The Clare People Archive

A STROLL through the beautiful surrounds of Lough Derg to enjoy the mellow turning of the leaves and the autumn sunshine 1s on the cards, and it’s all for a good cause.

Scariff Community Council in conjunction with Derg Credit Union and Clare Athletics Association are hosting the first 10 km run and walk on September 14.

“We want this to be a community event and we welcome all runners and walkers, young and old to come out on the day,” said Martin Harti- gan , one of the organising team.

“We don’t expect people to break any records. You can jog, run walk – whatever you like but come out on

the day and enjoy some magnificent views of Lough Derg along the route. All proceeds from the event will go to our local and very worthy cause, the Raheen Hospice.”

The route will start at the Scariff GAA grounds, up towards Cappa- bane, Sheeaun, Moynoe, Mount- shannon Road & back into Scariff with the finishing line located near the GAA grounds.

Registration forms for the event can be found in O’ Meara’s pharmacy or Rodgers Centra shop in Scariff, on- line at www.scariff.com, and can be email to scariff10k@hotmail.com or sent by post to Scariff Community Council, Market House, Scariff. Registration is €10 per person and the closing date for entries is Sep-

tember. Late registration will be ac- cepted on the 14th September up to 1.30pm at a cost of €15 per person.

The event starts at 2pm sharp so all entrants should be assembled by 1.45pm at the GAA grounds.

“We’ll have prizes for the first man and woman home and there will be water stations enroute. We hope this will be just the first of many Scariff 10k’s,’ said Martin.

The Raheen Hoispice provides an invaluable service to the community. The Palliative Care Unit at Raheen has two support beds open to all peo- ple with advanced cancer.

Patients with non malignancies in the terminal stage of their illness re- quiring palliative care may also be admitted to the unit.

Milford Home care team visit on a daily basis and the staff all have had training in palliative care. The beds are always full, and are also used to provide respite to non terminal can- cer patients.

“The staffing is provided by the HSE and we always welcome any extra funding”, a spokeswoman for Raheen said.

The organisers have asked that par- ticipants make every effort to regis- ter in advance so they will have an idea of numbers.

Details and forms can be had from other members of the organising committee also. They are Eugene Moroney, Eileen Crotty, Paula Har- tigan, Sheila Mulvihill and Marie SO e7

64-YEARS-OLD this year and still going strong, the Scariff annual ag- ricultural show will be cause for another great family day out on Sep- tember 6.

The landmark event is being held in the showgrounds again this year. A spokeswoman for the show commit- tee said that “most of our success is down to the support and encourage- ment we receive from our sponsors and the local support of people who come on the day.”

There are loads more activities planned this year, with bouncy cas- tles, a funfair and some new trade stands along with all the old relia- bles.

The show committee is “proud to have the local vintage display at our show again this year and you might be lucky to be crowned Queen of the Plough, a competition kindly spon- sored by Michael Ryan of Scariff”, the spokeswoman said.

One of the most popular events is the dog show, with lots of novelty classes as well as the usual variety

classes. The Indoor section has also got some new classes for adults and children – so it’s time to paint that picture, bake that cake, pick those flowers, or knit that scarf.

The horse classes will include mare and foal, young horses, jumping, show hunter and working hunter, pony classes – with new classes this year – side saddle, donkey and sheep sections. The ISA and Scariff Show All-Ireland Filly Championship will be held at 3pm.

There is also a new and added fun race at our show this year, The Don-

key Derby.

Show judges will be on the look out for the best dressed lady, best dressed child and fancy dressed child as well as the bonniest baby.

The night would not be complete without the show dance, which is held in Craic n’ Back at Rodgers in Scarf.

Any entrants should contact Joanne Allen, County, Scariff 061 921687 or entry@scariffshow.com Entries ler TeUDbelom wa Neeca ti mezee

The website www.scariffshow.com has all the details.

WHILE there’s no shortage of fes- tivals in Clare in summer, the lat- ter part of the year tends to have a CleVade me) msslotee

Which is why an imaginative east Clare couple have got together with some other creative people to stage a festival with family friendly events for the October bank holiday week- end in Killaloe.

Called An Féile Eile – The other festival – the weekend of events is being organised by Diane Daly and Boris Hunker of the Music in the Glenn music school.

“We named it because there is the Féile Brian Boru and the St Patrick’s

Day festival, but nothing at this time of year. And because it’s the Octo- ber, we won’t have any misplaced optimism that it could be sunny, so most of the events will be indoors’, said Boris.

The organisers hope that after this first festival, the event will grow and expand and for this year, they will concentrate on the musical aspect.

