CLARE ROOTS SPREAD FAR AND WIDE... FROM CO CLARE TO CLARE VALLEY...

Courtesy of the Irish Times, 13 May 2017.. 

Thanks to Eric Shaw of Clare Roots Society

To make this easier to read, I have copied it in three sections.

EDWARD GLEESON, 

'King of Clare' 

and master of Australian wine.

Edward Gleeson... 

born near Six-Mile-Bridge in 1803.

...sailed from Calcutta on the Emerald Isle 1838

Died in 1870, buried in the cemetery of the Anglican Church, 

for which he laid the foundation stone in 1851.

CO. CLARE: IRELAND'S WEST COAST GEM

Those of us who know of Clare would have no problem agreeing with the title of this article, whether or not we have visited or lived there...

 I would love to hear your comments and thoughts... 

What, to you, is the  stand out 'must visit' part of Clare and why?

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N.B. Apologies to those who have tried to post comments... there seems to be a problem with this at the moment. I have reported it. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me by email as per the address in the About Me left hand column and I will post your comments on your behalf.

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 From here to Co. Clare: Ireland's west coast gem 

Ireland's beauty stretches far and wide, from the rugged pulchritude of Connemara to the verdant hills of Kerry to the seaside splendor of Wexford. Even the urban grit of Dublin boasts innumerable specimens of gorgeous art and architecture.

But nestled quietly midway on Eire's west coast is a county  that still features the picture post-card prettiness that is often attached to many Americans' idealization of the land: Clare.

If you're looking to encounter ancient ruins, sea-swept coasts, traditional music, thatched cottages and plenty of sheep blocking narrow roads, Clare may be the best destination for you. Although you can find most of those features in many parts of Ireland, Clare is a great home base for exploring the entire west coast area. It's only an hour from Galway City and less than that to Co. Kerry. 

It also showcases such natural wonders as the Cliffs of Moher and the rocky, almost lunar-like limestone terrain of the Burren. Its county seat, Ennis, is short drive from Shannon Airport.

While there are numerous reasons to visit this bucolic haven, below are five that make it exceptional.

Doolin – This tiny village, nestled along the coastline just up from the Cliffs of Moher, is a music and arts haven.  It's basically one road with three famous pubs: Gus O'Connor's, McDermott's, and McGann's. All three pull a fine pint and feature traditional music many nights of the week. 

  Ancient portal tomb Poulanbrone in Co. Clare is thought to be at least 3,000 years old. George Lenker  

Poulnabrone – There is something magical about this millennia-old dolmen (a rock-covered portal tomb) set out in the middle of nowhere on the craggy landscape of The Burren. Knowing you are looking at a burial chamber from at least 2900 B.C. where the remains of  22 adults and six children were buried should give anyone pause.   (More in article...)

         The ruins of Leamaneh Castle, located in the heart of Co. Clare George Lenker        

Ruins — Ireland's landscape is dotted with old, intriguing stone buildings in various states of disrepair, but Co. Clare has some of the more interesting ones. The more famous of these are Dysert O'Dea Castle and Corcromroe Abbey, but smaller interesting ruins sit just off main roadways. (More in article...)

Ennis – This bustling little burgh is the county seat of Clare and has much to offer in the way of pubs, arts and, of course, shopping. You can't beat Brogan's for a pint and a bite, as well as for some great tunes at night. The quieter Diamond Bar is about as friendly and quaint a place as you'll find in all of Ireland. Just walking its medieval cobblestone streets is a delight. If you go in May, there is also a wonderful traditional music festival.

http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/03/from_here_to_co_clare_irelands.html

NEWSPAPER EXTRACT Re EDWARD BYRNE SIXMILE BRIDGE

Transcription of the Belfast Newsletter 2 May 1823 by Mike
Ahern at Ireland Old News

A few days ago, at Six mile Bridge, County Clare, at the advanced age of
100 years, Mr. Edward Byrne, formerly an eminent Clothier ; he retained
his faculties to the last ; his wife still survives him, and she is in her
105th year, to whom he was married nearly 80 ; she possesses her
faculties, with the exception of sight.

