Month: December 2009

CHILDREN from all over Ireland were this month invited to follow in the footsteps of Liscannor legend John Philip Holland. The inventor, who became world-famous as the man who built the first working sub- marine, was one of the main attrac- tions during National Science Week.

Children were invited to follow in Holland’s footsteps by building their very own submarine at the Irish Ma- rine Institute in Oranmore. Indeed, Holland was one of the central fig- ures being celebrated through the week alongside such world-famous scientists as Einstein, Jacque Coust- eau and Marconi.

The young scientists were asked to dream up a “futuristic” submarine capable of exploring Ireland’s 220 million acres of underwater terri- tory.

John Holland was born 1841 in Lis- cannor. He attended St Macreehy’s National School and the Christian Brothers School in Ennistymon be- fore joining the Christian Brothers in Dito.

He left the Christian Brothers in 1873 and joined his mother and his

two brothers in Boston where he joined an engineering firm. Hol- land’s brother, Michael, had been introduced to the Fenian Movement who had organised a “skirmishing fund” administered by John Devoy.

Devoy helped fund John Holland’s research into the submarine. His first submarine, the Holland No 1, was built in Todd and Raftery’s shop, in New Jersey in 1877.

It was 14 feet long and was pow- ered by a primitive 4hp engine and carried one man.

It was brought down to the Passaic River and launched before a big au- dience. But someone had forgotten to insert the two screw plugs and the sub began to sink underneath the wa- oe

His net attempt, The Fenian Ram, built at Delamater Iron Works in New York in 1881. It was 31 feet long and could travel at 9 mph. over water and 7 under water, displaced 19 tons and was armed with an underwater canon fired by compressed air.

After many frustrating efforts to deal with the American Naval au- thorities Holland won an open com- petition for a submarine design and in 1896 the John Holland Torpedo Boat

Company was set up with Charles A Morris as Chief Engineer.

In 1900, the Holland’s No 6 would prove a major improvement on previ- ous efforts. It was 53-feet long, car- ried a crew of 15 and had a torpedo tube in the bow. It took its first dive on St Patrick’s day, 1898, in New York Harbour and was acclaimed a SECA

Despite inspections and favourable publicity and indeed the recommen- dation of the then Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, the Gov- ernment did not buy the submarine.

Holland made some _ alterations and after a final test in March 1900 the US Government bought the Hol- land No 6 on April 12, 1900, for ny LOR OLOeF

John Philip Holland from Liscannor died on August 12, 1914. He is buried in Totowa, New Jersey, less than one mile from where he launched his first submarine.

LOCAL authorities remain on alert in Ennis over fears that further floods could be on the way.

While flood waters in Ennis have, in the main receded, and most roads leading to the town have fully re- opened, the forecast of heavy rain- fall and expected peak tides later this week has led Clare County Council to issue a severe flood alert for all parts of the county.

Speaking yesterday, Town Man- ager, Ger Dollard said that while the situation in Ennis has improved considerably since the weekend, there remained a risk of flooding.

Highlighting the difficulties caused in Dublin and Kildare by sudden bursts of heavy rainfall, Mr Dollard said water levels in the River Fergus may rise with tides ex- pected to hit peak levels on Thurs- day, Friday and Saturday.

“The forecast is for rain later in the week and so the potential is there for floods,” he said.

“As we saw in Dublin, it can so easily happen. We have been doing a lot of work in terms of pumping water out and putting up flood de- fences, so we hope that if there is further heavy rain, the system will be able to cope,” added Mr Dol- lard.

“We would urge people to be vigilant, to take necessary pre-cau- tions and to have a flooding plan in place.”

Commenting on the local author1- ties response to the floods crisis, Mr Dollard said, “The operation was cohesive and everyone associated with it deserves enormous credit.”

27 families remain in temporary accommodation after being forced from their homes by floods.

On Thursday, Ennis Town Council stated that one family had returned to their home and alternative ac- commodation has been identified for a further two families.

Mr Dollard said that flood damage

to some homes has been so exten- sive that some families may not be able to return to them for a number of months.

“Properties are still being in- spected and some will be habitable again fairly soon, we hope. Others will require a few months. There has been some minor damage but in some cases the damage is fairly sig- nificant. Naturally, we want to get people back into their homes in the shortest period possible,” he said.

Mr Dollard explained that the council is working with local auc- tioneers and Ennis Chamber of Commerce to private rented accom- modation for affected families.

Website looks to boost tourist numbers

THE village of Cooraclare is com- ing to terms with the tragic death of a 24-year-old man in a road accident in Dublin at the weekend.

Flan McMahon, who was an only child of Martin and Mary McMahon, from Brisla, Cooraclare, died after he was struck while crossing the road at Leonard’s Corner in Dublin’s south inner city in the early hours of Sun- day morning.

He had attended the Ireland v South Africa rugby international at Croke Park on Saturday and went socialis- ing with friends after the game. He is understood to have been intending to get a taxi home when the accident occurred. According to gardai, he was struck by two cars.

Mr McMahon worked in the bank- ing sector in Navan, where he lived. His father Martin is the caretaker of the local primary school and the lo- cal GAA field and recently retired from FAS. His mother Mary works in Tubridy’s bar in the village.

Flan attended primary school in Cooraclare and secondary school in Kilrush, before going to Cork where he studied business.

Cooraclare national school prin- cipal Margaret Donnelly said the close-knit community is devastated by Flan’s death.

“He was a keen sportsman. He played GAA, underage, for Coora- clare and he also ran. He was in one of my first communion classes years ago,’ said Ms Donnelly.

Search continues for missing Clareman

GARDAI are investigating claims that a 14-year-old boy was sexually assaulted in a graveyard in Clare.

