Local Notes: Great student turnout for Claremorris tree-planting
Students from Mount St Michael Secondary School in Claremorris are pictured at the annual tree-planting event organised by Claremorris and District Lions Club, from left: Melissa_Walsh (Lions Club President), Sophie O'Boyle, Fiona Ryan, Ava Hession, Alana Kelly, Lucy Lannon.
A total of 52 students turned up at Clare Lake last week for the annual tree-planting event, hosted by Claremorris and District Lions Club.
“It was a fantastic turnout,” Lions president, Melissa Walsh, told the . “The students can feel proud of their efforts. They planted hundreds of trees on behalf of the community – trees that were sponsored by the public as part of our annual Tree Appeal, which we do in conjunction with National Tree Week.”
The trees were donated by Kevin Heneghan of Heneghan Forestry Services in Claremorris and were planted in community space in the town.
“The Heneghans have been very good to us,” Melissa said. “The tradition was started by Kevin’s father, Seán, and we are delighted to see it continued across another generation.”
The students who planted the trees are pupils of Mount St Michael Secondary School and St Colman’s College. They attended with staff members, Maureen Commins (Mount St Michael) and Bronagh McLoughney (St Colman’s). The trees were offered for sale online, and in person, and buyers had the choice of planting the tree themselves or having it planted by the students on their behalf.
“We started the initiative during Covid,” Melissa said. “At that time, we couldn’t sell face-to-face, but we needed to raise funds, so we moved the offering online, and when restrictions allowed, we had the trees planted by the students in accordance with the guidelines of the time.
"We were delighted when the students became involved. It opened up the fundraising aspect of the event to a much wider audience and it also brought young people from both schools in contact with the Lions Club and the whole process and spirit of volunteering. The conduct of the students in the process has been exemplary.”
The Lions Club is part of a worldwide organisation dedicated to serving the local community. The club raises funds through various means and distributes all of the money raised to local front-line charities like the Red Cross, The Federation of Victim Assistance, the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Dance Memory Club, and others.
“The Lions meet once a month in the Dalton Inn Hotel and new members are most welcome,” Melissa said. “We meet on the first Wednesday night of the month at 8.30pm and we’d love to see some new faces.”
Claremorris man Eamonn Keaveney has begun a 5,500-kilometre barefoot journey in aid of Jigsaw and Friends of the Earth.
Eamonn is walking barefoot from Istanbul to Claremorris, travelling across ten countries in a journey that surpasses the current record for the longest barefoot journey by over 2,000 km. Eamonn will be carrying all his gear on his back and camping along the way.
Eamonn is an experienced barefoot walker. In 2016, he completed the world’s longest barefoot journey (2,080 km) and followed it up two years, later by climbing Ireland’s ten highest peaks barefoot, in ten days. He also set the record for the fastest time to travel from Mizen Head to Malin Head, a total journey of 613km (308 miles) in just over five days, barefoot by unicycle, in 2023.
Eamonn has raised over €40,000 for charities since the start of his challenges.
The weekend everyone has been waiting for, has finally arrived. This Saturday, March 15th, the Mayo Gaels Movie Awards Night takes place in the McWilliam Park Hotel.
The gala 'Oscars' event is a fundraiser to develop an all-weather pitch, in cooperation with Mayo Abbey NS, on the grounds of the national school, and is part of the Gaels’ 50th anniversary celebrations.
Six movies have been made throughout Mayo Abbey, Facefield and Ballyglass and they will be presented at the event. The films made in the area for the fundraiser are local versions of ‘Rocky’, ‘Braveheart’ and ‘The Field,’ as well as classic Irish comedies, ‘Waking Ned Devine,’ ‘Killinaskully’ and ‘Father Ted’. On Saturday night, awards will be announced and presented to the talented cast and crew of the films.
Claremorris Community Sports and Recreational Centre presents its inaugural ‘Hooley in the Hall’ to round off the St Patrick’s Day Parade celebrations in Claremorris.