 With thanks to Lyn Nunn.

COLIN MEANEY... filming in Clare

Thanks to Christina Hunt for sharing this...

" I just saw that "The Yank" with Colm Meaney, is being filmed in Clare and
Dublin. "The production is presently based in Miltown in Clare, with Meaney
acting out scenes in the Westbridge Bar, the Cliffs of Moher and many other
Clare landmarks. The Co Clare towns of Doolin and Quilty are also being used
for filming. "

http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4285324&tpl=archnews&force=1

MRS. BRIDGET KEANE, Connolly, 1907

DEATH OF MRS. KEANE, CONNOLLY

Clare Journal - Monday Evening, Feb. 11, 1907

Her many friends will hear with sincere regret of the death of one of the most respected citizens of the Connolly District, Mrs. Bridget Keane, Kilcolumb at the ripe old age of eighty one years.

The deceased was of a most kind and charitable disposition and sweet and cheerful temperament. Her life was a very edifying one and her peaceful death an illustration of the Scriptural Truth - "That as a man lives, so shall he die."

Last summer she had the pleasure of a prolonged visit from her son, Mr. Denis Keane, a worthy and popular citizen of New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A., in company with his newly-wed bride.

We tender him, Messrs. Ned and John Keane (sons), Kilcolumb, Mrs. J. Conlon and the various other members of the family our sincere sympathy. The funeral took place on Sunday and it was largely attended. She was interred by the side of her late husband, Michael Keane, in Kilmaley Churchyard, and beneath the magnificent monument erected there by filial affection of Mr. Denis Keane. The prayers at the graveside were said by Rev. W. Scanlan, C.C., Connolly.

The chief mourners were John, Edward and Denis Keane (sons), James Conlon and Michael Breen (sons-in-law), Michael Carney, John Keane, Ennis, Richard Keane, Doora, John Hehir, Denis Keane, Tom Clohessy.

The funeral arrangements were excellently carried out by Messrs. McInerney and Sons, Ennis.

CLARE CHATTER AUG 2012

EXCERPTS from TROVE

http://trove.nla.gov.au

Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954)

Wednesday 24 December 1919

SOME DAMAGE DONE. An attempt was made to derail a train at Corrofin, Co. Clare, Ireland, Stones were placed on the track, and the train collided with them. Some damage was done, but nobody was hurt.

Kilmore Free Press (Kilmore, Vic. : 1870 - 1954)

Thursday 4 December 1884

DEATH. KENNY--On the 30th Novemher, at her daughter's residence, Longwood, Mrs Jane Kenny, relict of the late Mr. James Kenny. formerly of Tomgrany, Co. Clare. Ireland. Aged 85 years. R.I.P.

The Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld. : 1874 - 1954) Tuesday 9 September 1890

DEATH.

CLANCY.—On the 30th August, at Charters

Towers, James Clancy, of O'Brien's Bridge, Co. Clare, Ireland, aged 37. [Melbourne and Sydney papers please copy.]

The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Wednesday 10 December 1919 OUTRAGE BY SINN FEINERS. A MAIL TRAIN WRECKED. LONDON, Monday. Sinn Feiners wrecked a mail train at Six-Mile-Bridge, near Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. They laid a huge pile of coping stones across the track, but for- tunately the train was not carrying any passengers, and no deaths resulted.

EVER DREAMED OF GOING TO CONEY ISLAND?

Well, these intrepid adventurers did and to Coney Island they went... oh, I forgot to mention, it's Coney Island, Co Clare...

Today Clare Roots made a second outing and transcribed the graves on Coney
Island and did a whistle stop tour of Deer Island where there were two
cholera graves. We were only able to read one of them but very clearly is
dated 1832.

The 2nd photo shows the one-teacher school on Coney Island.
It was a fantastic day out with weather and tidal conditions been perfect.

