Wednesday 29 June 2011

Killaloe Library Language Exchange for over 18s

Would you like to learn English / Foreign Language on a one-to-one basis? What is a Language Exchange? Well, the best way to explain it is through an example. Pedro is from Spain and has recently moved to Killaloe. His English is a bit patchy and he would like to improve it. John is Irish and he is learning Spanish, but he never has the opportunity to listen and speak to native Spanish speakers. Now, John and Pedro could help each other out. For example they can meet up once a week and have a conversation exchange, and speak half an hour in English and half an hour in Spanish. There is no cost or homework involved and you learn the language in a social environment. Furthermore, you are more likely to learn other things about a culture that you do not usually learn in a formal language class. You practice your second language by meeting up with native speakers living nearby. Venue: Killaloe Public Library. Free of charge! If interested please ring the library at 061 376062.

Friday 24 June 2011

Whitegate Horse and Pony Races 2011



"Whitegate Races are back after 30 years, County Clare Ireland." Posted on Youtube on the 4th of May 2011 by aveire.

Waltz and Plain Set, Kilfenora Ceili Band, Clare Fleadh



"At an open air ceili in the Square in Kilfenora, Co Clare, the Kilfenora Ceili Band play waltzes and a Plain Set at the end of the Clare Fleadh." Posted on Youtube on the 20th of June 2011 by SetDancingNews.

Kirsten Allstaff, Dáire Mulhaern & Dave Shapiro trad music session Liscannor



Posted on Youtube on the 7th of June 2011 by LiscannorSessions.

"Miss Burren, County Clare", by Frankie Lane



Frankie Lane (Vocals/guitar/Dobro), Garry O'Briain (Bass) & Alan Glynn (Drums). Posted on Youtube on the 29th of March 2011 by sliotharball.

The Burren Connect: Agriculture & Land Use



Posted on Youtube on the 15th of June 2011 by OneproductionsDublin.

Eddie Lenihan, Storyteller - Crusheen Community Centre



"Irish story teller Eddie Lenihan enthralls his local audience in Crusheen with his magical mystical musings about this world and the other world." Posted on Youtube on the 9th of June 2011 by Keithsquel.

Kildysart Drama. Anyone can rob a bank.



"Kildysart Drama. Anyone can rob a Bank. Final Scene." Posted on Youtube on the 3rd of April 2011 by wayfarer4591.

Fleadh Nua, Ennis, 2011: Gene Moynihan, Killian Shannon, Jack Kirwan and Ultan O'Brien



"The trad part of G'N'T Gene Moynihan (guitar), Killian Shannon (banjo), Jack Kirwan (Cajun drum) and Ultan O'Brien (fiddle) playing in Ennis during Fleadh Nua 2011." Posted on Youtube on the 30th of May 2011 by gnt9293.

Noel Hill plays The Wind that Shakes the Barley & The Trip to Durrow



"Concertina Music From Noel Hill". Posted on Youtube on the 8th of February 2008 by clarebannerman.

Eco Tourism: Loop Head Sustainable Tourism



Eco Eye Series 9 Episode 1, Part 3
"Eco Tourism: Loop Head Sustainable Tourism. Loop Head, winner of the Ireland EDEN Award for sustainable Tourism has managed to successfully develop its tourism industry while respecting the sensitivities of the local environment." Posted on Youtube on the 13th of April 2011 by ChangeIreland.

Dolphins at play - Shannon Estuary, Ireland



"June 2011. A pod of dolphins ride the bow wave of Draiocht, a dolphin and coastal tour boat operating out of Carrigaholt, Co. Clare, Ireland." Posted on Youtube on the 12th of June 2011 by Patricu.

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Clare County Library launches its annual Children’s Summer Reading Challenge

Summer Reading Chellenge










All libraries in County Clare are getting ready to introduce children to a summertime circus spectacle that will keep them reading throughout the school summer holidays....with the 2011 Summer Reading Challenge. And it’s all free fun, which is top news for children and their parents! Each year hundreds of children from all over the county undertake the challenge to read six or more books of their choice during the holidays with collectable incentives and rewards to motivate them on the way. Every child who completes the Challenge will be invited to a certificate presentation in the Autumn. Children can sign up at their local library as the last school term draws to a close. All materials will be available from July 1st onwards. The 2011 Summer Reading Challenge has a circus theme. Called Circus Stars, there are three important stages: Practice, Rehearsal and Show Time! with stickers and other incentives to reward achievement given out at each stage. Make sure to check out the interactive Circus Stars (www.circus-stars.org.uk) website linking children with top authors and illustrators while giving them space to talk about their favourite books and to share reading ideas.

