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KILRUSH is a town that has been unnecessarily hard on itself.

It is a maritime town, with a herit- age that local history groups around the country can only dream about. It has a community spirit that 1s unique for an urban environment and its people have a sense of identity and belonging that is both welcoming TOO Ms Nu0F

Yet for so long the town has had a major concern over how the rest of the county and country perceives it.

It had – like many urban centres – its anti-social and crime problems, orchestrated by a small group that had for a while infected the psyche and self-belief of this charismatic town.

Many community and _ business leaders were critical that the town they loved was given negative public- ity on a daily basis and feared that all the good work was being ignored.

It became critical of the messen- gers, but failed to see the entire mes- SERSZoR

But of late, Kilrush has been win- ning significant battles in its cam- paign to become a centre of business to challenge the county town, while retaining its unique west Clare iden- WIAA

The town council began work on John Paul Estate, long before na- tional Government saw the merits in developing local authority estates

to include community facilities and tackle pockets of urban decay where criminal activities could fester.

The mothers and fathers of John Paul Estate will soon have a place to bring up their children in safety and happiness. These good people have for so long put up with unacceptable elements in their community but the Kilrush spirit has seen them fight to reclaim their homes and a decent quality of life for the next genera-

tion.

At the other end of the town, an- other chapter of the town’s story is unfolding at the Kilrush Creek Ma- unt

While a €50 million development may be delayed or altered because of the recession, there is no doubt that the people of Kilrush are determined to see such a development there some day in the not so distant future.

At the turn of this century when

the economy was just about to grow, Kilrush boasted a marina develop- ment that is impressive even by to- day’s standards, a development the people now plan to build upon.

Just a few hundred yards away, the Merchant Quay Development had brought a new lease of life to the rey aee

National and international retailers are also showing faith in the town with Super Valu, Tesco and now

Aldi jostling for position in the retail market.

Talks are in progress to build a new community building to house the many voluntary and semi-state or- ganisations supporting the town.

Thousands of visitors visit the area every year to see the spectacular Vandeleur Walled Gardens, Scattery Island and the Marina.

The Yacht Club has gone from strength to strength in the town, and now attracts regattas to the west Clare coast. The club has also brought in- ternational acclaim to the town with the successes of “Chieftain” and the “Spirit of Kilrush”’.

Festivals such as Eigse Mrs Crotty have attracted music lovers from all over the world, and as other Irish towns failed to attract civil servants under the Government’s decentrali- sation project, Kilrush secured more than 50 jobs in the new Revenue Of- fices.

A new hotel is badly needed in Kil- rush, but even that is at hand with L and M Keating committing itself to such a project.

From its town council to its cham- ber of commerce; from its volunteer groups to its sporting organisation, there is an openess dealing with dai- ly issues that gets things done.

In an era when political bodies and groups fear speaking their minds, in Kilrush there is an honesty of opin- ion that you may not always agree with but will always respect.

KILRUSH is well known for its mar- itime heritage, traditional music and past association with St Senan and the Vandeleur landlord family.

Less publicised, is Kilrush Wood, located within a few hundred metres of the town centre. The wood, which also has a restored walled garden, is now regarded as one of the flagship tourist venture in Clare.

Woodland and town are linked historically and socially: the name Kilrush is derived from the Irish Cill Rois, meaning church of the wood or wooded peninsula.

The wood has a holy well named after the sixth century monk, St Senan, who founded the nearby mo- nastic settlement in Scattery Island. The influence of the Vandeleurs is still evident in both town and wood. They were largely responsible for the unique design of Kilrush, now listed as a heritage town.

The 175 ha wood formed part of the estate of the Vandeleurs, a Dutch family who established a seat in Kil- rush around 1687. Crofton Vandeleur was responsible for the design of the walled garden, surrounding park- lands and wood up to his death in 1795.

The family had been highly regard- ed up until the mid-nineteenth cen- tury, but their popularity waned due mainly to the harsh treatment meted out to some of their tenants during and after the Great Famine.

The West Clare Railway linked

Kilrush with the national rail net- work in 1892 but by then the rela- tionship between tenant and landlord had deteriorated further, especially when Hector Vandeleur – an absentee landlord – took charge of the estate. When the house – built in 1808 – was destroyed by fire in 1897, it effective- ly marked the beginning of the end of the Vandeleurs as major landlords in the area.

The Land Commission took pos- session of the estate in the 1920s and the woodland was taken over by the then Forestry Division and today is managed by Coillte.

The garden itself has been sensi- tively restored and redesigned. It has a variety of plants, trees and shrubs while the centre has a coffee and craft shop and hosts a permanent ex- hibition ‘Kilrush in Landlord Times’, a reminder of both sides of landlord-

ism. Despite the darker side of the Vandeleurs, the people of Kilrush have resisted the temptation to air- brush the name from their history.