Courtesy of
Clara Hoyne
Clare Roots Society Secretary

N.B. read the information re Coney Island trip at the end of this email. These Clare Roots Society Members are doing a fantastic job for all of us interested in family history,

while also ensuring that the history of the area is not forgotten. It seems they are also having a lot of fun on the way...

As always, please click on the images to enlarge.

Coney Island graveyard

Saturday, May 12th, 2012, dawned bright and sunny. This was perfect weather for the planned outing to Coney Island in the Shannon Estuary by Clare Roots Society members who wished to transcribe the graves in the old churchyard there. Eight people departed from Crovraghan pier at 9 a.m. along with local man Fintan Ginnane in his boat "Saoirse". These included Mary Hester, Fiona de Buitleir, Liam Barry, Frank Barry, Clara Hoyne, Larry Brennan and Eric Shaw.

On arrival at the island, the group made their way though the old street of houses, abandoned since the last islanders left in the 1970s, and past the one-teacher school that had been built in 1937, up a long incline of about a mile to the ruined Church and began to map, photograph, transcribe the gravestones. They recorded and mapped all the gravestone inscriptions, about 12 in total. Apart from one ancient Bullaun Stone, the earliest date found on the stones was 1858.

The group then climbed to the highest point of the island to see the monument erected to the memory of Captain John Foster Fitzgerald, who was killed in a cavalry charge in the Punjab in 1848. The views included the spires of Ennis Cathedral and St. Flannan's College away to the east, Shannon Airport and the Kerry hills.

Fintan Ginnane had informed the group that there were two flagstones on Deer Island. The group moved across to this island, found the stones and captured one fine inscription of 1832. This proved the link with the grave being that of a cholera victim. The other stone was weathered and no inscription could be found. It was interesting to visit another of the Estuary's islands.

The group left the second island on a high tide and were back 'on the mainland' in time for lunch.

The gravestone recordings are being transcribed and will be presented to Clare Library to go online in accordance with CRS policy. Watch out for these transcriptions which will also be published on www.clarelibrary.ie

For more information, go to

http://www.clareroots.org/index.php/2011-06-29-19-06-17/2011-06-29-19-14-37/graveyards

SECRETS UNEARTHED IN CO CLARE

6,000 year old pre-farming settlement found in the Burren in County Clare

Archaeologists find oldest evidence of human habitation ever dicovered in region

By

KERRY O'SHEA,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Archaeologists working in The Burren region

Radiocarbon dating of an artifact found in the Burren in County Clare has redefined the time line of human inhabitance in Ireland. A shellfish cooker found in 2009 has been identified to be around 6,000 years old, predating the nearby Poulnabrone dolmen by hundreds of years.

The Irish Examiner reports that a midden, "a cooking area where nomad hunter-gatherers boiled or roasted shellfish," was discovered at Fanore Beach in Clare in 2009 by local woman Elaine O'Malley. Along with the midden were axes and smaller stone tools, artifacts of the Stone Age.

Also found at the site was "mysterious black layer of organic material" which researchers believe could have been from a tsunami that struck the Western coast of Ireland during the Stone Age, possibly wiping out the population of the area.

"This is the oldest settlement in Clare," said Michael Lynch, field monument adviser for Co Clare. "We have always thought hunter-gatherers existed in Clare but this is the first real evidence of that."

"We know that they were cooking and eating shellfish here," said Lynch of the pre-farming settlement discovered, "but we don't know yet exactly what method they were using to cook it. So hopefully that is one of the things we can uncover in the weeks ahead."

Read the conclusion here...

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/-6000-year-old-pre-farming-settlement--found-in-the-Burren-in-County-Clare---150918465.html

CLARE CHATTER.. Kindred Communities

Often when we travel, as well as enjoying the new, we look for the familiar... perhaps this is why so many Clare people like to visit the other Clare people... Clare Valley residents that is, from South Australia, who comprise quite a sizeable number of visitors to Co Clare, ireland.
This first story explains a little more about the Clare 'twins'... if you are among them, I would love to hear from you about your visit, whichever way it was to and from. Did you feel as if you were in familiar territory... was there something in particular that drew you to the other Clare? Or are you planning to visit?You can contact me by going to my full profile, and scrolling down to About Me, where you can find my email address.

