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IT WAS Bah Humbug and goodbye to any curse that Biddy Early might have over the Clare hurling on the last Saturday of September when the All-Ireland was won, but there was no keeping the bould Feakle woman down in the earliest days of October.

All because while the county was still on a natural high following the All-Ireland final victory over Cork, the county was preparing to enter the stratosphere with the news that a new form of cannabis has been named after famous Banner witch, Biddy Early.

The seed, one of five new strains developed in recent years by Magus Genetics in Holland, was described as growing to between 1.8 metres and 2 metres high and is ready for harvest in early October.

Selling and buying cannabis seeds is currently legal in Ireland but cultivating these seeds for person use of sale is a criminal offense. The Biddy Early strain has been specially bred to allow it to grow outdoors in a European climate.

Biddy Early is synonymous with Clare hurling because of the 81-year curse which the East Clare woman placed on the Banner county.

According to the Marijuana.com website, the Dutch company chose the Biddy Early name because her connection with witchcraft.

“Biddy Early is named for a 19th century woman accused of witchcraft, whose story became the subject of folk ballads and entered Irish legend. Magus, from the Latin for ‘priest’ or ‘sorcerer’, felt kinship with Biddy Early’s plight given the similarity between the witch hunt hysteria in times past and the current war on drugs.

“Biddy Early is the first variety that Magus Genetics specifically formulated for outdoor gardening in temperate regions. Although an even mix of sativa and indica, this plant exhibits the strong lateral growth typically seen in sativas.

“Biddy likes to branch out. The branches are very elastic and pliable, easily trained or tied like vines to suit the available space. Outdoors, this suppleness makes the plant storm proof or resilient to harsh weather,” the website stated.

The seeds are no longer available from Magus Genetics who have transferred distribution rights for Biddy Early to another Dutch company, Serious Seeds.

A SKULL discovered in Quin almost five years ago may have belonged to a compulsive pipe-smoking woman, who died in her 40s more than 300 years ago.

The human remains, which were discovered in Quin in August of 2008, have been shrouded in mystery for the last five years. However, research carried out by TVAS Ireland, who discovered the remains, had shed some light on the historic discovery.

While many questions remain unanswered, the possible life story of the Quin body began to emerge in June.

“We now know that the jaw bone had typical female traits, so we can cautiously say that the body was a female. We know that the person also suffered from arthritis; part of the bones discovered were from the spine and there was evidence of the bones rubbing together. So we are fairly sure that the person would have had severe neck pain,” said Edel Ruttle of TVAS.

“From the jaw bone we noticed a third molar or wisdom tooth. So we are confident that the body was aged somewhere between 21 and 40 years of age. Interestingly, we also saw a clay pipe semi-circle on the body’s teeth, this is consistent to a person holding a clay pipe in her mouth almost constantly.

“So not only was this person a smoker – they would have had to hold the clay pipe in their mouth for hours and hours every day to make marks consistent with the ones we have discovered,” she said.

Despite these discoveries, it is still unclear why the body was buried in that spot and what religion the woman was. One theory maintains that the woman was a social outcast of some sort, which is why she was buried on the edge of a disused Catholic grave and not in the regular Catholic or Protestant grave- yards, which were in use in Quin at that time.

“She is buried in an East/ West liewhich suggest that it was, at least, a partially standard burial, but the she is buried on the very edge of the cemetery, probably after the cemetery went out of use. So it’s difficult to know,” continued Edel.

“It is possible that she was a marginal figure. Maybe she wasn’t buried in the graveyard in Quin Friary because of some social standing or lack of social standing.

“These are possibilities, but we don’t know for sure. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding this body.”

MONEYPOINT Power Station continues to power the West Clare economy and contribute to the national electricity grid in a significant way, but in December concerns were expressed for the future of Kilrush and the environs if and when this station closes.

“A power station that was built in the 1980s would have probably been designed at that time to run for maybe 30 to 40 years or what ever would be typical enough for a plant,” said Brendan Kennedy, Station Manager at the ESB plant when addressing a meeting of Kilrush Town Council.

“I suppose we have done the maintenance over the years to keep that in line. I would be surprised if the station didn’t have it running for another decade anyway. I would expect Moneypoint to run on a high merit in the national grid for the next number of years,” said the Ennis native.