Instead they have named the re- stored walled garden after the family and have retained the name in one of the town’s streets.

Like the planting and care of the woodland, it is a confident gesture that looks to the future while ac- knowledging the past without being consumed by it.

It is a gesture that is in tune with the words of T.S. Eliot: “Time present and time past /Are both perhaps present in time future, /And time fu- ture contained in time past.”

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THE weekend action involving the Kilmihil ladies and men in All-Ire- land and provincial final action re- spectively will prove to be a family affairs in many ways. That’s because of the links between the two sides.

Where to start!

The three O’Hallorans, Lorraine, Joan and Denise, on the ladies team are sisters of Enda who has made a telling contribution to the men’s team when introduced as a substitute in the county final, provincial quar- ter-final and semi-final.

Keith Considine was also a signifi- cant sub in Kilmihil’s victory over the “Barrs last day out — he’s a broth- er of the two stars of the Kilmihil ladies attack in the persons of Ailish and Eimear Considine.

Edel McMahon is a daughter of the team trainer James McMahon, while Karl Downes, who is wing-back on the men’s team is a brother of Una and Colette Downes.

Una Downes is one of two mem- bers of the Kilmihil team involved with the county intermediate team that reached the All-Ireland final this year. Downes, was a member of the Kildoon Gaels team that won the senior championship back in 2003,

That team was an amalgamation of Kimihil and Doonbeg and five years on there’s a strong Doonbeg connec- tion with Kilmihil’s march to the All-Ireland final. Edel Conway, Sa- rah Cahill, Yvonne Downes, Linda Russell and Mairéad Nugent are the Doonbeg contingent on the Kilmihil panel.

‘“There’s a great atmosphere build- ing up in Kilmihil this week,” says Una Downes. “All the shops have bunting up and as the countdown to the two final starts. The build-up has been great with the two teams look- ing forward to finals.

“At the start of year when we began training we weren’t thinking of an All-Ireland. We didn’t expect to be here but we’ve worked very hard. In all are games since the county final we’ve come from behind, so in this final we’ll be hoping to make a bet- ter start.”

SPEAKING at the Clare County Board meeting on Tuesday, Jim Nash, Chairperson of the Cusack Park Committee said the failure of the proposed sale of the stadium has cost the developers money.

“The Clare County Board expected nothing but it has cost our develop- ment partners money,” he said. “They had taken certain steps with property adjacent to Cusack Park and looking back, 1t was a bad decision.”

He added that Clare GAA will re- main at Cusack Park for the imme- diate future and proposed that the board develop the stadium, particu- larly the playing surface.

He went on to state that the com- mittee had worked hard to ensure the deal went through, but said he felt the situation had now stalled.

“Without re-zoning we don’t have anything to sell and that’s the posi- tion. At this stage, you could say nothing gained but nothing lost. There are no damning contracts out there. There has been no expenditure on the part of the GAA. We’ve only given our time to this project and there has been no financial exposure to Clare GAA.

“Pat Fitzgerald and myself went to every councillor and representa- tive to see if we could get the vote in favour of the re-zoning but it just wasn’t to be.”

He added that he felt the committee had served the board and delegates well and honourably.

“But the long and short of it is that the re-zoning was refused. It was a vote taken by the councillors and we just weren’t successful.”

Speaking on Tuesday, some del-

egates refused to accept defeat. “It’s not completely finished,’ said Clare- castle delegate, Bernard Hanrahan. “If a suitable site 1s found within the town then we can get a material con- travention.”

However, Michael Curtin, a mem- ber of the Cusack Park Committee said that the group had already given it their best shot.

“The reality is we have business leaving the town and we had an op- portunity to get some serious devel- opment in Ennis. Young people are leaving the county and we’re heading back to the ‘80s.

‘“Shopkeepers in Ennis will tell you the red jersey of Munster is the big- gest selling jersey. So this decision defies logic and I can’t understand it. We’re disappointed for the Gaels of Clare and the business people of the oo) tna ae

EXPERIENCE told in the end. That added touch of guile and know-how that two previous All-Ireland titles have given Laois champions The Harps. Their inter-play was slick, their movement elusive but some- times it is the smaller things that prove the difference in a tight con- test. For instance over a dozen times throughout this decider, The Harps got themselves out of trouble when surrounded, by dropping the hurley and handpassing to another player. In contrast, when Kilmaley were pre- sented with a similar predicament, nine times out of ten, their players opted to try and strike and invariably they were blocked down.

Those little differences are all part of a learning curve for Kilmaley who were only competing in their first national final and pride was just as evident as disappointment at the final whistle as manager John Carmody shrugged off the rain to reflect on his players’ performance.