Summer Reading Chellenge

G-Team challenge at Sixmilebridge Library

G-Team challenge at Sixmilebridge LibraryDo you have the ‘cúpla focal’? Would you like to do your part to help Sixmilebridge win the G-Team challenge? Sixmilebridge has beaten off tough competition to be short listed for “An G Team”, a TV series where non-Gaeltacht communities can compete against each other for the opportunity to call themselves ‘The G Team’ winners 2011 and win a €40,000 Foras na Gaeilge prize to use in promoting the local area. During the week of Tuesday 28th June to Friday 1st July, Kilfinaghty Public Library, Sixmilebridge, will hold a competition for children to find the keenest young Irish speakers in the village. Children are simply asked to use their ‘cúpla focal’ when they visit the library during this week. There will be two categories: Junior (age 6-9) and Senior (age 9-12). There will be prizes of t-shirts and books for the young people who best display an enthusiastic use of the Irish language during that week. For more information contact Catherine in the library on 061-369678.

Thursday 16 June 2011

PJ and Martin Hayes, Eamonn and Geraldine Cotter, 1982



"PJ and Martin Hayes, from Tulla, Co. Clare on fiddles, Eamonn Cotter on flute, and his sister Geraldine Cotter, from Kilmaley, Co. Clare on piano. The Shores of Lough Graney (aka Drag Her Round the Road), The Kerry Reel, and The Dairy Maid." Posted on Youtube on the 8th of May 2011 by GravelWalks.

Marla Fibish plays ‘The Parting’ by Cyril O'Donoghue



Marla Fibish plays The Parting (written by Cyril O'Donoghue from Shannon, County Clare) in a parking garage in Berkeley California, USA. Posted on Youtube on the 7th of March 2011 by bayareamandolinmusic.

Ríl Mór Baile an Chalaidh - The Big Reel of Ballynacally



"Pictures - Of Around Ballynacally." 'Fiddle4u' playing The Big Reel of Ballynacally. Posted on Youtube on 25ht of February 2011 by fiddle4u.

Lahinch Surf School on RTE's "Martins mad about fish"



Posted on Youtube on the 13th of June 2011 by lahinchsurfschool.

Samuel Johnson Shortlist 2011

Mao's Great FamineThe shortlist for the 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction has been announced. The titles on the shortlist are:
Bismarck: A Life by Jonathan Steinberg - the astonishing story of the political genius and deeply flawed man who created Germany, but never ruled it;
Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikötter - a shocking and eye-opening account of China that ensures that no one will ever be able to think of Mao Zedong’s rule in the same way again;
The Rational Optimist: how prosperity evolves by Matt Ridley - a refreshing and incisive counter-blast to the doom-mongers, pessimists and fusspots who predict that conditions for humans are getting worse;
Caravaggio: a life sacred and profane by Andrew Graham Dixon - a compellingly vivid portrait of the dark and dangerous streets of Milan and Rome, frequented by an artist of violent tastes, whose paintings transformed art;
Reprobates: The Cavaliers of the English Civil War by John Stubbs - a swaggering account of the hedonistic and dandyish Cavaliers of King Charles’ court;
Liberty's Exiles by Maya Jasanoff - a global history of the loyalist diaspora, the American losers in the Revolutionary War, whose dispersal and effect on the wider world was profound and enduring.

The surprising omission from this year’s shortlist is Edmund de Waal's much-heralded and bestselling family history, The Hare with Amber Eyes. The winner of the £20,000 prize will be announced on 6 July. Last year’s winner was Nothing to Envy, a journalistic investigation into the real lives of North Koreans in the 21st century by Barbara Demick.

Lough Derg, County Clare - Light On Water



"Lough Derg, County Clare Ireland. Time lapse photography of reflections of sunlight on water. Photography by Susan Morrall." Posted on Youtube on the 11th of May 2008 by Keogh1.

Dolphin - Doolin, Ireland



"A dolphin was swimming near the Doolin Pier during our holiday in Ireland, 2011." Posted on Youtube on the 11th of June 2011 by prissesje.

