Thursday 29 October 2009

Crannógs in Early Ireland - Free History Taster Course

Craggaunowen, © Government of Ireland 2009










Ennis Regional Learning Centre in association with Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, is hosting a series of five free lectures, facilitated by Dr. Catherine Swift, in the Clare Museum building, Arthur's Row, Ennis. This series of lectures is intended as stand-alone sessions with the general title of "Crannógs in Early Ireland - The Peoples and Cultures behind Craggaunowen". Each session will deal with different cultures in Irish history but each will highlight features of the archaeological park at Craggaunowen in addition to making reference to monuments of similar eras in Clare and the surrounding region. In each of the five time periods to be discussed, there is some evidence for crannóg or crannóg-style habitations. The purpose of the lectures is to highlight the sheer variety of cultures associated with Irish crannógs and to underline the potential complexity of archaeological interpretation. The lectures will run as follows:
1. Stone Age Man & the introduction of farming in Ireland - Wed Nov 4th
2. Bronze Age warriors & their cooking habits - Wed Nov 11th
3. The "Celtic" peoples who lived in ringforts - Wed Nov 18th
4. Viking raiders and traders along the Shannon - Wed Nov 25th
5. Gaelic lordships of Clare - Wed Dec 2nd
Each lecture will take place from 7 - 9 p.m. on the dates indicated. Places must be booked in advance by contacting the centre at 065-6866844 or use the contact us form on the ERL centre website.

Historical Fiction gets recognition it deserves

Odinn's Child by Tim SeverinThe shortlist for the 2009 Booker Prize was dominated by historical fiction with Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall scooping the £50,000 prize. Indeed many of the books appearing on the bestseller lists these days are historical novels. Jerome de Groot, author of The Historical Novel, says that historical novels have finally been given the recognition they deserve. Writing in History Today, he says that "historical writing has achieved huge commercial and global success in an unprecedented way. Popular writers like Philippa Gregory, Ken Follett and Bernard Cornwell sell in their millions, but literary novelists such as Sarah Waters or Margaret Atwood also have large readerships. Historical fiction is written by a variety of authors, within a developing set of subgenres, for a range of audiences". There has been a marked rise in the number of novels being published in this genre over the last fifteen to twenty years. Historians have attributed this renewed popularity to a change in the writing of history, which has moved away from a history of "great men", monarchs and statesmen, to focus on a more emotional and intimate history of ordinary people and their everyday lives. This history writing "from below" has given a voice to women and poor people, for example, who were previously ignored and silenced. Antonia Senior, writing in The Times said "All of world history can be viewed through the prism of a handful of extraordinary fictional characters". Senior suggests that the starting point for any historical fiction tour must be with the novels of Mary Renault, whose Alexander trilogy follows the life and death of Alexander the Great in Ancient Greece. Robert Graves’s Cladius novels – I, Claudius and Claudius the God – are classic books covering the Roman period. More recent books on this era are Robert Harris’s Cicero trilogy, Harry Sidebottom’s Warrior of Rome series, and Simon Scarrow’s Eagle series which centres around two Roman soldiers, Cato and Macro. Bernard Cornwell, perhaps best known for his Sharpe series set during the Napoleonic wars, has recently published Azincourt, a novel closely based on the very exciting non-fiction work "Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle" by Juliet Barker. The recently published The Burning Land, also by Bernard Cornwell is the fifth book of The Saxon Stories which tell the tale of Uhtred, a Viking-reared warrior bound by oath to Alfred the Great in his quest to rid England of the Danes. Robert Low's recent Oathsworn trilogy charts the adventures of Orm and his band of Viking brothers, The Oathsworn, and deals with the lost treasure of Attila – as well as a journey to Constantinople, while Tim Severin’s Viking Series is about the young Viking adventurer Thorgils Leifsson, who travels from Iceland to Vinland (North America)and Ireland and also winds up in in Constantinople in the service of the Emperor (The Basileus) at a time of momentous change. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall - the Booker winner - is set in the England of the 1520s and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court. The early 19th century is expertly portrayed in Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and these novels act as a kind of counterpoint to the now largely neglected Hornblower series by C S Forester. As already mentioned, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series features the adventures of Richard Sharpe, an English soldier during the same period. The history journal History Today announced in its October issue that it would henceforth publish reviews of historical novels in recognition of the growing popularity of the genre. It also reported that several respected historians, among them Simon Sebag Montefiore, are writing fictionalised accounts of their subjects, and that major novelists are delving into the past to great effect. Lovers of historical fiction can expect to be well served in the future as the genre goes from strength to strength.

