Dúnadh don Nollaig - Christmas closing

Dúnfar na Leabharlanna Brainse Déardaoin, an 23 Nollaig ar 3.00i.n. agus athosclófar iad Déardaoin, an 30 Nollaig. Dúnfar iad arís Dé hAoine an 31 Nollaig ar 5.30i.n. agus athosclófar iad Dé Máirt, an 4 Eanair (gnáth uaireanta). Tabhair faoi deara go bhfuil uaireanta oscailte éagsúla i bhfeidhm ag leabharlanna éagsúla. I gcomhair tuilleadh eolais, féach ar: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/library/branches/points.htm

Branch libraries in County Clare will close at 3pm on Thursday the 23rd of December and re-open on Thursday the 30th of December. They will close again on Friday the 31st of December at 5.30pm and re-open on Tuesday the 4th of January (normal hours). Please note that opening hours vary from library to library. For more details see:
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/library/branches/points.htm

Kilkee, County Clare, by Jack Mason

Posted on Youtube on the 15th of October 2009 by jackmason2007

The Red House Children’s Book Award - The only book award judged by children

The Red House Children’s Book Award is the only book award voted for and judged entirely by children. It is awarded annually in the U.K. in three categories, younger children, younger readers and older readers. Any work of fiction first published in the UK in 2010 including titles previously published abroad was eligible to be shortlisted. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the overall winner of the award this year.

This year’s top ten nominations were:

Younger Children:
A Very Strange Creature by Ronda Armitage & Layn Marlow
Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch! by Paul Bright & Mike Terry
The Baby Dragon-Tamer by Jan Fearnley
Bottoms Up! by Jeanne Willis & Adam Stower

Younger Readers:
Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman

Older Readers:
Ausländer by Paul Dowswell
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The winners are;
Bottoms Up! (in the Younger Childrens Category)
Mondays are Murder (in the Younger Readers Category and)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (in the Older Readers Category)

The Overall Winner of the 2010 Children’s Book Award is
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

All titles are available from branches of Clare County Library.

The Tulla Ceili Band - Feakle 2009

"The best ceili band in the world playing for a Set Dance at the Feakle Festival in County Clare, August 2009". Posted on Youtube on the 12th of August 2009 by nytram1309.

M18 Gort - Crusheen Bypass Excavations Exhibition

Photo shows John McInerney of Clare Museum with some of the artefacts for the forthcoming exhibition.
Clare Museum is planning an exhibition of artefacts unearthed by archaeologists along the route of the recently opened M18 Gort - Crusheen road scheme. The excavations were carried out in accordance with the Directions issued to Galway County Council by the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government under Section 14A (2) of the National Monuments Acts 1930–2004. Excavations at twenty two sites were undertaken by archaeologists from Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd on behalf of Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority (NRA) in 2007 and 2008 prior to construction of the new roadway.

Following an inspection of the artefacts by staff at the National Museum of Ireland, a final list of objects suitable for exhibition was made and these objects have been delivered to the museum. Included among the artefacts are pottery, stone tools and axes dating from the Neolithic period and glass and amber beads, and a rare bone gaming piece, which date from the Iron Age period. The exhibition will be displayed in a specially designed exhibition space on the top floor of the building.

Public lectures on the types of archaeological sites recorded during these excavations are also planned for the New Year. The results of the archaeological excavations are to be published in the NRA Monograph Borderland: archaeological investigations along the route of the M18 Gort to Crusheen road scheme later in 2011. It is also intended that copies of the excavation final reports will be available in the archaeology section of the Clare library website in due course.
See also:
Archaeological Reports for the N18 Ennis Bypass and N85 Western Relief Road

Andy Irvine - My Heart's Tonight In Ireland (Solo)

Andy Irvine in the Quellencafe of the Wandelhalle in Bad Wildungen, Germany, November 13, 2008. The song features many parts of County Clare. See http://clarelibrary.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-hearts-tonight-in-ireland-in-sweet.html for another rendition of the song with a host of well-known Irish musicians.

