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A TALE of contrasting confidence on Saturday evening as Crusheen easily held off the challenge of Inagh/Kil- namona to push themselves into the race for one of the two knock-out places. Down the other end, Inagh/ Kilnamona are struggling to keep their heads above water with only two wins from seven games but re- ally they didn’t do themselves any favours here by leaking two avoid- able goals while their first touch and self-belief seems to have all but dis-

appeared. And it was those two goals that separated the sides throughout,

with the first coming after only 14 minutes with the sides locked at O- 2 to 0-2. Paddy Meaney gathered the ball about 40 metres from goal and was allowed to weave his way through the defence before pulling the ball back across the square for Joe Meaney to finish to the net after a goalmouth scramble. The second followed only four minutes later and it was infinitely more sloppy, with the Inagh/Kilnamona defence failing to clear their lines on the left wing before Sean Dillon swooped in to in- tercept an Eamonn Glynn handpass and just as it seemed as if his shot was destined for a point, goalkeeper

Patrick Kelly climbed to retrieve the ball from over the crossbar, only to see it trickle over the goal-line. Those two goals were to haunt In- agh/Kilnamona for the remainder of the contest as they would never get to within less than four of their op- ponents. Instead, Crusheen, led by another star turn from county Under 21 player Cian Dillon, and Alan Tuo- hy’s frees, played within themselves to hold that clear advantage, leading

by 2-6 to 0-6 at the break.

Inagh/Kilnamona did have impres- sive displays of their own in Cathal Lafferty and David Hegarty but without support, the second half descended into a scrappy affair that was dominated by frees. Crusheen could even afford to hit eleven wides over the hour and still maintain their healthy advantage.

By the 50th minute, Crusheen had edged seven points clear at 2-11 to 0-

10 after a brace from Cian Dillon and a point apiece from Conor O’ Donnell and the returning Cronan Dillon, but even though Dermot Gannon restored some respectability to the scoreline with three successive frees before the final whistle, they were only mere consolations as mentally, Inagh/Kilnamona were already half- way to the dressing rooms.

MUSIC lovers from all over the world have turned their attention on Miltown Malbay this week for the Willie Clancy Summer School. As the summer school approaches it’s 5Oth year in operation, thousands of music lovers have descended on west Clare for what is the highlight of many peoples traditional music year.

Almost 1,000 musicians and danc- ers, young and old will attend classes on each day of the school – with mil- lions of euro likely to be generated for local businesses.

Some of the remaining highlights include tonight’s whistle and flute recital featuring Mary Bergin, Paul McGrattan and a host of others, a lecture by Len Graham on the Ulster song tradition in English on Wednes- day night and a night of old style dancing led by Michael Tubridy on Thursday night.

On Friday night Noel Hill and Mar- ty O’Keeffe will host a concertina recital while on Saturday the Ceol- choirm Mhor will feature a top class line-up of traditional musicians, like- ly to be the highlight of the week.

Meanwhile, those not fortunate enough to be able to make it up to Miltown Malbay for the week can still get a flavour of the festivi- ties by tuning into RTE Raidio na

Gaeltachta will be broadcasting live from the festival all week.

Indeed, Raidio na Gaeltachta have a long association with the festival, having broadcast live from Miltown Malbay each year since the festival started back in 1973.

‘There were no live broadcasts in the early days, but that changed in the eighties with improvements in technology,’ said Meaiti Jo Shéa- muis, Music Editor at RTE Raidi6 na EF YOlerel alee

“I remembers broadcasting live from a national school six miles out- side Miltown Malbay, Scoil Naisiun- ta Sliabh na Leice, because it was the most elevated place they could find — which we needed to be able to get a good signal.

“I remember on another occasion recording a traditional singer in out- door toilets, as it was too windy to record in the open air. As technology improved, live broadcasts were pos- sible from the town, and Raidio na Gaeltachta used to broadcast from a caravan situated outside the hall.

STRATFORD is known as William Shakespeare country, but last Tues- day it became better known as the home for one of the biggest betting coups landed in many years, one that came all the way from Clare.

Bookies and betting exchanges in Ireland and England were hit to the tune of over €500,000 when the Clare-owned King Keano trained by Liam Burke in Cork landed a mas- sive gamble when winning the 6.45 maiden hurdle at Stratford.

