Lifestyle

A CLARE teenager is on her way to the most famous dog show in the world after winning the All-Ireland junior handing title Newmarket’s Aoife Garry recently won the Irish final at Navan Racecourse and as a result the 17-year-old will represent Ireland at Crufts in the UK in March. She will also compete at the European Dog Show in Denmark in May, and at the World Dog Show in Switzerland in August. Explaining Junior Handling, her mother Joan said, “It’s on the child’s handling, not the actual dog. During the year you have a lot of competitions and you have to qualify. There might have been about 40 kids in total during the year and 16 qualify. Marina White, one of the Crufts presenters, and a high profile personality in the world of dog shows came over from England to judge the Irish event, which Aoife won. The final was held at Navan Racecourse, with judging taking about three …

FIVE Clare hurlers will be looking to show they have what it takes as the latest series of popular TG4 show Underdogs comes to the boil. Next Saturday, the Underdogs take on the winners of the 2022 Allianz National Hurling League, Waterford live on TG4. This week, Cian O’Rourke, Wolfe Tones Na Sionna, Cillian O Fionngusha, Clonlara, Dan Cunnane, Ogonnelloe, Evan McMahon, Feakle and Tommy Barry, Kilmaley will be pressing for starting spots for the big game which takes place under lights at SETU Arena, Waterford This will be the debut game for returning Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald, as he takes charge of the Deise for the second time. The excitement in Waterford will be palpable as everyone asks the question – Will the return of Davy Fitz spell defeat for all-star management team John Allen, Claire O’Connor and Jamie Wall? The Underdogs is a unique group of hurlers, assembled from different clubs all across the country – the only …

THE Burren Food Fayre will take place as part of this year’s Winterage Festival, as producers and chefs come together to showcase the food of the area at one of the region’s most iconic farming events. This year’s event will be held in a marquee on a farm at the start of the Cattle Drive near Lough Bunny on Sunday, October 30. It will include, tastings, cooking demos, storytelling and music with plenty of opportunities for people to meet sample and purchase the products before and after the cattle drive is complete.   The Burren Winterage Festival, which is organised by Burren Beo, celebrates the ancient custom of out-wintering cattle on the upland areas of the Burren. It has developed into a five-day festival, which begins on Wednesday, October 26, features a range of farming, heritage, cultural and family events, concluding the following Sunday. “We are delighted to be hosting this year’s event at the Winterage Festival,” said Jarlath O’Dwyer, …

THE OLD traditions of Samhain with some fun modern twists will be celebrated this Halloween at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Time travelling twists, creepy crypts and pagan roots are all part of Bunratty’s plans during a special Halloween festival to mark the traditional Irish Samhain. This Halloween midterm, Bunratty Castle & Folk Park is inviting visitors to come and experience Samhain from October 29 to November 2. Bunratty Castle and Folk Park Events Manager Marie Brennan outlined a flavour of what to expect during the mid-term festivities. “Halloween is always an exciting time for us here at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, with lots of activities for all the family to enjoy, from the Creepy Crypt, and “Head Will Roll and Thriller” mini disco to the Halloween Spook Train ride, and our Fearsome Fairy Village where unpleasant creatures abide.” In fact the team has been busy getting ready for some weeks and has enlisted the help of local school …

IT seems you can’t move in Clare for American TV crews with yet another travel show filming in the county recently. Following on from earlier high profile Samatha Brown and Michael Londra visits, a crew from the NBC TV network in the United States has been filming in the Banner county recently. They were filming here for four separate TV shows which will be seen by millions of people, or potential American holidaymakers for Ireland, later this year and during 2023. Tourism Ireland invited the NBC crew to come and film here for the Today show (news and talk morning show), 1st Look (weekly travel and lifestyle show which reaches around 1.2 million viewers), Open House (architecture, design and real estate show which reaches over 1.5 million viewers) and NBCLX (a local news network). Their busy schedule was designed by Fáilte Ireland and with more good news about transatlantic services for Clare this week, it is expected to lead to …

HAVING spent years pampering pooches, Ennis dog groomer and trainer Deirdre Ryan will this week be getting some style tips of her own when she appears on national television. Deirdre, who runs D.R. Dogcare, will be treated to a makeover on the popular RTÉ daytime entertainment show Today this Friday. She tells us she is looking forward to her new look, which she is planning on showcasing at the upcoming launch of her new book and online dog training course. Explaining how her appearance on the show came about she says, “I saw a Facebook post asking for applications for their popular makeover segment. I am approaching 20 years in business and will have a celebration in December to mark it. “I know I’ll have no time to get an outfit or make much of an effort so I thought, why not?  Getting professional advice on hair, makeup and styling is something I have never experienced. “I am used to …

WITH the Saturday morning Parkruns at Illaunmanagh now having been going on for six months, the organisers are looking to get more local people taking part.  “It is going well, but we would still like to have more people. We would normally have around 25-30 people each week and we’re hoping to get more because Shannon is a big town and this is quite close to the Town Centre,” said Rob Stephen, who has been involved in staging the runs since the outset. “The Clare Sports Partnership are doing one of these couch to 5k things at the moment and at the end of that, in November, they’re aiming to join us then to do the 5k parkrun at the end of it. “There are about 40 people doing that, so hopefully once that’s done some of those people might be encouraged to participate.” He feels it’s important that people aren’t put off by the name, and they should know …

FORMER Irish Rugby international Rosie Foley has dived into an elite group of about 279 people who have achieved the gruelling Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. The 49-year-old Killaloe native recently followed in the footsteps of her mentor, Fionnuala Walsh, by completing the 32.3 km swim across the Catalina Channel between Santa Catalina Island and the Southern California mainland in the United States. In July 2014, Rosie completed the 33.5 km swim across the English Channel between England and France and the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a 45.9 km circumnavigation around Manhattan Island last June. She has also become just the second Irish woman to finish a marathon swimming challenge consisting of three historically important swims around the world. The mother-of-three undertook the charity challenge in memory of her brother, the late Munster and Irish rugby legend Anthony Foley, who died on October 16, 2016. All proceeds will go to the Mid-Western Cancer Foundation, children’s charity CARI and CRY, …