Vote for the 2010 Galaxy National Book of the Year

The star-studded award ceremony for the 2010 Galaxy National Book Awards was broadcast on More4 TV recently. Showcasing the best of British publishing and celebrating the titles that boast both wide popular appeal and critical acclaim, the winners of each of the eight categories will become a finalist with the chance of winning the Galaxy Book of the Year, for which the public become the judges. In the five weeks before Christmas there will be a TV series on More4 profiling the winners of the 2010 awards and a vote for viewers to select the overall Galaxy Book of the Year with the final result to be announced on 13 December. Literary veterans Terry Pratchett and Martin Amis took home awards for Outstanding Achievement, in recognition of their unrivalled contribution to the publishing industry. Terry Pratchett said: "I'm amazed, you find something that you like doing and do well and keep on doing it and suddenly they give you an award, when all I was really doing was having a lot of fun."

Stephen Fry beat off big competition in the hotly contested Biography category, claiming victory over rival authors who included Tony Blair and Lord Alan Sugar. He won the prize for his second volume of memoirs, The Fry Chronicles, which was named Tesco Biography of the Year. Best children's book was Zog by the creators of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Their tale about an accident-prone dragon beat comedian David Walliams's book Mr Stink. Hilary Mantel emerged in front of Maggie O’Farrell, David Mitchell and Kate Atkinson to collect the highly prized Waterstone’s UK Author of the Year accolade.

Jonathan Franzen was awarded the Galaxy International Author of the Year prize for Freedom. Franzen snatched victory from an array of literary luminaries, amongst whom were Stieg Larsson and his posthumous thriller The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest and Christos Tsiolkas’ controversy invoking The Slap. Political commentator Andrew Marr landed the More4 Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award for The Making Of Modern Britain, ousting opponents including Antonia Fraser and Bill Bryson.

Guardian newspaper columnist Yotam Ottolenghi tasted victory as his cookery book Plenty out performed celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater in the Tesco Food and Drink Book of the Year category. David Nicholls’ One Day was named Popular Fiction Book of the Year, ahead of an acclaimed line up of nominees which included Jilly Cooper, Dorothy Koomson and Phillippa Gregory.

As well as the numerous established faces vying for gongs the awards also celebrate emerging talents – this year’s National Book Tokens New Writer of the Year went to ceramic artist Edmund de Waal, with his collection of family memoirs, The Hare With Amber Eyes. There is a new, free iPhone App developed for the Galaxy National Book Awards. The App contains full details of the 48 fiction and non-fiction books shortlisted for the awards. The public can vote for one of the eight finalists between November 13th and December 13th, when the winner will be announced. Further information can be found on the Galaxy Facebook page and on the Galaxy National Book Awards website, where you can find details of how to cast your vote. More info...

Books on Clare Hurling longlisted for William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year Award

Books by two well-known Clare hurlers are among the 25 books that have been longlisted for this year’s William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year award. Tony Griffin tells his remarkable story and his gruelling charity cycle across Canada in Screaming at the Sky. It is a story of courage, of love and loss, and of battles won and lost both on and off the field. The Club by Christy O’Connor followed Clare club side St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield for a season in 2009 as they looked to re-establish themselves as a force in Clare hurling. From player infighting to player-management stand-offs, team-bonding and on-pitch battles, The Club is a chronicle of the 2009 season told with unflinching honesty. Other titles shortlisted this year include autobiographies by John Giles, Bernard Dunne and Darragh O’Se along with stories about Lansdowne Road, Waterford Hurling and some of Ireland’s top jockeys and race horses. The public have a chance to vote for the winner of the award from a list which includes some of the biggest names in Irish sport. Eleven of Ireland’s top sports commentators will judge this year’s award including Eamon Dunphy, George Hook and Matt Cooper. However, the public vote will act as the twelfth judge in the award. The most voted for book by the public on www.irishsportsbookoftheyear.com will go forward as the people’s choice and will be added to the votes of the rest of the judging panel. Tony Kenny, PR Manager for William Hill Ireland, said; “The William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year is about rewarding Ireland’s best sports writers and it is only right that the public get their opportunity to vote for their favourite. The public get a chance to take their place amongst our judging panel and give their opinion on the best Irish sports book this year.” More information on this year’s William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year and details on how to vote for this year’s winner can be found at www.irishsportsbookoftheyear.com.