2010 “Book Club of the Year" competition

The Ennis Book Club Festival, in association with Clare County Library, has launched a competition to find the 2010 “Book Club of the Year.” Entry form and competition rules can be downloaded at http://www.ennisbookclubfestival.com/. Tell us, in less than 300 words, why your book club is special and be in with a chance to win the Ennis Book Club Festival “Book Club of the Year Award” and a weekend break in Ennis for your club. The prize includes two night’s accommodation for six people on 5th and 6th of March 2010 at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis, and six Weekend Tickets for admission to all events of the Festival. The 2010 festival programme will be available later in the year. A great line up is promised!

Mid-Shannon Tourism Investment Scheme – Project Advice Clinics

The Mid-Shannon Scheme provides tax relief on the construction or refurbishment of certain tourism facilities in the Mid-Shannon area which extends from O’Briensbridge in Co. Clare to Lough Ree, Co. Roscommon. The types of qualifying tourism facilities include:

education tourism facilities;
visitor attractions/centres;
cultural facilities;
wellness and self-development – amenities and facilities;
equestrian facilities;
facilities for water sports;
training facilities for adventure; activities and/or simulated facilities;
facilities for boat rental and inland cruising;
outdoor activity centres;
certain restaurants and cafés;
registered holiday camps

This is a unique opportunity for tourism enterprises in East Clare to utilise tax relief to help finance the construction or refurbishment of their facilities and also for passive investors who may wish to avail of the relief for offset against rental and other income. The deadline for applications is 31 May 2010. Clare County Council, in conjunction with Shannon Development, will shortly organise Project Advice Clinics, where potential applicants can avail of the opportunity to discuss their project ideas in confidence with a planning officer and a regional tourism executive. For further information on the Scheme, or to make an appointment to attend a Project Advice Clinic, contact Ruairi Deane, Tourism Product Development, Shannon Development (Tel. 061-710228, deaner@shannondevelopment.ie). Full details of the Scheme are available from www.ShannonDevelopment.ie.

Friday 23 October 2009

Digital Books - a selection from the Internet Archive

The Internet ArchiveThis new service offers a selection of Clare and Irish material from the Open-Access Text Archive of the Internet Archive, which contains over one million full-text scanned books in the public domain. The selection - of just over 500 titles - has been made using the Archive's own Open Library search features and includes books on the archaeology, art, history, language and literature of Clare and Ireland. The scanned books are presented in an intuitive, easily accessible format which seeks to replicate the actual experience of reading a book. You can 'turn' a page by clicking on it, and you can move to a new section of the book by clicking on its side. Each book is fully indexed also, and its contents are searchable by a search facility in a side panel to the right of the book. Many of these books are both scarce and valuable, and the whole Internet Archive project not only rescues long-forgotten books from oblivion but also makes it possible for instance to consult a 1904 edition of Dinneen's Irish Dictionary from the comfort of home, or enjoy the drawings of Clare-born artist William Mulready whose illustrations illuminated so many 19th Century publications. Click here for the Digital Books Service...

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Burrenbeo Trust Weekend

The Burrenbeo TrustOn Saturday the 31st October 2009 the Burrenbeo Trust presents "A Burren Miscellany" at Johnson’s Hall, Kinvara. Doors open at 8.30pm to start at 9pm. The Trust is hosting a celebration of the rich cultural history of the Burren through traditional song, story-telling and music. This special evening will feature uileann pipes player Eugene Lambe, poems from Josie Sullivan, songs from Tony Trundle and Paul Mulligan, and stories from Caoilte Breatnach and a very special guest. This entertainment is open to everyone, both members and non-members of the Trust. Entry is €10 per person. On the following day (1st November) at 2pm you can join the Burrenbeo Trust Monthly Walk, exploring turloughs with Dr James Moran. The Burrenbeo Trust is delighted to have Dr James Moran imparting his expertise on turloughs. James has recently started lecturing at Sligo IT but prior to that was working on the BurrenLIFE project advising farmers on various aspects of the science behind their land in the Burren. The walk will meet at Gortlecka Cross near to Mullaghmore where the NPWS signs are. It is advisable to wear wellington boots in case it is wet underfoot. Everyone is welcome. It is free for members of the Trust and a €5 charge for non-members. For more information please contact trust@burrenbeo.com or ring 087 9689486.