This is a traditional music and dance event, which the organisers say will be full of ‘Ceol agus Craic,’ and takes place next Sunday evening, March 16th, in the town hall.
The concert will conclude a special St Patrick’s Day series of activities, with what promises to be a great night’s entertainment.
The event starts at 8.30pm, following the nearby fireworks display, and the line-up of local performers includes Chloe Feeney Music, the Music Generation Mayo Harpists, Gráinne Hambly and William Jackson, and the Gilligan’s Bar Trad group. Sean-nós dancing will also feature on the programme.
Compere for the evening is Colman O’Raghallaigh.
“This event will perfectly round off a great weekend of activities,” Jarlath Sweeney, Committee Co-Chairperson said. “This follows the parade and fireworks and leads into the convoy of St Colman’s supporters heading to Croke Park the next day for the All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Football Final.
"We are grateful for the participation of the local traditional music talent that will be performing on stage, and it’s the next phase of our ongoing fundraising efforts, to establish the new Community Sports and Recreational Centre for the town and surrounding areas.”
Tickets are on sale for the event and are available online at www.townhall.ie or the town hall box office.
The cost is €15 (plus booking fee). There will be a full bar service on the night.
Bríd Nally won the Claremorris GAA 50/50 jackpot last week. Bríd’s online ticket won €910 in the draw.
Excitement is building in Claremorris and especially in Mount St Michael as the girls’ senior team prepares for the B All-Ireland semi-final on this Thursday, March 13th.
St Joseph’s from Spanish Point in Co Clare will provide the opposition.
After being crowned Connacht champions in December, the girls have shown incredible dedication and commitment in preparation for the next stage. The semi-final will be played in Duggan Park, Ballinasloe, at 2.00pm. Match tickets are available from www.universe.com.
All support for the team will be greatly appreciated, and they are wished good luck in the match.
Davitts GAA and LGFA will hold a social and awards night in Bourke’s of Irishtown on Saturday week, March 22nd, at 8:30pm. The event will feature Men’s and Ladies' player awards, medal presentations and club awards.
Music for the event will be provided by Diesel.
A new term of adult swimming lessons starts tomorrow, Wednesday, March 12th, at Claremorris Leisure Centre. There will be classes for both beginners and improvers.
The lessons will be delivered on Wednesdays at 9am or 7:15pm. The fee for the eight-week course is €100 for non-members and €80 for members.
The Leisure Centre is taking bookings on 094-9371313 or by calling in to the centre.
A six-week beginners course in International Sign Language will take place in Cúram Family Centre, starting on next Tuesday, March 18th. Class is from 7 to 8pm and the cost is €60. Booking is essential, please call 094-9362096 to book your place.
The next block of art classes is to due start today, Tuesday, March 11th, from 4 to 6pm and 7 to 9pm. Classes will run for six weeks. Contact Sean on 085-2320402 for more information and to book a place.
Yoga and Chair Yoga classes will start on Monday, March 24th.
Contact Cúram on 094-9362096 to check for more information and availability.
There are two weeks left in the Breathwork and Meditation Classes, which are taking place in Cúram Family Centre. They are on March 24th and April 7th from 8 to 9pm.
Contact Brendan for booking and further information on 087-9863440.
Householders have an opportunity to recycle any waste electrical items, batteries or energy saving lightbulbs for free today, Tuesday, March 11th, from 10am to 4pm at Davitts GAA grounds, Ballindine.
Any household items with a plug, a lead, or a battery that is at the end of its useful life can be recycled. This includes both large and small household items.
Recycling e-waste is beneficial for the environment and the economy. By recycling e-waste, it is diverted from landfill and it recovers raw materials for re-use. It also ensures that hazardous materials in these items are safely and responsibly disposed of.
Congratulations to Mount St Michael cross country runners, Olivia Duffy and Ellen Trench, who finished in the top 10 in their age categories and have now qualified for the All-Ireland Finals.
Well done ladies.
Garrymore GAA Club celebrated National Women in Sport Week by recognising and appreciating the incredible women who make Garrymore GAA the club it is today.