William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year - Long List:
• Lansdowne Road – Gerard Siggins & Malachy Clerkin
• Kinane – Anne Holland
• Days of Heaven – Declan Lynch
• The Agony and the Ecstasy – Damien Tiernan
• A Football Man – John Giles
• Emerald Anfield – Keith Falkiner
• The Unconquerable Keane – David Smith
• Sea the Stars – Anne Holland
• My Story – Bernard Dunne
• The Club – Christy O’Connor
• Ruby – Ruby Walsh
• Screaming at the Sky – Tony Griffin
• The World is a Ball – John Doyle
• If You Don’t Know Me, Don’t Judge Me – Dan Shanahan
• 100 GAA Greats – John Scally
• Sporting Legends of Ireland – Turtle Bunbury & James Fennell
• Darragh, My Story – Darragh Ó’Sé
• Voices from Croke Park – Sean Potts
• My Father; A Hurling Revolutionary – Conor Power
• Alright Aldo – John Aldridge & John Hynes
• Stuttgart to Saipan – Miguel Delaney
• Dail Stars – Conor McMorrow
• Brothers in Sport – Donal Keenan
• Gaffers: 50 Years of Irish Football Managers – Trevor Keane
• Method in My Madness – Richard Dunwoody

CIGO announces that Clare County Library is to be the fourth (2010) recipient of its Award for Excellence in Genealogy

At its 2010 AGM the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) announced that Clare County Library would be the recipient of its 2010 Award for Excellence in Genealogy, not only in recognition of the facilities provided in the Local Studies Centre at Ennis (which includes a magnificent collection of Clare newspapers and the recently acquired microfilmed parish registers), but particularly the online genealogy section of the Library's website. According to CIGO, the website includes invaluable transcriptions of Tithe Applotment Books, gravestone inscriptions with photographs), school rolls, and indexes to newspaper extracts, etc. The value of these resources is further enhanced by the cross-linked townland and parish indexes and maps, which help researchers to identify Clare place names. CIGO finds that the website sets an extremely high standard for data provision to which other libraries should be encouraged to aspire. In recognising Clare County Library's achievements in genealogy CIGO also acknowledges the contribution of all those who have donated time and material to make the website the success that it so clearly is.

Links:
Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations
Clare County Library Local Studies Centre
Clare County Library website - Genealogy & Family History
About Clare County Library's website

Teenage Book Club For Scariff Public Library

Teenagers in Scariff will soon have their very own book club. The first meeting will be on Tuesday 16th November at 6pm in the library. There will be tea and coffee and biscuits too. All teenagers are welcome to come along. There’s no need to sign up, just show up and why not bring a friend. Our first book will be The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Copies of the book will be available at the meeting. Suggestions for the next book will be very welcome also. Everyone will read the book over the month and then discuss it the next time. Even if you don’t finish it or hate it we want to hear your opinions! See you at the first meeting! Here’s a review of The Knife of Never Letting Go from www.yareads.com: “Wow. I mean, just wow. I’m in shock, I think. I finished reading The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness about forty minutes ago and I just can’t get my brain to work. I’m stuck in time, my thoughts frozen on the last sentence of the novel, my mouth hanging wide open in the shape of an O. I’ve been reading a lot lately, devouring books faster than I can get my hands on them, but nothing – I repeat nothing – stands out nearly half as much as this book does. It’s profound, it’s remarkable, it’s downright captivating.”

40ft wave confirms Ireland's status as surfers' paradise

"Surfers have said weather conditions off the west coast of Ireland combined perfectly to create huge waves of up to 40 feet (12m) high." Also featuring Lahinch and Aill na Searrach (aka Aileens). Posted on Youtube on the 9th of November by rte.