The ESB company pays up to € 12 million in rates to Clare County Council every year, as well as supporting sport facilities, clubs, organisations and the Christmas lights in Kilrush and West Clare.

“I hate to think what Kilrush would be like if Moneypoint never came,” said former mayor of Kilrush Liam O’Looney.

Cllr Mairead O’Brien is what is known locally as a Moneypointer, having moved to Kilrush when her father was transferred to the power station.

“Even if you see that is might last 10 years, that is a shock to me that it might not last any longer. I suppose I would have never contemplated West Clare without it,” she said.

“I would certainly hope there is a way for it to diversify,” she said adding that she hopes the company remains part of West Clare. Mr Kennedy said he did not wish to alarm people and that despite a very competitive market Moneypoint continues to be one of the main suppliers to the national grid.

There are currently 192 full-time people working at the plant, follow- ing 34 voluntary redundancies this time last year. At its peak in the 1980s there was an average of 450 people working there.

Having completed a € 360 million retrofit on site during the last decade the ESB plan to complete re-engineering work on the ash storage area next year as well as further investment in the coming years.

UNITS of Clare County Fire Services were called to deal with a major blaze at a well known eco-farm near Clarecastle last week. No one was injured in the fire, which broke out at a farmhouse in IM Eco Farm at around 8pm on December 23. Units from Ennis and Shannon Fire Stations attended the scene. Four pumps, two water tankers and a Bronco hoist vehicle attended the fire at the family run business. It took fire crews almost four hours to bring the blaze under control. Extensive damage was caused to a farmhouse. Gardaí are now investigating the blaze, which is believed to have been accidental in nature. It is not thought the fire was started for any malicious reasons. Set in 100 acres of countryside, ‘Im eco farm’ is an eco workshop and exhibition located near Clarecastle on the town land of Islandmcgrath along the Fergus estuary. The popular farm offers visitors the opportunity to experience renewable energy hands-on by displaying step-by-step guides and full-scale working models of wind, solar and waterpower as well as offering DIY courses for a more environmentally friendly future. The eco-farm, which opened inc 2009, is the brainchild of Clarecastle native Eddie Connors – a local farmer who obtained a Bachelor of Technology in wood and building technology. The farm was featured on the RTE tv series Higher Ground in 2010 and was recently booked out for a special Christmas event at Santa’s Farm. It is also a very popular venue for school tours.

CLARE erupted in celebration as the county’s hurlers were crowned AllIreland champions after an epic two game series against Cork.

Darach Honan’s goal in the dying seconds ensured a 5-16 to 3-16 win for Clare over the Rebel County in the All-Ireland final replay played under lights on an unforgettable Saturday night in Croke Park.

Teenage forward Shane O’Donnell became an overnight sensation after scoring a first half hat trick. O’Donnell also scored three points as Clare’s pacy and skillful brand of hurling illuminated a final hailed by many as the greatest of all time.

Cratloe’s Conor McGrath scored a wonder goal at a crucial period in the second half to put Clare on the road to victory.

All this after the first game between the counties ended in a draw earlier in the month. Despite dominating the game, Clare could not shake off a dogged Cork side who edged a point ahead in the final moments.

But in one of the most dramatic passages of play in All-Ireland history, corner back Domhnall O Donovan burst up field to swing over the eqaulising point deep in injury time to leave the sides all square (Clare 025 Cork 3-16) at the end of a pulsating encounter.

It meant the counties had to do it all over again three weeks later. By the time the replay rolled around, Clare had already secured a second successive All-Ireland under 21 title following a comfortable victory over Antrim.

Thousands of Clare fans mobbed the pitch as captain Paul Flanagan was presented with the trophy. Days later Clare were celebrating again as the county claimed its fourth senior All-Ireland title.

Goal scoring hero Shane O’Donnell was the man everyone was talking about afterwards.

“If I had a dream last night that I was going to score 3-3, I’d have woken up and said that’s ridiculous. I’d have been happy with one. It’s the stuff of dreams since I was five or six when I picked up a hurley,” he said.

The Éire Óg player was only told he would be starting instead of Darach Honan when the team gathered for their pre-match meal in St Patrick’s College.

“The last few weeks in training have been good to me. The week before the 21 match and from then I’ve been going well. You just hit a patch of form and I got it at the right time and I got put on,” he added.