Monday 19 October 2009

Animal Magic Show at Scariff and Killaloe Libraries

Animal MagicEach year Science Week promotes the relevance of science, engineering and technology in our everyday lives. This year it runs from 8th – 15th November and the theme is “Science – Inspiring creativity and innovation.” As part of the promotion, the “Animal Magic” show takes place in Scariff Public Library on Monday 9th November at 9.45am and again at 11.15am. Later that day at 1.30pm the same show is performed at Killaloe Public Library. “Animal Magic” by Rosie Campbell unlocks the magic of Nature. It involves interaction with wildlife, allowing the children taking part to learn and experience nature in an inspirational, educational and fun way.

Friday 16 October 2009

Nobel Prize in Literature 2009

Herta MüllerHerta Müller has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel judges praised Müller as a writer "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed". Born in Romania in 1953, Müller refused to cooperate with Ceausescu's Securitate, lost her job as a teacher and was the subject of repeated threats until she emigrated in 1987. She returns constantly to the themes of oppression, exile and dictatorship in her novels and poems. She won the 1998 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for her novel The Land of Green Plums, of which she said, "I wrote this book in memory of my Romanian friends who were killed under the Ceausescu regime. I felt it was my duty". Worth 10m Swedish kronor (over 1 million euro), the Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to "the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction", as described in Alfred Nobel's will of 1895. Müller is the 12th woman in 108 years to win the award.

USA National Book Awards 2009

Let the Great World SpinIrish writer Colum McCann’s latest novel, Let the Great World Spin, has been shortlisted for the fiction prize in this year’s National Book Awards in the US. The Dubliner’s novel is one of five in the fiction category in the shortlist announced yesterday. The other shortlisted works of fiction are: American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin, Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips and Far North by Marcel Theroux. The Winner will receive $10,000 and a bronze statue. To be eligible for the 2009 National Book Award, a book must have been published in the United States between December 1, 2008 and November 30, 2009 and must have been written by a United States citizen. This year the Foundation will also celebrate its six-decade history of honoring great books by highlighting the 77 Fiction books that received the National Book Award from 1950 to 2008. The Best of the National Book Awards Fiction included a daily blog page on each one of the 77 Winning books in Fiction (www.nbafictionblog.org) and the opportunity for the public to vote online for their favorite National Book Award Winning Fiction book from a short-list that includes:
John Cheever The Stories of John Cheever (National Book Award, 1981)
Ralph Ellison Invisible Man (1953)
William Faulkner Collected Stories (1951)
Flannery O'Connor The Complete Stories (1972)
Thomas Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow (1974)
Eudora Welty The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (1983)

For more information about the Finalists as well as National Book Awards Week events, visit www.nationalbook.org

Winner of the 2009 Democracy and Dialogue viral video competition



Alan Early's "Noise To Get Heard" is the winner of the 2009 Democracy and Dialogue viral movie competition, which was organised by The European Commission Representation in Ireland and the Darklight Film Festival. "Noise To Get Heard" looks at the issue of gay rights and won on creative merit, treatment of the theme (democracy and dialogue) and also on the number of views. Click here for more info... See also Democracy and Dialogue Short Online Film Competition

Thursday 15 October 2009

1Mb Broadband Access Becomes Legal Right in Finland

From next July every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection, according to the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications. The Finnish government had already decided to make a 100 Mb broadband connection a legal right by the end of 2015. Yesterday, the Ministry announced the new goal as an intermediary step.
For more info see www.yle.fi and Cnet News.

