The Clare People Archive

KINVARA is gearing itself up for the highlight of it’s busy tourist sea- son as the Crinniu na mBad prepares to take over next week. The festival, which runs this year from August 9 to 12, attracts thousands of boat lov- ers from across Ireland as well as a number of European countries.

The Crinnia celebrated Kinvara’s long and proud boating history. In years gone by the village was a trad- ing centre where food stuff, turf and other goods could be traded with the people of the Aran Islands.

Each summer a fleet of Galway Hookers and Currachs would ferry

supplies back and forth from the Is- lands to the mainland at Kinvara.

“At this stage the Crinniu has grown into one of Ireland’s biggest and most important festivals. It had become part of our heritage,” said organiser Michael Brogan.

“Itis very important to continue it to make sure that the tradition does not die out. It gives the people who own these boats something to have their boats ready for. This year we should have boats from the UK and France and we are hoping to get some trad1- tional boats from Spain, Norway and Denmark over for next year.”

Michael made history himself last year as he was part of a crew who

conquered both the icy North West and North East passages aboard the yacht the Northabout.

The first race of this year’s Crin- niu will see a fleet of boats sail from the docks in Galway city and down the coast to Kinvara on Friday after- noon. Formally known as the Cladd- agh Cup, this race has been renamed the Mikey Lynskey Memorial Cup to mark his tragic passing earlier this year.

In it’s 29 year history, the Crinniu has developed a reputation for it’s commemorative posters. This years posters features one of Galways old boatman, Pat Jennings, who is now 90 years old and still involved in

keeping the boating tradition alive.

An exhibition of photography fea- turing the last three decades of the Crinniu also takes place at the Gal- way museum throughout the festi- val.

The first Crinnid na mBad took place in 1979 and has been growing steadily ever since. The original con- cept for the festival came from local man Tony Moylan, who organised the Crinniu as a means of maintain- ing Kinvara’s connection with it’s baiting heritage.

This years festival is once again sponsored by Irish owned company Cityjet. For more check out www. kinvara.com/cnb.

IF you have ever wanted to prove just how strong you really are, then the Gort Show is the place for you this SUT Ter Naa Urea bk Oe

Strong men and women will be de- scending on Community Centre and Community School Grounds to take part in the first ever Carry the Guin- ness Barrel Competition ever held in Ireland.

The competition, as you might ex- pect, involves carrying the barrel of Guinness as far possible and was the brainchild of Gort man Noel Cor- less. This year show will also feature a Senior and Novice Sheaf Throw-

ing competition, which will test the strength of anyone who survives the barrel challenge.

Entries in the indoor show classes are now closed but last minute entries will be taken at the show from llam for horses, ponies and donkeys, lpm for the dog show and from 1.30pm for the cat show.

Entries will also be taken at 2pm for the new Pet Corner. The classes are Cutest Pet and The Pet, Show Queen would like to take home. The Pet Corner is confined to small pets, such as rabbits and guinea pigs.

One of the highlights of this year’s Show will be the final of the new All-Ireland Amateur Painting Cham-

pionship. Finalists in this Champion- ship have already qualified at twen- ty-three shows held throughout the 32 counties.

This will be the first time for Gort to hold a final of an All-Ireland com- petition. The qualifying paintings will be displayed on the stage in the Community Centre. The champion- ship was devised by Amanda Nor- ton, new secretary of Gort Show and is being held in conjunction with the Irish Shows Association of which Gort Show is a member.

The Poultry section has expanded greatly over the years and is one of the most interesting parts of the show. In addition to the competi-

tive classes, Derek and Tracey Pul- lein, Gortavoher, Tubber will display a sample of their unusual poultry and ducks, including such breeds as Rhode Island Reds, Light Sussex, Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Leghorns, Anconas and Pekens. Tracey is the National Secretary of the Irish Poul- try Society.

All attending will be able to re-live times olden times by viewing the dis- play of vintage cars, tractors, farm and static machinery. The vintage display is always well supported by members of the Western Veteran and Vintage Motor Club, based in Gal- way, and by members of the Clare Classic and Vintage Club.

FINAL preparation are being made for this year’s Merriman Summer School which takes place in Lisdoon- varna from August 19 to 25.

This year’s school marks the 40th Anniversary of the event and is enti- tled Changed Utterly? Ireland 1967- 2007. The school brings thousand of extra tourists to north Clare each year and 1s now and essential part of the local tourism scene.

‘That week is a quite week around Lisdoonvarna. Holiday makers are starting to go home and September hasn’t hit. The Summer School is very important for the tourism of the area,’ said local organiser, Marian O’Callaghan.