The club said that while they may not have a ladies’ team at present, the club simply wouldn’t survive without the dedication, hard work and passion of the women involved at every level.
The contribution of the Garrymore women is invaluable in roles such as administration, fundraising, organising events, Foróige, coaching, food and hospitality and supporting the teams.
Garrymore started a ladies’ team in 1998, but due to lack of numbers, it didn’t survive. The team did manage to get to a junior final, losing out to Crossmolina.
In February 2024, Garrymore formed a Rounders team. It’s a mixed team made up mainly of ladies and the team would not have been possible without the commitment of them all.
Four women are involved in the current committee. Mary Lydon is the vice-chairperson and secretary, Elaine Gildea is the treasurer, Sharon Corcoran is PRO and Laura Commins is the vice-secretary.
Claremorris Family Resource Centre is offering computer training for farmers. Enrolment is now open for the online AgFood.ie training.
The course includes introduction to online safety and purchasing online, setting up and using a valid, current email address, details of what's available on AgFood.ie, registration of agfood.ie, how to log into AgFood, navigating around the online system, viewing herd profiles and calf births, CMMS compliance (movement of animals from one herd to another), notifying farm movements in your herd profile and creating an animal drug record book and viewing financial payments online through AgFood.
The course duration is five weeks, with each session lasting two hours. The cost is €50. For more information, contact the Family Resource Centre by telephone on 094-9377838 or call in to the office at Mount Street, F12 H2C2.
Keeva Byrne was the winner of last week’s Claremorris soccer club 50/50 jackpot. Keeva won €566 on a ticket bought in Warde’s.
There is a great splash of colour to the town of Claremorris these days. The usual green, white and gold associated with St Patrick’s Day is well matched by the red and white flags and signs supporting St Colman’s College.
The annual parade was switched from March 17th to 16th once the college team qualified for the All-Ireland Final so that fans could attend both. Joint team captains, Rio Mortimer and Darragh Beirne, expressed their gratitude to the public of the area for their support.
“People might not realise how much it means to us,” Darragh told the . “Everything helps, and on behalf of the team I want to thank all the people who have supported our fundraising campaign and for putting out flags. It really is tremendous support.”
It’s 1977 since St Colman’s won their only Hogan Cup. Colman’s was the first day-school outside of Dublin to capture the trophy. That team beat Carmelite College, Moate, by 1-11 to 1-10.
In 1981, the outcome between the same teams was reversed when yet again a single point decided it, Moate winning by 2-2 to 1-4.
On this Friday, March 14th, the Western Hotel will host a Quiz Night in support of the St Colman’s College team, at 8.30pm.
To enter a table of four costs €40 and the first prize is €400, which is sponsored by Niall Hanley. The quizmaster is Joe Reapy and there will be a raffle and spot prizes on the night.
The groups for the GAA Championship were drawn last week.
In the senior championship, Garrymore will face Ballina Stephenites, Ballyhaunis and Crossmolina in Group 1. Claremorris will face Ballaghadreen, Ballintubber and Charlestown in Group 3. Balla and Mayo Gaels have been drawn in Group 4 with Westport and Knockmore.
In the intermediate championship, Davitts will face Kiltane, Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin and Islandeady in Group 3 while in Group 4, Hollymount/Carramore have been drawn with Moy Davitts, Louisburgh and, Kilmaine.
Eastern Gaels have been drawn in Group 3 of the Junior championship where they will meet Swinford, Achill and Shrule-Glencorrib.
The death has occurred of Susan Prendergast (nee Whelan), of Ard Clar, Claremorris.
Susan died suddenly at her home and was predeceased by her husband Francis.
She will be sadly missed by her sons Greg, David and Paul, daughters-in-law Catherine, Pattie and Michelle, eight grandchildren, Paul’s partner Hayley, and her sisters Therasa and May.
Susan was laid to rest in St Colman’s Cemetery after Requiem Mass in Claremorris Church.