“On behalf of Tommy Keane, Pat Lynch and myself, we were abso- lutely proud of the girls. Every time they have taken the field this year, they have fought to the last inch and they did the same today. Going into injury time, we were still only a puck of the ball behind but it just wasn’t to be today. They were just that small bit ahead of us.

“I suppose when you are playing teams like this, that you don’t see every week, it may take ten or fifteen minutes to get to grips with a side. We made moves and they worked and we stormed into the game. We had a tremendous last ten minutes of the first half and we felt that at half- time we were in a great position, not having hurled well, to be going in on level terms. But you have to credit the Harps because we threw every- thing we had at them in the second half but they just seemed to have that bit extra on us.

“We had a few half chances just af- ter half time that just went narrowly wide and you never know, if we had

gone ahead or got that point up, we might have seen a few mistakes in their game. But they got the scores and pushed home.”

Still with County and Munster hon- ours already secured, it has been a real whirlwind adventure for Carmo- dy and his side this year and he en- visages a bright future for his young Kilmaley side.

“Ya it’s been a great year. We are county and Munster champions and we only beaten by a puck of the ball in an All-Ireland final so they are a young team and hopefully they will stay committed and improve as time goes on.”

In a year of firsts that reaped so much, coming back even stronger will be a bigger test of this side in the coming year.

MUNSTER finals may not be a new experience for Danny Chaplin but this is groundbreaking and unchar- tered territory for his young Broad- ICO) KO MILO (oR

After giving almost a quarter of a century of service as a player and mentor for his native Sixmilebri- dge, his move to Broadford saw him take over the reins in the local club in 2005 and he set about remoulding the then recently relegated side into a senior force once more.

Broadford finally realised that aim three weeks ago against his former side in the incessant rain of Clare- castle but having witnessed what a Munster run did for fellow Clare sides in recent years, his side weren’t just content with county honours.

Two years on from their Munster success, Clooney/Quin were within a whisker of the senior quarter-finals this year and subsequently reached a senior B final while Clonlara’s whirl- wind journey to county senior suc- cess this year proved what a boost a Munster intermediate title can be.

Successive battling displays against Templederry Kenyons and Bruff fol- lowed and now Broadford are only

sixty minutes away from emulating their neighbours achievements over the past two years.

“Our aim at the start of the year was just to win Clare but everything has taken off since. We had three weeks in a row of great results and the whole parish is literally gone mental here. There are flags outside every house and there are kids com- ing down watching training. It has done so much and it has given a lift to everyone.

“I think the character of the team really came to the fore last time against Bruff. We were playing up the hill against the wind and they were after pulling back a seven point lead down to a point and I think that is when the boys really stood up and were counted.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Broad- ford this year, however. Twice in the group stages, Parteen had the indian sign over the east Clare side to put their championship ambitions in real peril but if anything, it was the jolt they needed to up the ante and be- come a more resiliant outfit.

‘I said a few things in the dressing room after the Parteen game that day that they didn’t like. They didn’t like hearing them and I didn’t like say-

ing them but in fairness to them, the following Tuesday night, there was twenty eight of them down at train- ing out of twenty nine and that other player was away. You can’t ask for any more than that and they realised that they were the ones who had to do it. We could do no more for them on the sideline, it had to come from the players and in fairness to them, the commitment they have given since that day has been phenomenal.

“They are now like one big unit. I mean we tried to bring in a family aspect to the squad where you are playing for the fella alongside you as much as you are playing for the par- ish and yourself.”

Blarney are Broadford’s opponents in Sunday’s decider after receiving a bye in the semi-finals as the Wa- terford championship was not com- pleted in time.

The Cork side accounted for Antho- ny Daly’s Kilmoyley in the quarter- final, a team who were fancied to go far in this year’s provincial race and while Chaplin admits to not knowing too much about Blarney, he acknowl- edges the significance of this unique opportunity for his Broadford side.

‘There are 32 teams in the interme- diate championship in Cork so you

don’t win it easily. The only thing I know about them is that they have been in the semi-final three years in a row so they have been knocking on the door for a while and they are a very good side I believe.

“But we are concentrating on our- selves. Ninety per cent of our players will probably never be in a Munster final again. This is our chance and they don’t come around too often so we are trying to stress that. Not to get too overawed by the occasion but keep their feet on the ground and give their all. We would just like to emu- late Clooney-Quin and Clonlara.

“IT was involved with the ‘Bridge years ago and I remember we won a Munster club in 1995 and different Clare clubs won it in 796, ’97, ’98 and “99 and we were back in it in 2000.

“IT remember before that game, it was the one thing we said that we were not going to be the club that loses it for Clare and in that respect, Broadford don’t want to be the club that loses the Munster intermediate championship for Clare and that is not to put too much pressure on the players as the same time.”