“It is a very high profile event and it gives Lisdoonvarna a lot of very pos- itive publicity all over the country. It shows people that there is more to Lisdoonvarna, that it’s not all about September.

The school will be directed this year by well-known broadcaster and arts consultant, Doireann Ni Bhriain, and focuses on the massive changes that have taken place in Ireland over the last four decades.

“One of the highlights of this year school will be a concert by the Lis- morahaun Singers in Corpus Christi Church in Lisdoonvarna on August POAC) e mA Ebert

“This concert will feature Naomi O’Connell who began her singing with the Lismorahaun and has gone

on to win countless prizes.”

The school will be opened this year by eminent historian, Professor Gearoid O Tuathaigh of NUI Galway, who will set the tone for the week of debate, discussion, music, poetry, set dancing and general good fun.

Other highlights include a discus- sion on the changed role of the Irish female involving Nuala O’Faolain, Anne Enright and Marian Finucane, an examination of Ireland’s new- found wealth by economist, John Bradley and former Minister of State, Eithne Fitzgerald.

As the week draws to a close, Irish Times journalist and commentator, Fintan O’Toole and historian Di- armuid Ferriter will take a look at how the lessons of the past might in-

form our future on the island.

A series of local history seminars will also profile some local historical personalities including George Un- thank McNamara by Dr Peter Har- bison, Thomas Johnson Westropp by Maire Ashe Fitzgerald, Brendan O’Regan by Bernard Share while Conor Keane will look at Curious examples of Gaelic signage and place-names in Clare.

For more information check out WwWww.merriman.ie

OI ANA ae Ms lH eCOLUMB Re ReoNeclBOemseN what one candidate has dubbed the “exclusive club” of the Seanad for the first time since 1965.

In that year the late Dermot Honan (FF) was elected to the upper house taking the seat vacated after his fa- ther TV’s death in 1954.

Since then there has been a F’- anna Fail or Fine Gael senator from OE Ncer

With the unlikely exception that the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will name a

Clare politician among his chosen 11 nominees for the upper house of the Oireachtas, Clare, like Limerick, will remain without a senator for the next five years.

Clare County Councillors John Crowe (FG) and Pat Daly (FF) failed to be elected to the Seanad following six weeks and 11,000 miles each of campaigning.

Cllr Daly, who works for junior minister Tony Killeen said he be- lieved that “to win a seat you have to take an existing senator out of the exclusive club.”

“You could take Daniel O’Connell out of the square quicker than you could take out a senator.”

The Ennis councillor said he was disappointed not to get a place on the 11-seat Labour Panel, but believed he got a respectable vote.

“The way I view it over 90 per cent of the senators remain in their seats. I was trying to bring a fresh face to the senate,’ he said.

“TI thought I would have been an as- set and another voice for the people of Clare.”

He said he was not likely to run

again for the upper house, but said he should never say never.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael’s Cllr Crowe was within a few votes of being elected to the nine seater Industrial and Commercial Panel. The Sixmi- lebridge man who was one of 36 con- testing the panel was eliminated in the 25th count.

His elimination secured the seat for Fine Gael’s Paul Coughlan from Ker- ry. “It was marvellous to have stayed in so long,’ said Cllr Crowe. “It was a fair challenge but I enjoyed every bit of it. Clare is well got all over the

country and it is well known.”

The Fine Gael councillor has not ruled out campaigning for a Seanad seat again.

“Politics is like a drug. The more you get the more you want,’ he said.

The councillor said he had no re- egrets on a personal level running for the Seanad.

“I was proud to represent the county and represent the party,’ he said.

“The one regret I have is that we don’t have a senator of the county. I’m not only disappointed for our- selves but for the county,’ he added.

BORD na gCon says that Meelick residents should not be overly dis- appointed about the decision not to go ahead with the €15 million new ereyhound racing stadium in their area.

CEO of the Greyhound Board, Adrian Neilan said that the decision “moves the project a few miles up the road. But what has to be stressed 1s that this will be a Mecca for people who go racing. It will be a fantastic ee usa ae

The CEO said that the new stadium – which is now to be located at the old Limerick racecourse site – will still be a boost for Meelick in terms

of jobs and spin-off business from tom bee. @

The problem with the Meelick site, he said. Was that it would be land- locked until 2010 when the new road connection will be complete. “Until then we couldn’t even get construc- tion machinery in to get started. It was a very long delay.”

It’s just over a year since it was an- nounced that Meelick was to get the new stadium on a site near the Two Mile Inn.

The stadium design incorporated bar and restaurant facilities and a play area for children.