Most of the events are happening in the Kincora Hotel and on Friday, children from east Clare schools will come together for singing sessions and that night there will be a family event, with a gig by the band Hunka Burning Love followed by a disco.

On Saturday, there will be screen- ings of Laurel and Hardy’s early si-

lent movies and a quartet will play live to recreate the old silent movie cinema atmosphere.

There will be workshops for young- sters to compose scores for films. “These are designed for any child aged six to 12 to take part. They don’t have to be able to play a musi- cal instrument,” said Boris.

The Music in the Glen school is this year starting a choir and small orchestra and the children who have enrolled will perform in St Flannan’s OTM LONNCE RY

Monday is the shadow puppet thea- tre workshop where kids will have fun learning how to create shadow puppets and then write and perform a shadow puppet play.

There will also be a day of visual arts in collaboration with the Art- farm facility.

“We want to give our own classes something to work for and to start up a festival that will have something for children and parents as well,’ said Boris.

Boris and Diane are now work- ing on a grand finale for the three day festival, details of which will be available shortly.

“There will be a very nominal charge for the workshops and people can equire now and booking will be available shortly’, said Boris.

Full; details of the September mu- sic classes are available by emailing musicintheglen @ftml.net

CLARE County Council is taking a tough line with alleged breaches of the planning laws by issuing en- forcement notices over unauthorised developments in Sixmilebridge and Flee

The council has issued notices against William Stackpoole of | Lois Mara, Lahinch and Philip Morrison of the Walk-In Studio & Gallery, Main Street, Lahinch to cease all commercial operations at the site.

They have been given until later this month to comply with the notice and revert the structure back to a private dwelling as well as refunding €300 costs incurred by the council in the investigation and issuing of enforce- ment proceedings.

If they fail to comply with the no- tice, the council has warned it will have no option but to initiate legal proceedings and this would result in additional costs.

A similar notice has been issued to two directors of a Sixmilebridge company who have been ordered to reconstruct a house they demolished on the main street without planning permission. The notice under the Planning and Development Act was issued to Patrick and Yvonne Cos- tello of Maxfern Ltd, Shannon Road, SIV. Cse bose ulelven

The council considers the demo- lition of the dwelling house to be unauthorised as it does not have the

benefit of planning permission and does not constitute exempted devel- opment. The planners are demanding that the house be rebuilt in accord- ance with the original design and to the satisfaction of the council.

It is understood the house was de- molished adjacent to the entrance to a development of four apartments and two shop units for which Mr Costello secured planning permis- sion in 2005.

The council is also demanding that

all remedial works are carried out to ensure the satisfactory reinstatement of the adjoining property to the west of the site.

The Costellos are also obliged to employ a chartered structural en- gineer to supervise all works to the adjoining property.

The issuing of the enforcement no- tices comes against the background of increased activity by the Enforce- ment Unit.

A Bunratty businessman was re-

cently sentenced to three months 1m- prisonment at Ennis District Court for not complying with an enforce- ment notice.

The businessman is currently on bail pending the outcome of his ap- ered

WEST Clare has been the focus of currach enthusiasts this year. Dur- ing the summer visitors and locals have enjoyed numerous currach re- gatta races this year and played host to the All-Ireland championships in SNe Te

On August 24, local interest will be firmly fixed on the next regatta in the west and the showdown between top teams Kilrush and Coonagh, when the Clare Decider takes place during the Leon Currach Regatta.

The Clare Decider will be a hard

fought series of races and both cur- rach crews can expect to face stiff competition from the many teams lined up to compete on the day.

Currach rowing has enjoyed a huge revival in the last number of years thanks to the dedication and com- mitment of a growing number of vol- Pion

The Quilty based Leon Currach Rowing Club, which was formed in 2007, will host the Leon Currach Regatta and will field at least three crews to represent the club.

Having participated in several re- gattas this year in Clare and beyond,

the Leon club crews are all set for the Quilty Confined race to be a very oy en elo NLS AV om BOERNE

In addition to the Clare Decider and the Quilty Confined, currach races will include the heats and finals of the Men’s Open, Women’s Open and Mixed Open events.

The shore-based regatta staged off Seafield, Quilty, proved a huge at- traction to spectators last year. The Stretch of sandhills at Seafield, as well as the elevated road overlooking the sea all the way to Quilty village, provides excellent vantage points with which to view the races.

On August 24, the currach racing commences off Seafield, Quilty at lpm sharp with the heats of the Clare Decider.

If tidal and weather conditions are favourable, then organisers have pre- dicted a “fine days currach racing”.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the Leon Currach Regatta should call Mick Egan on 087 PAIR SOP

The Leon Currach Regatta is the first of two associated events in Quilty this autumn.