A complaint was made at a garda station in the county last week, in re- lation to an alleged incident in recent weeks.

It was alleged that a man sold fire- works to a boy and when insufficient money was paid, the boy claimed he was sexually assaulted. It was alleged that the boy was sexually assaulted at a graveyard in the county.

An investigation was immediately set up and a 50-year-old man was ar- rested on Friday.

The man, who is living in Clare, was questioned at a garda station and was later released without charge. When the garda investigation 1s completed, a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide whether he will be charged.

This was the second – separate – investigation into an alleged sexual offence in the county over the past week. Several gardai have been in- volved in the investigations, both of which are of a sensitive nature.

400,000 make use of Citizens Information

THE late Archbishop of Dublin, Kevin McNamara was one of the leading personalities in the Catholic Church in Ireland in his lifetime, but in death he now stands indicted as a figure who singularly “failed to 1m- plement canon law rules on dealing with clerical child sex abuse’.

The Clareman who was 38 years a priest before dying in 1987 after a serious illness has also been ex- posed as a church leader who facili- tated known child abusers such as Fr Ivan Payne and Fr William Carney to continue working as priests in the community.

“Bill Carney is a serial sexual abus- er of children, male and female. The commission is aware of complaints or suspicious of child sexual abuse against him in respect of 32 named individuals,’ the Murphy Report SEA

It adds, “He (Archbishop McNa- mara) restored priestly faculties to Fr Carney despite his having plead- ed guilty to charges of child sexual abuse in 1983 and despite the fact that there were suspicions about him in relation to numerous other chil- dren. He failed to ensure that Fr Car- ney obeyed instructions and allowed him, in effect, to flout the wishes of his superiors’.

Archbishop McNamara’s_ reputa- tion has taken another hammering

with the Murphy Report finding that one of his first acts as Archbishop of Dublin was to promote Fr Ivan Payne to a post of responsibility within the

church.

‘He promoted Fr Payne to the po- sition of Vice-Officialis of the Mar- riage Tribunal despite the previous

refusal of Archbishop Ryan to do so,’ the report says.

Subsequently in 1998, Fr Payne pleaded guilty to charges of indecent

assault on ten victims and was sen- tenced to six years’ imprisonment.

The shocking findings of the Mur- phy Report into child sex abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese published last Thursday has also revealed that Mc- Namara was one of four Archbishops of Dublin from the 1960 through to the 1980s who “failed to report his knowledge of child sex abuse to the Garda”.

“All the Archbishops and many of the auxiliary bishops in the period covered by the Commission handled child sexual abuse complaints bad- ly,’ the Murphy Report says. “Dur- ing the period under review, there were four Archbishops – Archbish- ops McQuaid, Ryan, McNamara and Connell. Not one of them reported his knowledge of child sexual abuse to the Garda.”

A TELEGRAM sent by Eamon de Valera to his wife following his election as MP for Clare has been restored and put on display at Clare Museum in Ennis.

The document, which confirms the former Taoiseach and President’s 1917 by-election victory over Patrick Lynch of the Irish Party, is being ex- hibited along with the first Minute book of Clare County Council re- corded in April 1899. The exhibits form part of a joint conservation initiative between Clare County Ar- chives and Clare Museum.

Commenting on the newly restored telegram, Museum Curator, John Rattigan said that its simple message belies the importance of deValera’s victory.

“It signifies a move away from constitutional to physical force na- tionalism and the beginning of a political career that would last until de Valera’s retirement as President in 1973. In the months after his elec- tion victory, De Valera was named President of both Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers.”

Mr Rattigan said that prior to its res- toration, the telegram was in a state of disintegration and was in an unfit state to be exhibited or handled.

‘The printed carbon copy on wood pulp paper had become brittle, dis- coloured and acidic,’ he added.

The telegram is displayed along-

side a comprehensive account of the councils first meeting, which was held in Ennis on April 22, 1899 when Michael A Scanlon was elected as the council’s first chairman. According to County Archivist, Rene Franklin it is clear from the minute book that those present re- garded the new council as a stepping stone to national independence. “This nationalist fervour was the spirit behind a series of motions re-

corded in the minutes and preserved now in the Clare County Archives,” she explained

At the inagural meeting, Thomas Blackall proposed the following motion: “while accepting the Local Government Act [1898] as a tardy in- stalment of justice, and while we are determined to work for the benefit of all classes in our country, we hereby declare that we will never relax our efforts in the National cause until we

see a native Parliament in College Gnio ee

All of the council’s minute books are preserved and available for public viewing by contacting Clare County Archives at archives@clarecoco.ie or 065 6846414.

RESIDENTS concerned about late night behaviour on the streets of Ennis have reached agreement with management at a local nightclub, a court has been told.

Ennis District Court heard last month that residents on Francis Street were forced to put up with mayhem due to the actions of people urinating and vomiting on the street in the early hours of the morning.

A member of the local residents association told the court that while an application for a dance licence for the Queen’s Hotel was not being objected to, there were serious con- cerns about the behaviour of some late night revellers.

“We are not objecting to the l1- cence. We have a problem with anti- social behaviour that takes place on

our street between 3 and 4am. The majority of the people have been liv- ing there for 70 or 80 years,” said one resident in court, on that occasion.

The case was adjourned for a month. In court last Friday, solici- tor for the Queen’s Hotel, Marina Keane, said that agreement had been reached between the residents asso- ciation and the hotel and there were no issues arising.

A representative of the residents as- sociation was in court on Friday but was not objecting to the licence.

The manager of the Queen’s Hotel, Barry Lee, told the court that there is CCTV on the premises and this is available for inspection by gardai, if este LUN BKSLe

Judge Joseph Mangan asked Mr Lee how long the CCTV recordings are available for and was told four weeks. The licence was granted.