Friday 9 October 2009

The Kitchen Sessions from Pakie Malley's Kitchen in Glendree, Tulla, Co. Clare. (Part 3)



The Kitchen Sessions is a series of Clare FM radio programmes broadcast live from homes in County Clare - as well as from the homes of Clare people abroad. The Kitchen Sessions is a Rag and Bone Production for Clare FM, supported by the BCI Sound & Vision Scheme and the Arts Office of Clare County Council.

Part 1; Part 2; Part 4; Part 5.

See also The Kitchen Session with Frank Custy from Toonagh Hall

Booker Prize Winner

Wolf HallHilary Mantel has been named the winner of the £50,000 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her historical novel Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall has been the bookmakers' favourite since the longlist was announced in July 2009. A.S. Byatt, J.M. Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer and Sarah Waters were all shortlisted for this year's prize. Wolf Hall is set in the 1520s and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court. Hilary Mantel has been praised by critics for writing “a rich, absorbingly readable historical novel; she has made a significant shift in the way any of her readers interested in English history will henceforward think about Thomas Cromwell.” Hilary Mantel spent five years writing Wolf Hall and she is currently working on a sequel. Over and above her prize of £50,000, she may expect a huge increase in sales and recognition worldwide. See www.themanbookerprize.com/

Great Irish Book Week

Great Irish Book WeekGreat Irish Book Week was launched on October 1st at the National Library. The Great Irish Book Week will take place from Saturday the 24th to Saturday the 31st October 2009 with the aim of "rekindling the nation's passion for books". The campaign will focus primarily on promoting Irish published books. Irish book publishers will collaborate with booksellers across the island of Ireland, to help attract more people to bookshops and encourage readers to support local authors and publishers. An independent panel of booksellers has selected 30 new fiction, poetry, Irish language and non-fiction books to showcase the best new Irish books. The list includes books by Joseph O’ Connor, Alice Taylor, Eddie Hobbs and many others. Anyone buying a book displaying the special Great Irish Book Week sticker will receive a free 210-page paperback book, which contains extracts from the 30 recommended reads. Authors will also be participating in events in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast. “Literature is Ireland’s greatest export and as a nation we have always been fascinated by books. However, in recent years there has been a decline in the number of book published in Ireland” said Alan Hayes, President of Publishing Ireland, the national association of book publishers. Mr Hayes added that local publishers play a vital role in fostering emerging talent. “Before many of our finest writers, such as Joseph O’ Connor and Eoin Colfer, went on to international fame they were given their first break by Irish publishers. Without a vital national book sector emerging authors may never see their work published, and we will be the poorer for it as a nation,” he said. The RTE Guide will be running a competition on October 13th where readers will get a chance to win the 30 Great Irish Books. For a list of the books, see http://www.greatirishbookweek.com/.

Cushing Academy - the library without books

Cushing Academy







Cushing Academy
, a 144-year-old school in the US state of Massachusetts, has decided it no longer needs a traditional library. Having amassed a collection of more than 20,000 books, the academy’s administrators have decided to discard all their books and have given away half of what stocked their sprawling stacks - the classics, novels, poetry, biographies, tomes on every subject from the humanities to the sciences. Administrators said the books took up too much space and that there was nowhere else on campus to stock them. So they decided to give their collection - aside from a few hundred children’s books and valuable antiquarian works - to local schools and libraries. As part of its eLibrary initative the school's new "learning center" will have no books. The future, they believe, is digital. Source: Boston Globe…

Thursday 8 October 2009

Visiting the Cliffs of Moher? Buy your tickets online

Cliffs of MoherThe Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience has recently launched an on line booking system at www.cliffsofmoher.ie. From any page on the website you can click through to book tickets to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience and save 17%. It's easy to book tickets. Simply select the number of tickets required, proceed with credit card details and print out your booking sheet. Bookings are valid for one year after purchase and are not date specific. A standard adult ticket costs €6.95 and a family ticket (2 adults and up to 4 children) is €18.20. This includes access to all public facilities, car parking for one vehicle and entry to the award winning Atlantic Edge Exhibition. Why not take the tour of the Cliffs and watch a video online, or sign up for the biannual newsletter to keep up to date on exciting news from the Cliffs. Cliffs of Moher voted Best Irish Visitor Attraction in first ever Irish Consumer Travel Awards. More info...