Scariff Library Poetry Group - still going strong

There has been renewed interest lately in Scariff Library Poetry Group which meets every two weeks. At each session a chosen poet is discussed, and the group also discusses a wide range of other topics from mythology, to history and science. During each session a group poem is composed and attendees are also encouraged to bring along their own work and share it. At each meeting a specific theme is chosen and members are encouraged to write a piece on that theme for the following meeting. Members are encouraged to participate but anyone who is interested in attending is also welcome just to listen. The aim of the group is to promote poetry in an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and understanding.

Irish Language Audio Books - free to download

A new collection of eight Irish Language Audiobooks is available for download from Clare County Library’s downloadable audio books service. These short novels come from some of Ireland’s finest authors, including Maeve Binchy, Roddy Doyle and Marian Keyes. The books are produced by Clipper audio in collaboration with New Island books. These Irish language titles will also be available for borrowing from the library in CD format shortly.

Registered members of Clare County Library may download electronic audio books for free. All you need is a PC with broadband internet access, and you can download the selected eAudio book, play it on your PC or transfer it to your MP player, iPod or even your mobile phone. You may download and 'check out' up to ten audiobooks at a time for a 'loan' period of three weeks. Audio books may be renewed once. Each title offers unlimited availability and simultaneous access for all borrowers, so every library user can download all the latest bestsellers at the same time, making waiting lists a thing of the past. There are almost 700 books currently available to download from the library website.

The Irish language downloadable audio titles are:
Timpiste Réidh le Tarlú le Vincent Banville
Na Tógálaithe le Maeve Binchy
Cailleacha Underbury le John Connolly
Deireadh Seachtaine Craiceáilte le Roddy Doyle
Is Gearr... le Marian Keyes
An Seomra Tobac le Julie Parsons
Tá Jesus agus Billy ag Imeacht go Barcelona
Rúin le Patricia Scanlan.
This collection is sure to be very popular not only with fluent Irish speakers across the country but also with those trying to improve their Irish language skills. For more information click here...

The Irish Amazon

The legendary Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway estimates that the delivered cost to customers of over 70% of their books are cheaper than the same books sold on other sites online, including that of Amazon. The bookshop was founded in 1940, and in 1994 was the second bookstore in the world to have a website - the first was a sci-fi shop in San Francisco, which has since closed, so Kenny’s can now claim oldest. In the summer of 2010 Kenny’s launched a new website, which stocks over 5 million pre-release, new, secondhand, out of print and rare books and offers free shipping worldwide. The bookshop has a renowned stock of books on Irish history, culture, literature and language, as well as a comprehensive selection of non-Irish material. "We aim to be an amazon.ie, even though we work with them", says Tom Kenny. The market for books in Ireland is estimated to be over €300 million with 14% of that bought online. See http://www.kennys.ie/

Padraig Rynne Band - Marga's Moment

Padraig Rynne (concertina), Tola Custy (fiddle) & Ed Boyd (guitar) - Marga's Moment/Crooked Still Reel/Major Harris. Recorded in Gijón, Asturias, Spain, 03.04.08. Posted on Youtube on the 9th of April 2008 by Cagun.

Clare Burren Marathon Challenge 2009

"The highs and lows of the Clare Burren Marathon Challenge. The youngest competitor was 7 and the oldest was 93. The courses ranged from 10km to 43km. The rain poured and the sun shone, and Brendan Gleeson popped over to start the race. The soundtrack is by the uber talented Daithi O'Dronai, featured in the video." Posted on Youtube on the 19th of June 2009 by OutsiderMagazine.

Arts in Ireland (Wheaton College students visit Burren College of Art)

"Wheaton College goes to Ireland! 16 Students were selected to attend a 3 week program with studio space provided by the Burren College of Art. The assignment: 'Make a piece of art that is influenced by Ireland'." Posted on Youtube on the 22nd of July 2009 by crazyman42.