The festival will take place in Quilty from September 26 to 28.

WHILE August 15 has certain sig- nificant for Irish Catholics as it is the holy day the Assumption, for the people of west Clare it has long been associated with nine days devotion to the mother of Jesus.

This devotion centres around a holy well situated in Tubridy’s field between Cree and Cooraclare village in the townland of Dromelihy.

From 6am on this day people from Loop Head to Lisseycasey and Kildysart to Miltown Malbay can be seen walking barefoot and with shoes, in groups and alone, sitting and standing all praying intensely.

When the well first became a cen- tre of prayer remains a mystery, as are some of the stories associated

velo Le

One of the best-known pieces of folklore or fact – depending on your belief – is the overnight recovery of a man on crutches.

‘There was a tradition where peo- ple used to go to the well the night before the 15th and stay the night. They would sleep there,” said Mar- tin Queally – a man who remembers the well always playing a part in the lives of the locals.

On one of those fateful nights, the story goes that an unknown man lay down to sleep with his crutches by his side.

That morning he woke up and walked away from the well leaving lord OUD ANG MU SlomOnut Kel lene

For years later the wooden crutches were left at the well as a reminder.

Martin is regarded by many as somewhat of an authority on the lo- cal monument.

“It has always been there. I am 70 plus and when I was young the old people all remembered it as being Wolken

‘There is no recorded date for when people first started going there,” he ALOR

“Some improvements were made in the 1840s by a man named John Quinn from Caherfeenick. There is a stone in the wall behind Our Lady asking for prayers for him. It is not recorded exactly what was done,’ said Martin.

During the Marian Year, 1954, more improvement works were car- ried out and in the past 20 years the well committee have continued to

build on that work.

The hard working committee have added a shelter for Mass, toilet fa- cilities and a prayer room where the sacrament is exposed during the nine day of services.

For the first time Mass was held at 3pm on the opening day last Friday.

Mass will take place at the well to- night, Thursday and Friday at 8pm, with the closing Mass at 10 am on Saturday.

A special Mass will be held on to- morrow (Wednesday) at 3pm.

Many people will also do the “rounds”, which will see them pray five decades of the rosary while walking the outer ring of the well, five again for the inner ring and five around the wall of the well finishing Uh OMNI Ty (6 Con

THE Government it would seem got value for money when decentralis- ing its offices to Kilrush, compared to moving civil servants to other towns.

Sixty staff took up jobs in the town’s Revenue office in Kilrush during Summer 2007.

These workers filled 50 full-time positions through job sharing and other family friendly employment NSU RUN Kone

The government secured a long- term lease for offices in the west Clare capital for €85,000 a year, while the estimated fit out, excluding VAT and fees, was €411,000.

These figures compare favourably to similar sized towns that also ben- efited from the decentralisation of government offices.

The fit out of an office in Listow- el, Co Kerry, cost €1.3m. The an- nual rent for the long-term lease is €183,000.

In Loughrea, Co Galway, the gov-

ernment is paying €139,235, a year in rent for offices which cost another €572,000 to fit out, excluding VAT and Fees.

In Navan, Co Meath, the taxpay- er is funding an office at a rent of €382,492 a year while the fit out cost more than €1.4 million.

In Athy, Co Kidare, the Govern- ment took out a temporary lease on offices costing €©231,554 a year in rent, while fitting out the offices cost €493,000.

It was only in the neighbouring

county of Limerick that the Govern- ment seemed to be paying less rent. The rent for offices in Newcastle West is €68,771 per year.

According to Fine Gael TD Pat Breen the Kilrush office seemed to be value for money.

‘When you consider what has to be paid out for green field sites and the cost of rents in other towns, it Seems a good option.”

“It is a work friendly, open space office,” he said of the offices on the Cappa Road.

that the town in still in demand.

“It absolutely bodes well that a few developers are prepared to invest in the town. There is not much of a drop in house prices either in the town according to local auctioneers,” he ENG

“There are about 50 houses from small developers in the system look- ing for permission, some of them with three to six houses,” he added.

There are just less than 100 more

houses that have been refused per- mission due to a “resident only” EN Son

Councillors zoned the land at the back of the Church residential with a “resident only” clause so as to en- courage an increase in the year round population of the town, and discour- age holiday homes in that particular area.

The refusal for this development was appealed to An Bord Pleanala.

Meanwhile the three newest plan- ning applications to Clare County Council could see as many as 62 houses built in the coming months.

The newest of the applications is from the planning authority itself. Clare County Council is proposing to build 23 affordable houses with

ancillary road and public lighting at Dough on the Miltown Road.