2011 Impac Award

Let the Great World SpinLet the Great World Spin by Irish author Colum McCann, has won the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Award is organized by Dublin City Libraries, on behalf of Dublin City Council and sponsored by IMPAC, an international management productivity company. The prize of €100,000 is the largest prize for a single novel published in English. Uniquely, the IMPAC Dublin receives its nominations from public libraries around the globe. Let the Great World Spin has beaten off competition from 161 other titles, nominated by 166 public libraries from 43 countries. McCann’s book was the most popular choice of libraries worldwide. It received 14 nominations from libraries in Ireland, Germany, Greece, Norway, the USA and Canada. The Lord Mayor of Dublin and Patron of the Award, Gerry Breen said "It is wonderful and fitting to have a Dublin winner in the year that Dublin was awarded UNESCO City of Literature designation, a designation in perpetuity". McCann is the second Irish author to win the prize. It was awarded to Colm Toibín in 2006 for The Master. The judges said "In the opening pages of Let The Great World Spin, the people of New York City stand breathless and overwhelmed as a great artist dazzles them in a realm that seemed impossible until that moment; Colum McCann does the same thing in this novel, leaving the reader just as stunned as the New Yorkers, just as moved and just as grateful".

Spanish Point , County Clare, August 2010



"Spanish Point (Irish: Rinn na Spáinneach) is a village in the parish of Miltown Malbay in County Clare, Ireland, situated on the west coast of Ireland. The town is home to many holiday homes, and during the winter has a significantly smaller population. It is also one of the better surf breaks in County Clare. The name refers to the wrecking of some ships of the Spanish Armada off the coast. On the coast, 2.5 km from Miltown Malbay, Spanish Point was named after the unfortunate Spanish who died here in 1588, when many ships of the Spanish Armada were wrecked during stormy weather. Those who escaped from their sinking ships and made it safely to land were executed by Sir Turlough O'Brien of Liscannor and Boethius Clancy, High Sheriff of County Clare. The village is also the birthplace of a former President of Ireland, Dr Patrick Hillery." Posted on Youtube on the 12th of August 2010 by sliotharball.

Poulnabrone Dolmen, Co. Clare



"Poulnabrone Dolmen, Co. Clare. Ireland 29.05.2010. The natural limestone karst landscape (an area of irregular limestone in which erosion has produced fissures, sinkholes, underground streams, and caverns) is very uneven and was a bit tricky to walk upon whilst filming, hence a few wobbles. The music from the YouTube library is: The Rolling Waves/The Market Town/Scatter The Mud by Kevin Burke and Mícheál O'Domhnaill, from the album Portland." Posted on Youtube on the 4th of June 2011 by PRAK14.

The Burren Co. Clare



Posted on Youtube on the 1st of June 2011 by tomskimc.

Lisdoonvarna Matchmaker's Motto: 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish'



"Every year the Irish village of Lisdoonvarna (pop. 822) is stormed by 40,000 men and women in search of one thing: the perfect match." Posted on Youtube on the 3rd of June 2011 by TheVJMovement.

Monday 13 June 2011

Iniscealtra Festival of Arts & Scariff Public Library

Iniscealtra Arts Festival & Scariff Public LibraryScariff library welcomed pupils from local national schools to view the exhibition on show in the library exhibition space during the recent Iniscealtra Festival of Arts. On loan from the University of Limerick’s national self portrait collection of Ireland, this selection from over 400 works included portraits by some of Ireland’s most prestigious fine artists including Louis Le Brocquy, John Shinnors, Michael Mulcahy, Dorothy Cross and Hughie O'Donoghue. The exhibition was organised by the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts committee. The portrait exhibition formed the basis of the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts national school programme which ran from May 23rd-27th, where local national schools from the area were invited to discuss the work on show with practising artists and take part in an intergenerational art project with older members of the community at Raheen hospital day care centre. The resultant artwork was on display during the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts in Mountshannon and at Scariff library.

Scariff Library Poetry Group Exhibition












Scariff Library Poetry Group contributed to the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts this year with its own exhibition “Colourful Voice”. The poetry project was designed to compliment the festival’s overall “Voice" theme. The exhibition itself which was displayed in the Derg Art Gallery Mountshannon, was a visual and textual display of poetry reflecting the spectrum of emotions evoked by a colour stimulus. Each poem had accompanying explanatory notes. The exhibition was designed and coordinated by Aileen McDonagh who set up the Scariff Poetry Group over 2 years ago and has been growing in numbers ever since.