Ballyea superstar Tony Kelly was superb on the day, scoring three vital points.

“The saying goes, ‘make hay while the sun shines’ and it’s been shining now for the last couple of years and long may it continue,” he said

Patrick Donnellan joined the short but illustrious list of Clare men who have captained their county to AllIreland glory.

“Surreal, absolutely surreal, you feel like you’re watching yourself do it. It’s the only way I can describe it,” said Donnellan of climbing the steps to receive the Liam McCarthy trophy.

“It absolutely unreal and just rewards for the amount of effort that those lads have put in all year to get their day in the sun and we had it this day.”

Close to 30,000 people packed into the Fair Green in Ennis to welcome home the All-Ireland champions. “The recession can go to hell” declared Davy Fitzgerald to the jubilant crowd.

“In 1995 I was privileged and honoured to be part of something special in the Banner County. I was lucky to play with a bunch of players that were exceptional. I was lucky to be led by a manager that was exceptional, so I was. Them guys are what led the way to this success,” said Fitzgerald.

“But the one thing I want to say tonight, we enjoyed our time in 95 and 97 but it’s now the time for 2013 and these exceptional players.”

NEWS of a major data security breach in Ennis travelled around the world in November after it was revealed that a cyber attack had taken place on the Station Road-based company LoyaltyBuild.

The Data Protection Commissioner said the credit card details of over 500,000 people across Europe may have been compromised by the data breach at Loyaltybuild.

The company was sold in 2008 by businessmen Dominic Considine, Domhnal Slattery and Sean Lyne for € 25 million to American company, Affinion.

Suspicion about a possible breach emerged on Friday, October 25, and a team of “expert forensic investigators” was appointed to determine what had happened.

On Wednesday, October 30, it emerged that a breach may have occurred and it contacted the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) on November 1.

An inspection team from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has also confirmed that the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of around 1.12 million clients were also taken.

Billy Hawkes said his office has now made contact with colleagues across Europe to inform them of the security breach.

Loyaltybuild runs special offers and incentive schemes for major retailers, utilities and service providers in Ireland, the UK, Scandinavia and Switzerland.

The ODPC said an inspection team has confirmed that the full card details of over 376,000 customers were taken.

Of this figure, over 70,000 were SuperValu customers and over 8,000 were AXA Leisure Break customers.

The details of another 150,000 clients were also potentially compromised. It said initial indications are that the breaches were the result of an “external criminal act”.

Managing director Peter Steenstrup has said he is deeply sorry for what is described as a major security breach at the company.

He urged customers to check their bank account statements and report any suspicious activity.

Mr Steenstrup said Loyaltybuild takes data security very seriously and the company is working to ensure that this will never happen again.

The Data Protection Commissioner said the criminals who breached security have all the information they need in order to use the payment cards.

LoyaltyBuild stated that the system breach was discovered last month, and that they have been working around the clock with their security experts to get to the bottom of matter.

“From the moment we first detected a suspected security breach on Friday, October 25, we immediately engaged the services of an expert forensics security team and have worked tirelessly to try to rectify this situation,” they noted.

“The DPC and the Gardaí will be kept informed of any further developments.”

BUNRATTY was the place to be in April as a small school of dolphins took up residence under the famous bridge. The dolphins drew large crowds for weeks – and prompted much concern over their safety before if became clear that they were there by choice and had not become trapped.

An attempt to rescue the bottle nose dolphins was planned early in April but never went ahead. Speak- ing ahead of the proposed rescue missing, the Clare based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), said the dolphins appeared “relatively healthy”.

“In my opinion something will have to be tried this week. They are healthy at the moment but with the low tide coming on Wednesday, something will probably have to be tried,” said Simon Berrow of the IWDG in early April.

“The longer this goes on the more stressed the animals will get. They are in fresh water and that is damaging their kidneys right now and it will also start to damage their skin as well.

“We have also heard reports of kids throwing stones at them when they get close to the shore and we would appeal to anyone who comes to visit the dolphins, not to engage in this sort of behavior.”

The dolphins were discovered on March 31, in murky water close to the old bridge over Bunratty River, close to Durty Nelly’s Pub. The last time that dolphins became stranded in this area was in 1995, when Clare recorded one of its finest summers in recent memory.

