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Over the past six months, a diverse group of people have been coming together each week at Crosby’s old shop at The Square in Ennistymon. There, in the beating heart of the old town, the Croí Art group have been working quietly together to create something special, a community of art. The 20 strong group, ranging in age from 16 to 68 years, have developed into something approaching a family. Coming from different backgrounds, and with diverse and sometimes contrary experiences of the world, the group have found common cause together and the ability to derive strength from each other. The fruits of their work will be on show in the Croí Art Exhibition, which continues in The Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon until March 23. According to tutor Meave Collins, the group have really come together this year. “It really makes this course special to have a community of different ages and different cultures. Our youngest learner this year was …

WITH Spring in the air, the Ballycasey based Clare Cricket Club will be getting back in action quite shortly. Richard Morton is secretary of the club and he said that its players will begin training after Easter and it’ll soon be all go at the club grounds. “We put down a proper, professional grade, artificial cricket strip there last year,” he said. “We’ve reseeded the ground with proper cricket grass seed and we’re going into our second full season with our home pitch.” While all are welcome at the club, most of the players are based in Shannon. “We do draw members from all over Clare and increasingly fellows come up from Limerick to play with us,” said Richard. “But it has always been based in Shannon and the core of the playing members are based in Shannon. “We have a lot of guys who have come in from different places, like myself, and they’re working in the Shannon Free …

The continued closure of long-stay beds and some respite beds at Ennistymon Community Hospital has been condemned as “totally unacceptable” by former Clare County Councillor and local election candidate, Bill Slattery (FG). In a statement issued to The Clare Champion, he said that serious questions need to be answered by the HSE and hospital management as to why vitally important and much needed services are being denied to the community. “A huge amount of money and time has been invested by the people of North Clare in this facility and they deserve a return on that investment,” he said. Mr Slattery recently wrote to HSE CEO Bernard Gloster to highlight concerns about the continued closure of 12 beds at Ennistymon Community Hospital. He pointed out that six respite beds have remained unused in the old wing of the hospital since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, an additional six beds in the newly developed long-term ward – which is …

Clare won’t be lacking in confidence going to Páirc Esler on Sunday as they shoot for Division 2 football for 2025, because history tells them the man from the Mournes are always beatable, writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh. Hard to believe it’s 31 years ago now, but it’s worth reeling in the years to a memorable afternoon in February 1993 because when this Sunday comes it’s a reminder of what can be achieved when a group of footballers believe. More than that, when they are fully convinced. The last Sunday of the month it was, and to say there was a fever over football because of the Clare team of the day is putting it very mildly. The Banner Ballers were the only show in town, and one of the biggest draws in the country. Just a scan of some of the other big games that were on that same League Sunday proves this true. Mayo played Kerry in Crossmolina in …

Deep in the Slieve Aughty mountains, on the border between Clare and Galway, lies a stand of ancient trees. In the very centre of that forgotten wood, in a spot not seen by human eyes for generations, sits a large, stone well. And in that well, lives an all-powerful witch. The deep woods of the Slieve Aughty mountains has become the inspiration for the debut book for South Galway author, Méabh McDonnell. Written during the Covid 19 pandemic, ‘Into the Witchwood’ tells the story of a young girl called Rowan, who was always warned not to enter the woods. “During that first lockdown, we were stuck at home in Kylebrack and basically doing nothing for days and days. So we started walking in the woods every day, to try and get out of the house,” said Méabh. “I started doing that thing that you do when you stare at something for too long and you start to see patterns. I …

Growing up in a twin community straddling two counties has helped a World Dance Championship entrant to take part in Rose of Tralee selection conventions in successive years. Tara Brady, Ballina, will participate in the Tipperary Rose selection in the Anner Hotel on March 24, a week before she will be competing in the World Dance Championships. Last year, Ms Brady (23) participated in the Clare Rose competition following encouragement from her uncle, Eddie O’Gorman, Killaloe. “It was a fabulous experience. I met so many intelligent, brilliant, funny girls. I would probably have never met them only for the Clare Rose because they all came from different backgrounds and age groups,” she said. “I am still in contact with some of those girls today. I would encourage any woman who is thinking about entering the Rose competition to go for it. “You learn a lot about yourself and it is a great confidence builder. The whole emphasis is on the …

Two motions about dog fouling, which were before the March meeting of the West Clare Municipal District (MD), gave rise to a good humoured debate amongst councillors. Councillor Liam Grant (GP)asked the council to address the serious dog fouling issues in Lahinch, requesting it to target several days to enforce dog fouling fines in an effort to stop the issue. The councillor said he wants to see something similar to the “slow down” days conducted by An Garda Síochána. He has also requested data on how many dog fouling fines have been issued by the local authority in Lahinch over the last three years. “In Lahinch, this came up as I was involved in a beach clean on the St Bridget’s Bank Holiday weekend, organised with a couple of different community groups…the amount of dog fouling – I think I counted 20 bags of poo myself,” he said. “There is a weird trend that is happening of people picking up …

A Killaloe Sailing Club member is on the crest of a wave preparing for the second time to become the first Irish person to complete an around-the-world race known as the “Voyage for Madmen”. Pat Lawless now has a driving desire more than ever to try and win the 2026 Golden Globe Race, after he had to retire from the 2022 race when his self-steering failed 1,200 nautical miles west of Cape Town. With a heavy heart, after repairs he sailed Green Rebel back home to Ireland. Without a self-steering system, he was unable to achieve his dream. He could have made repairs and continued the voyage under Chichester Class as a one-stop circumnavigation, but decided to retire. “I felt terrible shame because of all the support I received. You learn from shame because you don’t want to feel it again. I was heartbroken, I was trying to fix it. When I got into Cape Town everyone was so nice …