In its submission to the application the NRA said it would not be making a further submission relying instead on Clare County Council to abide by policy on road frontage.

Helan Kennedy has applied to de- molish existing houses and to con- struct IO houses consisting of six semi-detached and four detached also on the Miltown Road.

This application is awaiting further information following a number of objections from neighbouring land- owners regarding the necessity to knock existing old cottages and ac- cess issues. Submissions also stated that the houses on the road are single storey houses and the development is

for two storey dwellings.

An Taisce suggested that redesign- ing the access road and reducing the number of houses would avoid the necessity to knock the existing cot- tage.

An application by Michael and Gerry Bond to build 29 houses at Dough is also under consideration with a decision due on September 3.

A number of objections also face this development including the close proximity of the effluent holding tank close to a nearby bed and breakfast.

Objections also relate to a sugges- tion that the land for development is lower than the road, the brick road is in bad condition and the density of the houses proposed could devalue other houses in the area.

IT was a case of 36st time into the breach for Lahinch man Pat Conway last week as he, along with four other brave swimmers, took on the might of Liscannor Bay.

This year’s annual Lahinch to Lis- cannor Charity Swim was undertak- en in some of the worst weather in recent memory, with high winds and rough seas making the crossing a se- rious challenge for all concerned.

A group of five swimmers, in- cluding Pat’s son Damien, Johnny O’Loughlin, Brian McCarthy and Tom White, took to the rough wa- ters and in the process raised some

€6,000 for the Burren Chernobyl Project (BCP).

‘Pat has been doing this swim now for 36 years and we feel really lucky that in the past number of years he has fundraiser for Burren Cherno- byl,’ said Lisa O’Connor from the Burren Chernobyl Project.

“It’s such an important fundriaser for the organisation. It’s a great day and a lot of people come out to sup- port it both in Lahinch and Liscan- nor but besides that Pat always does a lot of fundraising in the town before the event itself.

“Pat does a wonderful job and the local people and businesses are so generous.”

Funds from this years event will go to a number of worthy projects in the Belarus where the BCP has made great strides in helping vulnerable people effected by the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.

Indeed, Lisa’s daughter Tessa has just returned from an aid trip to Belarus. “There are so many differ- ent projects going on over there at the moment. We have several group out at the moment in the children’s orphanage Goradishche; we have a group from the Special Olympics who were just out and did a fantastic job out there in children’s summer camps, we have had a physiotherapy group and a group out there doing ar-

tistic work and painting,’ continued Lisa.

“We have just opened a day-care centre in Cherven last week. This facility will allow families to keep their children at home while they can go out and work during the day. It will let a lot of families keep their children at home instead of having to put them in one of the government asylums.

“It was just opened there in the end of July and will be of huge benefit to the locals there and especially the children.”

To learn more about the Burren Chernobyl Project check out www. burrenchernobylproject.ie

FANCY getting your hands on a Sunderland jersey signed by the great Roy Keane himself? Well that and much more is on offer at a char- ity auction in aid of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind to be held in Lis- doonvarna later this month.

The auction, which will take place in the newly redeveloped Lisdoon- varna Town Hall Pavilion, has been organised by local man John Stack. This October, John will travel to Spain in to tackle a gruelling six day cycling odyssey to raise much need- ed funds for the charity.

“T was in Cuba last year for a_ six-

day charity cycle and this year I’m off to Majorca. It’s organised each year by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and they look for volunteers to come onboard, raise the money and do the cycle.

“Each person has to raise €3,300 to go on the trip and the most of that goes straight to the charity. At the moment we have 12 people from all over the country taking part but we have room for a few more if anyone is interested.”

The cycling trip will see John tackle high temperatures and rough terrain on his journey around the Spanish island.

“Tt’s going to be a tough challenge.

We have six days of cycling and be- tween 40 and 80 miles of cycling each day. A lot of the route is up decent hills and mountains so we will be tired afterwards,’ continued John.

“I’ve been doing some good train- ing, sure I’m cycling for years, but it will be tough going.”

The auction will take place on Sat- urday August 23 and John is asking anyone with good to donate to get in one lae

“Tl take absolutely anything for the auction. Anything from farm produce to silage bales to new po- tatoes, furniture and concrete,’ he continued.

“T’ll take anything that is saleable, I don’t mind if it costs a euro or a hun- dred euro so long as it’s saleable. If people just get in contact with me I will sort it out. If people down have anything for the auction but still want to donate they can give cash and people can also still get involved with going on the cycle itself. There is plenty of time still.”

Anyone who would liek to learn more or donate products should con- tact John on 086 2552709.