The second article is of general interest... I couldn't resist including it, as I have a love of theatre as well. I wish the Sliabh Aughty Drama Group well in the All Ireland Finals on the 24th April.
Both articles appeared in The Clare People. You can subscribe online if you wish to follow it.

As always, please click on image to enlarge.

More to the story...

CLARE ROOTS SOCIETY MARCH TALK

From: Clara Hoyne

Clare Roots Society will host its next talk on Thursday 15 March 2012 at the Civic Rooms, Drumbiggle at 8 pm. The title of the talk is

"Researching the Irish in mid nineteenth-century New Zealand" and will be given by Dr Ciara Breathnach, Department of History, University of Limerick.

In 1870 the Irish Times wrote: 'It may surprise those who are interested in watching the course of the waves of emigration from this country to learn that in 1867 there were resident in New Zealand 27,955 Irishmen and Irishwomen, all apparently doing well and pursuing an industrious life'. Despite free passage for women, assisted migration schemes (with very generous terms and conditions), boundless opportunities and an established Irish community, New Zealand as a migrant destination did not manage to gain widespread popularity. This paper focuses on reasons why. Direct migration schemes were initiated in the 1870s but they failed to adequately recruit. The first ship contained Cork workhouse immigrants and this had a disastrous effect on the Irish reputation in Otago. Intrinsically linked to class and sectarian issues, Dr. Breathnach's research points to the various pitfalls associated with transnational and marginal histories, especially when dealing with Catholic and Irish poor.

Dr Breathnach holds a Lectureship at the Department of History, University of Limerick, where she is also Course Director for the MA (History of Family) since 2005. Dr. Breathnach is President of the Society for the Study of Nineteenth Century Ireland, and is Principal Investigator of a current IRCHSS award. Her publications include The Congested Districts Board of Ireland, 1891-1923, Poverty and Development in the West of Ireland (Four Courts Press, Dublin and Portland, 2005); Ciara Breathnach and Catherine Lawless (eds), Visual, material and print culture in nineteenth-century Ireland (Four Courts Press, Dublin and Portland, 2010); Ciara Breathnach (guest editor), Ireland: Church, State and society 1900-1975, The History of the Family: International Quarterly, Volume 13, Issue 4, 2008. Ciara Breathnach (ed.), Framing the West: images of rural Ireland 1890-1920 (Irish Academic Press, Dublin and Portland, 2007). Ciara Breathnach and Aoife Bhreatnach (eds.), Portraying Irish Travellers: histories and representations (Cambridge Scholars Press, Newcastle Upon Tyne, February 2007).

CLARE CHATTER Jan 2012

Courtesy Larry Brennan

Family Bible

The Clare Champion of the 17th November 1954 tells us the following story:

Two family bibles from Ireland, which are nearly 100 years old, were 

examined in the Practice Court, Melbourne, when deciding who should inherit 

an estate now valued at £34,600.

The estate was left by Mrs. Annabella Sharpe, Benalla, Victoria, when she 

died in 1919, without leaving a will. Ever since the authorities have been 

searching for her next-of-kin.

Mrs. Sharpe was born in Ireland in 1836 and went to Australia when she was 

27. After an investigation of claims to the estate from Ireland, the Curator 

of the estates of deceased persons found that Mr. Harry Payne Thompson of 

Killaloe, Co. Clare, was the first cousin of Mrs. Sharpe and her next of 

kin. A summons for the distribution of the estate was taken out by Mr. 

Thompson, and March 31st was fixed as the last day for the lodgment of 

claims. Before the date a claim was made on behalf of Mrs. Gertrude Julia 

Holiday, Ireland, who said that she was a cousin of Mrs. Sharpe.After 

investigation, a decision was made in favour of Mr. Thompson, and a 

certificate has now been issued to that effect. 