Some locals are hopeful that the return of the dolphins are a sign of a good summer ahead. Hurling fans are also hopeful that the return of the dolphins to Bunratty may also be on omen suggesting a hurling season similar to what took place in 1995.

NEARLY 600 hundred years to pay off a loan – that was the judgment handed how in Ennis District Court on November 1 when Judge Michael Durcan ordered that a financiallystrapped mother of five should only pay € 5 a month on credit union loan.

The previous month the credit un- ion made an application before Ennis District Court last month for an installment order against the woman for a debt of € 35,070.76.

After hearing of the woman’s financial circumstances in which she is struggling to pay bills and keep five children, three of whom were in third level education, Judge Durcan told her his conscience would not allow him to agree to her offer to repay € 20 a month to the credit union. Instead Judge Durcan reduced the figure to € 5 a month.

“This woman is doing a fantastic service to the State and to her family,” said Judge Durcan, who made an order reducing the amount the woman must pay back on a monthly basis.

He ordered she pay back € 5 a month to the credit union. It could take the woman up to 583 years to repay the loan in total.

The woman became emotional as she thanked Judge Durcan for his ruling. On this repayment schedule the loan would notionally be repaid in 583 years.

She told the court she would pay the installment every month.

IT PROVED to be a bumper Christmas for returning emigrants, with Shannon Airport recording a 21 per cent increase in passenger numbers over the festive season.

Some 43,000 passengers will have flown in and out of Shannon over the Christmas period from December 21 to January 2 – up almost 8,000 on the same period last year when over 35,000 travelled.

This makes it the first Christmas in five years that passenger numbers at the airport have shown an increase.

“We are having a very busy Christmas,” said Niall Maloney, Airport Operations Director at Shannon Airport.

“This is the busiest period of the winter season and we also had our free Santa Flights with Ryanair so it it’s all hands on deck.

“An airport is an emotional place anyway as families and friends reu- nite or say goodbye but it is particularly so at Christmas. This weekend is probably the happiest of the year, though, and the buzz is fantastic as there are so many flying in to be home for Christmas.

“The arrivals area is where it all happens, particularly for US and London flights as they are full of people flying back from the States or, via London, from the likes of Australia, the Middle East, Far East and elsewhere,” he added.

The boost in passengers numbers in Shannon over the Christmas period comes at the end of the airport’s first full year of independence.

On January 31 last year Shannon was formally granted its independence from the Dublin Airport Authority – a move that came into affect on the back of a pledge by the Fine Gael/Labour government to put a new blueprint in place for the airport after the 2011 General Election.

THE body of the 52-year-old Czech National was found in a laneway beside Supermac’s fast food restaurant on O’Connell Street in May. Mr Josef Pavelka died on a Saturday night, just days after leaving a homeless shelter in Galway. Josef and his friend Piotr Baram came to national attention earlier in the year when it was revealed they lived in a public toilet in Ennis. “Josef is my best friend and he is dead, he is dead. I am sick. I am sick about that,” said Mr Baram.

A Garda spokesman said at the time that gardaí are liaising with Interpol to contact the deceased’s family in the Czech Republic. Mr Pavelka had recently underwent surgery and had severe difficulties with alcohol. He walked with the aid of a crutch.

Recalling his friend’s final hours, Piotr said, “We drink together Saturday. After that he go to sleep in church. Later the church is closed, he must go out. I go to my place to sleep. He go to his place, I don’t know where, O’Connell Street somewhere.”

Mr Pavelka came to Ireland in 2007 and worked in construction industry and as a painter. He and Piotr Baram were fixtures on the streets of Ennis. They could be seen every morning standing in the laneway near Fawl’s Pub on O’Connell Street. The pair lived for a period in a tent in the Fair Green.

They received food and assistance from the Church and the St Vincent de Paul. They were firm friends for seven years. Piotr Baram said his friend had been married with children in the Czech Republic.

He said he thought Mr Pavelka liked football back at home. Mr Pavelka’s plight came to national attention last month after a report from the Probation Services disclosed that he lived for a period in a public toilet. Mr Pavelka appeared in court on public order charges. Judge Patrick Durcan described the situation as a “scandal”. As a result the men secured emergency accommodation at a tourist hostel in Galway. They returned to Ennis two weeks ago where, Piotr says, they slept rough on the streets.