“Tt was a fantastic coup,’ one bookie told

SCHOOL OF HAIRDRESSING

SQUALLS of rain did nothing to spoil the festival fun in Killaloe at the weekend as visitors turned out in droves to enjoy the annual Brian Boru celebrations.

A packed programme of events in- cluding a fireworks display, a gig-rig, a treasure hunt and a pig on a spit went ahead undaunted, John Grimes of the festival organising commit- tee said. “We were delighted with the turnout. The town was packed all weekend and we got very posi- tive feedback from the people who or bn alse

“Particularly with the weather be- ing the way it was, we were worried that people might not come out but they did and it all worked out really well – we didn’t have to cancel any- debeetcam

There was all the fun and colour of the parade as well as power-boat and dragon-boat racing.

The Lakeside Hotel are very in- volved in this year’s festival and organised a treasure hunt, the Brian Boru Quest, based on the sort of clues given in the Da Vinci Code.

And the food and cooking fair which proved so popular last year went ahead again as festival goers sampled local culinary delights.

And the beautiful young things turned out for Killaloe’s answer to Oxygen on Saturday night when the Plectrum music festival, organised by the local youth club, was in full swing.

The Féis Ceoil also proved to be a huge success and the quality and variety of music on offer all over the town meant there was something for everyone to listen to.

ONE of the largest collections of ar- chived traditional Irish music in the mid-west was officially opened in Ennis last Friday.

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv joined with members of the Board of Meitheal na hAbhna and man- agement at the opening of Cois na hAbhna Regional Resource Centre.

Cois na hAbhna is the regional base of Comhaltas Ceoiltoiri Eire- ann (CCE) for the Meitheal region.

It houses the Comhaltas Regional Archive in its Sean Reid Library. The venue also has an auditor1um for céili dances and concerts, a tradi- tional-style Irish kitchen, a bar/teach

cheoil where lively weekly sessions are held and classrooms for music lessons.

Speaking last week, Cois na hAbh- na manager, Doreen Norris said the venue has been busy since re-open- ing in 2007.

‘“We’ve been pretty busy. We have céilis, workshops and classes. It’s been fairly busy for the past two years. September to May is usually busier for us. There is a lot more go- ing on but we still have a few things happening in the summer. We have céilis on Wednesdays and Fridays,” she said.

The original Cois na hAbhna build- ing was constructed during the early 1980s by local Comhaltas members, who worked on a voluntary basis, and

was officially opened on St Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1983.

Redevelopment work on the Gort Road venue began in October 2006 and concluded in May 2007. The building was extended to include a teach cheoil and new conference room facilities.

The jewel in the crown is the Cois na hAbhna regional archive, one of several established by CCE through- out the country, to record collect and preserve the cultural heritage of parts of Munster.

Since work began in 1990 over 1,500 hours of recordings of mu- sic, songs, dance and folklore from Clare, Galway and Limerick have been collected in the form of 78s, LPs, reel to reel tapes, cds, videos,

books and photos.

Four main collections form the ma- jority of the archive’s holdings.

The Culturlann archive collections consists of recordings made and collected by Seamus MacMathuna, timire cheoil, CCE, covering a peri- od from the late 1950s to the 1970s.

The Vaughan collection is of a se- ries of private recordings made by Joe Vaughan from Miltown Malbay during the 1960s. The McNamara collection consists of recordings made by Martin McNamara from Scariff in the 1960s and 1970s. The fourth collection, the Field record- ings, 1s composed of material gath- ered by volounteers and participants in the ‘Meet the Musician Project’ since 1991.

A SHANNON businesswoman has won a prestigious accolade in fash- ion design. Michelle Carrig won the award for Outstanding Creativity as part of her City & Guilds Diploma in Fashion Design and Tailoring at the Mallow College in Cork.

She has operated her own dress- making business in Shannon for the past six years, having taken a ‘Start your own business’ course with the Clare County Enterprise Board. Three years ago, she decided to take a City & Guilds course, culminating in her being honoured with the ac- colade. She also won the Designer of the Year award in evening wear last year. She was honoured with the lat-

est award because of her work with lace. “I incorporated it into all of my designs,’ she said.

She is no stranger to dressmaking. Her mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all interested in this area. “Everything was knitted for us and everything was made for us. My Holy Communion dress was made. I learned everything from my mother and my grandmother,” she said.

‘T had the art background and I de- cided when my son (Jack, now aged 13) was going to school, I wanted to be at home for him. I had the ability and I saw a niche in the market. I set up in my mother’s back kitchen over six years ago and then moved into the workshop,” she said.