Subsequently, when the board ap- plied to Clare Country Council for planning permission, the local au-

thority asked for further informa- nto

It became clear at that stage that there would be a number of difficul- ties with the Meelick site.

But local councillor, Cathal Crowe said he is “bitterly disappointed. I recently organised a meeting in En- nis where local landowners, council road engineers and plunging staff and the Clare county manager were present. The non-attendance of a Bord na gCon official at this meet- ing signified to me that they had lost interest in the Lansdowne site. Many of the obstacles to the development of the stadium were discussed in depth at this meeting and I left in an optimistic mood that plans could be

progressed.

Cllr Crowe added that he believed that the location would not impede on the rural character of Meelick in TOA E NA

“Road frontage on the main Limer- ick – Ennis dual carriageway would have provided ease of access to the facility and a focal point for grey- hound enthusiasts from both Clare and Limerick to meet.

“The greyhound industry has thrived in recent years and one has only to look at the phenomenal suc- cess of the greyhound stadia at Cork, Shelbourne and Dundalk to see the scope of positive impact that this facility could have had on the local- ra A

YOUNG people from Every Moment Counts (EMC) Youth Group in Scar- riff and the Killaloe/Ballina Youth Initiative put their heads together at the weekend to raise some much needed funds to meet the transport costs of their youth groups.

Last year the transport costs for EMC Youth Group were a massive € 2,600, which they met by constant JaUUeTebR-BEcyDEnoe

The youngsters, parents and vol- unteers came together on Saturday

to push a purpose built bed from Youthreach in Scariff the 11 miles to the Family Resource Centre in Kul- laloe.

“In Scariff we have developed very strong cross county links with Coun- ty Kilkenny and County Laois and we have developed and run projects between us but we are finding it very difficult to cover transport costs to maintain these links,” said Tracey Doyle, EMC youth leader.

“We asked people to please be generous to this worthy cause.” The ‘bed’ was made by two Scariff men

who scoured the area for recycled stuff for the project.

“Little wheels would never have lasted the pace, so they went looking for bicycle wheels,” said Tracy.

Part of the high cost of transport 1s having to hire a bus and although the local bus hire company gives EMC a very good rate, Tracy said “there is still money being paid out.”

“What we were hoping was that if there is any politician out there that used a minibus when campaigning for the elections that would like to donate it to us we would be thrilled

to take it off their hands. Or indeed anyone who has a bus that would be willing to part with it – you never know. Other community groups could use it as well and we could maybe split the cost of insurance,’ said Tracey.

Once they have recovered from the exertions of the bed push, EMC members are planning another ses- sion of workshops, following on the recent successful “Drums not Drugs’, sessions and they are plan- ning a musical show which they hope to take on the road.

WIMBLEDON may be done and dusted this year but tennis is playing centre stage in Killaloe with the ad- dition of a fourth court to an already impressive set up at the New Street venue.

The Killaloe/Ballina Tennis Club was founded in 1984 and has been at the current site since 1988. The tennis club is popular not only in the

Killaloe/Ballina area but also the surrounding parish with members coming from Parteen, Portroe, Scar- iff and Tuamgraney.

There are 150 family memberships along with 30 adult single member- Jabh eke

According to vice chairman of the club Pat Grace the development of the new court is much needed in the area.

‘The main reason behind the new

court is to help clear the backlog of 40 people waiting to join. You don’t want to stop people from joining but unfortunatly that has been the case.”

The court will be 60 x 120 ft in size and will have the same all-weather sandbased surface as its three sister courts. The development is expected to be ready by the end of Septem- ber and will cost €85,000, thirty of which is to be funded by the Nation- al Lottery.

Now the club is watching out for a young Roger Federer or Venus Williams waiting to burst onto the scene? The facilities are open to the schools of the area are according to Pat Grace are “being put to good use by the convent girls school, which 1s great to see’. On the club front the juniors are performing very well with a representative in almost all of the finals of a recent tournament which was held in Nenagh.

and who suffered the gruesome fate of

being hanged drawn and quartered for his patriotism.

“My father was William Wallace from Edinburgh,” he pointed out.

He was brought up within hailing distance of White Hart Lane the home ground of Tottenham, Hotspur Football Club. “I’m a lifelong Spurs fan,” he said.

He has had paintings exhibited in the Hunt Museum in Limerick and local venues in south east Clare.

“IT also had paintings on show in Philadelphia in the US when I worked there,’ he said.

He won a free scholarship to the Hornsey School of Arts and Crafts in London when he was 12 years of age eventhough the exam was for 15 year-olds. “I was the only child of that age to ever achieve that at the time,” he said.