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Children’s Book Festival 2009 launched


Children’s Book Festival 2009 launched in Shannon


















Councillor John Crowe officially launched Children’s Book Festival in Seán Lemass Public Library, Shannon, on Oct 3rd. Hundreds of young visitors along with their parents enjoyed non-stop entertainment provided by James Sexton Event Management in a four hour extravaganza of fun, including disco dancing, juggling and magic while sampling some delightful treats from a chocolate fountain. The hero of the day was Famous Seamus, who unicycled and juggled with hurleys and knives, all at the same time, to prove that men really can, multi-task. Saturday’s celebrations kicked off a full month of children’s activities in Clare’s fifteen library branches. Visit your local library or the library website for details of upcoming events in your area.

Free lecture series on the life and times of Brian Boru

The first of an ongoing series of lectures on the life and times of King Brian Boru was held on Thursday 1st October in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. This series is being held as part of the backdrop to the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf in 2014, in the hope of developing a large-scale celebration and tourist attraction in the Mid-West region that year. The topic under discussion at the lecture was the nature of Munster – apart from being a world-famous rugby team, it is also, of course, one of the ancient Irish provinces or cóiceda – the Irish word having the literal meaning of ‘Fifth’. Since there are only four provinces in Ireland, this name has caused much historical pondering as to where the “lost” province may have been. According to Dr Catherine Swift of Mary Immaculate College one of the oldest suggestions, found in the 12th C Lebor Gábala Érenn (Book of Invasions of Ireland) was that Munster in fact was originally divided into two provinces, east and west, along a line from Cork to Limerick. A second idea, postdating the rise of Clare power under King Brian, was that in ancient times, Munster was originally divided along north-south lines, paralleling the later kingdoms of Thomond and Desmond. (A third notion, dreamt up by people from the area of Mullingar, was that there was a lost province surrounding the Hill of Uisnech in the centre of Ireland and a fourth, promoted by the great Irish historian and patriot, Eoin MacNeill, was that there was a separate province surrounding the hill of Tara). The relevance of this to the story of Brian Boru is the fact that the first step on his family’s rise to national prominence was their takeover of the kingship of Munster in the mid tenth century. The political implications of that takeover are obviously related to the size of that kingdom and the resources it enjoyed. The next lecture, on the 8th October, is on the history of the royal centre of Cashel and its role in early Irish history. Each province had its own royal centre in Celtic Ireland – the others are Rathcroghan outside Tulsk in Connacht, Emain Macha or Navan Fort outside Armagh in Ulster and Dún Áilinne outside Kildare in Leinster. Cashel, however, has many unique characteristics in comparison to the others and the point of the lecture is to examine its distinctive character and make suggestions as to the importance of the Rock and its surrounding population in the early history of Munster. This topic feeds into the same issue as the first lecture – namely what was the nature of the political authority enjoyed by early kings of Munster? And how did Brian Boru benefit from his takeover of that power? The lectures are given by Dr Catherine Swift of Mary Immaculate College and are held at 7pm and are open to all. Refreshments will also be provided and there is time for discussion and debate after each lecture.

Friday 2 October 2009

The Kitchen Session with Frank Custy from Toonagh Hall



This video is just a flavour of a two hour radio programme broadcast from Toonagh Hall on 18th January 2009. Hear the full podcast at http://ragandbone.ie/2009/01/224/. The Kitchen Sessions is a unique series of radio programmes broadcast live from homes in County Clare, Ireland as well as from the homes of Clare people abroad! Listen each Sunday evening at 5pm on Clare FM (http://www.clarefm.ie), check out the repeat on Wednesday at 7pm, or get the podcast. The Kitchen Sessions is a Rag and Bone Production for Clare FM, supported by the BCI Sound & Vision Scheme and the Arts Offfice of Clare County Council. More Kitchen Sessions...