She enjoyed the work and then de- cided to ascertain what kind of ability she had by taking the course, which she was very enthusiastic about. “I put a lot of effort, time and commit- ment into my collection and the day I handed it over to the examiners I felt that a part of me went with it. I really poured myself, my dreams, my sweat and sometimes tears into it so it was fantastic that the examiners recog- nised this by presenting me with the Outstanding Creativity award over 140 designs shown at a recent fashion show to over 600 people,’ she said.

Acknowledging that successfully completing the course was her target, Michelle said that this section of her course work allowed her to express herself and her ideas. It also enabled

her to put into practice many of the techniques that she learned. Michelle also made time to complete a milli- nery course and can design a head- piece to match any outfit.

A native of Limerick, Michelle moved to Shannon at a young age. Her business, Material Girl, is lo- cated at Caragh Park in Shannon. While she thoroughly enjoys her job, she is anticipating the future. “I can see myself teaching sewing and de- sign. That would be my ambition,” she said. Michelle can be contacted on michelle_carrig@yahoo.co.uk.

Get the low down with new guide

WHEN, back in the mists of time, they minted gathering festivals, they had something like the Loop Head variety in mind. It takes place from July 10 to July 20 and it has a par- ticular significance for the people of the area.

Set against the most western shore of Clare, in the parish of Kulbal- lyowen, the Loop Head Gathering Festival encompasses the villages of Cross and Kilbaha.

The programme itself is extremely varied and includes music (with the likes of Martin Hayes and Leo Ri- chard performing), currach racing, a

donkey derby, a vintage tractor run, tug of war and sheaf throwing.

“It’s a very special occasion for everybody in the area,” explains Ter- esa O’Gorman, PRO for the festival. “But it’s not only the people living here that get involved. Those who have left the area and moved away take holidays around the gathering festival. So we have plenty of enter- tainment for all of those returning home.”

This is the tenth year a festival has taken place in the locality and it’s the fourth year that the festival has gone ahead under its current structure. And, the 2009 version has two spe- cial events in store.

“First of all, it’s the 50th anniver- sary of the new church in Cross, so that’s something to celebrate. To mark this occasion, we have organ- ised a mass to be concelebrated with the bishop on July 15. This will be followed by an evening with music from Larry McEvoy, a barbecue and dancing.

‘The second big event is the 4km road race that takes place on Friday, July 17. This has been organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the St John’s Athletic Club victory in the County Junior Cross Country cham- pionships. And as part of this, the members of the team or their repre- sentatives will be awarded a special

presentation.”

Teresa also pointed out that since it’s inception, the gathering festival has always enjoyed extremely good weather. “It’s a great boost for the people around here. Businesses and tourism outlets are busy. We’re con- stantly aiming to bring in people to the area and this festival showcases what we have to offer on the Loop- head.”

AS TRAMS and other alterna- tive transport vehicles make a huge comeback all over the world one north Clare man has a unique claim to fame; he was the last electric trol- ley driver in England.

Originally from Carron, Patrick Fitzgerald spent almost five decades in Nottingham, where he worked in construction before becoming an electric bus driver.

“T went over to England in 1959, when I was 16 years of age. There’s talk about recession now but let me tell you there was a recession back then,” he said.

“T went into roofing first and af- ter I had an accident on the roofs I changed to the buses. I was too young then to drive so I started as a conductor and then became a driver when I turned 21.

“At the time there was 54 miles of electric lines for the buses all around Nottingham; most big cities had them over there at that stage. It’s funny now, they are all going back to trams and things like that. They would be much happier to have the old tram networks and the lines for the electric trolleys now.”

In the name of progress, the elec- tric trolley fleet began to be wound down. On it went until the mid-1960s when Patrick found himself driving the last route still in service.

“IT used to drive the night-time bus from Trent Bridge. I was sad to see it go, I liked it. It was great in a straight road going around 30 miles an hour. You’d have to be careful go- ing around the corners though,’ he

continued.

“It would have been the main source of transport at the time; eve- ryone would have used them. I was on the electric trolleys for five and a half years altogether; from °52 to ‘57,

between conducting and driving. “There were lovely to drive. They had only two pedals; the right pedal was our foot breaks and left pedal was the power. If you put on too much power at any time the bus

would blow it’s fuses out altogether.

“Tt was the last route and I was the last driver on the night shift, so I saw the end of them.”