He pointed out that there are peo- ple who like to have their portraits hanging on the wall and others get paintings done as presents for rela- LU Aorcer-HOLe BU Lo AXC Ke

‘They can also be very acceptable wedding presents for young couples to adorn their new house with a sce- nic view or even a Surprise portrait of themselves which they didn’t know was being painted for them.

“Portraits are also very acceptable to give to people on their retirement. I was commissioned to do a portrait of a Roadstone employee in Bunratty to be presented to him on his retire- ment. They gave me a photograph of him in his work gear complete with helmet. It turned out very well,’ he ene

Among the scenic views he was requested to paint again from pho-

tographs were The Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle, King John’s Castle and Sarsfield Bridge in Limerick.

“T also do dogs in pastel and horses in oils and of course your favourite cat.”

John worked with money during his working life – not his own money but making it.

He was employed with the Royal Mint in London for 21 years and had Stints in countries such as the US, Japan, Argentina, Canada and Indo- nesia as a sales director in the same business.

So if you want to be hung over the fireplace or for that matter hang your dog, cat or horse or your favourite view, artist John can be contacted at 061-340592.

WHILE pop and rock music enthu- siasts may be looking forward to the three day September music fes- tival in Kilkee, opera enthusiasts are also being catered for at the seaside Keer

Opera by the Sea will take place this Saturday, August 4, in Kilkee Parish Church.

Presented by Kilkee Civic Trust in association with Opera Works, this cultural event promises to be an evening of the world’s most popular arias.

Those attending can expect duets

and ensembles from La Travietta, Carmen, The Magic Flute, La Bo- hme and many more operatic favour- ites.

Kilrush woman Edel O’Brien will make a welcome return to west Clare as part of the talented line up of art- ists performing.

Edel graduated with an honour masters degree in music and per- formance from NUI Maynooth. At the age of 19, she won the Mar- garet Burke-Sheridan Cup at the Dublin Féis Cheol. In London, she was awarded a scholarship to study singing at Trinity College of Music Where she won ‘distinction’ in her

postgraduate diploma in vocal stud- ies. In addition, she won the Vocal Faculty Award and the College Gold Medal.

In 2002 Edel was one of seven singers out of 200 applicants world- wide to be accepted onto the Young Artists’ Programme at the Centre de Formation Lyrique at the Opera Bastille, Opera National de Paris.

While there, she won the Prix Lyr- ique, which is awarded, annually to one male and one female singer at the CFL.

Edel has much experience in opera, oratorio and recital, having worked around Ireland, Britain and France.

Her future plans include the mezzo- soprano solo in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the National Symphony Or- chestra at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and Maurya in Vaughan- Williams’ Riders to the Sea in Dub- lin’s Anna Livia Festival.

Joining Edel on the night will be Sandra Oman, soprano; Edel O’Brien, mezzo, Niall Morris, tenor; Martin Higgins, baritone and Maire- ad Hurley, piano.

Tickets on the night are €20 and are available from John William chemist, Nolan’s delicatessen or at id etomeColeye

THE upcoming August bank holiday weekend is renowned for its festivi- ties and fun in west Clare.

The two west Clare villages of Kilmihil and Kildysart are already putting the last minute preparations together for two of the most popular festivals of the summer.

In Kildysart, as always all proceeds will go towards the playground. Af- ter five years of fundraising the play- ground was opened this year but the committee say that there is still a lot

more work to do.

Funds raised this year will go to- wards landscaping the play area, a perimeter fence for the safety of the children and a car park to make the playground accessible to all.

The newly opened playground is already attracting families from all over west Clare.

Plans are also in place to add an all- weather pitch to the grounds, dress- ing rooms and toilet facilities.

Meanwhile in Kilmihil the Festival of Fun will begin on Saturday and run until the Monday.

In its seventh year it promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Among the highlights on Saturday are the set-dancing workshop in the community centre; the soccer tour- nament for over 16’s; the treasure hunts; the Under-12 football blitz and open-air Irish music and danc- ing on the street from 8.30pm with the Four Courts Céili Band.

Sunday it’s down to Knockalough Lake for an afternoon of events in- cluding the ever popular raft racing; the Knockalough knockout and a new bath racing event for the Tommy

Murray Memorial Trophy. Sunday evening it’s the now legendary Bon- ham racing at 8.30pm in the GAA field followed by a spectacular fire- works display.

The festival concludes on Monday with a parade at lpm and a monster field day, which includes the fifth An- nual Vintage Rally. New this year is the Clare Craft Fair in the commu- nity centre from 12pm-6pm.