previous lease being terminated. Three parties expressed interest. Detailed submissions were subsequently received from two interested parties. These submissions are under consideration at the moment and before the end of the month, the council hopes to be in a position to select a preferred party,” the letter read. “This will give that party ample opportunity to have the facility up and running for 2014. The council are committed to ensure that the facility is …