CLARE ROOTS SOCIETY CHATTER

Courtesy of Clara Hoyne..

'SAVE THE FORMER CHURCH OF IRELAND GRAVEYARD' KILRUSH

One more project for this week!! Paul O Brien who will speak to us this Thursday is looking for volunteers this Saturday morning, 21st January, 2012

Subject: 'Save the former Church of Ireland Graveyard'

From Paul: Hopefully, some members of the Clare Roots Society may be interested in the following project that the Kilrush Local History Group is currently undertaking. I attach some photographs of the graveyard. These photos illustrate the terrible condition of the graveyard.

 Most importantly we need VOLUNTEERS!

A tidy-up of the CoI graveyard, Kilrush is taking place next Sat morning 21 Jan. At 10am. 

Please bring some of the following: Gloves, wellies, black bags, clippers, securtares, watering can, soft brush and dry cloths. Camera is optional.

All  are welcome.

Kind Regards,

Paul O'Brien

(Kilrush Local History Group)

---

THEY WERE HERE

CLARE CHATTER

 Thank you to Clara Hoyne for bringing my attention to Abandoned Clare

A duty to document dereliction

An abandoned home from David Creedon's Ghosts of the Faithful Departed

Two recent Irish publications can be seen in the light of these renowned exemplars. Deirdre O'Mahony's Abandoned Clare (Abridged) and David Creedon's Ghosts of the Faithful Departed (Collins) both consider local instances of dereliction and decay.

Abandoned Clare,   which has a magazine format, comes under the umbrella of Abridged, an ambitious "art/poetry initiative" based in Derry and active since 2004, with some 23 projects notched up to date, with Gregory McCartney as project co-ordinator.

O'Mahony's photographic exploration of abandoned sites in Co Clare, together with a short introductory text, forms a compelling portrait of small-town and rural Ireland at a particularly testing time.

It is not an exercise in nostalgia, though there is inevitably an elegiac quality to some of the stories that emerge, such as that of Paddy Cahir from Rinnamona, whose repertoire of practical and craft skills was truly exceptional.

We see his stone-built workshop, inside and out, at Kilnaboy in images that concisely convey a wealth of information about a time, a way of life, an individual, a family and a community. Several unoccupied houses are depicted, in varying stages of dereliction. There are the remains of a co-operative mushroom farm at Tubber, and a lace-making factory, pre- and post-demolition, at Ennistymon. Abandoned schools indicate a dwindling population.

O'Mahony, an artist whose projects are generally site-specific, set out not to lament "a lost utopian past but to stimulate, provoke and provide evidence of other ways of doing things". Set against such symbols of economic decline as photographs of a closed travel agents and a ghost estate, this suggestion may seem a little perverse, but it is borne out by the work.

The photographs show a world in transition, as detailed by Vergara, referring to the historical layers underlying what we see now. They also confront us as questions about what might form, in O'Mahony's words, "a sustainable future for rural communities".

She first exhibited the photographs in X-PO in Kilnaboy last year, a venue she established in 2007 to cater for cultural and social activities and projects of several community groups . Abandoned Clare, she notes, elicited an extraordinary response from its local audience, so the project doesn't end with the publication but will continue. The original photographs and a related archive can be seen at X-PO.

Abandoned Clare by Deirdre O'Mahony, published by Abridged is available at X-PO, Kilnaboy and from deomahony@gmail.com and abridged@gmail.com

http://www.dnote.info/dnotes/deirdre-omahony-abandoned-clare/

http://www.deirdre-omahony.ie/artworks/2000s/list/60-abridged-0-20.html

 For a sympathetic and interesting review of Ghosts of the Faithful Departed, go to

http://thesilvervoice.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/book-review-ghosts-of-the-faithful-departed/

Johnny and Paddy Cahir's Workshop Interior, Kilnaboy Co Clare 2010