Crime Thriller Awards 2009

Crime Thriller Awards 2009 The Crime Writers’ Association has joined with Specsavers to present the 2009 Specsavers Crime Thriller Daggers on October 21st. The CWA Dagger Awards are the longest established literary awards in the UK and are internationally recognized as a mark of excellence and achievement in the field of crime and thriller writing. The literary awards to be presented are the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller, the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for a new author of note and the Hall of Fame Dagger, which honours the achievements of the genre’s greatest exponents, past and present. A brand new award is being introduced this year – the ITV 3 Bestseller Dagger – which will be voted for by ITV 3 viewers.

On the shortlist for the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel are:
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
In the Dark by Mark Billingham
Hit and Run by Lawrence Block
A Whispered Name by William Brodrick
The Coroner by MR Hall
Dark Times In The City by Gene Kerrigan

On the shortlist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller are
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
The Last Child by John Hart
Calumet City by Charlie Newton
Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
The Interrogator by Andrew Williams

On the shortlist for the ITV3 Bestseller Dagger are
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
Until it’s Over by Nicci French
Silks by Dick and Felix Francis
Tea-time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander Mccall Smith
The Business by Martina Cole

Dick Francis, Alexander McCall Smith, Nicci French, Harlan Coben and Martina Cole are all in the running for the new ITV3 Bestseller Dagger. The awards ceremony on October 21st will be televised as the culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming. Other awards to be presented on the night include the Film Dagger, the TV Dagger, the International TV Dagger and the Best Actor and Actress Daggers.

Celine Kiernan Wins The Reading Association Of Ireland Award 2009

the Poison ThroneThe Poison Throne, the first book in the internationally-acclaimed Moorehawke Trilogy by Irish author Celine Kiernan, published by The O'Brien Press, was announced as this year's winner of the prestigious Reading Association of Ireland Award 2009, at the 33rd annual Reading Association of Ireland Conference, held in St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra on Thursday, 24th September, 2009. Established in 1984, the Reading Association of Ireland Children's Book Award has been awarded every second year to the authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and adolescents published in Ireland

Clare County Library celebrates Roald Dahl Day

Clare County Library celebrates Roald Dahl Day












Back row, left to right - Eldalie Mooney (Tuamgraney), Hazel Sturton (Tuamgraney), Turlough O' Cinneide (Scariff), Anne Marie Flanagan (Ennis), Sean O' Rourke (Mountshannon). Front row, l to r - Rhian Quigley (Newport), Shane Walsh (Ogonelloe), Andrew Cahir Whelan (Ennis). Missing from the picture Liam O Sullivan (Lisdoonvarna) and Rowan Powell (Miltown Malbay).

On Friday 25th September the winners of the Design a Chocolate Bar competition were announced in Scariff Public Library while customers enjoyed a chocolate tasting thanks to Wilde Irish Chocolate. The competition, run by Clare County Library with generous prizes provided by Wilde Irish Chocloate, Tuamgraney, was held to celebrate Roald Dahl Day 2009 on September 13th. Children aged 13 and under were asked to imagine designing a new chocolate bar for Willy Wonka. In excess of 600 entries were received from children all over the county. Patricia Farrell of Wilde Irish Chocolates presented the prizes. The winners were:
1st: Sean O' Rourke, Mountshannon 'Celtic Credit Crunch Bar' - Prize:€100 Hamper of Wilde Irish Chocolate and limited edition Celtic Credit Crunch Bar produced by Wilde Irish Chocolate.
2nd: Liam O' Sullivan, Lisdoonvarna 'Wildely Wicked' – Prize: €50 Hamper of Wilde Irish Chocolate
3rd: Rhian Quigley, Newport 'Runaway Rasins' – Prize: €25 Hamper of Wilde Irish Chocolate
Consolation Prizes were presented for:
Wackiest Bar - Rowan Powell, Miltown Malbay 'Willy Wonka's Seaweed Surprise'.
Most Thoughful Bar - Turlough O' Cinneide, Scariff 'Our Family Bar'.
Best Artwork - Hazel Sturton and Eldalie Mooney Tuamgraney 'What Kids Want (WKW)'.
Cutest Bar - Andrew Cahir Whelan, Ennis 'Ba-ba Bar'.
Funniest Bar - Anne Marie Flanagan, Ennis 'Giggle Goo'.
Most Do-able at Home Bar - Shane Walsh, Ogonelloe 'Wonky Bar'.